Electronics in Buenos Aires are expensive, the pay-as-you-go mobile phones are no exception. It costs $50 USD to get the cheapest Nokia phones at the stores. I was not about to shell out another $50 dollars of my (parents') money to get another phone, that has a pretty good chance of being stollen, so I decided to check out the Argentine e-bay, called Mercado Libre. I found a guy selling a pay-as-you-go samsung phone for about 75 pesos, I bid on it for about a week and ended up winning it at about 90 pesos. Saving $40+ USD was a pretty exciting feat for me, but little did I know of they journey ahead.
I researched online how to get to this guy's business because it was in an area that I didn't know. Then that Friday I set out with my friend Kaylen to find the bus we needed. We searched all day for a stupid bus stop but could never find the bus going in the right direction!!! We are both really directionally challenged, so looking back its not too surprising, but I was on the brink of full-on rage that day.
The next day I set out on my own and finally found the bus I needed, pulled out the handy bus Guia and followed the route of my bus as we went along. Everything was going swimmingly, until (just like the bus 111 incident) my bus took a turn off of the said route. I decided to sit it though since I had no idea where I was going/where I currently was. I rode yet another bus to the absolute end of it's route, in the middle of nowhere, past slums, past countryside, to the end. I then bought a return ticket, hopped back on the same bus but going back in the other direction. I followed the Guia until I got to what I thought was relatively close to my phone's whereabouts, got off the bus, hailed a taxi, and made the rest of the trek the easy way, getting dropped off right at the doorstep.
I get to Juan's (owner of the phone) apartment building buzz his apartment number, and............. no answer. SERIOUSLY?!?! I then avoided a major break-down, turned around, and headed toward the subte that the taxi driver told me about. As I'm walking down Juan's street, guess what I see... THE BUS THAT I HAD TAKEN TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. It obviously wasn't the same bus, but apparently only some of that bus number actually stay true to the route that the Guia says it follows. At that point I could do nothing but chuckle at my ridiculous life.
The next week was parciales (midterms) so I had to wait until Friday until I could re-try the phone journey. I took the newly discovered subte route (required taking two different subway lines until the very end of their routes) to Juan's place. I go back to the apartment building, buzz up, and........... no response. So I show the address I had written down to a maintenance worker and asked for some help. He explained to me that there were other apartment complexes behind this building that had the same exact address. So I ventured into the complex, buzzed on a few apartments, and had no luck finding Juan. I reluctantly continued wandering around the complex, until I finally tried one last building. IT WAS JUAN'S!!!! I finally made a decision that resulted in success.
With phone finally in-hand, I go to the nearest corner store, to buy a SIM card. The woman working there inserts the card, goes to activate it, and......... apparently there is something called a SIM block, that doesn't allow you to activate a new SIM card without a certain password (probably to avoid making whoever stole your phone's life easier). I then make my way back to Juan's. I wait as Juan finishes selling two (yes TWO) laptops for 500 pesos a piece... that is two laptops for about $250 USD... I never said Juan's "establishment" was very legit. He then brings me and my phone into his office, looks up online how to de-activate the SIM password, does some crazy trick with the phone battery and a piece of paper, and voila! My new phone is ready for action.
That was the most satisfying subte ride home.
I blissfully enjoyed life with a phone for about a week and a half. My new phone died. No longer accepting a charge, I accepted defeat.
The good news is, though at times it is inconvenient, I've been enjoying the last month even without my phone. With only a few more weeks in South America ahead of me, I know I can make it without a phone.
Chau!
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