GREETINGS
In Argentina, when you greet someone or say goodbye to them, you give each other a kiss on the (right) cheek. In formal situation people shake hands. Argentineans are great conversationalists and are interested and knowledgeable about world events, politics and sporting. Meetings usually begin with small talk.
BODY LANGUAGE
Personal body space is close. It is common for participants in a conversation to politely touch each other on the arm or back, and a light kiss on the cheek is customary, even after the first meeting. Take your cue from your acquaintance.
CUSTOMS & ETIQUETTE
Cafes are a part of everyday Argentine life both for the residents of Buenos Aires as well as those from other regions. It is like a second home where people meet over a steaming cup of coffee with friends, acquaintances, clients or themselves...
Mate is THE traditional beverage of Argentina. For Argentineans, “los mates” are a fundamental part of life. Mate is a strong, caffeinated tea drank from a cup about the size of an apple. The cup is filled with an herb (yerba) and hot water and then drank through a metal straw called “bombilla” that has a filter on its end. When somebody offers you a mate it means that they care about you, that they want to share something with you. That’s why we suggest you not to reject mate when offered…it might not be your intention but it can hurt their feelings!
Argentines typically eat a very small breakfast of coffee or tea and toast or pastries, if they eat breakfast at all. Lunch is typically around 1:00-3:00pm, and they do not have a “siesta” in the afternoon like in Spain.
Dinnertime can be anywhere from 9:00pm to 12:30am.
Bars do not start up until 12:00-2:00am and clubs never fill up until 3:00-4:00am. It is very normal to stay out until 7:00am on the weekends. This being said, if you plan to party/drink please do so slowly. Bars and clubs in North America and most places in Europe close around the same time Argentines start going out, so please keep this in mind.
Tipping in restaurants is approximately 10%, and tipping after taxi rides is not expected.
CONVERSATION
Small talk is important. Bringing up Football is a great way to start conversation with people—definitely avoid bringing up the Dirty War or the Falklands issue with people until you know them well.
Porteños are very proud of their city and culture (some would say to the point of arrogance), so avoid direct criticism of Buenos Aires when possible.
The speech of Buenos Aires in particular abounds with words and phrases from the colorful slang known as “lunfardo” (see appendix). Although you shouldn’t use lunfardo words unless you are supremely confident that you know their every implication (especially in formal situations), it’s good to be aware of some of the more common everyday usages.
The Spanish spoken in Argentina is called Rioplatense, a dialect found mainly in the basin of the Rio de la Plata. While some influences from Amerindian languages exist, Spanish in Argentina has mostly been affected by European languages, particularly Italian (especially in the intonation, such as the emphasis on the last syllable of 2nd person conjugations: vos querés). ‘Voseo’ is so common in Argentina that “tú” is hardly used in common speech, and Argentinian Spanish is the only form that uses it officially.
“Vos” is a very important part of Argentine Spanish and has its own conjugation in the simple present tense. Although using “tu” is obviously understood here, we’d like to fill you in on this difference in Castellano.
Examples
Instead of “tu eres” Argentines say “vos sos”
Instead of “tu tienes” Argentines say “vos tenés”
Instead of “tu vienes” Argentines say “vos venís”
Instead of “tu puedes” Argentines say “vos podés”
Instead of “tu hablas” Argentines say “vos hablás”
With a verb, like “decir” for instance, you take the infinitive form, drop the “r”, and add an “s” and stress the last syllable= decís. Very simple, try it!
In December, Milhouse Hostel and Voluntario Global hosted a "futbol" match to celebrate the end of the year 2014. The money raised during the game will be used to buy toys and games for the art workshops at the Community Center in La Boca. We would like to thank you all for your donations and participation. Happy 2015!!
The idea behind the project
At the moment, "la huerta" [the garden] is still mainly a building site with a small garden located in Pacheco, north of Buenos Aires. However, there are big plans for the future. The idea is to create a garden for young people to spend time in, learn new things and be involved in a community. There are two villas [= poor neighbourhoods] about 10quaters away. Youngsters from those areas are a target group. In the future, there should be the opportunity to borrow equipment for gardening, so that they can be used elsewhere. This will also be a chance for youngsters to earn some money with helping out in other gardens.
