Stuck in Buenos Aires again

Ho hum. Buenos Aires is boring.....when you don´t speak Spanish...and you are not into night life...and you weren´t expecting to be here in the first place. I missed my connecting flight to Iguazu so I have to spend the night here.

On the plane to Buenos Aires, I sat on the aisle seat and a woman with a months old baby sat in between me and another woman by the window. Her husband was a few rows back. I thought about asking her if she wanted me to switch seats with her husband, but then I decided not to. Well, I certainly should have worked something out because no sooner were we in flight when her 4 or 5 year old son was suddenly standing in the aisle next to me yapping to his mama. It was cute the first twelve times, but then it began to annoy. He was running up and down the aisle and everyone seemed to think this was just dandy. Or, at least, nothing to be concerned about. There was a few times when his mother told him to sit with his papa, but he didn´t listen. She kept looking back to her husband for support as if she were powerless to control the little diablo. I guess a stern rebuke would have unleashed a scene from "The Omen" because I couldn´t see why she didn´t take control. He entertained passengers by throwing his pen up into the air, right in the middle of the aisle. One time, as if Zeus himself smiled down upon me, his pen smacked him right square in the face. That gave me enough satisfaction to resist asking the stewardess, "Could you PLEASE ask the pilot to turn on the fasten seatbelt sign?"

When I checked into my hotel here in Buenos Aires, I was pleased to find that the lady behind the counter spoke English. There was a bellman who took my bag up to my room, and in the elevator I said, "Como estas?" because I had heard that locals like it when you at least try to communicate in their language. However, he just looked at me and gave me a mocking laugh that clearly said, "Don´t even try, gringo." I think a simple "muy bien" or "mas ó menos" would have sufficed. Now I am off to do....uh...I don´t know.

Maybe I can find a cheap DVD copy of "Evita" or "Dude, Where´s my car?" That would certainly make this layover worthwhile.

Greetings from Puerto Natales

So, here I am in the Southern Hemisphere, typing away at a computer at one of the local internet cafes. Some of these places may not have running water but every small, shacky town has internet access. And this place in Chile only charges a dollar an hour! My trip has been quite amazing so far. The other day I did ice climbing for the first time ever. What better place to do it than in Patagonia, eh? I´m traveling with a group that includes a Californian, a Canadian, a Belgian, and a Scottsman. He wears his kilt quite often. But I´ll be honest with you, the next time I travel I'm wearing a kilt. Man that guy gets some action! Everyone goes up to talk to him and take his picture. He gets his picture taken more than the specific scenery that we are all suppose to be looking at! OK, my time is almost up. I´m telling everyone that I´m a Mormon missionary from Canada. That is just in case they hate Americans and I also heard that LDS missionaries are beloved in other countries. I forgot to bring my Book of Mormon, though. And I´m not dressed the part, nor on a bike, so I don´t know how convincing I am. Adios for now.