Peculiarities of the Good Airs

The romantic and sophisticated Buenos Aires is what draws the crowds of tourists, yet I find myself (in a somewhat cynical state of mind) passing up the luxurious european architecture and countless offers of tango shows. Given the precarious state of dial up connection at my uncles apartment I will not add any photos and instead will share a few comments on what I find strange aspects of life here.

BUS CHANGE:
Every single time I have walked by the Retiro train station there is a line up of several hundred people infront of a government kisok named MONEDAS (coins). Buses here only accept coins and I have learned from experience that yes it is that difficult to find change. I have found myself taking taxis not because there are no buses but because I have lots of bills, no coins and ´nobody has change´.

GUIA ´T´ DE BOLSILLO:
Having for the most part failed at figuring out the Santiago bus system, I decided to purchase the bus route guide for Buenos Aires: Guia T pocket edition. Its organization of information is quite peculiar. It does not contain (neither does the whole city as far as I know) a single route map. It has maps of the city divided into 36 zones each with 24 sub quadrents and it lists the corresponding bus numbers that pass through each quadrent. To find a bus you determine your start zone (lets say Map 10 A-6) and your desired destination (Map 17 C-5) and then compare the two lists of bus numbers and hope there is a match. If not, good luck!

FUERA BOTNIA, SI A LA VIDA:
On the way back from the Gualeguaychú carnaval (a couple hundred km north of B.A.) we visited a bridge with a view of a Uruguayan cellulose plant that has become very famous. This international border crossing between Argentina and Uruguay has been road blocked for 2 years. Local citizen groups and environmental activists have closed the highway demanding that the huge foreign owned factory on the bank of the Rio Uruguay be closed down. All international traffic and trade must use the next crossing several hundred km upstream.

I also wanted to send a big thanks to all my incredibly generous family and friends that have made sure that I have not had to open my wallet for a hotel room since December 5th!