The Journey

On Tuesday morning (January 18, 2011) I began rearranging the stuff I`d tossed at my suitcase the night before. Being that it´s summer in South America--perhaps one pair of jeans would do and instead pack light T-shirts and shorts. And then there was the laptop question. Would there be wifi? Could I dodge the challenges of strange keyboards and dicey equipment by bringing my own? Eventually I was packed and my friend Fred gave me a lift to the Burbank Airport--a very small place for such a big adventure. Being small, my calculation of arriving an hour early was perfect. It took all of 15 minutes to check in and get scanned and then 45 min to make last-minute calls to friends and family.

The first leg of the flight was to Dallas. I chatted briefly with my seatmates and then dove into Stumbling on Happiness a book that had been festering on my bookshelf for years. Such a witty writer and such wonderful observations about the importance of being in one´s power! How elders in nursing homes thrived when they could choose when they would be visited vs having a weekly visitor show up on her/his own schedule. I began to reflect on this journey -- all on my terms with nothing much booked other than a return flight from Rio de Janeiro and a welcome invitation from Celeste and Gabriel, my couchsurfing hosts in Buenos Aires.

In Dallas I engaged a maze of airport trains to an International Terminal, grabbed a BBQ pulled pork sandwich and cole slaw and boarded what would be a very long flight to Buenos Aires. I`d selected a seat in the back of the plane on a long row with almost no one, hoping I`d be able to stretch out for at least some of the journey. I entertained myself by watching an endless array of movies, TV shows, etc. It was kind of a blur -- the ones that stand out were a piece on the making of The Social Network and a documentary on the great tombs of China with lots of tense music when the discussion of burying a king`s countless concubines was raised. As much as I could I stetch myself out along the vacant row of seats beside me. Every so often I`d wake up and note that we were now in Central America..then Peru...then Bolivia...and then Northern Chile. As we neared Argentina, the plane got turbulent. I`d gotten up in a sleepy stupor to used the bathroom and as I was returning to my seat a flight attendant barked at me to grab any seat right now! I flopped into the nearest seat and banged my left baby toe really badly. I yelped loudly and she asked if I was alright. (As it turned out I sort of wasn`t, but I didn´t yet know that half my foot would soon turn black and blue and that walking around would be a bit painful for a couple of days.)

As we arrived in Buenos Aires, a rainstorm hit and our plane was forced to hover overhead for nearly an hour. Eventually we landed and then the trip became a bit more expensive. Being a visitor from the U.S. I had to pay an $140 entry fee...and then it was raining really hard and there was no way I was going to drag my bag into unknown busses and subways trying to get to my hosts`place. Thus a $35 taxi was in order. Soon enough I was at Celeste and Gabriel`s airy apartment and was shown my room which is otherwise a top floor office adjacent to a sunny patio.