Backpacking South America

The benefit of global warming – winter days that are 35 degrees above the normal temperature.

Our second weekend in Buenos Aires was about 40 degrees warmer than the first. Gone were the sweatshirts, long underwear and gloves. It was time to enjoy summer.

We decided to visit Tigre, a summertime hotspot for porteños. Just a short train ride from the city, Tigre is sometimes called the Venice of Argentina by locals. While that is disputable, it is pretty nice.

During peak season (or unseasonably warm winter days), people flee the city for the quaint, but busy, town of Tigre. There is a small amusement park, casino, art museum and numerous outdoor activities.

Tigre is where a small part of the Delta divides into many canals that can been enjoyed by a peaceful boat ride along the river. For the locals, it´s their mode of transportation to their cottage. For tourists, they use the boats to take them to their summer rentals or upriver to a restaurant or park for a day-long picnic and parrilla (barbeque with lots and lots and lots of meat).

We started our trip to Tigre early Saturday morning. We caught the train shortly after 10am, after the second stop, a couple guys got on that were obviously on their way home from the bar. Inside the packed train, the drunk man was leaning on us and trying to engage us in a slurred conversation. Things improved drastically once he got off.

We arrived in Tigre and caught a local taxi boat rather than the touristy catamaran. As we headed up the river, our capitan would essential back up to a dock so that people could get off at their home. It was an impressive site to watch the captain back up a 50 foot boat with no direct line of site without a second attempt and without smashing the dock. We decided not to get off, but just enjoy the ride and the narrow passage ways further into the Delta. We arrived back in Tigre about 3 hours later – grabbed a bite to eat and walked along the boardwalk to the Art Museum. The Art Museum is in an impressive old mansion that was once a gentlemen’s club, then casino, before becoming the Art Musuem. It was a much more peaceful ride home.

“I don’t want to walk home today, it’s over 2 miles. I wish we had enough coins to take the bus. I mean, it’s only AR $2.40 for both us (that’s about $0.65 US), but we never seem to have enough coins. It shouldn’t be this difficult to ride the bus.” This routine day after day has definitely been the bane of our existence as well as a game we are learning to master.

The colectivos (buses) in Buenos Aires, only take coins. As we mentioned in our First Impressions post , it’s a racket. Everybody uses the colectivos to get around, to go to school, to go to work or run errands. They are always full, all the time. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I have actually gotten a seat.

People rely on coins to catch the bus to take them where they need to go. In fact, they hoard their coins so they can ride the colectivos, and the government doesn’t seem to create enough of them to meet the demand.  As a result, the colectivos get all the coins, while merchants and people alike refuse to part with their coins.

Unlike other students/tourists, we rely on the colectivos to go to school every day.  A roundtrip is $5.00 in monedas total – so moneda is like gold to us…and everyone else. In fact, I picked up a 10 centavo coin (equivalent of 10 cents) the other day on the colectivo. God only knows how many times it was stepped on…but we were short 10 centavos this morning. Good thing I picked that coin up, otherwise it would have been 20. 10 centavos is easy to find…we just ask Liliana. She has a stash.

So, on a daily basis, we work hard to game the system by playing “Capture the Monedas.” Monedas is what they call change.

The object of this game is to get as much moneda as possible.

First, some background. Argentina coins come in 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos and 1 peso. They then have 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 peso notes.

The Rules Are:

1. Buy want you need or will likely need in the next few days.
2. Purchase the combination of items that will result in the most coins having to be returned.
3. Calculate your net flow of monedas at the end of the day.

Determining a Win:

- Any day that you go to bed with an equal or greater amount than you started; and
- Have enough for the colectivo fare in the morning.
- If you accomplish both, you’re a CHAMP.

It’s Strategy and Mental Math

At first, we would always ask Argentinias, “how do you get moneda?” And the funny thing was (apparently there is no irony in this), they all looked at you and laughed and said, “Ah, sí.” Okay, that didn’t answer my question. How? Luck.

Again, strategy. We’ve come to master the skill. To have a lot of moneda is relative; it’s more like, having enough. Liliana tells us to “lie.” When making a purchase, if the cashier asks if you have any moneda – Lie. Act like a dumb tourist, say “sorry, I have no centavos.” They wish to round it off to the nearest peso, because they too, want centavos.

For some reason it seems more important that the store keeps their moneda. Unfortunately, it’s true. So, before we make a purchase, we contemplate how we will receive the most centavos from this purchase. Often times, we split the purchase into two separate transactions. The key is: Don’t let them see your hand. Always have the upper hand. Every opportunity you have to get more centavos, take it. You never know when you will need them.

