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Published: November 3rd 2013
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Hi everybody!
Ok so my first blog entry from Buenos Aires. I arrived here yesterday at about 11am local time, after having spent around 28 hours in transit! Was a long journey - we left my house in Dublin at 7am on Friday morning and flew to London, then a 8 hour flight to JFK and from there the 10 hour leg to Buenos Aires. I couldn't get over the size of the plane, the first time I went to the States it was just a regular Boeing 737 but this time both of the international flights were huge big planes. I was worried as I heard bad things about American Airlines, but both flights were grand. We had lots of food and films/TV series etc to entertain us. The flight out of New York on Friday night was pretty horrific turbulence-wise but once we passed over the Caribbean it seemed to level out a bit and we pretty much just sailed smoothly from Venezuela all the way down past Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia to Argentina. Thankfully as we were so exhausted we both slept for about 7 hours of the flight so felt relatively refreshed once we arrived here.
My first impression upon landing in BA was that it is not too different from landing anywhere else I have been before - the landing strip is surrounded by fields and empty land like in Dublin. Once we got off the plane we had to go through security, which was taken fairly seriously - not like in Dublin or the UK where they look at me and don't even bother checking my passport. It wasn't half as long winded as in the States though and the girl who we did the security check with was fairly laid back and didn't ask me too many questions at all. I think it helped having Leandro with me to explain things, and also being a European pays off here in South America. One great thing about arriving in Argentina with an Irish passport is that we don't get charged the entry fee that most people from other countries have to pay - think the fee is 170 US dollars. This goes back to the Irish connection here in Argentina with Admiral Brown, an Irishman, being the founder of the Argentine Navy.
Before we could go through arrivals to meet Leandro's mum,
we had to go through Customs, something not so common in Europe. As we came from the States we had to declare any goods purchased etc, of which we had none as we just made a connecting flight in JFK. But it is something that everyone has to do - by law here, you have to declare any goods worth more than 300 US dollars (which I think is crazy, of course people buy things outside of the country, everything here is so much more expensive, in particular electronics and clothes and things like that).
Leandro's mum and uncle and cousin were waiting for us when we came through, and they were delighted to see Leandro - he hasn't been home in over 2 and a half years. Driving from the airport I saw a couple of notable sites - one of which is the training ground were Messi and company train! Leandro's apartment is only a short 15 min drive from the airport so we were back in no time. For me it was so nice to drive through his neighbourhood and see where he comes from, but for him, having been away for so long, he was
a bit shocked as to how the neighbourhood has degenerated a little and there are more 'bolitas' living in the area then when he left. These would be immigrants from Bolivia, or countries less well off than Argentina. They are not bad people, they work to make their living, it's just that the little neighbourhoods they occupy look a little unkept and dirty. Near the apartment complex (which I have to say is lovely, it's very well contained and the apartment itself is great) there is a gym which we plan on joining this week - try and get hench before the real summer weather kicks in.
The weather has been overcast and windy since we arrived and fairly fresh. I am beginning to wonder if I brought enough clothes with me - the only relatively warm things I have are two pairs of jeans and a couple of jumpers. But it is still only Spring here and will probably get really hit soon. I should probably cherish the cool breeze while it's there!!
We spent the afternoon with Leandro's family, and all had lunch together. We ate 'milanese' which is like breaded beef, very typical dish here, and it was my first time to try it, delish! Some of the neighbours called in to say hello and then after lunch we had a little siesta as we were both pretty knackered again at that point. In the evening, Leandro's friends called around to see him and we spent the evening eating 'empanadas' (similar to english pasties, again very typical argentinian food) and drinking Fernet and the local beer, Quilmes. I have to say I thought it was a stereotype when people say that Argentinians like to have heated discussions about politics etc, but it is not - we stayed up late discussing life in Ireland versus life here in Argentina, and then five argies got into a more heated discussion about how things work politically in this country. I have to say I am impressed with how much I understand, my comprehension isn't one hundred percent but I think I will get there really quickly. It's a bit harder when there is a room full of Argentinians but one on one I do quite well. Hopefully my vocab will increase soon so I can say more and get more involved in coversations! But yeah, some of the words I knew before coming here are used ALL of the time, for example, boludo, me chupa un huevo, no es lo mismo etc 😊
I have to say although Argentina is thousands of miles away from home, I don't feel to far away. I think I will settle in well here, also the time difference is only 3 hours at the moment so that helps a lot I think. Leandro's mum has a lovely little dog too who has taken a shine to me which is lovely.
This morning we unpacked and tried to organise our things, and Leandro's mum dried and styled my hair for me - she is a hairdresser and there is a little salon in the apartment which is amazing. We are going out soon to Lean's cousin place for lunch anf then later on this afternoon the plan is to link up with a couple of his friends and go into the city for the first time, which I am excited about.
I will write again soon, there is so much to take in here I want to note it all down so I remember it all 😊
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Dad
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Well for ya.
Great idea Hannah. Keep the info coming each week and we'll have a better idea of how things are going in Argentina. Enjoy your time there and give our regards to Leandro's family and particularly his Mum.