Traveling for Le$$

Who doesn´t love traveling and who doesn´t love saving money? I´m always surprised by the number of young people don´t know of some simple ways save money and still do what you wanted to do, so I thought I would share some of my tips and tricks..

If you´re a student in Argentina, you can actually use that pesky student visa we had to apply for. (Shocking, I know!) As you will quickly find out...museums, theaters, tours and other tourist attractions have different prices for residents and foreigners. However, with your student visa and residence paper you are in fact an Argentine resident :-) for example, you can visit Iguazu waterfalls for $10 instead of $25

If you aren´t a student, you can still get a discount by going on the free or discounted day of the museums. Most have a day every week that they don´t charge admission to anyone, but some only have this for students. In other cases, they have a 50% off discount on certain days of the week. Try combining this discount with the resident discount and viola - double the discount! If you tour Teatro Colon on a Monday it's half price, so only $8 or if you're a resident, $2.50

Be sure to check out the free cultural events put on by the government. (http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/cultura/) There is always something exciting to see instead of taking an afternoon siesta. 

Want to travel around the country? No problem - public transportation is great AND you can save money by using it. The colectivos that go to other parts of the country are housed in Retiro, but you can check their schedules online at Plataforma 10 or Omni Lineas

Students get a 20% discount when traveling by colectivo by showing a letter from the university saying you are a student there (certificado de regularidad), your passport & university ID card (and bringing a photocopy of both)

If you prefer flying (not advised with this volcanic ash), reserve your tickets online and go to an Aerolineas Argentinas office with your passport and visa. If you have a student visa (thus you have residency), you pay the same price as an Argentine. 

If you're planning on staying awhile, you will probably purchase a cell phone. Since 90% of cell phones here are pay as you go, you will spend a significant amount on communication. Texts to someone with the same service provider are around 50 cents and more expensive if someone has a different service provider. Calls are $1+ depending on the person's service provider, area code and if you are calling a land line - which I would NOT advice unless you have tons of prepaid credit on your phone. For calls to land lines, go to a telecabaña, as they are significantly cheaper.

However, you can sends texts for free via the company's website. For example, if Susy has a phone with personal, go to www.personal.com.ar to text her. If Bobby has claro, go to http://www.claro.com.ar/portal/car/  Most service providers also have favorite numbers (números amigos). So if you put on a certain amount of credit each month, you can call one number for free and text another for free. 

A Successful Day

Finally - a successful day! After a not so successful Saturday, which was spent waiting and waiting and waiting, I welcomed an action-packed Sunday.

I slept in, had my cup of coffee and was off. There was nobody in the street as I waited...and waited...and waited for the colectivo. It finally came, but failed to stop for me. (crazy colectivero) The next colectivo was as equally full as the first, but I literally squeezed in. At the next stop, he let people climb on through the rear door. I´m pretty sure a majority of the riders didn´t pay, as it was impossible to reach the machine to put your coins in.

I started out the day by visiting the National Library, which in all honesty, I thought was going to be much cooler than it was. (Probably due to the fact that I wasn´t getting a tour -- only Fridays at 3pm -- and I was allowed to go to the 6th floor to ¨study with my materials¨ or the 5th floor to check out/reference books. The 6th floor was full of people drinking mate and studying and the other wing was closed, so I have no idea what was in it. The 5th floor was equally as drab...a few computers to look up reference materials, a row of lockers to put your belongings in, a circulation desk for when you wanted to get a book and a security guard who wouldn´t let you pass unless you only had your notes and the form you had to fill out to get in the library. All purses, drinks, books and other belongings needed to be put in a locker. If you wanted a book, you had to look it up on the computer and then tell the desk what book you wanted. I bet the 1, 2, 3 and 4th floors were much more interesting, but they were off-limits. It did have an interesting piece of art outside and a weird structure to the building, so I guess it isn´t all bad.

I proceeded to aimlessly walk around Recoleta, an exclusive neighborhood in BA, and stumbled upon some lovely buildings before making my way to one of the five most famous cemeteries in the world for the 2 PM tour. In 1822, the Recoleta Cemetery was the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires and is the final resting place of some of Argentina's richest and most powerful citizens - national heroes, former Argentine presidents, soldiers, scientists, writers and other celebrities - like Evita.

