Death by sausage

In order to save money, we try to eat lunch for US$1-2/person. On 25 of May (Argentina Independence Day), we loiter around the Plazo de Mayo waiting for a "commemorative performance" that never happens and walk back toward the hostel to find a place to eat. We pass a dirty, empty parking lot where one guy is chopping up french bread with a machete and another guy is cooking heaps of chorizo and assorted, unindentifiable sausages on an open charcoal grill. For some reason, we think it will be sanitary enough to eat if we each pop 2 Pepto Bismol pills beforehand. It smells good. It looks good. I take a bite. And get a raw chunk of pork (I think). Jess assures me it's only uncooked because it's the tip. After eating more than half of the sausage, I realize the whole thing has bits of uncooked parts and charcoal.

I now have tapeworm. South America is the best diet ever.

Note: I am kidding! But it would be a great diet regimen...

Money talks

Currency exchange. Yes, that was the first conversation I had when I stepped foot onto this continent. No, not your usual whiny exchanges about the hardships of flying coach with a crying baby two rows behind you (as you read earlier, Ant and I got the luxury of pretending to be ballas on a budget when we were upgraded to business class) or about the difficulties of sleeping on a 10-hour flight...

Just currency exchange.

Ant: I don't understand why selling pesos would give you a profit here?
Jess: WTF are you talking about? It doesn't.
Ant: The sign says you can buy at 3.07 pesos and sell at 3.10.
Jess: Yeah. That makes sense. You end up losing money when you sell..
Ant: [stares blankly at me}

As the couple behind us smirked, I proceeded to engage myself in a 10-minute conversation about the apparent intricacies of buying and selling different currencies and who profits in the end...

Obviously, it wasn't me since I realized for the umpteenth time that just because someone gets into med school, doesn't necessarily mean s/he is smart. I pray for the future of medicine and my sanity for the next two months...

The smart one,
Jess

We made it to Buenos Aires in one piece and most importantly, on BUSINESS CLASS. The airline overbooked the flight so we got bumped up for free. A girl could get used to such service. Just wanted to let everyone know we got here safe and sound.

-Antoinette

Over and out, scout

And we're off!

Jess and I fly out of Houston this afternoon for Buenos Aires and arrive on Wednesday morning.

Approximate travel time of 15 hours.

All I want is: decent airline food; minimal snoring from Jess; no babies or overweight persons next to me; and to land safe and sound in Argentina rather than some island with an impenetrable magnetic force with Others, polar bears and black smoky clouds that kill inhabitating it. Yeah, lame LOST reference but big deal! I'm going to miss the season finale.

Everyone keeps asking if I'm excited. And to be honest, it's a smorgasbord of emotions: anxiety, anticipation, apprehension. (I had to come up with a 3rd 'a' adjective to maintain the alliteration...) I've been talking about doing an extended backpacking trip since I graduated in Summer 2005 and to see it actually realized, it's just surreal. I feel like I'm hopping on a plane for a trip back to Chicago rather than leaving for a different continent with no itinerary and no guaranteed housing for 58 or so days. This goes completely against my Type A, OCD nature but it'll be a grand adventure with plenty of stories...

Check back in a few days to make sure we landed safe and sound and that Jess hasn't run off with some Latin lover already.

-belligerANT & j-gun