Reasons we like Argentina No. 1 - Acts of kindness

Our first impressions of Argentina are being positively shaped by a series of unconnected acts of kindness in our first day out in Buenos Aires. 

We were on a bus to "Tecnopolis", a family-oriented technology exhibition on a campus the size of Legoland, just outside the city. It's not the best of areas, and we asked a girl sitting next to us on the bus if she'd mind letting us know when to get off the bus.  She said she was heading there herself so we got off together, and then advised us to get some street food because its cheaper outside than in the exhibition, so we took her advice.  We later saw her working in the Maths section - a building the size of a small aircraft hangar devoted to maths related games - and she took quite some time to show the boys around and explain how the games worked.  This was very useful as she spoke a little English too and all the exhibits were Spanish only. 

Louis and Frankie slug it out in 3D noughts & crosses.....

Frankie attracts quite a crowd after beating Louis and Daddy too!

We bought our hot dogs at a little stall outside the exhibition, as the girl we met, Nadia, had suggested.  No processed frankfurters here, but a full-on rugged chorizo sausage - complete with onions and a special spicy sauce which looked like an old family recipe, all for the equivalent of 75p. The lady owning the stall, who'd explained she only does this at weekends as she has a week job - very kindly assembled some stools in the shade for us to sit, where she had been standing, so that the boys weren't in the direct sunlight (it was a very sunny 30 degrees) and also poured us a glass of chilled water each, for which she wouldn't accept any money. 

Great chorizo hotdogs in the shade

After the exhibition, we'd been waiting for nearly an hour for a bus back into town, it was Sunday night, so there weren't as many buses, and several jam-packed ones had gone straight past.  There was about 40 people at our stop, many of whom wanted the number 111  bus, just like us. We got on the bus on the way back, when it eventually arrived.  Although I had carefully ensured I had enough coins to pay for the family in the "coin-only" machines, the return journey back into town from where we were was mysteriously double the outbound one. As I was discussing this with the driver in my broken Spanish, with a very long queue snaking behind me waiting to get on, the lady next in line offered to pay the 6 pesos I was short using her bus card, and turned down my offer of cash to pay her back. She did this in good spirits rather than out of frustration. 

Later that journey back, we struck up conversation with a lady standing next to us and were discussing our trip, Buenos Aires in general, her visit to England some years ago, and the boys, and she took time to explain in detail where to get off the bus so that we didn't get lost on the way back, as it was 9pm by now and dark.

Finally we stopped for a bite to eat on the way back as the boys had only had a hot dog since breakfast, and we found a decent, good value meal at this little cafe just around the corner from our Hostal.  At the end of the meal I remembered I'd needed to get to a cashpoint, which turned out to be broken.  The waiter said not to worry, come back on Tuesday and get the kids to bed!

The people we met made us feel very welcome, particularly when they find out we are from England, and gave us a strong impression of the importance of family to them.

(4th November)