Chile v. Argentina 2007
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2006
1
19
33
Trip End
Sep 04, 2007
Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Monday, January 22, 2007
printed copies of my brand-spanking new Spanish resume, it had been
clear that the nosey little man at the counter had been reading
them. Obviously, the gringa had struck his curiosity and so he
asked me what I was up to here in Argentina.
¨Turista?¨ he offered helpfully, ¨estudiante?¨ Clearly he´d noted
my Chilean address on the top and wanted to know who exactly I
was.
I responded my usual spiel, I was a student in Chile and now I´m
looking for work in Argentina to teach English. He asked my why I
wanted to work in Argentina instead of Chile, but didn´t even give me a
chance to answer before he blurted, ¨aca es más lindo.¨ (it´s much
nicer here) I could tell he wanted some dirt so I smiled and said
¨si¨and then mentioned that I appreciated the clarity of the
Argentinian Spanish because the Chileans hardly even pronounce the end of their words. He
grinned and agreed and then added, ¨y por lo menos todos son
mentirosos.¨
I couldn´t do anything but let out a startled laugh before the phone
rang. I mouthed ¨chau, gracias¨and walked out the door smiling to
myself. And I continued to smile as I walked down the street
thinking that only an Argentinian would say, ¨and they´re all
pretty much liars.¨
And the Uruguayans are in on it too. One week in the country was
enough to know that arguments almost always lead to the Pinochet and
the Faulklands and in the end it´s just better to realize that
Argentina and Chile are on two separate planets.
Stranger still, the Chileans that I knew never talked politics about Argentina. Their complaints were far more trivial.
After three months with my Chilean dad and I learned how to make
a pisco sour, that Chile is the best country on earth, and that ¨all
the Argentinians are gay.¨ His well researched and thought-out argument
was that 1. the men all kiss each other on the cheek to say hello (in
Chile they only shake hands) and 2. the seat of the government,
La Casa Rosada, is pink (La Casa Rosada literally means ¨The Pink
House¨) so they must all be gay. And of course while those things were said in play only, there was definitely strong Chilean nationalism behind it.
Other friends I had made fun of the ¨funny¨ Argentinian accent, how
they say ¨plashya¨ instead of ¨playa¨ and ¨eshya¨ instead of
¨ella¨. Of course if I ever once said that I thought the accent
was actually quite lovely and far easier to understand than the Chilean
one, I don´t think I´d have anymore Chilean friends...
Of course they Chileans will always point out the economy. The
Chilean is far stronger than the Argentinian although Argentina is back
on the rise. But as far as looking for work goes, any Chilean
will tell me that I´m better off in Chile...
For me, I´m indifferent. Chile has some of the most beautiful
landscapes in the world and Argentina, well they have some of the most
beautiful people. :)
I headed back to Chile in a day or two and I do know that more than
anything, I am going to miss the real coffee that they serve in
Argentina. For some reason that is completely unfathomable to me,
Chile seems to think that powdered, instant Nescafe is an adequate
substitute for a nice, piping hot shot of espresso. But it´s just not.
