Darn! I was too tired to write about my first day in Argentina. Lame. In short, it was wild!
I think my Facebook status of the night summed it up pretty well:
Christian Andrés Aponte is overwhelmed! Buenos Aires is one hell of a city! I have learned that mullets are in style here, stop signs are not that important, and steak is life. The world seems so small being here.
It was a day I will always remember..regardless of my faulty memory.
But Day 2 began early and I was off to takeover the city again, this time, well-rested.
My first stop was Calle Florida! Calle Florida is a peatonal, which in English is a very large urban lane where automobiles are prohibited. Along this peatonal are businesses, clothing stores, and other services for the city. A quick summary: very touristy and swapped with humans…rightfully so, since Calle Florida is in the middle of the city. While on Calle Florida, I felt a little uncomfortable. There were people flying from every direction, it was really noisy, and people were hounding me to take their fliers (Eventually I was forced to grab two: An ad to visit Doña Clara the psychic, and another, an ad for a nudie magazine that displays 100% REAL BOOBS!). After checking out a few of the stores in Galerias Pacifico, an outdoor shopping mall and art gallery, I decided to flee from Calle Florida realizing that it was too much hustle and bustle for me! As I got to the end of the peatonal, I came across a beautiful haven of greenery….I can’t tell you how relieved I was. It was so very magical! After treading through the concrete jungle, I had arrived at actual jungle…well, a plaza....with tall palm trees and inviting benches. I was at Plaza San Martin!
After a quick rest on a bench and glance at the map, a man in a uniform approached me. I was a bit skeptical to chat at first, but he was very friendly. He explained a little about the plaza and said he was a volunteer for a program that works with orphan children. A-ha! That’s why he was so friendly...He wanted money! So I dug in my pocket and handed him 50 centavos. I figured since the American dollar is worth four times the amount of a peso, 50 centavos would be a nice donation…..Just multiply 50 centavos by four and you get 2 pesos….Right??? WRONG! 50 centavos is half of an Argentine peso. Which means I should have divided (instead of multiplying) 50 centavos by 4 and realized that it only is worth 12 cents in America. The man was so insulted by my offer that he started yelling and refused to take my coin. In Spanish he hollered, “This would never feed a poor child! Leave and go buy a cup of coffee with your change!” I was so confused and disheartened by my poor communication skills. I ran away with my 50 centavos without looking back. Later, I realized what had done the wrong dollar conversion. I don’t think I will forget the Argentine Peso to American Dollar Rate again.
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