Our First Mini Adventure, oh !

We just had our first full day in Buenos Aires. We flew in late last night on GOL Airlines where the flight attendents wear white t-shirt turtlenecks with white arm bands from wrist to elbow. They must think that a full sleeve would restrict their overhead/side to side movements. Bottom line, I felt like we were flying into the future, only to find out we really went back in time. I´m getting ahead of myself. Let me explain how we almost ended up in Paris. Not really, but seriously though..

We packed up at Hosel Copa Praia, clearly not an easy task, and headed down to the beach for a couple hours until we caught a bus to the airport. We knew our flight boarded at 3:40pm out of gate 10, but we saw people lining up at our gate at 3:20 so we figured that was first class. Keep in mind there are no scrolling signs or flat screen TVs that tell you the flight number, destination, weather, the most recent celebrity to get arrested, what state won the biggest cookie contest, or anything that represents useful information. At about 3:30 the line of what we thought was first class multiplied and started moving quickly through the doors so we followed with no problem. The line entered a hallway with multiple jetways to our left. We were getting closer and closer to ours when we heard an announcement that the flight to Paree (Paris) was boarding. Umm wait a minute, we did jump the gun a little bit. Next announcement, the flight to Buenos Aires was moved to gate 11. Ah yes, step out of line, no big deal, people are looking at us, it´s ok. Gate 11 is in the same hallway just past the line to Paris. Come on, it´s not like we would have actually made it on the plane and not realized everyone was greeting us with Bonjour. We just slowly approached our jetway, first ones there, and were escorted onto the plane. They loved us, and I loved their forearm bands.

SO! We got some sweet snacks on the plane, I listened to my rockin´Ipod, almost finished The Color of Water (so good) and landed safely in Buenos Aires. The Paris of South America. Our friend from Santa Barbara, Kristen, has mucho friends in BsAs (short for Buenos Aires and what I will use from now on because this keyboard is sticky), and she gave us their contact info. One guy, Agustin, owns a Bed and Breakfast in San Telmo (a district in BsAs) and told us he would give us a deal since we are Kristen´s friends. May and June is a really slow time for BsAs so I don´t feel as bad about paying hostel price for a B&B, it is quite nice and I recommend it for anyone who plans on coming here. It is Republica San Telmo. As of yesterday afternoon we hadn´t heard from Augustin or any of the other contacts so when we flew in, expecting a driver in a little suit with a sign for Lynne and Kelsey, we unfortunately did not find such sign. Our other friend Jess, holla!, told us about this crazy fun hostel called Hostel Clan so we decided to get dropped off there. I felt, at first, like we were driving into San Francisco, but then when we turned down a small alley and the cab driver stopped, I felt like we were in Harlem. Neither of us have been to Harlem, so really, I have no clue what it felt like, but it was late and we just wanted a bed. Hostel Clan was full so the nice man helped carry my bag, sorry Lynne, down the street to another Hostel that had a private room available. A good night sleep looked promising! Well, there were about 6 guys who were drinking 40´s and had plans to go out at 12:30am. Fully aware that we were going to bed (I think walking to the bathroom with toothbrushes in hand gave it away) the music seemed to be getting louder and louder. Even though we were on some tiny side street, I swear we were on the Las Vegas strip. I am losing interest in sleep anyway. Hot tea and breakfast was waiting in the morning as well as an email from Agustin so we were excited for a new place to stay.

After meeting Agustin and dropping our bags, we headed down to the antique street market that so many people had told us about. Lynne got a great scarf, (I guess I didn´t mention that we left 80 degree weather in Rio for 60 degrees and cloudy in BsAs) we got Empanadas for lunch and just walked and walked. We got to the Plaza de Mayo where the ´Pink House´ is (their White House) and a statue with the date 25 Mayo 1810. Anyone? Ok, we didn´t know we were going to be there on the anniversary! Today is May 25th..It is like their Independence Day Anyway, that was cool, a lot of people were protesting something and there were some ponies. We later caught the subte (subway) to Palermo, another district in BsAs, and walked by the zoo, the botanical gardens and through an outside book market. I found Harry Potter en Español :) We went into a supermercado to buy some fruit, water and stuff to make dinner tonight and sandwiches tomorrow. I enjoy grocery shopping in other countries, is that weird? Lynne and I turned on a soccer game, IN Spanish, made some dinner and when Agustin came back we went down to a pub for a drink before he went to play poker with some friends. The pub reminded me of Dargans in SB with their food and pool tables. I liked it. Not the same way I feel about this keyboard. Wish me luck on a quiet night and more fun adventures! I´m excited to be hungry for breakfast in the morning. You guys are really finding out how weird I am, and it makes me laugh a little bit on the inside.

Goodnight!