Sent on Apr. 5, 2003 from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Time in Argentina: 2 hours ahead of EST in USA.
US$ = 2.82 Pesos, also shown as $; US $ shown as U$S.
Airport Exit Tax = US$18 at the airport.  Take the bus
operated by Manuel Tienda Leon from airport or bus or ferry
terminals to city-hotel for $15; Taxi = $35 from airport.
Post cards are about 60 cents each; mail to the USA is 5.50
Pesos, so nearly $2, the most expensive rates I know.
Argentina is the most expensive country in
South America, rated at 70 compared to 100 US index.

1. Buenos Aires.  The flight from Miami to Buenos Aires takes
about 8.5 hours.  BA--perhaps also the rest of 
Argentina is 2 hours ahead of Eastern USA.  The city is
located at the mouth of the Parana River.  On the other
(northern) side of the mouth, further east, is Montevideo,
Uruguay, which is also on my agenda later.  Internet is 
available for 1 Peso (35 cents per hour) for fast
connection.  Many hotels offer free connection, if you don't
mind waiting.  The sound of Tango, that originated in the
sleazy joints of Boca and Caminito sections of the old
Italian parts of the city, are everywhere, as also
well-dressed street dancers dancing to it.  

BA is a very European city, with a distinct Latin flavor.
I am staying at the Gran Hotel, Buenos Aires--
there is another called Gran Hotel Argentina--close to
the La Valle and Florida Avenues, the center of activity in
the city.  I already had a city tour, and walked, as I was
told, the 10 blocks or so along Florida past Av. Corrientes
(the downtown area), further to the circle at Av. Pte.
Roque Saenz Pera, had my dinner at the river front at
Puerto Madero and an excellent steak at La Estancia on
La Valle, visited the Sunday arts and crafts display
at San Telmo, and passed thru (again) the very quaint
Monserrat, La Boca, Recoleta (expensive condos & commercial
buildings), Palermo (embassies and exclusive residential)
and Retiro sections.  As I will end my trip in BA end of
May, whatever I missed, I'll recapture on the way back.
This is a lovely and vibrant city; the Latins are as warm
as the Mediterranean stock I belong to.  Women are well
trained to display their assets in a studied-casua--not
sloppy-casual--sexy way.

2. La Pampa. The landscape south and west of BA is refereed
to as La Pampa, which signify immense plains, natural pastures,
vast areas of cultivated lands, dotted with splendid "estancias"
(ranches) and romantic gauchos (our cowboys).  Patagonia
landscape is to the south of Pampa.

3. STEAKS. The steaks they serve here--brought on a 
sizzling charcoal fire to the table, which you cut as you 
eat--would put the steak houses in USA to shame.  Nice
2-inch, all fat trimmed, 20 to 25 ounce New Yorker cuts for
$5, imagine--though you will pay for all add-ons extra. 
Try Asador Criollo La Estancia on 941 La Valle (pedestrian)
Street, perpendicular to Florida street.  If you are in BA,
you will have to walk these streets anyway.

Indeed the steaks--of cow, lamb, ostrich, crocodile, emu,
kangaroo, wild boar, deer, and whatever else I ate in
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and now here were much
better than most steaks served in USA, though occasionally
one can get an exquisite file mignon at home too.  This
said, our baby-back ribs are still the best in the world,
the same with lobster, sea food, and barbecue.  People near
Washington, DC, should try the Crab Claw in St. Michaels,
MD.  VERY GOOD. (Take Rt.50 East, pass Annapolis and the
Bay Bridge, follow the signs; in Maine, try any little log
house along Rt. 1 when lobsters are in season, like $3-$5
for a whole mid-size lobster, which they prepare
on-the-spot within minutes. Or you can get larger lobsters
for even cheaper in Cape Verde Islands off the West African
coast.)


Sent on May 1, 2003 from Miami Beach.

Report. Montevideo to Buenos Aires. Argentina & Latin
Psyche. Hello from Miami.

I completed my journey 17 days earlier than I had
anticipated.  Even if I had not skipped both Asuncion,
Paraguay and Manaus, Brazil, I would be still done about 10
days earlier than planned.  As for these two destination,
the idea that I would need to get a visa--not to mention
yellow fever vaccination--to visit these boondocks, just to
take part in the pissing contest these countries play with
the USA turned me off.  Yes, citizens of these countries
must get a visa to enter the USA.  On the other hand, this
is a way for the USA to control illegal migration, as most
Latins would like to stay in USA, which is NOT the case
with Americans visiting Paraguay or Brazil.  So screw them,
is what I thought, and saved a bundle in the process
besides.  And except for the Iguazu Falls, which is
semitropical, where I could run around in shorts and a
T-shirt, the rest of my trip was in alpine country in the
Fall season.  I got a bad cold.