There are few individuals buried underground, as the majority are housed in ornate buildings. These buildings have 2 floors underground (about 7 meters) and some even have space for individuals above the main room. Many had stained glass works, but interestingly enough, they were created for the person who peers in the building from the outside. (Not for the person who looks at the window from the outside of the building.)

It was interesting seeing the graves of many of the writers that I have been learning about in my literature classes, especially Eugenio Cambaceres' daughter, Rufina, who died in 1902 at the age of 19. She was getting ready to go Teatro Colon when she fell to the floor unconscious. She was pronounced dead and thus buried, despite having only suffered a catalepsy attack. (The heart beats, but extremely slowly and the body becomes rigid.) Her grandmother (who was in France at the time) didn't believe that Rufina had died, so she hoped on a boat and arrived a few months later. She got permission to see the body and when they opened the casket they saw Rufina's hands all scratched up from trying to get out. She unfortunately died of suffocation and her grandmother had this monument made for her in the cemetery.

After the tour, I walked around the feria (artesian fair) to purchase a few things I had been meaning to get and drank mate in the plaza with some friends while taking in the different shows - a band and then Brazilian martial arts - before heading home to bundle up for the next item on my bucket-list ... an Argentine soccer game!

I've never been a huge fan of soccer, but I must say the game kept me entertained. The hinchas (biggest fans) were cheering from the moment they walked into the stadium and the atmosphere was laid-back, but you could tell the fans meant business. It was 0-0 for what seemed like forever and then the other team scored a goal. There was a 5-year old boy behind us who kept screaming profanities at the players and fans were not happy. If River (the soccer team) lost the game, they would be endanger of dropping down a league. Thankfully they got their act together, scored a goal, and the crowd went wild!! They had a few more close goals, but the game ended in a tie.

The River fans had to wait in the stadium as security escorted the visiting fans out of the stadium and into their buses. (Each stadium has a special section for visitors.) I had a lot of fun, despite not being a River fan *BOCA, BOCA* I can't believe I didn't go to a game sooner, but next time I come to Buenos Aires, I will be sure to schedule in a few. :-)

OVNI

Dinner last night was interesting... Miguel (one of my "host family's" sons) came over for dinner and the wife actually ate with us! There was a lot of conversation, especially in comparison to the usual dinner where the owner talks and talks and talks and never seems to stop. (But really, I don't even have to comment or anything because he just keeps talking....)

Either way, they were all excitedly talking about OVNIs and I understood Omnis (colectivo). In any case, I wasn't really paying that close of attention to the conversation until I could no longer avoid not chiming in. They were talking about how craters were formed in Cordoba and then I had to ask - 'What exactly are we talking about?' ... 'OVNIs' 


As I came to find out, OVNI stands for objeto valador no identificado or as we all know it - unidentified flying object. Why were we talking about UFOs you might ask...well, I really don't have a good answer for that. What I do know is that they all thought that they saw a UFO in Buenos Aires in 1982/5? Are you kidding me??! At first I thought they were kidding, but insistently said saw a UFO....I'll let that one sink in... Apparently this UFO was so large that the military planes tried to get near it, but they could never reach it. At one point, the UFO had a giant pole that it lowered down for who knows what reason.

This morning on my way to work,  I was reading the paper (La Razon - The Reason) and they had a part about UFOs. Ironic. For all of you interested, there is a documental called Invasion Extraterrestre (Extra-terrestrials Invasion) that talks about what would happen if extra-terrestrials attacked Earth and how we would defend ourselves. Scientists in the Department of Defense consider this to be a 'real possibility and one that we shouldn't ignore.' Thus, they are developing military tactics and strategies for it.

If this isn't intriguing enough, there are more out-of-this-world experiences occurring in recent years, such as 20 some cows found without a single drop of blood in their bodies in La Pampa, Argentina (without any puncture marks on their bodies) or cars that just stop running on certain roads. I also found an article online that NASA "verified" the sighting of a UFO in Argentina this past December.

