The saga of life is a continuing story that with most reach a level of stability and some sort of contentment with all that is and all that seemingly will be...........I can't do that. I am constantly looking for the next new thing or the next thing I haven't done or eaten or.. well you get the point. So to add to the I was petrified and just knew I couldn't do it list was to navigate around Buenos Aires as a non-native non Spanish speaker ( wonder what the school acronym for that would be ). I left you all yesterday as I had found out that the rest of my group would not be arriving until 14 hours later than me. Now you need to realize that when I say that , what I am actually saying is that the plane would land 14 hours after mine did. Then my friends would need to deplane, go through customs , get their luggage and then find a way to the hotel and finally..... ride the 30-45 minutes to the hotel.
In light of the new development in my day, I made the executive decision to leave the airport and strike out on my own............in the dark and not speaking the language............
Now some may say, " Wow! Dumb move there Mrs B".... but honestly, what were my options? I spoke with the information desk and they directed me to the shuttle bus ticket counter and for $140.00 pesos, I was the proud owner of a shuttle and hotel transfer ticket ( something I hoped I had communicated correctly or who knew where I was going). I wandered out of terminal A and found terminal B , the home of the shuttle transfer and away we went. Some 30 minutes later, I found myself at the hotel transfer terminal for the bus. So far so good!! I was directed to the correct hotel transfer car , luggage was stowed and I was safely secure in the back seat. That is when the whole , You did great thing, started to crumble. As we all gave our destinations to the driver , and he looked at his GPS , that little voice in the back of my head started screaming..... My turn: I would like to go to Ibis Hotel. It is on Uruguay Street. The driver said , Where? Well I mean he said , Que? A quick call to his supervisor got him directions ( ummm what was the GPS for? ) and we were off. B.A. is a lovely city that doesn't wake up until about 1pm and this was now 6am. Needless to say, there was nothing happening.
No matter I think, this is probably a good thing. We will get to the hotel faster, I can get a shower and go get a nap. THERE IT IS!!!!! Ibis Hotel. Home for the next two days!! Whoo Hoo! ( I know , you are all thinking that this adventure wasn't so bad. Right? Admit it! ) I head to the check in desk and the little man began checking for the group in the system..... and he checks and checks and ummm checks . No booking. My heart fell out of my body. Trying to act calm and composed, I squeaked.. What do you mean? Long story short - wrong hotel , middle of the night ( early morning ) and a great human being that found the right Ibis Hotel, called me a cab and sent me off the 5 winding blocks to the correct hotel. The cabbie was awesome and refused to leave until I was inside the door and so he earned his $30.00 pesos for my 5 block ride.
Yea!!! the right hotel!! And the group is in the system.... a room for me? Yea !! a room for me! A room for me right now? Noooooooooooo!!! Could you go sit in the corner couch and wait ma'am? Off I went and found my new couch home for the next 4 hours!
Thus endeth the last few hours of the first few hours in Argentina.....
I was shaken out of my groggy daze about 10 o'clock as one of the iEARN folks already at the hotel found me. Actually got into my room , took that shower and got ready to begin the next 12 hours in the bustling city of Buenos Aires ......
In light of the new development in my day, I made the executive decision to leave the airport and strike out on my own............in the dark and not speaking the language............
Now some may say, " Wow! Dumb move there Mrs B".... but honestly, what were my options? I spoke with the information desk and they directed me to the shuttle bus ticket counter and for $140.00 pesos, I was the proud owner of a shuttle and hotel transfer ticket ( something I hoped I had communicated correctly or who knew where I was going). I wandered out of terminal A and found terminal B , the home of the shuttle transfer and away we went. Some 30 minutes later, I found myself at the hotel transfer terminal for the bus. So far so good!! I was directed to the correct hotel transfer car , luggage was stowed and I was safely secure in the back seat. That is when the whole , You did great thing, started to crumble. As we all gave our destinations to the driver , and he looked at his GPS , that little voice in the back of my head started screaming..... My turn: I would like to go to Ibis Hotel. It is on Uruguay Street. The driver said , Where? Well I mean he said , Que? A quick call to his supervisor got him directions ( ummm what was the GPS for? ) and we were off. B.A. is a lovely city that doesn't wake up until about 1pm and this was now 6am. Needless to say, there was nothing happening.
No matter I think, this is probably a good thing. We will get to the hotel faster, I can get a shower and go get a nap. THERE IT IS!!!!! Ibis Hotel. Home for the next two days!! Whoo Hoo! ( I know , you are all thinking that this adventure wasn't so bad. Right? Admit it! ) I head to the check in desk and the little man began checking for the group in the system..... and he checks and checks and ummm checks . No booking. My heart fell out of my body. Trying to act calm and composed, I squeaked.. What do you mean? Long story short - wrong hotel , middle of the night ( early morning ) and a great human being that found the right Ibis Hotel, called me a cab and sent me off the 5 winding blocks to the correct hotel. The cabbie was awesome and refused to leave until I was inside the door and so he earned his $30.00 pesos for my 5 block ride.
Yea!!! the right hotel!! And the group is in the system.... a room for me? Yea !! a room for me! A room for me right now? Noooooooooooo!!! Could you go sit in the corner couch and wait ma'am? Off I went and found my new couch home for the next 4 hours!
Thus endeth the last few hours of the first few hours in Argentina.....
I was shaken out of my groggy daze about 10 o'clock as one of the iEARN folks already at the hotel found me. Actually got into my room , took that shower and got ready to begin the next 12 hours in the bustling city of Buenos Aires ......
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