ADVICE.  I had a cold also in SE Asia and, as in Buenos
Aires, got a cough medicine.  No good, besides being very
costly compared to USA.  So when traveling abroad, bring
along capsules for cold, Immodium for diarrhea, anti-acid
capsules, Sudafed (or generic) nasal decongestant,
antibiotics, and Excedrin for pain.  A roll of bath tissues
will come handy too, also for runny nose.

1. Top rating for Argentina as a society.  I normally rate
Canada and Nordic Europe as the most civilized societies. 
As of this trip, I move Argentina (and Malaysia) to this
top spot, as the nicest, warmest, friendliest and most
civilized societies.  All over Argentina, at bus stops and
obscure places on the road at all hours, I did NOT once
observe a drunk, a horseplay, someone on ego-trip or with
chip-on-the-shoulder, loud argument, attention-seeking
bravado . . . nothing unpleasant.  Argentina does not have
the robust economy of Chile or Malaysia; what it has is
class.  It is a civilized, warm, well-organized, and
beautiful country of friendly people, perhaps the largest
European stock of any country in South America.  Unlike
Americans who supposedly "love their space," these people
bloom in the company of others.  They are even more
affectionate than Mid-Easterners and Italians, coworkers
(indeed seemingly everyone who knew someone else) kissing
each other on the cheek, as I observed in the city, in
cafes, even at the airport.

And when I say class, I do not mean this qualitatively
only; it has also quantitative and concrete components. 
For example, when the bus dropped me in the middle of
nowhere on the highway in Concordia at 6am, finding a
dependable ride to the city, without paying an arm and a
leg, would have been difficult, also in USA.  To think that
a taxi would be waiting there for me, and would take me to
the bus terminal for only 10 Ar. Pesos ($3.50) for the 10
minute ride is also class in my book.  When you travel a
lot, invariably odd situations will emerge.  You should
express gratitude to places where such contingencies are
dealt with smoothly.

2. Latin America´s Prospects.  Now, a more serious
discussion.  That I met so very few Latins who could talk
even broken English turned me off, indeed pissed me off.  I
mean even at hotels, at information desks at bus and train
terminals, banks. We in the USA are spending enormous sums
for bilingual education, just to accommodate our Hispanic
populations. I think it is only fair to expect that South
American countries reciprocate and help out by offering
English education in their schools, when these nations know
that many of their citizens do end up in USA.  I met three
South Americans with whom I could discuss these issues: one
was my tour guide in Bariloche, a woman in her 50s, of
British and Italian blood, the second a girl in her 20s
attending the university in Salta, the third a book
publisher from Montevideo who sat next to me on the bus and
the ferry.

a) Argentina. Although the worst of Argentina´s recession
is over, exports increasing over 30 percent, even the IMF
seemingly happy, the events of the last 4 years left an
imprint on the Argentinean soul.  The woman was almost
entirely pessimistic about the country's future.  She said
schools have deteriorated, there are no replacements for
the scientists who are in the 50s and 60s now, that
corruption will likely continue, as also erosion of major
institutions.  I asked her why countries like Norway,
Switzerland etc. could keep up with technological progress,
but not Argentina also of European stock.  She said life
was so easy here for so long that the nation became
complacent, people enjoying life, not investing in their
future . . . until reality caught up with them.  She said
it will now take enormous effort to make up for the neglect
of the past, that the candidates are not up to the task,
nor the institutions (even mail service here is in
shambles, pilfering common), and that corruption will
continue.

b) April 27 Elections. The previous President,
neo-conservative Menem, and left-of-the-center Kirchner,
both supposedly Peronist (ie., pro-labor and working
person) but in name only, are the 2 finalists of the April
27 elections; the run-off is on May 19.  I was told that
the average Argentinean abhors the thought that Menem,
under whose leadership Argentina collected $80 billion of
its $133 foreign debt, may win again.  Both candidates are
supported primarily by the well-to-do.  Menem is expected
to lose, though the leadership capabilities of Kirchner and
what he really stands for are being questioned.  He is
being supported by the current President Duharte and is
expected to fill his cabinet with Duharte supporters, if he
wins.  Argentineans feel they face "either way you lose"
options.

