Well, I´ve finally got round to writing something. This is my first blog story ever and I´ve not really read many from other people, so if this is incoherent then many apologies! I´m using this mainly so that you guys back home can keep tabs on my whereabouts and also for me to have a record of what I did so I don´t forget. It will be by no means a literary masterpiece!
I´ll start from the beginning. Tuesday 6th April 2010. After a tearful farewell, I boarded a flight to Buenos Aires (BA), via Sao Paulo in Brazil. The journey was 11:30 hours long. I managed to sleep for almost 7 of those hours along 3 seats, so I landed in Brazil feeling pretty ok! I had a 7 hour wait in the airport, which was not fun. On the plane to BA, I sat beside a lovely freelance journalist from Sao Paulo who live in BA. She gave me lots of advice, we had a nice chat and she even gave me her number so that we could meet up this weekend. She was giving me advice mainly to do with safety, which was a little disconcerting to hear that from a resident of the city. We landed and I got some money changed. The bus number that I was told to catch was wrong, but after struggling for a bit I finally found the bus I was due to get on. It was pretty crowded so I was standing near the front. I was petrified as being the only white person, I got a lot of stares. Just when I thought the bus was rammed, the driver continued to let more and more people on until it was like the Picadilly line during rush hour. To top that, the bus took 2 and a half hours, an hour longer than the guidebook stated. The bus slowly got quieter and I started to wonder when we were reaching the centre of town. I asked a girl sitting on her own. She came to sit next to me and was so friendly. She explained to me how far away we were and where I should get off. She spoke excellent English and we had a great conversation about cultural differences. She told me she really admires what I am doing, said I was really brave and I should be careful with my belongings and to stay alert at all times. Again, this worried me hearing something like that from a local. The longer I am here, the more I realise that they just assuming the worst. For example, there are some tourists who go around with their bag open, wearing ostentatious jewellery, looking lost and being very loud. The locals expect you to act in such a way, so they prepare you for that. I have followed all the advice they give, and other travellers I have met have had no problems. From what I have heard, this is a relatively safe city. Argentina has the same warning level as Britain! The threat of terrorism and pickpocketing is almost identical. So anyway, it was dark when I finally got off the bus and then I got lost. I finally made it to hostel extremely flustered - my imagination is my worst enemy! They were really wonderful and friendly. After some food, a shower and a good nights sleep I was fine again!
Yesterday was a pretty non-eventful day. I met some cool people including a girl called Alex from England on her last leg of an around the world trip by herself. She had lots of stories to tell. I searched around for a spanish school to start taking lessons. I went along today to check it out and it seems great. I also took with me Alex and two other people in my hostel that fancy learning. We all start Monday; I´m going to do a 3 week course. I have been trying really to find couch hosts to stay with in this city, but they are hard to come by! I´ll keep trying. My hostel is great and extremely cheap (4 pound a night) so I´ll be ok here for a little while at least. Tonight, I´m going out for steak with Alex and two American guys, then maybe to a birthday party with a potential couch host. I´ll keep you posted! Weather is beautiful. Adios, buenas tardes!