Speaking of NASA, during dinner they also discussed how they don't think that Neil Armstrong actually landed on the moon....again, are you kidding me?! Apparently they landing was 'filmed' elsewhere to make it seem as though he landed on the moon, but with today's technology you can see that it is actually a backdrop. Thankfully we didn't discuss Michael Jackson, but a few weeks ago an Argentine told me that he thought that Michael Jackson faked his death and is actually in hiding. Um, I'm pretty sure he's dead. If he had wanted to fake his death, I bet he would have done so a long time ago, but then again...what do I know?

Traveling In Style

Usually los colectivos aren't worth writing home about. If you're lucky you get food and in some cases, even a cup of pop. There are hundreds of bus lines and service varies depending on the line, the length of the trip and what kind of ticket you purchase. Since most buses travel overnight, you have the option of a semi-cama or cama seat. Semi-cama seats recline halfway and cama seats go practically horizontal. (not to mention that they give passengers more space in general)

I recently was told about a bus line that goes to Corrientes and has amazing service...Not to mention that the price is the same as other bus lines, so I had to see for myself. Let me tell you - it was everything they told me and more. I still can't believe that nobody told me about it before now!

Once on el colectivo, I got comfortable in my large comfy seat - complete with pillow and blanket. I looked up to see my own LCD screen and then one of the workers appeared, offering me a caramelo (piece of hard candy). Not five minutes later, she appeared again offering me crackers and five minutes later a glass of champagne. Yes, you read correctly, champagne. The only other time I have been offered champagne while traveling in Argentina was on an airplane in first class. Talk about traveling in style!

A few minutes later she came around to hand out bingo cards - although these "bingo" cards were not what i was used to. Either way, an entertaining way to pass the time. A movie started shortly after and then she came back around to take drink orders - water, pop or wine. Sadly, dinner was better than at my host family's house and consisted of a hot and cold dish. The dessert was delicious and after dinner we were offered coffee... And then whiskey or Tia Maria. Just when I thought I'd seen it all, she handed out bottles of water and toothbrushes.

Plus, they had wifi so I was able to check email and facebook while on the road. Needless to say, I think I will be booking my trips through this bus line whenever possible! Absolutely wonderful :-)

Weddings are my favorite

Once again I find myself way behind on blogging... not that there are a lack of topics to discuss - quite the opposite. Everyday blogging material seems to multiply exponentially! This weekend I'll be crossing off another activity on my bucket-list by attending a wedding in Corrientes!

Hopefully I'll have time to blog about these other events in detail, but here's a quick run-down of things I have experienced in the last month:

Feria de libros
Trip to Mendoza
Visit to Teatro Colon
Internship mishaps
College graduation celebration
Mid-terms
...and other random cultural activities

Despite saying that I enjoyed the slower pace of life here, I'm not sure I've slowed down all that much. In the city, it's easy to stay busy 24/7 and my schedule is quite similar to that in the States. Not to mention that it takes time to get around in the city - more so when there is traffic or they are protesting. (Unless your colectivero is crazy) However, public transportation is quite affordable thanks to the government subsidy, so I can't really complain.

We'll see if I can get my act together in start blogging in a timely manner. But as a fair warning, I'll be going on a week long trip to Salta and Jujuy next week, so this goal may be slightly delayed...I'll keep you posted :-)

And Then There Were Two

I've been meaning to give some sort of neighborhood update for awhile now, but alas better late then never.

In the beginning there were four - 2 guys from Mexico, 1 from Ecuador and myself. Two of them have been living in Buenos Aires for a few years (one studying engineering and the other training for tennis) and the other came to study architecture for the semester.

We live with an older couple - Tito and Susy, who are like grandparents ... telling us when to bring a jacket or umbrella and helping us get where we need to go in the city. During the week, Sandra (from Paraguay) also lives in the house. She cleans, helps prepare the food and does laundry for the family. In Buenos Aires this type of job is referred to as mucama because many people want so badly to live in BA that they are willing to work for room and board in residential houses. (For the record, I'm not sure if some get paid in addition to room and board.)

Despite living in Argentina, where dinner is usually around 10, we eat between 8 and 8:30. The food isn't great, but I guess it could be worse. They cook super early (4ish) and then reheat it in the microwave at 8. This kills any flavor or freshness the food may have had and dries up red sauce on pastas. We rarely eat meat and tend to eat the same things every week. We drink orange flavored koolaid with everything and dessert is always a piece of fruit, occasionally fruit salad.

