Mercurial Mercosur

We are encountering Latin American politics up close and personal.  This Sunday only a mile from our place was a giant "celebration" of Argentine independence.  In front of the Casa Rosada, the president Cristina Kirchner gave a speech while thousands of people waved flags, beat drums, and paraded.

Granted we could not understand the speech. But it still seemed to us like the focus of the event was baldly political.  The flags did not say Argentina... They said the name of the president, her family, her party.  The cameras at the event focused on her - we watched her dance awkwardly and kiss spectators.  The audience, our host told us, had  been bussed in.  Many were drinking heavily, forming drum circles that drowned out the speech, and even in one case trying to sell us "brownies de cannabis."  From the outside, and on TV, it looked magnificent.  From the inside, it was cacophonous.  In the U.S. July fourth is also a big party, but I feel like people are celebrating being American, rather than being Democratic/Republican or being part of a televized spectacle.

But Kirchnerism and Peronism are big, we later learned, and have as a central tenet resistance to large American corporations and in some cases American " imperialism."  I do feel at a disadvantage here compared to the other places we have been because of the institutional barriers against America.  The countries here are building a retaliatory bloc, and I don't know whether this is helping them in the end.  For instance, difficulty getting money from my US account - literally every ATM (whether HSBC, Citibank, or the local ones) is using the same network which charges six dollars per transaction on my US account and has low withdrawal limits.

And then, the reciprocity fees.  Because the US charges high visa fees, Argentina, Bolivia, and others charge us huge fees to enter.  We paid 160 for Argentina ad were going to pay more to go through Bolivia before deciding, enough is enough.  We were only planning to spend 1.5 days in Bolivia en route to Peru, but the embassy here decided (after some shady internal deliberation) that it would not grant a transit visa, and would charge the full 160 dollars each.  And since we had no dollars, they gave us a terrible conversion rate for pesos, making it come out to 172 dollars each.  And then, since the ATMs here are against us (see above), actually withdrawing that money would make it closer to 180 each.  We have decided to skip Bolivia and just go through Chile (which does not charge fees for entry as of two months ago).

I get the indignance that these governments feel against America.  But there has to be something to supply and demand, right?  I think this strategy is counter productive.  If you charge high fees for tourists, you are going to have less tourists.  And how does that help?

A Shilling Tale

We are in Durban, South Africa, where it is late autumn, and a balmy 24 Celsius.  Mmhmhmhmhhm.  But there is one tiny problem.  We still have Ten Thousand Tanzanian Shillings from our time in Dar Es Salaam, that NO bureau at the airport in Joburg would take.

This is upsetting - what happened to African unity??  I get the fact that the Tanzanian shilling is pretty weak.  The ten thousand note  here is worth six dollars.  But It's not like the South African rand is that much better.  People here seem to love talking about how their currency is is going down the tubes.  The rand has dipped down to 10 per dollar.  Which makes things bizarrely cheap in a country that feels just as urbanized as Australia or the UK. 

And the breakfast look just as western too!  Except for that little tub of SPICY peri-peri.  Sawubona!

Dos and Donts of Ancient Egypt

Do bring a student ID card - you get discounts at almost every site.  It doesn't matter that neither Josh nor I are students any longer, and in fact I don't even have a student ID.  I used my Washington DC public library card and they gave me the discount.

Don't use large denomination bills.  Taxi drivers and such won't give you correct change, and will keep the remainder as "baksheesh."  You'll also need small coins to tip the guards and stray kids at museums who will otherwise not let you through or may pester you relentlessly.

Do let the little kids that are asking for money have some fun with you.  They have good senses of humor when you ask them their name.  Josh and I ask them for help (where is the closest ATM?  Can you sing a song for us?) before giving them any sort of tip.  They like having a job.

Don't go it alone.  When you are visiting these places with a local, the hasslers will approach them first and far less frequently.  But if you go alone, you will be targeted.  They will tell you the pyramids are closed, or that they can let you in for a fee, or find a way to climb, or that it is too far to walk, until you don't know what to believe and end up buying whatever it is they are selling.

Do visit the temples that you have never heard of.  The pyramids at Giza and temple of Luxor were far less interesting than Medinat Habu, the latter being a funerary temple for Ramses III.  So many of the bigger ones are in bad shape or riddled with tourists and obnoxiousness, and their contents are in Museums anyway (which may be better to visit).  But we went to Medinat Habu on the West Bank of Luxor, which was basically empty, had tons and tons of detailed hieroglyphics and statues, and felt hallowed.  It is not far from the Valley of the Kings which we skipped.

Don't ride the horses at the pyramids.  That is the best way to be captive to your horse owner, and to have a sore butt while not being able to concentrate on the pyramids at all, since you are spending all your effort just to steer and avoid minibus traffic.

Do take time to wander the streets and see stuff that is not really historic, but living and local.  We ran across an alley with a canopy of festive LED garlands and rope tassles and flowers, where children were playing and horses were having lunch.  We also went shopping for pants and found the Facebook store, which sells nothing you'd expect.

Don't eat the Luxor street cheese.  'Nuff said.

Where All Roads Lead

Ancient road number six: Via Appia (the Appian Way).

Connecting ancient Rome to the South of Italy.  I always thought the road led to "Appia." But there is no such thing.  No, it ends at Brandisi.  Funny how we'd heard of the road, but not known where it led.  Or, excuse me, where it came from.  Because as you know, all roads lead to one place.

With all the roads leading here, no wonder it is so crowded!  Josh and I felt like we had more space in Tokyo.  Rome's subway is the most packed transit we have used anywhere.  The lines to get into museums and catacombs and churches are monstrous.  The piazzas are choked with hawkers, and buses regularly caught in traffic.

It is so easy in a city like this to fall into the trap of seeing too much and doing nothing at all.  On Saturday, we tried to pack in the Vatican Museum, the Basilica of Saint Peter (photo below), and Trastevere.  We spent way more time waiting in line than anything else.  It works much better just to breathe, see a fraction of the things that are available, and spend more time soaking up the city.

When you do that, you begin to appreciate all the LIFE that is happening here.  Wisteria vines in full bloom, trained over decades to grow in the shape of pergolas and railings.  Chiseled marble and travertine everywhere, pieces of ancient city walls incorporated into the sides of houses and buildings, musicians playing the didgeridoo on old pedestrian bridges over the Tiber, small bookshops selling pocket Greek tragedies, and dramatic public quarrels (we've witnessed two so far, so brazen they almost felt staged).

Try as you might, however, you get sucked back into waiting in lines and dealing with bureaucracy.  Getting gelato this afternoon, we had to take a number!  And don't even get me started with the Post Office here, how they deflect all questions and send you round and round until you end up at the building where packages go to die.

I think we have learned a little about Rome, and more about ourselves.  Hopefully, Cairo in a few days won't be too overwhelming!

Renunciation

No India!!!  I was not able to get a visa in time.  The holdup?  A completed "certificate of renunciation" from the Embassy of Pakistan.  I was born in Pakistan, and even though I have been a US citizen for over a decade, India requires that I prove my lack of connection in official paperwork.  This renunciation certificate thing is pending with Islamabad.  Lord knows how long it's going to take.  At this point we cut our losses and we're rethinking the itinerary in Asia.  Maybe more time in Myanmar or maybe a side trip to Mongolia?

Last visas

What a relief!  The Uzbekistan visa finally arrived in the mail today.  One more left--India.  Josh got his India visa in three days.  Mine has been pending for two months!  It may take begging and cajoling but hopefully I can convince them to forgive my Pakistani origins and stamp the page I need before I leave on Tuesday.