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Becoming a Porteño

Buenos Aires is truly an incredible place! I have never experienced anything like this city. I have been here for just over two weeks now and every day I feel more comfortable. Whether that be navigating the busy streets, learning how to shop at the local markets, or becoming comfortable expressing myself in Spanish every minute I spend here makes the city feel more like home. Each part of the massive city is unique, making Buenos Aires feel like a melting pot of so many different cultures. Take San Telmo for instance. I traveled to the antique market over the weekend and I felt as if I was standing in an Italian piazza. Speaking of Italy, Buenos Aires has a very Italian feel due to colonization in the past. Someone said to me that Argentines speak Spanish but with an Italian accent and it is quite accurate. At first, I had a really hard time understanding the Argentines because the Spanish is quite different from the one I learned in the US, but the learning curve was short-lived and I feel comfortable turning my double l’s into j’s. Although the fact that Argentines pronounce the double l as a j makes my name Ellen Lavelle very hard to speak here so when I am ordering coffee I have opted to use Elena. 

My journey to get to Buenos Aires was pretty smooth except for one little detail! My flight from Chicago to Houston was delayed half an hour, and I only had a 50-minute layover. I RAN through the Houston terminals with five other fellow passengers to make the connection, and somehow we did! Since I arrived, I feel like I haven’t had a chance to slow down at all! There is so much to do in the city I am afraid eight weeks won’t be enough! Monday through Friday I am in class from 9:00 AM till 1:00 PM. My classes have been a great way to meet new people from all over the world. The Spanish classes themselves are amazing! I was afraid that four hours was going to be unbearable in the classroom, but it is the complete opposite. I am learning so much each day and my Spanish has never been better. 

After class, I explore the city! I visited the magical Teatro Colon to watch an opera. I took tango lessons and saw a professional tango show. I visited La Boca on a bike tour of the city. I also took a cooking class with my roommate! My evolution professor at Notre Dame, Prof. Julian Torres-Dowdall is Argentinian and his brother lives in Buenos Aires. Because of this connection, I was able to attend the sold-out play Mientras Tanto Yo starring Prof. Torres-Dowdall’s younger brother, Javier! The play was incredible and I was so happy to chat with Javier after the performance. A few of my other favorite activities include a night scooter tour around the city with local guides, visiting the Japanese Gardens, and seeing the critically acclaimed Argentine film Blondi in the most famous movie theater in all of Argentina: the Gaumont. From enjoying parilla with my new friends and visiting the numerous gelaterías, the food in Buenos Aires has also been very impressive. Through my Spanish school, Vos, I had the chance to learn the art of grilling an asado as well as preparing Guiso. My first two weeks in Buenos Aires have been transformative and I can’t wait to see what the next six weeks will hold.

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Heterostereotypes: Americans Through the Lens of an Italian

As part of this blog post, I had the opportunity to interview my university’s residential advisor and ask him, a native Italian, about his insights into one heterostereotype he has observed about Americans. My residential advisor has extensive experience guiding American college students through this study abroad program, and I believe that from his conversations with past and present students, he would provide me with a valuable and well-articulated stereotype.

During our conversation, my advisor presented a thought-provoking stereotype that American people are not family oriented. My residential advisor explained that his stereotype stems from his observed contrasts between American and Italian lifestyles. For example, he explained how Italians tend to prioritize more quality social time with their families, such as nightly family meals and frequent family outings, compared to their American counterparts. Additionally, the close-knit nature of Italian families, spanning across generations, fosters a strong sense of community and support, further contrasting with the experiences he has witnessed among American families.

 I truly appreciated this valuable conversation with a staff member at my university and discovering more about how Americans are viewed by non-Americans. In fact, despite hearing this perceptibly negative stereotype about Americans, I was not at all offended by his judgement. In fact, I do not completely disagree with the presented stereotype that Americans are not family oriented. From growing up in the United States, it is common, and even expected, for children to eventually become independent from their families by an early age. Most children will move out of their parents’ house and become independent by their late teens or early 20s. This starkly contrasts my advisor’s own experiences and observations within his Italian family, where the importance of familial connections is deeply ingrained.

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Blog 3: A tradition four times the age of the US

This week, Siena is preparing for its famous and historical Palio. In simplest terms, the Palio is a bareback horse race where 17 contrade (the neighborhoods of the city) vie for victory through an intense three laps around the main Piazza. The competition draws 30,000 people into the square to witness this 90 seconds of lawlessness and medieval nostalgia. The Palio dates back to at least the 13th century and holds immeasurable significance for Sienese people. 

The best description I’ve seen of this cultural significance comes from the book Seven Seasons in Siena by Robert Rodi. In this passage, he draws upon the common and shortcoming analogy that Sienese contrade are akin to American sports fans. “For it to be analogous, the Cubs would have to be one of seventeen ball clubs in Chicago, each one specific to a certain neighborhood; fans would have to have been baptized in the Cubs church and grown up identifying themselves not as Cubs fans but as Cubs themselves; the Cubs would have to be not merely a beloved team but a family, a community, the foundation of our very identity. And, oh yeah, there’d have to be only two ball games every summer. And the Cubs would’ve just won one of them, against all other Chicago teams.” 

With a tradition this old, this important, and this difficult for Americans to fully grasp, it was understandable when my professor remarked to us earlier today about how the Sienese are weary of Americans during this climatic week. To let an outsider fully into this ecosystem is to risk compromising the traditional foundation that has supported this race for centuries. Thus, my professor provided us with a common heterostereotype: Americans are unable to respect and understand tradition. This heterostereotype comes from their perception of Americans through TV/media, the throngs of summer tourists, and news. 
While I have met Americans who are extremely disciplinarian about following tradition, I understand why the Sienese people got the impression that Americans in general are obsessed with change. Our country is built on globalization, industrialization, on the idea that change is necessary, good, and can’t come soon enough. While Siena is modern in the sense of household goods, job opportunities, and most everything else, they retain a uniquely full medieval town and have done a remarkable job not changing the historical artworks, events, and contrade. This ability to let the new in without destroying the old is very admirable and something hard to transfer to America, a country ¼ the age of the Palio.

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Reconciling New Perspectives

For this blog, I interviewed a friend who works at a restaurant here in Sorrento. His main heterostereotype of Americans in general is that we are extremely loud. This is based on people he has encountered while working; however, he said that once he actually gets to know people, it is impossible to hold this or any stereotype. It is also heavily reliant on tourism, something that creates a lot of stereotypes and tends to annoy the locals. As an Italian who has lived his entire life in Sorrento and seen it grow, it makes sense that he would develop some form of stereotypes about the tourists changing his environment.

From my experience, I would say that Americans, including myself, do tend to be loud. However, the stereotype that he has undoubtedly has much to do with his line of work, as any group can become loud and obnoxious when they are out having a good time with friends. I would also say this even fits my autostereotypes about Americans, as the behavior I have seen here from us is not much different from what I have seen at Notre Dame or at home.

Ultimately, I do not think this stereotype in particular matters much. Even if Americans annoy him at first glance, we clearly moved past that part to become close. The other interesting thing about this stereotype in particular was that I held the same heterostereotype about Italians before I got here. He laughed when I jokingly told him that after the interview. That is the most important part: two people from different cultures have some negative views about the other and still find a way to be friends and make fun of each other in a well-intentioned and well-received manner.