Spanglish at Banamex

5-17-07

Financial advice for backpacking: PART ONE: Manage money/bank errands before arriving in a foreign country.

If a receptionist in Chicago tells you that you can issue a new credit card the following day in a foreign country, Mexico for example, doubt her words. And, If possible, run said errands more than one day prior to leaving the United States. That way, when any conflicts arise, you can communicate in the same language.

After breakfast at La Casa, we set out to find a Citibank. We know an address in the Zona Rosa, a wealthy banking/disco district in the city. But the Citibank appears condemned. Financial institutions loom overhead a street called Insurgentes. We meandered the manicured concrete canyon. A receptionist at a random travel agency directed us to Citibank, which was not Citibank. Banamex. Citibank acquired Banamex in 2001, we learned.

We enter Banamex’s corporate offices. An escalator takes us gently into a communication barrier. We face the receptionist guarding the tellers’ booths.

“Habla Ingles?”

“No.”

I struggle to form sentences in Spanish. The receptionist’s speaks rapidly. I understand, “no.” and she repeats this word, “no, no aqui,” She signals that we should turn around and leave. Her index finger and middle finger make imaginary steps back to the escalator. Downstairs, in the main lobby, we wait in line.

I write something on a piece of scrap paper. I recite my written sentence. Then, the woman responds. She speaks too fast for me to understand. I fumble with foreign words that re-articulate my thoughts. “Ella tiene que nuevo card.” I don’t understand the words spilling from my mouth. The receptionist doesn’t either (with good reason).

A woman burst from the back of the line. “What do you need,” she says. She speaks perfect English, slightly accented. She wears a dress suit, and a bright fanny pack hangs around her waist. She smiles.

We explain our situation. Citibank in Chicago told Joyce that she could obtain a new credit card as soon as she arrived in Mexico. The woman talks to the receptionist. “We have to go upstairs,” she says. We go back upstairs. The first receptionist rolls her eyes when she sees that we have returned. Our volunteer-translator talks. A new receptionist appears. “It’s okay, I work here,” she says, smiling. “I know people.” Then she’s on the phone.

Her name is Claudia. Claudia explains how Citigroup bought Banamex (the second largest bank in Mexico). She worked for Citigroup before the purchase, and she was transferred to Banamex, now a subsidiary of Citigroup. Claudia gives us her contact info, and she tells us to contact her on our way back to Mexico City. She works at a different location in town, and was dropping by the main office for an errand. She hands the phone to Joyce, and she has to complete the errand.

Turns out, the voice on the phone says, it would take half a week to issue a card. Joyce decides against it. But that’s okay; we both have traveler’s checks.

PART TWO: Read your travel guide before leaving home. If you plan to travel in a country that offers horrendous exchange rates for U.S. dollars, it is best to know in advance. Cuban banks, for example, exchange U.S. dollars, but they do so at a very disadvantageous rate. We learned this the night before while flipping through the Lonely Planet for Cuba.

PART THREE: It is best not to exchange US currency for third party currencies while abroad.

At the teller’s booth, we exchange US travelers’ checks for Canadian dollars, which receive the optimal exchange rate in Cuba.

However, we have to exchange the US dollars into pesos and exchange the pesos into Canadian dollars (Cuban currency can be obtained only in Cuba).

Feeling dejected after receiving less than we expected in the exchange, we wander toward the Insurgentes plaza. We sit beneath the shade from the obelisk. Cars dart past, and we count our money.

Our loss wasn’t significant, but it was a profit into someone’s pocket. Inequality in monetary systems must produce enormous wealth, we lament. But where does it go?

I look to the left. An American Express skyscraper belches high above the street. Hmmm… The HSBC towers chuckle on the opposite side of the street.

PART FOUR: Ignore bitterness, resume tourist activities.

We visit Trotsky’s house. We see the bullet-riddled walls from one assassination attempt and the room where the second attempt succeeded. We visit the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.