After passing by the Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires a couple of times on the way to Montevideo, Uruguay, and a couple of frustrated attempts to visit Buenos Aires, finally we made it to Argentina. That trip was on November of 2002 to Cordoba. Just like we said back them, on November of 2003 we were back in Argentina, this time to Buenos Aires. On the first trip we were impressed by the affection and helpfulness of the people. On the second trip we confirmed the attentions toward a stranger are not related to a region or luck.

Before our second visit we considered that Buenos Aires could be a bit more than what we wanted to deal with since it is a very big city and that could present inconveniences. In the urban area, which runs well beyond the city limits and into the province, live about thirteen million people. But once we were there in the middle of it all, things did not look that aggravating. On the contrary, it was an active environment but well in control.

On these trips not only we visited different regions of Argentina but also we had the opportunity to meet city people as well as country people, and if we go by the book, also people from the waterways. What is significant about it is that the only thing some of these people appear to have in common is that they all are Argentineans. So our impressions are more general and perhaps apply to a better overall.

Interesting is the capacity of Argentina to recover from an economic crash. In 2001 the country went thru real hard times. On our visit of 2002 the people we met were hurt but did not complain; the good humor compensated for the crisis. On the 2003 trip people would talk about it as they would of any other moment in the national history, but the looks were forward. No doubt this attitude played a mayor role in the fast recovery process.

We do like to travel and up to a point expose ourselves a little; but we do not look for trouble. That is why we do not visit some neighborhoods unless we are accompanied by a guide or somebody familiar with the city. It is not that we are afraid, and much less discriminate; in reality is the other way around. In our narrative we do not fallow any pattern or guidelines; we just call it as we see it. Should we run into trouble, anywhere, well, that is the way we are going to showed. That is the reason why we do not want to be unfair to anyone by creating a situation which otherwise would have never occurred.

Said that, we must accept that during the two trips we have taken to Argentina, it is possible we have not seen some realities but we can assure that we did not see crime in either visit. We were told about some incidents related to light jewelry and some motorcyclist taking the lady's purses and the cameras, but that was it. Given who provided such information to us, we take it for certain, but we did not experience it.

As noticed, our many but limited experiences in Argentina have all been positive and should a trip present itself we will be happy to visit again. Many cities and places are still in our list like Mendoza, Rosario, Patagonia, Iguazu Falls, and the list goes on. To our good friends in Argentina: Hope to see you soon!