Men in Argentina kiss on the cheek to greet and leave each other, just as men and women would do. I believe it´s a beautiful thing to see men okay with touching and showing love for each other. Occassionally, I see a foreigner get kissed on the cheek by another man and it´s obvious that it makes them feel quite uncomfortable. It´s okay. It´s one of those good uncomfortable moments that challenges men´s understanding of what it means to be a man.
All of my life, I have prided myself in being able to "get" people. Watching, analyzing. I am typically right on my assessment during the first 5 minutes of meeting these people. But I have come to find that this sixth sense has become inaccurate. Travelling can really bring out the best and the worst in people. And I see the change within hours sometimes. It´s defintely an interesting character study working in such a transiant place.
I am also experiencing being part of this community. Every morning, I wake up deliciously late and wonder over to my favorite coffee shop. As I make my way there, the waiters standing outside of the restaurant next door all say hi because they now know my face (and probably my boobs too). At the cafe, I practice my Spanish with my favorite coffee girl and I make her practice her English. It´s the best $3 I spend on a daily basis. While sitting outside, drinking my coffee, I now say hi to the waiter that works NEXT DOOR to the coffee shop as he stands outside of his restaurant, waiting to help customers. I don´t know these pèople besides their faces and place of work, but it would be strange, at this point, to not exchange greetings and smiles. I love this town.
It's good to hear that you feel part of the community there. I have also worked myself into the community at Anshe Emet. I work in a Jewish Day School that is housed in a Conservative synagogue, and although I have a foot in the neighboring Reform and Orthodox synagogues (like I sit on all 3 Social Action Committees) I feel most comfortable in a Conservative setting. Even though I am on my 2nd year in this place, I feel like I have become part of the community. I walk into the building to work 7 days a week (5 days teaching in the day school, plus Sunday School plus Youth Services on Shabbat), so all of the security, maintenance and housekeeping staff recognizes my face, even if we don't know each others' names. I have thrown myself into the life of the day school, like going to basketball games and band concerts, as well as the life of the synagogue, like singing in the choir and playing basketball with the Young Adult Division, and consequently I feel very much at home there. It's nice that between the Hebrew School and the Day School I know almost all of the kids who show up each week for whomever is becoming a Bar or Bat-Mitzvah (the shul is massive). In short, I agree with your last sentence in this post - "I love this place".
ReplyDeleteP.S. The best part is that Anshe Emet is 1 block from my apartment.