How to talk to Argentines

[Dolly]

I respect your reply - it's very good and honest. But for me I have to say.
I have lived here for almost 4 years and STILL my Argentinian friends say things like. "It's ok for YOU" or "WE can't afford that" And I have earned pesos for the 4 years I've been here, and the truth is......It's not ok for me...and I can't afford it.............

I constantly hear, We can't afford to travel but you can. And guess what, I can't. Obviously because I earn a local wage. They know me well, they know my financial situation. But I am constantly told I can do stuff and THEY cant.

And more so, I'm told. It's difficult for us cause we don't have US$. And guess what, me neither, I don't have euros, US$ or nada....so I guess we just have to live with this bias

 

[blackburn]

As with all these posts...the original gets lost as the reponses come in....how do you talk to argentines and the slagging of yanks....If you are frightened of the locals don't speak to them...if you are frightened of declaring your nationality then fuck off back to where you come from....I often wear my shirt that has three lions and ENGLAND...motiff.....I also wear my Newells Old Boys futbol shirt which is much more provocative than the England shirt.....get a grip.....suerte.....dolly you ok....hasta pronto....

 

[AkBill]

The only time my i've seen my ultra tranquila, opposite-of-most-porteñas girlfriend get mad was the first time she saw my apartment and asked how much it cost.. then gave me some kind of lecture about how it was terrible foreigners would pay so much when normal argentinos couldn't pay 1 / 10 as much.

It was pretty annoying, and theres nothing you can really reply. Luckily shes only done it once, like someone else said you can't put up with these people.. I would be miserable having to listen to such shit all the time... what do they want you to do ? Withdraw all your money and give it to some people in villas to buy alcohol? Just tell them to get lost

 

[laureltp]

Honestly, if you said to me you don´t spend outrageous amounts on groceries without cutting at least 3 major food groups out of your diet, I would tend to assume you live on US dollars too....or at least have an outrageously good salary

I think you make a good point here. I got to thinking there are only two of us and we generally eat one meal a day in the late afternoon. So all we really need is enough food for one meal a day for 2 people. That's not such a big deal.

Now if I were a health conscious mother trying to feed a couple of kids or something that would be A LOT harder to do. Then there would be no way to get around the grocery bill without being overwelmed.

I just wonder how to walk the line between being sympathetic and sounding like I am moaning about their country.

 

[sesamosinsal]

I have never had any problems being American so I am not too concerned about but I am curious if it's ever been an issue to anyone here since people tend to either love or hate us. I don't really care about criticism of the US, everyone should have the right to their own opinion whether it offends me or not.

From one American to another, I think we're pretty hardcore about freedom of speech. I don't think any other country in the world has such liberal regulation of speech as we do in the United States. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any other country that allows groups of people to protest with signs that say "God Hates Fags" or march around streets in Nazi uniforms -- with police standing by protecting them. In Canada, for example, this would be illegal.

I'm not an in-your-face patriot. However, if there is one thing that makes me proud to be an American, it is the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It is fundamental to the American identity. I don't agree with anything said by the Westboro Baptist Church or the National Socialist Movement, but I would defend their right to say it.

So, when you say that "everyone should have a right to their (sic) own opinion whether it offends me or not," it's not surprising. However, our openness to criticism is cultural. (And I am aware that there are surely some exceptions to the rule...)

I think a lot of criticism just depends on how you package it. It's a very human to react negatively to someone criticizing your country, as it is a part of who you are. I've personally never had any problems with my criticism of protesters blocking roads, subway strikes, etc.

 

[laureltp]

From one American to another, I think we're pretty hardcore about freedom of speech. etc.

That's something I didn't think of either. Maybe I am expecting an Argentine to react like an American to trash talking about their country. So maybe it's not so much that they are so sensitive but that we are so okay with anybody saying pretty much anything. I mean, we let Glen Beck have a TV show, obviously in a country that wasn't crazy about freedom of speech wouldn't put up with that type of craziness. (sorry for anyone out there that might be a Glen Beck fan)

 

[diplomacy]

[...] I think anybody coming from the U.S., Australia, or Europe, any first world country might come across this as a bit of a problem once in a while. [...]

So can I safely assume that since those countries are first world that you believe Argentina is a 3rd world country? If so I believe I've found your problem.

It's natural to have your own opinions and assumptions but it is a bad practice to think that whatever is in the forefront of your mind must be in someone else's and therefore you should introduce into a conversation.

I know someone who is just like that and is forever sticking his foot in his mouth. That person is my father and I could see him coming down here and doing the same thing you're doing.

May I suggest you stick to the weather.

 

[mendozanow]

Yes, Argentineans can (and many do) call themselves 3rd world, but we should never say that to Argentineans. In some circumstances, a true statement is not just calling a spade a spade, it is calling a spade a g%&$·ng[/EMAIL"]g%&$·g"]g%&$·ng shovel!

It is akin to telling an American that the horrible Twin Towers attack was a result of faulty US foreign policy, which most US foreign policy experts from all the political spectrum acknowledge amongst themselves, but woebetide any foreigner that dares utters this.
Generally, Americans bliind themselves and then view themselves as innocent victims from the agents of the devil, and refuse to examine all the angles.

Peace to all.

 

[diplomacy]

Yes, Argentineans can (and many do) call themselves 3rd world, but we should never say that to Argentineans. In some circumstances, a true statement is not just calling a spade a spade, it is calling a spade a g%&$·ng[/EMAIL"]g%&$·g"]g%&$·ng shovel!

It is akin to telling an American that the horrible Twin Towers attack was a result of faulty US foreign policy, which most US foreign policy experts from all the political spectrum acknowledge amongst themselves, but woebetide any foreigner that dares utters this.
Generally, Americans bliind themselves and then view themselves as innocent victims from the agents of the devil, and refuse to examine all the angles.

Peace to all.

As an American I am greatly offended by your opinion.

 

[Diskosis]

As an english teacher, conversations such as 'do you believe your country's food is the best in the world?' come up fairly often, and they are always keen to hear my viewpoint about Argentinian food. Honestly, I like the food but I find it a little lacking in flavour and variety. I learnt pretty quickly that it's best to keep such an opinion to myself and just say 'yeah the food is great here'. The first couple of times I tried to explain that back in Australia people eat all kinds of ethnic foods all the time, and it's nice to have such variety, but the students got really argumentative about it and it even ended up with a 'well why don't you go back to your country?'

There are certain things that Argentinians like to criticise( politicians,traffic chaos etc), and you can get away with expressing similar opinions, but if you say something which is against what they have been taught to believe since they were little kids (best food, best steak, most beautiful women) they are not only incredulous, but they can get quite aggressive in their arguments.

I guess it would be a similar story if you went to Australia and told people that the beaches aren't so great or something. People would probably get offended because we learn it as 'fact' that Australia has some of the best beaches in the world.

I saw a hilarious situation the other night when an Irishman who was just off the plane was telling a couple of Argentinian guys that his top footballers of all time were 1. Pele 2. George Best 3. Maradona. The guy was just expressing his opinion, but I thought the Argentinians were going to punch him. They didn't really know how to argue with the George Best thing either - I think they'd never actually heard of him.