A quick recap of my first week

Though I am a pretty corny guy, there is more the title of this blog than just being a bad pun. I mean, it is a bad pun, but it does have its origins in something that's quite good. For the next 2 and a half months, I will be working with Luchemos por una Infancia Feliz y con Esperanza (L.I.F.E.), a non-profit that works with young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods of the capital of Argentina. I will be doing field work, going with other volunteers for the scheduled programming in the communities, while also working in the office of the organization.

I went to one activity last week, a birthday party in the neighborhood of Los Angelitos. It was a really nice experience. For one thing, I haven't gotten to work with children for about a year, so it was good to be back in that kind of situation again. Also, it is nice to be able to bring some joy into a kid's life, even if it's just for a few hours.

There were a few things that were fairly striking:

1. The appearance of the people there. Palermo, one of the nicest areas of the city, is where I am living and where L.I.F.E.'s office is. As many of you know, many of Argentina's people are of Spanish and Italian descent. That fact is very evident here in Palermo. Most people here have that Latin look, with dark European skin and dark hair. However, the features of folks I saw in Los Angelitos were more likely than people in "my part" of the city to be heavily impacted by the genetic legacy of the indígenos who occupied the continent before Europeans came.

2. The appearance of the neighborhood. I have not yet figured out just how to divide the two sets of traits, but there are some things that are different about Buenos Aires and where I'm staying that come about by hvirtue of BsAs' being possibly the most European city in South America and some things that are more a function of the fact that it's a large city. The city proper has a population of around 2.8 million, while the metropolitan population is around 12 million.

At any rate, where I am in the city is what most would consider rather nice. There are security guards and police posted outside every 30 yards or so (nope, I haven't made any inroads on learning the Continental system), lots of small shops, restaurants, and a big, bright shopping center. Walking around Palermo is a bit, to me, like walking around in Manhattan.

Los Angelitos, on the other hand, looks more like what one expects in a poor neighborhood in a developing country. The houses do not seem very nice, there are all manner of sketchy characters to be seen, and the streets are dusty and dirty. If the nice part of BsAs is like the nice part of NYC, Los Angelitos is an honest to goodness poor Latin American barrio.

3. The fact that kids are kids. Just like young people anywhere, they want a little love and a little attention. They're going to endear themselves to you and they're going to get on your nerves. They're going to carry around a rusty knife they found somewhere nearby and decide not to throw it away, even if that means no birthday cake. Kids, right?

Seriously, though. We have to remember our universality. There are young people all over whose circumstances make them a little less likely to fulfill their promise than they deserve. When you get a chance, even if it's a brief one, even if it seems to you insignificant, to do something to help a child, take advantage of it. Though I am not quite used to the whole cheek kissing thing down here, there was one little girl who came into the comedor (in this case, basically this means soup kitchen) and made sure to kiss each volunteer. She really was a sweet, pretty little girl not much older than my niece Jeighlyn. I hope that the work we're doing increases the chance that I can visit BsAs in 10 years and find that that little girl, and kids like her, are off doing something great. I'm starting to rant a bit (an occurrence you should come to expect), but remember that the young really are our greatest asset. If you have a pumpkin patch that you don't cultivate, Halloween is going to be pretty sad. If we don't properly cultivate our kids, from all over the world, this planet is going to be pretty sad.