Dia 53, Goodbye My New Love, Goodbye. 8 de agosto

I have a feeling that this might be the most difficult blog I have to write, because it has to be all about my last day in Buenos Aires, that magical city in the southern hemisphere. However, this isn’t going to be my “reflecting” blog. I’m going to save one more for that one. So maybe it won’t be too bad if I just talk about the last day, and how it went and what all I did, etc. Yeah, that doesn’t sound too hard. Okay, let’s go into the city that makes everyone dance.

Like I mentioned in the last update, I was planning on getting up early…and I did. Well, early for me. Serri woke me up around 10:20, which was great because I told her she could wake me up at 9:30 if she was up by then. So an extra fifty minutes was definitely welcomed, especially since I didn’t even sleep that well. I don’t know if it was because I was excited/sad about going home, or if I just wasn’t used to being in bed so early (ha), but sleep wasn’t the easiest thing. I was definitely happy about the thought that the next time I was going to sleep in a bed it would be my wonderful big, comfy bed at home!

Serri and I got ready for the day and went to the restaurant with American breakfast. I had waffles and bacon (which was the first bacon I’ve had since I’ve been here…it’s not very common and is pretty expensive in most places) and orange juice and it was good and so filling. Ivana met up with us there and we had a long breakfast and talked about how much we wanted to go home and yet how we wanted to stay.

After breakfast we walked to the Recoleta Feria. This had to have been my fourth or fifth time there, and it was all so familiar to me. I bought just a couple more little souvenirs but didn’t get anything spectacular. Serri and Ivana bought some really gorgeous mates that I was tempted to get but decided against it. While we were walking through, a little boy came up to us and tried to sell us packages of tissues. At this point, I literally had no Argentine money on me. I would have bought them, he only wanted two pesos or something like that, but I didn’t have it. I kept telling him I didn’t and he just kept following us. It was so weird because the entire time I’ve been here, when people ask for money and you say no and keep walking, they leave you alone. But this little kid (who was probably 8 or 9) just kept walking with us for a good distance. Ivana and Serri did a good job of ignoring him. But it was hard for me to do so. I would look at him and say, “No lo tengo” (I don’t have it) and he just kept talking about his baby sister. It was sad. But at the same time, I wonder how well that normally works for him. How many people eventually give him money so he’ll leave them alone? Oh well, he didn’t get anything from us and finally got distracted by a booth that had an armadillo shell hanging in it. (Yeah, I don’t know…I guess an armadillo shell isn’t as amazing to me, since I see them on the side of the road in Oklahoma a lot, lol).

After a while of walking around, Ivana left and Serri and I decided to kill some time by going back to Recoleta Cemetery. I believe I’ve said this before, but you can go into the cemetery multiple times and see all sorts of new things. It’s not only a large space, but there are so many things crammed into the space that it’s almost easy to get lost in there. We looked for Eva Peron’s tomb since Serri had never seen it. I’ve seen it twice before, so you’d think I’d know where to go, but we couldn’t find it. We eventually had to give up on the adventure aspect and looked at a map, then found it with ease.

We then decided to walk back home and check to see if Expanish had sent me confirmation for a taxi. Oh, I guess this is something I haven’t mentioned. Expanish said they wouldn’t pay for a taxi to the airport, which everyone in my program agrees that it’s something they should do. They did say, however, that they would call the cab for me and make all the arrangements, etc. So I had emailed them earlier in the week, letting them know that I needed a cab, but that Thomas, Adam and I wanted to go to the airport together since our flights were close and it would be a cheaper cab ride that way. Well, after I got in touch with the correct person at Expanish, she then needed to get all of our addresses. Now, I had limited internet access at my house, as we all know, so the emails between us would be about a day apart. I know that Expanish knew where we all lived (obviously, they put us there!) but apparently she either didn’t think to ask or wouldn’t or…something. So I had to email her the addresses. I told her the time I needed to be at the airport, but not being from here and not knowing how long it would take to get from my house, to Adam’s, to Thomas’, to the airport, I didn’t know what time we were supposed to be picked up. I explained this in an email to her, and her next email basically ignored what I had said and she said, “I need to know what time you want to be picked up.” So, by Friday, this is where we were. I got that email late Friday afternoon, and when I was at Expanish I asked if she was there and she had already left. So when I had checked my email again, she had sent me one asking what day I was supposed to leave. I mean, Expanish has all of this information! I had to send it to them… so I don’t know why there was all this confusion and why she couldn’t have looked it all up. So I had to email her, Friday afternoon, telling her that I was leaving the next day and asking her to please call my house phone with confirmation.

So, back to Saturday: Serri and I went back to our apartment to see if the lady at Expanish had called or email me back. Sure enough, she hadn’t. It was almost three in the afternoon; I needed a cab at 5. So I talked with Elsa and she said she would just call the cab service and explain to them that I needed a cab for three people, etc. I know, it would have seemed that easy in the first place, but since I had been talking with Expanish, I figured I didn’t need to bother Elsa about it. Well, Elsa called and explained that we just wanted one cab, but it needed to be the bigger sized cab so we could fit our luggage and what not. I’ve been in a cab twice on this trip with two other people and all six bags of our luggage. I knew it was possible. I was happy once we got this settled, especially since I was feeling as if Expanish wasn’t pulling through for me at this point in the trip.

