After more than 6 years in Buenos Aires I feel an urge to write down some observations. Several cultural, linguistic and all type of differences have caught my Swedish eye over the years. During this time I have also come to look upon Sweden and the Swedes from a new perspective... This blog contains my “non-academic" personal thoughts and observations of my two countries.
Following the same logic as the first submission, based on the Samborombon photo, I will now get the La Boca-thing and photo here on the blog out of my system. It is the second most obvious Swedish-Argentinean connection in my book. Of course my book changes a lot and this does not imply that the following texts will be done in the same order. It is enough to say that I need to get passed the La Boca-story in order to continue this blog-quest of mine. So, here we go!
La Boca is one of the most internationally famous districts of Buenos Aires. It is the port where the immigrants arrived at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. This is where the tango is said to have been “born”. (Well, bla bla, please Google Boca if you are interested to know more…) The connection to Sweden, that you as a Swede is told by every Argentinean the very same moment you tell them you are Swedish, is the colours of the club symbol of La Boca. Imagine how many times you have heard the story after six years ... Way back then (year?) when they founded the sports club La Boca they needed colours for their symbol. The story tells that they (who?) sat in the port and decided that the next ship that arrived, its flag would be the colours of the club. Surprise! A Swedish ship appeared on the horizon and made it difficult for a Swede in Argentina not be “hincha” of Boca Juniors. In the photo above you can see what the “hinchada” can look like – and as a Swede it gives you some summer of 1994 world cup feelings when we were part of a winning team =)
(But you better not mention the world cup 2002 if you do not want to get in trouble - soccer is a serious business here. When I was still a "porteño rookie" I joked with the hairdresser about this, while he was cutting my hair, BIG mistake)
It feels somewhat pretentious this whole blog-thing... But, I think it is a good way of giving my Argentinean boyfriend's mind a rest. He is quite tired of my never ending comments about his country, culture and language. Cultural differences are interesting in a relationship up to a point when they can either disappear/diminish or evolve into a real problem. So, to avoid this second quite negative scenario I will share some of my thoughts here, communicating them to cyberspace.
I think it would be a good thing to start with the Samborombon thingy, given the photo chosen for the blog and all... Samborombon is a big deal to most Swedes, while hardly any Argentineans would raise even an eyebrow upon hearing the name mentioned. Samborombon is a small village at the Rio de la Plata/Atlantic coast (just where the Rio turns into the Atlantic). Full stop - only three lines in Wikipedia. For Swedes, however it represents a romantic place where Fritiof got brushed aside by Carmencita. Oh, how we all adore the beginning of 20th century (?) song by Evert Taube.
So, you can imagine my Argentinean boyfriend's face when we were in the car, on the highway from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata and I call out "SAMBOROMBON" when we pass a road-sign saying just that. "Stop the car!!!! Turn around!!!" We found a way to turn and I got my photo taken next to the hostería. And it is true - it is a village without streets, just as the song tells =) Obviously I was singing the song including all verses, translating them all into Spanish to Pablo (my boyfirend) during the rest of the trip. Cultural exchanges at their best! hehhe
(Of course the only (?) Argentinean restaurant in Stockholm bears the same name, and at all Swedish parties in the Swedish club in Buenos Aires the song is sung at the top of the lungs of all the drunken Swedes attending).
Following the same logic as the first submission, based on the Samborombon photo, I will now get the La Boca-thing and photo here on the blog out of my system. It is the second most obvious Swedish-Argentinean connection in my book. Of course my book changes a lot and this does not imply that the following texts will be done in the same order. It is enough to say that I need to get passed the La Boca-story in order to continue this blog-quest of mine. So, here we go!
