65. Bureacracy bureacracy (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Well, it's three weeks since my last entry and I'm still in BA sorting out the papers for my business. Little progress has been made since the last entry which is really annoying. I haven't said too much about what I'm gonna be doing, just that it's something to do with tourism. I will say it's in the south of Argentina though - and now that we're in March I've unfortunately missed the January-February high season, thanks to all the paper shuffling I've had to do.
Today is March 8 which is Dia de la Mujer or Woman's Day. Yes, as if Valentine's Day and Mother's Day and anniversaries aren't enough, there's also a Woman's Day (edit: and there's a girlfriend's Day too). I guess it's to make those women who aren't married or mothers feel included. I think I've already mentioned that the kids here get birthdays, Christmas, Reyes (Kings), and Dia del Niño (Kid's Day). Once again we blokes get the short straw as I doubt there's a Men's Day included. Still, given the amount of sexual harrasment women here have to put up with even on a day to day basis the least we can do is give them a few special days. Exhibit A:
Illegal parking, BA style
Look closely and you will notice two accessories: 1. a bottle sitting on his roof, and 2. a rag hanging out of his boot. These are both deliberately placed there by the owner - can you guess why?
Well, you can't legally park in the streets of San Telmo before 8pm. So both cars in the photo are parked illegally. Instead of giving you a ticket for illegally parking, the police will take a photo of your illegally parked car and mail it to you. The photo is taken from a special police van with a camera system built in. So the rag hanging out of the boot is to cover his licence plate. And it seems the cops are too lazy to get out of the van to actually note down his number plate or move the rag to the side for the photo. Or, perhaps there's only one cop in the special van and he'd need a helper to move the rag while he takes the photo... I can imagine all sorts of photo bloopers involving a solo cop with a timer on his camera who attempts to move the rag only for the photo to be taken too early, or, too late, or for him to forget to apply the handbrake, etc. Whatever, the rag works, since almost everyone who parks their car in the street during work hours has one.
And the bottle on the roof? That's means it's for sale.
One of the robbers had a girlfriend, Liliana Fernández (30), who also took part in the robbery. After the crime he ditched her and left the country. So another of the robbers, Alberto de La Torre (52) started an affair with her, and intended to ditch his girlfriend and flee the country with Liliana. When Alberto's girlfriend (in her 50s) found out his intentions, she scornfully turned him in to the police, saying "he won't leave me for some kid". Now the other robber's identities are known and many have already been arrested, except for the infamous "Man in the Gray Suit" who led the robbers during the robbery, negotiated the release of hostages for pizzas (to buy time), and even led the robbers in singing "Happy Birthday" to one of the hostages whose birthday it was.
Here's something for architecture nerds:
Panorama of BA from Consitucion
Today is March 8 which is Dia de la Mujer or Woman's Day. Yes, as if Valentine's Day and Mother's Day and anniversaries aren't enough, there's also a Woman's Day (edit: and there's a girlfriend's Day too). I guess it's to make those women who aren't married or mothers feel included. I think I've already mentioned that the kids here get birthdays, Christmas, Reyes (Kings), and Dia del Niño (Kid's Day). Once again we blokes get the short straw as I doubt there's a Men's Day included. Still, given the amount of sexual harrasment women here have to put up with even on a day to day basis the least we can do is give them a few special days. Exhibit A:
Pump girls at Esso. The pump boys don't have to wear hotpants.
Illegal parking, BA style
Look closely and you will notice two accessories: 1. a bottle sitting on his roof, and 2. a rag hanging out of his boot. These are both deliberately placed there by the owner - can you guess why?
Well, you can't legally park in the streets of San Telmo before 8pm. So both cars in the photo are parked illegally. Instead of giving you a ticket for illegally parking, the police will take a photo of your illegally parked car and mail it to you. The photo is taken from a special police van with a camera system built in. So the rag hanging out of the boot is to cover his licence plate. And it seems the cops are too lazy to get out of the van to actually note down his number plate or move the rag to the side for the photo. Or, perhaps there's only one cop in the special van and he'd need a helper to move the rag while he takes the photo... I can imagine all sorts of photo bloopers involving a solo cop with a timer on his camera who attempts to move the rag only for the photo to be taken too early, or, too late, or for him to forget to apply the handbrake, etc. Whatever, the rag works, since almost everyone who parks their car in the street during work hours has one.
And the bottle on the roof? That's means it's for sale.
Moto Guzzi cop bike
One of the robbers had a girlfriend, Liliana Fernández (30), who also took part in the robbery. After the crime he ditched her and left the country. So another of the robbers, Alberto de La Torre (52) started an affair with her, and intended to ditch his girlfriend and flee the country with Liliana. When Alberto's girlfriend (in her 50s) found out his intentions, she scornfully turned him in to the police, saying "he won't leave me for some kid". Now the other robber's identities are known and many have already been arrested, except for the infamous "Man in the Gray Suit" who led the robbers during the robbery, negotiated the release of hostages for pizzas (to buy time), and even led the robbers in singing "Happy Birthday" to one of the hostages whose birthday it was.
Here's something for architecture nerds:
BA's twin towers. I had a teaching gig at Prudential in one of them
Another futuristic design near Retiro
Modern apartments contrast with older ones in Plaza Congreso
Pigeons swarm for corn in Plaza Congreso... gross
The other weekend on a lazy Saturday afternoon we did a free tour of the Buenos Aires City Government building. I thought we'd be doing a tour of La Casa Rosada (The Pink House) which is the equivalent of the White House here, but those tours are on weekdays. Still, the tour of the City Governement building was worth getting out of bed for at 4pm on Saturday afternoon.
The permanent founding of Buenos Ayres by Juan de Garay in 1580
posted by mattyboy at
12:48 pm
5 Comments:
What were they thinking?!?! Dumping the girlfriends! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
By
miss tango, at 6:48 am
We have to sell one of our cars at the moment (having bought another one) - it'd be interesting to see if anyone would show any interest if we put a bottle on the roof!
I can't even begin to imagine how such a thing came about - any ideas?
By
slaggybuttonit, at 11:55 am
Dude, no idea on how the bottle on the roof thing started. For ages I just ignored it, until one day I saw about 5 cars parked alongside a busy road with bottles on their roofs. It wasn't until I asked a local what it meant that I found out... before that I thought maybe it meant "my car's broken down, please don't tow it".
By
mattyboy, at 12:33 pm
Hey Mattyboy,
The rag on the number plate was correctly explained, however, there's a thing that needs further explanation: the police van is not such thing. It's actually a private, unmarked van belonging to the private company in charge of clamping, towing and giving those vehicles fines who takes the photo.
As these people don't have any guns or authority, they won't get out of the van to remove the rag or whatever thing covers the plate in case they are attacked by the owner or any other passer by who hates those pseudo authoritarian figures that will give you the fine.
You surely know how argentines feel about authority and pseudo authority figures.
The bottle thing is a traditional thing but started with cans. The tradition, many years ago was to put a large empty can or tin with a For Sale sign stuck to it. Second hand car dealers and ordinary owners used that basic advertising method alike. With time, the sign was no longer necessary and the presence of the can in the roof was all that was needed to understand that the car was for sale. Now, it seems that any sort of container will send out the message.
I like your observations about BA. I was in NZ a few years ago and loved it. Good luck with your business.
Regards,
Roberto
By
Unknown, at 10:51 pm
Thanks a lot Roberto for clearing up the photo-fine thing and the bottle on the roof thing. Now we know!
-Matt
By
mattyboy, at 10:36 pm
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