It's been hard to post of late because synthesizing many thoughts has not come easy. Instead, I will stick with some loose observations.
Being abroad for approximately nine months has been quite an interesting activity in that I have only stepped outside of myself recently to hear and attempt to understand other ways of seeing life and the world.
In Colombia, I spent most of my time with foreigners and spoke extensively with Gopi on his views on global economics, governments, balance of power in the world...
Other than this, my time there was relatively free of people challenging the way I saw the world in a political and economic sense and more about slowing down and helping people out just because, and not necessarily because you expect something in return. This culture that is decidedly not North American is something I have tried to adopt in some way and I find quite refreshing and beautiful.
It exists in Argentina, but in a different way.
In Argentina, I have encountered many very well educated and insightful people, who are equally critical of me and my country's influence in the world. On the one hand, there can be ideological differences, which can come down to a simple, we agree to disagree end, or we can enter the moral discussion of neo-liberal economies and the negative and sometimes hypocritical effects it has had mixed with Argentine corruption.
I don't have much opinion yet, and I am not sure if I'll ever be one to hold an ideology around which I make all my decisions, nor do I feel that is a goal worth striving for.
The question that I have gets back to this idea of what I mention about this Latin American culture and how people interact with one another. The US is a country that was created with a certain degree of individualism. We are constantly looking to get ahead of our neighbor, brother, father, friend. We help if it benefits us or if we feel so compelled, and when we help, we often expect some form of retribution. This was the basic commentary of an Argentine trainee in Canada and it angered me when I first read it, but now realize there is some truth to it.
For the past two days, a friend stayed in my apartment. Today, as he packed to leave he asked me what I expected him to do for me in the way of an offer of some sort. It was a nice gesture and I appreciate it, but nothing was necessary, and I responded, please don't worry about it and enjoy Buenos Aires.
I'd never deny that I come from an individualistic culture and I would never claim that I have changed being abroad for less that 1/20th of my life. I saw a cultural difference that has caused some tension for me, and I expect to feel that as I make my return to the US. I hope that as we face many challenges in the US, we stop looking inwards to show how great we are and start learning outwards to gain a better understanding of what and who we are. Then from there make decisions that are informed.
Going abroad can often lead to a great deal of self-righteousness. I hope I don't fall victim to that and I am counting on my faithful readers to prevent this.
I muse and muse again. Travel beings this weekend.
Basic Itinerary:
Friday, July 6 - Uruguay
Possible trips thereafter would include
North of Argentina
Mendoza
Central and southern Chile
Patagonia
Will be double dreaming during this trip. The dream is being lived and simultaneously will be dreaming up a new dream to be lived. heavy
Labels: culture shock, Latin America, musing, USA
