Flying Home . . .

Well. I’ll bet no one will guess where I am as I write this blog entry. I’m in an airplane on my way from Buenos Aires to Chicago, via Miami. Unfortunately, I had very sad news from home on Monday night. So, I decided to come home for a couple of days.

I had my first day of my Intermediate I Spanish class yesterday morning. My classes are going to be from 9:30 til 12:30, Monday through Friday. It’s kind of nice that I will be done so early every day. The best news about my class is that I have the same teacher as from my Basico Uno course. I really like her and she already knows what level I’m at, so that’s great news. My class isn’t in the main campus building, but at an offshoot building that’s several blocks closer to my house than school. So, that’s also nice!

Anyways, I talked to my teacher yesterday and told her I may miss the next three days of class. She said that it wasn’t a problem. Then I called home and talked to my step dad about coming home. He said that if I wanted to come, he would pay for my ticket. So, I went to the travel agency at around 3 p.m. and booked a plane out of Bs As for 10:55 that very night. I went home to pack a small bag and then went to a café and tried to use the wireless internet. However, it kept cutting out on me.

I had ice cream with Ben for a little while when he got home from work. Then, at around 8:45, I hopped in a cab for an hour long ride to the airport. I arrived at the airport just in time to check in, pay the $55 peso ($18 U.S.) entry fee that I knew nothing about, go through customs, go through security, and then board the flight. I was happy to have timed it all so perfectly so that I didn’t have to wait around for the plane to board, but I was fairly grumpy about having to go through the extra step of paying the departure tax and getting stuck in an aisle seat.

The seats were small and uncomfortable and I knew that I wasn’t going to get any sleep. I hadn’t slept more than a couple hours the evening before. So, I was not very happy. Of course there were no movies on that I wanted to see. The dinner of ravioli and salad was ok. After dinner I pretty much went right to sleep (if you could call it that). I woke up all night. The chairs were so uncomfortable to sleep in. Two out of the past four nights I have spent catching bits of sleep in barely reclining chairs. They served breakfast at around 4:30 in the morning local time (6:30 Argentine time). I just kept my eyes closed and ignored it.

We arrived in Miami around 5:30 a.m. local time. Again, I had to go through customs and security and then double back to the gates to connect with my flight to Chicago. This actually ended up being a rather long process. But, I made it with enough time before boarding to get a little pizza and Diet Coke (for $10, gotta love America!) and eat it.

It was really strange being back in the U.S. At first I kept thinking that I needed to think about what I wanted to say in espanol before I approached anyone for information, but then I realized that I didn’t have to because they speak English here!!! But, strangely, it seemed that more people were still speaking Spanish than English. It might have just been because it was an Argentine flight that came in. But, I found that strange. Personally, I couldn’t get myself out of the habit of saying si, gracias, and perdon. I also noticed how many signs there were in Spanish around the airport. And, all the announcements were made in both Spanish and English. To top it all off, at the news stand there were several different magazines in espanol - Cosmo among them. And they weren't ten times the price of the English versions like English Cosmos in Argentina. How unfair! It was kind of a weird sensation. I wonder if it will be like that everywhere at home.

Anyways, my flight from Miami to Chicago lands at 9:30 a.m. local time. My step dad is picking me up from the airport. I don’t know if he told my mom that I’m coming. I’m actually really looking forward to seeing some of my family, although, it is under terrible circumstances. I don’t think that I’m going to have a chance to sleep in my own bed. Around 5 this evening we’re planning to leave for Wisconsin and we are not coming back to Chicago until Friday or Saturday. My flight back to Bs As is at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.

I will try to finish writing about my trip to Patagonia while I’m home. And, I will try to keep my updates a bit more regular.