"What is it that you lose when you cross a border? Every moment seems broken in two; melancholy for what is left behind and at the same time, the excitement of entering a new land".
Che Guevara - The Motorcycle Diaries
As I will be leaving crossing the border in a couple days, I suppose it's time for a little reflection on Argentina.
Those of you who have visited Argentina will know that it's a country obsessed with change. And I don't mean change in the socio-political sense of the word, but in the monetary sense. When the Argentine economy took a nose-dive some years ago, coins (and in particular 1 peso coins) were more valuable for their metal than for their symbolic worth, and you can guess what started to happen. As a result small change is really worth its weight in gold, and as I said the country is obsessed with it. Except for in large supermarkets and department stores, you will almost always be asked for the correct change and, in the event that you don't have it, be given penny sweets instead of your 10 cents. In smaller towns it's even worse, and if you try to pay for something that costs 5 pesos or less with anything larger than a 20 peso note, you're likely to have to try two or three shops before you find one with change. To make it worse, cash machines only pay out 100 peso notes, which is the equivalent of cash machines in the UK only paying out 100 pound notes. Now, I may be guilty of over-simplifying the situation but, is it any wonder there's a shortage of change?! Or should I say, a perceived shortage of change. That's the thing, someone must have the change, they must, otherwise nobody could buy anything and the economy would collapse. People are just obsessed with it and would rather turn away business (no joke!) than let go of their precious 10 peso and 20 peso notes.
Argentine Spanish is according to some, beautiful, according to others, grating. Much like the Chileans, they have developed their own imperative verb tense, but unlike in Chilean Spanish it's only one and they stick to it. When you ask an Argentine an a question they will probably use a minimum of six words to answer it, the last of which will be the answer. The rest of it is a collection of words including some or all of the following
Este (esteh) - Literally means "this one", used in the same way as "well..." is used in English. The last syllable is dragged out for a few seconds.
Si (see) - Yes
No (noh) - No
O sea (o seh-ah) - That is to say
Por ahi (Pore-a-ee) - Thereabouts. Again, last syllable is dragged out for a few seconds.
Quizas (Key-sass) - Perhaps
De repente (De repente, duh) - Suddenly
So for example, if I asked someone, as I often did, if there was many hills in a particular road, the answer would often be: "Esteeeee, si, o sea, no, quizas, por ahiiii, de repente, este, no." And from this I would surmise that no, there aren't many hills on the road (or rather, that the person believes there to be few hills on the road. One thing that is not exclusive to Argentina is that non-cyclists know very little (read: fuck all) when it comes to hills and regularly underestimate them. I have learned this the hard way and cursed many a well-meaning stranger as a result, so now I try to get a hard altitude figure whenever possible).
I have to admit that my first impressions of Argentina were not great, largely because I didn't want to leave the comfort zone that was Chile, but I am now as sad to be leaving it as I was Chile. I was also somewhat apprehensive, having lived in the Falklands most of my life I wasn't sure how it would go down (Spaniards aren't traditionally the most popular here either, so I'm a bit of a twofer for Argentine xenophobes). I needn't have fretted. People were admittedly bemused, but not once did they react negatively. One or two, of course, couldn't resist making the odd joke to the tune of "so you live in Argentina then", but I've heard that one from every nationality of traveller I've met (British included), so nothing that would require a showdown at ten paces.
The one thing that has surprised me is the embarassment the Argentine people feel about the Falklands war. Embarrassment for the reasons (the immediate political reasons at least) and for the, largely incompetent, way it was carried out. Embarrassment or not, however, it is patently clear that not one Argentine believes the Falklands to belong to anyone but them, even if they were often too polite to say it out loud.
But, overall, it really has been special. Some of you have already begun to ask whether I prefer Argentina or Chile, and I don't think I could go out on a limb for either. However, there is one thing that threatens to tip the scales in Argentina's favour, it has the best empanadas.
Che Guevara - The Motorcycle Diaries
As I will be leaving crossing the border in a couple days, I suppose it's time for a little reflection on Argentina.
Those of you who have visited Argentina will know that it's a country obsessed with change. And I don't mean change in the socio-political sense of the word, but in the monetary sense. When the Argentine economy took a nose-dive some years ago, coins (and in particular 1 peso coins) were more valuable for their metal than for their symbolic worth, and you can guess what started to happen. As a result small change is really worth its weight in gold, and as I said the country is obsessed with it. Except for in large supermarkets and department stores, you will almost always be asked for the correct change and, in the event that you don't have it, be given penny sweets instead of your 10 cents. In smaller towns it's even worse, and if you try to pay for something that costs 5 pesos or less with anything larger than a 20 peso note, you're likely to have to try two or three shops before you find one with change. To make it worse, cash machines only pay out 100 peso notes, which is the equivalent of cash machines in the UK only paying out 100 pound notes. Now, I may be guilty of over-simplifying the situation but, is it any wonder there's a shortage of change?! Or should I say, a perceived shortage of change. That's the thing, someone must have the change, they must, otherwise nobody could buy anything and the economy would collapse. People are just obsessed with it and would rather turn away business (no joke!) than let go of their precious 10 peso and 20 peso notes.
Argentine Spanish is according to some, beautiful, according to others, grating. Much like the Chileans, they have developed their own imperative verb tense, but unlike in Chilean Spanish it's only one and they stick to it. When you ask an Argentine an a question they will probably use a minimum of six words to answer it, the last of which will be the answer. The rest of it is a collection of words including some or all of the following
Este (esteh) - Literally means "this one", used in the same way as "well..." is used in English. The last syllable is dragged out for a few seconds.
Si (see) - Yes
No (noh) - No
O sea (o seh-ah) - That is to say
Por ahi (Pore-a-ee) - Thereabouts. Again, last syllable is dragged out for a few seconds.
Quizas (Key-sass) - Perhaps
De repente (De repente, duh) - Suddenly
So for example, if I asked someone, as I often did, if there was many hills in a particular road, the answer would often be: "Esteeeee, si, o sea, no, quizas, por ahiiii, de repente, este, no." And from this I would surmise that no, there aren't many hills on the road (or rather, that the person believes there to be few hills on the road. One thing that is not exclusive to Argentina is that non-cyclists know very little (read: fuck all) when it comes to hills and regularly underestimate them. I have learned this the hard way and cursed many a well-meaning stranger as a result, so now I try to get a hard altitude figure whenever possible).
I have to admit that my first impressions of Argentina were not great, largely because I didn't want to leave the comfort zone that was Chile, but I am now as sad to be leaving it as I was Chile. I was also somewhat apprehensive, having lived in the Falklands most of my life I wasn't sure how it would go down (Spaniards aren't traditionally the most popular here either, so I'm a bit of a twofer for Argentine xenophobes). I needn't have fretted. People were admittedly bemused, but not once did they react negatively. One or two, of course, couldn't resist making the odd joke to the tune of "so you live in Argentina then", but I've heard that one from every nationality of traveller I've met (British included), so nothing that would require a showdown at ten paces.
The one thing that has surprised me is the embarassment the Argentine people feel about the Falklands war. Embarrassment for the reasons (the immediate political reasons at least) and for the, largely incompetent, way it was carried out. Embarrassment or not, however, it is patently clear that not one Argentine believes the Falklands to belong to anyone but them, even if they were often too polite to say it out loud.
But, overall, it really has been special. Some of you have already begun to ask whether I prefer Argentina or Chile, and I don't think I could go out on a limb for either. However, there is one thing that threatens to tip the scales in Argentina's favour, it has the best empanadas.
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