Ignacio who owns the boutique in the Sofitel Hotel. I was looking at some leather bracelets and he was pricing it for me based on the currency I had. He asked if I had US dollars which I did not.
So the conversatIon began with the concept that one is unable to get Argentinean pesos outside of argentina ( this I knew). You can only buy pesos in Argentina. This is linked the economic downfall in 2001 and trying to keep the pesos in Argentina helping to stabilise their country.
The bank exchange rate for the US dollar to the Argentian peso $1. to 6.5. The black market rate is
$1. to 12. So the black market economy, which the government turns a blind eyeto, is thriving. Most rich Argentineans and those in high end retail have a US bank account or pay pal. They prefer payment in US dollars. Therefore it common when you (US) want to buy retail, they give ypu a better price if you may into their US account US dollars.
Seems drug deal to me but I don't have enough economic background never grasp this concept. Mind boggling and yes, I bought something this way.
Ignacio also shared that the current president (Christina ) will most likely be out this next election. With a new president, and party principles there will be a change in government and it may be a 'civil war'. Not sure what he meant by war,maybe riot, maybe language problem and hopefully not Junta. My brain was pretty saturated at that point and I did not want my imagination to run away based on some movie I saw a long time ago.
that evening I joined Marci and her Google colleguege for dinner. Again leather, beef, and malbec. See taxidermist cow below and 2 inside !
As we were leaving we saw this little dog on a leash bark and bark at the cow, funny couldn'get my camera out in time
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