Have tunnel, will heist

Feliz Año Nuevo to any dedicated followers who are still checking the blog after weeks of inactivity.  After Thanksgiving in Florida, I stayed put for the holidays, which was a nice respite from the previous year, which involved traveling around Virginia for Christmas and flying to Argentina on New Year's Eve. 

It's hard to believe that one year ago I was visiting the riverfront suburb of Tigre and making my first trip through the giant San Telmo Market.  To make things even more surreal, one of my closest friends just began his TEFL program in Guadalajara, Mexico, so I get to dole out advice while vicariously experiencing the adventure again.

Right now I'm having an internal debate as to whether "Café & Mate," should continue as a travel blog or whether I should create a new one (theme: to-be-determined).  Readers, if you're out there, please share your opinions in the comments section.

"How they reached the booty," courtesy of Clarín

In the meantime, I bring you this gem of a news story: Thieves robbed a branch of Banco Provincia by constructing an underground tunnel from their rented building to the vault.  Following the financial crisis in 2001, many Argentines began to keep their money and valuables in security deposit boxes rather than their bank accounts.  One-hundred thirty-six of these boxes were swindled, and for that I sympathize with the victims.  But following the shooting of a pregnant woman and several other equally violent robberies, I must credit the tunnel crooks for their nonviolent plan... and their architectural know-how.  Apparently the 100-foot tunnel had lights and a ventilation system.

Certainly this incident doesn't bode well for the country's chronically shaky economy, but its lack of brutality is a bit reassuring.