The Five Senses: El toque (touch) de Buenos Aires (YO)

Each of our senses are nothing less than gifts that are often taken for granted. It is amazing how everything we learn about the world revolves around the use of our senses. I have only been in Buenos Aires (BA), Argentina for a week. Yet I find myself becoming more in tune with the city and the culture through all the important ways that I physically perceive a number of different things. In fact, one of the first things I learned in BA is how we all perceive things differently through a cultural lens. Nevertheless, seeing through these lenses is often short-sighted as there is always more to the new people, places, and things which enter our lives than we can actually discern at first.

SIGHT

In all honesty, my first day in BA did not seem that different from any other day in the United States, as far as sight goes. Everything I saw reminded me of the large cities back home. On one street I saw a McDonald's, on another I saw over-packed department stores, and everywhere I looked there were people rushing to get from point A to point B. Where my sight was concerned, nothing seemed any different to me than what I was use to, but I guess that's why they say hindsight is 20/20!

Obelisco de Buenos Aires

HEARING

Up until this point in my life, I don't think I have ever depended on my hearing as much as I do now. Argentines talk fast! Understanding the Spanish vocabulary is the least of my concerns here. As such, a word to the wise, if you want to keep up with the local Argentines then you need to pay attention. Thankfully, virtually everything I hear is Argentine Spanish. So hopefully within a month or so I will be talking just as fast as the locals. Albeit, the sounds of the city remind me much of the busy streets of places like New York, due to all of the hearty conversations, loud metro stations, rush hour traffic, and constant construction. However, one thing that is very interesting in terms of sound is the time that I spend with family or friends from BA. This time is very important and meaningful in Argentine culture. You can hear it in the tones that people speak to you with, with genuine interest and a desire to get to know you as an individual.

A mural painted in a busy metro station.

TASTE

The line between picky and adventurous is very thin for me in terms of taste. I love learning about other people, they way they see the world, and how they live their lives. However, I risk my taste buds with very little uncertainty. Fortunately, the meat and the mate (pronounced maa-tae, somewhat like a very strong green tea) are always delicious in BA. Still, often times I have to remind myself that there is no point in traveling to a different country if I am only going to stay in my comfort zone. So with this in mind I often venture out and try new foods. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, other times I wish I followed my initial instinct and stuck to what I know. Still, I am happy to say that even when I eat something new that I ended up not liking, I do not let that "bad" experience keep me from trying others. This might be one of the most valuable lessons that I have learned in BA so far. Life always has a funny way of letting things happen to us that we were not expecting or in some cases did not want at all, but we cannot let the unexpected keep us from living.

A very healthy and delicious dinner that my host mom cooked.

SMELL

Interestingly enough, smell has been one of the most profound senses that have helped me get to know the city and the culture firsthand. Whenever I am walking through the streets I smell food. It really does not matter what time of day it is, there is always  someone opening their food market early in the morning, a parilla (restaurant or grill) with fresh meat cooking in the afternoon, or roasted nuts being sold on the corner. Fresh food seems to be a very important thing here in Argentina. It makes me think of the culture of health in the United States. There seems to be a large gap between the way we talk about the importance of health in the States and the tangible things that we actually do in order to ensure it for our citizens. I was surprised that this sense was one of the two that made me think of home the most. However, I think it is very natural to compare the things that you do not know to the things you do, whether they be positive, negative, or somewhat neutral in this case.  

A famous tango restaurant in the middle of BA.

TOUCH

On the other hand, everything (and I do mean everything) that I have perceived through touch has been completely different. My first day in the city, I was welcomed with *hugs and kisses. (*Side note: if you are not a "touchy-feely" person this may not be the city for you.) Then once I was situated into the home of my host family, everything from the floor boards beneath my feet to the humid Argentine wind that blows on my face at night, reminded me that I was not at home. This sense has been the most difficult for me to deal with while adjusting to my life here in BA. For most, if not all of the students from the U.S. that are in the same program as me, this is still the honey moon phase of our time abroad. In spite of that, this has not been the case for me. Waking up every morning to the feeling of sheets that are not mine, opening doors everyday that I have never laid a hand on, and kissing faces that I am meeting for the first time are all so many new things happening to me at once. Even while none of these things are especially stressful or upsetting for me, they still leave me wanting to feel something familiar, something that I have known longer than a week.

My friend since freshman year and me eating lunch at a local restaurant. 

All the same, I know myself and I am a very adaptable person. I knew coming into this experience that I would have a difficult time adjusting in one sense or another (no pun intended). Even still, I know that the longer I am here the more I will learn to love and appreciate all the things that Argentina has to offer. Everyday presents its joys and difficulties. Nonetheless, I still see this as a time for me (and my senses) to develop and mature, whatever may come our way!