Recent content by TwentyThousandRoads

Either you used the old google translate trick where you translate yourself into tajikistani five times and back, or you're really good at this. Are you sure you haven't done it before Mr. "Smith"? :D

There are some things to be said about the laissez-faire attitude at the BA zoo w/r/t letting small mammals run around begging for food. The maras are great. I tend to check out zoos in every country I go to, and I found that rather charming. On the other hand, it's because the jerks aren't...

Sorry to hear this happened to you. I've had people try to pick my pocket in Paris and New York (and caught them by the wrists) but never here in BA. That said: In big cities in general, use front pockets and inside pockets for valuables. I see a lot of Americans here with fat wallets or phones...

Oh yeah, it's here now. But it's still 5-6 years behind the US, in terms of how people there have completely lost connection with reality around them, or the slightest shred of shame when it comes to replacing conversations with facebook. It takes a little while to really breed out the human...

Ugh. Can we talk about the disgustingness of laundry perfume? That's one thing I've never understood in latin countries. I can pick up that smell of chemical roses half a block away and it makes me gag. And I'm a smoker. I can't imagine what it smells like to a non-smoker.

Ask the Swiss. Or the Germans or the Norwegians, Canadians, Australians, Czechs, Kiwis or British. If you have a rule of law in the country then you don't need the US dollar.

Right. Running a country is obviously about spending public funds to pay off corrupt officials and unions and mafia, and going deeper and deeper into debt until the country implodes and an iphone costs US$1500. That's the real way to run a country. Saving is for pussies.

Last I used Xoom, there were no pickup places in Palermo. They seem to cluster around Corrientes / Puerreydon. Not a huge deal to hop the subway, but sometimes places are out of money and send you on to another pickup location. Luckily there are several within a few blocks of there. You should...

Taxi fares also go up significantly after hours. I'm not sure what time they go up or how much, it seems about 30% (maybe someone can explain this? I'm usually plastered by that point)... all I know is that the fare from where I live to Palermo is about 70 pesos, and the fare back is closer to...

Hah... sorry. I went back and looked at your post and realized you had broken out the taxi prices from the drinks. I didn't see that when I read it the first time, maybe it didn't load? Or I was completely blitzed and blacked out for a minute :D Through my non-scientific experiments I've found...

NYE here is not quite like it is in the US or Europe. People stay home with their families until 1 or 2am and everywhere explodes with private fireworks, and then after that they go out and start partying like it's a late Friday. At which point -- it's pretty much just any other weekend night.

@90 days, it doesn't really matter if you plan to spend a lot or a little. You'll still save money if you bring dollars. If you live in this country and go to the States you don't come back without as much cash as you can carry. Even now. Three months is quite awhile in terms of prices and...

@Camberlu, that was quite a breakdown. The historical analysis is pretty much flawless... I still have a coin from the '70s celebrating the 'conquista del desierto' / massacre of the Indians, minted under the nazi-inspired dictatorship. But this is also a country -- or let's say a city -- that...

Yeah, the USD cash machine I think is more of a cute story to put the kids to bed... Vegas is for gettin married, Reno's where you go to get a divorce. But seeing as the unlucky in love do better on the slots, they stock Reno with the crappier machines. Nothing that happens there is anything...

Brilliant. He must try to find a middle ground. Look what happens in America. When the right is elected, they destroy the middle class by helping the rich. When the left is elected, they destroy the middle class by helping the poor. The result is a society with extreme wealth and poverty...