Dinero

Problem: What is one to do when they run out of money?

Solution: Move to a country where the dollar actually kicks ass.

I´d be lying if I told you I was a frugal man. I live large. Ralph´s Brand Soda?...No thank you. I´ll stick with RC Cola. You feel me?

So, I obviously ran out of money a lot sooner than I thought I would. I applied for a student loan to support myself when I was in SudaAmerica (Because if there is one thing this recession as taught us, it is to take out money now and worry about paying it back later because nothing can possibly go wrong). The loan, however, takes a while to process, and, though you may find this hard to believe, I was a little tardy with filling out my papers.

Not to worry, I think to myself. I´ve got Family Feud Money. For the last several months, I have been ¨having fun¨with the money that we won on the family feud last year. Here is a short list of things I have bought with my winnings: a digital camera, a flight to Boston, a book by Garrison Keillor, beer, wine, beer, a ¨Buster¨costume that I wore once and will never wear again, more beer, pizza, a ticket to Argentina, iPOD headphones, an iPOOD, running shoes, and beer. My attitude towards this has been pretty cavalier. I went on a game show--obviously I should go nuts. For this reason, I have been heard to say after every purchase, ¨Let´s FEUD!!¨ (or something similar).

Well ¨Let´s FEUD¨ doesn´t translate well into Argentine. For the last week, I have been almost out of money and the loan had yet to be processed. How was I going to survive?

Well, I´ll tell you. The exchange rate here is 1 American dollar for every 3.75 Pesos.

Isn´t that nuts? It is the exact opposite feeling I had while traveling through Europe. For example, eating is totally easy. The empanada is an Argentina pastry filled with meat and all sorts of good stuff. It´s like a Hot Pocket. (Side Note: Try to come up with a joke involving Jim Gaffigan as a latino man. I can´t do it right now--I just ate an empanada and can´t think. I bet it would be funny.) The empanada is very filling... and they cost like 3 pesos. Eat 2 of these things and you will be good until dinner. That´s 6 pesos---less than 2 bucks. ¡Que Fantastico!

Or drinking, for example. There is a bar near my house that guide books like to advertise as a place where ¨ex pats are drawn like Bees to honey.¨ Basically it´s where American college students hang out. It´s called ¨Shoeless Joe´s Alamo,¨ sort of like the owner just wanted to take the most American sounding things and combine them to create a bar where Americans would get drunk and feel at home. They could have also called it ¨Abe Lincoln´s Astrodome¨ or ¨Clark Gable´s Angioplasty.¨ Anyways, pints of beer are 5 pesos. Do the math. Yep. Awesome.

So basically the cost is another reason why this place kicks ass. Some attribute it to rampant inflation. I just call it fate.