Well, I have now been here for three months. I should have written this document earlier but life seems to be so hectic. Having said that, I do not feel that I have achieved much. Though, thinking about it, this has more to do with my impatience than with the reality.
Having arrived late November 2005, we spent a couple of weeks with friends of Hazel in Buenos Aries. After that, we travelled to Córdoba for a short period then returned to Buenos Aries for Christmas and new year. These were both celebrated with a BBQ called "Asado". The BBQs here outclass the English BBQs by far. Argentina is very fertile and good meat is cheap. They are normally served with various salads and French style bread.
So, what has been happening in Córdoba?
I had been led to believe that this would be easy to learn. It is not. There are many tenses and they do not always correspond exactly to the English tenses and many verbal idioms that do not work in English. If they reduced the vocabulary by approx. 80% and make all verbs regular it would be better by far. I am thinking of sharing my thoughts with the Real Academia as it is all down to them! Having said that, it is definitely a rich language with many words and phrases having different but related meanings in various contexts. By now, I have come to realise that I am capable of learning castallano (that's what they call Spanish here) and, in time, I am confident that I will be good at it. However, I am a slow learner which leads to number of frustrations. Thankfully, ordering food in restaurants and buying groceries at the local corner shop do not present any problems. At least I will not starve! I am also well dwarfed by Hazel's strong command of the language. Last week, she went to San Marcos (approx three hours by bus) to see a language tutor and I was left on my own. Without Hazel, my language started to improve and I was forced to use it. We are now trying to stay apart for a while each day so I am forced to interact with shop keepers, friends etc. The temptation is always to hide in internet cafés and do my work there. This is definitely not a good thing to do. This however, brings me on to
I am in demand! The local church have an excellent project called ILFEC. Basically, after the economic crash in 2001, the church started lending money that it received through the offerings, at a small rate of interest to people who had fallen on hard times. This money is always for a business project, to help folk get themselves back on their feet. As the loans are paid back, the money then becomes available to finance other ventures. There are many small businesses here, often run out of peoples houses. This means that you are never far from a kiosko, a butchers, a bakers etc. They want me to write a database that will keep track of all the lending. I am having to learn some new software to do it, but it is a very interesting project with very little pressure on me for deadlines etc.
In addition, a childrens home in San Marcos would like a web site, other Latin Link members also want online databases and web sites and I will probably be giving support to Latin Link members to help access their eroom. (This is an online resource where we can share ideas, files and other information.) I wonder if I am the first IT missionary (probably not though maybe with Latin Link).
It is different from English culture. It may appear similar at first but it is different. Here are a few examples:
Pink knickers at Christmas. It is the custom to buy pink knickers for one's relations. When Hazel told me about this I thought she was joking. It was only after midnight when young Cristina proudly held hers up after taking them out of the wrapping that I realised it was true. When the recipient puts them on she makes a wish or three. However, she puts them on in private!
Kissing. It is the custom for everyone to greet everyone else with a kiss! This is done by placing your right hand on the shoulder of the other party and then kissing their left cheek (this includes men). You get used to this quite quickly. This reminds me of one of my fellow students at All Nations. When he became engaged to his wife (who is Italian), her father stood upright, looked at him in an earnest manner, then kissed him on the lips! Argentina has a very strong Italian influence.
Sleeping routines. It is customary to take a siesta of about two to three hours in the afternoon. Most shops in our barrio have the following hours: 0900-1400, 16:30-21:00. We often do not have our evening meal until 11:00 p.m. Once you are used to this it is much better. A few days ago, the community centre across the road to us, hosted a folk festival. It did not finish until 4:00 in the morning. There is a football pitch opposite our flat. They are normally finished by about midnight.
Safety. This is a bit of a difficult one. A while back we heard what we thought were fireworks (bangers). It turned out they were guns. Last week a taxi driver was killed for sixty pesos (twelve pounds). Guns can be purchased quite easily and all police carry guns. Every house has bars on the windows to prevent break-ins. Having said all of that, some months before we left Hatfield someone was killed in the town centre. I feel perfectly safe here. There are certain areas I would not go after dark but then there are similar areas in Hatfield. I have heard that you are as likely to be murdered as killed in a road accident. It is true that there are more road accidents per head here than England, but, keeping my wits about me, I do not fear death from either source! I was however, robbed in Bolivia recently. We were returning from a conference and there was a disturbance on the bus (which diverted our attention). Someone took my wallet, removed the cash and my wedding ring, then, much to my surprise, threw the wallet, complete with credit cards, through the window and back onto my lap. It was only at this point I realised that my wallet had been taken. Is this ethical robbery? Would it not have been safer for the man who stole it, to throw it away instead of risking my seeing him? The only thing I can think is that maybe these men have families to support and do not have work. There is no DSS in Bolivia! Maybe they are ordinary folk forced by circumstances to use theft to feed their children? I cannot say that I would not do the same thing if I were in those circumstances. This leads on to
Dogs. Many families have dogs partly as pets and partly for security. If you are not careful, you can be barked at and even bitten by one of these. If you give them a wide birth they are normally OK. Sometimes you have to pretend you are picking up a stone and lifting your arm to throw it at the dog. This normally makes them go. Dogs in Argentina tend to take themselves for walks and roam the streets quite freely. Occasionally, turf wars can be heard. When dogs fight here they fight!
Feelings tend to be more up and down than in England. It can be very stressful when you cannot make yourself understood and have to rely on the choices others make for you. Stress is one of those things I tend not to notice until it is pretty high. However, not being too hard on oneself, getting enough food and sleep, stopping to think before you react to things all help manage it. All in all, I am extremely glad to be here and am impatient to get more language skills and continue to settle down. When it's good it's great. When it's difficult it requires a bit of handling.
However, it must be doing me good being here. My health is improving all the time. I require about a third of the insulin that I needed in England for my diabetes and my blood pressure is now text-book normal. On top of that, my weight is nicely reducing to a healthier level without me being hungry all the time. I really cannot complain!