Beggars, Buses, and Wal-mart

I'll be going in order of the title, and throwing in random bits as my thoughts interrupt. So obviously there's poverty everywhere you go, but I part of the culture shock for me was the different things people did here. So a few times during my first two weeks here, random people, normally mentally retarded or young children, would walk up to me and hand me cards, say something, walk off and then come back and take the cards out of my hand. I didn't know what the heck was going on the first time it happened. (I think part of the daze I had the first week and half trying to understand every single word I heard.) The second time it happened, it was a boy of about maybe 10 or 11, and when he came to take the cards back, he came from the same direction he approached me. Because of this, I thought that it was ploy to distract people while his sneaky little buddies went and pick-pocketed. I quickly checked my pockets and wallet and everything was still there, but I became a bit more wary after that.

I soon learned that the cards usually say something about there situation and why they need money. When they come to take the cards back, they're usually expecting a donation with it. They're some people that do the same thing where they shove a product like a flashlight or pen in your hand and then come to take it back if you're not buying it. Most of the 'sales-people' will come on the buses. They tell the bus driver what they're doing beforehand, and then they try to get everyone's attention at the front so they can pitch their product, pass whatever it is they're trying to sell, and then make rounds picking it up again. I didn't understand all of this at first, because although I've seen all types of gimmicks all over Europe, I hadn't seen this one before.

I'm not sure what was going on this week, but Taylor and I had lousy luck with getting our bus to go to school on time this week. On monday, our bus, A10, passed us three times without stopping! We didn't know what was going on, but we finally caught an A10 bus at 9:15. We were late to class by 20 minutes, and we had an exam that day too! The next day, the A10 bus passed by us twice. When it came by the second time, it sort of stopped. It only opened the back door to let people off, and Taylor and I saw people shoved against the front door. That's when we realized that the buses probably weren't stopping because they were so full of people, that they couldn't take on any more. When that happened, Taylor and I decided to take one of the D buses to school. They're a little more expensive, but it was the only other bus we knew that went to the University. The next day, we just tried really hard to hail the bus down, and got the second one that came by.

Taylor and I were so confused by this, because before this week, our bus would just stop at our stop without us having to hail it of chase it down. First we thought it was new drivers that didn't know the route, then we wondered if some part of the transportation plan changed and we just didn't know about it. When we figured out it was just too full, we knew it was a bad omen. You see, the school year here doesn't start until March, and they told us that's when the buses get really crowded. The school year doesn't start for two and a half weeks, and our route is already getting super full.

But last night Taylor checked the bus routes online, and he figured out that the A3 bus also goes to the University. We figured it would be a good idea to try it this morning since A3 comes by more often and appears less full. And wouldn't you know it, the A3 bus practically has the identical route as the A10. So now Taylor and I know two back-up routes for when the real school year starts.

The other day, Taylor and I went to Wal-mart here in Córdoba. Taylor wanted to pick up cheap stuff for trekking, since he doesn't know where else to buy camping gear, and I went along just to see what cheap crap I could pick up. Even though things are cheap here in Argentina, it's mostly because of the exchange rate. Whenever I pull out, say, 200 pesos, I think of it as US$200 so I can keep my spending under control. But it's weird, because I had to buy sunscreen the other day and it cost 44 pesos. Now that's cheap considering 44 pesos is like, $15, but I never think of having to pay $44 for a bottle of sunscreen back in the US. That's why I wanted to tag along.

So the Wal-mart here has the same basic layout and appearance of Wal-marts back in America. The signs are all in Spanish (of course) and the prices, well, they're mixed. Because some things, like junkfood, will be priced 1,2,3 pesos like they would be charged 1-2 dollars back home, but most other things are priced according to the exchange rate. (It's still generally cheaper.) In the stores around Córdoba that specialize in selling school supplies and notebooks have notebooks priced around 11-50 pesos each. They were around 3-4 pesos at Wal-mart, so I bought a few since it was a better deal, and I'll need them for school. I also bought the DVD of El Secreto de Sus Ojos which if you don't know, is a recent Argentine movie that is nominated for and Academy Award this year and the Best Foreign Movie category. I actually haven't had a chance to watch the movie yet. I don't know if it'll work in the DVD player when I get home in July, but it runs fine on my macbook. And there are subtitles in English, just in case anyone was wondering.

But yeah, it's mostly the same. There was a McDonald's attached, just like the one in Roanoke, and the shoppers walk around almost just as disinterested in the other people around them as they would back at home. What really threw me off was how they sold cosmetics there, and I've only seen them this way at the Wal-mart here and nowhere else. At home, you can pick up a cheap eyeliner or lipgloss in thin cardboard packaging and just take it off when you get home. What really threw me off here, was that even just tiny chapstick looked like it was taken out of the packaging, and they were all being sold in these thick plastic containers with huge knobs attached to them, that look like those ink tags attached to clothes in Macy's, that need to be taken off by the cashier when you pay for them. And this was just for the cosmetics! It made no sense to me! I wonder if they do that because people steal them often enough, and they're so easy to just stick in you pocket and steal. It kind of curbed me from picking up chapstick. I'll just get some at a regular pharmacy when I need a new one.

Now I'm in the habit of paying for everything in cash here, and just using my card to pull out money at the banelcos (ATM). But Taylor tried to pay with his credit/debit card, and it took forever, because the cashier had to input moneys from his card manually, and then wlak over to some office so someone higher up could look and verify it, and then that person had to call corporate or something to verify that the card was okay to use. I think the fuss is over it being an American issued card. I never had this problem when I traveled in Europe, but I remember in Japan I couldn't use my card in some places because they only accepted Japanese-issued cards. So even though I've been using cash the whole time, I really know to be wary about using my card to pay for things now, just because it was such a hassle and took so long! the whole ordeal with the Taylor's card took over 10 minutes if I remember correctly.

So I got a few odds and ends for even cheaper, but after that I don't feel the need to visit Wal-mart here ever again.

Today we finally met our Speaking Partners! Mine is a short girl named Natalia, who goes by Nati. She's 24 years old and this year is her last year of University. She told me she's studying management. I told her I was studying Spanish and Creative Writing. I have to explain Creative writing to everyone here, because as a major or program, that just doesn't exist here. I told her it's where you study to write well, like poetry, and novels, and fiction, and that I do it because ever since I was little I always wanted to write books. They took all the CC-CS students and the Speaking Partners to meet each other and chat over at one of the small cafe's on campus. There were free bottled sodas and mini sandwiches courtesy of CC-CS. A bunch of us students, including Speaking Partners went to walk around town and hang out. As we were leaving, I noticed a bunch of unclaimed, unopened bottles being left behind, so I grabbed a few and stuffed them into my bag before heading out. (College student habit. Why would I leave good free food behind?)

So that's been my week this week. Next week is our final exams for our class, and for the CELU. Good thing we don't have homework this weekend. I'd like to relax and just use my free time to study and brush up for my exams.