Monedas

I'm pretty sure that I wrote about this same subject when I was here two years ago. Anyway, it deserves a second go.

Monedas are coins. They come in the form of 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos, as well as the coveted one whole peso piece. At that point, the money turns into bills, with 2 peso bills being the smallest denomination.

There is a shortage of monedas in Buenos Aires. According to the owner of where I live, Pat, the bus companies, who are the main acceptor of monedas, horde the coins in Buenos Aires and create the seemingly insane demand for these pieces of metal. There is a saying in Buenos Aires that a peso coin is really worth two pesos.

And such has been my experience for the past couple weeks. I take the bus to and fro the hospital every day. And every morning, I pass by the kiosk on the corner and ask the kioscero, who is always the same old man, to buy a little dulce de leche candy bar. This is the only way I can get some coins in my hand because there is a sign on his store, the same sign that every kiosk has, which declares "no hay cambio". So I buy this little candy bar, he always proceeds to ask me if I can pay in monedas, and then I get 1.20 in change.

At least that used to be the case. Now I buy the same candy bar, and without my consent, says "A Caramelo!", places a caramelo on the counter and gives me one peso. This has happened three days in a row — with the one twist that he gave me an orange fruit candy instead of a caramelo today. So I'm basically paying double to ride the bus.

Monedas are really no laughing matter. A bus drive was stabbed to death last week — I'd post the link I wasn't too lazy to look for it — because the ticket machine in the front of the bus "swallowed his monedas". As a result, there has been a strike by bus drivers which means that what is normally a 24 hour bus service does not run between the hours of 10PM and 330AM.