The Kiss Hello

As beautiful as Buenos Aires is, especially living in a pretty wealthy area, one can forget the huge issue of poverty that is rampant in major cities, especially in poorer countries.  On Friday, as I was walking to the supermarket, lost in my own world like I normally am while alone, I stumbled upon 3 kids sleeping on a mattress on a street corner.  Whatever I was thinking about before that moment, I instantly became filled with a huge sense of pain, seeing 3 kids homeless, living on their own.  When seeing something like that, you want to help but its hard think how...  We certainly take many things for granted in our lives, especially our family and the privilege of living comfortably. 

On a lighter note, this weekend, we finally began orientation with my program, and as fun as its been shteiging and rocking away with my Chabad family, it certainly was nice to be able to hang out with college kids.  And it seems like a great bunch of guys, a few from wisconsin, california, texas, massachusetts, and new york. 

Opening orientation coincided with my birthday, so what better way to celebrate your birthday than with complete strangers.  Case in point: On Saturday morning, while the rest of the group was out on a city tour, I was enjoying a decent kiddush at the Chabad in Recoleta, a really nice area in the center of the city.  After Chabad, I walked to the API Center, the headquarters of my program, to meet up with the group.  As I entered the building, I was met with all these people, half of whom I had never seen before, singing me happy birthday.  I certainly recognized this wasn't your typical birthday when as the crowd got to the line "Happy birthday to [name]...," everyone became silent.  why? b/c nobody knew my name.  There I was , thanking ppl for wishing me a happy birthday even though I had never seen them before in my life.
Then of course, I was presented with a chocolate mousse cake, but I didn't eat the cake for 2 reasons:
1. It probably had beef fat in it, just like every other non kosher baked good in this country
2. I was still fleishig from the kiddush at chabad, which reminded me of the time when I couldn't eat the ice cream served at my 21st birthday because nobody had bothered to tell me not to eat meat for dinner.  Nevertheless, I neglected to explain the reasoning behind my refusal to eat mousse cake to my new group of friends here b/c it just would have been too complicated to explain.  As a result, I simply let everyone else help him/herself to some cake. 

To continue with the birthday festivities, my group humored me and came with me to a kosher steak house for dinner saturday night.  They were thrilled- it was their first time ever having kosher food, and they really enjoyed it. 

Regarding the post's title, in Argentina, when greeting someone, it is customary/obligatory to kiss that person.  In fact, it's almost insulting not to.  However, I still haven't engaged in this type of greeting with my Chabad mother. 
Anyways, I find this custom really fascinating.  I was at the Buenos Aires Hillel building, talking to the program director there, and this girl comes in, walks right up to me, and gives me a kiss.  I barely even made eye contact with her but she decided to kiss me before even saying hola. 
Then at shul yesterday, sitting next to a guy that I had met earlier in the week, after some point in the conversation, he asked me what I thought about the custom.  Then he said that I had to get used to this cultural aspect and thus we had to do the kissing thing, and thus, I was thrust into an unwanted kiss.
However, there are no lips involved in the kiss- simply a cheek swipe, so its not that gross. 

With all that said, I am not a fan of the Kiss Hello, especially since I am not a touchy person to begin with.  As Jerry Seinfeld says:

• Jerry: I'll tell you another thing, Cosmo Kramer or whatever you want to be called, the kissing thing is over. There's no more kissing and I don't care what the consequences are! [edit]
• Jerry: I'm going on record right now that was my last kiss hello. I am getting off the kiss program with her.
  Elaine: Why?
  Jerry: Well, frankly, outside of a sexual relationship, I don't see the point to it. I'm not thrilled with all the handshaking either, but one step at a time.

Another curiosity about Buenos Aires: the subway goes in the wrong direction- even though the cars drive on the right side of the road, the trains go as if they were in england.  

Final note: The daughter of the program director is gorgeous, however she has a boyfriend...
and she goes to a different university..
and she's the daughter of the program director

ciao

Ariel