I finally finished up what was left of my packing and then…Serri and I decided…to go to Freddo! It’s my last day; surely you all knew that I would be going, even if I had some ice cream (not Freddo) the night before. So we walked over to the Freddo that was my first and we split ¼ kilo. I got my chocolate suizo and Serri got tramontana. We decided to take it back home and eat it while watching more ridiculous shows on her computer. It was somehow made into our “tradition” I guess, so why not do it on the last day? As always, Freddo did not disappoint me. It was hard to tell him goodbye as we left, but it had to be done. Breaking up is never easy. =)

Once we got home, Elsa had to leave to meet some of her family. She gave me a hug and told me that next time I come to BA, I can bring my boyfriend or husband and we can all go get “beautiful Persicco ice cream together”. I am definitely going to miss Elsa. She was a wonderful example of an Argentine and I hope that one day I will be able to see her again. (I realize that this means going back to BA…but I could definitely deal!) She gave me her address, and I want to send her a photo of the three of us. It was sad to say goodbye to her.

Serri and I continued to watch our television show, and before I knew it, my cab had arrived…and more confusion began! But before I get to that…

PAUSE:

To Serri, I am so glad that we were housemates. I really don’t think I could have asked for a more fun person to live with! I’m so glad we got along so well, and thank you so much for allowing me to use the TRON. =) Thank you for listening to all my long stories and not only for that, but for being interested in them! I don’t know if I will ever stop “Fake Screaming” and when I do it around people at home, I’m sure they’ll find it strange, but that will just give me the opportunity to talk about my great housemate I had while in BA. Hopefully, we’ll stay in touch and one day we can be owners of Freddo in the US in Minnesota (South Dakota) and Oklahoma. I can’t wait for our three person conferences! Have fun on your road trip with the boy! I’m so excited for you getting to see him soon! =) Thanks for everything!

Un-Pause:

Well, moving on…as I get downstairs, I realize that there are two cabs waiting for me. Luckily, Serri had a friend stop by who has been living in BA for some time now, and she was sufficiently bilingual enough to talk with the cab drivers to figure out what had happened. Apparently, when you explain to a cab company that you want one car for three people plus luggage, they ignore it and send two because they think it’s impossible to fit that much into one care. I’ve said it before, I’ve seen it done…I know it’s possible. However, both cabs were there, and they were refusing, flat out refusing to attempt all of us in one car. Now, we three (Thomas, Adam, and I) did not have enough pesos amongst us to pay for two cabs all the way to the airport, but they said that they take US dollars too, and luckily, we had gotten money from Expanish when we turned our cell phones back in. Since I was the only one there at the time, I made the decision for the three of us that we’d just suck it up and pay for both cabs. I was worried about being late to the airport and didn’t know how busy it would be, etc. So we took the two cabs. Luckily, Adam had a bit of extra money as well, so we were able to pay for the majority of it with our leftover pesos and didn’t have to worry about exchanging money later.

I would like to take a moment and remind you all, that the first song I heard in Argentina was in a cab ride leaving the airport to go to the hotel. It was “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt and I was amazed by hearing American music and naïve to think that all I would have heard was Spanish music. I’ve definitely learned by this point how much of an influence American music has in Argentina…because it’s everywhere. So, I would just like to say that the last song I heard in Argentina was in the cab to the airport, as we were pulling into the airport actually, and it was “Believe” by Cher. Ha. I just wanted to share, because at least one person had to be curious. =)

Once we were in the airport, things went by pretty easily. The line for me and Adam’s airline wasn’t too long and after we got through the line, we waited with Thomas in his line for awhile. We had to eventually break away from Thomas and went to our gate. The security in this airport was very interesting. Almost laid back, but with somewhat different precautions than what we are used to. The first security check point we went through was when we were dropping off our luggage. They just asked us questions about who packed our bags and if anyone gave us anything to take with us while we were in the airport. After we dropped our bags off, we had to walk through to where the gates were and just show guards that we had boarding passes. Then we went through the metal detectors. We didn’t have to take our shoes off or take our laptops or liquids out of our bags, which I thought was wonderful! I thought that surely that wasn’t all the security. But at this point in time, it was. We then walked through immigration where we had to fill out sheets explaining why we had been in Argentina. It was at least the third or fourth time I’d seen one of these so it was basically easy to fill out. We then had to turn in the papers and get our passports stamped. Then, we were in the terminals. Our gate was really close by and I was just wiped and ready to be home, so I stayed there and just sat. Adam didn’t feel like sitting and decided to walk around. I knew that going through security had been just way too good to be true, because about an hour and a half before our flight, they made us all get up with our purses and back packs and stand in a line to go through the final security check point. With Adam gone I had to carry all of our stuff into a line that was really pretty long. Luckily, he showed back up before it was my turn. Once I got to the front, I was asked another set of questions about who has been in contact with my bag and if I had left it alone at any point in time. Once I got past that, I had to go to the next part where someone got the opportunity to search through my bag. The only thing that lady asked me was if I had any lighters or matches on me, which I did not. It was pretty easy and looked as if she barely looked through my stuff. Adam had it a bit harder with his security check. He had bottled water and here, they don’t let you take any drinks on the plane with you if they’ve already been opened. Adam said, “I will finish it before I get on the plane.” And the guard said, “Finish it in front of me please.” So Adam had to drink almost a full bottle of water in front of him as he looked through his stuff. But even Adam had it a bit easier than others because one guard was making everyone take off their shoes and running a detector thing over them. I guess every guard had a specific thing to do, and so it was basically a random search because you didn’t really know what you were going to have to do.

Once we were finally through that, we had about thirty minutes before our flight, so we just talked and hung out. Finally, we were on our plane, with a ten hour flight to look forward to. I didn’t sleep…at all. I watched Mulan (yay for Disney) and three episodes of CSI, an episode of The Office, and a few other shows…It was a long flight. I tried sleeping, of course, but it was so uncomfortable and my body just wasn’t having it.

And thus ends my time in BA. This would be the point when I would say a few words (or paragraphs) about my time spent in the beautiful country of Argentina. But I am going to give that its own update.

Thank you all for reading! Un beso!