Things I’ve learned in Argentina…..

Buenos Aires, Argentina

The ferry ride from Montevideo to Buenos Aires was uneventful – while it was storming outside, the water was calm, or calm enough that we didn’t notice from the boat. On the other hand, the storm meant we were welcomed to Buenos Aires with an astronomical surcharge added to the cost of our Uber ride.

I had booked a neat little apartment on Airbnb, just south of Palermo. Both the apartment and surrounding area were clean and safe, and most importantly, there was a coffee shop with almond milk (for Mel) 2 minutes’ walk away.

Like Montevideo, Buenos Aires also looks and feels a bit like a European city and we particularly liked Palermo which was full of nice cafes, restaurants and bars. We spent the weekend walking around the markets there, which like Porto Alegre, was full of traders selling handicrafts and other products we hadn’t seen elsewhere. On Sunday evening, we went – on Google’s advice – in search of a Carnival street performance that was (allegedly) a few blocks from the apartment. Despite waiting almost an hour for something to start (Argentinians, we’ve learned, aren’t great time keepers), nothing ever did. Disappointed and hungry, we found a local bar for dinner. After we’d ordered and sat down, we realised that the bar was otherwise completely full of men – watching a local football match on TV. In silence. None of the men reacted to near misses, fouls or even goals. It was quite surreal. We ate our meal as quickly as possible, trying to keep the noise of the little people to a minimum. We took the long way home, back past the location of the alleged Carnival street performances – just in case Argentinian Google also enjoyed a flexible relationship with time. But, no bueno. Google was simply up to its old tricks.

Overall, I’m really fond of Buenos Aires. However, there are a couple of quirks I’ve encountered at the supermarket. The first of which is how painful paying by credit card is. In Argentina, the credit card payment process appears to have been designed, very specifically, to ensure people choose to pay with cash. When paying by credit card, the initial interaction is pretty familiar – insert a card into the chip and pin device and enter a pin. I’m used to that. And, in fact, I’m used to that normally being the conclusions of the transaction. But not in Argentina. In Argentina, this is step 1 of a very drawn out interaction. Once you’ve successfully entered your pin, you must hand the credit card along with a government issued ID (of which a driver’s license is rarely accepted) to the cashier. The cashier will check the names on the credit card and ID match, they will record details from the provided ID electronically on their till system, following which you will be handed a small paper form (and sometimes a pen). On the form, you write the unique identifier from your ID (which hopefully you’ve memorised, because everyone behind you is waiting), your name, (local) address and telephone number. You return the form to the cashier who will check the details against the supplied ID, press some more buttons on their till, and then only at this point is the transaction completed. If you are lucky. If you aren’t, like me, something goes wrong at this point resulting in the entire process restarting. If you are super lucky, like me, this can happen more than once. Allegedly this drawn out process is intended to reduce credit card fraud, and given it pretty much causes you to want to destroy all your credit cards, I suppose it does.

Quirk 2: ‘express’ checkout lanes in Argentinian supermarkets are policed. Like in most of the world, supermarkets in Argentina have ‘express’ checkout lanes, indicated by a sign stating the number of items allowed to be purchased via that lane. I’ve always considered these signs as guidance, a bit like one of the ridiculously low-rated orange speed signs ahead of bends on highways. I figure that some customers will have a few more items, some a few less, but it all evens out in the end. It’s different here. I was on my 13th item of a 20-item shop when the cashier, in a very disapproving tone says, “2 left, y
ou need to choose your final 2 items”. “Choose 2 items for what?” I ask, confused. “You are only allowed to purchase 15 items in this lane, you already have 13. 2 more.” Then I realise … the cashier is enforcing the 15 item limit! No problems I think to myself. I choose my 2 “final” items and placed the “next customer” block in front of my remaining 5 items. I smiled back at the cashier with satisfaction. “Not so fast” (or something to that extent) says the cashier in an even firmer tone, “you need to join the back of the queue”. I looked back at the 20 (admittedly, patient and relaxed-looking) Argentinians queued behind me, affording me no room to return to the end of the queue. And, without being able to take my “over quota” items with me, I had no choice – I left them and walked on out. I found Mel shortly after and explained my ordeal. I was surprised to learn she was not only unsympathetic, but in complete agreement with the cashier! I should have used a regular checkout lane, Mel explains. Which, with the benefit of hindsight, was also now clear to me. As we walk back to the apartment, Mel wants to know how I decided which 5 items I left behind. Apparently she would have prioritised differently.

I’m meeting the shipping agent on Monday morning at 8am at his office – time to collect Miss Adventure finally! I have been told to expect to spend most of the day at the port, as these things can take time….

Nick, 19th February 2020