Culture Class: the meaning of money

Hola,

I forgot to write this down earlier and it is an interesting story:

I went with some classmates to the Plaza de Mayo to record the Madres de Plaza de Mayo marching, as they do every Thursday at 3. We wanted to get an interview with one of the mothers, but they told us that they don't do interviews. We went up to their book stand to ask them questions without the camera instead. After looking at all the trinkets and books that they were selling at this little table in the plaza, we starting asking about the organization. We didn't really know how to get started, we just wanted to know what they do and how their organization operates. I thought maybe refering to the things they were selling as a jumping off point to talking about the organization would be a good approach. As I interestedly looked at the things they were selling, I asked one of the mothers "So where do the proceeds from these items go, an organization?" The woman immediately put up a guard and got upset at my questions. She was mumbling and hard to understand but said "where does the money go? Where do you think?" Then she turned away from me and motioned for her friend to come closer to her and started whispering things about how insulting my question was or what not. I apologized and explained that I was just interested in what the organization does. She responded "What DOESNT the organization do, you want me to sum up 30 years of work in 5 minutes? Why don't you buy a book!" I apologized again and my friends and I slowly walked away.

I don't know all the reasons for this aggressive response (maybe she's tired of answering questions, upset that I asked her instead of doing my research before hand, or bitter because she has probably suffered a lot in life) but my friends and I did realize that one reason was probably the difference in meanings of the word "money." In my "capitalist culture" money = ability. I thought that asking about what happens to the money would be a good way to find out what actions are being taken by the organization. Are they sending it to other places in the world as donations? Are they giving history classes to the public? Are they sponsering talks and seminars?

Once I stepped out of my capitalist culture, I thought about what money means here in Argentina. Money in argentina is highly associated with corruption. If someone is questioning about how the money in an organization is spent, it probably gives the impression that one is suspicious of their operations. This connection is even more intense for these women because they lived through the incredibly corrupt dictatorship and then the Menem presidency which was sustained by corruption. Even today, corruption is a way of life in Argentine politics (as well as other parts of life, for example getting a doctors appt has a lot to do with your connections). In hindsight, I realize the perspective of this woman and how my question came off as offensive.

This is just one more example of the really important concept that words are more than there dictionary definitions. This sort of miscommunication happens all the time, whether between national cultures, local cultures or even family to family. The words we use often times take on these different connotations based on our experience. It's hard to understand the meaning of certain words for other people and we are even unaware of the associations we make with many word. Apparently I view money from a capitalist perspective, who knew.

Another quick example is the phrase "We'll see." Atleast to me, "We'll see" is something a mom says when she means "no" but doesn't want to say it right away. So basically We'll see = no. One time Tomas said this to me when I asked if he wanted to go somewhere or do something later. When he responded "We'll see" I immediately started challenging him and trying to convince him. He repeated the phrase, sort of confused, and then I realized he really meant we'll see, as is maybe yes maybe no, but we'll make the decision later based on the situation. Since Tomas never grew up with a mom who ingrained "We'll see" in his head as "no" it had a completely different meaning.

I don't know what to take away from all of this excpet that its good to ask lots of questions when communicating because there is a lot of content that is not explicitly stated in a conversation.

Interesting stuff.

Ciao,
Kati