Keagan’s World

Hola, otra vez! I’m still alive and well!

So much has changed since we last spoke. To realize it’s only been like 5 days is so crazy to me. I already understand the bus system, can navigate around certain parts without maps, and can get my with enough Spanish for daily activities.

And of course the most important part – really awesome friends (who I hope to add to the Pals section very soon!).

I had my “ay mierda” moment, but it was just that: a moment. I’m already so happy I’m doing this. The city is awesome, the people are so fun, and the memories are going to be forever.

I’ve now sat here trying to think of a cheeky way to transition into my takeaways from the first few days, but the brain is running on empty so I’m just gonna start lol.

Argentineans are the nicest people ever…

It’s awesome man. I’m not exactly Mr. Worldwide, but in the few countries I’ve been to over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten used to these looks of annoyance and frustration the moment it’s clear you’re not from there (especially Americans because we’re loud and annoying – yes I know I’m loud and annoying even for American standards so).

And let’s be honest, one look at me and there’s little room to doubt my status as a flaming gringo.

In the rare case that isn’t a dead giveaway (like the guy from the empanada shop two nights ago who thought I was Brazilian???), it takes less than two seconds of speaking to erase any doubt. That’s not even going to change when I can speak at a level that doesn’t make me sound like a toddler learning his words still because my accent is so strong that my friends here laugh every time I speak…

But the reactions are different here. Every time a porteño (local) has realized I’m not a local, they get the biggest smile on their face. I’m sure it’s just entertaining for them to watch me communicate, but they’re also so patient. They’ll repeat things when I miss something, nod with encouragement when I’m stumbling over my words, and teach me the correct my phrases when I’m finished.

The taxi drivers and cafe workers are the absolute best. I’ve had my best practice with them. They’re willing to talk about anything, not just the necessary exchange to order or drive, and you all know how much I love to talk with people (even those of you here in Argentina with me haha). One guy even stepped away from the counter to talk for like 20 minutes yesterday completely in Spanish. I may have accidentally gotten him in trouble with his mother (family coffee shop) because he wasn’t helping her close up lol.

Americans need to travel like everyone else in the world…

Why do we want to work so bad man? I ran into this with people in Europe too, but like everyone I meet is doing these crazy long trips, seeing the world, and not having a care in world. They’ve quit their jobs or taken a random year off or something else. It’s so common to hear people say stuff like “I’m just traveling around until I run out of money and then I’ll figure something else out.”

Like what.

That’s such a scary idea, but it’s also beautiful at the same time. We learn through experience. We grow through experience. We live through experience. Why would we not want to experience the world while we’re still young? While we don’t have any real responsibility to our name? Why do we want to grow up so damn fast?

Let’s just be kids until we can’t.

The fear of embarrassment hinders everything

On the topic of being kids, I think this fits well. Kids just do things they want to do. They don’t think about who’s watching or if it’s weird or something else. There’s no such thing as fear paralysis as a kid.

You can’t be scared when you’re trying to learn something new like live in a foreign country and speak a new language with natives. You gotta take chances.

A couple of days, we were laughing about how we just send our friend Andrea to talk to random porteños when we need to know something because he’s the best speaker and the rest of us are “too scared”. And his response was really funny:

“I’m too stupid to be scared”

We all laughed, but the more I think about it, the smarter I think it is. There’s a reason he’s the best at speaking – he’s just been doing it. What he calls being stupid is really just willingness to appear stupid to other people. And as a result, he gets better when others don’t

It’s smart to be too stupid to be scared.

I know that’s a weird way to put it, but it’s true. It’s kinda like the mindset I taught myself the first year of college: talk to anyone and everyone because at worst that person has some chance of becoming your next best friend, peer, girlfriend, whatever. But if you don’t talk to them, there’s a 0% chance that could happen. In the rare case someone is just a dick and shuts you down, it’s like 5 seconds of embarrassment, but you never have to see them again so who cares.

With speaking a new language in a foreign country it’s the same. Yeah you may look stupid and there’s some small chance someone scoffs at you, but there’s a much greater chance to learn and make friends. When you don’t try, there’s a 0% chance either will happen.

So that’s what I’m striving for the rest of this trip: to be too stupid to be scared.

That’s all for now – I gotta head back home for dinner and mentally prepare myself for a late night out. Going to be bringing out the smelling salts for the vibes 😤

Until next time 🫡