What do you know about Argentina?

Question

Hi. I've been reading and participating in EnglishForward since a month or two ago, and I noticed those 'what do you know about...' threads. I would like to know what you know about my country. I'm afraid the world only receives our bad news...
I'm also curious about the opinion of those who are from England, and I'm specially curious about the opinions of people of my age (I'm 22). We have a lot of good (and bad

) history in common.

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

Well...of course, there was the war between us. Another uneccesary conflict. I my opinion, geographically it is yours but everyone living there is British and wants to stay with us. So a tricky problem.

Apart from that Argentina makes me think of BEEF! and polo ponies, bolas (is that the right word for the straps with ***** on the end to trip cattle up?) gauchos (again is that the right word for Argentinian cowboys?) anteaters and grassy plains. So I suppose pretty much my entire impression is related to the cows and beef, so probably not that representative of the country as a whole.

I also think that you are having some terrible economic problems at the moment, high inflation, high unemployment. Did I hear about the banks closing?

Guest · Answer

We used to have one of the biggest night lifes here, not today, althoug, due to the Cromagnon thign, heard about that?
N e1 been to Argentina here?

Elena · Answer

The Cromagnon thing, that was terrrible and worse when it could have been avoided. My condolences Guest.
I was living in Argentina for three years and a half. I remained silent in this thread because Leandro was looking for British and peer age (Nona, is 'peer' correctly used here?), but now that he has a pair of responses, I will participate.
If I would have to summarize, the first to note would be the nature, so impressive and varied, the fantastic speaking of Argentinians, the wise children, the way parents educate the children, respecting them extremely, the ancient cultures from the North to the South, and Puerto Madero and Avenida Callao and Grand Splendid bookshop, and Mataderos Fair, the mate, I couldn't never prepare it as Argentinians and Uruguayans do. I miss the Argentine acent a lot. And what about Argentine movies? They are great, I am always looking for them.
I can continue for hours, this is one of my favourite topics.

Leandro_tami · Answer

Hey it was a great pleasure to read so many comments. I'm glad you actually know so much about my country! Nona, I believe that war as an unnecessary conflict too. There are better ways to solve international problems. But I'd like to focus on the positive side of all this, because I really wouldn't like to see this thread ruined by possible unfortunate comments coming from someone.

Heh heh, I think you've got quite a traditional image of Argentina. That .. erm.. 'instrument' (¿or weapon?) used to trip cattle up is called 'boleadoras'. Bolas just means '*****'. But you were close

. And about gauchos, that's the exact word. Of course, not the entire country is a giant green plain filled with cows and sunflowers... there are modern cities, maybe not so technologically advanced as others, but always active with people moving around everywhere. Guest said something about argentinian nightlife, and he was right. Due to the recent disaster in a nightclub, which resulted in almost 200 dead people, less people is going out at night. I suppose in a month or two most people will forget it (although we might not like it, it will surely happen) and they'll return to their normal routines.

Probably our worst economical crisis took place between September and December of 2001. Then, the government applied restrictions to the amounts of money which were allowed to withdraw from bank accounts. Most people started to realize that they had to do something, or the savings of their entire life would be literally stolen. This wasn't the first time something like this ocurred. Huge masses ran to every bank trying to get all their money but very soon this was impossible. Our president was also very unpopular, because he did exactly the opposite of what he promised before the elections. On Dec 20th. there were riots all across the country, 20 people died, and our president resigned. Some months after that, when we finally had a new president which didn't resigned (we had five presidents in a week), some international banks decided to close their doors and go away. These banks closed their doors and took the money they stole out of the country.

Elena: I was so impressed when I first saw Puerto Madero. I went there a week ago (I don't live in Buenos Aires) and during some moments I though I was in New York... I loved all those tall and shiny buildings, the fountains and the monuments. Really impressed!
I like mate too, but I don't drink it every day as most of us. I've heard stories from friends who went to Spain on vacation, and they were stopped by the police because they didn't know what yerba mate was!

Woodward · Answer

Yes, Argentina has great steaks!

The "Mate" is a very common part of Argentinian life. You know which of the tourists on the Chilean beaches are from Argentina because they are the ones with their 'Mate' and Flasks.
(For non-Spanish speakers, Mate is pronounced similar to Ma-tay - Ma (like your mother) tay (similar to 'day'). I like it and it's a habit that's a lot healthier than smoking.

Argentinians are generally very outgoing people that speak their mind with ease. I like their personality and their friendliness. As I understand the Argentinians that live outside of the Capital (Buenos Aires) don't like those that live there. It's like B.A. vs. the rest of the country.

There has been an economic crisis over the last years were some people say Menem acquired (or stole) a lot of the country's money. Then again that's a politic thing and there will always be different views on that.

I thought it was terrible when they wouldn't let anyone take their own money from the bank. And then the devaluation of the Peso hit a lot of people hard.

Argentinians are good at soccer and there will always be a continental debate about whether Argentina or Brazil is the best. Speaking of Soccer/football, there is Maradona. Now he was a brilliant player and it's a pity he now has cocaine problems and is frequently in treatment/rehab in Cuba.

Anonymous · Answer

My name is Michael I'm from San Antonio, Texas I would like to know more about your country

Cateran · Answer

Argentina is in South America and Argentina has many excellent football players, which is all I know about Argentina.

Anonymous · Answer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina

What do you know about Argentina?

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