Arrival In Buenos Aires

After nearly 24 hours in airplanes and terminals we finally landed in Argentina at around noon local time. Our flight from Lima to BA was forced to land in Uruguay do to bad weather and our plane sat on a runway for over two hours as a result. It is about a half hour bus ride from the airport to the hostel we are staying at downtown. As expected, the highway was chaotic and we observed several pickup soccer games taking place on rooftops as we headed deeper into the city.

After settling in, all of the guys decided to go out to become familiar with the surrounding area. There is a 4 story opera house just around the corner from where we are staying that has been converted into a book store. South America seems to have some obsession with threes as can be seen in the Oreo 3x and Tripsmack from McDonald's. On our way back the the hostel we stopped by a small cafe for some empanadas and invited an elderly Argentinian woman to our table.

She was initially hesitant ot join us, but quickly warmed up to us thanks to the fact that David, a Costa Rican citizen, was able to act as a translator. A few minutes of small talk past before her order came. She was so thankful to meet us that she cut up her two empanadas and shared them with all of our table. She said that God had put us into her life for a reason and as a result she is going to begin to learn English. After a prayer together she gave us her address and invited us to barbeque on her rooftop before we leave town. 

I shared a provolone and olive pizza with a fellow classmate for dinner, with the aceitunas being particularly strong. Because most of the restaurants dont open for dinner until around 8:30 or 9, the establishment was not crowded.

After 12 hours in the city the is one job that I envy and another that appears to be near suicide. I would long to be a pizza deliver boy, as they speed through the streets on their motorcycles bringing the hot pies to specific destinations. While this would seem slighty precaroious it is the garbage men that are in true danger. Dressed in neon green jackets these men make their rounds begining at around 10 pm (the middle of the dinner rush). Humans do not have the right of way on these streets as there is no way any pedestrian can expected a vehicle to even think about slowing down for them when crossing a crosswalk. This was a quick lesson as I was nearly flattened by a bus as I took a premature step onto the street.

Tomorrow we are working with an organization called Life Argentina to help throw a birthday party for about 70 children of poverish families. While the hostel does offer a free breakfast they admitted that they have never had to feed even close to thirty people as most guests usually sleep in until noon. As a result we will be eating in shifts. We will meet for class mid morning and head out to our service project in the afternoon.

Pictures coming soon