Job Discussion Forums

[MELEE]

Okay, I'm doing my part to get things going in here

A while back in the Mexico forum we had the question of how has living in Mexico changed you. So how about we do it again, there are some different faces around here now, but broaden it to the whole of Latin America.

To start it off I'll list something I did a couple of weeks ago that would have shocked my former self.

I bought meat (cecina) from a lady who was selling it door to door out of vinal shopping bag.

[ls650]

[Guy Courchesne]

[Luna Chica]

I have only stayed in peru for a few months, but have been dating a Peruvian for three years and have been surrounded by his family and friends. I think from this experience I have learned to be more patient - you know they never get anywhere on time and morning plans invariably become afternoon evening plans. For example we decided we would go out for lunch at about 12 the other day and didn't end up eating anything until 5:30 By the time they had stuffed around, done their hair, waited for a friend etc etc... you know how it goes. But I have learned to take it all in my stride.

I also adore the affection they have for children. My son gets so much affection from my partner's 20-something Peruvian friends. Completely unlike the reaction he would get from Australian males. They are so warm and effusive. I tell ya it warms the cockles of my heart. Awwww

[Luna Chica]

I have only stayed in peru for a few months, but have been dating a Peruvian for three years and have been surrounded by his family and friends. I think from this experience I have learned to be more patient - you know they never get anywhere on time and morning plans invariably become afternoon evening plans. For example we decided we would go out for lunch at about 12 the other day and didn't end up eating anything until 5:30 By the time they had stuffed around, done their hair, waited for a friend etc etc... you know how it goes. But I have learned to take it all in my stride.

I also adore the affection they have for children. My son gets so much affection from my partner's 20-something Peruvian friends. Completely unlike the reaction he would get from Australian males. They are so warm and effusive. I tell ya it warms the cockles of my heart. Awwww

[Aramas]

Cockles are evil (the censors say so!), whether they be of the heart, cohabitating with mussels, alive or alive oh! What the Dickens! Is it cocktail hour already? I'll have a margarita!

[denise]

I haven't been here long enough to say for sure, but after a few months in Chile and a few days in Peru, I'm hoping that I'll be able to connect more with the students. I think the difference is in the students, though, not in me. They're just so much more outgoing than my students in Japan were!

d

[Ms. Atondo]

Oh God, I don't even know where to start. Some things I never imagined myself doing....

Riding in the back of a pickup down the highway finishing off a carton of Indio

Riding in the back of a pickup holding on to a bookshelf so that it doesnt fall out (wedged between a full-size fridge and the edge of a truck)

Eating tacos de ????. Looked like meat to me.

Buying meat at the corner "deli"

And then...

Finally being in a profession where I feel appreciated and respected, being swarmed by little children in small town who prectically fall over in shock when I speak to them in Spanish, being able to buy food from the local store two days before quincena when all the money is gone...*cry, cry*

[Flo]

Tacos de ????. You were probably eating boiled pig's blood or something. If its cooked right its not to bad until you bite into a vein (or was it an artery?), I'm not too sure.

Like others, I also learned a lot of pacience. I learned to deal with extreme temperatures with out heat or hot water. I don't even worry much about washing my hands. I figure if I survived in Peru for year without soap or running water, I can handle anything!

I am back in the U.S. now and having the worst culture shock ever! Help!

[Looking for my place]

Living in South America taught this Canadian to be more affectionate and stepped up my dancing skills.

[denise]

[Brynita]

Gosh, where to even begin? Some things I've learned:

Patience. Lots and lots of it.

Tolerance for heat and cold and wet. Even when I'm not on a camping trip.

The importance of sunblock when you're living under an ozone hole.

If you don't want to eat 10 times your body weight every time you visit someone, you had better eat really slowly and always make it look like you're taking seconds without actually taking much food. Same goes for alcohol consumption.

Most of the time, it's actually nicer to have a friend show up at your door unannounced than to make elaborate get-together plans the week before.

