Tranquilo

This past Monday, I ate lunch at the Israeli hostel a few blocks from my apartment.  I found Alex, a young Argentine who manages the Hostel, cool guy.  When I asked him how he was doing, he answered with the word "tranquilo."  This word literally means "calm and low key," but in this context, it meant "relaxed." And one thing I have learned here is that tranquilidad defines Argentina: In order to live your life as a true authentic Argentine, you must be tranquilo.  Unfortunately for me, I just don't have it in me in some circumstances.  Take walking, for example:
Even though I take my time more often than I do at home, sometimes, I just don't have the patience for Argentine pedestrians.  As a result, I often find myself weaving in between people on all sides, just to get ahead and to be able to keep up my normal pace.  However, when I get to the street, I must stop in that cars always have the right of way in Buenos Aires. 

Anyway, the following incidents help to explain or prove the Argentine quality of tranquilo:
1. When waiting in line to pick up my visa recently, the guy who should have been attending to the customers was busy texting his friends on his cell phone, completely neglecting the 50 or so people waiting to receive their visas.  I guess focusing on his job would have been a little too stressful.

2. In one of my courses last week, the class voted to have the midterm next Thursday.  Being that I'd take all of my midterms next week, I booked a plane ticket to Bariloche for the following Thursday.  My friend then informed me yesterday that despite the vote, the professor decided to change the midterm to the day of my flight.  But, seriously, it's fine that an organized vote is discounted and thus a new date is chosen that is most likely more inconvenient for more students.  All is tranquilo in Argentina, meaning that disorganization is not only welcomed but sought after. 

3. This past week, my friend Mya waited in line at the Post office for 45 minutes, when there wasn't much of a line, and all she had to do was hand 2 letters to the employee. 
4.  Everything closes on holidays, known as feriados here.  And it's not even that there are set holidays in this country.  The government looks to add holidays every year, so the owner of a company let's say doesn't know when to expect to close his business b/c there are always new holidays on random days. 
5. At work, I had written down all of the information regarding donated clothing at the Baby Help Center, recording size, sex, and type of clothing.  Today, I was hoping to put all of that info into the computer.  However, when I checked the drawer for the sheets, one of the employees told me that she threw it out- no big deal- now without those sheets and the task of putting the information into the computer, I can spend more time relaxing. (Truth is, it was pretty funny, and we were all laughing about it).
6. In performing my next task, when I found a total contradiction in a document and offered to fix it, my supervisor told me don't bother.  G-d forbid I'd make the document more understandable and thus save other people's time in the future. 

One example of a lack of tranquilidad: On Saturday night, I was getting on to a bus when one of the passengers literally ran and jumped off at the same time, oblivious to anyone boarding the bus, and he collided with somebody, lost his balance, and fell flat on his face.  He should have known to have exited the bus more tranquilamente. 

Sunday night, I was walking back from synagogue with my host dad and some other people who were coming for dinner.  We stopped below an apartment building, at which point my host dad screams  
HEY PENIS!! I was thinking, is this guy for real? Is he actually playing the Penis Game in the middle of the street in Buenos Aires?  I couldn't understand it, and he did it a couple times during the meal, and I was thinking, I know these people don't understand too much English, but can't they catch on?  At some point, I asked my host dad's brother, who was sitting next to me, what the last name of the guy sitting across from me was: it turned it the guy's last name was Penis.  When the younger brother realized what it meant, I was able to immaturely share a laugh with at least someone else at the table. 

Anyway, the meal was very enjoyable and it was nice getting to meet some of the Kiesels' friends and being totally immersed in Spanish, although when everyone seems to be talking at once, it's very hard to follow.  

All jokes aside, I walked from Belgrano to the Retiro section of town, about 5.5 kilometers, to visit my friend Yael, who was staying at a beautiful hotel for Pesach.  I passed through many different neighborhoods on the way, seeing many different sides to Buenos Aires. 
I took a subway right after the holiday was over back to my apartment.  I must be honest that I was very happy to see the holiday end.  Even in Buenos Aires, which has many kosher establishments, Pesach is relatively hard to keep.  All restaurants remain closed for all 8 days, and the selection in the supermarkets is very thin: thus I pretty much ate all of my meals in my apartment.  One certainly should appreciate what he has either in the NY area or in Israel, where food is always readily available. 

Hope you all had a great holiday.

Que tengan una buena noche

Ariel