Yesterday seems like a lifetime ago! We disembarked the ship early in the morning and were sent into complete culture shock upon entering the city of Buenos Aires by taxi. We arrived at our new little apartment by 10:00 AM, greeted by the apt. owner right away. It is a very cute little place, small and very much like a NY city apartment of sorts. One bedroom, living room and little kitchen, 2 bathrooms, wooden floors and modern style decoration making it seem like home already. Alejandro, the young fellow who is the apartment owner is also an Ironman triathlete (did IM Brazil-can I say this has intrigued us?) who immediately got the drift of what we liked to do by association, despite our vast age difference. He was so friendly, spent about 2 hours telling us places to eat, shop, Tango, run, lift weights, have ice cream and general sightseeing tips. He is very sweet and was so kind to let us into the world of Buenos Aires in such a personal way!
I felt a bit out of sorts yesterday because of the transition. I need to "nest" to get settle anywhere we go when we travel. This includes unpacking, even down to my toothbrush. Although completely annoying at times, H has accepted this is part of my neurotic personality thank goodness..so amidst my grumbling, we managed to get to the American Express office, seems money is an important thing to have while traveling..:) There were several hundred people in the AE office, apparently thinking the same thing as we cashed some traveler's checks. This was about a 2 mile walk from our new apt. The taxis drive like madmen here and seem to be oblivious to the people crossing the street! On the route, we found a tourist booth that had the BIG MAP of B.A.. I had something to finally get my bearings about where we are..sort of..somehow we found our way back to our new home, on the way finding the "Disco Supermercado" which happens to be across the street. Well, thankfully I can feed my now every day addiction to food and chocolate! Actually we found the "panateria", where we stocked up on chocolate treats and fresh bread. And a corner vegetable and fruit stand and we are good to go for a few days!
Some friend from the ship contacted us to join them in their last evening meal in the city. It was about a 10 minute cab ride, in which I closed my eyes alot! Our taxi won the race it seems..after a really wonderful Argentinian meal, we said our goodbyes. A word about the nightlife here in Buenos Aires. It seems that dinner is around 10:00 PM at night, then the evening commences. Argentinians stay up much of the night and rise late in the morning. Gee, I have not done this since I was in my 20s...we have decided to give it a try..we managed to get to midnight last night and slept until 9:30..not bad! It is now 5:30 PM and I feel like it is noon so we are getting there! If we want to live as the people here do, we will have to suck it up and sleep in..things could be worse!
Hartley and I are still pinching ourselves-is this really our life??
We have done absolutely nothing today except Internet stuff, catching up a bit on Facebutt..I am getting skilled at reading the BIG MAP and we plan on doing...well..nothing today! Tomorrow, watch out Argentina. We have so many things to do and by tomorrow we will crawl out of our shell! It is in the 80s and humid with 90% of rain tomorrow late. I can't complain as I read that at home in New Mexico, they got slammed by a blizzard yesterday...I can't say I am homesick yet..:)
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