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early perceptions
night time scene, la Avenida de Santa FeHello fellow bloggers. In an attempt to fully acclimate myself to Argentine culture I have arrived in this course perfectly on Porteño time, three weeks into my own classes and half way through the NYU semester. Discúlpeme. Lets get to know each other. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but have never associated myself much with the city (if it’s at all possible to deny the place we come from). My concentration at Gallatin is human rights journalism & documentary film, which played some part in my choice to come to Buenos Aires, obviously a place with a rich history in human rights violations and massive uprisings. And while I certainly came to Argentina to witness the legacy of political action, and to learn the language, I really came here for other reasons. I had a realization at some point that even though I considered myself an independent person, and had actually achieved a lot on my own, my personal relationships had made me reliant on others, and I wasn’t really free. I chose to come to Buenos Aires primarily in an attempt to sever myself from those dependencies; the sheer hemispherical distance was alluring enough. Wanting something and achieving it are obviously two separate things, however. I’ve been here for nearly three weeks and have not yet been able to kick my nasty little skype-ing habit. And while I’ve made some really great friends in the program and in the city, I have spent most of the time here feeling really lonely. I’m not used to spending so much time to myself. Forget culture shock, me amo la vida de Argentina, this feeling is what has been shocking. But even from this point looking back to those first moments here, I feel like I’m okay. I’m starting to think that maybe being a little loneliness is good once and a while. I always find it difficult to enter a situation without expectations, and this city is certainly not what I expected, but I’m realizing that there are things that could not have been anticipated all around. I spent the day with the most handsome Porteño (whom I had expressed interest in, just last week, until it became clear that he was gay) and his two wonderful brothers, lunching, listening to music, drinking mate, and shopping of course. I know it’s a good thing to appreciate this place for its high days like these, and other more lonely ones.
