Still waiting for a good opportunity to upload photos
Apologies yet again for the lack of photos. I really wanted to upload some of my Easter Island and Rio masterpieces, but I keep getting stymied. Either the computer is too slow or the place doesn´t have broadband or the computer doesn´t have a USB port accessible. Right now I´m in a place that has decent computers, decent internet speed and a USB port. The problem? The computer is running Windows Millenium!! so it doesn´t recognize my camera. Oh well.
So, instead you get to be regaled with some more text-only entries.
First up, our Buenos Aires cabbie. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, it was after 11 pm and the airport is about 40 kms from the city center. We thought we got into a meter taxi but after we started going, the cabbie said that they don´t do meters from the airport, only fixed price. We thought ´great, now we´re gonna get ripped off´. But he told us the price was only 60 pesos, less than US$20, so that was alright. He also told me in Spanish that he never rips people off. He even gave us a mini-tour of BA as we drove to the hotel.
When we got to the hotel, I only had 50 and 100 peso notes from the ATM at the airport. The cabbie didn´t have change and was a bit bummed I didn´t have a 10 peso note. I offered to go into the hotel and get change but the cabbie did something that I never thought possible - he told me that 50 peso was alright! He willingly lowered his fixed price from 60 peso to 50 peso. It might not seem like much, but it´s a lot for a BA cabbie. I have never had a cabbie lower a fixed price. We´ve had plenty who suddenly raise their fixed price when we reach our destination with excuses like ´more traffic than expected´, ´longer time than expected´, ´you have too many bags´, ´I took you further into town than agreed´, etc. etc., but for a cabbie to accept a lower price simply boggled me.
This would be the equivalent of showing up at JFK or Heathrow and agreeing a price of $60 or 60 pounds to get into town and then only having 50s and 100s to pay with and the cabbie accepting 50 rather than 60. It simply would never, never, never happen.
And finally, (for this post at least), one of the more interesting things we learned on our tour of the favelas (slums) in Rio was about the 1988 mayoral election there. People in Brazil are forced to vote in every election or face a fine. In 1988 they were a bit disillusioned with the political options and there was a write-in campaign launched. The candidate? Tiao, or Big Uncle in Portuguese. Who´s Tiao? Oh, he was the favorite chimpanzee at the Rio Zoo. Tiao finished in third place out of 12 candidates ... with over 400,000 votes!!! Do you feel bad for the 9 humans who finished behind a lower primate? Nowadays, the authorities are keen to prevent a repeat of that debacle and all voting is now electronic and all candidates have to be formally put up for office. People vote with the official candidates´ names and pictures appearing on their screen (so even the illiterate people can vote by the pictures). I think Tiao would have made a great mayor.
So, instead you get to be regaled with some more text-only entries.
First up, our Buenos Aires cabbie. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, it was after 11 pm and the airport is about 40 kms from the city center. We thought we got into a meter taxi but after we started going, the cabbie said that they don´t do meters from the airport, only fixed price. We thought ´great, now we´re gonna get ripped off´. But he told us the price was only 60 pesos, less than US$20, so that was alright. He also told me in Spanish that he never rips people off. He even gave us a mini-tour of BA as we drove to the hotel.
When we got to the hotel, I only had 50 and 100 peso notes from the ATM at the airport. The cabbie didn´t have change and was a bit bummed I didn´t have a 10 peso note. I offered to go into the hotel and get change but the cabbie did something that I never thought possible - he told me that 50 peso was alright! He willingly lowered his fixed price from 60 peso to 50 peso. It might not seem like much, but it´s a lot for a BA cabbie. I have never had a cabbie lower a fixed price. We´ve had plenty who suddenly raise their fixed price when we reach our destination with excuses like ´more traffic than expected´, ´longer time than expected´, ´you have too many bags´, ´I took you further into town than agreed´, etc. etc., but for a cabbie to accept a lower price simply boggled me.
This would be the equivalent of showing up at JFK or Heathrow and agreeing a price of $60 or 60 pounds to get into town and then only having 50s and 100s to pay with and the cabbie accepting 50 rather than 60. It simply would never, never, never happen.
And finally, (for this post at least), one of the more interesting things we learned on our tour of the favelas (slums) in Rio was about the 1988 mayoral election there. People in Brazil are forced to vote in every election or face a fine. In 1988 they were a bit disillusioned with the political options and there was a write-in campaign launched. The candidate? Tiao, or Big Uncle in Portuguese. Who´s Tiao? Oh, he was the favorite chimpanzee at the Rio Zoo. Tiao finished in third place out of 12 candidates ... with over 400,000 votes!!! Do you feel bad for the 9 humans who finished behind a lower primate? Nowadays, the authorities are keen to prevent a repeat of that debacle and all voting is now electronic and all candidates have to be formally put up for office. People vote with the official candidates´ names and pictures appearing on their screen (so even the illiterate people can vote by the pictures). I think Tiao would have made a great mayor.
posted by Kevin at 2/23/2007 08:16:00 PM
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