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Sudamerika vs. Milhouse

I have stayed in two hostels in Buenos Aires, Sudamerika and Milhouse. They are right next to each other, and when Milhouse is booked, they point you to Sudamerika. Milhouse was recommended to me by a Brazilian friend who was traveling through Lima. He said, if you like to party that’s where it’s at. I stayed at first in Sudamerika, while waiting for my reservation at Milhouse to start, and I was struck so much by the differences in my experiences with the two hostels, good and bad, that I felt I should write about them.

Sudamerika is like an old apartment building in New York, with its outdated elevator, dreary walls, and high ceilings. The people who worked there were nice enough when I arrived late at night and homeless, and after a couple more days of staying there, they were downright cool. When I spoke Castellano, and sometimes stumbled over my words, they were patient with me and helped me with whatever I needed. The place is not flashy, the bathrooms are shared and not in the best shape, the free breakfast was the standard bread and coffee variation, but the people that stayed there is really what did it for me. All of them were from other Spanish-speaking countries for the most part, and they were communicating in the language I was trying to learn. Also, they were, at least my roommates were, pretty open people who tried to get to know you a bit. On the whole, I had the better experience here because of the people. 

Milhouse is a bit much. It’s not the partying aspect I didn’t like…in fact, I loved that they had a bar open until 5 am, that they had DJs and dance instructors in for parties, and that you could theoretically meet people hanging out down there at any time. The staff for the most part were cool—had a few bitchy moments with some of the chicks, but perhaps that’s just a girl thing. I found that at first the staff preferred to try to speak English with me, I think for my comfort. But I explained a couple times that I wanted to practice my castellano, so please speak to me in that language. Then they would speak as fast as they could to fuck with me a bit, I think, after which I would say, just a little slower please. Find, no problem. But the reason they usually chose to speak to me in English is because pretty much everyone who stayed there only spoke English. Some of them were not even trying to learn Spanish. This pissed me off, and actually tainted Milhouse for me.

Now, I haven’t totally rejected my heritage, language, country, or anything like that, but when you’re in a country and the main language is not English, you should learn the frickin’ language! And the guests were not warm and open. Perhaps because I was an American, but that is not always so obvious, I don’t think. Perhaps it’s because I was traveling alone and all of them seemed to be in groups, more or less, but I did meet some who were traveling alone too. Perhaps I was being elitist with my slightly higher level of Spanish and put up and invisible wall between us, not sure…can’t rule out my own fault here, right? But, despite the better bathrooms, comfier beds, better breakfast, slightly nicer building structure, and better parties, the clientele just pissed me off. I did meet some nice individuals, but en masse my fellow travelers at Milhouse were like their own sovereign entity that seemed to just follow all the tour plans of Milhouse and not strike out on their own. 

Another thought just occurred to me. Perhaps I was so different from them because of my age. I seem to be the oldest person in some of these types of traveling circles (“no, you’re 30? I thought you were 25-26 just like me”); and maybe I was antsy there, because they all needed the helping, comforting, hand-holding environment of Milhouse, and I didn’t really want that. I also think I’m going through a backlash of sorts. Tired of always being the foreign tourist, I am trying to assimilate more with the locals and reject my nationality a bit in order to feel like I belong somewhere and stick out less. It is not always easy to be an American in the world these days. I did hear the words “fucking gringos” fly from the mouths of some of those English-speaking tourists at Milhouse, but this was even before I judged them. And that’s exactly what I did…I judged them before I got to know them, because I wanted to have a more Argentinian experience so badly. And it’s not like I’ve never heard a South American say “fuck the gringos.” I think I gotta check my hubris a bit in this analysis.

I have a month to go before I return home to the States, and I am already feeling a little misty-eyed about leaving. I want to get to know these places down here more. I think by understanding the cultures more I will better understand my place, and the places of other foreigners, among these cultures and in the world. I need more time in all the cities I visit to be able to make a fair assessment of things, and perhaps the same is true of Milhouse.

November 20th, 2007 Posted by Jessica | Blog | no comments