JONONLINE – chroniques géographiques…

After a cumulated total of 10 weeks in Argentina or nearby, comes the time of the little “Like – Don’t Like” game. There is no hierarchy.

I Like

People: The kindness, the generosity and the spontaneity of the people, starting with the friends I met in Buenos Aires, Salta and elsewhere. They will recognise themselves.

Cities: Buenos Aires for its buzz. Salta for its colonial feel and its wonderful people. Mendoza for its trees, its irrigation system (ditches along every street, I guess quite a few alcohol- or visually-challenged tourists fell in them at night…).

Landscape: The wonderful colours in the region of Salta and Jujuy. The amazing glaciers and the amazing colours of the lakes in Patagonia (Calafate). Ushuaia and its end of world feel. Cataratas de Iguazu, amazing falls that led Eleanor Roosevelt to say “Poor Niagara!”

The smell when passing in front of lavanderias (“laundry shops”). You’ll tell me that’s universal, but there are lots here. The locutorios (call shops, internet), generally cheap, that you find at EVERY corner.

The food, starting with a Bife de Lomo (steak) when gravity seems to be enough to push your knife across the meat. Continuing with Empanadas. The ones from the “Gourmet” chain I had last night were excellent. Very wide choice. The pizzas can be excellent too, and there are loads of other types of excellent restaurants. Buenos Aires is a place where you must be careful if you want to fit in the same clothes once you get back home.

Drinks, mentioning first a wonderful strawberry daiquiri in Las Caà±itas, made with real strawberries and no sugar. I might want to go there again this afternoon!

Tango, tango, tango.

Chatting with the taxistas (taxi drivers), listening to their stories, every taxi a different one, and letting them believe that I am not a tourist and that I live in Buenos Aires. Always nice receiving compliments on my Spanish!

Most hostels were so welcoming, full of really helpful staff. Only the odd one was a disappointment.

Flying over Buenos Aires. That’s just so amazing. The domestic airport is really close to the city, and the international one requires flying over the whole city. During the day, or at night, in any case it’s really cool. And it’s amazing how clear the limit is between the city itself and the “empty” pampa surrounding it.

Being able to change my flights very often, for little or no cost. Flying is really worth it here. In opposition, buses are comfortable, but if I wanted to change my reservation, I had to accept losing 30% of the value of my ticket.

I Don’t Like

The hostel I went to in Mar del Plata, and most people I met in Mar del Plata, the only one that was in my guide. High season, enough customers: good bye friendliness, spontaneity and helpfulness. Tourist business is business.

Double-checking an information to be sure I understood correctly and be told the opposite the next day.

Tourists in big groups. (That might be universal.) Organised tours or packs of backpackers acting as if they were alone in the room late at night or during the early morning.

Backpackers here for months that stay on the move, never spending more than a few days at the same place, that meet people for a few days and then never see them again, or rather, meet them again at the next gringo stop. Backpackers here for months for whom the most exciting is to meet other backpackers, and for whom it’s too difficult to learn Spanish, and didn’t even try at least to follow a 2-week crash course. However, I met some very nice people meeting precisely these criteria: there are always exceptions!

Having to share my dormitory. OK, that was my choice! But had I stayed longer I think I would have needed a few nights on my own in a more comfortable place…

This enormous gap that exists between rich and poor, wealth and poverty, here and elsewhere in South America. And the impression that there’s not much you can do about it.

The system, the lack of faith of the people in the political system, and the impression that changing the leaders will lead to the same results. One interesting comment was made to me about the fact that so many people disappeared during the dictatorship some 20 plus years ago. These were people who challenged the system. Now, there are not many young politicians, and most are of the generation of those who disappeared…

Argentina is really not a country where salsa is popular. For me, that was tough. There seems to be an aversion against most Latin American traditions… You’ll understand why, Argentina is something in between Europe and Latin America, and the people tend to want better relations with Europeans than with other Latin Americans. I was told: “But salsa is not an Argentine dance!” To this I replied: “It’s not European neither, but it is danced over there!”
However, there is Tango here, this is a compensation, although I didn’t have to opportunity to learn it seriously yet. Watching it is enough at the moment!

That’s all for now. I’ve probably forgotten many other points. Especially about things I liked. I might edit this post later.