Estoy aqui en Buenos Aires!
OK, damn it, I´m finally here!!! It´s been a journey from hell, but I made it. Let me break it down for all of you...
My mom and I decided to stay overnight at the Hyatt in SF the night before my flight, seeing how I was leaving at o´dark hundred the next morning. We got up at 3 AM, but we both probably only slept for 1 to 2 hours the night before. My flight left at something like 6 AM (I blocked it out already). I flew straight to Miami, where I spent some time at the Jose Cuervo Tequileria before boarding the 8 PM flight to Medellin. I arrived at the MDE airport at about 1030 and immediately had a sinking feeling. After watching the carousel go round and round, my doubts were confirmed. I joined all the other angry Colombians in line to inquire about my baggage, and learned that they had decided to leave my (2) 50 pound bags in Miami because of weight concerns. How in the hell would 100 pounds of food and clothes make one bit of difference?!!! Anyway, I tried to explain to the Colombian American Airlines workers how this was unacceptable, especially considering the fact that I was supposed to be flying out to Buenos Aires the next day at 4 PM. They told me that the baggage wouldn´t get in until 9 PM the next night. I basically went off for about an hour, telling them that I didn´t think they truly understood the problem that I was facing. She told me that there was nothing she could do about it and that she couldn´t even call AA because they didn´t have a PHONE!!! Amazing. Finally, I decided that the best option would be to send them down to Argentina, even though I knew that having these GIGANTIC bags would be a total and complete pain in the ass. I asked them to call me the next morning to confirm that they were indeed sent to Argentina. After not getting the call (big surprise), I spent the next hour harrassing them via the phone. First, they told me they were in Miami. That made me really pissed. Then, they told me that they didn´t know where they were, but they´d call me back. They didn´t do that. Surprise number 2. Then they hung up on me, then didn´t speak English, and finally just flat our ignored my calls. I decided to pack up what little clothing I had into my old school backpack and head to the airport. Did I mention how incredibly furious I was with the whole situation? You can imagine.
So I left last night from Medellin to Panama City. I got in at about 6 and waited for a couple of hours before heading out to Santiago, Chile. This was a 6 hour flight, but it was made much better by a showing of Talladega Nights with Will Farrell. That movie is hilarious. It made everything that much better. I didn´t sleep at all the entire flight. I got in at what was technically 2 AM, but the time change made it 4 AM. I got about an hour of sleep sleeping sideways on a bench before boarding the flight this morning at 730, arriving at about 930. Then came the job of trying to track down my baggage, which was quite a chore. I finally got a cab and arrived at my hostel. It´s a total piece of shit. I paid for a private room and got a glorified closet. Plus, there are only gang showers there. I think I´ll end up using it as storage only! I´ll probably crash there a couple of nights and splurge for the hotel for a couple of other days. I can´t live like this. Hopefully though, I´ll meet some cool people to hang with.
OK, that´s enough. My story could´ve been much more detailed, but I need to get out and see the city. I don´t belong in this slummy internet cafe right now. I just wanted to let you all know that things are good. I´ll write more soon!
BK
posted by Ben @ 10:45 AM
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