I like to think I have a pretty solid grasp of the Spanish language after having studied it since the seventh grade. However, on my first day in Buenos Aires, I found myself overwhelmed by the incomprehensibility of the Spanish around me. Speech was fast and accents were thick, so I had trouble making out exactly what was being said most of the time. Yet, I was surprised to find that many more locals were bilingual and willing to speak pretty flawless English with us than I had anticipated. The waiters at both restaurants where we ate explained dishes in English and offered English-language menus, our guide, Mariela, guided us around the city and answered our questions in her third language, the cashiers at the bodega gave us a hard time over a few pesos in English, and even some men on the street asking for money asked us if we would rather hear their speech in English or Spanish. Walking around the city, I noticed many shops had signs that were in both English and Spanish, and some even solely in English. But, this made me think about how you would be hard-pressed to find someone who had picked up a language to that extent of fluency through the American education system back home. This made me think that Argentinians are more focused on being true global citizens than just benefitting from the tangible effects of globalization, like Starbucks or McDonalds.

The bilingual culture of Argentina is a sure mark of globalization, or international influence in the country. English is the global language of business, so the rise in English in the country denotes an increasingly international and intercultural society. Global culture is being integrated into Argentinian culture because American staples like McDonalds and Starbucks have spread and are available in Recoleta. The effects of globalization were more apparent inside the city, with its elegant, European-style buildings, American chains, and global cuisine, and International embassies than the outside we saw while driving from the airport, with its older, more run-down buildings. It will be interesting to see how the trend of globalization affects healthcare delivery on the national scale during the rest of the trip. All in all, I am very excited to finally be in Buenos Aires, ¡hasta luego!