Peso problemas

    With my recent visitors, Emily from Chile, and now Blake, I've taken them to the arbolitos to get money exchanged on the blue dollar rate to make their trip cheaper. The men who exchange your money are called arbolitos (little tree) because they stand there all day in one spot trying to exchange money. It was funny taking people to the arbolitos; they were so sketched out at first. But Blake has loved analyzing the politics behind the blue dollar rate and how the government must have some kind of benefit from allowing the blue dollar to happen illegally. We even successfully bargained with the arbolito to get a better rate. Blake tried asking them where the money goes, and the arbolito guy was very vague about it, saying it goes to all over the country.
    Before coming to Argentina, I only knew about the blue dollar rate because my dad and I had researched it a lot. But it was surprising how many people in my program had never heard of it. But if I wasn't using the blue exchange rate, living here would be twice as expensive. With the official rate, things are actually quite expensive. A fast food meal would be ten dollars, a nicer dinner would be twenty, drinks would be about 9 dollars. That's not what I expected before arriving here. Argentina is a developing country, I wouldn't expect to pay the same amount for things as in the US. Clothes too would be expensive on the official rate, costing about 100 dollars for a pair of jeans that would be available at target for 30 in the US. It's because a lot of clothing items are imported and there is a high cost on imported goods.
     In addition to this, Argentinians have to pay a 20% fee every time they use their credit card, which is why everyone uses cash here, and probably another reason the lines for ATMS are always so long. A lot of host families have been asking their students to buy things online for them from the states, like clothes and iPhones, to have their parents bring here when they visit. This is a great idea for the Argentinians to save money, but then gets confusing for how much they should pay you back for, the official rate or blue dollar rate.
    The blue dollar rate has actually gone up quite a bit since I arrived in Argentina, as the peso keeps becoming more unstable. When I arrived, I got 7 to the dollar, and now the rate is at 9.6 pesos to the dollar! There were elections in Argentina in the end of October, and there were rumors that the blue dollar rate was going to rise to 26 pesos to the dollar after the elections. It's supposed to raise into the 20s next year. But there has also been recent inflation. I've seen prices increase in lots of items, from empanadas to clothes and tourist activity prices and taxi prices.
     Sometimes I still can't believe that it's hard to make change for a 100 peso bill here, which is worth $12 (20 officially). But there is so much inflation, and then some food items still only cost 5 pesos, and not as many little bills exist to make change. When something costs 5 pesos and 25 cents, and you only have 6 pesos, the 75 cents in change is normally just forgotten. I'm always surprised when someone does have change though, like a 10 cents coin that's worth a penny. Normally salespeople just round up or down to whatever is closest. When you pay for something, the clerk will always ask you for one or two pesos just to make giving change easier, and if you don't have more change, and if they don't have more change, sometimes they will just give you a couple pieces of candy instead, which is actually kind of fun sometimes. At fruit stands I've gotten one fresh strawberry in exchange for lack of change, which is a good surprise. One time the guy gave me three extra tomatoes because he couldn't make change. But then in a taxi one time, the driver actually ripped me off a full 10 pesos when he couldn't make change. I'd always wondered what happens if taxis can't make change and they've already driven you around town. Another friend said this happened and they ended up getting a free taxi ride. 
    Being a foreigner, especially from the US, has a negative affect on prices. For example, at many restaurants there aren't written menus, and waiters often quote prices lower than they are to get you to buy the product. When the bill comes, those items cost just a little bit more than what the waiter quoted, and they always say they just said the wrong price but this is what it really is. This has happened at least five times, and it's purely them taking advantage of us. And it's hard to argue back in another language over a dollar, but it adds up every time. I need to remember to always get the prices written down.         Another way they take advantage of us foreigners is adding a table charge for the silverware, or they add a tip in to the total without asking, when tipping isn't obligatory here. It's socially acceptable not to tip, but what the servers do is add it in anyway, and if you don't want to tip, you have to tell them specifically that you aren't going to pay for the tip. This makes it seem optional, but sometimes the servers just make that decision for you.
    One benefit of studying abroad in Latin America is that it is so much cheaper than if I'd studied abroad in Europe. I've gotten by pretty well here, thanks to those arbolitos. I haven't felt too unsafe going there. I haven't had any problems with fake bills, and they are normally really nice. One of them even pointed out to me what to look for in a fake bill, and another made sure we had it all put away safely before leaving his shop. What is the problem though is if you go to the arbolitos to exchange a pretty high amount of dollars, I'm concerned that's when they send someone after you to rob you if they know you have all that money.  And if you jump in a cab right outside of the arbolitos, they might assume you just exchanged cash too. So they key is to get a little farther away, then get away as quick as possible.