Summer Language Abroad 2023

Now that I am coming to the end of my trip here in Buenos Aires a strange feeling has set in. I’ve been studying in the city for just over six weeks, and with two more to go, at the same time I feel as if I just arrived and I feel as if I’ve been in the city for a while. Living and studying in a foreign city is turning out to be one of the most impactful experiences of my life.

After returning “home” from Patagonia, I was excited to get back to studying Spanish. Class has been going great. Honestly, everything has been going great. I have been deepening the relationships I initially formed with my classmates and still meeting more people as new members join the program. I have also met many locals and call some of my professors my closest friends. The entire experience of my language and cultural immersion has been one of the best parts of my life. 

First and foremost, the classes at my school have been amazing. We study the complex grammatical structures of the Spanish language and focus on improving our conversational skills. Additionally, we study the more abstract aspects of the Spanish language. I never knew that different languages would have different signals and gestures. Last week in class we played a game where each student had to flip to a random gesture in the book and act it out. The point of the game was to have the students guess what the sign or gesture meant. We all really struggled but I was able to learn from the game. I often find myself utilizing gestures to my fellow classmates out and about as a result of this class. 

After class I have still been making the most out of everyday. One of my favorite things is to just walk around the city and take in the breathtaking sights that are found in each barrio of the city. I did a street art walking tour as well as a day trip to Delta Tigre. I also took the ferry across the bay to Colonia, Uruguay. I can’t wait to see what the final part of my trip will hold. I’m looking forward to my sister coming to visit me and our trip to the north of Argentina. We are going to visit the falls in Iguazú. 

I recently visited O Museu Historico Nacional, which is in Rio De Janeiro because for those who do not know Rio was the capital before Brasilia. As such many of Brazil’s national institutions and its historical patrimony are located not in Brasilia but in Rio de Janeiro.

The museum itself is working to untangle the complicated colonial legacies of Brazil’s past and while it is balancing these imperatives with the normal goal of such museums to present a more whitewashed view of the national past it is making an earnest effort to confront the legacies of anti-indigenous and anti-Black violence in Brazil. The museum is grappling—at least in part with the legacies of many of Brazil’s national 19th-century historic figures being slave owners such as the Duke of Caxias while putting in the work to uplift and uphold Afro-Brazilian voices both from the past and the present.

But what truly struck me was the beginning of the long-term exhibits in the museum. Rather than starting out with the myth of the European discovery and valorizing the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil, it extolled Brazil’s indigenous past and more importantly, Brazil’s indigenous present. It did this by commencing with an exhibit titled Îandé: estavamos aqui, estamos aqui (or US: we were here, we are here) the museum strongly too ka stands in support of indigenous Brazilians. Such a forthright position that not only acknowledged state violence against indigenous people but also an indigenous present brought me to tears and made me think of how the past and present are presented can reflect the needs of the present and of underserved peoples.

 In this vein the work of Brazilian museums and the ministry of Culture to support these efforts are incredible. Even private institutions such as the Bank of Brazil’s cultural center, extolling the importance of black artists in the construction of Brazilian cultural symbols such as art and samba. The forthright centering of Black and indigenous existence and influence in Brazil in many of the state’s national museums, as well as private institutions, brought to mind the importance of working on representing under-listened-to voices in the construction of national narratives.

This summer experience definitely changed my understanding of the world. I realized that, yes, we all have cultural differences and some that run quite deep, but when it comes down to it we are more similar than different. We all have basic human desires that we want to fulfill and just have different ways of going about it. Sometimes I feel that the world focuses on the differences and disagreements between cultures so much that we lose sight of the fact that we all truly just want to live our life to the fullest. 

I also discovered that while I had a wonderful time in Germany, my version of living life to the fullest is better achieved in the States. Towards the end of my trip I missed some of the little comforts and things about life that home offers. This was important for me to discover because all of my life I have wondered if I would want to live and work overseas, but I think I can now confidently say that it is not something I would be interested in long term. 

I am so glad to have had the opportunity and experience to travel alone and truly do a solo trip, but I learned something about myself through this experience too that I wasn’t expecting. I need companionship. Next time I travel, I want to have someone to share the little moments with, eat at a restaurant with, take pictures with, etc. I can confidently say I am walking away from this summer with memories that I will never forget and new perspectives I will carry with me for the rest of my life, which is truly all I could have asked for!

While the Italian culture I have experienced is mostly similar to the American culture I am used to, there are some notable examples where life in Italy is vastly different.

Dining is seen as a more social experience in Italy, meaning meals last much longer, and the check is not brought out until requested. Even if they are busy, restaurants understand this cultural aspect and do not want to rush you out before you have had your conversation and are ready to go, even if it means staying an hour or longer after the food is done. For the same reason, dessert and especially coffee after dinner is extremely common. I was used to longer meals at times from growing up, but having to ask for the check took some getting used to. Some other Americans I met were extremely frustrated with this, and one of them even used the heterostereotype that Italians were lazy because of this. I think it goes without saying that the guy that said this was one of the most disagreeable people I have ever met. What was an important learning experience for me and my friends was something to be rejected entirely for him.

The other main cultural difference I noticed was work culture. American hours are very demanding and rigorous, but Italian standards make even a 9-5 seem unbearable. The two-hour siesta in the afternoon makes any American lunch break look like nothing. Instead of working an exhausting shift all the way through, Italians can break up their workday and still get home for the late dinner. With an American understanding, this would play into the lazy heterostereotype, but Italians still manage to maintain a successful economy. Perhaps most importantly, however, everyone in Italy seems so much happier than people in the US. Moving forward, I would like to incorporate some of these cultural ways of life so that I can be healthier and happier as well.