One of the classes I sat in on at the UAP was ¨Ciencia y Religion¨- Southern´s equivalent of Earth Science, which I never took. So I learned some new things (at least partially learned) about tetonic plates and dinosaurs and volcanoes. The teacher is really passionate about the subject matter, so the recent volcano in Chile was an exciting thing to talk about in class.

But not so exciting in real life... I had heard that some flights out of Buenos Aires had been grounded by the volcanic ash, but the news predicted flights today would go out as normal, and I had heard that flights yesterday afternoon left as well. So last night at midnight, I boarded a flechabus to Buenos Aires. I arrived early this morning and spent the day exploring the city, blissfully away from internet and news. I got to the airport extra early just to make sure all went okay. When I tried to self-check in, the machine couldn´t find my itinerary. That´s when I noticed the long line of red ¨cancelados¨flashing on the screens. The next flight they can put me on (hopefully) leaves Sunday night - 3 days from now.

Since this is the weather´s fault, the airlines don´t help with anything. Hostels and affordable hotels are full all over the city. Ultimately, it´s cheaper for me to take a 6-hour bus ride back to la Villa tonight (in 6 days, I will have spent 4 nights on a bus), spend a few more days there, and come back to Buenos Aires again later in the day Sunday.

I was really looking forward to coming home today. I´ve enjoyed this trip so much, but I´m tired - physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. I feel like I just want to sink into a big, soft bed of comfort - effortless communication, friends who know me well, jokes that I get, and just having the things around me be familiar instead of unknown.

I hear that I´m supposed to adapt in times like these. Well, I don´t really have a choice. The clock keeps on ticking, whether I´m happy or not. So I´m going to try to be happy:

• I have 12 pesos left in cash (about $3), but I have a free place to stay at the UAP and free cafeteria food (which is not bad, actually. My last post may have made the food situation seem worse than it is. There is some food here I like a lot, like chipas and orange-flavored soy milk!)
• I have to ride the bus again tonight, but this time it´s cama (last night it wasn´t).
• This complicates my upcoming trip out West, but at least I´m driving instead of flying, and hopefully Jones will wait a day for me...
• I´ve had a lot of extra practical opportunities because of this to stumble along in Spanish.
• Although some people in the airport were not helpful (in fact rather difficult), I found many others who were, like the guy who gave me his map today and the airport security guard who walked me to Retiro when we returned after dark.

If you can´t tell, writing this is my way of giving myself a pep talk. As much as I wish I were on a plane to Miami right now instead of in an internet cafe in the bus station, these next three days of life are still a gift, and I will try to find things I enjoy in them.

2 comments

1. Nicholas on June 10, 2011 at 11:07 AM

   today could be a better day. probably.

    
2. Andrea on June 13, 2011 at 10:08 PM

   You probably don't want to hear about how "brave and adventurous" you are right now, huh? :) Sorry for the mishap...it is better than crashing because of ash clouds though, right? :) I really hope you were able to make it back on Sunday though.