Last Shabbos

Last shabbos was quite interesting, for a few reasons. Friday night, as usual, was pretty normal; shul was the standard Jabad fare, with the added singing and dancing of it being a Shabbat Chatan (the groom came in from Uruguay along with a chunk of his community and the Jabad rabbi of Montevideo), and davening was all the longer for it. I ate a the hostel this time, which was nice (the food, as usual, was delicious) though I ended up speaking in Hebrew instead of having the opportunity to practice Spanish. I will continue to go to families in the future.
On Shabbos day I went to the shul on Moldes again. It was the shul's 80th anniversary, and there was a nice kiddush in honor of the occasion. I also received 4 invites for lunch! I'm set for the next few weeks. One invitation from a Hungarian fellow who's hobby is tracing Jewish families in Hungary before the Second World War 2. He asked a few questions (I didn't know the answer to some of them), and I will probably have more to say about him next week.
The fellow who got to me first, Alejandro Fuchs, did not speak much English, which was excellent, as I got to practice. He had another family over, last name Fireman (yes, but here those fellows are called Bomboneros). He spoke a bit of English, and in our Spanglish conversation, I came to realize a few very interesting things.
One question that has been on my mind is why they do not build an eruv in Buenos Aires. There are tens of thousands of Jews, easily over a dozen shuls, and not carrying on shabbos is a huge pain (though maybe that is only because I am not used to it). When I asked, they told me it was because the government and people of BsAs are not very open-minded. We segued into general prejudices, and what they said, both about the people and government of Argentina, as well as their own personal feelings, made me realize how forward America really is. It seems that the people here are barely accepting of other religions and practices, at least so long as they remain private, but ask to build an eruv and people start getting suspicious. There are very few black people in BsAs, and the people that I talk to have a pretty backward way of thinking about people, mostly gleaned from movies. I know all the arguments of the pay discrepancy, and the opportunity discrepancy, the ratio of blacks to whites in jail, and all the other issues in the US, but stepping outside and seeing the States from an outsider's perspective makes me realize that, whoever much farther we have to go, we have really come far.
Another really fascinating little anecdote that happened over shabbos requires a bit of preface. Most of the Orthodox Jews here seem to be, as they are in the rest of world, politically right wing. I have already heard of a number of them say that they do not like Obama because he will not be good for the Jews. I also must mention that Argentina has a free healthcare option that, while not frequented by the wealthy, who opt to buy private insurance, allows any Argentine regardless of income or class receive free healthcare. At lunch on shabbos I mentioned America's lack of free healthcare. The portenos, all of them politically right wing and, if they were in the states, would have voted for McCain, were shocked. It took them awhile to understand what I was saying (No tienen seguro para todos in la Estados Unidos?), but once I got my message through, a big grin spread across their faces. "You mean Argentina is more advanced than the USA?! We are more advanced than the USA!" Something that we take as politics is taken for granted in Argentina. We here lots about how the USA is the last fully developed country to lack healthcare for all (though form what I hear Switzerland doesn't have it), but it strikes harder when you realize that a country that is otherwise a good few kilometers behind us in every other way gives every one of its citizens access to a doctor.
Finally, I found out, that Buenos Aires in the NY of Argentina. I shall explain. In Buenos Aires, the portenos have the attitude that the only really worthwhile part of Argentina is Buenos Aires; the rest of the country is just around to feed and support the city, and form the country that the city can rule. The portenos see Mendoza, Cordoba, Bariloche, etc, as nice vacations spots as best. This attitude is infuriating to many Argentines, and the people outside of BsAs band together against BsAs in non-porteno pride. It works the same in New York, except the New Yorkers know, for a fact, that their city truly is the best in the world; the portenos are just fooling themselves. :) It was a very interesting lunch.
I need to backtrack a bit for the next story. At davening Friday night, the rabbi from Montevideo spoke instead of the rabbi from the Jabad Olleros. It was clear, from his Spanish, that he was from New York. Wait! Another story first. This story that I am about to tell you shocked me. I have never had something like this happen to me in the States. Ever. I almost couldn't believe my ears. While I was sitting in shul, one of the regulars who I have talked to before came over and asked me, "........quieres novia?" "Mas despacio, por favor." I replied. He asked, "Tienes novia?" I responded, "No, no tengo novia. Por que?" He said, "Quieres novia? Cuantos anos tienes?" "Veintiuno, pero en poco tiempo tendre veintidos," was my reply. Then came the shocker, "Ah, vos mas joven para haber novia!" And that was that. Mas joven!!! At 21, mas joven! In the states, over the last two and half years a have gotten at least 20 calls/emails from people who want to get me a novia (no exaggeration.) Now, it is not that I don't appreciate the offers, and I know everyone who tries is doing so because they care and because they are doing something that they see as valuable and right, and they are right. However, the dating scene in the States is quite rushed, and, even though most guys don't feel that they are wasting time at 21/22, most of the ones I know have entered the market. No one who has ever tried to set me up has been turned away by my age. 21, in the American frum community is perfectly normal to date, if not marry at. Heck, I'll soon be surpassing the age at which my father got married! That wasn't even a shidduch date! And here I am in Argentina where just mentioning my age is enough to turn away my first potential shidduch! I like it here. I must stress, again, that this in not because I have no interest in dating and because I resent people trying to set me up, but because people here are not so stressed and rushed about dating, to the point that they are fine with actively pushing it off to a later age. A mi me gusta Buenos Aires!
Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the Uruguayan rabbi who was obviously from the States. At Seudah Shlishit I approached him and asked him if he was from New York. 35 years ago he told me. Where are you from? And what's your name?
Aaron Muller...No way! Aaron Muller?! Fancy meeting you here!
It turns out, when I was still researching my trip a few months back, before I decided to come to BsAs I email this rabbi, asking him about Uruguay, where I could stay, and any opportunities for integration in his community. He did not respond immediately, being in the Elul rush, but he told me that my email came up right before shabbos, and he was planning on responding after the weekend. Quite a coincidence.