Buenos Aires - Day 0 and Day 1

I'm sure you're thinking, "How can she have a Day 0?" (And if you weren't, you are now.) Well, you see, it takes half of forever to get to Buenos Aires from North Carolina.  So, Saturday would be Day 0 (the day I started the trek to Argentina) and Day 1 is Sunday (when I finally arrived). 

Half the fun of any trip is getting there. At least that's what I tell myself. Some of my more exciting moments I've had come during travel. This trip, of course, is no exception. For the first time ever I was booked in business class. For those who know, yes, I've flown first class before but only because I was upgraded or flying standby. This was an actual business class reservation. It cost an arm and three legs, but my company's policy is if the in-air travel is greater than nine hours (and this is) business class is acceptable. And I found out a really neat thing... Business class reservations on American Airlines come with admittance to the Admirals Club. This was truly excellent news because I had a five hour layover in Miami and had been trying to figure out what to do with myself. Problem solved. Muy excelente.

So this journey started in the Admirals Club in RDU. With complimentary adult beverages. Except I can't drink alcohol and fly. No matter. It was still cool to know I could if I wanted to. Sitting up there, watching planes taxi by, playing with my iPhone on the free wifi, and sipping water was a pretty relaxing way to spend my 45 minute flight delay.

When we finally boarded the flight I promptly fell asleep (my favorite way to pass the time while flying). Upon arrival in Miami, I hit up the Admirals Club. For all the serenity of RDU's club, Miami is like one big party. It's packed with people and conversation. And there are all manner of languages being spoken. The most common language was Spanish.  I found this handy since my next stop was a Spanish-speaking country. I met a nice guy at the bar who tried to buy me drinks (and his response to my assertion that I do not drink and fly was, "Well, you should start!"). We talked for awhile. He was a businessman on his way to Sao Paulo. Then I read for a bit before heading down to the gate for my flight.

Okay, I was unprepared for the awesomeness of business compared to flying coach. First, you get presents - notably a toiletries kit and a bottle of water. You get that kind of stuff in first, too, but having never flown business I didn't know what to expect (other than a bigger seat that lays flat). I was most excited about the bottled water. Not kidding. For those who know, mission number one when I travel is make sure I have water with me at all times.

They also give you real food. I generally don't eat and fly, but there is no way I could do that with such a long trip and not make myself sick. So I prayed God would be merciful and let me be able to eat. He was. Overnight I tried my best to sleep, which is nearly impossible to do well on a plane, but I had plenty of television and movie choices or I could watch the plane's flight path. I tried to watch 21 Jump Street, but there was way too much profanity so I opted for watching the plane's path while listening to my iPod when I wasn't otherwise sleeping. 

The flight was uneventful, which is my favorite way to have a flight. We left Miami at 8:30PM and arrived in Buenos Aires at 6:00AM. This is when I became most thankful that I can speak some Spanish. I'm not fluent (yet), but I can communicate. And I forgot how desperately needed that would be in Buenos Aires. Also, though a lot has changed here, I still basically know how to get through the airport which also came in handy. I breezed right through security and customs, got my passport stamped and headed out to find my driver.

My company arranged for a car for me (called a remise), which is something I was told the first time I came years ago should always be the process. I found my remise driver as soon as I stepped out of security and we headed off. And as we walked to his car I discovered - my remise driver spoke no English. Well, okay then. It is a lot harder to try to converse in Spanish when you're tired and your ears haven't popped yet. I managed decently well and he told me different things about the city. As we came into downtown Buenos Aires we turned onto the main avenue. And it looked just like I remembered it. It was a thrill to see the sun rising over the buildings, some of which are hundreds of years old.

After getting settled into my hotel room, I went to find coffee. I found it in the hotel restaurant. I hit up the breakfast buffet, and was happy to see prosciutto and cheese. Seriously Americans, why do we not eat that stuff for breakfast? That's the sort of breakfast I've seen (with regional variations of course) in every non-US city I've ever been to. A cured/smoked meat and cheese with good bread (and real butter) is one of the best things on earth. I enjoyed my coffee and communicated entirely in Spanish (much easier after the coffee).

Then I took a shower and decided to explore the city. The gracious concierge gave me some suggestions and a map and I headed out. I decided to go see the government buildings in Plaza de Mayo. I spent most of my time in la Recoleta (opposite end of the city) the last time I was here so I figured I would go the other way.  I wandered along, checking out various shops along the way. I finally made it to the government buildings (they're about 2 miles from where I'm staying).  I took pictures and then started to head back.

Except, I got turned around. I can get lost in my own city and I always get lost when I travel. I try not to, but it happens. EVERY TIME. Well then, I suppose it was God's way of helping me get that out of the way. I walked along for a long time before I realized nothing lookind familiar. Whoops. So I started trying to figure out where I was and how to get back to where I wanted to be.  I did what I always do in these situtations - head up and look like I know where I'm going. There were not a lot of people (though there were some) because I wasn't on a main street.  It was about lunch time so I figured I'd duck into a cafe and look at my map and figure out where I was. Thankfully, I found cafe that was on the corner of that main avenue. I knew I'd be able to find my way back then. Yay! So I stopped for lunch...

Now is a great time to note that I was no longer in the touristy section. Translate that to NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH.  So I figured, "Well, I want to be fluent, I'll go for it and apologize a lot." It made lunch there interesting. I managed to order with no problem, but when my waiter tried to have pleasant conversation with me it wasn't so easy. I did okay (and got laughed at a lot), but we managed to make it work. I also managed to ask (and understand) directions back to my hotel. So, another 2.5 miles later I made it back to my hotel. Yay! Then I took a 3-hour nap.

Dinner here is late. Very, very late. Like 9PM late. My American self prefers dinner at like 6. But you conform to the culture you're in so I hung out at the bar, drank wine and talked to the waiter. He was so nice. I told him I needed to practice my Spanish so he helped me work on it a bit. Then I found a place for dinner. Did I go touristy? Nope. I went local. And of course, was the only American in the place. But I managed to communicate okay and had a great dinner.

So, to cap Days 0 and 1 - I have missed this place. I love it here. I love the pace, the culture, and the food.  I missed the fact that everyone will talk to you and if you try to speak Spanish they appreciate it. I missed the ensalad mixta, the bife de chorizo, chimichurri, and the coffee. And really, the best thing about the culture is the pace. Everything is just a little bit slower here and I really have enjoyed that today.

Tomorrow is work, and who knows what after. I'll have a co-worker with me, so I can be more adventurous and he likes good food so I'm sure we'll end up in good places!