Arrival

The arrival. For three months I have been waiting for this day and somehow I never really thought it would happen. I think the distinction needs to be made between planning a trip and the actual reality. Looking back on all I went through in the past two days in order to get into the Argentina - ordering a departure ticket (I will explain later) fleeing from Hurricane Sandy, passing through Rio and customs, and finally getting lost in Retiro (on the opposite side of BA then where I needed to be) and finding my way to San Telmo where I needed to be - it seems as if that were a trip unto itself and now it is time to return home. But luckily that is not the case and I will have plenty of time to learn. This is actually my second attempt writing this post as the power went out briefly due to heavy rain and I was forced to restart. Luckily google frequently saves drafts so not all was lost.

I will start with my trip getting to Buenos Aires. It begins in New York City. I am in downtown on Sunday afternoon trying to find out where I need to be for the shuttle bus to the airport. Everyone is talking about hurricane Sandy which is estimated to make landfall sometime that night so a sense of urgency enveloped the city, a city preparing for a washout. I realized it was probably best to leave at 2 pm rather than 3pm so I could make sure I had plenty of time getting to the airport. I have my wonderful girlfriend to thank for getting me to the shuttle location at 1:59 that afternoon, 1 minute before the shuttle departed. The next shuttle would not arrive for another half hour and in retrospect, if I had missed that first shuttle chances are I would have missed my flight.

After reaching the shuttle everything else was a blur. The roads out of the city were clogged with cars trying to escape, I was tensely watching the minutes tick away as my flight, which was scheduled to depart at 5:30 or 6:00 edged closer. I didn´t reach the airport until about 4 and for about 1 hour and 15 minutes I didn´t think I would make the flight. A nice attendant at the check-in counter realized I had an early flight and allowed me to circumvent the line. I tried to not dwell on what could go wrong but the possibility of missing that flight was very real. It seemed all the lines were endless, checkin, bag check, security, even when I finally did reach my flight the line was already 60 or so people long.

After a rather dehydrated flight to Rio I groggily stepped off the plane at 6:00 AM, just in time to see the sunrise heat up the hills behind the city. It was a beautiful sight, but I was unable to figure out whether the fog I saw was just trapped clouds or pollution smog, or maybe a little of both. Luckily I was able to board for Argentina with only a one way ticket. I had heard stories of people trying to do that and being denied entry because they didn´t have proof of a departure date. Luckily I had prepared myself the Friday before by purchasing a cheap bus ticket from Mendoza Argentina to Santiago Chile, just in case they needed proof that I was in fact leaving the country at some point. Whether I used the ticket or not didn´t much matter, they just needed proof that I wasn´t planning on staying in Argentina permanently (or fleeing the States depending on how you see it).

When I arrived in Buenos Aires I was ordered by customs to purchase a visa, I think the customs guy might have taken a little extra money for himself because I paid over $200 US for a $160 visa. Well, I wasn´t in the questioning mood at that point, all I wanted to do was leave the airport and find the hostel where I would be staying. I bought a cheap bus ticket to the city where I was dropped off at a bus stop in Retiro, a relatively prosperous barrio in the North. The barrio I am staying in right now is in San Telmo, a university district with a mixed culture of students and middle to lower income Argentines. After the bus dropped me off I had no idea where to go. I knew it would be a long walk if I decided to go that route, luckily the bus driver who drove me from the airport was very friendly and showed me what I needed to do to catch a shuttle to the neighborhood I needed to go to.

It is such a welcome change to finally relax and not worry about getting  places, I have a set home location and can explore the city at my leisure from there. I promise to post pictures, hopefully tomorrow, of the city and places I´ll be exploring.

Thus ends an exhausting trip of international intrigue, oh and did I forget to mention all of the chocolate covered almonds and coffee beans I discreetly passed through customs with? : )

Kyle