Monday, March 03, 2008
Tit for Tat
I´ve been having a few comments on my head wear this trip from one friend in particular. Well my sombrero that I´ve been wearing since Bolivia has been one of my best buys. Up on the Altiplano the air is so thin and the sun so strong, you need to forget about getting a tan and just cover up. A hat is great for protection in those areas. That´s what the locals do. Also it puts you in the shade and therefore it´s cool as well. So I´ve been carrying it now for several months and I´ve gotten attached to it.
When we arrived in Buenos Aires we got the "throw liquid over you and offer to clean it off" street scam tried on us. I remember reading about this street scam before we came out here and that it was common in Argentina. We were walking to our hostel, looking a bit lost and we were covered with black smelly stuff. There was a fat woman with gold teeth and a bumbag worn at the front standing next to us. She said it was the tree and offered to clean the stuff off us, if we took off our bags and rucksacks. I said to Lisa it was a scam and to keep moving. When we got to our Hostel I found that the black smelly stuff was all over my hat. I made a good effort at cleaning it but it still smelt funny. A few days later in Palermo we got smelly stuff over us again and there was another fat lady with a bum bag again. Lucky we just had on things that could be easy washed.
A few weeks later in Montevideo the hevens opened when I was trying to find somewhere to stay and my hat got wet. Now in Colonia it is dry but a bit furry with mold growing all over it. Guess I could throw it out as it was only 58 Bolivianos (3.50quid) but that wouldn`t be right. Dry clean it is.
So "Tit for Tat". Yes "Tit for´" is rhyming slang for hat but it also means to get even, and I have time to kill in Buenos Aires. Maybe....................
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Interesting site if you want to read up a bit on street scams:
http://www.jones.tc/barna/scams.html
I had read this web page and it saved me from the "Futbol" scam played on me in Madrid. I can`t find the smelly liquid one though. I read it somewhere.
When we arrived in Buenos Aires we got the "throw liquid over you and offer to clean it off" street scam tried on us. I remember reading about this street scam before we came out here and that it was common in Argentina. We were walking to our hostel, looking a bit lost and we were covered with black smelly stuff. There was a fat woman with gold teeth and a bumbag worn at the front standing next to us. She said it was the tree and offered to clean the stuff off us, if we took off our bags and rucksacks. I said to Lisa it was a scam and to keep moving. When we got to our Hostel I found that the black smelly stuff was all over my hat. I made a good effort at cleaning it but it still smelt funny. A few days later in Palermo we got smelly stuff over us again and there was another fat lady with a bum bag again. Lucky we just had on things that could be easy washed.
A few weeks later in Montevideo the hevens opened when I was trying to find somewhere to stay and my hat got wet. Now in Colonia it is dry but a bit furry with mold growing all over it. Guess I could throw it out as it was only 58 Bolivianos (3.50quid) but that wouldn`t be right. Dry clean it is.
So "Tit for Tat". Yes "Tit for´" is rhyming slang for hat but it also means to get even, and I have time to kill in Buenos Aires. Maybe....................
*********************************
Interesting site if you want to read up a bit on street scams:
http://www.jones.tc/barna/scams.html
I had read this web page and it saved me from the "Futbol" scam played on me in Madrid. I can`t find the smelly liquid one though. I read it somewhere.
