Conspiracy Theory

Buenos Aires has some definite quirks. For example, right now there's a shortage of coins in the city. I’ve heard rumours about why this is (involving a discovery of illegal barrels full of coins), but suffice to say that it’s very difficult to find change for the bus (or el collectivo, as it’s called in Buenos Aires). The collectivos only take change that you put into a machine once you get on, so if you can’t find any change (and really, you can't just change it at the corner store) you’re basically out of luck.

There’s also the fake money to look out for. One night I tried to pay a taxi driver and he wouldn’t accept two of my 10 peso bills, telling me they were fakes. Since then I’ve learned to hold bills up to the light to look for the watermark of the head.

Most of the time the streets feel reasonably safe, but we were warned that once a week or so you have to look out for (and stay away from) the fights that break out between rival gangs who’ve come from the areas outside Buenos Aires to pick through the garbage in the city. The cartoneros, as they're called, make their living recycling this garbage.

There's something very fascinating about this city, gritty and charming as it is. I think I'd need much longer than two weeks here to even begin to grasp the history and politics and complexity of it...