The Difference

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December 7, 2009

Having come from the U.S. straight after our trip to Argentina, I have to say, this is like a study in contrast. The neat and orderly world in the suburbs of Miami is almost as far opposite from the chaos of Buenos Aires as you can get. The only tie that binds is the common language — and the crazy driving — but mostly the language. People in B.A. toss around way more words in English than I expected and than what I normally hear in Chile. And everyone in Florida is fluent in Spanglish as well. I love it, since it’s pretty much the only thing I speak these days. Example while ordering lunch the other day:

Me: I’d like the Greek salad. Pero puede ser sin queso?

Cashier: Claro, sin queso. Did you want to a drink with that?

Being in the U.S. I can’t help but make comparisons. On our way to Chile from Argentina, the entire airport went on strike. Our taxi pulled up to the arrivals area for Lan Chile and lo and behold, what were we greeted with but a huge group of protesters — complete with painted faces, flying flags and beating drums. As we walked into an airport that was a virtual ghost town and waited in line to find out whether our flight was canceled or not, I couldn’t help but snicker. I live in a world where not only are strikes at the airport possible, they’re almost predictable. Granted, when I say I live, I mean by proximity. Santiago is sort of a toned down version of B.A. Last time there was a strike at Arturo Merino Benitez, it only involved the custom’s workers. But in Buenos Aires, for as long as I’ve been living in South America, flights have been getting canceled out of their airport because of strikes. For the wedding we shot there, I specifically booked to arrive 4 days early so that in case the airport was on strike and flights were landing, we’d have time to get there via bus.

And then the next day we flew into Miami. The plane arrived about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and I overheard two passengers that were actually upset that we were arriving early because it meant they’d have to wait for their ride. I find it hilarious that in South America you have to schedule around the possibility of no schedule at all, while in the U.S. a 20 minute time difference in schedule is cause for complaint.

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8 Comments

  1. I heard about the strike from my BA friends! Happens ALL of the time!!! Gotta love the Spanglish, huh? I have a radio station that I listen to while in the car and it's completely Spanglish and it makes me constantly laugh. :)

    Comment by GlobalButterfly — December 9, 2009 @ 6:13 am

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  2. Hey, I am a Chilena in Savannah, Georgia, USA. This is so funny (esp. since it was not I who was inconvenienced.) Anyway, I am going to cut & paste the verbal exchange & post it in Facebook. Virgilio Perez Pascoe (former Coke Exec., I think) posted an article from the New York Times about the “invasion of the Spanish Language in the United States.) What you quoted is just the opposite in Latin American countries!! Ja! Ja! We are all so provincial sometimes.

    Comment by marielaorellana — December 9, 2009 @ 7:40 am

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  3. I'm just glad I found my gringuitas here in Chile so I can continue my Spanglish like it's no big deal.

    Comment by Andrea Gonzalez — December 9, 2009 @ 11:06 am

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  4. Once my flight got in over an hour early from Germany. It was awesome. I ended up needing every second to run through the Chicago airport so I have no idea what those people were complaining about.

    Comment by Sara — December 9, 2009 @ 11:47 am

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  5. I heard about the strike from my BA friends! Happens ALL of the time!!! Gotta love the Spanglish, huh? I have a radio station that I listen to while in the car and it's completely Spanglish and it makes me constantly laugh. :)

    Comment by GlobalButterfly — December 9, 2009 @ 2:13 pm

    Reply

  6. Hey, I am a Chilena in Savannah, Georgia, USA. This is so funny (esp. since it was not I who was inconvenienced.) Anyway, I am going to cut & paste the verbal exchange & post it in Facebook. Virgilio Perez Pascoe (former Coke Exec., I think) posted an article from the New York Times about the “invasion of the Spanish Language in the United States.) What you quoted is just the opposite in Latin American countries!! Ja! Ja! We are all so provincial sometimes.

    Comment by marielaorellana — December 9, 2009 @ 3:40 pm

    Reply

  7. I'm just glad I found my gringuitas here in Chile so I can continue my Spanglish like it's no big deal.

    Comment by Andrea Gonzalez — December 9, 2009 @ 7:06 pm

    Reply

  8. Once my flight got in over an hour early from Germany. It was awesome. I ended up needing every second to run through the Chicago airport so I have no idea what those people were complaining about.

    Comment by Sara — December 9, 2009 @ 7:47 pm

    Reply

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