The Blue Dollar

I finally made a trip to the Cambio, and I’m back in the spending zone because I now have pesos again! One thing you need to know is that there are two different exchanges for foreign currency. You have the official exchange which is currently sitting at 5.32 pesos to 1 dollar, and then you have the blue dollar exchange which is done on side streets and is currently sitting at 8.05 pesos to 1 dollar. Now you do the math. LOL.

When traveling in Buenos Aires, you will find that everyone uses the blue dollar exchange, even Argentineans. Today, I was able to exchange some US dollars at a rate of 7.75 pesos to 1 dollar. It’s a risky business if you don’t have a honest Cambio, but it’s smart to take advantage of the higher rate…the real rate. I’ve been told you can walk down Florida Street and there will be individuals standing on the sidewalk who will lead you to a person inside a building to do the exchange. My source is a connection from my employer, so it wasn’t as risky as the Florida Street option.

In order for me to reach the exchange I had to take the bus for the first time! Buenos Aires has A LOT of different busses running throughout the city. I had to take Linea 110 (Line 110) at 3 pesos a ride.

I did this time consuming errand through the workday, so I didn’t get much done at the office but I was able to complete all my open tasks by the end of the day

Tonight when I arrived home there were my housemate and a bunch of her friends enjoying some cheeses and meats. She invited me to join them; at first I was a little hesitant but I ended up joining anyway. They were celebrating the completion of her Architecture degree! I spent about one hour attempting to follow their conversations, but I was getting nowhere. I really need to learn some Spanish. As a token of my appreciation, I did some of her dishes and she gave me a few alfajores, a very popular cookie with dulce de leche in the middle. VERY GOOD STUFF!