Without Further Delay...

Today's location: Cordoba, Argentina
Today's weather: high of 75, light rain
Today's read: Best Coach Ever about John Wooden, really quick read.

At last I have arrived! If I had to choose one word to describe the trek down here yesterday, it would be delayed. 3/4 of the legs of my trip were delayed starting with my bus shuttle to the airport. The bus shuttle arrived 40 minutes late. Fortunately, I had plenty of time before my flight so I wasn't in any hurry. I fell asleep almost instantly on the bus only to be awoken by a thunderous bang. The door enclosing the bottom compartment of the bus where our luggage was stored had inexplicably flung open and a few unlucky pieces landed on the shoulder of the road (we weren't on the freeway yet). We all to had to march outside the bus to claim our luggage to ensure that all the pieces had been recovered. I was definitely the only person on the bus who found this fiasco remotely humorous.

Our bus arrived even later due to the "incident" but it didn't matter because my flight to Miami was delayed as well. Turns out, by the time my flight landed in Miami, I had exactly one hour and 45 minutes to snag my suitcase at baggage claim (American Airlines couldn't check my bag all the way since my international flight was with a different airline), recheck my suitcase at the LAN desk and go through security all over again for my international flight. Sure, a tight timetable but manageable.

At the LAN check-in desk I presented my passport and receipt of reciprocity payment which is required for Argentina. When the LAN representative told me that my reciprocity receipt was invalid, I was beyond confused. Huh? What does that mean? Without any clue what was going on and with no recommendations on how to proceed, I decided to go to the LAN office and see if I could reprint my reciprocity receipt as a preliminary course of action. The woman there ushered me into a back office where I reprinted the barcode sheet from Supervisor Gomez's desk. I dashed back upstairs still confused and with my concern escalating, mostly because all these conversations in the Miami airport were in Spanish and that if this reprint didn't work, I actually didn't have a plan B and doubted that anyone was going to help me further. Yes, I realize I'm going to South America where they speak Spanish but I wasn't prepared for the immersion portion just yet! I give the reprinted sheet to the rep hoping that this barcode is somehow more clear but seriously thinking how I was going to get home from Miami today when this all hits the fan.

Miraculously, the barcode scanned and I was back in the game! I still don't know what the deal was here but  I didn't ask any further questions. I was given my boarding passes and booked it towards the security check point. When I left the check-in desk, it was 12:17 AM and my flight leaves at 1:00 AM. Of course, this flight is on time. Fortunately, the airport isn't too busy at this hour of the night so I was weaving through the security line faster than an alpine skier. So now I am that person running through the airport, working up a good musk only to plop down next to a complete stranger for 5 whole hours. Oh well. I made it.

Another low point was when I dropped my neck pillow in the bathroom in the Lima airport. Ick.

After this, it was smooth sailing. The flights were delayed a few minutes but I still made the right connections. The taxi from the airport in Cordoba was about 35 minutes and cost around US$15. Traffic was crazy and my driver even crazier. We love tapped another cab for sure but he claimed they were friends so it's fine. I even made a friend in the customs line in Cordoba, a girl from New Mexico who is here for 2 months to work at her church's mission. The mission has a day care and community dump (?). I told her I'd have a good amount of free time while I'm here and I'd love to volunteer if possible I gave her my email and we'll see.

A little extra turbulence over the Andes

2nd largest city in Argentina

Once I arrived at the hostel about 7pm on Thursday, one of the other workers, who is from Brazil, gave me the grand tour and showed me to my room. Apparently, they don't need me until Monday so I'm free to whatever my little heart desires until then. Let me gather all my friends here and plan something. Oh wait...