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| The excitement of Rio Airport |
At the
airport in Argentina, I loaded my overstuffed backpack onto my back
before realising that I was supposed to remove it to go through a
security checkpoint. Unfortunately, there were no chairs for me to sit
down and dump the backpack. An unfriendly-looking Customs official
gestured for me to remove the backpack, which would not happen without
me falling over. Unable to recall the Spanish word for ´heavy´, I
resorted to repeating the phrase ´I am a turtle´ whilst flailing my arms
about and miming falling over backwards. It worked!
After I checked into my hostel I took the longest
(and coldest, which is apparently common in Buenos Aires) shower of my
life, I wandered off to a nearby street party underneath a monument
called the Obelisco. A group of girls saw I was alone and offered to
keep me company. I´d heard horror stories about the difficulty of
understanding Argentinian Spanish, so I was glad that I could understand
most of what they were saying. As it turned out, they were actually
from Mexico. (And Argentinian Spanish is every bit as incomprehensible
as I´d been warned.)
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| My new Mexican friends |
Over the next few days, I learned the following interesting facts about Buenos Aires:
- Most people speak no English, including customs officials, cab drivers
and the people who work at McDonald´s. I don´t mean ´not much English´,
I mean No English. My phrasebook is my new best friend.
-
Due to inflation, coins are worth less than the metal they´re made of
and so they ´disappear´ from circulation. However, coins are also
essential for buses and laundromats, so everyone hoards any coins they
come across. As a result, coins are even rarer - and more sought-after -
than hot showers.
- Due to the coin shortage, hundred-peso bills (worth about $20)
are nigh on impossible to break. These are the only bills that most ATMs
dispense, which can make buying things difficult. Also, plenty of notes
are fake, and you need to check four different features (watermark,
raised print, metallic seal, iridescent ink) before accepting one. As a
result, checkout lines in Buenos Aires move very slowly.
- An important note for prospective travellers: some places do not
accept credit cards with a security chip, so it is good to have a backup
card with no chip. Being shouted at in incomprehensible Argentinian
Spanish after I tried to pay for lunch with a hundred-peso bill and then
a chip credit card is not an experience I would like to repeat.
- There are SO MANY DOGS HERE. Also, many people hire dog walkers,
so packs of dogs are a common sight. Given the terrible traffic, I think
that the use of Arctic-style dogsleds for transport will begin soon.
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| Dogs are everywhere!! |
After
spending a few days at the hostel, on Saturday I arrived at my homestay.
My homestay family don´t speak English, so my phrasebook accompanies
me to the dinner table. Tonight we had a conversation where my host
mother, unable to find the words ´monkey´ or ´butterfly´ in my
phrasebook, instead mimed jumping around in monkey-fashion and flapping
her arms like a butterfly. I am beginning to suspect that the ´I am a
turtle´ incident at the airport may become a common occurence here.
My room has a lovely balcony overlooking the barrio (suburb) of Recoleta.
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| My balcony |
I
start classes tomorrow, in a beautiful building just near the Congresso
government house. I haven´t taken a photo of the school yet, but I do
have a photo of this amazing building near the Casa Rosada. It houses
the Ministry of Defence, and the giant tank parked out the front really
adds to the ambiance of the place.
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| Ministry of Defence |
Buenos
Aires is a beautiful city with a lot of idiosyncracies which can be
frustrating, especially for travellers who aren´t confident with
speaking Spanish. That said, pizza costs about a dollar, so it´s
definitely worth visiting.
Hasta mas tarde,
Jayne
Jayne Krempin is currently on the Intensive Spanish in Argentina program running in January 2013. Jayne is in her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Science at the University of Newcastle.
Jayne Krempin is currently on the Intensive Spanish in Argentina program running in January 2013. Jayne is in her 3rd year of a Bachelor of Science at the University of Newcastle. 
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