Lets Go On Strike For A Day!

Yesterday, March 31st, all public transportation in all of Argentina went on strike. When I say all, I really mean all. Some of the things that were are strike include:
Buses (local, mid and long distance)
Trains
3 out of 6 Airlines
Ports
Banks
Gas Stations
basically if it can get you from one place to another, they were on strike

My bus stop to go home from my university. I take number 18.

Why did they do this you may ask. Its because they don't like the president. I am sure there is more specific reasons beyond that but basically, that is why. Also, it was only for a day. Most things were closed because the majority of Argentina takes public transportation to get to work and it just wasn't possible to get there. My university gave out excused absences for anyone living 30+ blocks from school. As I live that far and normally take a public bus to school, I didn't have to go. Can't say I am complaining.

Getting from one place to another here is somewhat of an art in my opinion. Not everyone uses cars so there are so many ways to get places. I have used the public bus system most. A one-way ride costs 7.15 pesos (less than 1USD) and I take it at least twice a day on a regular school day. There are also private bus companies which have additional routes, are less crowded and often come more frequently. I haven´t had the need to take one yet but they cost slightly more and are not a bad alternative. You pay in cash which is convenient when your bus card does not have any money on it. In order to ride the public buses you have to pay for a card (about 25 pesos) and then add money to it periodically. You can only go negative on your card up to 2 bus rides so I try to keep a decent balance on my card on all times.

Bus 18, which runs next to my house, university, and all the way to downtown. 

There are also taxis, which the cost varies depending on how far you are going. From my house to downtown (a 40 minute ride completely depending on the traffic) can cost me upwards of 150 pesos. Most of the time people divide a taxi so that it does not come out that expensive. A short trip can be as low as 30 pesos (they normally charge a start up cost of about 15 pesos). There are two types of taxis, the yellow ones and the green ones. The yellow ones are the kind you normally flag down on the street and the green are called Remis. Generally you call the Remi company to come pick you up. I normally take Remis because they record in their system exactly when I am picked up which adds a little extra safety.

As Cordoba is a city, many things are in walking distance. At my first house I would walk to school which took about 20 minutes. I can walk to a mall, supermarket, some of my friends houses, and several other businesses from where I am currently living. Many people also own bikes and use those as their main form of transportation during the day. I have now had the uncomfortable pleasure of riding the crossbar of other peoples bikes side-straddle as a way of "catching a ride" a couple of times.

Some people own motorcycles or motorbikes. I haven't ridden one of them yet, but they are pretty common, especially among the young professional crowd as they don't have family to tote around. Of course there are always cars but most don´t have one and often times there is only 1 for an entire family when they do have one.

People can get pretty creative here on how they get themselves from place to place. You can even see a horse drawn cart from time to time. With so many ways to get where you need to go, its always a bit of a chore to figure out the best way to go. While I am not going to be saddling a horse to get to a friend´s house anytime soon, I have definitely started to master the art of transportation in Argentina.

A Silent March for Justice

Yesterday I went to the downtown portion of my city, also known as the "centro" to walk around with a friend and look at some shops. You can buy just about anything in the centro and chances are, it's cheaper than other places in the city. I have discovered that if someone doesn't know where you can find or buy something, they will happily tell you that it is in the centro.

I had been told that there was going to be a march downtown and that I might get to see it. I had also been told that it would be a big deal in Buenos Aires but that the one in Cordoba wouldn't be as big. Needless to say, I was a little curious..

Around 7pm my friend, Carly, and I had finished looking at shops and started looking for our bus stop. As we were walking, we noticed several streets had been blocked off by police and lots of people were headed in the same direction. Being the curious exchange students we are, we happily followed along and found ourselves in the middle of a scene that can only be described in pictures.

It was a "silent march" which basically meant that rather than lots of shouting and chanting the crowd was calm. Every few minutes they would begin to clap in a synchronized rhythm and then it would die down. At one point the crowd began to sing the national anthem softly, letting it slowly grow louder.

Only afterwards did I find out what the demonstration was actually about. Yesterday was the one month anniversary of the mysterious death of a man who had been investigating some questionable occurrences in the argentine government. The man, Alberto Nisman had been scheduled to present his investigation on the government events just days after his death. Because of his death, many carried signs with "justice" written on them, and others carried argentine flags.