Study: Culture and Language Studies, main course: Latina America Studies
¡Dear people! My name is Dorien and I am a Dutch intern at Fundación CICLO. Since the 8th of February 2010 I accompany Noortje (another Dutch intern) at the foundation. After the arrival of Marianne (yet another Dutch intern) we form a truly Dutch enclave at the foundation and in the suburb called Ramos Mejía.
To fit perfectly in the picture of an intern at Fundación CICLO I am trying to help with the diffusion of the Latin American Culture the best I can. This obviously is not going to work if I won’t emerge myself completely in the Argentine culture and the city where I live (Ramos Mejía). For this reason I would like to tell you something about my adventures and experiences of the past two months and about my attempt to live like a real Porteña (someone who lives in Buenos Aires).
After a stunning journey from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires (we had to make a forced landing at Recife, Brazil) and a long lasting flight, I finally arrived at the metropolis called Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, my trip did not end at the airport because I had to find a taxi to bring me to my new home (this was not easy at all because the heavy weather made the streets flood)…
Finally, at three o’clock in the morning I arrived at the address of my host family. ¡Excitement all over the place! Virginia, my host mom, gave me a hearty welcome and for the first time of my life I got in contact with my Argentine family, as well as with a nice plate of ravioli, a mate and all the other things that were going to be part of my life the following six months!
Right now, two months later, I am living the Argentine life like I never did before. The first weeks I had to acclimatize and to get used to all the simple things of life… I often asked myself if everything was going to be all right because it was even difficult to take a bus (locals call the auto bus a bondi), cross the streets, make a decent breakfast, or preparing a healthy sandwich (Argentine people like to eat loads of dulce de leche, a very sweet caramel-ish marmalade)…
During my stay in Ramos Mejía I discovered that you will learn the most of the Argentine life by living in a host family. Together you share daily habits and traditions, celebrate birthdays and holidays, eat meals, etc. At the first morning after my arrival Virginia served me a typical breakfast: galletitas (cookies), an alfajor (a tipical Argentine cookie with dulce de leche) and te de boldo (herbal tea). During the birthday of Virginia we ate 4 kilos of meat, together we watched a football match, and Norman (another roommate is going to teach me how to make empanadas, typical meat pies). All in all, by living my daily life in Ramos Mejía, I am learning little by little more about the Argentine life, customs, culture, particularities and for me very important, I am improving my Spanish day by day.
The thing I like the most about Argentine people is that they are really interested in you and your origin. In Ramos Mejía you won’t discover tourists that easily and as an outsider with blond hair and blue eyes you will attract attention immediately, besides the Dutch language we are speaking when are passing the streets… Frequently I am being asked where I’m from and when I tell the locals I am a local too, I have plenty to talk about with the Argentines.
After a while and some strolling through the streets of Ramos Mejía, we discovered against our expectations that this suburb has much to offer! There are a lot of bars, restaurants, shops, bakeries and other things to amuse yourself during the day and weekends. Noortje and I even discovered a second hand market and we enjoyed ourselves very well!
As one can read we are having a great time over here in Ramos Mejía. This vibrant suburb, my colleagues, the host family and the nicely weather are the reasons that make my stay marvellous!
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