"La huerta" should also function as an example garden for other organisations so they can replicate it in their own grounds. Workshops and lectures would be taught here, and different methods of gardening could be tried out and viewed.
There should also be a plant production, where other projects could get seedlings for free. Just as a little info: in Argentina you can't just buy tomato plants or herbs in a supermarket, as you could in Germany or Switzerland. There are shops that only sell seeds, or some garden centres where you could buy seedlings. However the selection is very limited and it seems to be a lot harder to get seedlings. An accommodation for future volunteers is also being built, as the idea is that future volunteers will help to maintain the garden, work with the young people and there is a lot of place for more ideas.
The area
Pacheco is outside the city of Buenos Aires and it takes about two hours to get to the project. I use the underground and a bus and walk 10min. The neighbourhood around the project is pretty safe. There are mainly houses with big gardens, some used as holiday homes. As a rough guess there are two dogs per house. Some of them have secret holes in the fence to get in and out.
Funding
The project is funded by Voluntario Global. When a volunteer donates, part of the money is spent in the project they are working for, on sustaining Voluntario Global and some is saved for bigger long-term projects like this one. A great project that was started with the money saved is "The Laundry Project". This is a laundry shop, where young people from the neighborhood can work and study at the same time. The shifts are shorter than they would normally be so they can accommodate this with their university schedule. This makes it possible to work and study at the same time, which is very important for many young people here.
My tasks
At the moment I spend two days a week in the project and some more time for research at home. In January, when the changing rooms are finished, I will spend more time there and organise some events. My task now is to make a plan for the future layout of the garden. I am also responsible to make a list of plants that includes how much sunlight is needed, which family they belong to, and how they are best planted. Ideally. The idea is to give explanations from sawing over growing up to the harvest. It is not yet clear wether that is possible within the given time and also the graphics that would be necessary.
In October we had the pleasure to host a group of students from Portsmouth Grammar School, England. They visited Buenos Aires with his Spanish teacher, Steve Page —a Voluntario Global former volunteer and Ambassador—. This was actually the 3rd visit we receive from the school as they come and volunteer in Buenos Aires every 2 years. They take this chance to practice their Spanish and see a different side of the city.
According to the teachers “Students learn not only to speak Spanish but we also teach them about Latin American culture, as 80% of Spanish speakers reside in this part of the world”. Therefore, the school chooses Latin America, and Argentina especially, as a space for students to learn about the city, its neighborhoods, its cultural richness and diversity. Here they can also see social inequality and interact with different communities.
The trip crammed four days of tours and volunteer work. Voluntario Gobal made sure to organize this experience according to the interests of the students and the needs of our projects in Buenos Aires. Volunteer sites included a day of work at the kindergarten in José León Suárez, where they sang songs and shared art workshops and games; a day in the park with children from the orphanages; a dinner and open debate with youth from all our organizations; and finally a tour of the Isla Maciel organized with an association from La Boca, where the students also participated in a program at the Radio Station.
10 Tips for Making a Difference while Volunteering in Argentina
geschrieben von Jesica Franco
There are many ways to successfully adapt to your host culture. It is important to handle "culture shock" with adaptability, a sense of humor, and a lot of common sense. Give yourself time to become accustomed to the cultural differences. You may even find that many of the differences are a pleasant change from your way of life.
The following suggestions should help you make the most out of your volunteer experience:
- Learn as much as you can about Argentina’s social and cultural context;
- Be patient: volunteering is mainly an adaptation process. Know that any disorientation you feel is normal and keep in mind that given time, the effects you feel from culture shock will likely pass;
- Be flexible and open-minded;
- Be tolerant of ambiguity while taking time to be familiar with your surroundings. Realize that often the people in the country you visit have time concepts and thought pattern different from your own. This does not necessarily make them rude, only different;
- Work on increasing your language proficiency. Many of the misunderstandings and confusion you experience abroad are a result of the language barrier;
- Be commited and responsible. Stay motivated!
- If your Spanish is not good engough, you might feel that your contribution is small, but remember that your presence at the project is very important all the same: Provide EMOTIONAL support and be a role model!
- Cultural exchange requires interaction with locals: take the iniciative!
- Observe before acting;
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Dress accordingly. If you’re working in a slum, dress simply but with clean clothes. Cleanliness shows respect towards the people you are working with.
