We drove to Ana's work and it's nice and quiet there. We are there for a few hours while she does her work, and while there, I chose to begin knitting a scarf for the impending Argentine winter.
We end up leaving to head to the airport around 12 pm. My flight isn't until 4 pm, but I like to be early. We end up being stuck in traffic as there is construction around Miami.
While in transit, I ended up getting a phone call from a phone number that used to belong to one of my best friends. There was a guy on the other end who asked me who I was and why I was calling. I apologized and mentioned that I had called thinking that it was my friend's phone number.
The guy mentioned that it was no problem, but to inform my friend that bill collectors or someone had been calling and leaving messages. I assured him I would pass along the information.
Then five minutes later, I get a text saying this:
I think I replied thanked him, but I have since deleted the message. But I thought it was pretty funny.
I finally get to the airport around 1 pm. I get to Avianca's counter after waiting in line for about 20 minutes and they ask me, in Spanish, "Did you weigh your luggage?" Fuiste a pesar sus maletas?
I looked at this woman with a funny look on my face. "Qué?" I asked her.
She points over my shoulder to an area well away from the counter and indicates that this is the place that I need to go to before I even THINK about checking in for my flight. I lug my two heavy suitcases over to this other area where there is another long line to weigh my luggage.
The attendant grabs my luggage, winks at me and asks where I'm going.
Of course, I'm not sure if he's doing this to be friendly or if he is flirting, or both.
"Me voy para Buenos Aires"
He places one of my suitcases on the scale and since it's in metric, it reads 22 kg. I got excited about it and thought it was 23 lbs.
"Fantastico! Solo pesa 23 libras!" I exclaimed. (Fabulous! It only weighs 23 pounds)
"Señorita, pesa casi 50 libras..." the man informed me.
Oh...bueno...no sé que hacer entonces. (I'm not sure what to do then).
Luckily, they were able to allow me onto the plane since I was barely just under the weight limit, which was perfect since I didn't have any extra money to pay since I wasn't going to be getting paid.
I go through security without any issues, which was a Godsend since I'm constantly being stopped for one reason, or another - that's another story here.
My flight was going to be going from Miami to Lima, Perú, then a short layover about an hour with an overnight flight to Buenos Aires, arriving early in the morning.
We take off and everything is fabulous during the flight and the arrival to the airport in Lima.
In Lima, I had to deplane and then go through another round of security with the airport attendants asking me where I was coming from and where I was heading.
I got through security yet again in Lima and proceed to wait for my subsequent flight, which was only about an hour wait.
Boarding the plane was around 10 pm. I get on the plane, and as I am about to sit down, I notice the most attractive male flight attendant I have EVER seen in my life. I wish I had taken a picture of him or at least gotten his name because I could have been the mother of his children.
But then again, I don't do long distance, and especially not between countries.
I sit in my seat. The ladies to the right of me had indigenous feature, with darker skin and black hair. They spoke Spanish with a slight accent. I'm not sure if they were Peruvian or Bolivian or Argentine, but they were headed that way. The ladies across from me on the aisle were Argentines based off their clothing, wearing skinny jeans, and platform sneakers and they all had long hair.
We do the usual, go through all the modes of what is necessary for beginning part of a flight, go through instructions, we all take a seat, pack our stuff, etc.
About 30 minutes into the flight, they announce that they will begin serving drinks and snacks. Lo and behold, the Adonis of a Flight Attendant comes with his cart down my aisle and is asking everyone what they want to drink.
He asks the ladies across from me what they want. He asks the ladies next to me what they want. They all tell him what they want to drink.
He turns to me, "Señorita, que le puedo servir para tomar?"
My throat was so dry that I barely could eke out a whisper, "Agua".
"Perdoname?" he asked.
I tried to clear my throat, "Agua", I whispered again.
"Señorita, perdoname, ne le escucho" he said again.
I looked at him straight in the eyes, and said, a little more clearly this time, "Agua, por favor".
He sighed, and said, "Perdoname, señorita, es que no le puedo escuchar porque sus ojos son tan lindos...y Ud. tiene una sonrisa tan hermosa."
My mouth dropped open and my eyes opened wide in surprise.
The ladies sitting next to me snickered and giggled.
He poured me a small glass of water, which I quickly downed. I immediately requested another.
"Me podrías dar un poco mas agua, por favor?" I asked.
He sighed again and then began to serenade me, singing some song about my eyes and how beautiful I was. I sat and giggled, because honestly, what else was I going to do?
The Argentine girls sitting across from me were not happy and I could hear them talking to each other asking why the flight attendant thought I was pretty. Jerks. The ladies next to me leaned over and mentioned I should take advantage since he was pretty handsome.
Tall, perfect tan and brownish-green eyes. I wish I had gotten his name. I almost gave him my number to Whatsapp me, since all of Latin America has WA. Oh well....
I spent the rest of the flight half awake since I intended on sleeping on the bus all the way to Bahía so that I would be rested for my arrival to Bahía, which would be later on in the evening the following day.
Our flight arrived in Buenos Aires at 4 A.M.. Got my luggage. Went through Customs and did my spiel, paid for a ride to the Manuel Tienda León station in Buenos Aires so that they could drop me off at the bus station.
Since they had already served two meals on the plane, I figured I was good to go once I got to Buenos Aires.
Turns out, I was wrong.
I finally got out of Customs and found a seat with my two large suitcases and began to knit. Several people observed me in my knitting reverie. One woman commented, "Vos tejés muy rara!" (You knit strangely). I thanked her for her observations, while she continued to stare at me and my "strange" knitting.
About 8 a.m., I began to feel a little hungry, so I went to the only cheap place I could think of, McDonald's.
It is good to note here that McDonald's in each country is VERY different from what it's like in the U.S.. For breakfast in the U.S., you can order a Sausage McMuffin with hash browns and a coffee for like $3 or $4, I think. In Argentina, you can order a small sandwich, and when I say small, I'm talking something that resembles two bread-like pieces with a teeny-tiny slice of meat and cheese between it with just coffee. Let me tell you, that coffee is like SPEED. Even if you put five packets of sugar in it, it's still strong.
I'm not sure about you, but I am a big girl. I have to have a big breakfast or else I turn into a monster on some people. What I described is not a big breakfast and it was super expensive. Like the equivalent of $5. I ate my meager rations, drank my coffee that was like speed, having spent almost all my available Pesos Argentinos on my sandwich, which would totally screw me later for a meal on the bus. But read on!
Finally, the time came for me to get on the shuttle to the bus station around 10 am. I waited in traffic for about an hour and got the bus station in time for me to catch my bus, but I was able to wait for about 45 minutes before my bus arrived. Since I usually took the bus at night when it was bustling, the bus station during the day was unnaturally quiet. I sat there while these two ugly dudes stared at me. Even though I wasn't looking at them directly, I could tell they were staring at me and my colorful luggage.
I get to my bus platform, shaking with the caffeine coursing through my veins, where the jerks there announced that I had too much luggage and that I would have to pay an extra fee, which honestly would have been like $5 pesos, which is the equivalent of 25 cents or so, in current exchange rates.
Since I had spent all my available pesos on the sandwich at the airport, I could only offer them a $20 US bill. That was way more money than they had probably ever seen in their life...Now that I look back, I could kick myself. I should have just found the exchange booth at the airport and exchanged some money, but they weren't open at 4 a.m..
Le sigh...
I gave the man a $20 bill and got on the bus...where I promptly sat down and fell asleep. About 20 minutes into my ride, guess what happens?
The bus breaks down...
Stay tuned for the third installment.
