Running out of gas

After a night in a shared apartment, it was time to move in with my new family. It´s good that I´m moving as the apartment was very noisy. A person from the school staying in the same apartment complex helped me with my bags and hailed a cab. She made sure the taxi driver knew where I was going. After my taxi experience in Belfast, this shouldn´t have been a problem, after all, I had a personally escorted assistant to hail the cab and give directions in proper Spanish for me.

There are laws of the roads, but for the most part, they are perceived as suggestions only. Drivers fly down the road stopping for no one and weaving through traffic leaving inches between cars. Argentine taxi drivers make New York City cabbies appear to by super patient and very slow drivers. After 10 minutes, my driver started slowing down. He had problems getting the car in gear and seemed to be no longer be racing other drivers. A couple of times, the car seemed to sputter along. Hmm, is his car breaking down? He turned down a side street and his car just wouldn´t move. He restated it a few times, but no luck.

What in the world was I going to do? I had no idea where I was, or where I going. ¿Hay un problema con la carro? He answered back something...I´m not sure what. He said I wasn´t far, just two blocks away, turn left, then it´s about 40 meters. Well, that´s not far when you don´t have 100lbs of luggage! He offered to call another cab, but I felt ridiculous hailing a cab for such a short distance. My stubborn nature wouldn´t let me take the cab. I think he actually ran out of gas as the needle was flailing 1/4 below empty.

My host family is very nice. It's actually a woman my age who's a film producer, so not exactly a typical "host mother", and more of a roommate. Mom, you'd love the apartment as it has an access wall in your favorite color - LIME GREEN!!! After settling in, I explored the neighborhood and found the botanical gardens. There are so many beautiful statues and ponds. I wandered into a conservatory which had a display of wood carvings. It was nice, until I started getting mosquito bites. I have also noticed a ton of cats in the gardens. They were also everywhere in the Recoleta cemetery. As I headed home, a couple asked me where was the entrance to the Botanical gardens. I said, "aquí" meaning "here", but pointed to "there" feeling like a local already, even if I said the wrong thing. Good thing classes start tomorrow to straighten me out.

Here are a few photos from the botanical gardens:

In the Conservatory