So my plane left Atlanta about 2 hours later than it was supposed to yet it was only 15 minutes late in Buenos Aires....I think they went a little faster than usual to say the least. I actually like international flights; you get on the plane (which is huge compared to the little regional jets every airline uses now) and there's a nice little package of "goodies" including headphones, lotion, earplugs, pillow and blanket. Soon after take off they serve you dinner, which was actually quite good. Then you watch a couple of movies (we watched Mad Money and The Golden Compass). Next it's sort of like lights out, everyone seems to sleep for a few hours. Then breakfast is served (bagel, cream cheese and fruit this time) as shows such as Friends and some new primetime shows I'm unfamiliar with play on the screen. Plus no one sat next to me so I could spread out a little more than usual. However, I did open my shade on my window about 6 hours into the flight to discover a solid cieling of clouds below us and a huge, thick funnel of clouds rising from it, in which there was a very birght and very violent lightining storm....not the best thing to calm your nerves (my guess is that it was the tropical storm over Central America). I got to the airport just fine and went through Argentina's immigration and customs, which to be honest wasn't all that in depth.
Next was the ride to my house, about half an hour. It reminded me a lot of Mexico City in that you could definitely tell "you weren't in Kansas any more;" that is to say, you see the poverty very easily. Quick Argentine history lesson: around 2001 the Argentine economy crashed, completely crashed. This is still extremely evident today as many high rise apartment buildings are all over the city which, while I'm not 100% sure, seem to be government housing. Apparently Argentinians joke quite a bit saying if you live in Argentina be ready for a economic melt down every 10 years or so (although it's not that far off from reality).
My house is great, especially when compared to my housing in Mexico. My "mom" (Adrianna) does this sort of thing all the time and has maps of the city and how to get "home" all ready to go. So when I came in I just unpacked some and hung out for a little while. Then the adventure began, I decided to go out and explore the city. I walked the about 12 blocks to the Subte (their subway system) and then rode it from one end (where I got on) to the other (la Catedral and la Plaza de Mayo). It was great, but then I decided I would just go down some streets to really explore. This is where the lovely "I'm lost in a forgein country" feeling set in. Some of the Subte stations are closed for construction which really messed me up. I ended up wondering around the streets for a long time then finally got back on the Subte. When I got back to my correct station it took me a good 2 hours or so to find my street. More or less, a rather small trip turned into a 5-6 hour ordeal. Although Buenos Aires is sort of like New York City in that police are on the sidewalks and in the subway stations; unlike NYC everyone I stopped and asked for directions was overly nice.
I think that's all for now, but here are a few pics from today.
This is the patio just off my room.
My house is the one on the left, I'm on the 3rd floor.
La Plaza de Mayo
Most of the major streets start at the Plaza de Mayo; similar to the layout of Paris
Just a random street shot, those are the high rise apartment buildings I was talking about earlier, but those are nice ones.
