"No one is a bigger promoter of Argentina than I am.", says the above poster.
Lot of salt required!! LOL!!!

Avrooster I would like to email you to understand more about this business of posts being deleted but I don't know how to get your email address.
I checked some of the deleted posts and they were not remotely offensive. I think we should all care a lot about this.

Sally

Sally: click on my screen name and you'll get all my posts on the left side. Scroll down to a thread which is in 19th place, titled "The REAL Buenos Aires". Open that thread and in about the 11th post, dated 06-15-2005 you will find my e-mail.

Question: may I ask how you managed to check "some of the deleted posts"??? I guess you mean the ones that were closed, not deleted?

Clearly I am not good at this at all! Yes, I meant closed I think. I am looking forward to understanding more. I am surprised there are not heaps more concerned responses here. Perhaps I am overreacting but I have found both Fodors and TA to be such a huge help in our travel preps through Europe and there are so many great people on them. I feel as if I just found out something really awful about a friend!
Sally

I agree with Apartmentsba, there are some people who think they own this forum, and who claim they are not involved in the tourist industry, but suspiciosly endorse or recommend other people´s businesses (and vice versa), and who offer tours to see the misery in Argentina as if it was a freak show, God knows with what intention.
There´s a saying in Spanish: "Al que le quepa el sayo que se lo ponga".

In the thread titled:
Trying to plan the perfect trip to Argentina--need help!
there are "some people" who mention a certain website which offers tourism-related services.
Perhaps "some people" should tell readers more about it.
Oh, BTW, I agree: "Al que le quepa el sayo que se lo ponga".

Expertbue,

I really don't think you can comment about the &quot;Real Buenos Aires Tour&quot; unless you have been on it. It is not about gawking at others' misfortunes. It is about raising awareness. There is more to Buenos Aires than what the average tourists see in Recoleta Palermo and El Centro. There are some people who want to go past that and get more of an understanding of other aspects of the place they visit. Albero is offering one such opportunity. As much as anything, its about getting of the beaten tourist track and spending some time with a local. I am sure there are many other ways to do this, however sometimes it takes a while to figure it out... He actually provides resource references so people can read about what the Cartoneros are before they see the train go by. Your words <b> &quot;see the misery in Argentina as if it was a freak show&quot; </b> are completely off base. If anything, one comes away with an appreciation of how resourceful and industrious people can be under very difficult economic circumstances.
And people who have met Alberto soon find out that he is not in this for personal gain. And here on the Forums, he is often kind enough to make phone calls for people who are having problems getting in touch with a place.

Now getting back to the topic at hand -Apartments in BA - I rented from a different company called Adelsur and had a good experience. But I looked at many rental sites and read lots of reviews and forum posts. it looks like for most of the established companies have their satisfied customers but all have one or 2 negative experiences...In the end my decision was made for be because the other apartment on the short list which had the things I wanted and was in my price range got booked for part of my stay before I made up my mind.

Andrew David, despite all this discussion or maybe actually <b>because of all this discussion </b> you have nothing to worry about with respect to your rental. And I am sure you'll love Bs As.

raquel

thanks raquel, i'm not too worried about the apartment. in this world there are far more important things to worry about if one chooses to worry eh

thanks
Andrewdavid

raquel_z

I don´t need to take that tour because I live here and I see it every day. I don´t mean to hide the poor under the carpet, but I desagree with this kind of &quot;tourism&quot; that doesn´t help the people in need in any way.
I don´t know where you live, but suppose you lived in Manhattan. Would you take foreign tourists to see how the homeless live and how &quot;resourceful and industrious people can be&quot; to manage to live in cardbord boxes?

Sorry for having diverted the topic of this thread.

Thank you, Raquel!
I was planning a longer reply, but you said it much better than I would have.
Shana Tova!

Why do you suppose I live in Manhattan??? You are pretty far off. I actually live in Winnipeg Canada - though we have enough of our own issues here. And besides, its not about the living in cardboard boxes, as much as the recycling industry that has emerged. And in general that there is something out there past Recoleta and Palermo...

raquel

I'll act as peacemaker, which is not normally my inclination. LOL!!

Raquel: expertbue does NOT suppose you live in Manhattan. What she said was &quot;suppose you lived in Manhattan...&quot;

And you did NOT acknowledge my Shana Tova. Shame on you!

unfortunately living in Victoria BC one needn't go anywhere to see people living on the street. with the mildest climate in Canada this is the most salubrious environment. While no one is freezing to death this is the major issue ( which links with the very high cost of housing) that we struggle with here.
I serve on the Board of Directors of the local needle exchange and our problems would be helped by a more sympathetic federal leadership to the plight of others less fortunate than himself

cheers from British Columbia
AndrewDavid

Alberto is correct - I misread the statement... Sorry Expertbue.
But I think you actually helped make my point.
When you see a cartonero picking up the pieces of cardboard and other recyclable goods, you see a poor pathetic miserable creature.. But - though I am not saying their life is anywhere near a picnic at all, after taking the time to learn a bit more about the whole thing one can see abit more and better understand and realize there is more to the story and put a bit of perspective into it... But I am not an Expert.....

And Alberto, thanks for the New Year's wishes.. I was planning to contact you...

raquel