Thought I'd write a short post on the culture here.
As always, I am never trying to offend anyone. I am just making some observations and a few (awful) jokes. Keep that in mind. If you find something offensive or inaccurate, just let me know.
Ok, so, when I say the culture here*, I mean "The Culture Of Now. The Culture Of Today." What this means is, people here live for today. They do not think of the future. They do things like there is no tomorrow. They do not plan for tomorrow. They spend money like there is no tomorrow (not literally) and do not save for tomorrow. As a friend of mine said, (paraphrasing, I don't remember her exact words), "You can talk to men here who are 30 years old and still live at home. If you ask them their plan, if they ever intend to move out of their parents' home or what their plan is, they don't know."
It kind of helps explain the "go out at 2:30, come home at 7:00, go to work at 10:30-11:00, siesta around 2 or 3" and do it all again the next day lifestyle. Another guy I met in a hostel mentioned how it affects progress here, and where there is less here than in other places.
As always, the culturally is not 100% pervasive or saturated. Certainly not everyone here is like this. There is plenty of ambition here. There are Starbucks and McDonald's, plenty of signs of economic progress (That's sort of a joke. A mediachiste). But there is plenty of commerce here, like I said, ambition.
Having said all this, I haven't had a full-on, serious discussion with an Argentine about this. Just a few people here and there. I'll check back in when I do. Until then, peace out cub scout.
Love,
B
*I don't think this is a South American thing, just in Argentina.
As always, I am never trying to offend anyone. I am just making some observations and a few (awful) jokes. Keep that in mind. If you find something offensive or inaccurate, just let me know.
Ok, so, when I say the culture here*, I mean "The Culture Of Now. The Culture Of Today." What this means is, people here live for today. They do not think of the future. They do things like there is no tomorrow. They do not plan for tomorrow. They spend money like there is no tomorrow (not literally) and do not save for tomorrow. As a friend of mine said, (paraphrasing, I don't remember her exact words), "You can talk to men here who are 30 years old and still live at home. If you ask them their plan, if they ever intend to move out of their parents' home or what their plan is, they don't know."
It kind of helps explain the "go out at 2:30, come home at 7:00, go to work at 10:30-11:00, siesta around 2 or 3" and do it all again the next day lifestyle. Another guy I met in a hostel mentioned how it affects progress here, and where there is less here than in other places.
As always, the culturally is not 100% pervasive or saturated. Certainly not everyone here is like this. There is plenty of ambition here. There are Starbucks and McDonald's, plenty of signs of economic progress (That's sort of a joke. A mediachiste). But there is plenty of commerce here, like I said, ambition.
Having said all this, I haven't had a full-on, serious discussion with an Argentine about this. Just a few people here and there. I'll check back in when I do. Until then, peace out cub scout.
Love,
B
*I don't think this is a South American thing, just in Argentina.
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