Example of a Good Buy

I am not really hungry, but I might be soon. Let’s see what I can buy that will give me enough change to get home. If I buy this item for $1.25, that’s only 75 centavos in change. However, if I also buy another item for 1 peso, then its $2.25 and if I pay with 2 $2 peso notes ($4 pesos total), they have to give me $1.75 pesos in monedas.  As noted in the earlier example, if you get too close to the even dollar, they will happily forfeit some change to keep a lot of change…

Example of a Good Buy Gone Bad

On a recent trip trip to the store, we found crackers for $2.15 – a gold mine in the waiting.  We go to checkout, pay with 2 two peso notes.  The cashier asks, “Centavos?” We say, “No.” She gave us the crackers and 2 pesos back.  While we should celebrate that we got a 7.5% discount, we were frustrated because the only reason we bought the crackers in the first place was to get change.  It is a strange concept that stores would rather forfeit money in order to keep thier monedas.

San Telmo is one of the original barrios of Buenos Aires. It is filled with buildings and houses in the colonial style with cobblestone streets. Located just off the center of town, San Telmo is known for its antiques shops. On our first foray into the neighborhood, we wandered through the streets and into large buildings and mansions that used to accommodate the wealthy porteños, but are now used for large indoor markets. We wandered into one market and it was so large that we found ourselves getting a bit disoriented. We were both amazed by the shear volume of old stuff this city seems to have collected. The main antique district takes up about a half mile on the main street with smaller shops down the side streets. It seems that every storefront on the street and inside the massive markets are all filled with antiques dealers.

However, a weekday in San Telmo is tranquil compared to Sunday’s madness. We had read about a weekly market in San Telmo held on Sunday’s, but thought it was isolated to Plaza Dorrego, a small square at one end of the neighborhood.  When we returned on Sunday, we expected a block or two of vendors at the most and we were surprised and slightly overwhelmed to see just how long and crowded the street fair was and how much stuff was out.    

The fair shut down most of a major street through San Telmo, Calle Defensa, and booths are set up selling crafts, antiques, art and clothes.   It stretches for nearly a mile and every inch is filled by booths, street performers and mobs of people.  As we wandered through, it just seemed to go on forever, all we could see were people in front and behind us and the endless booths selling china, watches, stereophones, antiques, junk, crafts and everything else. It was an experience not to be missed and a sight definitely worth seeing.

We escaped the market with only one minor casualty – we found a notebook that was perfectly suited for documenting our time and travels in Argentina.

Entire photo set in Flickr:

Background on San Telmo

The San Telmo barrio is one of the original portions of the Buenos Aires and was originally filled with wealthy colonists and their mansions and fancy buildings. However, the yellow fever outbreak in 1871 sent the wealthy residents out to the northern barrios (Palermo, Recoleta, etc.) The neighborhood then became a cheap, slightly dangerous neighborhood. Modernization and reconstruction skipped over San Telmo for decades, leaving the original buildings intact, if not in slightly dilapidated condition. Eventually, antique merchants began creeping into San Telmo and with the constant stream of tourists wandering the narrow cobblestone streets – the neighborhood is being revitalized/gentrified. San Telmo is a very touristy portion of town, but wandering the streets, it isn’t hard to imagine what life was like in Buenos Aires in its early day’s.

Sources:
Argentina, Footprint Guide, 2008 edition
Let’s Go Buenos Aires, 2009 edition

Learning how to get around Buenos Aires was no easy task. Our first foray into public transportation was on our first full day in the city. We had successfully coordinated to meet up with our friend Emily at Plaza Italia in Palermo. Now the struggle was, how do we get to Palermo?

There are many methods of transportation in Buenos Aires, so at the hostel, we decided to ask the front desk their recommendation and they said that we could take the colectivo (bus) or a taxi. The colectivo would only cost 2.50 pesos (about $0.80 for the both of us) or if we decided to take a taxi, it  would cost 25 pesos (about $8.30). We opted for the colectivo, after all, we are on a budget. We had heard that the colectivo only takes coins and that coins are difficult to come by and we did not have that many coins yet. So, nervous about the pending experience, we confirmed with the attendant at the hostel that it was okay if we have the exact amount, just not all in coins.

This is the bus we take every day

Somewhere, something was lost in translation. We got on the colectivo with a 2 peso bill and 50 centavos (equivalent of 50 “cents”). The driver said “sobre monedas” (only change) and proceeded to drive off with us still on. I was wondering what we were to do. We never received a ticket. We waited our turn to pay, but we didn´t have coins and people kept getting on the bus and passing right by us. We both looked at each other trying to figure out what to do next. Finally, a young man approached us who spoke some English, he asked if we needed moneda (coins). We said yes, and he gave us coins and showed us how to get a ticket. Whew! We were legitimately on the colectivo. Now, we just weren´t quite sure where to get off the colectivo. We were told that it should take us 30 minutes to get to Palermo. It had already been 40 minutes and Jared started to feel that we were going away from Plaza that we needed to get to. Already 10 minutes late to meet Emily, we decided it was best to get off the bus and walk. During our walk to the meet Emily, a key topic of conversation was the disadvantages of not having a cell phone… By the time we got to the Plaza, we were 40 minutes late! We had no way to reach her. But, as they say, in Argentina, nothing starts on time…

