You know how I told you I was going to an “underground” tango show tonight? Well, plans have changed. There’s actually a tango festival starting at 8:00pm right around the corner from my hotel!

(And by the way, I’m staying in an actual hotel this time, not a hostel. I have a hairdryer!)

So I’ll probably pop into a cafe for my “Las Onces” - that’s elevensies, like brunch, only at five or six in the evening - and then grab the camera and head to the festival. Then, it’ll be off to dinner, and finally out to see the town.

It is Saturday night, after all…

For the second time this trip, I’ve seen the sunrise in a foreign country.

This time, my over-night bus was passing through Suipacha, an agricutural area about three hours outside of Buenos Aires. There were flowing wheat fields and young corn growing everywhere, and in between these crops were thousands of head of cattle. It was a farmer’s paradise, and companies have flocked to this area for generations: Agrimex, Coincer, and Cargill.

Argentina is, after all one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, and it’s also home to some of the best steaks in the world.

I’ve yet to have one, but I’m sure I’ll be accomodated at dinner tonight.

But I’d like to talk a little bit about Buenos Aires. I knew we were getting close to the city when big stores, like Wal-Mart, and Easy (the BA version of Home Depot) started popping up on the side of the road. And then came the fashion billboards…

And then came the container stacks.

Buenos Aires is - quite literally - the mouth of South America. It’s situated on the Punta Indio Channel, a wide delta of sorts that serves as the main port of all of South America. Imports, exports, agricultural commodities, automobiles…

You name it, it passes through here.

And unlike Santiago, Buenos Aires has retained a bit of its Old World Charm, with European architecture and lovely city parks, it will be a pleasure to walk around the city later.

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Let me get the bad news out of the way first…

I missed out on my chance to go paragliding over the Andes here in wild Bariloche. There is currently only one operator in the city. The other is vacationing in Buenos Aires, so if I get a chance to find him there in a couple days, I’ll give him a piece of my mind.

Anyway, Federico, the sole operator, is booked solid today, and this is my only free day in the city. Tomorrow I catch a 24-hour bus to Buenos Aires at midday.

So while I didn’t get a chance to soar like the massive condors over the majestic mountains, I will get a chance to visit the Fabrica de Chocolate… Yes, the Chocolate Factory. This is not your run of the mill Willy Wonka movie. These guys are professionals. Trained in the Swiss style, the Bariloche residents know a thing or two about chocolate.

I may even try to grab a gift or two if it’ll keep. I may just eat it all.

I’m also gonna wander through the city center. This place is bigger than both Pucon and Puerto Varas put together, with about 100,000 residents year-round.

But it’s also home to a large number of back-packers, travelling through Patagonia hitting all the wild places they can.

With internet cafes nestled between hiking stores and pizzarias, the place is a back-packer’s dream…

And the scenery ain’t bad either. I’ve got some stunning pictures of the mountains and glorious wild flowers on my walk to the bus stop.

There are hostels and cabanas everywhere, and they’re building more by the dozen. Turns out “Se Vende” has crossed the border into Argentina, as well. I haven’t driven through too many agricultural areas for sale, but small plots to put a quaint hostel or restaurant are squeezed in every which way from Sunday.

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Surprising news out of Argentina today: Ternium (TX:NYSE), a steel maker with operations in Argentina and Mexico, reported a 15% rise in net income (year on year).

But here’s the thing. That 15% rise is overshadowed by the fact that its net income of $247 million is only half that from the previous quarter. The main reason for this drop? Lower net foreign exchange results.

This wierd fluctuation is seen in the company’s EBITA. This figure grew 101% year over year in the third quarter, but is down 11% from the second quarter.

Next quarter, the company expects further contraction in income, which doesn’t bode well.

These kinds of earnings reports are going to become more prevalent, I think… So long as major currencies continue to seesaw back and forth.

You see, most international exporting companies have to hedge themselves against their own currencies. But with the global mayhem shoving some denominations higher and knee-capping others, it’s obvious that some companies are going to be left holding the short end of the stick.

Argentina’s in that bracket.

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