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So What Would You Do?

Friday, April 20th, 2007

Argentina (by the way, I made it to Chile on a long bus ride through amazing Puna and Andes landscapes and we only had one flat tire) calls their fiscal collapse of five years ago ¨The Crisis¨. I heard bits and pieces about what happened to the real Argentineans, but I got the full rundown with a very specific story this past week and I thought I would share it to give you some insight into the psyche of Argentina and how I believe they are very different for better and worse than Americans and Europeans.

An uncle works his whole life and over a fifty year period he saves 175,000 US dollars. He has it in an account with a contract that stipulates dollars. The country wakes up one morning, I believe in 2002, to learn that they now only have one fourth of their deposited pesos. The uncle learns that his account really is not in dollars due to some fine print – a total crock as it was told to me and that is supported by other stories I have heard. And more importantly, he learns that his $175,000 is now $40,000 equivalent in pesos (I guess that would be about 120,000 pesos at 3 to 1). He tries to withdrawl it and the banks decide that is not possible. They tell him he gets $5,000 and he will get the other $35,000 paid out in equal payments over a ten year period.

But it gets worse. See this didn´t happen to the elite of the country. It just happened to the regular folks. No legislation or penalties occurred to the banks. The banks, the elitists and the government are all one and the same. It sounds like as big of a scam as I have ever heard. It would be one thing if it happened across the board. And it would also be less smelly if they paid out the readjusted amount. But instead, some keep their money and some are paid out a pittance while the banks are obviously using their money to make a lot more over a ten year period. The uncle needs heart surgery (to add insult to injury) and he obviously cannot afford it so it is likely this whole thing will kill him. (This story also shoots down a myth that everyone in Argentina gets great, free health care – a topic I decided not to discuss with Argentineans for a number of reasons yet it came up circuitously in this conversation about the crisis.)

I believe we would have had a revolution on our hands back at home. I believe that 100%. A justified revolution no less. Instead, Argentineans backed down as soon as the government killed a few protestors and they accepted it. It threw the country into instant problems, but I can see that they have made the adjustments and are trying to move forward. People were buying things prior to the crisis and they have adjusted to broken down cars, worn clothes, etc. I told I am concerned that keeping something like this contained will only result in a bloodier explosion later, buthe believes Argentineans will always just accept what is handed to them. They may protest a bit, but they accept that they are kept down while the elite run the whole show and get richer at their expense. I love Argentina, but I certainly do not understand it!

Last Six Weeks in Latin America

Thursday, April 19th, 2007

I will be flying back to the California on May 31st.  I am taking American Airlines through Miami.  Can’t wait to be greeted warmly by Homeland Security folks there.  Between now and that day I will be in Chile (San Pedro de Atacama) for three days and then I take an overland journey in Bolivia.  During that week which starts tomorrow, I will see some very strange geological stuff including salt flats, green and red lakes, geysers, and more.  It will be a freak show by earth and one that has been high on my list of to-dos.  In fact, the last six weeks is full of high priority stuff and I hope I can squeeze in things like kayaking on Lake Titicaca, Manu NP in Peru, Madidi NP in Bolivia and La Paz.  I am working on logistics now.  It’s been one hell of an adventure over the past six months and I would like to top it all off well with a great end run. 

[read on]

Dipping Back into Land of Inca

Thursday, April 19th, 2007
When I got to Cordoba, Argentina I saw a little bit of a change that got me thinking that I was going to see a progression "Indigen-fication" and "Latin-fication" as I head further north.  As I have said, most of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Moments by Luis Jorge Borges

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
Considered the best Argentinean writer, I picked up a Borges book Ficciones after reading about him in In Patagaonia and The Old Patagonia Express.  I had never heard of him, but I am learning how much about this world I ... [Continue reading this entry]

Careful Where You Point That Gun… I Mean Camera

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
I was taking photos around San Martin Plaza in Cordoba on Easter Sunday and I was approched by two policeman. Actually, one was a policewoman. Actually, I do not know if they were police, but they had big guns in ... [Continue reading this entry]

Feliz Pascua

Monday, April 9th, 2007
Happy Easter, Fellow Gringos!  I spent the last few days in Cordoba, Argentina which has turned out to be quite a nice place.  Good Friday was a difficult day because of a friend's health problem, but I went on a tour, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Iguazu Photos

Friday, April 6th, 2007
I arrived in Cordoba yesterday and it was a beautiful day which was unfortunately consumed by airplane delays.  The ride into the city had me a bit concerned because it took forty-five minutes (a whopping $8 taxi ride) with most ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo Like A Butterfly

Thursday, April 5th, 2007
I was trying to get the Iguazu Falls photos up, but I got sidetracked with butterfly photos and the Olympus software that lets me do things with my photos.  The slideshow might take a few minutes to load because some ... [Continue reading this entry]

Moon and Mist

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
Yesterday I went to Iguazu Falls.  Eleanor Roosevelt said something like "poor Niagra" when she viewed these falls.  Niagra is a lot smaller, but more importantly, it is surrounded by concrete and tourist junk whereas Iguazu is surrounded by pristine ... [Continue reading this entry]

Afroargentines

Monday, April 2nd, 2007
I told you that there are no blacks in Argentina.  Didn't see anyone in Patagonia.  And when I got back to Buenos Aires I paid more attention.  Well, of course, I saw a couple of people with black skin, but ... [Continue reading this entry]