Today was my first day riding the trains in Argentina. I have ridden the subway several times, but I have never been on the train. There are trains that run all over BA, and I cross the tracks and see the trains go by all the time but I had not yet ventured on to them. Today was the day. Actually, doing anything down here new takes some preparing for. Since I don´t speak the language, actually I am starting to feel more comfortable with the language, when you get on the train you want to be pretty sure you know what the heck is going on. Like where to pay, how much to pay, where to get on, where to get off, how often the trains run etc. All things that are good to know before you get on the train.
Well I am happy to learn that the train and the subway are the same price. Its about US 25 cents to take the train or in Argentina one peso. One peso is about 25 cents at this time. The exchange rate has been changing the past year, and at the beginning of last year it was about three pesos to the dollar and now its about four pesos to the dollar. For years, the peso was pegged to the dollar, and so prior to 2002 it was one to one. But after the big economic crisis of 2001 in Argentina, the peso has slowly been inching up, and/or to put it another way there has been inflation in Argentina relative to the dollar.
I took a train ride to the end of the line. I love going to ends of lines and the end of the line I went on today was absolutely gorgeous. At the end of the line is a part of Buenos Aires called Tigre. Actually, today was my first time outside of Capital Federal. Capital Federal is the part of Buenos Aires province that is the capital of Argentina. I guess, someone please correct me if you know, that Capital Federal is like Washington DC. Capital Federal, which is the heart of the city of BA is in the province of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is actually quite a big province in Argentina. Most people outside of Argentina probably think BA is the big city in Argentina. And actually that is not correct, I didn´t know this myself until I arrived here. Buenos Aires is a large province in Argentina and Capital Federal is the heart of the province of BA. The outlying areas of Capital Federal are actually in the province of BA.
I left Capital Federal for the first time and ventured out into the province of BA to an area called Tigre. Buenos Aires is on a major river in South America and the delta north of town is really big. Tigre is the first town north of BA that sits on the Parana River which is the river that connects with the Uruguay river which acts as the border of Uruguay and Argentina. The Parana River heads up to Rosario and another town past Rosario called Santa Fe.
Tigre has a beautiful river walk that goes on for quite a distance. At the end of the river walk a mile or two up the river is the Museo de Arte Tigre. This was my second museum I have been in here, actually sort of my first that I actually walked around and looked at the paintings. No offense, but in general museums in Latin America are not really that good compared to world class museums, but the paintings I saw today were nice enough. I happened upon some Art opening or celebration at the museum and enjoyed a reception that they were having. The second floor of the museum has a very large terrace that extends a long way over looking the river. So I got to stand in the sun for about one hour, watch the boats go by, and talk with some local people about what is going on in Tigre. Actually, I mainly listened and they talked, but this is good experience for me to listen to what people are saying. I got a tiny bit of their conversation. Its actually quite difficult to listen to a conversation and understand what they are talking about because you don´t have any context. The day was spectacular, and I had a very nice sunny time.
atardecer
Argentina tren
se inclina
abunda la belleza
una chica joven embarazada
abrazaba a su novio
el tren se detiene
un hombre sentado
a mi lado se levanta
la chica embarazada
disminuye el asiento
un joven frente a mí
tiene a su madre
a su vez a las casas vuelte
de los edificios grande
una anciana vende chicles
con sabor a café
me quede dormido
en el confort
con el pueblo
sentado a mi lado.
late afternoon
argentina train
sways and clacks
beauty abounds
a young girl pregnant
holds her boyfriend
the train stops
a man sitting
next to me rises
the pregnant girl
declines the seat
a young boy
across from me
holds his mother
houses turn to bigger buildings
an old woman sells chicklets
coffee flavored
I doze off in comfort
with the people
sitting next to me.
2 comentarios:
Such a wanderer you are, such an observer... an outsider it seems, who notices details and relationships. Your writing in Spanish and even the English translation has a freshness and immediacy that I love. I think the distance from the usual in language and in environment bring you to the simple, the evocative basics and so it is good... also I LOVE the photos! thank you!!!
Did you take the "Tren de la Costa"??? Its very funny, and colorull!!
I live with my daughter, and have our apartment in Buenos Aires, very close to the station of that train, so we took it, and had a great time!. We went to Tigre too! We visited the Art Museum, and went on a boat tour!!!. Thats an incredible place, very pacefull!
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