Changing Money in Argentina

Don't expect to pop into a Cambio as we pop into a travel agent and come out in 2 minutes with what you want. You have to use a Cambio or a character who sidles up to you and shows you a number on his mobile for the rate he is offering. The ink may still be wet on his pesos. Banks do not sully themselves with foreign currency and the only place that takes American Express Travellers Cheques is the American Express Office. Allow half a day. Pesos are now available in England so might as well duck tape a large quantity of those to your body for travelling. Euros and Dollars are accepted but Pounds were not accepted even before we sent nuclear subs to the Malvinas! If you are very very lucky the Cambio will have a short queue for those wanting pesos and a very long queue for those wanting to buy a currency with their pesos. I mean 50 people in a queue which stretches 20m down the road. At the counter, hand over your Dollars with your passport (why?) which they will photocopy. Sign this long declaration in two places. It would take 10 minutes to read if it were in English. Sign both halves of a form which tells you how much you are going to get. I stood with my hand out (Oliver Twist fashion) but was equally unsuccessful and told to sit down and wait. Then my name was called and the pesos were pressed into my hand...with a smile. Everyone is very pleasant and they do smile and are helpful but the bureaucracy is incredible. What will they do with the photocopy of the passport and the two other pages I have signed that were stapled together and passed into the back room?