The attack of the OVNI
January 25, 2011
I named this chapter of my journey “The Attack of the OVNI” because OVNI is the Spanish word for UFO. I suppose a UFO attacked me in my sleep because somehow my arms and stomach are covered in hives. I have no idea where they came from. I don’t suffer from hives in the states so I suppose this is indeed an OVNI. Of course, like a prepared traveler I did bring along 3 or 4 benadryl pills. So, I will try them and hope for the OVNI to come take this plague away!
I will take this time to express a few strong cultural differences that may be of interest.
1) If you see a person walking 9 dogs down the street don’t be alarmed. It is an actual profession here to be a dog walker. I plan to snap a photo of one of these infamous people one day soon, but last time I tried the dog walker disappeared.
2) I don’t know that I will ever get used to eating dinner at 10pm. It is cultural to eat around that time here. Thankfully we ate at 9:30 tonight. That was progress!
3) The city does not sleep…literally! Bars and night clubs stay open until 6 or 7 am each night (or day I suppose one could say.) So, if you are the partying type, come to Buenos Aires. However, if you are a night sleeper you might encounter some difficulties since people sleep with their windows open here due to less or no A/C in houses. Houses are in the middle of the city, not in neighborhoods. I just so happen to have my 7th floor window near a group of bars. I hear noises all night long, but the funniest is the sound of large group laughter carried up 7 floors.
4) Mornings begin late here (or early if you are in the bars). I am not sure how people get much done, because early birds are hard to come by in this culture.
5)Thin is IN! Not only in, but at any cost to get there. (With all this Italian food from Argentina’s European influence and eating dinner at 10pm, I have no idea how being thin can be achieved except by the young with superhero metabolisms.) Sadly, anorexia for both men and women is common. According to my Spanish teacher even children won’t eat because they don’t want them to get fat.
6)Plastic surgery is the in thing here. Some jobs will even pay for a plastic surgery every two years. Need I say more?
7) Families eat dinner together often! Kids usually stay in their homes until married, then come home for dinner often after they are married. (currently there is a 26 year old Doctor in this house along with her older unmarried brother) All but two dinners I have had here have had either other family members or extended family members eat here. One of the best reunions was when the very loquacious aunt came to dinner. All the family children were present (including the one who is married and lives far away). The only problem with the evening was that I thought it was their grandmother instead of aunt! Thankfully I didn’t say anything to her directly about it!
8) Two things they know how to do quite well here – they know the value of rest (I love my afternoon siestas) and the value of family! It is amazing. Every time you see a family member you are greeted well, and when they ask you about your day they really want to know about it!
So, enough reading… let’s move on to the pictures!
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