San Telmo: a doorway to the world
A Dutch visitor investigates why foreigners choose to stay in this neighborhood
San Telmo holds an undeniable attraction for the tourists who come to visit for a day or an afternoon. But there are also many foreigners who stay in San Telmo for longer periods of time, sometimes several years. I spoke with various people lodging in the neighborhood for an extended amount of time and asked them: What are you doing here? What do you think of this neighborhood? Do you feel at home in San Telmo?
The majority of those interviewed are studying and/or working in Buenos Aires, and most study or work in other neighborhoods. Nevertheless, they chose to live in San Telmo. Why? Mayra López explains, “I don’t feel like so much of a foreigner here because San Telmo is so multicultural. People from all over the world live together here.” Constanza Schoenfelder, from Chile, says, “The other neighborhoods in Buenos Aires are less lively than San Telmo. Here there’s always something fun to do.”
But the intimate atmosphere of the neighborhood is one of the factors most mentioned. Frank Guevara, from Colombia, explains that he loves that “San Telmo is a very close-knit neighborhood where everyone knows each other.” Colin Hall, from Scotland, and Aya Vedige from Denmark, agree: “San Telmo feels like a small town. It’s a real community.” And Brazilian Thales Maja describes the way in which the locals relate to one another “like a family.”
Christine Behn from Germany notes that sometimes residents seem closed off to foreigners, that “they’re protective of their neighborhood and a bit territorial. But I can understand them because San Telmo shouldn’t get too commercialized and touristy, like what happened in Palermo.”
The favorite places of those interviewed are in general open spaces where people congregate, like the Plaza Dorrego, the Sunday fair on Defensa street, the Mercado de San Telmo and Parque Lezama. Thales Maja says that she loves the Sunday fair “because it has things that you can’t find in my country, and the atmosphere is very unique and friendly.”
Nearly everyone compared San Telmo with some other place in the world—especially other historic neighborhoods or towns. Constanza Schoenfelder says that San Telmo reminds her of Valparaíso, Chile, because of its streets, its architecture and the tourism. According to some Brazilians, San Telmo is similar to some of the old cities and towns in their country, and for Christine Behn the energy and history of San Telmo reminds him of Lisbon, Portugal.
It seems that, in addition to its local particularities, San Telmo also has something universal. And it must be for this reason that Constanza Schoenfelder describes it as “a doorway to the world.”
Anne-Marie Smink graduated in 2009 in Communication Sciences from the University of Amsterdam. She came to Buenos Aires in September of 2009 to study with the Amauta Spanish School and volunteered with El Sol de San Telmo in October. In addition to writing this report, she helped organize the Gran Mateada Barrial.
