Willamette World News

By Fernanda Oliver Ooh, mate, my faithful companion. For this last issue of the Willamette World News, I was asked to write about something that was deeply related to my country’s culture. If I had to choose one element that is linked to Argentine culture, history, traditions, people, and basically everything, it all comes down […]

By Norma Fernanda Oliver Education sets us free, education is a universal key to infinite doors. In Argentina, the obligatory education starts at the age of 5; however, I started attending school at the young age of two. Both of my parents worked and there was not child care or nurseries where I lived, so […]

By Fernanda Oliver, Spanish Language Assistant *The following article is based on my sole opinion and does not aim at tokenizing Argentinian people.* It is a well-known fact that politics and soccer are hot topics in Argentina, so most people try to avoid them. Yet more often than not, we see a Boca vs River¹ […]

By Lucía Baigorrí Haüen “Equality” and “equity” are two words that are often used interchangeably. Fair enough, they look and sound pretty similar. However, being alert to language nuances can be very empowering. Part of me believes that the common treatment of certain concepts as synonyms serves a purpose: whenever one is not aware of […]

By Lucía Baigorrí Haüen It’s been interesting to search my cultural hard drive for a current token of Argentine pop culture that falls outside the mate-soccer-tango holy trinity. Having spent almost 6 months out of my country, I started feeling slightly unfit for the task. Naturally, I turned to the Internet for help. Going over […]

By Lucía Baigorrí Haüen It is quite common to say that much of non-Americans’ knowledge of the United States is (mis)informed by mass media products, however that does not make it any less true. In my case, the entertainment industry has been a great source of education that has shaped much of my understanding of American life […]

By Lucía Baigorrí Haüen Ten years ago, terms such as “femicide” and “gender violence” were not part of Argentine mainstream media and were definitely not featured in everyday discourse. Now, in a time when reality is pervasively mediated by virtual experiences on social media, channels for denouncement, protest, and discussion are open to practically everyone. On […]

The educational system in my home country is at times very different from the American system but there are still some similarities… In order to give you a general picture, I will include the briefing I found in the EducationUSA website which may be of great help.

I always remember when I was very little that my mum and my grandma talked about the “policeman on the corner”… A feeling of nostalgia comes to me when I remember those days. Those were the days in which there was no feeling of insecurity where I lived.

“Family is always first!” That is how important family is back at home. In Argentina, we still value family as our Italian ancestors did. The big family reunion every Sunday for lunch with lots of uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents is still typical in these days.

The Grape Harvest Festival, or “Fiesta de la Vendimia” as it is originally called in Spanish, is the most important festival in Mendoza and the Cuyo region in Argentina. Election of the Queen of the Grape Harvest 2014 Every year it attracts people from all over the country and many from all over the world. […]

In this issue I will focus on two very attractive topics for me: economic activities and renewable energy. Well to begin with, I will start describing a little bit about Argentina’s economy. My country is well-known for having one of the best steaks in the world, but contrary to what many people think, that is […]

Hi everybody! this is Matias Torres and I am the Spanish language assistant this year at Willamette thanks to the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant program and  Willamette University. First I am going to tell you a little bit about myself. I am 29 years old and I am originally an English teacher in Argentina. […]

When I thought about friendship one of the words which came to my mind is “door”. I strongly believe that friendship is like a door which leads people through astonishing and sometimes mysterious journeys. I have to admit that this door has often been opened to me and I’m really grateful for all the friends […]

By exploring Argentinian music, you will not only realize its eclectic nature, but also that it is embedded with many aspects of the Argentine culture, traditions, ways of thinking and living of Argentina’s inhabitants. From the well-known Tango to the popular Folklore, singers and song writers express love, friendship, family ties and even anger and […]

Argentina, one of the countries with the highest literacy rates in Latin America and even the world, is the homeland of thousands of scientists and talented, professional people. One of the key figures responsible for this is President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who made education universal, compulsory, free and secular. In the present entry I’d like […]

Even though I tend to be a bit skeptical about weddings and commitment issues, I´ll try to provide the best look into the Argentinian planning, organization, and celebration of this important day in a person’s life; and I’d also like to share what weddings mean for me and my very close friends.

After taking a close look into the current crave for remembrance rituals, traditions, and ceremonies, I began to wonder how much importance people give to those who leave this world having strived all their lives for the high ideals of sovereignty, justice and freedom. I came to the conclusion that a good way to make […]

As US presidential elections approach, American people start to think about the history of their country, the current state of affairs and especially they start to wonder about the future. The diversity of people’s reaction towards the whole world of politics is enormous and so are the differences among the political systems of elections across […]

Hi everyone! My name is Gabriela Bustos and I’m the Language Assistant for the Spanish department. I was chosen by the Spanish department [editors note] to help students with their homework, assignments and conversations in Spanish at Willamette University. In this first entry for the WWN blog I’d like to tell you something about my […]

When I think back on all the things I’ve seen, all of them are memorable. It is hard to choose one of them because I have so many cultural moments that I would like to share.

Argentina has a unique vocabulary of slang expressions that you won’t hear in any other country, except perhaps in neighboring Uruguay. Below is a list of some of the most common slang expressions that I have heard used by locals in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Meals Most Argentine eat four meals each day. The diet may differ in different regions. Desayuno (breakfast) is a light meal of rolls and jam with coffee. For almuerzo (lunch), many Argentinians eat meat and vegetables or salads. After work but before dinner, people go to confiterías (cafés) to drink espresso and eat picadas, small […]

I was wondering about what I am going to write about my country one year ago. I was searching different sites to remind me about it. Most of the things were the same. So I come across with news that calls my attention, and I want to share it with you. Argentina is famous for […]