Llegando a Buenos Aires despues de 20 horas de viaje - Obrigado!

I left Chicago at 9pm on Monday. It was Memorial Day - the day when most gather with their families at a picnic or a bbq to remember those who have fallen and those who continue to fight for our country. I, being quite the world traveler, spent most of the day re-packing and otherwise preparing to leave the country. Oh the irony!

Anyway, the trip started off relatively normal. As per usual, my bags were each over the weight limit, and, also as per usual, the lovely people at United didn't say a thing. I guess it just goes to show you that "tu atras mas abejas con miel que con aceite." The aforementioned is Spanish for "you attract more bees with honey than with oil."

Once I boarded my first flight, a few things decidedly turned for the worst. Some random passenger decided to move to my row and take a nap almost on top of me. After I "accidentally" knocked into her, she reconsidered. At that point, I decided to do some reading using the overhead light. All was fine until the flight attendant somehow skipped me for the dinner tray, and, when he finally corrected his mistake, I bit into the food only to burn my tongue. I guess life just throws you curve balls sometimes, and you just have to make sure to laugh. Later, I began to drift and decided I should just go to bed, which would have been alright other than the fact that my light/assistance panel suddenly would not function. Oh well, said the flight attendants, and they proceeded to tape a piece of foil over the light in order to lessen its intensity. Somehow, I still managed to get some rest despite all of the nonsense that had transpired.

A few hours later, I landed at the airport in Sao Paolo, Brazil, a place that is only memorable for being the most confusing airport that I have ever been in. I found a fellow American, Stephen, who was quite the character. He was missing four of his front teeth, was diabetic and suffered from several other medical complications which meant that he had to take a different pill every hour. He was also unique in that he was traveling all the way from Iowa to go meet his online girlfriend who lives in Buenos Aires - someone whom he had never met before. Needless to say, we kept each other laughing during our four hour layover.

The flight from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires was rather uneventful. Afterwards, I was met by my realtor here, Santiago, a friend of Nuria's, and he drove me to my new apartment while explaining things about the city and also about his job. We drove past Argentina's obelisk - which is very reminiscent of the Washington Monument, and Santiago told me about some of the historical buildings that we passed. As part of his job, dealing with students from abroad who choose to attend university at the public school in Buenos Aires, Santiago is busy scheduling social events for all of his clients, including a party for all of the Colombians (plus me, of course).

Now, I am sitting in my apartment and relaxing. The weather is quite perfect - high 50s, and I am watching episodes of The Good Wife online...procrastinating from moving forward on my note. Don't worry everyone...it will get done!

Anyway, I want to finish this episode soon and then go to bed at a reasonable hour. Santiago is going to show me some cool spots tomorrow. Until later...chau!