Archival Adventures in Latin America

Archival research can be adventuresome in any part of the world, but it seems that Latin America often has a flair for the unorthodox, be it having to do research at 13,000 feet in the Andes in major archives without heating or having doors swing shut on you in small rooms, leaving you locked in archives for 45 minutes (both of which have happened to friends of mine). However, the city archive of Rio has reached a new level of the bizarre.

I was speaking to a colleague of mine a few weeks ago who is doing research here, and she was about to go pick up some materials they had reproduced for her at the City Archive. However, first she had to stop by the paint store. "The paint store?", I asked. Turns out, the City Archive of Rio de Janeiro (where I thankfully do not have to work) is in such disrepair that they will not accept money for reproduced materials. Instead, she had to buy a few cans of paint and give them to the archive so they could take care of maintenance in the archive. In exchange, she got the materials she had copied for her use.I'm willing to bet that non-historians never knew archival work could be so glorious and adventuresome. Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones.