Don´t Cry For Me Argentina

As the Robert Burn´s poem, To A Mouse goes ¨The best laid schemes of mice and men, Often go awry.¨ My plans to come to Buenos Aires and trade US money at the black market rate on Florida street (which was suppose to be about 75% more than the official rate) to buy my plane ticket home did not go as planned. Little did I know that if you buy an international plane ticket inside Argentina, the government slaps on a 35% tax. Then about six months ago, the government passed a regulation that international plane tickets can not be paid with cash and for foreigners, it must be purchased with a credit card from outside of the country. With all the loop holes covered and a large bundle of Argentinian Pesos, I limped back to the money changer and traded the Pesos back to US dollars with a little loss.   

Argentina has been in economic crisis since 2001-2002 (when the bank accounts were frozen to stop the rush of money being withdrawn) with citizens feeling the blunt of the crisis in the last five years with high inflation of 35-40%, devalued money and high unemployement. The fact that Argentina has defaulted on its debt (to bond holders) in 2001 and most recently this summer in 2014 hasn´t helped or encourgaed foriegn investment.

For the average Argentinians this has meant increased food prices and high taxes on import goods, fuel, and traveling long distances. As a result of the devalued money, there has been a scramble to change Pesos into a more stable currency which means either  US dollars or Euros. What this means to a tourist is that you can either to trade at a bank for 8.5 to $1 US dollar or the 12-13 current black market rate. It is such an accepted practice there are even websites (http://www.dolarblue.net/ or http://www.lanacion.com.ar/dolar-hoy-t1369) for the ¨blue dolar rate¨ which is even printed on local newspapers. If you choose to trade on the black market, bring large currencies like $100´s and $50´s as you get a better rate than 20´s, 10´s and 5´s. Even with this rate, Argentina is still an expensive country due to the inflation and prices around are at least 50-100 % more than listed in my guidebook.   

I am impressed this society has not deteriorated as the wages have not kept up with the inflation and the Argentinian just seem to keep going. I also noticed there are homeless families on some streets in Buenas Aires with children and women sleeping on mattresses on the sidewalk. Garbage gets picked up, streets are cleaned and people plod on with their day to day life. I guess most people want the same thing whether in the capital city, remote Patagonian mountain village or port town... a safe place to sleep, food in their stomach, family and friends around and moments of happiness. I spoke the owner of a laundry mat and he said it was ¨not a matter of adjusting to the inflation, it was to anticipate it¨ as he felt Argentina goes through these economic problems every 10 years or so and that is what he will be teaching his young daughter.

Often considered the most European city in South America, Buenos Aires has a lively and dynamic vibe and lots of cultural activities, markets on weekends and some very tasty restaurants. I recommend attending a Fuerza Bruta show of drumming and interpretative dance which uses water tanks, gaint foil, wind fans and air dome. I have not seen anything like this before, artful, lively, creative and hard to describe.

What makes Buenos Aires so wonderful is visiting the many distinct neighbourhoods located throughout the city. San Telmo seems like a street in New York while affluent Recoleta could pass for Paris with all the French architecture and huge mansions and La Boca by the port, is a collection of brightly coloured houses and buildings that conjures up the same feelings as Valpariso or Porto in Portugal and home to one of the oldest futbol clubs in South America, the Boca Jrs (and where Maradona formerly played). Other parts feel like I am walking down the Thames River in London or sitting late night in some plaza in Barcelona. They even have a plaza named Cataluyna with a similar fountain found on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Traditionally, if you drink from this fountain, you are destined to return to the city.

One site often visited by most tourist is the famous Cementerio de la Rocoleta where the famous, important, and richest of the rich in Buenos Aires were burried with many ornate and elaborate marble mausoleums and gravestones. Both BBC and CNN consider the Cementerio de la Rocoleta to be one of the best and beautiful cementeries in the world. Buried here are past presidents, poets, entertainers, Nobel Prize winners and ironically, Eva (Evita) Peron where her body rests among the rich who she dispised and who dispised her. Eva is buried in her family´s mausoleum in her maiden name, Durante. Her grave is simple and modest and unlike the other highly decorated grave sites, flowers are constantly being placed by public as she continues to be well-loved by her countrymen (but also depised by others).

Time to walk around and enjoy a Sunday afternoon before I fly home tomorrow.