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Every teen here loves to party. Everywhere I go, people ask me if I’ve been to or liked one of the many dance clubs in their city. There are three or four big and popular places. Smaller ones exist, but as far as I can see, they are pretty lame, or are targeted at "older people," which includes anyone over 22. The big ones have names like Liquido, Ghost, Eclipse, and Maroco Tropical.

Now, I’ve never been to a dance club type place in the U.S., so I can’t really make comparisons, but the Argentine way has to be different. No place here opens before midnight. The usual schedule for a typical teenager here is to hang out at home until midnight, then take ½ to 1 hour of getting showered dressed, and ready. At 1AM or so, he or she goes to a friends house. There, ten or so other teens hang out some more, listening to music, playing (Argentine) cards, and drinking small amounts of alcohol. This lasts anywere from 1 to 3 hours. Next, everyone gets in cars or taxis and heads out.

The boliche (disco in argentine spanish) will be packed to the walls with teens who are smoking, dancing, drinking, talking, and just hanging out, all to the ear-crushing bass of thundering music. Many types of music can be seen. There are a lot of North American artists, from Britney Spears, to Eifel 65 to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as Argentine tunes. Rodrigo is by far the most popular, who sang to pachanga and cuarteto music. (This very well-loved singer died in a tragic car crash this year). Alcohol is readily available to all who want it, but is quite expensive inside.

My first time in a boliche was quite a shock. Before we went in the door, I could feel my organs vibrating with the beat of the music, and smell the stench of hundreds of cigarettes. Inside, there were so many people that it was impossible to dance, and I had to push my way through to keep up with my host brother. I entered at about 2:30 AM. After 2 or so hours of having my ears hammered in and my lungs choked, I felt like I would throw up. I don’t know why exactly, but I think it was all the smoke, becuase as soon as I got some nice fresh air, I felt normal. My very nice host brother took me home. For him and the other Argentines, leaving at 5 is early. The places normaly close at 7 AM, sometimes later.

For me, this whole deal of staying up late and partying all the time tells me a lot about Argentine culture. It shows a very high value on socializing and being with friends. Also, I see another cultural value here: a very low emphasis placed on having and following rules. From the way they drive to the low drinking age, this is a very strong Argentine trait. I think that there is a legal drinking age, but no one ever told me what it is. Everyone here says that its okay to drink because everybody drinks, as long as you don’t go walking around drunk on the streets and get caught by the law.

Speaking of the police, I haven’t noticed them doing much here. They man the many "police control" highway stop points, respond to house alarms, and drive around. I haven’t seen a single speed trap, or anyone stopped for speeding. Its perfectly normal here to pass a patrol car on a city street at sixty miles an hour.

I’ve only seen two stop signs in the entire city of 30,000 people. There are about 15 stoplight intersections, but many people ignore them and drive right through. Argentines seem to have a built-in radar that lets them continue on, never looking to one side or the other. They also love to tailgate at high speeds, drive all over the road, and (the teens, at least) perform movie-like stunts, like sideways skidding stops. There don’t seem to be any speed limit signs here, either. When driving down the highway, they drive at 80, 90, or 100 miles per hour for hours at a time. Oh, by the way, nobody here, (except me) wears a seatbelt. Seatbelts aren’t for macho men, I hear. For me, this really illustrates the casual style of life here.

This is another strongly evident cultural trait. The only ever-present rule I see here is that there aren’t any rules. The entire time I’ve been here, nobody has said that I broke a rule, or did something wrong. At the dinner table, as well. No one minds if you reach accross their plate to help yourself to a dish, or if you have something to say and just blurt it out. This has made it very easy for me to adjust. I say this because if I had rules and regulations about everything I did, it would be a headache every day. This has to be my favorite thing about Argentina: being able to do everything how I want to do it.


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