¿Panic griping the nation?

Arriving in Buenos Aires in the midst of a global epidemic was an unsettling experience, especially in July when Argentina was reported to have the second highest number of deaths attributed to Gripe A (H1N1 or Swine Flu) among countries of the world. Of course, it’s important not to be insensitive about, or underplay the effect that the Gripe has had on many people in Argentina and throughout the world. Although statistics are extremely unreliable, it is clear that this outbreak has caused hundreds of deaths in Argentina alone (totalling 407 by mid-August according to the Ministry of Health of Argentina). Equally, this is a pandemic which predominantly targets the vulnerable within societies, in other words those with inadequate access to healthcare and underlying health problems. Having acknowledged this and the rather cushioned, middle-class position from which I write, there are some more comical observations to be made about life in downtown Buenos Aires in the face of the Gripe.

Firstly, the international media reports about the ensuing disaster affecting the nation and Buenos Aires seem to dramatically differ with the reality of living in the city itself. The medical staff in the arrivals lounge at Buenos Aires complete with masks and suits which look like they could stave off a radioactive disaster, do little to fill you with confidence when entering the country. However, the behaviour of porteños (people of the port of Buenos Aires) and the ‘business as usual’ approach to life soon make you feel much more at ease. The people of this huge city either have collective amnesia, have decided to take a chance or have become bored with the news story of the hour. How quickly the masks appeared and disappeared on the streets of Buenos Aires, as rumours spread about the effectiveness or otherwise of wearing protective headgear. Sales of alcoholic gels must have the pharmaceutical companies quite literally rubbing their hands with glee and small bottles with pump action sprays are the essential must-have accessory of Buenos Aires, winter 2009! Whilst this trend continues, giving the air an alcoholic scent reminiscent to that of an English city-centre on a Friday night, so do the enduring customs of the people of this city.

Coming to Buenos Aires from the United Kingdom, where people with the slightest of colds can be effectively incubated for fear of the disease spreading, I wondered how people would be behaving. Would it be standard practice to kiss people when meeting, a common way to greet others in Argentina regardless of sex? Would people be sharing mate, the national drink central to the warmth and togetherness of this society? Could I sneeze on the train and avoid looks of disdain? The truth is that without the signs (pictured) and public health reminders plastered all around downtown Buenos Aires, it would be difficult to know that the Gripe was an issue. People continue to greet with hugs and kisses, share bombillas (the straw used to drink mate) and cutlery when eating asados, as well as less continuing with less desirable habits such as spitting on the street. Indeed, in my admittedly anecdotal experience, those with cold or flu-like symptoms are still embraced by friends in ways which deviate wildly with my ‘colder’ experiences in the UK. Thankfully, it seems the practices which make this city and its people so warm and inviting to the outsider will endure during and long after the Gripe exists in Argentina.