On the Way to Buenos Aires! - Friday

Ok...

I am going to quickly try to write about the trip, so pardon any grammatical or spelling errors. M - please feel free to add to this. I am so very tired and can't remember everything.

Nevertheless.....

D and I decided to take the Super Shuttle to JFK on Friday night. We'd had a minor argument about this. D was concerned about money and traffic. I was concerned about ease and the weight of my luggage. I said "I am calling a shuttle. You can join me or not. I can meet you at the airport if you would prefer that." He offered to carry my luggage and finally said "Well, I guess if you're taking a shuttle I'll come along."

The shuttle, of course, was late.

And then we hit traffic.

And then the driver got lost picking up the other passengers.

And then there was more traffic.

And irate passengers.

And D being in one of his rare bad moods.

I feared a grand "I told you so" but luckily it was foiled by the coincidence that the last passenger picked up by the shuttle was from Buenos Aires!

D was quickly distracted from his vile mood because he was able to speak Spanish and go over the map of Buenos Aires with a local. I had to look away as I was getting carsick in the back of the van. I listened, though, and made sure to remember the tips she offered. She said things like "Tango is for tourists" and "Palermo Viejo is like New York City... trendy... for people like you..." and "You must go to Tigre... it is like the Hamptons."

I couldn't get over the coincidence. Not only was she on our flight, but the two people in the front were also on the same flight to LA! What are the odds? About an hour after we were dropped off it occurred to me that the shuttle people probably arrange for people who are taking the same flights to be on the same shuttle so as to minimize drop offs. But I was really excited for a while.

We arrived at the airport with over two hours to spare. It was slightly awkward since we said goodbye to Valeria. D said "Should we hang out with her in the line!? And then we'll be on the plane with her!" "She probably wants to be alone," I said. He said "But I was hoping she'd invite us to her house in Buenos Aires!!"

I love D's faith in humanity. I wish I wasn't so cynical. I wish I could assume that strangers want to welcome me into their homes when they themselves haven't been home in weeks.

We met up with M and A, who had been at the airport for hours and who had forgotten a piece of their luggage in Worcester. There was much discussion of what should be done - ship the clothes? Buy new ones? Either way, I was envious of their packing savvy as they had packed comfortable clothes to change into on the plane. It never occurred to me to bring shamrock patterned pajama bottoms for the flight. Oh well.

The flight did not feel like 10.5 hours.

I woke up a couple of times during my occasional sleep to wander to the bathroom. Each time I struggled with my shoes. In my delirium I could never quite put them on. When we landed, I realized that my feet had swollen to nearly twice their normal width. Crazy. I had no idea that happened. I also lost my glasses one time and had to wake D up to find them for me. I didn't want to step on them, although it wouldn't have been a travesty considering I'd brought three other pairs.

I didn't watch the movies or read a word of what I brought or play cards or listen to my IPod. I just ate my vegetarian meal and slept. Apparently the long flight wasn't as dramatic as I'd feared.