Culture

Eduardo Munoz

Professor Crabtree

Narrative Essay

02/15/12

Change of Culture

Paraguay is a country of around seven million people. It is located exactly inthe middle of South America and has no outlet to the sea; for these reasons, it is called “the heart of South America.” Paraguay (which is the country where I was born and raised until the age offourteen) shares borders with Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Brazil and Argentina are considered the giants of the Southern hemisphere while Paraguay presents deficiencies in many different areas. Forinstance, Argentina, a very powerful nation competes to become in the worldwide leader in tennis. I played tennis in Paraguay most of my life, from six to fourteen years old, but then I realized thatif I wanted to keep improving in my game, I needed to move to a world power in tennis. United States, Spain, and Argentina represented the world power in tennis back in that time.

I choseArgentina since it shared border with Paraguay and the cost of living appeared to be the cheapest of my three options. Even though, Argentina´s culture seemed to be very similar to Paraguay´s culture, itstill looked quite different. That stage in my life represented a new challenge for me and my family and it also created the opportunity for me to improve. Apart from the challenge, there existedother issues like different styles, beliefs, and manners that I forced myself to adopt in order to survive and finally succeed in Argentina.

When I first arrived to the city of Resistencia,Argentina, I saw too many players and coaches, and that projected a weird and unusual image for me because in Paraguay you do not see many of them. Argentines showed themselves very competitive andpassionate not just in tennis but also in life. They played too many different jokes and tricks, and they also relayed a quick and smart lifestyle through their everyday actions. The combination of...