Part 3 - Goods & Services in Latin America

I hope my posts have not discouraged you. Remember, I am a huge fan of Latin America - and one of things I like most is that I can afford a lifestyle that I really enjoy. I´m just trying to paint a slightly more informed, realistic picture of Latin America... Yes, in many ways it is a cheaper place to live, and it is certainly less expensive to travel here than in western Europe. But just how far your money really goes depends on a number of variables. I have tried to discuss some of those factors in this series of posts.

All that being said, there are certainly some products and services that are waaay cheaper here in Latin America. I´ll discuss some of my favorites:

Leather Goods in Argentina. Obviously, goods that are produced locally will tend to be less expensive. One great example is leather goods in Argentina. You see, Argentina has a bunch of cows - so that means a gringo can take advantage of great prices on cow products. Let me give you an example. In the picture on the right, you can see the Gucci´s famous Bit Loafer. The Gucci model costs about $500 retail. Other high-end shoe brands have come out with shoes of the same design. For example, the Allen Edmond model goes for about $300. Well, I bought a pair here in Argentina for less than U$S 100. They are made here locally, hand stitched and all of that - so this is sort of a mix of both a "good" and a "service".

And while the quality probably falls short of the Gucci model, I´ll get my money´s worth out of these shoes. You can also get great deals on leather coats, bags, purses, belts, etc. For U$S 15-20, you can buy a leather belt that would cost more than twice as much in the States.

Beef. Here in Argentina, this again goes back to the fact that there are a bunch of cows here. Argentine beef is world-renowned, and people eat a whole lot of it here. Iit is tender, juicy, comes in large portions, and doesn´t cost very much money. It is common here to go to a restaurant and order a giant steak and a simple salad of lettuce, tomato, onions and olive oil.

It is also interesting that here in Argentina, they eat all kinds of parts of the cow that we don´t usually think of eating in the States. One example is Chinchulín - which is the cow´s small intestine. On the left is a picture of a sizzling piece of cow intestine - it is actually really good.

If you are ever lucky enough to be invited to an "asado" in Argentina, you should definitely take advantage of the opportunity. As for some of the cow organs that you´ll be offered, I recommend that you just try everything and don´t ask questions.

Wine. I´m not much of a wine connoisseur... I mean I do drink it sometimes... When I go to a restaurant and the server opens the bottle and pours a small amount in my glass - I swizzle the glass around and look at it as if I am inspecting its quality. Then I take a small sip, look up as if I am thinking about how it tastes, then smile and nod to the server that the wine meets my standards and expectations. But the truth is that this is all just an act. I have no idea about wine. But I do know that the wine in Argentina tastes good and is very affordable.

Argentina exports a lot of wine, but here in Buenos Aires a good bottle of wine doesn´t cost very much. So, like beef, the Argentines consume a lot of it.

Getting Around. This is a tricky one, because there are some modes of transportation that are pretty much as expensive in Latin America as they are in the States. For example, regional flights don´t seem to be much cheaper in Panama nor in Argentina.

On the other hand, buses and taxis are way cheaper in both Panama and in Argentina. A bus ride in Panama City costs 25 cents - but the buses are terrible. They are called Diablo Rojos, and they are basically old U.S. school buses that went out of service long ago. Somehow they get down to Panama where they are painted with all kinds of colorful images, grafiti, and cartoons. They are NOT air-conditioned, and they are famous for causing traffic accidents and killing people. The reason is that they are privately owned, and the driver has a base amount that he must collect for the bus´s owner before the driver can start earning anything for himself. So the drivers are constantly in competition - a never-ending race to the next bus-stop to pack as many passengers on as possible. Actually, the Diablo Rojos will soon be no more in Panama City. The government is now in the process of revitalizing Panama City´s entire transportation infrastructure.

In Buenos Aires, the bus system is great. It generally costs the equivalent of about 25-30 cents to ride the bus, and they are pretty nice. The taxi system in Buenos Aires is also much better than in Panama, as the taxis are metered. In Panama, many taxi drivers will try to over-charge you, and it usually comes down to whether you really feel like fighting over 50 cents or $1. That being said, the Panamanian government has recently started requiring all taxis to be painted yellow. They are also now trying to enforce rules and issue fines when taxi drivers refuse to take a passenger somewhere. That happens a whole lot in Panama City - you flag down a taxi driver and tell him where you´d like to go. He either takes you or shakes his finger at you - which means no, I´m not going there. Anyway, hopefully we´ll continue to see improvements with respect to Panama´s taxi system.

Buenos Aires also has a pretty decent subway system, which another is a cost-effective way to get around. There has been talk of building a metro system in Panama City - but I´m not sure what the current status is of that proposed project.

And now, for my personal favorite...

Tailoring & Alterations. I once had a suite made-to-measure in Panama. It cost me about $600. Now, that is no steal - I have been told that you can have a suite made for less than $100 in places like India, China, and Vietnam. But I cannot attest to the quality of the tailoring in those countries.

As for the suit I had made in Panama, it was probably one of my best purchases. I had it made at a place called La Fortuna. The tailors there do great work, and a custom-tailored suit of a similar quality would cost 2 or 3 times what I paid for it in Panama. I liked the suit so much that a couple years later I went back to La Fortuna to have a sports coat made. I was feeling really down that day b/c I was breaking up with my ex-girlfriend - In my opinion, a custom tailored sports coat is the best therapy when you are feeling down and out.

La Fortuna is an institution in Panama City, but there are plenty of other tailors who mainly focus on alterations. This is where you can really save some money. On my last trip to Panama, I took some clothes in for alterations:

1. I had 4 pairs of jeans altered with the original hem maintained (so they don´t look like they have been hemmed).

2. I also had the stitching reinforced on a pair of dress pants and another pair of pants taken in at the waste.

3. Then there was another pair of suit pants that had pleats that I didn´t like - so the tailor took out the pleats and basically had to reconstruct the pants.

4. She also too in some material and lengthened the sleeves on one of my favorite jackets.

The tailor did all of this, and she charged me $33. In Boston, it would cost me about that much to have 2 pair of pants hemmed.

This is a definitely a point for Panama. In Argentina, alterations are a little more expensive (although still a lot cheaper than in the States) - and I have not been as pleased with the quality of alterations in Argentina. I have looked at prices for custom-tailored suits here in Buenos Aires, and they look to be a good bit more expensive than in Panama. I´ll definitely have more suits made in Panama.

On the walls of La Fortuna, there are pictures of Pierce Brosnan having a suit made while he was in Panama filming The Tailor of Panama. To conclude this post, I´ve included the movie trailer for The Tailor of Panama, because it is another movie that depicts a pretty sexy image of life in Latin America.