c) Chile. I asked the lady how then the Chileans overcame
these typically Latin hurdles and developed a reasonably
robust economy.  She said Chile has a sizeable German stock
and so could be systematic and methodical in its
development plans.  I said more than that, they must have
first decided to erase the corruption in their system,
before implementing systematic progress.  She agreed, but
did not know if Argentina could overcome the (almost)
built-in corruption in its system and institutions.

d) Corruption/Short-cuts. The university student also did
not see much hope.  When I asked her how she would describe
a typical Argentinean, she said we are very smart and know
all the short-cuts.  Later when we were discussing the
effects of the recession, she said "we feel our Social
Contract is broken."  I asked "why are you outraged or
surprised that your social contract is broken, when minutes
ago you proudly admitted how you ah-so-smart Argentineans
used all sorts of short-cuts to beat your system; what did
you expect would happen if everyone outsmarted the system? 
You have outsmarted yourselves." She seemed puzzled at
first that I would make such a connection.  Then, seeing
the connection, she became sober and explained that the
situation has become so bad that honest people would be
viewed as idiots.

e) Latinization of the USA. My thoughts were already in
USA.  With so many of these kinds people, accustomed to
short-cutting their own systems, migrating to USA, what
would happen to our institutions . . . a topic I had
anticipated 2 years ago in my letter published in the Miami
Herald: "Latinization of the USA."  Moreover, unlike the
early immigrants to USA, mainly from Europe, who had oceans
to cross, thus left their homeland for good and so became
Americanized, in these times of a much smaller world, the
new immigrants would only adopt and adept to the extend to
reap benefits from the USA, without really undergoing an
inner transformation, or developing loyalty. I wondered if
native Americans were really aware of the potential
significance of this difference.

f) Built-in Resistance to English. The discussion I had
with the book publisher was more general, about Latin
psyche.  He said there is deep resentment and dislike in
the Latin world of the USA, giving several reasons for
this: 1) they are predominantly Catholic; the USA is
predominantly Protestant, 2) they spoke Spanish; USA spoke
English, 3) 1 and 2 already created the conditions of a
cultural clash and competition, which to their dismay they
saw themselves losing, wounding their ego. 4) False
machismo, that persuaded the average Latin that his/her
language and culture are superior, so why he/she should
lower himself/herself to learning an inferior language and
culture . . .  5) American political misdeeds in Latin
America, often supporting dictators who abused their
people.  (On this last point, I fully agreed with him and
said so.)

g) The Spanish language. Interestingly, he did point out
that while Spanish is ideally suited for poetry and music,
it did not do as well describing concrete and precise
things.  He was not sure if this came about due to a quirk
in the linguistics of Spanish, or the way Spanish is taught
in schools, or the way colloquial Spanish evolved.  He
added that while reviewing the works of many authors, often
he could not be sure to which subject or object a sentence
or even a full paragraph referred.  (I chose NOT to make an
issue of this assumed superiority of Spanish vis-a-vis
poetry, not pointing out that the English language too has
its Shakespeare and Byron, German its Goethe and Schiller
and Boell, Russians their Tolstoi, et al. who are surely as
poetic and philosophical as anyone of Spanish origin,
including Pablo Neruda, while the English language could
also keep up with the precision required for sciences.)  

h) Latin Psyche. In short, he felt that envy, misused
machismo and pride, assumed and presumed superiority, our
political misdeeds were all factors as to why Latin America
shunned or snubbed English.  I said I did not point this
out as a favor and reverence to the English language or the
American culture but for practical reasons, actually as a
favor to the Latins themselves. I elaborated, "like it or
not, your economies collectively are only a small fraction
of that of the USA, indeed your well-being depends on the
USA; your radio and TV play as much American shows and
music; your young people dress and behave as casually as
learned from America; English is now the language of
commerce and sciences, and also of song and lyrics; it is
the universal language of all; English is being taught by
public schools all over the Southeast Asia; that when a
Japanese and Dutch and Spanish person meet in Hanoi, they
speak English to each other . . ."  So I asked him what the
Latin cultures thought they are achieving, except for
blocking their own progress, by denying the obvious and
shunning English?  He just smiled and said "see how we
Latins are? we can always escape to our imaginary world." 
I said "in that case, sorry for the rude awakening
vis-a-vis Argentina."