Day 219: Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

El Calafate – Buenos Aires, Argentina

I’ve been busing it around South America in general but I’ve been told by numerous people that I should fly from the south of Argentina to the capital, Buenos Aires. After contemplating this issue for a while, I did decide to fly. It costs a hell lot; USD $315.

This is sort of unfair. Argentinians pay half that amount. But there’s a way to hack the system. This gringo in Buenos Aires wrote about it in details on his blog Gringo in Buenos Aires dot com :]

I couldn’t pull it off since it’d require one to have no baggage to check in. And I have my big backpack….

Arriving in Buenos Aires’ airport Ezeiza, I had to figure out a way to go into the city. The airport is some 40km away. Taking a local bus for an hour and a half is the cheapest option, costing only half a dollar. A shuttle bus is way faster but will cost about 20 bucks. I opted to be a cheapo since I already shelled out way too much for the flight. However, after waiting for 45 minutes with no local buses showing up, I had to figure something else out. A bunch of other people were on the same situation, so I gathered up three other travellers and call a cab for all of us, splitting the cost four ways. Half and hour later, I’m in the downtown of Buenos Aires.

I was terribly excited to finally make it to Buenos Aires. I have my friend Pedro there whom I hadn’t seen for five years! Pedro used to work with me as designers in NYC. He moved back to Argentina years ago and had been doing real well as freelance designer. I hit Pedro up a few months ago telling him that I might make it to Argentina. The truth is, I really wasn’t sure of my travel plan then. But from the very start, Pedro had told me “Elys, mi casa es tu casa.” Little did I know, he meant it for real. Pedro picked me up at the town center and brought me to his lovely apartment; cooked me dinner; and after making sure that I settled in fine, he went off to stay at his girlfriend’s place. He literally gave me his home!

Being in Argentina in Pedro’s apartment, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that life is strange. Back when Pedro left the company we worked at, I wouldn’t have imagined that one day I’d meet him again, let alone staying at his place.

By the way, check out this neat set up that Pedro has in his apartment. He built this from scratch himself. Wicked!