The world would be a much better place if more people could sit down and just have a beer with people from other nations. No lie. I sincerely believe that.

One of my roommates happens to be this Brazilian named Horacio (name changed for privacy). He’s 30 years old, looks like he’s 23, owns a gas station and a tire store in R�o de Janeiro, and recently he got divorced after five years of marriage. Yesterday we sat down for a drink and chatted about United States and Brazilian culture. I asked him what Brazilians think of the people from up north, and the chat developed from there, him speaking in portu�ol, or combination Portuguese and Spanish, with a little English thrown in whenever we couldn’t understand each other.

When Americans are young, he said, Brazilians see energetic people who want to travel and experience the world. When they become old, though, Brazilians become scared of them, because traveling to other countries, wealthy Americans have the capability of outright buying and taking over everything that Brazilians have ever worked for, capitalist style.

Horacio says that he doesn’t understand the American mentality of going out and meddling with other peoples’ business. It’s like America wants to rule the world. And they’re always looking to see how they can exploit others. Everything is about competition, about being the best, as opposed to just doing your best. This isn’t to say that people in Latin America (according to Horacio, mind you) don’t compete, but they do so out of wanting to do good for themselves, not to beat or outdo other people in whatever way possible, no matter what it takes.

I’ll have to say, the people here are warm, inviting, willing to start up conversations even though you’re a stranger, willing to invite each other along for drinks, etc. People aren’t so guarded the way they are in the States. That’s just my experience so far, but everyone here feels genuine in a way that’s a little different. It’s hard to explain.

That said, I find a lot of truth in what Horacio is saying. Live and let live. It’s how Brazilians see things, he says, and even though the world sucks and people might be exploiting you, there’s always “fiestas and futbol,” or parties and soccer, so everything is okay.

Nealson, a guy from the Netherlands, said that there’s this sense with some Americans of exaggerating or keeping up appearances. Like in television shows where girls will meet and say, “Oh, it’s so good to SEE you,” and one will reply and say, “Oh. My. God. Totally.”… You know, stereotypical behavior, but I think that sense, of being disingenuous, of putting on an exaggerated show or a front of some sort — that manifests itself too often in daily interactions in the States (Niels also added that those disingenuous people exist everywhere, but maybe it’s more pronounced in America…?)

And again, this is all subjectivity. But everything is subjective, everyone will have different opinions, everyone will meet different people. So as flawed as subjectivity is — we can’t ever really make sweeping generalizations — I think it’s interesting to take a look at what people’s different experiences are.

One of the most interesting things we talked about was the importance of traveling. I hate to get political, but the fact that Sarah Palin had never traveled internationally and was a potential leader of the supposed free world — that just feels disgusting to me. There are so many different kinds of people on the planet it’s ridiculous, and it is so important to go out and meet them, to broaden your perspective.

All that said, I think that something about United States culture, whatever it may be, rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it’s because both my parents are immigrants and I can’t reconcile the differences between the two cultures. Maybe I’m just a person who wouldn’t really “fit” anywhere. Maybe lots of people feel the way I do at some point.

In any case, comparative literature (one of my majors) is all about deconstructing nationalism, which I see as petty and ultimately a barrier between people when we’re all in fact human beings. That’s one thing that makes everyone here at the hostel great: They all have such a pronounced interest in other cultures, in learning new languages, in meeting new people, in trying new things. As proud of their countries as people might be, they’re also profoundly engaged with those who come from other places. The best example I can think of is, in talking to people, I learned that English people are always traveling. Even though England is a small country, you’ll find its citizens everywhere. There are at least five staying at this hostel right now. I’m the only guy from the United States.

Like I said, traveling is really important, and if everyone in not just the United States, but everywhere, were required to travel to other countries and socialize with new kinds of people, that’d be great. I’m not sure where exactly it’d lead us, but I’m sure it’d be somewhere positive.

It’s a little harder with the States because it’s so isolated. Even so, it’s sad to me that a lot of people back home have never made the effort to travel internationally.

All that said, staying at this hostel is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. I’ve checked out and soon I’ll be meeting my host family. The other IES students are arriving today. Tomorrow, the entire program starts.

But I’m in no way ready to leave yet.

I got here two days early and feel I should’ve gotten here a week or even a month ago, because I still have so much to learn. I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that I have to leave, though. There’s no use in regretting the way things turn out — everything is the way it’s supposed to be, or at least that’s what I tell myself.

I’ll write more about what I learned from the Brazilians later. We talked about Chinese-American politics, drug traffickers in R�o de Janeiro and drinking culture. Let me just say this: In my uninformed opinion, there is NO reason that the drinking age should be 21 in the States. None. We have an “alcohol problem” at Penn State but I don’t think the problem is the alcohol so much as our culture’s attitude toward the alcohol. Instead of trying to ignore the vice of drinking, why not accept or even encourage drinking as a social activity, educate people about it rather than denying it to them, and like here, people become used to drinking and then don’t get themselves entirely plastered every night…?

Well, here are some pictures of the obelisk. I was cautioned to look around for piranhas, or groups of little kids that work together to rob tourists. Fortunately none were there and I could take these photos:

Location: Avenida de Mayo 1245, Buenos Aires, Argentina