From Messi to Maradona, Argentina has produced some of the best soccer, or more accurately termed, fubol, players to ever exist.

Outside of the U.S., other populations seem uninterested in touchdowns and linebackers but rather one of the most popular sports around the world is the beautiful game of futbol, the sport that is actually played with your feet.

Another aspect of Argentine culture and just as important as others, is their infatuation with this pastime, soccer. Soccer has grown in popularity within the United States over the last couple of decades, and myself, along with millions of others grew up playing it. But before this time it was relatively unpopular and not very well known by Americans in comparison to other countries. The U.S. women’s team is incredible and has won the FIFA Women’s World Cup three times but our Men’s team doesn’t quite compare, having not even qualified for the Cup in the 2018 tournament. And seeing as I was in Argentina during that World Cup you can be sure I never heard the end of it from all of my friends and family members there.

The passion Argentinians have for the game is un-containable and I felt it a privilege to have been in Argentina during a world cup season, even if the Argentine team didn’t perform quite as hoped. I bonded with my family members while watching the games, whether Argentina was playing or not. I passed the ball around with my little host brother as he waited in anticipation fpr the starting whistle. I went to restaurants down town with my best friend from France, supporting her through the emotional journey of watching her country’s team be crowned the world cup champions, when she couldn’t be there in person to celebrate with them. Just as all sports do, soccer unites people. Even those rooting for different teams are brought together by their love of the game. Soccer is knit throughout Argentine culture but also reflects many parts of the personality that is embedded there.

Take Maradona and Messi, two of the most famous soccer stars of all time, both of whom are Argentinians. Maradona represents the epitome of Argentine personality. Diego Maradona is considered one of the greatest players of all time and has the boisterous personality to back it up. He is loud and lively. He embraces fame and wealth and lives large. Argentinians are known for their loud personalities, passionate about everything they involve themselves in, meaning that Argentinians loved, and I mean, loved, Maradona. Lionel Messi on the other hand is quiet and withdrawn from the spotlight, but he too is considered a soccer “god.” His skill and passion for the game are undeniable yet he is often criticized by the Argentine public because he is calmer with his emotions and is a man of very few words. They still have a love for the player but often find it easy to critique him if they don’t see enough of a fire in his performances. The way these public figures are accepted by the public is reflective of the mass personality of the nation.

A culture is more than the language and the food, it is also the common passions and interests and what those interests reflect. Soccer is undeniably a shared passion among the majority of Argentine citizens and was one I was glad to take part in as I was immersed in the national culture.

When I brought mate back to the U.S. with me I was prefaced by my host family and exchange friends that I had to be very clear to any customs officer that asked me, the dried and crushed leaves in my bag is tea, tea, not drugs, tea. And it truly is just tea, but many exchangers have had their mate taken from them as they try to explain what it is to customs officers who don’t know what it is and don’t want to take the time to try to figure it out.

Mate is the traditional national drink of Argentina, it is dried yerba (pronounced sher-ba) leaves that are crushed and is essentially loose–leaf tea. The leaves are put into a small cup, which could be wooden, metal, plastic, or a hollow gourd. This cup has been “cured” or prepared in a certain way so that the essence and flavor of the yerba is conserved while drinking. Once the yerba is in the cup you use your hand to flip it over and get the smaller pieces to the top of the cup, you then insert the filtered straw and pour warm water at the base of the straw until the leaves are not fully covered by the water, but it is visible. The server of the water drinks first and finishes the small cup and then serves the water again and passes it to the next person, who sips and passes it back and this process is repeated to all the people and around again until the water runs out or until the social gathering is done.

Culture is so deep and multi-faceted, one of the most enjoyable things to do is to realize that customs that are so important to the people there are the best ones to take part in. Mate is everywhere in Argentina, yet most people don’t like it the first time they drink it, sort of like coffee, it is an inquired taste. Yet with time I grew to like this special drink and embraced the sharing of one communal straw. This drink is a societal connector, it is meant to be enjoyed in groups and as such I have a host of memories that have been crafted around it.

There are several ways to drink it, so of course my host family had to show me them all. The common debate is with or without sugar; “dulce o amargo?” . Most true mate drinkers will say that you can’t add sugar, it ruins it! But if you are like me a little bit of sugar makes it taste so much better. You can also add orange peels, mint leaves, coffee grounds or other flavors to the top of the mate cup and have a little different flavor come out within the yerba. I even had it with sweetened milk at one point with my host family which was so good.

Mate is served with nearly boiling water which is great during the winter and even the chillier parts of spring and fall but during the hot and long summers in Argentina, it is just too much to be sweating and drinking mate, at least for me it is, but most Argentinians will do it anyway. Although there is a more refreshing and sweeter option during the summer. Rather than serving it with hot water, often people will use plastic mate cups and pour in orange or apple juice to the yerba with some ice cubes and enjoy as they sunbathe or go to the beach or relax in the park.

This drink was and still is, such a clear cultural difference between the U.S. and Argentina. I thought little of it while in Argentina, it was good and a great way to spend time with new friends and family but when I brought it back to the U.S. to share it with my friends and family here, so many people thought it wasn’t very good to begin with but were disgusted by the thought of sharing one straw with the people around them, and in some regards they have a point, but any Argentinian thinks nothing of it. In fact, there is mate etiquette, and part of that is that if someone asks you for a serving of your mate it’s somewhat rude to say no, meaning exactly what you think, you could be swapping saliva with strangers. Another funny part of mate etiquette is that you don’t touch the straw (or bombilla)!

So next time you’re in South America, try some and I challenge you to get past any germophobic nervousness and step into that aspect of their culture.

