Day Fifty-One: En Route to Buenos Aires

I wake up at 6am, after maybe two hours of sleep.  As long as I get myself on that plane, I’ll be ok.  I can sleep on my flight.

Gilberto picks me up and we fly to the airport the same way we did the first time.  I have no trouble checking in and getting through security and I am at my gate at 7:15am.  I have about an hour and a half to kill before my flight to Panama.  I don’t want to sit down because I am afraid I will fall asleep and miss my flight.

I wander around, back and forth through the duty free shops.  Two men notice me and it appears that they think that either I’m crazy or lost as I pass them for the eighth time in ten minutes.  I also look like a zombie.

Finally it’s time to board and I am off to Panama.  The flight is pleasant, but why do flight attendants wear excess amounts of make up?  They must spend at least an hour every morning to look this way and it isn’t very attractive.

I make my connection to Buenos Aires.  I buckle my seat belt, put my ear plugs in, pull my eye mask down and I’m out for the next six hours.

I land and fly through immigration where I am greeted by a very rude Argentinian customs lady.  “You must pay $140,” she tells me.

“Hola! ¿cómo estás?” I respond.   “Just curious, what is it for?” I ask.

“When we come to the US, we must pay for a visa.  When you come here, you must pay too!”

I’m not sure where her resentment comes from, maybe a bad experience traveling to the US, but I pay the fee and move on.

All of the customs people are women and they are beautiful.  As are the woman who sell taxi rides.  It seems like an odd profession for such beautiful people, but perhaps the service industry didn’t work out for them because they aren’t very good at service.  I shouldn’t judge though.  I don’t think I would be very happy in their job either.

I take a cab to my hotel, where I quickly make my way to bed.  Sadly I don’t have the energy for a Saturday night out in Buenos Aires.