Trip and Day 1 in Cordoba

After months of planning I finally arrived in Cordoba, Argentina, at around 11:30 this morning (7:30 am Chicago time). My flight from Chicago to Miami (luckily with all the crappy weather and my mom telling my some flights to Miami were canceled) went off without a hitch. We boarded the flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile early, so I thought we were in good shape. Then we got an announcement from the Captain that we had to wait until Peru or some country gave us permission to cross its airspace, so I started to get worried as I only had a 1.5 hour layover in Chile. While we were waiting I started talking with the woman sitting next to me. She's American but she's been working in Santiago for 15 years and has her own wine distribution business. There was also a group of really nice college students from West Virginia who were flying to Chile to do a 2 week hiking trip through the Chilean Pategonia. One guy said he was looking at William and Mary Law so I was talking to him for awhile and trying to sell him on coming.

We finally got up in the air and I somehow made my flight to Cordoba easily and my luggage actually arrived as well. A chauffeur service took me to my hostel and on the way I realized that, while seemingly impossible for those of us who have lived in Europe, the drivers are actually worse here. There are lines on the street delineating lanes, but apparently they are invisible to all the Cordobeses (the people from Cordoba). Still, I arrived safely at the hostel and was greeted by a really skinny guy with a sweet mullet and a name I couldn't decipher. I got up to my room, called my parents to let them know I made it, and passed out for a good two hours. Then I woke up and tried to take a shower, but all that came out was scalding hot water, so I got switched to another room.

After my shower I went exploring. Most of the restaurants and bars were closed as it's Sunday, but I managed to find an open one and tried my first "lomito," which is basically like a hamburger but with thiner beef. As all my friends in Spain know I love to make crazy sandwiches and this one had an egg on it, so of course, I loved it.

All of you reading this likely know that I am a pretty (alright, extremely) outgoing person, but I just felt really nervous being here by myself. Luckily, before I came, a friend had put me in touch with this really realllly nice guy from Cordoba and so I called him after I ate and he came to pick me up and took me around the city. We went into the Cathedral and then took a walk around the city and ended up at a cafe where we had a couple beers and talked for about 4 hours. He invited me to spend New Years Eve with his family (and luckily he's my friend's friend so he's vouched for), so I'm excited that I won't be alone!

We stayed at the cafe until it got dark (about 10:30 PM...amazing!!) and then he brought me back to my hostel, which is where I am right now writing this first entry. Tomorrow I am going to the bank and buying a sim card for my cell phone, and then maybe going to the zoo. Tuesday I'm planning on taking a day trip to a town called Villa Carlos Paz where there is a big lake and apparently a huge kukoo clock ("reloj cu cu" in Spanish hahaha), so hopefully I can get started on a tan!

I'll try to write again tomorrow, and hopefully post some pictures. Take care and I miss you all!

Kate