Friday, November 7, 2008

Castellano / Globalization Hits my Block

I would like to just start writing on this blog as though that's what I've been doing for my last 21 months in Buenos Aires. Really, there's no real reason that I never started it (the blog) earlier. I credit the title and its idea to my mother who would in turn give credit to someone else. So. For some of you, "Castellano Word of the Day" might make more sense titled "Español Word of the Day" but here in Argentina they refer to their spoken language as Castellano and not Español so this is officially your first WOTD:

Castellano - Castilian (and/or) Spanish. [cas-teil-lyah’-no] or my version [cas-teh-yaw-no]

Listen

Castilian refers to the original language which spread across Spain and which most around the world now refer to as Spanish. Click if super interested.



Mind you, this blog could easily turn into Castellano WOTW or WOTM (Word of the Week or Month). WOTD doesn't necessarily mean daily. I just don't want expectations getting too high.



So why this globalization title? I had one of those "Geez why don't I ever take my camera with me?!" moments today 2 blocks from my apartment. Less than a year ago, articles on Buenos Aires would rave about the historic atmosphere in the quaint cafe culture and how there was no Starbucks in sight as could be found in Madrid, Shanghai, Moscow, and numerous other big cities across the globe. I was never a fan of Starbucks since I prefer my personally-brewed coffee which comes out to about 1/47th of the price (just an estimate). The rumors circulated, and then it was true; the first BsAs Starbucks opened in May. But in a location that was obvious - a posh mall in the middle of a nicer neighborhood and I wasn't surprised. But then a few weeks ago, much to my dismay, I see this on the corner 2 blocks from my front door:

It's not like I'm that person that said he would never shop at WalMart because it was running all the MomandPops out, but the lack of the huge international coffee chain was something I really treasured about BsAs. My new neighborhood location opened a few days ago, and business has been non-stop. The picture I wanted to take today was of the line of 10 Catholic school boys in uniform walking out the door with their initialed vanilla frappes in hand. I've seen this city change quite a bit since February 07. Good and bad. This is a change I could do without. You can find me in the quiet cafe a few doors down.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't know how you did this but it really looks nice.

Anonymous said...

Starbucks huh? I went to Safeway yesterday and walked past a Starbucks stand IN-THE-STORE as I walked to checkout...then 1 minute later passed a Starbucks about 50 yards away from the Safeway as I drove out of the parking lot.

If I loved coffee...I would love Seattle.

Allison said...

Hi Des!
I'm sure it won't get to that point here. But I was just surprised to see one so close to me since my neighborhood is a little more off the beaten path from the big money and foreigners. I've heard they've been having some problems in the U.S. Opened too many locations at the same time that many are trying to change spending habits...aka...less $6 coffee.