When to laugh at myself, and when to stand up for myself.

Always carry a packet of kleenex or a small amount of toilet paper with me. Always.

Food from street vendors is usually delicious. Even if it makes you sick.

Even people with strong stomachs and lots of travel experience get altitude sickness. Coca leaf tea is a good thing. Other coca leaf products not so much.

Drinking with friends around a bonfire on the beach beats a nightclub any day. Especially if there's a guitar involved.

Rotisserie chicken and french fries are soooo much better than fast food.

Teaching others is a great way to learn about yourself. For me, it showed me that I am braver, smarter, more adaptable and kookier than I had ever thought.

Getting lost is a part of life. Asking for directions is a good idea.

Politeness and courtesy are highly underrated, especially in the US. However, this doesn't mean that they aren't sometimes used to mask meanness or incompetence.

You don't really want to know how polluted the air and water are, at least not if there's nothing you can do about it personally.

Not all American traditions are bad. Recycling and Thanksgiving are both awesome, but also rather hard to reproduce on other places.

Poetry is good for the soul.

Dancing is good for the soul, too.

It is possible to accept and be accepted by another culture, and to have elements of it become a part of me. Even if I will never truly be completely a part of it.

[matttheboy]

Patience seems to be coming up a lot but i wonder whether you can take that patience home with you?

For example, here in Buenos Aires, i'll happily stand in a queue for an hour, finally get to the front only to be told i've been queuing just to get a number for another queue. Number 197. Now serving 16.

I'll take a 14 hour bus journey to spend 2 days in another city and then spend another 14 hours returning.

I'll accept that to report a problem with the telephone i have to go to a customer service centre to be told by the employees that they can't help me but if i want i can queue up to use the phone to call the customer service department (that can only be called from the phones in the customer service centre...). Customer service department is no help either. Oh well.

Waiting in the street at a restaurant for a table that was supposed to be ready an hour ago? No problem.

3 months for the government to give me my (handwritten) DNI? Easy...

My train delayed for 45 minutes in England? Complaints to the guard and a letter to the train company...

Food taking more than 20 minutes to arrive? What the hell is going on????

2 and a half hours drive to see some friends? Way to far.

No matter how patient i am when i'm abroad, i automatically return to being impatient the second i touch down in england. I can handle the 2 hours at the airport and the 14 hour flight but the last 4 hours on the bus and train to finally get home are unbearable...

Also, i wonder whether we're more patient because we don't want to be seen as 'that whingeing gringo'. Instead of complaing about things that we really have every right to complain about, we sit there, mute, in the hope that it'll all turn out ok in the end. If locals complain, don't we have the right to as well if something impinges on our life? That's the attitude i'd like to have but i tend towards the english style 'best not to make a scene' philosophy...

[denise]

Nice posts, brynita and matttheboy!

I`d like to add a couple more:

I actually feel safer crossing the street on a red light, because I can guess fairly accurately (so far!) at how much time I have to dart between the cars.

I�m working on changing my attitude towards catcalls and whistles. Sometimes they`re flattering. Sometimes they make me get aggressive and glare/curse/make unfriendly hand gestures. (Must stop that--I also feel a bit of what matttheboy referred to as "not wanting to be the whinging gringa" syndrome.) Sometimes they make me laugh--when I was still in California, a couple of guys in a truck passed by me and held up a sign that said, "Show us you t*ts!" If I hadn`t been so shocked, I might have done it, just to see their reaction.

d

[ls650]

I can list off many items, but instead I will mention only two things I've learned from TEFL:

- people around the world are pretty much the same on the inside. Despite barriers in culture and language, we all have a lot more in common than most folks might think.
- About 2% of the world's population cause about 98% of the problems. Most people are not interested in fighting wars or crusading for ethnic causes; they just want to live a happy life with their friends and family. Unfortunately, that aforementioned 2% keep stirring up trouble.