travel blog

Pinamar, Argentina

Banks suck!

hey mister canadian, guess what? your debit card is probably your best bet for cash, anywhere! for whatever reason (read: i lost my wallet), i got stuck with traveler's cheques.

well, banks here are open 10-3, monday-friday. i saunter in, 11 am. wait in the ridiculous line - sort of like that congo line at your parent´s last work christmas party...you know, the one that wound around the entire room with no apparent end. no listening to music either, cuz i lost the cord that connects the power adapter to my ipod, and desperately wanted to conserve existing battery life until i can get money to buy a new one. so one hour later, i get to the cashier. "you want to cash traveler's cheques? that´s upstairs first; they give you a piece of paper, then you come back down here." you´re kidding me.

upstairs. wait half an hour to see the dude in charge of this particular piece of paper. wait count so far: 1.5 hours. now, "upstairs" is not what you would expect in a bank. rather, its a large, tiled room with a balcony overlooking the cashiers below (who, by the way, are also nothing like the bank tellers back home. they keep change in little bags scattered around their work space). there are seven desks scattered around the room,absolutely no regard given to a client´s privacy. i could tell you all about the blond lady´s mortgage, but i won´t. manila folders are stacked on every available surface, with their contents referenced in black sharpie-marker on the cover. "Sra Rodriguez´s life savings." filing cabinets, anyone?

Hector was finally free to give me a hand. ashing his cigarette in the ashtray on the corner of his desk, he took my traveler's cheques and precious canadian passport and disappeared. seriously M.I.A. for an hour. i could see him mysteriously pop in and out of various parts of the bank like a demented cartoon character, but never near enough to make eye contact.

eventually he comes back. "sorry, but i can´t download the sheet i need. i tried every computer. can you come back tomorrow?" current wait count: 2.5 hours.

10am the next day. i dodge the blank-faced customers already lined up around the block and scurry upstairs. my friend hector eagerly takes my cheques and passport and pulls his disappearing act. 20 minutes later, he´s back: "so, that wasn´t so long this time!" HA.

i take the piece of paper to the cashier with every curl on his head gelled in place, and watch with dismay as i see confusion appear all over his face. "there seems to be a problem..." and POOF! he´s gone.

an hour later, i´ve listened to every jack johnson and david grey track on my ipod, using up precious battery life, in vain hopes of calming down. the cashier returns, my friend hector in tow. like a couple of little monkeys at the zoo, they jabber excitedly at each other, bouncing up and down and taking turns pointing at the god forsaken piece of paper.

"it´s ok," hector says, "it was in pesos, not american dollars." total wait time: 3 hours 50 minutes.

did i mention i was trying to cash U$100? and what with kitesurfing, renting atvs, and buying my bus tickets for the next few weeks, i´m back at the bank, waiting for hector, so i can cash some more traveller´s cheques. the moral of the story? don´t travel with traveller´s cheques, and DON´T LOOSE YOUR WALLET!!!

posted by sr @ 18:20