Saber or Conocer, that is the question

*Written Friday, 3rd of June while traveling in Northwest Argentina.

While this won’t be posted until after I return home from my most recent travels, I write this entry from our hostel in Cafayate, a small tourist town of just over 10,000 people situated about 180 km south of Salta. My travels with Cassie have been amazing so far. In the first day of our trip we explored as much as we wanted to in the city of Salta. Then, being more fond of traveling that involves natural elements, we ventured north to the tiny towns of Purmamarca and Tilcara and the amazing las Salinas Grandes ,  the famous salt flats of Argentina. We spent the vast majority of today in buses, en route to Cafayate.  Our original travel aims were to travel back to Salta tomorrow around midday (after spending something like a mere 16 hours in the beautiful Cafayate), only to get on another bus back to Resistencia…

This extensive coverage of the Salta and Jujuy provinces might sound impressive on paper (or, rather, on computer screen) but today on the colectivo from Salta to Cafayate, the question hit me—no, this question, this dilemma whacked me over the head with a club: what do I gain by having this list of “places visited?” When I share that I’ve been to towns or provinces  x, y, and z, why do I derive such satisfaction from naming off the quantity of places? Shouldn’t the quality of my time spent matter more than the quantity of towns and natural elements visited? Do I make any sense asking these questions? [I’m laughing at myself a bit at this point, so I grant you permission to do so as well.] Let me explain, especially in relation to the beautiful cultures of Northwest Argentina where I have been traveling… 

Spanish is a charming language in that it has two distinct words that mean “to know.” The first of these is saber. We use the verb saber primarily in situations of factual knowledge.  For example, saber would be employed in a sentence like, I know that the bus leaves tomorrow at noon. The second verb, conocer, is utilized (primarily) when referring to knowing another person or a place. We use conocer when asking, Do you know my aunt Susan? In English, we most commonly ask, Have you been to Argentina? but in Spanish, we use this verb of conocer to express that we’ve been to, that we “know” a particular place. And so I arrive at my dilemma of this trip’s goals. Was I simply so excited with Cassie here that I wanted to show her as much as possible of Argentina in the few days that we had for traveling? Did I feel like I had to visit as many sites as possible in these two neighboring provinces for fear that I will not have a chance to return? Have I identified an American mannerism of pure drive and unwavering gusto that often still guides my thought processes and my actions, despite how I might desperately try to leave it at the roadside in lieu of a more “Argentine” perspective on life? I could probably articulate the results of our travels this week as a combination of all these things and a few others of which I haven’t yet become conscious. 

There are a couple of things of which I think I can be certain though: first, that there were some places this week that we were able to conocer and others, unfortunately, that we merely passed through to saber. Second, that I much prefer to conocer a place rather than vaguely saber the generalities of the same place. I am certain that I do not regret a moment of this week’s travel or experiences. Cassie and I have seen some amazing natural wonders, intricate architecture, numerous bustling bus terminals, fascinating cultural history, and diverse, compassionate and intriguing people from all over the world. Amidst each of these enriching experiences always lays the question of whether I have really participated in the culture in which I am visiting. I am a believer that it certainly takes much more time than any traveler has, even extended-stay travelers, in one particular place to truly know a culture, much less understand the culture holistically or be accepted by its natives.  However, I also believe that there is a distinction to be made between tourists and travelers that visit any particular place….and so the debate lives on in my thoughts and my actions.

More updates to come soon [with pictures!] on these recent travels. Love to you all reading this, near or far.