Breakfast options consist of toast with jam, coffee with milk (half coffee, half milk), koolaid orange juice, a type of frosted flakes without sugar and a piece of white cake. I absolutely LOVE coffee, but they brew it the day/night before, add the milk and microwave it in the morning. Quite possibly the worst coffee imaginable. Not to mention super weak :( 

*However there is a great coffee spot a few blocks away that basically has caramel macchiatos!

Since we are all students, we have varying class schedules and some eat dinner later depending on their classes or activities. Breakfast is when you get up, so some at 7 am and others 10 am. I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing worse than getting up first thing and having the person who touches your food blow their nose continually and touch your food without washing their hands. Not cool, especially because a majority of the people here blow their noses without toilet paper! (Think of blocking one side and blowing with all your might into a sink or outside.)

Speaking of sinks, the bathroom we share is supposedly cleaned daily, but it definitely doesn't smell that way and I'm pretty sure the shower curtain has NEVER been cleaned!* Plus, I'm pretty sure if Sandra actually cleaned it daily we would not run out of toilet paper all the time. ...nor would my room be covered in dust.


*Note to self: never live somewhere where shower curtains are necessary.


Anyway, back to the original story... Tito has eyesight problems and can only see certain spots or angles. Thus Susy and Sandra serve the food, but Susy has been sick recently with some muscle problems and we were all told we had to find new homes (but we could obviously stay until we found something). About a week later, Tito told me I could stay, along with the boy who is training for tennis because we don't have weird schedules. (aka breakfast at 6:30 or night classes)

That was a few weeks ago - yesterday the other two guys left and I learned that the tennis player has tournaments in Mexico starting next week and he won't be back until I leave. Not news I was expecting to hear... I've been actively looking for a new home, but with no luck. I thought well at least there's the guys - not so much. I'm dreading two months of subpar food and awkward dinners with Tito (Susy never eats with us). Not to mention I've heard all of his stories enough times to retell them as my own. :( on the bright side, I won't have to keep putting down the toilet seat nor worry about sharing the bathroom.

Other positive aspects include: having my own room (large in comparison to other students staying with other families), cable tv in my room, a big desk with shelves and lots of closet space. Plus the location is unbeatable - two colectivos stop at the corner of our house, another three pass the avenue three blocks away and i have 15 or so stop eight blocks away. The subway station is 11 blocks away or I can take one of the colectivos on the corner to another subway stop. I love walking, so I'm glad it's within walking distance to the university, volleyball and church. I also live in one of the richer neighborhoods, so it's fairly safe to walk at night from the bus stops. Not to mention that we live a block away from a police station and the neighborhood is filled with security guards every couple blocks.

Here are two of the failed attempts at moving... 


Not even half the size of my current room, broken furniture, inadequate desk and super far walking from my activities.

Another option, but also itty bitty (aka the shower head was on the wall behind where the bathroom door opened), super expensive and the lady didn't know if she had wifi.

Traveling in Argentina

For the most part, traveling in Argentina is pretty affordable (by bus). Plane tickets are super expensive for foreigners - that's right, foreigners pay a different price than Argentines.

Either way, traveling within the country is always an experience. There are twenty or more lines of buses and each have distinct time tables, not to mention that there are different types of seats -- semi cama or cama (semi bed or bed). Typically the buses run on-time, except my bus to Mendoza. We were supposed to leave at 8:10 pm, but the bus didn't show up until 9:40. There were massive crowds considering we had national holidays Thursday and Friday and everyone was traveling. It was an obstacle course trying to reach your bus when it arrived because you couldn't move even if you wanted to.

Of all the buses I've been on you always get served dinner (and sometimes breakfast). Dinner has ranged anywhere from ham and cheese sandwiches to a milenesa sandwich (similar to a tenderloin), in addition to dessert of an alfajor and pepas (a type of sugar cookie with jam in the middle) or hard candy.  Usually they don't provide drinks, but sometimes you get a tiny glass of coke.

