Now where was I?
Well, I was in Easter Island. Now I'm in DC. Needless to say, a few things have transpired in the last week...
First of all and most recently, I arrived fine back in DC via Miami despite Hurricane Katrina. In fact, I didn't know that weather was at all a concern or possible impediment to my return until I arrived in Santiago and people were talking about it. The flight was packed with extra airline crew because they needed to move people to Miami to get the flights going out of the city. Upon arrival in Miami airport, I could definitely see vestigages of Ms. Katrina's fury -- there were ceiling tiles down inside the airport and visible water damage. But it didn't affect me at all. Thank goodness!
But, I don't want to get too ahead of myself. First, the rest of my South American adventures! After Easter Island, we flew through Santiago to Buenos Aires. We didn't think to try and check our bags all the way through, even though we were flying on the same airline (but had booked our tickets at different times). So, even though we had a "legal" connection (which is two hours for an international flight), we were sweating it to get off the plane. We left a bit late and were seated in the middle of the plane, so everyone who took their time pulling down all their carryons was the cause of some anxiety for us -- especially since A really, REALLY had to go to the bathroom. We got out, and she ran to be the first to the bathroom (good thing, cuz there ended up being quite a substantial line) and then were directed to immigration.
Wa-hat?
Easter Island is part of Chile, so what was the deal with immigration? We couldn't figure it out. And of course, there was a massive line... and we had to go through to catch our flight. Well, it turned out that yes, we did have to go through immigration, but no, we didn't need to stand in the line. The Easter Island domestic passengers were just waved through (while those on the flight who originated in Peepete, Tahiti had to go through immigration). None of this was marked anywhere or directly explained to us, but we figured it out and off again we dashed to get our bags to recheck them for our truly international flight to Buenos Aires. I am certain that people thought we were insane the was we were running around...
But in the end, no problem. We checked in to our next flight fairly easily. In fact, the Santiago airport is generally quite efficient. It only took us 15 minutes from offloading the plane to checking in again for our next flight. Nothing!
The ride to BA was really bumpy however, because of bad weather and general air currents over the Andes. Between us, both A and I were suffering all the ills of such turbulence. She was nervous, and I started feeling air sick. Great combination! But at least we weren't both suffering the same malaise, or else we would have been feeding each other's anxiety.
Arrival in BA was unremarkable. We had arranged a package tour, so we had a driver waiting to pick us up. How nice was that! There was a guy with a sign [my last name] on it, so the joke became that A was Mr. [my last name]... Our ride into the city was shared with a Chilean guy who quickly took a shine to A, and they chatted the whole ride back. He was in BA on business; he imports American goods into Chile. We found out that his company imports some American faves -- Pringles chips, Pop Secret popcorn, among other snack foods. He gave A his card and suggested dinner if our schedules allowed... (which it didn't).
The hotel was very European -- small, small, small but sufficient for our needs. More about BA and the rest of my trip in a later email. Gotta run now.
Classes start tomorrow, so I have to get my brain in the right place to prepare. Wish me luck!
First of all and most recently, I arrived fine back in DC via Miami despite Hurricane Katrina. In fact, I didn't know that weather was at all a concern or possible impediment to my return until I arrived in Santiago and people were talking about it. The flight was packed with extra airline crew because they needed to move people to Miami to get the flights going out of the city. Upon arrival in Miami airport, I could definitely see vestigages of Ms. Katrina's fury -- there were ceiling tiles down inside the airport and visible water damage. But it didn't affect me at all. Thank goodness!
But, I don't want to get too ahead of myself. First, the rest of my South American adventures! After Easter Island, we flew through Santiago to Buenos Aires. We didn't think to try and check our bags all the way through, even though we were flying on the same airline (but had booked our tickets at different times). So, even though we had a "legal" connection (which is two hours for an international flight), we were sweating it to get off the plane. We left a bit late and were seated in the middle of the plane, so everyone who took their time pulling down all their carryons was the cause of some anxiety for us -- especially since A really, REALLY had to go to the bathroom. We got out, and she ran to be the first to the bathroom (good thing, cuz there ended up being quite a substantial line) and then were directed to immigration.
Wa-hat?
Easter Island is part of Chile, so what was the deal with immigration? We couldn't figure it out. And of course, there was a massive line... and we had to go through to catch our flight. Well, it turned out that yes, we did have to go through immigration, but no, we didn't need to stand in the line. The Easter Island domestic passengers were just waved through (while those on the flight who originated in Peepete, Tahiti had to go through immigration). None of this was marked anywhere or directly explained to us, but we figured it out and off again we dashed to get our bags to recheck them for our truly international flight to Buenos Aires. I am certain that people thought we were insane the was we were running around...
But in the end, no problem. We checked in to our next flight fairly easily. In fact, the Santiago airport is generally quite efficient. It only took us 15 minutes from offloading the plane to checking in again for our next flight. Nothing!
The ride to BA was really bumpy however, because of bad weather and general air currents over the Andes. Between us, both A and I were suffering all the ills of such turbulence. She was nervous, and I started feeling air sick. Great combination! But at least we weren't both suffering the same malaise, or else we would have been feeding each other's anxiety.
Arrival in BA was unremarkable. We had arranged a package tour, so we had a driver waiting to pick us up. How nice was that! There was a guy with a sign [my last name] on it, so the joke became that A was Mr. [my last name]... Our ride into the city was shared with a Chilean guy who quickly took a shine to A, and they chatted the whole ride back. He was in BA on business; he imports American goods into Chile. We found out that his company imports some American faves -- Pringles chips, Pop Secret popcorn, among other snack foods. He gave A his card and suggested dinner if our schedules allowed... (which it didn't).
The hotel was very European -- small, small, small but sufficient for our needs. More about BA and the rest of my trip in a later email. Gotta run now.
Classes start tomorrow, so I have to get my brain in the right place to prepare. Wish me luck!
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