John.St
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- Jul 18, 2009
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It has been shocking to read of the horrible experiences many of you have had in Argentina, but I notice that they are centered in BsAs (worked there as a consultant for 5 months in 2002, not going to return, except if absolutely neccesary).
If you aren't bound by work or the like, you may consider moving to the provinces, e.g. Mendoza, Catamarca, Salta, Corrientes, you name it, where things - according to my experience - are completely different.
A few examples:
1. Presently I rent a furnished apartment with a view of half the town at the normal rate for Argentinos (first check inmobiliares on internet, later when you are told a higher rent from which the agent is going to either pocket the difference or use it to get a higher fee, smile to the agent and say "soy extranjero, pero no soy idiota", then show a print from the internet. Agent smiles too and I pay the proper rent).
2. As my dueño Ramón enters the apartment twice a week to let the mucama-lady in and check her work, I decided to test whether I can trust him, thus once handing him a bunch of notes with 100 pesos too many - I consider 100 pesos cheap for a definite test of confidence. Immediately he had counted the money he handed me the superfluous 100 pesos back, telling me that I had given him too much money - yes, I can trust Ramón.
3. On several occasions when I take a taxi to a friend, Emerson's house (some 14 pesos) if the meter shows e.g. 14.40 and I hand the driver 20 pesos I get 6 pesos (NOT 5) back - that I give him a peso goes without saying, always reward honesty.
4. I bought a coffee pot (con émbolo). I thought the lady said 35 pesos, but when I got a 55 pesos change and as my Spanish was practically non-existing then (Castellano OK, but understanding Argentino-Español wasn't), I assumed that I had got it wrong, and anyway 45 pesos for an 110 pesos (Danish price) coffee pot is dirt cheap. When I was standing outside the shop reading my list to see where to go next, the lady came running out - pretty good show as she is very fat - shouting "disculpe, disculpe, señor, I was thinking about all the merchandize I have just received and how to unpack it, and gave you short change, the price is only 35 pesos" handing me 10 pesos. As you may guess I buy any bazar-item I need from her.
5. At the librero & papelería where I have bought diverse items for no more than a couple of hundred pesos, the owner suddenly told me that as a 'cliente habitual' I would get a ten per cent discount from now on - huh! - and I get it, 6 pesos price mark, pay 5.40. Pretty ridiculous as 60 centavos isn't real money to me, but it would be very impolite to tell her so.
6. My Euro/Master card didn't work at the ATMs. I went into the fourth or fifth bank to verify that I was doing things right - turned out that I did and later found out that the magnet stripe was defect. The English speaking chap who helped me, spent some 20 minutes helping me to test ATMs in a couple of other banks to see whether my card could extract cash there - it couldn't but he just helped me for nothing but being friendly, try that in a "first world" bank.
7.-999. People here are very honest, helpful and friendly - may walk you through half of town so you don't get lost - has happened twice to me when I didn't know the town all that well and yet had to pick up a free map at the tourist info.
I have been ripped off twice (8 and 13 pesos, a butcher's shop and a supermercado, respectively - this lazy bonzo does his checking of bills when he gets home), told the owner that if it happened again I would take my shopping elsewhere and that settled it once and for all - anybody can understand that gaining a few pesos today while loosing 3-400 (butcher - we do a lot of asados around here, at least one a week) resp. 1,000 pesos (supermercado) sales a month is stupid.
I also read things like "for the first 6 months I would always use pleasantries that most civilized people use like "hello", "thank-you" and "good-bye" - NO RESPONSES, scowling and downright hostility" and "Every day I shop at one of two chinos near where I live - and never, in a year and a half of shopping, have I got a hola or gracias from the Chinese staff."- ¡que descortés!
On an experienced lumberjack's left hand (two or three fingers left) I can count the number of times when shop attendants, waiters and others haven't said "chao/adios, hasta luego", "se vaya bien" or the like when I leave and - of course - say the proper and polite things.
If the mozos at my favorite restaurants didn't come over to shake hands and ask ¿cómo le va? or if the girls in the supermarket and the other shops, donde soy cliente habitual, didn't smile at me and say hello, I would take a close look in the mirror to see if I unknowingly had a face transplant, or had caught pox or the plague.
I love the people and Argentina in general, although of course not everything about the country - but then, try Washington and get mugged every friday night, Thailand and get ripped off every 18 minutes or my own Danmark where you get (tax-)robbed by the IRS and where there was a riot last year in three of the neighborhoods of København (Copenhagen).
