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I’m Ready To Leave Argentina Again
By Thomas Keyes
Mar. 24, 2007
Monday the 26th, at 5:30
PM, I’ll be boarding a Cata Internacional bus at the bus
station in the Retiro district of Buenos Aires. If all goes well, I’ll be arriving
in Santiago, Chile at 2:15 PM on Tuesday. I bought a passage for a
‘semi-cama’, which reclines almost to the horizontal, for US
$55. The fare includes supper and
breakfast served on board the bus by an attendant. This is usual practice in Argentina. In the US, long-distance bus passengers
generally eat at restaurants at bus stations along the way. The driver will say, “You have 30
minutes here,” or whatever.
Only very few bus companies do that here.
I’ve already gone most of the same highway we’ll be going. In December, when I bused to Mendoza, Argentina,
I joined an excursion party that went by van to see Mount Aconcagua,
the Americas’
highest peak. We went on right to
the Chilean frontier after glimpsing from afar the mountain, which is fairly
inaccessible by vehicle.
I also passed through a corner of Chile on my way to Tierra del Fuego later the same month. The ferry that crosses the Straits of
Magellan sails from Chile
and puts in in Chile,
so one must enter the country and then exit again a few hours later. But that was hardly a visit to the country.
Chile will be the 51st country I have
visited, with 20 in Europe, 11 in Asia, 10 in North America,
8 in South America and 2 in Africa. Santiago
is a city of 5,500,000, and as usual I feel just a little nervous.
I
mentioned once or twice before that I have invented my own language, as a
pastime that has kept me entertained for years, and I have 1200 pages of
writings composed in the language that cannot be reproduced by Microsoft Word,
because of my 328-letter alphabet.
Anxious that I might lose my baggage one day, and with it the years of
effort I put into my project, I finally learned to use a scanner and spent two
weeks suspending those 1200 pages in cyberspace, at 4 different mailbox
addresses. This was an exhilarating
experience and a real relief. Now
they should be safe and sound indefinitely.
Most
cyber cafés do not have scanners, so I had to return to the fashionable
San Telmo district every day for those two weeks. It was a real pleasure to be out of the
downscale neighborhood where I now live and back in San Telmo, where I lived
the last time around. I did save
$1500 on the rent in 5 months though, so it was worth it, I guess. Then I had to buy some clothes and other
goods, so I went downtown a couple of times. Downtown Buenos Aires is always an uplifting
experience. I can’t think of
a more interesting, colorful, dynamic downtown anywhere. Even Hong Kong, New York,
London and Paris lack the vitality
and vivacity of Buenos Aires. I just wish people were
friendlier. Basically, they’re
aloof if not snobbish.
Summer
is just ending in South America, so cooler
days are ahead unfortunately. Santiago, a montane city,
is chillier than Buenos Aires,
but, it doesn’t matter, as my visa is expiring, so I must say farewell,
like it or not.
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About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither
published so far.
I have studied languages for years and traveled
extensively on five continents.
Email:
udikeyes@yahoo.com
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