LIFE IN ARGENTINA

Politics in Argentina are very prominent in the dictation of their culture. It was very interesting to be in a city that is so strongly influenced by their government. As any city would be, but it was way more common to be educated about it through daily conversation compared to the states. While we are impacted by our government's decisions here in the states, it's on a different level and some people don’t choose to participate in the conversation whereas in Argentina I feel as though it is necessary to be educated on the topic. In the same notion, it is a very sensitive topic where you still have to be wary of what you say and who you say it to, which we saw first hand from our tour guide. 

 

A Lot of this has to do with the history of Argentina which we learned on our city walk tour. We learned about the white bonnets painted onto the ground which resembled all the lost mothers and children that disappeared in the genocide where around 30,000 people were vanished by their own military. Still till this day mothers show up every Thursday to repaint these symbols in honor of those who were lost. In fact they have a DNA program set up in hopes of making a connection from any lost babies that may have been relocated during that time. 

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Aside from the genocide their goverment has always struggled finically after WW1 as the flow of goods declined. Unfortently they have still not been able to bounce back from this defeat as their inflation begins to rise. When we first arrived, January 3rd, to Exchange $100 I would get $92 back in pesos. By the end, Jan 20th, when I exchanged $100 I got $115 in pesos back. So just in the span of less than 20 days the inflation rose significantly!! This is impacting locals greatly as it disrupts their quality of life since nothing is reasonably priced for them anymore. That is a huge part of why we had to leave the country early was because there were labor strikes which shut down all the flights going out of Argentina on January 24th. This active protest is normal for Argetninans as it is a huge part of their culture to stand for what they believe in. There is a big sense of community which we also saw on the city walk tour as we saw a bunch of rocks surrounding a statue in honor of those who lost their lives to covid. This shows how much Argentinians come together in moments of collective triumph. Which raised a big concern with their newly elected president as there are mummers of possible retaliation from the government for future protest.

 

I was shocked to learn about all the corrupt nature in Argentina and was awakened to my privlage as I am thankful that I don’t have to fret in my daily life. I was very thankful that I was able to learn so much about Argentina's history and current political views to help deepen my understanding of the culture. I will say that despite the battles they are facing as a country, the overall attitude of a local Argetinian is so positive and upbeat as they really just focus on being present in life & leisure which is something I will be taking back with me to the States.