As Americans we are constantly running. Running between our social lives, our work, our school, our clubs, our sports, our families; always working to squeeze in enough time to eat, watch a season or two of Netflix and maybe sleep if we have a spare second.

I’m sure many of your lives reflect this concept of commotion, I know mine did, and in many ways still does, but when I was in Argentina it felt as though everything around me just slowed down. Suddenly I wasn’t running but strolling and had more time than I knew what to do with, and it wasn’t just me and the process of establishing myself in a new place, it was the country as a whole.

For example, one of the most common past times in Argentina is going to a park with friends to drink mate, a typical tea-like drink. Parks in the U.S. are enjoyed but realistically not visited often, especially if unaccompanied by children. But the Parks in Argentina, specifically in cities, on a nice day, good luck finding a piece of ground big enough to sit on! And there are no shortages of parks, it truly is just that people love to spare some time and sit in each others company. I have spent hours upon hours just sprawled out with friends, sitting mate, and talking.

There is simply a different understanding when it comes to time in Argentina. In some sense, the Argentine political and economic situation reflect this trend negatively but in general people are more connected, more well rested, and appreciate their time more.

Every afternoon I would come home from school around 1, eat lunch, take an afternoon siesta, and then spend later on either with friends or drinking coffee with my host family. This was a typical day in the life, sometimes with basketball practice or some of my abroad program events thrown in, but it was very relaxed. A lot of my time was filled just exploring my new city and trying new food.

Time is clearly perceived differently depending on where you are from, it is defined by our social constructs. In the U.S. we are competitive and workaholics or we sit on the other end of the spectrum and are too lazy, we rarely are able to find a good balance between productive work and beneficial rest. We aren’t very good at simply sitting in each one of our moments, appreciating where we are at. Rather we seem to always be striving, pushing for something more, a new accomplishment. In that regard we could most definitely learn from the Argentine approach to time, appreciating the dull moments and enjoying those around you rather than working to run past them.

I strive to pull that mindset into my life in the U.S. and fight for a better balance. Will you?

FOOD! Its one of the first things that people think about when they think of other cultures, and it is such a large part of any culture, as it supplies a look at a nation’s history, traditions, geography, social relations, and more.

But before I share all about the good eats that were available in Argentina, I feel the need to talk a little about the typical American diet. I consistently got the question, “what is the food like in the U.S.? Is it all big macs and bacon and waffles (the way they pronounce waffles (wof lays) always made me laugh)?” And it was always hard trying to give an accurate response because the U.S. is unique in the fact that we are a true melting pot, what you eat depends so much on your family and what part of the U.S. you live in. And so I would generally explain that fact and then share about my experience, more vegetables than what they are accustomed to, less meat(not little meat, just less), more salads, and some dishes that they don’t really have in Argentina but are well known in the U.S. – such as mac and cheese, apple pie, waffles, fried chicken, chocolate chip cookies, etc.

I say less meat, not little, because that is the first thing that is mentioned with Argentine dietary customs, they eat so much meat, and it is so good! Beef from Argentina has the reputation of some of the best in the world. Argentine Gauchos are Spanish cowboys and much of Argentina is covered in cattle farms. The typical Argentine meat meal is called an asado. Think barbecue but without the sauce and more different parts of the cow. An asado is cooked for hours over coals and the meat is salted and spiced to the chef’s desire. The finished product is a large spread of meat, always more than what can be eaten, and is usually served with some warm rolls that are ripped apart and shared as well as some sort of “salad,” meaning anything from tomatoes and hard boiled eggs to arugula or leafy greens but whatever it is it is drenched in oils and salts so that it can not even be associated with the word healthy. Some of my best memories in Argentina have been crafted around Argentine Asados, families gather and hours are spent eating whenever such a spread of meat is prepared, it is truly an experience, and a delicious one at that.

Looking past the meat for a moment, there are several other aspects to the Argentine diet. For one, it has a large Italian influence as many Italians immigrated to Argentina during World War II and the culture immigrated with them, clashing with that of Argentina and creating the current Argentine culture which is a beautiful collision of Spanish and European influences while also those of Latin America. Therefore, pasta, sauces, different breads, wine, even pizza to some extent, are all common to encounter in Argentine recipes and daily meals.

Papas, or potatoes, are also a staple, after meat of course. Whether it is in the form of French fries, mashed, or cooked, you will likely not go a day or two in Argentina without a few servings of potatoes piled on your plate. Empanadas are dough pockets filled with either meat, or chicken, or corn, or anything else you can think of and are very typical of Argentina. And milanesa is another typical Argentine dish, thinly cut and breaded meat served with lemon juice sprinkled over top or served with cheese or eggs or other toppings.

But my favorite aspect of Argentine food, the desserts! Whether it be alfajores or different tortas(cakes) or helado(icecream), once you start eating you won’t be able to stop. Alfajores are the most typical Argentine dessert, they are essentially two cookies or layers of cookies with dulce de leche (a thicker type of caramel) in between them and then often covered in chocolate as well. They vary in style depending on what region you are in, so of course as you explore the country you have to work to try them all!

I can most definitely say that I ate well during my year abroad, largely due to my host mom and her irrational fear that I am going to die of hunger. My host mom continues to worry as every time we skype she asks whether I am eating enough, and I can tell she is fighting the urge to send me another serving of potatoes across the world. You see, families connect over food in Argentina, even more so that they do in the United States. Family meals are important and having friends over to eat is the most common form of reunions. Cooking with my mom was how we bonded. And late summer nights of eating dinner at 1 am and chatting with my host dad are some of my favorite memories of him. Food is more than just what causes are bodies to grow, it causes our lives to grow, grow fuller of good times and good relationships, and Argentine food culture embodies that truth.

 

Try some yourself!  Argentine Recipes