I can't believe that I am actually leaving
Trip Start
Mar 09, 2007
1
164
169
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
Buenos Aires,
Capital Federal District,
Argentina
Thursday, March 27, 2008
and decided not to think about it. After all I had to worry about my
bus making to BA through all the road blocks, my flight was leaving in
less than 30 hours from now.
So here is whats going on. The government had announced about 3
weeks ago that they would be increasing the export tax by 10%, from 35%
to 45%, on Argentinian agriculture products that were being exported.
The government claimed that this was need to control inflation. This
totally screws the farmers on their export sales and profits. So what
did the farmers do? They drove their tractors onto the roads and
highways, blocking them. They were blocking any truck from passing
through that was carrying agricultural products. This was happening
across the entire country. No food was getting through. This started
about three weeks ago but it has only gotten to a bad level within the
past few days.
As a result there were food shortages and prices were beginning to
rise. In La Cumbre, there was no more beef, no more chicken, veggies
were running low as well as other goods. The main gas station in town
has been out of gas for about a week since the gas trucks couldn't get
through.
Every day things seemed to get more elevated. Tractors and
protesters where in plazas in some of the cities, especially the ones
close to large agriculture growing areas. They were gathering and
surrounding the towns and municipal buildings in protest. It was quite
a sight to see all this going on on TV. There were also fights on the
streets as huge crowds of farmers and their supporters clashed with
crowds of the governments supporters. The whole country was basically
up in arms and in chaos.
It seemed that most of the general population was in support of
the farmers. Another interesting thing, what started out as a protest
against the tax, seemed to morph into a protest against Kristina
Kirchner and her government (she was just recently elected into
office). What's really at the root of all this is corruption. There
is so much corruption and so much tax money that is being put into the
pockets of politicians and elected officials, that there isn't enough
money going to where it needs to be. Watching all of this on TV, Noemi
laughed and said this crap happens about every 8 to 10 years. She said
the government does something stupid, the people protest, the whole
thing crashes, and a new government is put in. Noemi and Mon were
laughing wondering how long Kristina would last as president.
She mentioned another interesting trend, the shortage of coins.
She said that every time there is a shortage of change or coins, it's a
historical sign in Argentina that there are severe money problems.
Since I first stepped into Argentina back in last June, there has been
a problem with stores and people not being able to give or have change
(or coins) and it has gotten progressively worse. Noemi said that the
lack of change has been quite bad the past 6 months.
All this crap was going on while I was trying to catch my flight
which left in less than 30 hours. And I still had to make it to BA
through the road blocks (normally a 12 hour trip).
I slept the whole way on the bus and woke up once we got into BA.
We were only an hour and a half late and I missed seeing all the road
blocks. Things in BA seemed to be normal except for the stores not
having much in the sense of fresh food products and at night people
took to the street corners and balconies to bang pots and pans in
support of the farmers. Pretty funny to hear and watch it go on. I
was just glad to know that I wouldn't be missing my flight.
Dumped my stuff at Abi's and took care of a bunch of crap before I
had to leave. I decided that since my poof-ball-of-a-hair style was
out of control and that I was going to be seeing my mom the following
day after not having seen her in a year and a half..... that it was
haircut time. I went down to a barber and got a my first haircut in a
long time (Fran, a friend of mine in La Cumbre, cut it about a month
ago but it was more of a quick trim) and it was the first time that I
saw myself with grown out hair style in a long time (I normally buzz it
at a # 1 or # 2). I think mom will be pleased.
Went out to dinner with Andy and Pete and then we met up with Abi
afterwords for some drinks. It was a pretty chill night actually. Not
many people were out, in fact it was the deadest state of
night-life that I have ever seen BA in. I attributed it to the whole
protest and instability thing. I had to leave for the airport at 3am
anyways, so we drank until then and I took off.
It was pretty surreal sitting in the airport in BA knowing that
this was it, I was heading out of Argentina for good. Aug and Nora,
before I left for my two year trip, had a prediction that once I
stepped foot into Argentina, that I would never leave. Proves that
they know me well because they pretty much hit the nail right on the
head. If I didn't have to start heading home to see my brother
graduate from University (he graduates in a month), then I would still
be in Argentina. Probably teaching for Noemi's school in La Cumbre.
I'd love to be able to sum up Argentina and my time there in a
nice little summary, but it would be really tough for me to do so
without making it too long. So instead I think I will leave you with
these few ideas: it was beautiful, it was my favorite country in South
America, it felt like home, and they now hold the record (in my book)
for not only having the most beautiful women in the world but also
having the best beef in the world. What more could you really ask for
in a country?