'nough said for now.
Suerte, amigas y amigos
If you aren't bound by work or the like, you may consider moving to the provinces, e.g. Mendoza, Catamarca, Salta, Corrientes, you name it, where things - according to my experience - are completely different.
A few examples:
1. Presently I rent a furnished apartment with a view of half the town at the normal rate for Argentinos (first check inmobiliares on internet, later when you are told a higher rent from which the agent is going to either pocket the difference or use it to get a higher fee, smile to the agent and say "soy extranjero, pero no soy idiota", then show a print from the internet. Agent smiles too and I pay the proper rent).
2. As my dueño Ramón enters the apartment twice a week to let the mucama-lady in and check her work, I decided to test whether I can trust him, thus once handing him a bunch of notes with 100 pesos too many - I consider 100 pesos cheap for a definite test of confidence. Immediately he had counted the money he handed me the superfluous 100 pesos back, telling me that I had given him too much money - yes, I can trust Ramón.
3. On several occasions when I take a taxi to a friend, Emerson's house (some 14 pesos) if the meter shows e.g. 14.40 and I hand the driver 20 pesos I get 6 pesos (NOT 5) back - that I give him a peso goes without saying, always reward honesty.
4. I bought a coffee pot (con émbolo). I thought the lady said 35 pesos, but when I got a 55 pesos change and as my Spanish was practically non-existing then (Castellano OK, but understanding Argentino-Español wasn't), I assumed that I had got it wrong, and anyway 45 pesos for an 110 pesos (Danish price) coffee pot is dirt cheap. When I was standing outside the shop reading my list to see where to go next, the lady came running out - pretty good show as she is very fat - shouting "disculpe, disculpe, señor, I was thinking about all the merchandize I have just received and how to unpack it, and gave you short change, the price is only 35 pesos" handing me 10 pesos. As you may guess I buy any bazar-item I need from her.
5. At the librero & papelería where I have bought diverse items for no more than a couple of hundred pesos, the owner suddenly told me that as a 'cliente habitual' I would get a ten per cent discount from now on - huh! - and I get it, 6 pesos price mark, pay 5.40. Pretty ridiculous as 60 centavos isn't real money to me, but it would be very impolite to tell her so.
6. My Euro/Master card didn't work at the ATMs. I went into the fourth or fifth bank to verify that I was doing things right - turned out that I did and later found out that the magnet stripe was defect. The English speaking chap who helped me, spent some 20 minutes helping me to test ATMs in a couple of other banks to see whether my card could extract cash there - it couldn't but he just helped me for nothing but being friendly, try that in a "first world" bank.
7.-999. People here are very honest, helpful and friendly - may walk you through half of town so you don't get lost - has happened twice to me when I didn't know the town all that well and yet had to pick up a free map at the tourist info.
I have been ripped off twice (8 and 13 pesos, a butcher's shop and a supermercado, respectively - this lazy bonzo does his checking of bills when he gets home), told the owner that if it happened again I would take my shopping elsewhere and that settled it once and for all - anybody can understand that gaining a few pesos today while loosing 3-400 (butcher - we do a lot of asados around here, at least one a week) resp. 1,000 pesos (supermercado) sales a month is stupid.
I also read things like "for the first 6 months I would always use pleasantries that most civilized people use like "hello", "thank-you" and "good-bye" - NO RESPONSES, scowling and downright hostility" and "Every day I shop at one of two chinos near where I live - and never, in a year and a half of shopping, have I got a hola or gracias from the Chinese staff."- ¡que descortés!
On an experienced lumberjack's left hand (two or three fingers left) I can count the number of times when shop attendants, waiters and others haven't said "chao/adios, hasta luego", "se vaya bien" or the like when I leave and - of course - say the proper and polite things.
If the mozos at my favorite restaurants didn't come over to shake hands and ask ¿cómo le va? or if the girls in the supermarket and the other shops, donde soy cliente habitual, didn't smile at me and say hello, I would take a close look in the mirror to see if I unknowingly had a face transplant, or had caught pox or the plague.
I love the people and Argentina in general, although of course not everything about the country - but then, try Washington and get mugged every friday night, Thailand and get ripped off every 18 minutes or my own Danmark where you get (tax-)robbed by the IRS and where there was a riot last year in three of the neighborhoods of København (Copenhagen).
'nough said for now.
Suerte, amigas y amigos