People in Airports don’t smile. Everyone seemed to be in a state of extra stress, and granted traveling with family can be exacerbate the experience of traveling, I found my trip went by without anything to gripe about. Maybe it’s because my trip started well and that carried over throughout the rest of my travels.
SFO is a nice place. I got there three hours before my flight left, and without any reason to hurry. I made it a point to enjoy myself even while standing in line for security. Once through, I got to eat breakfast at a franchise of the Buena Vista Café (no Irish Coffee though) and then wait for another hour and a half sitting in a food court reading and listening to a combo of trombone, bass and keys. Apparently SFO employs live musicians on Fridays. I watched a young fellow scan the packed court in distress as he couldn’t find a table until I waved him over to sit at mine. I haven’t shared a table with a stranger since I was in Germany, but it was a rather fun experience, the first of about 15 new people I made friends with in almost as many hours.
My flight from SFO to Dulles in DC was better than expected as well. I got seated in an exit row, and next to a fellow who slept the entire time. I was worried by the end of the flight because I had gone through all of my reading material pretty thoroughly and didn’t have time to find more. My plane arrived 25 minutes late, at 9:15. Boarding for my next flight started at nine, and of course the gate was placed according to those laws buried deep in nature that state that the gate you come from and the gate you’re headed to in an airport are on absolute opposite ends. I was triumphant and made it to my flight, just behind another fellow traveling from the same gate. What’s more, we were seated right next to each other.
This guy’s name was Dan. He was an Australian. I had no need to worry about entertaining myself with reading material as we had more to talk about than any two strangers should. He was an amateur musician and worked for EA games. He was once a programmer and designer but he was placed as head of a project that involves him outsourcing labor to Argentina. We ended up talking more about politics (Australian and American), globalization and economics more than music and video games. He told me to look up a documentary titled “The Century of the Self” when I found the internet again.
I found that much of my anxiety towards not speaking Spanish here was unfounded. I managed to get on a bus and take a taxi that dropped me off at my hotel instead of a remise straight from the airport, paying something like 47 pesos rather than 120, the exchange is almost 3 to $1. I can read menus and order in Spanish ( who knew) and am learning phrases like “I’m sorry, the ATM only gives $100s” and “My Spanish is terrible”
The group of students I’ve found at the hotel are awesome. The hotel is amazing too. It rises off of a storefront and looks like it’s straight out of the 1930s. The street I’m on is in the exact center of town, Avenida de Mayo. I’d link you there but Google Maps doesn’t do Argentina.
Anyways, time for a nap. I’ll be updating this rather regularly because the internet is right down the street from me… literally.
SFO is a nice place. I got there three hours before my flight left, and without any reason to hurry. I made it a point to enjoy myself even while standing in line for security. Once through, I got to eat breakfast at a franchise of the Buena Vista Café (no Irish Coffee though) and then wait for another hour and a half sitting in a food court reading and listening to a combo of trombone, bass and keys. Apparently SFO employs live musicians on Fridays. I watched a young fellow scan the packed court in distress as he couldn’t find a table until I waved him over to sit at mine. I haven’t shared a table with a stranger since I was in Germany, but it was a rather fun experience, the first of about 15 new people I made friends with in almost as many hours.
My flight from SFO to Dulles in DC was better than expected as well. I got seated in an exit row, and next to a fellow who slept the entire time. I was worried by the end of the flight because I had gone through all of my reading material pretty thoroughly and didn’t have time to find more. My plane arrived 25 minutes late, at 9:15. Boarding for my next flight started at nine, and of course the gate was placed according to those laws buried deep in nature that state that the gate you come from and the gate you’re headed to in an airport are on absolute opposite ends. I was triumphant and made it to my flight, just behind another fellow traveling from the same gate. What’s more, we were seated right next to each other.
This guy’s name was Dan. He was an Australian. I had no need to worry about entertaining myself with reading material as we had more to talk about than any two strangers should. He was an amateur musician and worked for EA games. He was once a programmer and designer but he was placed as head of a project that involves him outsourcing labor to Argentina. We ended up talking more about politics (Australian and American), globalization and economics more than music and video games. He told me to look up a documentary titled “The Century of the Self” when I found the internet again.
I found that much of my anxiety towards not speaking Spanish here was unfounded. I managed to get on a bus and take a taxi that dropped me off at my hotel instead of a remise straight from the airport, paying something like 47 pesos rather than 120, the exchange is almost 3 to $1. I can read menus and order in Spanish ( who knew) and am learning phrases like “I’m sorry, the ATM only gives $100s” and “My Spanish is terrible”
The group of students I’ve found at the hotel are awesome. The hotel is amazing too. It rises off of a storefront and looks like it’s straight out of the 1930s. The street I’m on is in the exact center of town, Avenida de Mayo. I’d link you there but Google Maps doesn’t do Argentina.
Anyways, time for a nap. I’ll be updating this rather regularly because the internet is right down the street from me… literally.
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