Besos

Argentines are very affectionate. Instead of shaking hands, everyone greets with a kiss at every encounter, even at first meetings, even men and very young children.

On a daily basis, I kiss my children's teachers and mothers of their classmates, the owners of cafes that I frequent, and our maid and nanny. All the kissing makes simple interactions take much longer than necessary.

I have also kissed/been kissed by real estate agents, the family whose apartment we are renting, tango teachers, and a variety of strangers upon introduction.

Husband attended high holy day services at a synagogue in Belgrano, where a ritual was practiced that he had never before experienced. A woman with a clipboard walked around looking for congregation members during the service. Upon finding them, she would tap them on the shoulder and tell them that they had been selected to go to the bima to read from the torah or read a prayer. (This story comes full circle to kissing -- stay with me!)

As though they were game show contestants chosen from the audience, the individual would jump up, followed by their entire family, and head for the bima. Once there, everyone kissed and greeted everyone. It felt like it took forever, especially when Husband had fasted on Yom Kippur and was ready for the service to end so he could eat.

As much as I find this Argentine custom somewhat awkward/annoying/time consuming, I will admit that I received an incredibly sweet kiss that melted my heart. A new friend from the U.S. who is married to a Porteno has two young girls. The parents encourage the girls to kiss -- they were tentative but clearly used to kissing strangers. I crouched down for the three year old then sat on the floor to greet the one year old. Her lips grazing my face was so simple and sweet, like a butterfly landing on my cheek.

It is not uncommon at all to see (heterosexual) couples of all ages kissing passionately in public (on the street, bus, subway, in restaurants, parks, etc.). It would be refreshing to see gay and lesbian couples expressing their love freely as well, but I must not be in the right neighborhoods.

Besos!

No kissing pictures, but here are a few from the last week.

Boy is so happy to have trains -- on loan from a friend.

Green parrots building a nest at a tree on our street.