And Uruguayans are the Kiwis of Spain

April 4, 2008 at 10:14 pm (Argentinians, australians, expats, humour, spain)
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Following on from earlier, if Argentinians are the Aussies of Spain, then Uruguayans are the Kiwis: a small country dwarfed by it’s huge neighbour, friendly to one another but aware of their differences, almost the same accent with a few twangs. Only there isn’t a sea separating them…

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Are Argentinians the Australians of Spain?

April 4, 2008 at 6:18 pm (Argentinians, australians, costa blanca, expats, humour, spain)
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When I lived in London, I ended up hanging out with way more Aussies than Brits. It’s just the way it is: you live there 5 years or more and suddenly the mix changes, you get to know a few Londoners. But at first it’s Antipodeans all-round.

Here in Altea, there is a closed mindedness on the part of the Alteanos that all but shuts out anybody from elsewhere. Nevermind that they resolutely speak Valenciano when even the most switched-on expat struggles with Castellano (I’ve never seen a Valenciano course on offer in a London college…let me know if you ever come across one). But I digress. More than anything, it’s the fact that nearly three years after moving here, I know exactly ONE Alteano who’s family is also from here. By know I mean, am almost friends with. Almost.

The vast majority of my friends are Argentinians: Jorge, Vicky, Maria-Delia, Nacho, David, Flor, Nelly, Daniel, Atilio, Fabiola, Sophia, Cristian….the list goes on. It got me thinking: are Argentinians the Australians of Spain?

  • Both countries have multi-syllable names (Ar-gen-ti-na…Aus-tra-li-a).
  • Both countries are in the deep southern hemisphere, huge, geographically varied.
  • Both peoples speak with weird accents: G’day, how you goin alright? vs Vamos a la pla-ja con la sombri-ja. Actually, the Argentianian accent is lovely and soft as all the “ll’s” which would be yuh in Castellano come out a zs’s. Think Zsa Zsa Gabor and you’ve got the sound. Como brillan las llaves! (como bri-zs-an las zs-aves!)
  • Both countries routinely whup the arses of their former colonial fathers at their respective favourite sports. Argentinian footballers are among the best in the world, while Aussie cricketers put fear in the heart of the average Pom.
  • Both peoples emigrate to the ‘fatherland’ for economic reasons: Aussies to clear their student loans and earn enough money to go walkabout for a few years, Argentinians to escape the terrible financial crisis brought on by the devaluation of the peso and the huge debt owed to the IMF.
  • Both are super-nice people on the whole – laid-back, unpretentious, up for a laugh.
  • And mostly, both end up forming a big expat community that isn’t afraid to scoop up the lonely representatives of countries such as Canada, which hardly anyone ever leaves permanently because it’s such a great place to live.

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