¡Ya estoy aquí!

Before I left Newark, I was thinking that a 3.5-hour layover in Miami was more than overkill.My flight was to board at 4:45 and arrive at 8 in Miami, then depart again at 1130 for a 9am arrival. However, instead of boarding at 445, the flight was delayed till 7. and then again. and again. finally, at 7:30, the flight arrived, debarked and we began to board. Then we had to wait 45 minutes for other travelers to sort their tickets out. THEN we were 17th in line for takeoff.

Long story short, we didn't leave Newark until 8:15.

I sat it out between two other girls who were sweating missing their flights; a Rachael who was headed for Rio de Janeiro, and another girl headed for New Orleans. By the time our plane touched down at 11:20, I was the only one whose flight had not left... and mine had minutes to spare.

So after climbing over half the seats between me and the front and "por favor"-ing my way past Cuban mothers and daughters, I sprinted to the adjacent gate where my flight was (thank god) waiting... with its own delay. The fates smiled upon me--here I was cursing our 17th-in-line takeoff for costing me the crucial minutes that would have cost me my flight, and here was my plane, waiting an extra hour, not for me, but for a busted toilet.

But I digress.

After a near-sleepless flight to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires, Kirsten (a fellow ISA student on my flight) and I arrived exhausted but excited. There was no airport tax, no customs duty, just a funny health form asking about my flu symptoms in the last week and a mask-wearing health worker observing our temperatures for signs of that good ol' H1N1 swine flu virus. We met with about thirty other ISA estudiantes in the airport, where we were then herded onto what was probably the comfiest, most luxurious bus I've ever seen. 

Muy lejos, our bus arrived at Universidad de Belgrano, where I met with my host mother Adriana, and my American housemate, Eric. The apartment is tiny; it has three bedrooms and two pint-size bathrooms; but it has a sick view facing south towards downtown from the tenth floor that continues to stoke my appetite for adventure. Adriana's cooking, although quite simple and what one might consider traditional Argentine cuisine, has continued to sate both my and Eric's appetite without fail. 

Mas aventuras después.