When I first arrived in Argentina, some younger students asked me if we have siesta in the U.S. When I said no, I could see pity on their faces, and they asked “Why not?” The answer I usually give is that it’s just not part of our “American lifestyle.”

I suppose the reason is partly cultural and partly practical. Americans are not accustomed to having a mid-day nap after lunch. We eat a small breakfast, a lunch that is larger than breakfast, and dinner is traditionally the biggest meal of the day, after which we sleep through the night. We are accustomed to eating lunch out during the typical 9-5 workday instead of going all the way home to eat (which would take much longer), and we’re used to working throughout the day instead of having a long break in the middle. We go shopping and run errands at whatever time of day is most convenient for us, instead of scheduling our days around the hours that stores are open. Stores in the U.S. are commonly open for ten or 12 hours per day, if not 14 or even 24 hours. The fewer hours a store is open, the smaller its window to generate revenue. This may explain why larger cities in Latin America have a shorter siesta, or none at all. Buenos Aires cannot shut down for four, five, or six hours everyday; there’s too much commerce to be lost and the bustling porteños would be irritated at having fewer chances to run their errands, or not being able to eat lunch out in a café.

In the small town of Colón, Argentina, home to 25,000 people, siesta lasts about four hours during high tourist season in the summer (around 1 PM to 5 PM), and during the winter it’s intolerably long (around noon until 6:30 PM or later). To clarify, during siesta almost everything is closed, including grocery stores, banks, the post office, the library, pharmacies, laundromats, restaurants, and all types of shops, except the hospital and maybe a small handful of places that choose to remain open, for example one pharmacy stays open on rotation in case someone needs medication. Businesses often don’t post their hours; they open and close as they please and are typically open for a total of six or eight hours a day. The residents of this town understand the unspoken system; outsiders may find it confounding. Young people in Colón will often go to school for a few hours in the morning, eat and nap all afternoon, work (or waste time, as young people often do) for a few hours in the evening, nap again after dinner until 2 AM, then hit the local club until 9 AM, then start all over again.

As an English teacher, I came to Colón bursting with ideas and energy, and I hit a brick wall when I realized that the school was not going to kick into high gear and help me start my projects. In truth, my life in New York City was a bit hysterical. I ran around with coffee to-go, ate lunch at my computer, and sprinted around the office with deadlines constantly looming over my head. This is a frantic way to work, but I was extremely productive and am proud of everything I accomplished for that company. Here in Colón, I spend more time trying to get people interested in my ideas (workshops, lectures, projects, etc.) than I do actually implementing them, but this is a challenge for anyone who works in a place that doesn’t welcome change with open arms. Change and growth are not Colón’s forte, but this “tranquilo” lifestyle might be healthier in some ways. Though it’s difficult to feel productive when things develop at a snail’s pace, at least people don’t burn out so quickly and leave their jobs every two or three years because they can’t tolerate the stress.

To siesta or not to siesta is seemingly a matter of small towns versus big cities, rather than the difference between the U.S. and Latin America. Small-town Texas (where I grew up) has no siesta, but life moves just as slowly there as it does in small-town Argentina. Both lifestyles have their advantages and disadvantages, but if you enjoy the big-city pace of life, you’ll hit that brick wall in a small town no matter where in the world you go.