We walked around the square and found a bench in the middle to sit and wait for her. We figured she had already been there and maybe she´s just been waiting for us and hadn´t veered to far. Jared decided to go walk around outside the Plaza and I decided to stay put, just in case she came back to the meeting place. Just as I looked up, I caught Jared´s eye from afar and he waived me over. I quickly grabbed our things, as he began to run. Emily was walking on the other side of the street. Mind you, this was not just a 2 or 4 lane street – this was 7+ lanes of one way traffic entering the plaza from multiple directions. It was chaos. Meanwhile, Jared was trying to get Emily’s attention without drawing to much attention to himself. I caught up to Jared and we kept our eye on her as we paced her on the other side of the street. She began to walk down into the Subte station. We needed to catch her! Acting on impulse, I jumped into the street and Jared followed. Dodging a few cars, we made it across the street and down into the Subte, just in time to catch her as she walked through the turnstile. We made it!

All’s well that ends well, right? We had a wonderful day with her. We headed to Belgrano to one of her universities so she could get her ID photo before her classes started. Since she had been around for 4 weeks already, she showed us around, took us through Chinatown and gave us many tips for navigating the city. It was so nice to be with someone who understood what was going on around us and could communicate it to us in terms we could relate to. Most importantly though, Emily was our savior for helping us learn the entire transportation system. She gave us a guide book of a map for the colectivos and helped us get a subway card that we can store value on. Most importantly, she was our money exchange for COINS!

As we’ve discovered, you must have coins to take the colectivo. It’s not too hard to navigate the colectivo system, but it’s hard to get coins. The government doesn’t create a lot of coins and everybody hoards them. Stores would rather decline a sale or round your change up to the next peso just so they don’t have to give out coins. It’s actually a racket. The colectivos get so much change everyday, they then sell the change back into the system with a surcharge. So not only do they profit off the fare, they profit off the money itself. I guess it’s similar to an interest rate, but it seems like a scheme to me.

So after a leisurely morning in the hostel, we caught the Subte (subway), which is much easier than the buses.  We exited the Subte to the bustle of Recoleta, mostly stores serving the upper middle to upper class neighborhood filled with wide boulevards and tree lined streets.  The first stop on our walking tour was Cemetario de la Recoleta.  This exclusive cemetery is the final resting place for some of Buenos Aires most famous, powerful and wealthy people. 

The cemetery looks and feels a lot like a densely populated city – broad boulevards, narrow streets and towering buildings.  The only difference is that those towering buildings are filled with dead people. 

Perhaps the most famous and beloved resident of the cemetery is Evita Peron,  who isn’t buried with her husband Juan Peron, but in the mausoleum of the Duarte family.  On the day we visited, it was the anniversary of the day she declined the nomination for Vice President of Argentina so she could continue focusing on her efforts on social programs for the people.

Our next destination was the Escueltura en la Rose (Rose Sculpture), which is a very large, mechanical flower that opens in the morning and closes in the evening.  As we approached the park with the flower, we couldn’t figure out what was in the lawn surrounding the flower.  From the distance, it looked like trees or posts, but we couldn’t tell.  We soon realized the entire park was filled with life size cutouts of a dancer from the silver screen (a big shout out to the first person that can correctly name her). 

It turns out, advertisers have a bit more liberty to run their campaigns wherever and with whatever they want.  This particular campaign was promoting a alcholic beverage – I don’t remember the name though…  It was interesting to see how the ads interacted with the art and how the visitors in the park responded to the campaign.  It isn’t often that you see over 1,000 life size cutouts in one place.  It reminded me of the Calvin & Hobbes strip:

After visiting the sculpture, we crossed the street for our first museum visit in Buenos Aires, the Buenos Aires Belles Artes (Fine Arts) Museum.  The second floor featured primarily Argentine artists and served as a great introduction to the style and history of art in this country.  On the roof, they had a sculpture garden we just couldn’t resist.

After walking 4 miles over  6 hours with only a small snack, our feet were tired and we were starving.  Given that porteños don’t typically eat until late, we were nervous that we would be the only one’s eating at the restaurant.  It turns out, if a restaurant is affordable and good, it becomes popular and people eat there at all hours.  We were quickly seated at a small table in the corner.  We started with a penguin of wine (that’s about 2/3 bottle) for approximately $3. 

Our first course was an empanada, the first of many in Bs As.  Baked inside a wood-fired oven, the empanada was perfectly baked on the outside and the meat on the inside was extremely tender.  It was basically the best beef stew mini calzone I have ever had.  For dinner, Carra had a steak and pumpkin casserole that was the perfect antidote to the chilly weather.  I had a large bowl of lentils with ham.  The meal was exactly what we needed.