Day 32: This and that...

Just so you don't get bored a few general topics today which seem noteworthy.

Money (Update 11. December 2017, 27. December 2017):
When has it not been about money? Until some time ago smaller businesses were not permitted to accept credit cards. This gap was filled by PayPal. However, same as the credit card companies PayPal charges the companies 5% for their services. These are then charged on top of ones bill, but they tell you. I totally get that and it prevents me from having to run to an ATM on a daily basis because that's not cheap either.

As for the fees to get cash, this modern piracy. I got an EC-Card (Maestro) and a MasterCard. The fees are as follows (as customary here I use the $-symbol for the Peso):

• EC-Card: €4,- for every transaction which is for my usual $2000.- (this really is the limit, for all banks, except the Banco Nacional de Argentina, there you can withdraw $3000.-! The limit is either $2000.- or $3000.- depending on the bank and branch) withdrawl. Additionally the local bank charges you $106.50 which amounts to round about €9.20 on fees for every $2000!!!
• Credit Card: Additionally to the $106.50 my bank adds an additional €2.50 because I withdraw cash and 1.50% for use in a foreign country amounting to round about €9.50 in fees. So if I use my card to pay directly, e.g. in a bigger shop, the €2.50 should not be charged.

Shortly before their departure I met Gilda and Sebastian in the Chill House. They've given me a bunch of tips, thank you very much for that. Just as in New Zealand it seems to be the case that in smaller cities it's hard to impossible to get cash. More about that once I've seen it. None the less I'm starting to hord cash...

When it comes to tips in restaurants, 10% are customary. Once it really happened to me that a waiter thought: "Great, fits the bill, I'll simply keep the change." Wait what? Fat chance. This is no self service. Tough luck for him, no tip...

Traffic:
Let's be honest, I always thought that we Germans drive like cracy. Which is mainly true for the Autobahn. In the city, however, most of us give in to their fate.
Here in the big city traffic is murderous. Everybody goes as fast as possible and wherever there is room. This can lead to situations where there are 4 lanes shared by 6 cars. Sometimes also a bus or two. In between are of course motorbikes which pass left and right. Without traffic lights this seems to get chaotic but they really look out for each other. In contrast to Germany nobody here insists on their right of way. But for this to work using the horn is a common means of communication :-) And how does that work for pedestrians? They give a sh.... about traffic lights. Everybody keeps on walking at any time any place as long as the chance of getting run over is not too big. Even standing a meter into the street is common so every gap can be used effectively. I'm also doing it because I don't want to look the tourist, if that is possible at all ;-) Hope this works out...

Internet:
If you open the WiFi tab in our smartphone you see about 30 WiFi nets at an time, wow. This it really great, almost every shop and I'm not kidding has a WiFi. And upon request they give you the password without hesitation. In 99% (Warning! Forged statistics!) the password is SHOPNAME + HOUSENUMBER. This is really great and everybody is using it. Often times the first question is for the WiFi password.

WhatsApp:
What can I say? This county is build on WhatsApp and Facebook. If they were to go out of business this country would crumble. Everything, reservations, appointments, dates, everything is done on WhatsApp. Well, no getting around it. I've got to register again whether I want it or not (some of you have already noticed).

Spanish Classes:
My head is ready to explode on a daily basis... 4h of Spanish! That's a lot to digest. Optimist that I am I's also booked individual lessions right after group classes. I already skipped todays session because my head was more than full. The rest of this weeks sessions I rescheduled for next week. As if this wouldn't be enough we also get homework :'( I really hope that next week will be better. Mostly it's about speaking Spanish and learning grammar. Vocabulary is only a small part and everybody has to learn vocabulary in addition. I can't remember when I had such a lot of stuff to learn the last time. It's fun but I'm pretty exhausted afterwards. So I have to schedule sight seeing for the weekend...

Laundy:
The Chill House doesn't have a washing machine. However, there are a 1000 little shops doing your laundy for you. There's a small hole in the bars at the entrance. Through there you pass your bag or suitcase with your laundy to get it back the next day in the same bag. An all this for only $90.- Now I just have to wait and see how my underwear feels ;-)