Jessicka & Caroline

Little did we know that Buenos Aires would be such an international mix of people. Each day our group is continually expanding and includes quite a variety of individuals (to say the least)! It has been an eye opening experience to hear about the cultures, traditions, politics and habits of the people we have met here. I have had my palm read by our Italian friend Danny, salsa lessons from our Venezuelan friends, late night discussions about Oktoberfest with our German friends, and so many more interesting times. We even ended up at a German/ Argentine mixer where we were assigned name tags and given either a Spanish or German word where we had to find the other equivalent! Karlyn and I did our best to transition from German to Spanish and back again and answering the many questions of why we were there. I was able to fit in as a probable German, but the people there were dumbfounded when it came to Karlyn. Needless to say, our names were butchered in the process and we ended up with name tags bearing the name Caroline and Jessicka, but figured it was easier to submit to these names then attempt to change them.

As far as the Argentine front goes, I could not love Argentine people more. They have been so kind and eager to assist us in adjusting to the Argentine life. It has been an incredible experience to now be working for an Argentine company. I work outside Buenos Aires in San Isidro, the residential area here. The office is a renovated old stable that features art work throughout and has an open air garden in the middle. Each day I am greeted with besos from each employee and there is a major emphasis on personal relationships in the workplace. They move at a completely different pace and take the time to develop these relationships at a deeper level than common in the American corporate world. Every day all of the employees gather together for lunch and we eat together at one big perfectly set table with a beautiful flower arrangement. We have had some hilarious discussions ranging from typical holiday traditons to some necessary words for women to know here. It feels like a small family. When remarking on the environment to one of my coworkers, he responded, "Why of course! We're in the business to make people happy. How could we not have this environment?" I am responsible for bringing MSB into the US and am thoroughly enjoying bringing the company into the US thus far.

On a different note, each day I am supposed to be taking the bus to and from work. The only problem is that San Isidro is 40 minutes from the city. Each day I wake up a little too late to try out the buses and metro, so I have been forced to take taxis. I have learned so much from these daily rides because this is the time when you truly learn about the people. It's been surprising to see how much the people here hate the government. I have yet to meet one person that has a positive impression of the government. I have resorted to the typical American question often when attempting to keep up with these debates by asking, "Then, why don't you change it?" No one here really has known how to seriously respond to that, besides the fact that the corruption is completely ingrained into the whole political structure. It's in all parts of the judicial system- judges, attorneys, politicians, government, business, and the list goes on. This is one reason why they feel there is a crisis here every five years. I have always been one who believes in trying to learn from your mistakes and for some reason BA is unable to do that. When I questioned about this all participants responded, "Are you willing to make the commitment to change Argentina?"

It seems as though everyone wants to change Argentina, but does not possess the urge or eagerness to do so. It's almost as though they think it's impossible to change it. Maybe it is for that matter, but I am a strict believer that anything is plausible if you truly believe in it. Here we have met a great deal of entrepreneurs who have all given us stories about how they have had to "deal" with the government. One of their biggest complaints is the large export and import tax and how it is virtually impossible to transfer funds outside of Argentina. Regardless, there is a huge market of possibilities, but you have to be willing to work out the disorganized fragments and get creative.

Only having been here two weeks it is hard to epitomize the Argentine people. I always try to avoid this because you can't possibly try to stereotype one large group of people. However, in saying that here are a few things we have learned about men, or Argentines, for that matter. All men and women here cheat. People are very straight forward and will tell you a passionate account of what they are truly feeling, often featuring the three magic words the first time they meet you. People here like to voice their opinions, whether it be by honking, whistling, or screaming out interesting phrases they want you to know they are interested. Argentine people are very family oriented and spend a great deal of time with their families, especially on Sundays when they have their "asados" or steak barbeques. These are just a few of the recurring details we have heard personally when others describe Argentines. Who knows how our experience will be, but it's always interesting to hear the various interpretations.