The Trials and Tribulations of the Standby Flyer

Dave here, writing from my Buenos Aires hostel at about 1am. Since my phone doesn't work down here, Jerica and I have been using third parties to communicate while she's been stuck in D.C. Tonight, it was our friend Ariel who spoke to Jerica on the phone and then typed to me. Unfortunately, the news was not good. Jerica's standby status once again left her grounded as the oversold United flight departed D.C. for Buenos Aires. Feeling that three missed flights was quite enough, Jerica decided to give up on United and go with a one-way flight on good ol' Aerolineas Argentinas. The bad news is her flight isn't til Sunday night so I'll still be all by my lonesome til Monday morning. However, the good news is that it's a REAL TICKET so that means no more hoping and waiting and nail-biting! So we'll have a day in Buneos Aires, then we're going to fly to Ushuaia on Tuesday morning, and begin the outdoorsy camping part of the trip.

Meanwhile, I've been keeping myself occupied down here. Yesterday, I befriended a fellow software engineer from Canada and we wandered the city together all day. We dined at an old-timey steakhouse where I devoured the rather gargantuan (yet quite tender) piece of meat pictured here. The glazed over look in my eyes is a combination of jet lag and the effects of the finest, cheapest Argentine wine.

Today I took a train westward to the delta of Rio de la Plata to visit a small town called Tigre. I spent most of the afternoon either in a boat or sitting near the water watching windsurfers. The water was kind of a reddish-brown color, apparently due to iron deposits. But there were a whole lot of 'do not swim here--contaminated water' signs, so who knows what its natural color really is supposed to be.

Still have to decide what to do with my weekend, but I have more options now since I don't have to be back in Buenos Aires until Sunday night... I'm thinking possibly a quick trip to Uruguay. For now, it's time for bed. G'night!