Follow me to the barrio of Barracas, Buenos Aires. Here the amazing women of the Community Center and Soupkitchen prepare food for the children of the nearby kindergarten and the people in the neighbourhood. It is a place where people can have lunch together and receive some extra food to take home.
These ladies you see in the video are amazing, doing great work for the community. I had a wonderful time, helping where I could and trying to speak some Spanish. Seeing a different part of Buenos Aires is something to never forget.
This is my goodbye present for them, they all love to sing and dance to 'cumbia' music, which you hear in the video.
Today we celebrate International Volunteer Day Empfehlung
geschrieben von Voluntario Global
International Volunteer Day (IVD) was established by the United Nations with the aim of promoting volunteer-involving organizations around the world.
Prashanth, Sam, Patrick, and Alex, are four Australian medical center volunteers who account the ups and downs they experienced during their time in Buenos Aires. They shared their insight on topics such as, the professional impact of their decision to come here, some obstacles they came across in placement, observations about the industry, and advice for future volunteers.
Language Barrier
The presence of a language barrier is the most common apprehension about coming to Buenos Aires. Prashanth explained how the language barrier influenced his experience.
“It was tough. We did study Spanish before we came here, but it’s one thing to study Spanish than actually be in the heat of the moment. Dr. Navarro does speak a little bit of English, and because it’s medicine, the words are quite similar. The first day, he had all these bones in his office, and we were comparing the names in English in Spanish with the different landmarks in the bones. It’s like a parallel language. You can kind of understand. Drugs often have the same names.”
Regardless of how technical your language use may be in Argentina, finding a common linguistic ground is an exciting learning experience. Additionally, as Prashant leads to before, being among natives is significantly more useful towards learning a language than sitting in a classroom. Consider every conversation with a native to be like a private Spanish lesson.
Building Professional Relationships
During this experience, the guys shadowed Dr. Navarro in the clinic. He was their local coordinator, mentor, and the lead Doctor in the medical facility. Sam explained his relationship with his mentor:
“It was good. The first time we got there he was quite open and friendly, he made us some mate which was nice. Mate was good! We’ve been making mate at home.”
Local coordinators are a great resource of volunteer placement, in this case Dr. Navarro was not only open and friendly a professional manner, but he also made sure the volunteers where settling well into the culture as a whole. Dr. Navarro is none for making volunteers feel comfortable throughout their experience.
Daily Tasks
While everyday can pose different obstacles and opportunities in a volunteer experience, some typical daily tasks remained the same. Patrick explained:
“We would shadow Dr. Navaro and see patients with him. The patient would come in he’d talk a bit to the patient, talk to us a little bit. If we wanted to have a talk with the patient we could try. We would look through the charts. If they had X Rays or stuff like that we could look through. There were different procedures that we could perform.”
So, daily tasks usually involve presence and engagement with the mentor. Observation hours are crucial in the medical field as you can note not only how diagnoses are made and carried out, but you can also learn about how the Doctor conducts his practice as a whole, including his relationships with his patients and colleagues.
Career Exploration/ Professional Development
Volunteering abroad can give you experience in your industry that both looks good on your resume, and helps with future decisions regarding your career. When asked if his time in Buenos Aires had provided any insight on his career path, Alex stated:
“Dr. Navaro is a Traumatologist and I think I want to be a Traumatologist now. Just like him. So he’s an inspiration to me.”
Clearly, an experience like this is rather professionally insightful.
The four Australians seemed to have had an amazing time in Buenos Aires and in their placement. They got to explore a new city while still furthering their career. Prashanth gave parting words to future volunteers….
“I would tell them go for it. You can have a great time in Buenos Aires or wherever you go, and you can always learn. It is possible to balance those interests. You don’t have to just lock yourself in a library and study the whole time.”
Seht hier: Arthur´s Erfahrungen im Medical-Center in Buenos Aires. Als Medizin-Student sammelte er hier erste berufliche Erfahrungen. Tritt in seine Fußstapfen und werde Volontär!
VOLUNTARIO GLOBAL
Voluntario Global helps local communities by being available to discuss anything that local organizations need, and offering ideas for further change and development.
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CONTACT
Location: General Pacheco. Buenos Aires. Argentina
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