Have I told you how kind the people are here? Oh my word. They truly care for and love other people here. I've had hard times off and on here, but your support back home and the people here are really what's helped me pull through it. I don't think they've heard of the word 'gossip', they just love you and if there's a problem they will say it to your face.
We have a woman who cleans our place and I told her I was sick and she offered to go out and get me medicine. She talks to me in Castilian (Argentina's language-I keep saying Spanish, but it's really Castilian) and tells me all these different things I should do to get better. I used to never understand a word she said, but now, I actually knew some of what she was telling me. I was feeling better today, but still sick, but I wanted to go to class today and my teacher hugged and kissed me and was so excited that I was feeling well enough to come to class. I felt SO loved. I didn't end up having class today because she thought I was still sick, so she scheduled to take an exam today. That's probably a good thing because I still need to rest up, but I was just glowing on my walk back home because I felt so loved by her. One more example. Danny told his boss I was sick, and his father-in-law is a doctor and he offered to take me to see him and translate. I cannot get over how generous and loving they are here.
I don't know if I mentioned this in a blog yet or not, but there seems to be no hierarchy among the people. What I mean by that is people of a different class don't treat others of a lower class lower then them. There's certainly no elitism, well among the majority of Cordobes. People treat the janitor in a building the same they would a good friend. You can't tell if someone is an old friend with a waitress/waiter because they are so happy to see them and they talk as if they've known the person for years. People authentically loving other people, I can't think of many things that bring me more joy.
5 comments:
Hi Lizzie-
I love hearing about how much the people in Argentina “get” how to love each other! Whenever I hear about this I always think that is one of the reasons you and Danny are over there. Lizzie, I know you’ve always loved community, from the time you were little. I remember watching you feel disappointed and bewildered as others couldn’t respond or see the value in extending genuine love, Christians or not. So we need you to bring this back to us love starved, self-sufficient North Americaners. I actually don’t believe all of North America is like this, but we Northwesterners certainly do seem to find the “illusion of self-sufficiency” more attractive than the risks inherent in extending ourselves to both offer and receive love. I wish I could say I was an exception to this malady. Suffice to say, I am a recovering from this sad and lonely place.
P.S. Regarding the posting problem and needing to sign up for Gmail. I encourage anyone who wants to post to go ahead and sign up for Gmail. It’s free and you can access your email from anywhere. I like Microsoft Outlook, but can only access my email from the computer where I opened the email. With Gmail, it is accessible from anywhere and yes, Google is sending me a good sized check for this advertisement! I wish! :)
I love you lizzie! I love that you have the eyes to notice the things that you do and the heart to verbalize it for all to learn!!! I miss you a lot right now....
Thank you mom and Angie. Those comments sunk right into my heart at a time when I needed to hear it. I hope to bring back some of the intimacy, love, and community I have learned here. I love and miss you both.
Wow... that was touchy (is that how it is said when you feel pleasantly shocked?)... I didn´t realized you got that impression from us.
Sometimes I feel that we are still to "distant" each other here(specially myself). I´d love to feel myself more comfortable by expressing love and affection (cariño) with others, but it´s hard. Even here, with all the "latin" spirit, we are kind of a big city and I almost don´t know my neighbors...
That´s one of the things that I like about tango, it has a tremendous amount of people contact that makes you feel comfortable by the atmosphere sourrounding the place.
Diego,
Oh my word- I totally experience you guys that way. You guys are not distant at all. If you want to experience 'distant' you should hang out in the states for a while. Well, some parts. No offense to us, but there is so much more affection here. I don't want to discourage you from coming to the states though, you need to come and visit :) It's kind of what we were talking about at lunch today- We tend to isolate more in the US. You guys are more relational here.
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