Well down here in Buenos Aires we're all still getting over the excitement of the Latin Grammy awards show from Las Vegas last Thursday. OK, I'm lying... it doesn't seem like anyone down here paid attention to them plus, when I watched PARTS of it, it mostly seemed to be a bunch of Tejano accordian-and-keyboard music. In other words, it was terrrrrrrrible. So I can see why a lot of the locals ignored it. Also, for being the LATIN grammy awards show, no one spoke Latin. Caveat emptor. E plurbus unum. Etcetera.
Anyhow the end of the year is coming soon, I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. In the USA the Thanksgiving holidays are not far away... around here there's no such thing. But the good news is that, as a consolation for missing the holidays in the US, I'll be spending them in Peru (Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca) and Bolivia (Copacabana and La Paz). Not sure where exactly, it'll just depend on when/where I catch the buses, trains, etc, etc. I can't believe how expensive it is there (Peru specifically, not Bolivia). In all my research, it looks like everything around Peru is priced in US dollars (at US cost of living). The trains are hideously expensive, unless you're a local in which case the train ride that costs foreigners $140 usd round trip only costs you $10 usd round trip! They're separate trains but to keep the foreigners (esp. backpackers) from exercising the more logical alternative, you have to have a national ID card to prove citizenship... not that I could pass for a local up there anyway.
That seems to be a common theme here in South America -- a lot of the tourist attractions are a cheap price for anyone from the same state/province, then it goes up a LITTLE for citizens of the country, and then it goes up a LOT for foreigners (including anyone from the surrounding Lat-Am countries). At least it's EXTREMELY common here in Argentina... anything from national park and museum entrance fees to plane tickets. Assuming the pilots, airline employees, customs agents, maintenance workers, baggage handlers, or airport facilities people are not on strike. Which is extremely rare in this country. It's amazing what a difference there is in the strikes in Argentina since three years ago. Back then it was mostly just a bunch of unemployed protesters on marches that blocked up the streets, wrecked traffic, and otherwise hindered people from getting to work. Now it's people with jobs refusing to work.
In the last month, we've "enjoyed" the following protests: taxi cab drivers, public (and long haul) bus drivers, airline employees, pilots, newspaper stand owners, bureaucrats (city workers basically), subway workers, hospital employees, petroleum production workers, and teachers (high school and college). And that's just ONE MONTH! The immediate response to go on strike and fear/refusal of competition (mostly domestic market protectionism) is a really interesting dynamic to watch up-close-n-personal. I have no idea how this country is going to be able to compete in the globalized marketplace... and it's not just Argentina but most of Lat-Am. OK, enough of all that Econ 101 stuff.
Sorry there are no pictures this time around. I just figured I should add something to this blog since it's been a while since I wrote anything. After the Peru & Bolivia trip I should have some interesting pictures to upload to the site. After that (in December), I'm planning a trip down in the Andes mountains in the lake district on the Argentina/Chile border. Then it's off to the fine beaches of Punta del Este, Uruguay before I finally have to return home... and find some work to pay for all of this!! Ah well, it's what I call "motivation".
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