The Death of a Camera

Rosario is not a city that panders to tourists, not that I was being much of a tourist today. I was learning the language of electronic repair as I tried to resuscitate my digital camera. For the past 4 days my camera has been making strange noises and turning off immediately whenever I try and turn it on. Needless to say that I haven´t been able to take any pictures. The camera did this for a few hours the day before I left for South America but copious amounts of random button pushing seemed to solve the problem. I have pushed every button on that camera at least a hundred times and in every possible configuration but this time the problem didn´t miraculously disapear. I decided to take it to a repair shop. I spent 20 minutes studying the vocabulary for my mission and headed out on my errand. 3 repair shops later I had established that the problem was with the lens, which would have to be replaced. However, no one had the correct lens in stock which meant that fixing the camera would be a lengthy and costly process. I leave Rosario at 12 15 am Wednesday for Cordoba, I don´t have time to wait for camera parts. It appears that I will have to purchase a new camera. Cameras here are expensive and a generation behind the cameras in Canada. My exact camera, which was purchased almost a year ago, is the brand new camera here. The girl at the front desk of the hostel told me that things are much cheaper up north but I don´t plan to go there for another few weeks. I think paying an extra 100$ is worth the pictures that I will take during that time.

After it had been established that my camera was not going to be easily repaired, I headed out for an afternoon of tourism. As I said before, Rosario does not pander to tourists. In the birth place of Che Guevera, the man who´s face bedecks t'shirts the world over, I have not seen a single piece of merchandise flaunting his image. In fact, even at the massively overwraught monument to the Argentinian flag, the premier tourist attraction in Rosario, I did not see a single person hocking any form of tourist trinkets. Rosario is a city that is financially successful because of its geographic location in South America. The city has many pleasant parks and the presence of the financially troubled is much less pronounced here than in the other cities I have visited. I think that Rosario is a nice place to live but a rather dull place to visit. I have heard that on the weekends there is much nightlife and culture but I am here on a Monday and the hostel is almost deserted.