travel 2, me 0

Rough, rough start, y'all.

My flight was delayed 3 minutes when my parents left me at security. No big deal at all - except, as my mom says, once delayed, more delays likely. By the time I was heading to the gate, it was pushed back from 12:45 to 12:54. I sat down, wrote a bit, and went to double check - there was no plane yet, see. It was now slated for 1:10.

I checked on the arrival time, and the gate agent told me a lot of people were making the Buenos Aires connection in DC, so I shouldn´t worry. So I didn´t. We took off, late, and landed, late. I had a brisk walk through Dulles, and got to my gate with 15 minutes to takeoff. They told me that there was no time for me to get something to eat, but it´s ok - there is food on the plane! (eyeroll).

So I board, lovely plane, empty seat beside me, blah blah blah. The line to take off is long, so we are in it for like a half hour. Suck. Then we pull out of line, because BOLIVIA HAS CLOSED ITS AIRSPACE. It means we need a reroute, and more gas, so back to the gate we go.

We took off about 2 hours late, made up some time and landed about 1:20. I was not going to make my 2:05 flight, from another airport, to Ushuaia.

As we were at the gate in DC, I borrowed a US cell phone from the couple behind me (I thanked them profusely, and felt a bit like I was on the Amazing Race), so I called my mom and had her cancel my first night at the Ushuaia hostel. I cajoled and finagled, and got a flight tomorrow afternoon to Ushuaia, despite most of them being very full. So I am in Buenos Aires now, winging it at a hostel and no idea what to do.

Now, my only stresses are: that this is an indication of things to come. I still have to get buses out of Ushuaia, which may not be easy. Also, Aerolineas? Is on strike. Domestic flights are not affected, but international ones are cancelled. Guess who I fly to get to Auckland in a few weeks? Yup.

I am exhausted. Stressed. Disoriented. A little overwhelmed. I will be better tomorrow, but I don´t think I should try to be too touristy today - it might kill me.