Day 20 - Leaving El Bolson

The Last of the Last Bus Ride
This morning I woke up on the bus. This was probably the longest, most uncomfortable bus ride I have taken. We finally arrived in Buenos Aires around 1pm. Once I arrived, I wasn't sure where I was going or how much it was going to cost me to get there, I only knew the address of the apartment I was supposed to be staying at. (Don't underestimate the size of Buenos Aires, it is huge.) Thank goodness Courtney wrote it down for me before she left El Bolson, because knowing me I would have procrastinated until my bus was about to leave then would have decided to look it up when I got to Buenos Aires. Because I wasn't sure how much it was going to cost me and I wasn't in the mood for some taxi driver to take me on a tour of the city to make himself more money I paid a little extra to have a driver from one of the private companies take me to the apartment.

The Wait

When I arrived at the apartment Courtney was not there. Either Kate or Lisa, whoever was there, could not let me in because she did not have a key and the buzzer to unlock the door was not working. (You need a key to get out of the building as well as in.) I don't really like that about here. It makes me nervous being trapped inside a building, just incase there was a fire or something.

So I ended up going to a cafe down the street. I read some more of my book and had lunch with, of course, wine. I never would have imagined I would drink so much wine in my entire life.

A while later I made my way back to the apartment. I most definitely looked like a tourist walking down the street. I had my backpack on. It was extra big because I had put my rain cover over it so I could strap more stuff to the outside of my bag. I have accumulated a lot of stuff in the past couple weeks here.

The Girls
I met the girls once I got to the apartment. I think we will have fun in the upcoming days. I had met Lisa once before at Sue's house. It was last summer, for Courtney's 27th birthday. I had not met Kate before. She worked with Courtney up at Chena Pump for a while.

A Shower…Finally
It was so nice to take a shower today. You have no idea. I was covered in volcano ash because while waiting for my bus in El Bolson the wind had been really whipping around stirring up the ash and coating everything in its path, including me. Volcano ash sticks in your hair more then anything else I have ever encountered, including paint, and believe me, I have encounter all types of dirt and grim. I was also able to get my cloths washed today. Hooray! This is only the second time I have been able to wash my cloths, once in Iguazu and now.

Dinner with Kate and Court
I was feeling pretty tired, so I wanted to stay at the apartment and read my book, but Kate and Courtney were going to go out for a steak dinner and I just cannot say no to steak. We ended up going to this restaurant called Soberbia 22. It was in the Polarmo neighborhood. So if you are ever in Buenos Aires I would go there for a steak. It is the neighborhood that Juan Pablo and Alisa both live in and where Courtney lived when she first moved to Buenos Aires. At dinner we socialized and talked politics, of course. It seems to be a trend when I am with Courtney. I do not mind though. It encourages me to learn more on the matters, and considering it is what makes the world go round it is important to know about.

Following dinner we made our way to a little ice cream shop then another restaurant to sit, chat, and drink another bottle of wine. The ice cream was great. The wine was bad.

Today was a really wonderful day. I really enjoyed my time with Kate and Courtney. I think Kate is someone I'll keep in touch with in the future.