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Priscilla Boulward said she was both excited and apprehensive about returning to her native Ottawa after a six-year adventure in Tucuman, Argentina. She started that journey only one year after graduating from the University of Toronto. As a young software programmer, she had little worldly experience when offered the opportunity to live and work in Argentina. Priscilla took to the adventure well. She soon grew accustom to late night suppers and everything closing between 4:30-7:30 p.m., the traditional “siesta” time. This getting accustomed to would have a problem for her when she returned from her six-year stay in Tucuman.Unlike Buenos Aires which has a decidedly European cosmopolitan air about it, Priscilla experienced a more traditional Argentine city with all its flavors and customs. She embraced these and became fully involved in the local culture.After returning to Ottawa, Priscilla first noticed a difference in the way she was treated at work and out on the street. Argentineans in traditional places like Tucuman are very family-oriented and her employer had arranged for Priscilla to stay with a “host” family during her initial days in her new country. But, the relationship quickly grew familiar and, in fact, loving as her host family not only welcomed her as one of their own, but she became an integral part of their family dynamic.She missed that closeness at first when she returned. Although she had a loving family in Canada, the roles played by family members in Argentina were defined not only by age, but also by gender. Hispanic society on the whole is pretty much a male dominated culture and Priscilla didn’t mind the great deal of deference extended toward her due to being a young female.Amenities were broad and visible in all aspects of daily life from tips of a hat when passing by to the opening of doors and assistance with carrying, lifting and moving of everything. She found herself stopping to await a door opening and was surprised when men would venture through a doorway without allowing her first entry.Getting used to her mother’s early evening meals was also a challenge. She had grown accustomed to the Argentine lunch as the main daily meal and her friends and family were surprised that she looked more favorably upon a later night lighter meal that ended the day. Gone were the siesta rests in late afternoon where the drinking of bitter teas was commonplace. Priscilla depended heavily upon her family helping her readjust to the Canadian way of life.

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