day 1 in BA

wow is the best adjective i can use right now.. i've seen so much in 24 hours its ridiuclous. The fairwell was a nice one as I waited patiently and was accompanied by Jimbo for a while. After security, we waited for even more time but thankfully I was entertained by Bear Grylls and Will Ferrel scaling ice walls on Man vs. Wild. Our flight to Miami was delayed an hour but made for the most beautiful sunset that shed just enough light to read by. By the end of the hour and 1/2 flight, it was storming and I saw lighting bolt horizontal to our plane just minutes before landing (all I could think about was that plain from Brazil and what they might've experienced).We arrived to Miami and waited around for another hour delayed flight to ARGENTINA! We were feeling somewhat anxious about dinner as it was 11 45 and we hadn't eaten since lunch. That served as an early welcome to Argentine eating schedule which I will explain later :) and SO we boarded..2-5-2 is how the seats were arranged and thankfully mom knows I like the window and thats where I sat..32 J next to Ernesto who spoke 5 languages! I decided to check our the situation before taking some medicine to help induce sleep..I decided I'd rather sleep than eat and began to drift off only to hear DINNER vaguely out of one ear, which quickly got my attention..it was 1:30am..dinner time! Suprisingly the "poscho" (pollo or chicken with argentine accent) was great, accompanied with mash potatoes, green beans, a roll and small salad..I was definitely a member of the clean plate club and will be for the duration of my stay. I chatted with my seat partner Ernesto and learned many helpful things before drifting back off to sleep. Apparently it happened pretty fast because when I woke up this morning, my tray was still out and trash cleared :) I got a good 5 1/2 hours of sleep sitting upright..and thankfully when I had to go to the bathroom, Ernesto did too and had already gotten up..perfect timing! At about 7:45 we realized it was morning and could see the ice crystals all over the windows. They served a nice breakfast of a crossant, orange juice, yogurt, and cafe (coffee). One strange thing I saw out the window was a lake that looked like it was covered in snow. Ernesto informed me that it was indeed salt and other minerals..so strange. He said you can swim in it in the summer but if you open you're eyes you're a dead man! I wonder if you can float in it like the dead sea though becuase that'd be cool. One other thing I was talking to Ernesto about was the greeting becuase I saw two men kiss checks outside the our plane once on the ground. He quickly explained by example how to do this and leaned over and kissed my check.. I was utterly shocked and all I did in return was to make a kiss noise. He quickly informed that this would be considered rude and you have to kiss back! haha Better not even think about the face germs while meeting people! So To leave we had to put on face masks check out with customs - I now realize in the midst of this I left my bible on the plane :(.... Then came my first crucial encouter..the customs women saw something missing from my form but I couldn't understand what..my friend Katie finally caught what she was speedily saying and worked it out. We waited a while for our luggage and I got some good suggestions for resturants from other passengers waiting. At this point we weren't sure if someone was going to be waiting for us or not becuase the other group had arrived at 7 and it was now 11. We gathered our things, and headed out through a door that closed up to look like a wall..and there was David! He introduced us to Angela and went to get the two other girls who had been waiting for us..our roomates, poor kasey and caroline. We enjoyed the 35 min ride into town and got a little view of the poor outskirts of BA. We met our madre at the Universidad de Palermo which is where our classes will be and stuffed our things into a radio taxi for a squished ride to our apartment. Isabel (the mom) has a family but they aren't here. INstead there are two other boys from other programs, Ian from Idaho and Tommy from LA. We live in Recoleta which is the ritzy part of BA comparative to the east side of NY (so i'm told). We have a door man and the keys are so old timy its riduclous..not to mention the elevators! We live in a high rise right off of Montevideo on the 4th floor. Now..the elevators, the smallest ones you've EVER seen..they have two old criss-crossy iron gates you have to close and there's two ways out so you must close 4 doors to get anywhere..the side panels of the elevator are non-existent so you can exit either door..so you go up past staircases..anyways, it's just weird. Our apartment is pretty big..small kitchen and study area, huge family room, 3 rooms down a long hallway with 2 bathrooms right next to each other (including biddays (sp?)) and Isabel's room is on the other side of the house. We really havent seen much of her as she went to the supermarket and then left for the evening. Today we showered quickly after our arrival, met up with our 10th floor friends in our program and headed to the mall. We stopped to sit at an outside table for a minute to look at the map to keep us from looking too turisty and a man immediately came out to give us menus. In spanish I told him we were looking for a place to eat and get empanadas and he insisted we were in the right spot (but it was super ritzy and we didnt want it). So the girls and I got our game plan together, and i went in to hand him the menus and told him we didnt have pesos becuase that was true. So...stop 1..get money form the mall (patio bullrich) Stop 2...eat something. Before either of these could happen, a nicely dressed older man came up to us motioning at his car and insisting he was trustworthy. I felt bad for him because he really did look reliable and wanted to help but I told him it was our first day and we couldn't take any chances..aren't you proud mom :) SO.. the mall was about 7 blocks away and it was chilly about 52 I'd guess outside today. THe mall was very nice and everyone was out dining. It was basically like all of these resturants were just gathered in the main plaza but they still had waiters and stuff. Our meal of a simple TINY salad and quesadilla with water was 24$ (pesos), a bit on the expensive side because its about $7US. We napped for a while after this escapade and ate pizza with our house boys. WE reunited with the 10th floor girls and their house boy (who has been here since march and is very helpful) and met up with Will and David. We found a nice resturant and it was quite the struggle ordering and paying and all of that but we did it! They gave us peanuts, bread and fried potatoes while we were waiting but you dont get a drink until you order..and then its bottled and only one (a struggle for me because I usually get a refill about 3 times). I got an empanada, cheese and ham, and it was great. An interesting fact is that they charge sitting fee regardless of what you get, and then add tip on top of that. So far things have been on the expensive side but to put into perspective, my meal tonight- a coke, empanada and lots of free bread, plus a sitting fee and tip was $18..about 6 or 7$US..way better than lunch. I expect to find much cheaper things outisde of the confines of Recoleta. Its definitely time for a good nights sleep though and we have a city tour tomorrow at 9. So buenos noches!