Landed

Estoy aqui! I have arrived in Buenos Aires in a bit of a shambles. The plane landed four hours later than I expected, for no apparent reason, which was interesting since the nice lady I’m staying with was expecting me to be somewhat on time. The entrance fee into the country was $160 which was $60 more than I was willing to pay, but I guess that’s the price, not much haggling to be had at the customs gate. I received my bag from the carousel but it was dripping with water for some reason… It was not raining in Burlington, New York, Lima, or here, so I’m a little confused. I decided it would be good to get some cash because I always forget and end up in the middle of some situation where I need money and have none, so I used the ATM. All seemed normal and I hopped in a taxi with two jolly guys. Upon arrival at the apartment of the nice lady (Nilda) I’m staying with, I handed two bills to the driver. He started bickering over some letter on the serial number of the bill, and he was saying something about it not being the official bank stamp. Whatever that means. Finally I convinced him to take the money because that was simply all I had. Then I realized that I had withdrawn $400 but instead had received 2 $100 bills and 2 $10 bills. After assuring the doorman at the apartment that I was not a terrorist (I haven’t cut my hair in a while or taken a shower) Nilda came down to meet me. She only speaks Spanish but we’ve decided this is for the better so that I will learn quicker. We discussed why England is a terrible country (apparently there’s a war right now over the Falklands again… I thought that ended a while ago), over a cup of strong coffee. I never thought I’d be glad to say I’m from the States instead of England to a foreigner, although Nilda doesn’t seem to like Seattle for some reason, something to do with her friend.

I’m hoping tomorrow I can go find some currency that is real, and an ATM that will give me what I pay for! Overall not my smoothest entry into a country, but I’m sure things will shape up tomorrow. The flight was gorgeous though. The desert is a place I want to go someday when I can afford to drive across it in an off-roader. The beaches for hundreds of miles were just blank stretches of blue, white, and tan gradient.