On my way "home"...

Yesterday was not my day. I had planned things SO perfectly, to fly back from Iguazu to Buenos Aires early in the morning so that I would have the whole day to be able to spend more time exploring the city. But some things just can’t be planned. First, the van taking me from my hotel to the airport broke down. We got picked up by someone else and, amazingly, still made it to the airport with enough time to catch our flight… only to find out it had been cancelled. Not delayed, cancelled. The official reason given was “technical problems” but I’m pretty sure in Spanish that translates literally to “pilot wanted to sleep in”. So instead of spending my day checking out BA, I got to spend it taking a nap in the grass at Iguazu Airport. Finally got to my hotel in BA, which I had chosen specifically because of its super-cool location, only to find out that they were having problems with their water and would have to move me elsewhere. Sigh. Then Jill (the girl I met at the waterfalls) and I were going to meet up but she had come down with food poisoning. So, sadly, a day largely lost.

But today I made up for it! I had smartly booked a late flight out of BA tonight so I took advantage of every minute I had. I made it to some cool neighborhoods/areas (thanks for the suggestions, Doug!) and did just about as much as I think a person can do in 7 hours. My two favorite things were the cemetery in Recoleta and San Telmo. The cemetery thing sounds odd at first, I realize, but it was truly amazing. It was the first cemetery in BA, opened in the early 1800’s and it is still being used today. It was like no cemetery I’ve ever seen; it's pretty much a mini-city full of rows and rows and rows of fabulous, ornate, gigantic mausoleums of some of the most wealthy and prominent people in Argentina. It almost looks like a miature version of a town full of tiny churches. Eva Peron is buried there and of course hers is one of the most visited. Hard to explain, but very fascinating. San Telmo is one of the oldest neighborhoods in BA and is known to be the birthplace of tango. So of course there were street performers doing their thing, along with cobblestone streets, open markets and lots of great old buildings.

And now I find myself, yet again, on a plane. For a person who hates to fly, I sure have been doing a lot of it lately. God bless Xanax. Admittedly, I am one of those people who usually scoffs at the whole idea of having to be at an airport 2 hours early as it mostly ends up with me twiddling my thumbs for 1 ¾ hours, while sighing loudly to express my displeasure. I have never been more glad to have arrived anywhere 2 hours early as I was tonight. There was a line to check in, a line to pay the taxes to leave Argentina (the scam to end all scams!), a line to show someone that you’d paid your tax, a line to pass through security, a line for customs and, of course, a line to actually get on the plane. And none of the lines were short nor pleasant. So I guess I don’t love ALL parts of traveling, after all.

So now I’m on my way back “home” to Santiago to meet my parents. They are arriving tomorrow morning (I get into the airport at 11 pm and have to be back to pick them up at 6:30 am… they’re lucky I like them!) and will be down here for about 10 days. Should be good times! We have plans to have dinner one night with Edgar y Maria; since they speak not a word of English and my parents speak not a word of Spanish, it should be very interesting for me. It’s like the final test of my Spanish abilities… if I can pull that one off, I’ll know I’m doing okay.