Buenos Aires

So.........

I have so much to say and yet again at a keyboard I am at a loss for words. I've been speaking so much Spanish lately its got me dreaming. I think in it, I sleep in it, I live in it. Its a crazy thing. As you all know, I am a fan of people, a people person, if you will. I find it facinating how so many of us live in such idomatic isolation for our entire lives. I mean, there's a whole nother world down here that doesn't understand you and I when we chat in English. I mean there's a whole nother world that understands my other tongue, my Español, mi castellano. And yet there are countless more lands who live in different languages, who do not care to learn mine. Rock on to all of you.

I was sitting next to a table of American's tonight. They were so loud and obnoxious. They didn't even make an attempt to speak Spanish when ordering drinks or asking for cigarettes. You know, we are all such fools. To speak in a language you don't know by heart (or really, by thought) is to make a fool of yourself. You are scared, you say the wrong thing. You are misunderstood! But usually by some magical power, I call it altruism, each party tries their hardest to understand the other and inevitably reaches some sort of mutual agreement. This is the beauty of culture, I believe. While I may have nearly failed some of my Spanish courses in university, I can garuntee that I speak better than well over half my class for the sole reason that I do not care if I make a fool out of myself. There was a time when my self conciousness got the better of me and I was more than hesitant (that is to say, silent). But trying, failing, is more than half the battle. A simple, "no" clears up most misunderstandings, which suddenly explain themselves as the opposite of what has been said while a "sí" confirms them. As someone who has been trained in anthropology, to understand is far more important than speaking in grammitcally correct terms.

We left La Paz today and are now in Buenos Aires. This is a city. It is beautiful and extremely comforting, two things that two me are not inherently linked. The cultural influence from Europe is evident as you get off the bus in the form of colonial architecture, linguistic inflections brought over from Italy, or the English built railroad that lies adjacent to the hustle and bustle of el Retiro, the very Argentine bus station. This confluence of culture is something that to me is extremely attractive. I'll be writing more as the next few days unfold.

Of course the other extremely attractive things here are the women...

Sean