Can this be related? haha, I don't really think so but in the end all is well anyway.
So far my trip has been going according to plan and absolutely trouble free, which I feel very lucky for. And of course the small troubles which happened to me yesterday are not to be considered any else than just very annoying. I arrived at Sao Paulo Guarulho airport yesterday expecting to go on my flight to Montevideo in the evening.
I arrived quite early so I just asked the airline ground staff if I oculd drop my bag off already. It turned out into a small nightmare since they did not have my booking.
It wasn't the airline's fault though, but my travel agent's. And of course it happened on a Saturday evening. So I spent what seemed to be endless minutes on hold calling the emergency number which after the third time and too many R$ spent led me to someone based in Australia...who didn't even realise which country I was in, even after I had involved Merissa to help me and she had called that same girl twice... Well here goes efficiency for the famous travel agent, which does not deserve to be named as I would consider it publicity and it is the last thing I want to do for them right now, and I am weighing my words after what happened and knowing I have worked my short career in tourism... The way my booking has been messed up with is an absolute disgrace and the girl I was in contact with when I booked was super nice but a bit too relaxed and now I am paying the price for it.
I have to add as well that Brazilian people in general are super helpful and friendly, I mean a man even gave a phone card he had not used to call the damn emergency number! But when you talk to a clerk behind a desk it is really not easy because they sometimes look like they are not concerned at all and like you can do whatever you want even the the most polite way, they will not move a finger. So it can feel very frustrating. Or even having to go to another office which is "temporarily" closed with a sign "we're back soon" - like I'm going on a coffee break please bear with me 5 minutes - but actually turns out no one shows up for more than half an hour.... This is Brazilian bureaucracy at its best, but hey, it is quite the same in many countried, I think even including France (except in France the clerks might even be rude to you at times which makes it worse).
So anyway, I had to pay myself another ticket if I wanted to go to Montevideo, which I did with another, cheaper airline and went on to Montevideo.
Luckily, things cleared up as I arrived in Montevideo, except the weather. here I stepped into winter a little bit more. But I was expecting it. I mean around 10 degrees at night 16 during the day and rain. But I am quite grateful for how efficient things are here, I arrived late at night and I found a shuttle bus which took me in front of my hostel. Hostel which has reception open 24 hours (I had not booked). And the best surprise is how good the hotel is. I mean it remains a hostel so there is nothing super thrilling, but the building is beautiful inside, well maintained with high ceilings, wooden staircase and I have to admit a bit of girly deco in places; and quite importantly really nice staff! I think I also feel good about being able to communicate more here. first of all I am forcing myself to speak a bit spanish but also people here are not afraid to speak in english when needed. I had planned to stay only today in Montevideo and go on to Colonia Del Sacramento quite quickly to cross to Buenos Aires soon. But I kind of have not seen Montevideo in it's true light yet. Mainly because I arrived today on a Sunday and the streets are totally empty, it's like a ghost town! or maybe it was still early!
So I booked another night, I am feeling a good atmosphere here, so let's stay one more night.
Here goes my first day in Uruguay, cold, rainy but feeling better than any time during the last 24-48 hours! (sorry to add this but Sao Paulo was very polluted)
Vamos a vivir otras aventuras! (I hope this is correct).
