Estancias and Telos

Some weeks back the NYU in Buenos Aires program sponsored a trip to an estancia, a typical Argentine ranch a few hours outside of the city. We rode horses, rode bikes, took a tour of the castle, ate steak, and watched authentic Gaucho dances. On paper it sounds the most cultural (it certainly qualifies as a cultural activity) but it was actually one of the most touristy things I have done in Argentina. I can't recall another time I was in a space completely designed for tourists, except for the NYU academic center. The presentations were in English, the other visitors were also tourists, and the day was fun, but it was completely fabricated. The asado, Argentine barbeque, felt like the most authentic part if only because they offered us delicious and exotic things like blood sausage. Gaucho culture, in many ways, is fabricated for tourism. A lot of the classes I am taking here speak to the same topics and one that has come up a lot has been the existence, and then extinguishment of the Gauchos. At one point in history, gauchos roamed the campo, lived as nomads, and work on ranches like the one we visited, but they were systematically eliminated. In the late 1800’s they were considered a harsh stamp of Argentina’s barbarism and lawlessness. As a result, their culture was slowly illegalized. With the institution of public education, and residency laws, authentic gaucho culture finally disappeared. A few years later theDan at the Estancia gaucho reemerged, as a tourist attraction and a cultural symbol.

Other components of the daily life here feel much more like cultural experiences. Though I will probably skirt the line of what is and is not appropriate for the second time a more fascinating cultural experience was a trip to a telo. The existence of telos, especially on the scale they exist in this city, is a cultural phenomenon. We discovered a telo directly across the street from our academic center from the program director during orientation. A telo is a hotel that rents rooms by the hour. They exist to such a degree because, like many European cultures, young Argentines tend to live at home for considerably longer than young Americans. It is not considered shameful or embarrassing to frequent a telo, rather, it was described to me as expected. When I've probed the locals about them they are genuinely surprised that there isn't an American equivalent to the same degree. I respond with: “why would I go to a telo when I have my own apartment?” A location built for the soul purpose of sex has condoms on the table, mirrors on every surface, including the ceiling, a Jacuzzi, a small bathroom taped off with read tape that reads desinfectado, and a bed. You can have champagne and sex toys delivered to the room by way of a cabinet in the wall, maintaining complete anonymity. There is a TV, but it only plays porn. To the young people in this country their neighborhood telo is like a second home, to us Americans it is a truly surreal experience.