Halfway Across the Globe and Turn Left
28 May 2005 (Saturday) – 29 May 2005 (Sunday) – Singapore to Buenos Aires, Argentina
My first 2 days of travels were quite a blur for me.
I only started laying out everything to be packed at 2pm in the afternoon of 28 May for a flight leaving at 11pm. I was thinking “No way all this can fit in there!”. Then, armed with the optimism I am NOT known for, I shoved and shoved for 6-odd hours.
I was way into the flight when I started to recall all the things I had forgotten to pack, including my leftover Argentine, Chilean pesos and Brazilian reais. I had told myself I could use them when I next return. Here I was returning and…. Oh nevermind. I would have to use them when I return A-G-A-I-N.
The flight was like 28-29 hours in total. There were 6 movies – 2 had no visuals, 1 was “The Ring 2” which scared the hell out of me and the other was “Winnie-the-Pooh” which scared even MORE of the hell out of me. So, I got to watch “Hitch” and “The Pacifier” over and over again, getting to learn the art of dating women and changing diaper really well.
When I arrived in Buenos Aires, I advanced my watch by 1 hour. Nope… it is not that Buenos Aires is just 1 hour ahead of Singapore. It is 11 hours BEHIND. So, arriving at 3:20pm Sunday sure feels like 2:20am Monday for me!
It was a breeze as I made my way from EZEIZA Airport to the centre by Manuel Tienda Leon bus. Everyone addressed me in castellano (Argentine Spanish), despite the fact that I obviously looked like a tourist with the backpack et al, but it was not a problem for me as I was able to ask for instructions and directions without much pondering over the language.
Ah, Mi Buenos Aires Querido…. Buenos Aires, my dear Buenos Aires, looked different in autumn than the Buenos Aires in summer that I remember of. Still charming but in a different way. The sky was grey, the brown leaves were swaying and falling and the wind swept them all over the streets. It was 20ºC, very cloudy and wet that day. The rain had just stopped, it looked. I was fine in my thin cotton blouse but the porteños were huddled in fleeces and jackets as they hurried their way around the Retiro area. Retiro is a transport hub for trains and long-distance buses. There are numerous bus-stops in front for local colectivos (buses). I headed there to look for bus el 106.
I had contacted a lady named Claudia in Buenos Aires through Hospitality Club to stay at her apartment, yeah, for free. When I arrived at her apartment, I received an ultra-warm welcome as she introduced me to her mother, her ex-husband Claudio and her current boyfriend Leonardo. We hung out for a while as they did domestic stuff around the apartment, like drinking mate, playing computer games and fixing a light-bulb, while I tried my best to keep my eyelids open. They were great, but they spoke too fast for me! Or perhaps, my brain had long shut down.
Claudia is amazing, showing me how to function EVERYTHING in her apartment, insisting that “Mi casa es tu casa” (My house is your house). Wow, she is indeed a hostess mostest. I am very touched by the great hospitality they had shown and when the rest had gone home, she helped lay out the sheets and blanket on the couch and I slept like a log rightaway.
Tags: 01) Imagining Argentina, Buenos Aires
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