SOUTHERN AMERICAN HOSPITALITY

I've been down here in Argentina for four weeks now, and I fall in love with the city a little more each day. It's hard not to fall in love--the people here are just so friendly. While we were staying at the estancia in Cordoba, the Brazilian family who was staying at the same estancia with us heard that I was going to Brazil. They invited me to not only stay with them in their house three hours outside of Sao Paulo, but they also said I was more than welcome to stay with their mother in Sao Paulo.

On our way Iguazu a family that I just randomly started chatting with in the airport gave me their phone number and e-mail address, telling me to call them or e-mail them if I needed anything. They also invited me to come bring some friends and spend the weekend with them at their home en Mar de Plata. The hospitality down here is truly incredible. In the United States we are so scared of others. I feel like we assume the worst, but the people here assume the best.

One of the most hospitable of families is the Place Family. Jenny Place is one of my closest friends from Stanford. She is from Buenos Aires, and while Jenny is currently back in California, I've been able to get to know her family. While my parents were here our family went to dinner with the Place Family, and then this weekend I spent the majority of my day on Saturday with the Places. They live in the suburbs to the north of Buenos Aires (it's between 30minutes to an hour away depending on traffic). On Saturday morning the drove into Buenos Aires to pick me up, and we drove out to their home in the north. We had a lovely lunch at a country club where they are members and then spent a some time at their home where they gave me a tour, and we chatted. Mr. Place knows that I'm a history major and lent me a number of books about Argentine history, and Jenny's younger sister Stephanie lent me some DVDs from their movie collection to keep myself entertained. The Place Family has really taken me under my wing and treats me as if I'm their daughter (Mr. Place e-mails me at least once a week to check in and make sure everything is going well). It's so nice to have such a loving family looking after me, especially since my host family is so cold.

It was so nice to get out of the city, to see homes with yards and swimming pools and to spend some time with a loving family. It was a lovely day and just reaffirmed what I've already noticed about South American Hospitality.