buenos aires part 1
the delta flight to ba was as expected. decent food but very tight space so it was hard to sleep. food was not satiating though-i ate a second meal and was still hungry.
took a while to get used to the hostel and the way things work in this country:
-One of the first things I wanted to do was to get my cell phone working. So on the first day i walked from my hostel to florida street (a pedestrianized shopping street) to look for a Movistar store where I can get a SIM card to use with my phone. I had to walk for 45 minutes down the street to finally find a Movistar dealer that will do it for me. After I got a SIM card and a number I had to go to a convenience store to get the prepaid credit for my phone. They tried to activate it but it didnt work, they said try later and it should work (it was lunchtime so probably they cannot process it yet they said). I bought a 20 peso card and tried again, it gave me a msg in spanish and hung up. Went back to the hostel and took a nap. Woke up and tried again. it still gave me a msg but this time it let me type in the code, but after typing in the code, no response. i hung up, tried again but again msg and hung up itself. However I tried calling someone after this and it worked. Im assuming the credit was somehow entered but I have no way of checking-dialing the account balance number gave me another msg(not about my balance) and hung up itself.
-Argentina, well at least BA, has a change shortage problem, where most stores never have enough change so you either have to provide the exact change yourself or pay the price rounded up to the peso. not used to it at first which was frustrating, but after buying stuff at a few places that luckily have change, I have started to collect some change (centavos) and now its easier to manage this problem.
-The hostel is ok but too much stairs, I have heavy luggage so I switched to the 1st floor (2nd floor in north american terms) for a few pesos more per night. The showers I REALLY needed to get used to. Its a very ghetto co ed shower facility with a changeroom elsewhere, so you have to change out of your clothes into the towel, go in to shower, then go back in the changeroom to change into clothes again. Taking a shower is therefore a huge chore here since Im in a budget hostel.
-Language is a problem for me since me no habla español. Not many people can speak English here, so I have to rely on hand gestures and simplifying the numbering system (i just know one to ten in spanish) to communicate.
-Produce and dairy are expensive because corporations control the pricing, or so im told. i bought 4 bananas, product of Chile, at 7 pesos which is around $2.50 CAD wtf! In Canada I can get a pound of bananas for 29 cents!
Despite its problems and my misadventures, Im loving BA.
-The beef steaks are incredibly delicious and if you know where to look, CHEAP(I paid something like $15 CAD for a dinner with an incredibly juicy steak, greens, french fries, and Malbec-a wonderful Argentine wine).
-The architecture is beautiful and with a huge variety.
-Porteños are great people and will still help me out even if Im spanish-speaking-challenged.
-The main thoroughfares are WIDE. If the Greater Toronto Area has more roads this wide there will be less parking lots on the street in rush hour.