Reflection 2

Since I posted my first reflection for my International Internship Program class I thought I might as well post the second one as well. Here is a section of it:

In comparison to some of the other IDIP students, my experience here in Buenos Aires has probably been way less dramatic in terms of culture shock or change in lifestyle. The things that I have had to adjust to are more related to the pace and structure of time and living is such a big city. Buenos Aires is an enormous modern city full of a vibrant energy fueled by 14 million or so residents. My apartment is sandwiched between a bookstore and small clothing boutique and right across the street is an Italian restaurant, two banks and a Hyundai car dealership. There are several grocery stores very near my house and I have a kitchen in my apartment, so even my eating habits haven’t changed drastically and in the interests of saving on money for food I eat a lot of meals at home. I have become pretty close with my roommate—an Argentine girl who rents out a room in her apartment to international students—and we have been cooking a lot together. It has been fun sharing different recipes for things I assumed to be pretty simple such as French toast or scrambled eggs with vegetables. Sharing stories and cultural observations during meals together has been a comforting and fun way to learn about Argentinean culture and history. From talking with my roommate, co-workers and other Argentineans that I’ve met, I am beginning to gather an understanding of the economic situation of Argentina over the past few decades.

Argentina has experienced several periods of extreme economic crisis, most recently in 2001, when the Argentine economy crashed and the peso became practically worthless. I recently watched a documentary about the economic history of Argentina and was surprised to learn about the economic restructuring that occurred during the presidency of Carlos Menem. During his presidency, from 1989 to 1999, he privatized a large portion of Argentine industries and state enterprises. Although these measures had some initial stabilizing affects to the economy, over time they caused a lot of damage and allowed for the concentration of wealth in private companies while the majority of citizens suffered. The day after I watched this documentary I mentioned to one of my co-workers how I had found it fascinating to look at the historical context leading up to the 2001 crisis in terms of Menem’s presidency. He quickly informed me that people do not use Menem’s name directly because of the terrible economic policy he inflicted upon the Argentine citizens, rather people refer to him as simply “Carlos” or some variation of “the president that shall not be named.” Later that day I asked my roommate about it and she said that there are a lot of people who still refuse to use his name, but it varies across society. She explained how in younger generations his name is often used to describe frivolous or extravagant locations, for example a tacky bar or restaurant would be described as very “Menemista.” The legacy of his frivolous behavior and lavish lifestyle at the expense of the Argentine citizens is still evident.

The reality of economic instability is subtle in daily life, but I am becoming more observant of its continued affect on society and the consciousness of the people. Although there is no official state-sponsored recycling collection, men with huge carts walk up and down the streets daily to rummage through the trash and pull out all the cardboard and bottles. President Cristina Kirschner recently announced that citizens are no longer able convert their savings from pesos to dollars in an attempt to reduce capital flight and encourage more internal spending and investment. Yet the inflation of the peso continues to rise and fluctuate. The other day my roommate told me to start being more conservative with my use of electricity because electricity prices just went up 600% due to a cut in government subsidies. The instability of prices and the fluctuating value of the peso hardly inspires much confidence in the citizens to trust their money to savings accounts and government banks.

Although this experience hasn't been exactly what I had expected, it has been amazing. My internship experience has taught me so much about the management of small international NGOs and the difficulties they face in addressing social problems with a limited budget and little government support. My NGO has a lot of growth ahead of them and I am glad that I have had the opportunity to be a part of that growth. I hope that with the help of my grant applications perhaps they will have a chance to expand some of their services, or at least gain more international attention for the work that they do.