Tramites en Buenos Aires

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March 10, 2008
I’m back in Buenos Aires and having some interesting new experiences. Dale and I are staying at the Casa Maria Tango in an apartment. It’s very roomy and comfortable. The weather has been cool and very comfortable this week. I haven’t felt good though. I had a cold and it turned into a sinus infection. So I decided to go to the doctor, which was an interesting cultural experience. I could have seen an English speaking doctor who specializes in seeing tourists and makes house calls for $30 (100 pesos), but I decided to go to the doctor in a more culturally authentic way.

A few blocks from Maria Teresa’s house is a hospital (El Centro Gallego, or “Spanish Center”). Here is their web site.
http://www.centrogallegoba.com.ar/

There is a walk in clinic/emergency room and I went there. I needed to produce my identity documents (I’ve been using my expired passport) and that was fine. I needed to pay in advance, unless I had “obra social” or health insurance here, which of course, I don’t. The cost was 61 pesos, or about $20 US. I then waited for about 20 minutes in a nice waiting room and was called by name by the doctor. I went into the examining room, he looked in my nose, ears and mouth and said that yes I had a sinus infection. He prescribed antibiotics and a decongestant, and wrote a prescription which I took to the pharmacy down the street. They filled it and the drugs cost about 30 pesos, or $10 US.

My other exciting task today was to register at the University for my Spanish class. I went to the University about 9:00 am when registration opened, stood in line and received a registration appointment for 11:00 am. I went and had a coffee and read until my appointment. I sat in a large room with lots of students and we were all given a written exam. It went from simple to very difficult, mostly fill in the blank questions. I got stuck on some of the conditional sentences (“If I’d known you were coming, I’d have baked a cake.”) and left several of these blank. When I turned in my test, I was asked to wait to be called for an oral test. In a little while, a pleasant young woman called my name and went over my test with me, then just conversed for a little while about why I was in Argentina. At the end of our conversation, she said that I seemed to be between Level 5 and Level 6, but she thought I could handle Level 6 (intermediate) so that’s where she put me. There are 8 levels and then some additional “special topics” courses beyond Level 8. She told me that I needed to pay the first installment of my tuition and that classes would start on Thursday.

I walked around the corner and in dismay, realized that there were about 100 students waiting in line to pay tuition. I took a number and waited nearly an hour for my turn to pay. You can only pay in cash, no checks, no credit cards. My first payment (half of my tuition) was 560 pesos, or $180 US. This is for a 2 month, 8 hour a week course, so it’s a bargain. In contrast, Spanish lessons in a private school cost about $200 US a week (for more hours of instruction, granted). I found out that the UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires) where I’m taking my classes, offers its classes free to Argentine citizens. It is a huge university, spread out all over the city. My course is in the “Laboratorio de Idiomas” very close to the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada (the “Pink House” where the president of the Republic works). Here are some web sites to find out more about the UBA:
http://www.uba.ar/homepage.php
http://www.idiomas.filo.uba.ar/extranjeros/espanol/cursos/regulares.htm

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Photos

Front Door
The apartment is located downstairs off the main patio.

Comments

[Bill Roach]

Day to Day in BA
Catherine: Thanks for your discription of the day to day. Your description of the language school is intriguing! Sounds like a bargain. I will be interested to learn how it is turning out. See you in a few days!