As I sadly get ready to leave this wonderful city, I wanted to write a blog post to record some of my thoughts from this trip.
Before coming to Argentina, I felt overwhelmed and nervous. I had my last final exam just 5 days before leaving for my travels, and I spent the few days I had at home squeezing in as much time with my family and hometown friends as I could. When I finally boarded my flight, I remember my legs shaking from the nerves. Even though I loved to travel and was undoubtedly excited to see new parts of the world, I had never traveled by myself for so long.
I can’t say that I have fully processed this opportunity that I’ve been given, but now, I am sure of how special this summer really is and is going to continue to be. My time at Northwestern has been very fast-paced. Rarely do I ever get a chance to sit still and reflect on my surroundings, my feelings, and my connections to the world around me. I have by no means mastered being alone or the practice of reflection. But during my stay here, I believe that I am slowly but surely becoming reacquainted with myself. That might be a weird thing to say, but spending time alone in a new city with a schedule that is entirely up to me has revealed my strengths and my weaknesses, parts of myself that I had forgotten over time back home.
In this country, I have met so many kind people, tasted amazing cuisine, and seen beautiful museums, theaters, stores, and landmarks! Here are some of the things that I love about Buenos Aires:
- Almost everybody here is friendly and helpful! Even though there was a language barrier between us, so many people made the effort to have conversations with me. Locals gave me directions, went out of their way to help me, and told me about their favorite restaurants and places to visit. I have made friends with my waiter, the security guards at my Airbnb, and people that happened to sit next to me at cafes.
- The physical divide between restaurants, living areas, cafes, and stores is pretty much nonexistent here. In the United States, especially in my home state of Texas, places to eat and shop are generally located separately from places where people live. Here, there are apartments above or right next to restaurants and cafes; people live a minute’s walk away from famous landmarks and government buildings.
- SO MANY DOGS AND CATS! I can’t count the number of people I have seen with dogs in Buenos Aires. Most of the time, they are unleashed and so well-behaved, and I have even seen dog walkers walking 10-15 dogs at a time! Many cafes and restaurants also have cats in their establishment. One time, a cafe cat came toward me and took a nap on my lap!
- The history and culture of the city is on display everywhere. I have seen so much street art depicting local heroes, historical figures, celebrities, and more, and the architecture is a mix of both colonial influences and Latin American styles.
- The food and coffee are spectacular and affordable!
From my research here, I have also learned a lot about the psychological system in Buenos Aires as well as how people here perceive and treat trauma. Here are a few of my findings:
- In Argentina, most psychologists obtain their license by attending a career-specialized university straight out of high school for 5 years. After they are licensed, they are not required to receive any further education or training by law.
- Therapy is extremely widespread in the city. There are 2 main reasons for this. First, there is very little stigma surrounding mental health issues in the country. When I asked my interviewees to explain this phenomenon, they said that taking care of mental health is a part of the culture and that throughout national history, there has been very little societal resistance to mental health care. Second, therapy is affordable. Most insurance companies cover around 10-20 therapy sessions a year for free, and despite the country’s current economic crisis, seeing a therapist or psychologist is not expensive.
- Many different schools of therapy are actively practiced in Buenos Aires. Each trauma care professional I spoke with had different specializations or practiced different methods of treatment.
I am really excited to continue my research in Northern Ireland! Overall, I hope to visit Buenos Aires again and am so grateful to have spent the last 2 weeks in this vibrant city!
Thanks for reading 💙