I have noticed that Argentines are much more affectionate in their greetings of family, friends, and even strangers. The most common way to greet others is a brief hug and kiss on the left side of their cheek while greeting them by saying hello, how are you, and other similar greetings in Spanish. An individual greets everyone in the group as they meet up and when saying goodbye to a group. These practices showed me the cultural values of physical affection and personability that are so common in the country of Argentina, and that I experienced many times.
When I was studying in Buenos Aires, I met and spent some time with some Italian students studying abroad at the same University as me, and about my age. One of them Miriam, went to a restaurant for her birthday with a bunch of other friends and invited me as well. I only knew one other person going that spoke english and I was a little bit worried about having to converse in spanish during dinner in a loud restaurant. When one of her friends that I hadn’t met came in, she came around the table and hugged and greeted everyone individually. When she was looking for a seat, even though I had never talked to her before, I felt comfortable motioning for her to sit with me, because I felt seen by her and like I knew her already a little bit.
Someone from Argentina might not notice this as a cultural practice, because it is something they are so used to doing, that they do it without thinking. For me, I had to become accustomed to it because it wasn’t something that I was used to, but I actually really liked it. I am an affectionate person and like hugging people in general and I thought that it was sweet and made me feel closer to the people I was with. It always made me feel good to say hello individually to everyone and made me feel like a valued member of a group and I got to know new people more easily, because after hugging them when we first met, I felt more comfortable talking to them and also reaching out to them later.
This exercise allows the writer to look back on their experience and notice cultural practices that stood out to them and how these practices affected them. It causes a reader to dig into the cultural observations or experiences that they witnessed in their host country. After this written prompt, one might more quickly try to see the world through the eyes of someone living there, allowing the successful navigation of a multi-cultural world.
The point of the assignment is to develop empathy and understanding surrounding cultural customs. After doing that, one can determine their opinion on the custom and whether its something that they could or would bring back to their home country. For me, I would like if we had this tradition here because I think it would make people more compassionate and feel connected.