lo argentino / the argentine

At work yesterday I had to lead an activity about "lo argentino", the argentine. Each week two people lead activities about different themes we previously picked out of a hat. Everyone had a laugh when the American picked "lo argentino". It was interesting for me to plan because it made me think about what sorts of things characterize Argentines and what things set Argentines and Argentina apart from other places.

When I think about the things that set this country and these people apart from others, I think mostly of their passion and their pride. They are so proud of their identities, the unique landscapes around their country, the famous Argentine's around the world (the Pope, Messi, etc.), their delicious food and wine, and more. They are so passionate about their fútbol (soccer), politics, love, and more. We started our activity using this Buzzfeed article about 34 things Argentine's know to be true. I had translated it for my coworkers and they got a good laugh out of it. Next, we played a game where they had to think of things under seven categories and a specific letter. The categories were:

• Typical Argentine food
• Famous Argentine fútbol players
• Argentine presidents or politicians
• Places or natural wonders around Argentina
• Argentine writers
• Argentine wine
• Well-known Argentine's around the world

I learned some names of politicians and sometimes was the judge of whether certain foods counted as "typical Argentine foods". For example, I decided to give olives a few points because they frequently use olives in their typical foods. Afterwards we would choose two people to act out certain situations that they thought represented Argentina as we guessed. I laughed so hard at some of the situations they came up with such as:

• Two Argentine's getting into a huge fight over a fútbol match
• Preparing and drinking mate
• Standing in line waiting for the bus 
• Going to the psychologist (Argentina has the most psychologists per capita in the world)

We ended the activity discussing the things Argentine's are proud of on a more serious note and
everyone went around to say what they are most proud of either being an Argentine or living in
Argentina. This was a fun activity for me to plan and implement because I got to really think 
about the place I've been living these past eight months.