Dias 1 y 2

Day 1 in Buenos Aires:

First off, let me tell you I was in Houston way too long!  I had a 4hr layover - which was fine...but then we had a 2hr delay due to some maintenance issue on our plane.  We actually had to de-board and then return to the plane.  Not fun.  The plane ride wasn't too bad, the dinner and breakfast was decent, and the kids around me did minimal damage to my psyche.  I arrived in Buenos Aires around 10:30AM (local time).  Next came passport verification and the $140 fee for entrance into Argentina.  Since they don't do visa's for tourists, you just pay once every 10yrs.  I got my luggage and headed towards customs: took about 10-15min but it was painless.  Luckily, right at the salida was a bright orange sign with "COURTNEY" on it!  Margarita and Albert(o?) were there waiting and we were off.

The streets are BUSY!  Motorcycle riders here are not at all like the ones in the United States (at least not without being a jerk). I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that a motorcycle rider could weave in and out of traffic...and no one cared.   Different standards for the road I guess.  Speaking of different standards....everyone kisses here.  Like in Europe and Hawaii.  It's completely fine...just kind of threw me off a bit :)

I am currently staying on the 8th floor home of Cristina Moralejo.  She and her daughter, Mechi -17yrs old, have a huge home here and I'm very grateful for their hospitality.  They have a live-in maid Ele who doesn’t speak a bit of English and I love that about her.  I really want to soak up as much of the language as possible but everyone keeps speaking to me in English!  I will NEVER openly complain to anyone here about that.

I would like to say that taking French for 3 years in high school was a complete waste of time.  I definitely should have taken Spanish.  Not only do I live in Texas…but many of the countries I would like to visit are Latin/Spanish (Argentina being one of them….I’d ultimately like to go to Spain!!)

I went to Cristina’s Rotary Club meeting last night. On our way I got to see a lot of the downtown area.   Some of it was breath-taking and some of it made me sad that people could be so passé about where the put their trash.  We went to the Circulo Militar .  This is one of the prettiest displays of architecture and history I’ve ever seen (personally….I need to travel more I guess).  I was able to take some pictures and just walk around with my jaw to the floor.  Then it was meeting time!  While the other 8 members chatted and conducted their meeting, I ate silently and drank some wine.   I had chicken with some sort of gravy stuff (yum) and these little potato ball things….yum again.  I also ate about 6 of the cutest little rolls I’ve ever seen.  Everyone was so polite to me, despite my language barrier.  It was close to 11pm when we were finished and piled into Susana’s (I think that’s her name) car.  We’re very thankful for squeezing into the car because it was raining!

 
We arrived to Cristina’s home to find the electricity out again.  Luckily, I was wearing heeled boots and climbed up the spiral staircase to the eighth floor.  I am definitely getting my exercise.  Essentially, I went straight to bed, put on my pajamas, put on my headphones to my Zune (since I don’t have my sweet “Nature Lullaby” station on Pandora) and passed out.

Day 2 in Buenos Aires
Well, Margarita and I were to begin our day at 9am.  At 9am Ele called Margarita only for my to find out she had been ill all night!  Poor Margarita!  I spent the day hoping the Internet would be resolved (it’s not) and watching Harry Potter.  I caught up on some sleep and repacked my suitcase.  Margarita came to “fetch” me around 4pm.  We walked (yes, more walking) to Barrio Recoleta. (http://www.barriorecoleta.com.ar/)  It’s a community.  We went into a grand cemetery.  Really.  It was breath taking.  There’s so much history there!  We also visited the church next to it.  Catholics know how to make church pretty. We took a moment to check out the Centro Cultural.  I saw some local/modern art.  After that we strolled around some more and ended up at Oasis Resto Bar for dinner.  I had a tostado capressse and Quilmes (beer).  Not bad.  We were full and then set out again to find the right bus to take up back to the house.  We walked A LOT again and eventually got on the bus.  Guess what? The electricity was out again!  8 more spiral flights of stairs!!  I read some of my book (Eat, Pray, Love - seemed appropriate for this trip....kind of) by candlelight until the electricity came back on.  I've showered and now here I am with electricity and internet.

Days 3-5 I will be going with a woman named Ceclia to the "country".  I don't have any idea what to expect but I'm told it's pretty!  I doubt I'll be getting on to a computer but you never know.


Thank you for your prayers.  I love you all!  Hasta luego amigos!

P.S.  I'm going to add my pictures to Facebook and Shutterfly.