Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Latin America 2018 - Day 18. Manaus, Brazil


Today is a travel day, starting at 4 am, so I don’t have much to tell. I will use the opportunity, however, to tell you that this trip through Latin America has been largely framed by the Soccer World Cup. Somewhere in the first few days in Cancún we joined a 100 enthusiasts in a sports bar, and went into rapture as Mexico, against all odds, won against Germany 1-0. Then, as I was in the airport waiting for my flight to Bogotá I got glimpses of Mexico winning against South Corea 2-1. Once in Colombia I enjoyed the many congratulations for the good job Mexico (and its Colombian trainer) was doing so far.

Alas, Colombia had lost its first game, but as I went in my bicycling tour of the city yesterday we kept an eye on the Japan-Senegal game, because a tie on that game meant that Colombia still had a slim chance to make it to the next round. They improved their chances greatly by later playing against Poland, and winning 3-0! The whole downtown erupted in enthusiastic rapture.

Today, after landing in Caracas, where I am cooling my heels from 10 am to 5 pm to board my flight to Manaus, I got the privilege of joining other enthusiasts cheer for Uruguay playing against Russia, and winning 3-0! Another apotheosis followed, even though we were in Venezuela. It just seem to me that Latin America as a whole is rooting for our various teams, hoping that it is “one of us” who takes the cup home.

Speaking of Venezuela, the economic outlook is grim. Prices are doubling every couple of weeks, so inflation is wildly out of control. This has nothing to do with economic theory, but with human nature. If you have something to sell you are freaking out that if you sell at the going rate today, next week your earning will turn into dust. Therefore, folks are pricing their products at absurdly high prices. For example, I overheard a lady complaining that a cured ham that she needs to make arepas con jamón, which she thought should go for 400,000 Bolivars was being offered at 4,000,000 Bolivars. So she was going to sell arepas con queso instead (the arepa is the local equivalent to a sandwich).

Maybe I am misinterpreting what I see, but the shops at the airport are deserted, and nobody is browsing. The merchandise doesn’t have prices on it, so you need to ask if you are interested. Of course, nobody asks because everybody is price-tag shy. I hate to say this, but at least here in the airport they could quote the price in US dollars, just to get some traffic through the door.

Finally I got to board my plane, and I must say that this time it felt that I was boarding a 3rd class bus. It was a 737-200, which is smaller than most planes we see nowadays, but it looked dingey, the seats wouldn’t recline, and the tray tables popped open from their worn-out latches if you saw them cross-eyed. Has anyone heard of Avior before? Now I know who buys the retired planes from Aeromexico!

Getting into Manaus was as exciting as it ever is getting into a new country, with the added thrill of a language that is easy to decode, but not quite Spanish. Immigration and customs were a breeze, but as I confidently approached the nearest ATM machine I found out that the idiots at B of A had frozen my account. No reales for you! Rats, what to do? It was 8 pm and clearly the airport was shutting down. Fortunately I still had US$ 10 in my pocket, and a friendly taxi driver agreed to take me to the nearest hotel for that amount. Once at the hotel I charged the room and meal to my credit card, and at the first opportunity signed in into my B of A account and cleared the freeze. What a pain in the … Tomorrow I will have to walk to the airport, where the nearest ATM is located, before I can have coffee and breakfast.

Note: I am going into remote areas, and I am pretty sure I will be incommunicado until I return to Manaus on July 5. Not to worry if you don’t hear from me.

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