January 16, 2007
By Lisa Apple and Harmony Dougher
We departed from Buenos Aires in two buses headed to a hotel where we would spend the night after what we believed would be a 5 hour bus ride. However, continuing in the grand tradition of our trip that began with our delayed flight, the journey turned out to be a better story than what happened when we arrived at our destination. Most of us packed our bags when we woke up in the morning for our 3 night trip to the pampas. A lot of students made quick trips to either the supermarket or the 24 hour store to get snacks and have lunch before our departure at 1pm. We got snacks and drinks for the bus ride which turned out to be 8 hours long and incredibly uncomfortable.
Pastures with sheep and cows, barns, and scattered windmills lined the roads on which we traveled. Unlike the system of highways which we might have taken if we were traveling from state to state in the United States, the roads we were on had two lanes (one in each direction). This meant that the busses could only travel as fast as the vehicles in front of them and could only pass those vehicles when no traffic was coming in the opposite direction. In addition, construction and detours in the towns we traveled through slowed our pace. So, what distance-wise should have only become a 5 hour trip became much longer.
For the first few hours of the bus ride spirits were high and people looked out the windows, slept, listened to music, and talked. Though not the best of conditions, we were, for the most part, content. However, after hour seven when the sun began to set spirits lowered. When we finally arrived at the hotel, approximately 8-9 hours after our bus ride began, we were more than ready for dinner and bed.
We were split into two different buses, 11 students on 1 and 9 on the other. Those of us on the bus with 11 students, especially us sitting in the back, were incredibly uncomfortable. The air conditioning barely worked and windows that we thought didn´t open (we figured out how to get them open the following day.. when it was chilly and rainy). The people in the front weren´t so unhappy because it wasn´t quite as hot, but we were all still jammed onto the bus. In the back we ripped up half of a notebook and used it along with shoelaces to prop it in front of the air conditioning vent to get what little cool air it was providing.. clever students in this group. After that, we all pretty much slept the entire way with our iPods playing. A few gas station stops allowed us to do snack and bathroom runs, so that held us over until we got to the hotel around 930 that night.
The hotel we arrived at was gorgeous. We were put in rooms by groups of 4 and I think most students were wishing that had been our hotel for the entire trip. After we dropped off our bags in our rooms, we all returned to the lobby to eat dinner. The vegetarians´meals were screwed up again, which has turned into a routine by now, and eventually were just given noodles with butter and cheese. But there was a salad, and meat or pasta for the other students. There was also a soccer team staying in the hotel and from what we could see, they were being fed a special meal and had a special daily schedule for their training. Some of is spoke to them a little bit and a few students hung out with them at the pool after dinner. Because we had to be up so early the next morning, not much else about the hotel was able to be enjoyed, but for the night, we were all happy to stay there.
We departed from Buenos Aires in two buses headed to a hotel where we would spend the night after what we believed would be a 5 hour bus ride. However, continuing in the grand tradition of our trip that began with our delayed flight, the journey turned out to be a better story than what happened when we arrived at our destination. Most of us packed our bags when we woke up in the morning for our 3 night trip to the pampas. A lot of students made quick trips to either the supermarket or the 24 hour store to get snacks and have lunch before our departure at 1pm. We got snacks and drinks for the bus ride which turned out to be 8 hours long and incredibly uncomfortable.
Pastures with sheep and cows, barns, and scattered windmills lined the roads on which we traveled. Unlike the system of highways which we might have taken if we were traveling from state to state in the United States, the roads we were on had two lanes (one in each direction). This meant that the busses could only travel as fast as the vehicles in front of them and could only pass those vehicles when no traffic was coming in the opposite direction. In addition, construction and detours in the towns we traveled through slowed our pace. So, what distance-wise should have only become a 5 hour trip became much longer.
For the first few hours of the bus ride spirits were high and people looked out the windows, slept, listened to music, and talked. Though not the best of conditions, we were, for the most part, content. However, after hour seven when the sun began to set spirits lowered. When we finally arrived at the hotel, approximately 8-9 hours after our bus ride began, we were more than ready for dinner and bed.
We were split into two different buses, 11 students on 1 and 9 on the other. Those of us on the bus with 11 students, especially us sitting in the back, were incredibly uncomfortable. The air conditioning barely worked and windows that we thought didn´t open (we figured out how to get them open the following day.. when it was chilly and rainy). The people in the front weren´t so unhappy because it wasn´t quite as hot, but we were all still jammed onto the bus. In the back we ripped up half of a notebook and used it along with shoelaces to prop it in front of the air conditioning vent to get what little cool air it was providing.. clever students in this group. After that, we all pretty much slept the entire way with our iPods playing. A few gas station stops allowed us to do snack and bathroom runs, so that held us over until we got to the hotel around 930 that night.
The hotel we arrived at was gorgeous. We were put in rooms by groups of 4 and I think most students were wishing that had been our hotel for the entire trip. After we dropped off our bags in our rooms, we all returned to the lobby to eat dinner. The vegetarians´meals were screwed up again, which has turned into a routine by now, and eventually were just given noodles with butter and cheese. But there was a salad, and meat or pasta for the other students. There was also a soccer team staying in the hotel and from what we could see, they were being fed a special meal and had a special daily schedule for their training. Some of is spoke to them a little bit and a few students hung out with them at the pool after dinner. Because we had to be up so early the next morning, not much else about the hotel was able to be enjoyed, but for the night, we were all happy to stay there.
posted by Sandra Jamieson @ 6:37 PM
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