Buenos Aires, Argentina
the good thing about buenos aires is you don´t have to kill yourself - the cars will do it for you.
dealing with the government is IMPOSSIBLE, thank whatever-greater-power-is-out-there that, like joe, I AM CANADIAN!
so THERE.
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the problem with moving around in a city of 18 million people is that you need to know exactly where you´re going or you won´t get there. and by this i mean EXACTLY: have been there before, have a fairly detailed map in your head of where it is, and a working plan on how to get there.
which was not my situation as i left the bus terminal at 6 am armed with a 72 litre backpack, a 35 litre backpack, and a 12 litre day pack. HEAVY. not to mention bulky. after getting on the wrong bus and being transported several stops, then getting on the right bus without change, then finally getting it right only to have the drive´r´s "indication" of where i needed to go gurn out to be a barely preceptible nod in one of many rear view mirror,s i gotto the passport office only to find the line was already wrapped around the block, and a friendly chattering old man was walking along it selling coffee, chocolate, pastries, and pens (which were a rip off, at four times the cost of the pen i´m writing this with. as it turns out, he was also a fount of information, and having verified that i was in fact at the right place, with all the right supporting documents, i sat down on the vageuly urine smelling grimmy pavement and prepared to wait the 1.5 hours till the office opened.
screw them. i waited till the office opened, then they sent me somewhere else because one of the documents i had was expired. so i went there. then they sent me somewhere else, because i don´t actually live within the country, but outside of it. so i went there. then they send me somewhere else, because the wait to get that particular document was three months, and i needed it a hell of a lot sooner. so i went there and they told me there was no way i would get what i needed. so i sat down and cried. this is after hauling my stupid bags for blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks, and dealing with officious imbeciles who were not helpful at all.
ran to an internet place, found a hostel, and gave up on my shoestring mentality and took a cab there (it was only U$2 anyways). as i was checking into the hostel, i met a swede with an australian accent, and spent the next 24 hours with him and his friends being tourists in buenos aires (although not really his friends, as they refused to speak english, and swedish? me? yea right). so that was an absolutly fantastic start to my solo adventures, and then i got on the bus to mendoza to meet lisa and trish.
posted by sr @ 09:13
3 Comments:
Sole:
Did u end up renewing your passport or not?
Mom:
no. i gave up. it wasn´t worth the time...plus there´s nowhere i can go with the argentine passport that i can´t go as a canadian...
maybe in may, if i feel upto countless hours of bureaucracy and waiting in long lines.
When I was there, I found Las Cañitas nice and quiet, like a place I would like to live in when I am older.
Today, the area is far better known among the hip, trendy, and nouveau riche as the place to dine out, have a drink, party, and be seen in the fashionable venues built into converted low-rise former houses on Calle Báez; though with Palermo Viejo's rise on the scene, it is becoming overshadowed. The polo field where the International Championships take place is also in the neighborhood and is technically part of the military bases. I will rent apartments in buenos aires next year to show them to my family and they are definitely going to be located there!
Lindsay
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