The first four days of my stay in Latin America I spent in Buenos Aires. As I arrived at Easter time (Semana Santa), I had a week of holiday.When I got off the plane, I took my backpack - still very heavy - and went to exchange some money. In the exchange office I was told to keep all the bills of exchanges in case somebody ask for them. Later on I learned that Argentinians generally change their currency to dollars, because they trust that it is more stable. So there are some rules how much moeny you can exchange...
With my pesos I sett off into the night. It was 8pm, about 20 degrees and outside the airport there were taxi hunters. Luckily one of them told me that I would need change for the bus, so I turned back.
After asking I found the bus stop and realized that there were no timetables, maps, anything that would suggest where you can get from there. Luckily, my couchsurfers told me the number of the bus and when I told the driver where I wanted to go, he told me when to get off. Uff.
However, this was just the beginning with the buses. In general the bus stops look like this
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The column is sticked with several numbers which are the bus lines. Help yourself.
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So first problem I faced was trying to find columns with numbers. Sometimes they are very invisible, at least for a European girl coming from the country with timetables and bus-shelters.
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| Where is the bus stop? |
Afterwards, you have to find the bus line you need. There exist a special small book (a brochure) with the map of the city and all bus lines. However, there are no timetables. In general they are not need it, because the buses go often. So when you find your stop, you just wait. Nevertheless, the story is not over. When you see the bus you want to get on, you have to stop it. WAVE. Wave noticably. Don't be shy or you will wait for another bus and another bus... :) I learned, because the first days I always missed the first bus.
Buenos Aires in pictures:
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| Puerta Madera - the new modern part. |
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| However, you can also find small houses. |
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| However, the most common are buildings of all heights together. |
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| Argentinians seems to like dancing in the open air. |
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| People living in the street and people wearing suits. |
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| Here you can buy your daily newspapers and magazines. |
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| I am in a hurry. |
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| To sort the waste is being introduced nowadays. Keep fingers, it will work out. |
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| ``I found out that the best is... to separate.`` |
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| Tango in the street. It has its roots in Argentina and Uruguay. |
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| Life in the street |
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| Coutyard - a peaceful and silnet place in a crowded city |
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| The city is full of cars. You can see seven-lanes roads sometimes changing into twelve-lanes. In one way, of course :) |
The city of Buenos Aires is huge. They say about 11 million inhabitants. Well, for me it was huge. With the time, climate and culture change I was a bit lost. You can see parts of the city which are very modern, people with suits, newest fashion, tablets, laptops, European style buildings and one street further you meet people sleeping in the park, children begging in the train station or in front of cars when they stop on the red (on traffic lights). Cars are everywhere and they have the right to go the first, so it is wise to be careful. I learn to follow the crowd, because I wasn't able to learn when to cross and when not, when there are no traffic lights. There also buses speeding and stopping. People on motorbikes, moreover, bikes and finally, people mingling in between with garbage containers or carts collecting waste. Incredible. I haven't seen an accident.
There is lot of everything in the city. I will tell you more next time.
