Argentines...scared Of The Cold?

[Ries]

I like to wear lots of clothes, and dont like to wear shorts in the city, no matter how hot it is. And I am convinced I am gonna catch Ebola from the draft of my wife leaving the window open.
Thats why Argentina is such a perfect place for me.
Any place where the old ladies put on their fur coats in winter, even if its 22 degrees, is my kind of place.

 

[sergio]

You need to come hang out with our family. If you don't have a drink before dinner, we'll all think there is something wrong with you. Seriously though, we certainly go through a more than fair share of beer/wine/champagne/liquor du jour at every family get together!

You're lucky. In my experience this is not at all typical. Of all the people I know, not a single one drinks much of anything, if anything. It's a waste to go out and order a bottle of wine unless you plan to drink the whole bottle yourself. Women will sip a bit to accommodate you but they'd rather have Diet Coke. Ordering a drink before a meal in a restaurant is a largely unknown custom that befuddles waiters so to get around it I just tell the waiter to bring the wine first and I'll order the food later. ALSO wine is good when you have a cold or a flu or whatever they want to call it.

 

[JoshF]

Funny this exact question I asked myself on few occasions also had a few lively discussions with many on subject of cold weather making u sick or not. My stand is it's not cold rather an accumulation of weather changes going from warm inside cold outside keeping airflow restricted and heated inside and simple germs thriving in those conditions.

I've had friends almost physically force a borrowed jacket on me when leaving a house.

 

[Crema Americana]

I don't find anything weird about most of these 'observations', but that may be because I'm from Miami where 70°F is chilly and my Spanish mother always bundled us up and warned about the dangers of drafts, AC, and cold air.

Despite the modern scientific consensus and at the risk of sounding like a moron, I'm one of those people that believes being cold can get you sick. Actually I believe any extreme temperature can do it... my theory being that when you're body is fighting to regulate temperature, its defenses are weak. Aside from that, when you go outside in the cold, you get the sniffles... and while that may go away when warm again, it's not exactly the best feeling and looks like you're sick.

And as for the drinking... my parents in law drink wine; a bottle at least during family meals... but interestingly enough none of their children (or their spouses) join them. I think there's a bit of a sexist bias as well... a woman who enjoys drinking can be seen as a lush. My brother-in-law's ex liked wine and would keep a bottle in the fridge and this was talked about as if she was growing a marijuana plant. (In my family's defense, she was sort of a wild woman.)

 

[CaliCoco]

Oh the relief!!!! Its really nice to know that I'm not alone in my observations. I suppose that's one benefit of this blog. Sometimes I just feel like a crazed Yanki. I love how this conversation evolved to the drinking thing. I might have even brought that up separately because it drives me bananas. I truly believe that people control their drinking in public because of how they will appear to others, especially women..I wonder how the teetotaler thing came about here. They sure didn't get it from Spain or Italy. I guess its more healthy to be a society that doesn't abuse alcohol, I just dislike the judgement.

 

[sergio]

I had people once tell me that I had a "drinking problem". It is so far from the truth it's ridiculous. I just think they haven't lived abroad or been around Americans or Britons much and think that what we consider moderate social drinking is alcoholism. I don't know how it got started but it got started. When I first arrived in Argentina my employer had a party for new staff. It was held in a nice place with everyone well dressed. I was expecting a cocktail party with the usual finger food. Instead there was a long table behind which stood a small army of what used to be called "mucamas" in uniform. Lined up in a neat row were giant bottles of Coca-Cola -- and there were loads of sandwiches de miga I couldn't believe it!

 

[Gringoboy]

I second that Sergio...
I went to a 'leaving' party at a friend's house, men only. I arrived a tad late having already had dinner and a few drinks.
Twenty blokes sat round a long table like a conference or Waiting for Godot, sipping diet Coke and munching Doritos.
The difference, from my point of view, is that the Argentines always ask 'Where's the food?' and as far as I'm concerned, the food can come later.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I second that Sergio...
I went to a 'leaving' party at a friend's house, men only. I arrived a tad late having already had dinner and a few drinks.
Twenty blokes sat round a long table like a conference or Waiting for Godot, sipping diet Coke and munching Doritos.
The difference, from my point of view, is that the Argentines always ask 'Where's the food?' and as far as I'm concerned, the food can come later.

What you're describing is not food.

 

[Joe]

Even in the winter, I find the subte uncomfortably warm and damp. I take off my jacket and am down to my tee-shirt - still with a bead of sweat on my forehead and the Argentines on the other side of the car are wearing a heavy coat, multiple layers and a scarf and appear totally comfortable. I would be profusely sweating if I had on that many layers.

 

[sergio]

I second that Sergio...
I went to a 'leaving' party at a friend's house, men only. I arrived a tad late having already had dinner and a few drinks.
Twenty blokes sat round a long table like a conference or Waiting for Godot, sipping diet Coke and munching Doritos.
The difference, from my point of view, is that the Argentines always ask 'Where's the food?' and as far as I'm concerned, the food can come later.

That brings up a related issue.... Dull social gatherings...At one "party" I went to the hostess had everyone sit in a circle in her living room. The maid kept coming in with sandwiches de miga and Coke or Diet Coke or whatever. It was so awkward. I could only talk to the people on either side of me. Couldn't wait to leave.

And back to the cold issue....Many times I've been at functions where the temperature was way too warm and I was dripping with perspiration. Can't tell you how many times I've heard women say "Tengo frio" because there was a little breeze coming out of some rickety old air conditioner. Then someone turns the AC off or down and I suffer even more. Joe is totally right about the subte.