Argentina day 1 & 2

Day 1: Friday Jan 5 2007

Time to leave for Argentina. I packed my bag and went to my parents’ house, and my mom drove my dad and me to the airport (yes, it is me, not I in this instance). The heavens were pouring down rain, and we were pretty worried about the flight schedule. But when we got to the airport, it was still on time. After going through check-in and security, we arrived at the gate an hour early for our 1:30 departure. Too bad it was delayed until 3:30. Once on the plane, dad and I got the window and aisle seat of a 3 row hoping no one would get the middle. No, we get a lady with her 2 year old “infant in arms”. Needless to say, it was not a quiet or comfortable flight, even though I did give her my aisle seat. We arrived in MIA at gate G. The FARTHEST gate from the gate we were to leave from later. After picking up our luggage, we walked all the way across the airpot to stand in a really long line to check our bags again. We surprisingly didn’t have almost a moment of spare time between the flights (where initially it was supposed to be a 5 hour layover). So aboard the flight to Argentina. It was really empty, and nearly everyone ended up with a row to themselves to sleep in. That was nice.

Day 2: Saturday Jan 6

We arrived in Buenos Aires at 6:30 am local time (4:30 am Atlanta time). Because we weren’t set to meet the apartment owner until 10:00, we ate some breakfast and got a rental cell phone at the airport, and then caught a taxi back to the apartment. We arrived at the apartment at about 8:45, and had to wait. Dad and I took turns watching the luggage while the other roamed the neighborhood. It’s actually quite a nice neighborhood, and our apartment is right next door to the British Embassy. We met a neighbor, Roberto, who spoke English to us as we tried to answer in Spanish. He said he was a lawyer by training, but never really practiced because his family had money and he didn’t need to because “life’s too short”. We finally got checked in, and saw the apartment. It is on the 5^th (6^th for Americans) floor of the apartment bldg, and consists of a bathroom, 2 single beds, a small dinette, and a teeny kitchen with 2 stove tops, a microwave and a small fridge. Once we got settled in, we wanted to see if we could connect to the internet to tell mom we were here and alive. Dad had the awesome idea of bringing a surge suppressor, and an adaptor so that we could have multiple plugs. We promptly blew the circuit. Good start. After we got all that taken care of, we went out and caught a bus to the main train/bus station. It was there that we reserved and bought tickets for the bus ride to Mar Del Plata – the beach we’re going to on Tuesday. It’s a 5 hour ride each way, but should prove to be fun. We’re staying there for a few days. After that, we went to a hardware store and bought a correct adaptor, and then went to get some lunch. Roberto had recommended a place right up the street that had just 3 tables, but was very good. After lunch, we found an artisan market with some really cool stuff. It was a huge market, and we didn’t even finish going through it all. They’re there every weekend, so I’ll probably go back and buy some stuff before I leave, there some nice handmade crafts. After that we came back to the apartment to rest since we are both beat.