(For reference throughout, a moneda = a coin.)One of the biggest annoyances here is kind of unexpected ... a shortage of monedas in their economy and way too many big bills. People (including me) guard their monedas like gold ... it is just too difficult to get a hold of them! To ride a bus, which I do a couple times a day at least, you have to pay in monedas, so I constantly need coins instead of small bills, except no one likes to give you change in coins!
If you really need to ride the bus, but have no coins, one tactic is to go to a kiosk (that are on almost every block) and 1) ask very nicely if they'll change your bill into coins, which basically never happens, or 2) try to buy something strategic with a strategic bill so they're forced to give you back monedas. Problem with option 1 is that if they refuse you the first time, they will then refuse to sell you something to get change. I have literally been refused sales because they don't want to give me coins! Problem with option 2 is now you've spent 3 pesos or so on your bus ride, instead of 1.20. Also you have some little snack that you don't actually want, but will probably eat anyway. Problem with both options: if you are really hurrying somewhere, it takes a lot of time to find willing kiosk owners, and you can't get on a bus without succeeding!
So it is a joyous day if someone surprises you change in coins - yesterday, I mailed a letter to Guatemala for 5 pesos, and the teller gave me 5 pesos back in coins, which is near unheard of! So that was good for the rest of my day and probably today as well, haha.
While I'm on the topic of money - I got cheated last weekend by someone, still not positive who it was, maybe a taxi driver, and got counterfeit bills back for change. I think there's a pretty significant counterfeiting problem here, so now I'm pretty careful about it. I tried to pay for something with my counterfeit 10 peso bills, and the guy pointed it out to me, and they were pretty clearly counterfeit ... essentially photocopies. So that was really annoying, I lost 20 pesos on that one.
That is really annoying on a day-to-day basis. You sound like a resident and not a tourist now.
ReplyDeleteI heard an interview on NPR the other day where some economist was accusing Argentina of hiding the true cost of their inflation and unemployment and this deception was causing the U.S. and other countries to pay too much on their bonds.
They blamed the (female?) president and her husband for perpetrating this fraud so their personal fortune would remain intact.
I chased NPR all the way up Miami to NY, trying to stave off boredom while driving. I did have to vigorously and vocally oppose some of their viewpoints to Ashley b/c they were just outrageous, but for the most part it's good listening.