Carrrrrrrrrrajo!!!!

I got into Buenos Aires tonight., the trip took less time than I expected. I HATED El Capital de Corrientes, there was nothing to do. I was pissed off I took the time to stop there, and was thinking the whole time that I should have followed my gut and gotten of the bus 4 hours earlier in Posadas, where I was going to catch the train. From now on, I follow my instincts, because they have yet to serve me wrong. I got off the bus just after 10pm tonight, then got a taxi to take me to a hostel. No vacancies. Next one, no vacancies either. So then my taxi from the station said good luck and left. He was nice though, he went further than what I paid for. I got another taxi in the street, to take me to a hostel in Recoleta, pretty close to where my apartment is going to be. I asked him if it was OK if he waited 5 minutes for me while I asked if this one had vacancies, he said no problem. I was thinking that I should take my little bag (mi manchila) with me when i went in, but I thought, no, it`s a legit taxi, I`m fine. I was thinking about how nice Porteños (people from Buenos Aires) are as I ran up the steps to reception. They had a room, more or less, or would find me one. 2 minutes later I ran back down the stairs to grab my bags. The taxi was gone.

I waited a second, in my naivete, to see if he had to circle the block, asked the police man on the corner if he saw a taxi over there, and he said yeah... The guy left, with all my stuff! I don`t have anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been keeping all my cash and credit cards on me, but he has everything else. The CDs I bought, my new contacts, my pictures, my glasses, my iPod, alllllll of my clothes, my retainer!!!.... Fu king Everything. I hope he enjoys them, and takes them to hell! I told the cop what happened and he said `bienvido a buenos aires, chico, lo siento` .. welcome to BA kid, sorry. I could only laugh. No use crying over spilled milk, right? Lo que paso, paso. So now I get a truly fresh start here-new clothes, new everything. I`ll go to an eye doctor and get new contacts, whatever. There aren`t many rules here so it should be easy. The only thing that pisses me off is that I have that warrant for my arrest and now my ID is gone, and I can`t renew it! OHhhhhh well. As my dad says, it`s Doritos, you can just get more. Thank god it`s just my stuff. I`ll miss it though, especially the CDs I bought along the way, and the photos on the camera Denae gave me before I left. Argh.

But other than that, I love BA so far. I did find a hostel, and they pitied me enough once my bags got stolen to give me a bed even though then don`t have vacancies. I went to a bar, naturally, to soak it all up, and met some really awesome people. I just have to go again tomorrow, and this one guy is going to give me some clothes of his. The bartender was really cute and awesome, and she gave me a table cloth (really cute, actually) to use as a towel for the morning, so I could shower. And we drank together, maybe a bit too much. Then I met this guy from Cincinatti and he was really cool, but all he did was take my cigarettes, hahaha. Enter chain smoking. It`s not like I`m desolate or anything, but what money I could have used for something cool is going to have to go to new clothes and toiletries, and I had just bought a bunch of new stuff! The funny thing is that I got thru big, bad, `developing country` Brazil with no problem, and the first hour I was in BA I got knicked of everything. That bag I had was expensive too.....(thanks Nani).

So anyway, I have to really get into this shit now. For whatever reason, niether my apartment people or my volunteer people have me confirmed for my start date of march 5, despite my incessant emails of the past 3 weeks, but I`m sure it will work out. I have people now, and they said I can stay with them, JUST IN CASE, but I`m sure I`ll be fine. I`m kind of glad my stuff is gone, it gives a new outlook on things. Sort of like the economic turmoil-it puts necessity into perspective. I have what I need, and that`s myself. Other than that, it`s all vanity. AAAYYY but I am a little bit vain!! I`ll miss my sneakers, my jeans, my graphic tshirts, all that nonsense! But hey, it`s my fault, and there`s nothing I can do now. I did have a really fun night tonight anyway, and can`t wait to get started with the project I`ll be working on.

I was about halfway through the book I started, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and was just starting to get into it. I`ll buy it here, in Spanish, so it can help me learn. Buenos Aires looks awesome from where I`m at, too. You can tell there`s a lot going on, and everyone is having fun. I can`t wait to get into it, find some work, and have Kendra come!

The beautiful thing about traveling, and something that seems to be lost on a lot of people, is that for every amazing thing you learn, your eyes are opened to countless more things you have yet to learn. For every beautiful person you meet, you have to realize there are hundreds more that you haven`t crossed paths with. For every shitty person you run into, you know there are thousands of others, contempting the maladies and hoping for better, ready to cheer you on in your silly little journey of life. Every mistake you make, you can consider a learning experience rather than a wrong turn. Ay que rico.

All in all, I like Buenos Aires so far. This is about 6 hours into it, so it`s just a feeling, but like I said, it`s the feelings that I`m following from now on. Ignoring my gut got me to the shit hole Corrientes, and got my stuff jacked here in BA. Time to keep my head on straight. Now I`ll look Argentino fore real, once I compile a wardrobe here. I`m actually darker-skinned than most of the people here, and they generally just assume I`m Latino and talk to me in Spanish. Ha. I think it`s going to be funny when the apartment people pick me up and I won`t have anything. What an idiot, I should have known!!!!!!!!

But anyway, for all of the bad things you hear about South America, I have found, so far, that you don`t really find yourself in mortal danger, people just want your stuff. And they need it more than I do. After all, I`m on vacation, and anything frivolous in my bag was something I shouldn`t have spent money on anyway. I`m ready to enjoy the hell out of the experience here, and I have no doubt I`ll get more out of it than anything I would be doing back home. The whole thing does, however, emphasize the importance of family and friends, as the people I`ve met tonight instantly offered what they could to minimize my tiny little calamity, and I don`t even know them! For every one bad thing that happens, thanks to the people here, you can rebound a thousand times. It is great to be here, learning, seeing, doing, experiencing everything, and the people really are incredible.

Anywy, I`m tired from my day-long trip today and the beers I drank earlier, and I paid for this bed tonight, so I should go use it!