On my recent trip, we got zip...before I knew it we were reaching midnight and everyone was sleeping and the colectivero was not handing out food. Thankfully I always bring snacks since 12+ hours in the bus can make you quite hungry...or it's just me that's always hungry :) We did stop for breakfast consisting of coffee with milk and croissants. On my current bus back to Buenos Aires, we got multiple ham and cheese sandwiches, pepas and our own 12oz of coke. It's impossible to know ahead of time what you may or may not get served.

Then there's the fellow passengers... Interesting would be a good word to describe them. Since public transportation is so great, everyone utilizes it. Young parents with their infants or toddlers, older people, students, middle-aged people and foreigners. I've only had one bad experience with the person I had to sit next to...

He was probably in his 40's and creepily staring at me from the seats in front of me. The people who were supposed to sit in those seats came and he sat next to me in what I assumed was his actual seat. He continued to look at me and into my purse when I opened it to get something out. If he was trying to be non-obvious by looking out of the corner of his eye, he failed miserably. Then he cracked open a can of beer... As if things couldn't get any worse. He already made me super uncomfortable and we had just started the trip. We stopped at a gas station and I politely asked the colectiveros if all the seats were full because I wanted to change if at all possible. All the semi-cama seats were filled, but he kindly allowed me to move to the first level of the bus with the cama seats. They are more expensive than semi-cama seats because they have more room and recline further, so my seat swap was on the dl and I could travel in peace.

I have a bucket-list of places I still want to visit, so I'm sure I'll have more interesting travel stories in the near future.

You know your colectivero* is crazy when...

*the colectivero is the guy who drives the colectivo (bus)

Every time he needs to slow down or stop, everyone is violently thrown forward... Despite how tightly they are holding on to their seats or the handles.

When the colectivero stops next to another bus, he opens the door or his window and has a lovely chat with the other colectivero until one of them realizes the light is green.

...this is most likely when you need to ask him a question about a street and where you need to get off. If you're lucky, he might respond 15 streets AFTER the one you actually wanted to stop at.

He refuses to stop when passengers press the stop button, and yells at passengers who repeatedly press it as a result of his laziness.

The colectivero rarely stops when people at the bus stops are signaling that they want to get on the bus, but no need to worry... It was probably for the best.

However, when he's looking for free entertainment he continually stops to let more people on, even though the bus is packed like a semi full of cows. The worst part? People keep climbing on because they don't have any other option and you will get off feeling gross, no matter how clean you were when you originally got on.

He runs more red lights than the motorcyclists (who rarely stop for any reason)

If the colectivero has to make a tight turn, it will almost always be a close call, but he's not too worried. (After all, it's not his fault the car was parked in the street.) I'd suggest you close your eyes.

So You Think You Can Drive

One of my goals for my semester is to learn how to drive a manual car. (Don´t worry Mom, only in Santa Rosa) Automatic cars here are very expensive and often for handicapped people...like if you don´t have two arms or legs or whatever. However, there are some very distinctive differences between transportation here and in the U.S. 

1. The stoplight turns yellow before turning red, but also turns yellow before turning green.
2. Stop signs are merely a poor use of space. Stopping is overrated - simply slow down in the middle of the intersection and see if anyone else is coming. Often there will be multiple cars in middle of the intersertion, nearly hitting each other.
3. Turning signals? Also overrated. In fact, if you want to weave in and out of traffic that´s fine. Or even better, feel free to make your own lane in the middle of two. 
4. Bicyclist in your lane? Don´t bother looking over your shoulder, just go around them in the other lane...if there is a car there, they will automatically know you are going to go around the bicyclist and will be prepared to go into the lane next to them.
5. If you want to take the Subte, don´t be surprised to find the opportunity to purchase socks, hair ties or gum while en-route. People come by selling a variety of products and simply place the item on your lap until they come back and see if you want to purchase it. Last week there was also a band that traveled from car to car on the Subte I was on...keeps you on your toes.
6. Have an issue with personal space? Don´t take the Subte during peak hours. I made this mistake last week and let me tell you...it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Normally there are people standing and sitting and that´s pretty standard for anywhere. However, around 6 pm you can´t move - literally. People shove you on and you become one with the 30 people around you. No need for hand rails because you couldn´t move if you wanted to...good luck getting off.