I have been home from Buenos Aires for weeks now but I still find myself having trouble adjusting to the changes. I have compiled a mental list of aspects of Argentina that I do not miss in an attempt to feel better (winter weather, the subte at six in the afternoon, the ubiquitous and sickeningly sweet dulce de leche, the lack of toilet paper in restrooms, to name a few). Somehow this list has not proved to be comforting yet...
The first half of my time was spent getting to know Bs. As. and during the second half I was able to truly explore and experience the city as a portena instead of a tourist. Our work at the refugio (domestic violence shelter) improved with each visit as we got to know all of the mothers and children and were able to identify more specific needs. I learned to use the one-hour bus ride to the shelter each morning as planning time to brainstorm new activities and games to teach the children. I felt more welcome in the shelter than in any other place in the city. Each time the guard let Paula and me into the grounds, thirty children would run at us screaming "Maria!! Paula!!" begging for hugs and kisses. The work was exhausting... maintaining order in a large group of children is difficult enough, but trying to do so in castellano is almost impossible. I have never encountered children so quick to misbehave yet so needy for love and attention (this shared trait is no doubt a result of their family situations prior to arriving in the refugio). Paula and I quickly learned that art projects were very popular among the kids and began to utilize this technique to keep order. I often found myself sharing looks of excitement and despair with Paula as children would pull at my arms asking for help while I chased around toddlers attempting to eat crayons. I fell in love with all of the children and wished that my ticket back to Atlanta were not so soon.
This placement reinforced what I learned at my internship last summer: continuity is crucial within any organization, and this is especially true in a service organization. After weeks of working at the refugio I was able to see what kind of programs could strengthen the facility and aid those who stayed there; however, my stay in Argentina did not afford me the time to implement any new programs. I do not doubt that our contributions were helpful to the refugio, but I see now how much more I could have done if I had more time. I am grateful for my experiences from both summers but somehow ended both internships feeling as though I had gained far more than I had given. Perhaps a steady and lengthy commitment to an organization is the only way to leave a profound impact upon it.
Argentina was a perfect choice for me; as much as I loved city life, I was thrilled to escape to different regions of the country on the weekends. We spent our last weekend in Mendoza in the wine region and I had the rare opportunity to sleep through the night without being awakened by cars honking or dogs barking outside my window, a frequent occurrence in my room in the residencia. We spent a full day driving towards Chile and admiring the snow-covered Andes mountains. Unfortunately our journey to Chile was cut short- being the mature young adults that we are, we decided to rent a sled and took turns whizzing down the mountainside. All was fun and good until our friend Rebecca broke her arm in a sledding adventure gone wrong... oops.
I am now looking forward to an end-of-summer to trip to New York City and I am hoping that being back in a city will be a happy reminder of life in Buenos Aires. Paula referred to a "city culture" in one of her postings and I saw signs of the culture everywhere I looked. Bakeries are crowded in the mornings. School children crowd around cafes and sidewalks during the lunch hour. Joggers run through parks in the afternoons. Business people read El Codigo de Da Vinci (The Da Vinci Code) on the subte home from work. During the times when I felt that I could never reconcile the differences between the US and Argentine cultures, I only had to look around to realize that our worlds are not so disparate that we cannot learn from one another.
As a Spanish major, I was very excited during my stay to reside on a street named after my favorite Latin American author, Jorge Luis Borges. I came across an article from an interview with him and found this selection to be appropriate. Though it was written in a different time and is simplistic, I think we can still glean some knowledge from it:
"But as I think of the many myths, there is one that is very harmful, and that is the myth of countries. I mean, why should I think of myself as being an Argentine, and not a Chilean, and not an Uraguayan. I don't know really. All of those myths that we impose on ourselves- and they make for hatred, for war, for enmity- are very harmful. Well, I suppose in the long run, governments and countries will die out and we'll be just, well, cosmopolitans."
