In pursuit of growth, or happiness

Recently I spent a few days in Chile – in Santiago, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. This is not enough time to draw sound conclusions about any country, but after having had spent almost four months in a neighbouring Argentina, I noticed quite significant differences, which I would like to share. 

For a start, Chileans seem to be much more stressed than their Argentinian neighbours. I saw mainly tired faces in Santiago’s metro on Easter Sunday – after three full days of holidays! The other difference is how generally well, if not excessively, things are organised. Take Santiago’s metro; it reminds me of the one in Singapore – very clean, modern, efficient and with omnipresent signs reminding about proper behaviour: don’t litter, don’t enter with a backpack on your back, let people step out first before boarding the train, etc. Buses display information to passengers about the current speed, reminders about fastening seatbelts and telephone numbers if someone would like to complain about the service.

Chileans are rightly proud of the excellent transportation system in Santiago as well as achievements of their economy (recent growth of Santiago’s business district is really impressive).  The symbol of the growing economic power of the country is soon to be the highest skyscraper in South America (on the picture below, obscured by Santiago’s smog). However, my impression was that in the pursuit of growth, development and perfection they somehow lost the ability to relax and enjoy life. When I shared my observation with a couple of Chileans I was staying with in Santiago (hurray for Couch Surfing!), they concurred without the slightest hesitation. However, they quickly pointed out the mess that is Argentinian politics and worse economic situation of their neighbour. I take the point, but somehow felt much better after seeing relaxed Argentinians upon my return to Mendoza a few days later.

About leadership

Argentinian politics, complicated as it is, has one feature that makes it distinct from the traditional Western political systems – divided broadly into social-democrats and conservatives, with all the variety of names and seasonal extremists. In Argentina, the political system is described using the last name of the leader of the governing party – in the last eight years it has been kirchnerismo (owing to late Nestor Kirchner and his widowed wife Cristina, the current president) and before that – duhaldismo (Eduardo Duhalde). It all started with a gentleman called Juan Peron. Such was his importance in the history of Argentina that all current major political movements claim to be descendants of peronismo, regardless if they are more to the left (like kirchnerismo) or right (the opposition).

The majority of North and South American countries (including Argentina) have presidential systems, with one person clearly in charge. Europe, on the other hand, seems to be more sceptical about strong leaders (the history of XX century has taught us a lesson) and trusts more in institutions. This is why it is difficult for a European to understand the rock star/ prophet following of some of the American leaders like Obama (before elections), Evo Morales in Bolivia, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or Lula in Brazil – their personalities seem to overshadow the office they hold.  Cristina Kirchner does not have charisma of any of them, but the same rule applies to her as well; she is perceived to be personally responsible for everything that happens in the country. This is a double-edged sword, but her PR machine is in charge to make sure people hear more about the good stuff. Photo below shows her smiling face next to the information about the regeneration of the old football stadium in Mendoza - something nice to show to local football fans before October elections. 

Buenos Aires is not perfect

I have established in one of the previous posts that Buenos Aires is a really cool city, and more importantly achieves this without trying too hard. Porteños are however more sceptical about their city. Trying to fit in I decided to compile my list of things that would bother me had I lived/ worked in the city longer. Nowadays, being a short-term visitor, quite relaxed about life and with plenty of spare time – they simply don’t bother me too much. 

• Services are generally poor and really slow; this is something Porteños complain about as well. Public sector services, restaurants, supermarkets – service is not organised efficiently and, frankly, hardly anyone seems to really care. On the positive note and to my great relief, broadband provider’s helpline turned out to be actually… helpful
• Bs As is a city for cars and nothing illustrates it better than thirteen one way lanes of Avenida Libertador (not a circular of any sort). Pedestrians are tolerated as long as they stay on the pavements. Pedestrian crossings are numerous but seem to be invisible for drivers, so one needs to be very careful crossing.
• The city is very green, but environmental awareness is low. There is no real recycling, unless you count as such poor cartoneros, who go through rubbish on the street and take away anything that can be sold. The most annoying thing however is the amount of plastic bags given with your shopping in the supermarket – they are really small and of poor quality so it is not uncommon for the shop assistant to put only two/three items in each.
• As much as I love the night life in Buenos Aires, the parties simply start too late. I attended a birthday party that started at midnight, although obviously nobody showed up that early. Also, there is no point going to a disco (boliche) before 2am – dancing does not start until 3am anyway.
• Subte, as the local metro system is called, is quite old and its air conditioning system is highly inefficient. I cannot imagine using it to go to work wearing a suit.
• Holidays. This is not very Bs As specific, but far the most important/ annoying if you happen to work here - you only get 15 days of vacation during your first five years of employment in the same company. If you change your employer, the clock starts to tick from the beginning. In some cases, if you take all 15 days in one go, they include weekends! This is pure capitalist exploitation; I did not expect this from a country that gave the world Ernesto Che Guevara.

This is it. Only the last point is a big deal for me; combined with the distance to other parts of the world it makes travelling a real luxury. The rest is just nuisance and I still stand by my statement that Buenos Aires is a very pleasant city to live. A similar list for any of the other seven cities I have lived in to date would be longer. Buenos Aires may not be perfect, but at least it is not trying too hard. Cool. 

In their heads

Sihanoukville, Cambodia. April 2010.
Khmer New Year! I love this time of the year – fireworks, swimming in the see, all my family is here, eating fresh scallops. And I love my new dress and I know he likes it too. Life is great!

New York, USA. September 2009.
Who are all those people and why they are here? I bet my mum will know. Wow, that’s a cool hat – like a cowboy. And that girl, she looks nice. I wonder where she lives now…

Phnom Penh, Cambodia. April 2010.
Great, I mixed red and white clothes again. The guys are a peaceful bunch, but they will not like this. I told them we should stick to red only; changes should not be rushed!