Things that New Zealanders Should Appreciate

1. A virtual absence of strikes in our schooling system.
In Argentina's public education system, strikes have reached almost unprecedented levels this year. In the last year there have been 173 teacher strikes according to information gathered by the Centro de Estudios Nueva Mayoría. In some provinces the schools failed remain open for the 180 days required by law. Our English friend Camilla who worked in a public school was frustrated by the fact that over a period of three months she failed to work a single five day school week.


2. Nuts.
It is unbelievable the lack of nuts in this country (even in the courage sense - 'to have nuts' is literally 'tener huevos' or eggs). The typical supermarket shelf here contains walnuts (still in their shells), almonds (in no way blanched, let alone roasted or salted), maybe a hazelnut or two and a bag of salted peanuts. With the exception of peanuts these will all set you back about 10 pesos a tiny bag (remember - 1 kg of eye fillet costs 9 pesos). What ever happened to honey roasted peanuts, pine nuts, chopped or walnut pieces, pistachio nuts, chestnuts, cashew nuts or even just the humble Brasil nut - I mean we are just across the border! I could understand the chefs going on strike here because already I've had enough of smashing walnuts with the knife handle...

3. Traffic Laws.
Despite any claims of greater efficiency or tradition I believe there is a place for traffic laws. In Argentina, as in many developing countries, chaos reigns in the side streets and motorways, roundabouts and alley ways. It is all to common to be hurtling along in a taxi, pulling out in front of tour buses or trucks or over-passed on the motorway at night while doing 150km/h by a road bike doing 250km/h as you are passing a combine harvester in the wet...They say that accidents aren't that common, but you only have to look as far as the state of the cars (and not just cheap old ones) to see that this is a lie. We may say our left hand rule is a bad one but hey, at least we have rules!



4. Modern Electrical Appliances.
This has been more of a challenge for Ryan than it has been for me, I think. He drolls over the prospect of a 42' plasma screen TV, Playstation II, ccmputer, surround sound system, dvd and video player, microwave, vacuum cleaner, toaster, toasted sandwich maker, a thermostatically controlled electric oven, electric heaters with more than one bar that don't shock you every time you turn them on, an electric blanket, underfloor heating, reliable pressurised electric water heating, washing machine, clothes drier, even maybe a hair drier to maintain his new look. Needless to say, we have none of that and for the most part survive by reading books, wrapping up in blankets and using unpredictable gas appliances. At least they are reasonable well ventilated so we haven't been gassed in our sleep. There is little consolation in knowing that with the high price of electricity we could never afford to run these things even if we had them.

5. Exposure to other cultures.
Already I've had a bit of a rant about food. All manner of Mexican, Greek, Asian food is extremely difficult to prepare due to the availability of necessary ingredients, or if not, they sell for exboritant prices in shops on the other side of town. Forget about Indian or Middle Eastern options. In general, outside of Mar del Plata there is little ethnic diversity other than in the European sense. Chinese restaurants are beginning to infiltrate, but the case of MacDonalds (worms used in preparing hamburger patties caused national horror) shows how tenuous their hold is on the nation's diet.

6. Clean Streets
It was interesting to read an Act letter care of Trent the other day that criticised the Labour government's instigation of increased dog control measures. After spending the last six months dodging dog turds (of all colours, consistencies and volumes) while walking the streets of Mar del Plata I pleased to say you can never have enough. If any more evidence is required, take the case of our good friend Fausto, he went running along the coast one lovely Saturday morning and came back followed by 10 dogs - an that's not unusual. However the cleaniness of the streets is not only an issue of canine anarchy. It is commonplace to leave any amount (and I mean ANY amount) of garden waste in the street; to the point that it may divide the way for over a weekbefore someone gets rid of it. One final note, flat concrete footpaths are a dream for runners. Try the uneven stone type here and you'll soon understand why.

7. A Low Crime Rate

In New Zealand, many people gripe that as little as 10 years ago they could go out leave their front doors open, and now they can't. In Mar del Plata the residents have a little more to worry about than an opportunist pinching the TV or maybe the video. Despite the 2.5m high gates and fences, and the three locked doors between the thief and the home, they still manage to get through. Both the directors of the lower and middle school have had to face people robbing their houses in the last few months. The gardener had his horse stolen from his farm one night about a month ago. The Australian sixth form student we have befriended was mugged at gunpoint at 10pm, one block from his house a week after the July holidays. Other students tell of being mugged on the way to their homes for their shoes - over 3 times in 6 months. During a trip to Buenos Aires, a husband of one of the teachers was ambushed at the door to his apartment, gagged and tied to a chair while they made off with all the contents of the place. A friend from the gym left his car outside a friend's place, locked with a steering wheel lock and when he came back literally 3 minutes later it was gone! My experience with my mountain bike brought it all home - give me a country where a decent lock is a guarantee of security any day!

8. Reliable Air Travel

While air travel would appear to be the quickest and most efficient way to get across a country the size of Argentina, our experience has shown otherwise. During the course of the winter holidays we made an number of domestic and short international flights on LAN. In every flight we suffered at least one problem. Firstly, we were put on a later flight to Santiago despite there being no problem with the original and having booked 3 months in advance. This made us two hours late to meet the Kerbys. The return trip was relatively uneventful, however Ryan was about 8 kgs over the baggage limit. A bit of juggling between my bags and hand luggage and we were fine. The flight to Bariloche almost didn't happen for Ryan's grandmother as the security got spooked by her wine kit, then was delayed about an hour and a half because 'they had to clean the plane.' The return flight was the killer however, as the plane left 2 and a half hourse early without notifying us. We were stranded in Bariloche for the night and while LAN did the right thing and paid for food and accomodation, Ryan missed training for his rep rugby team and the Kerbys missed a day in Mar del Plata. However, flying LAN we were insulated from major problems apparently - the day we left for Santiago, all the Aerolineas Argentinas flights out of Ezeiza were cancelled due to striking. Even when the staff are working, they protest their pay at times by assigning everybody to random seats on the plane - parents and children, couples, sports groups, all scattered throughout. Air New Zealand Express Check-in - gotta love it!