Thursday, April 26, 2012

What story would be complete without the threat of jail time?

So, I can’t help but to squeeze in one last post.

The last few nights in Buenos Aires was better than I could have asked for.  The Opera was the best I have ever seen.  The theater was incredible and the stage was bigger than my last apartment!  Aside from cosmetically wonderful, the singing and performance was amazing.  I have never heard people singing like that in my life. 
The last night in Buenos Aires was spent talking with a friend made in Bolivia and drinking mate (traditional Argentinean tea). At the airport I was slightly early but thankful for it because the lines through security were so long!  I was surprised that it was so easy to pass through.  Unlike the States where you need to remove belts, hats, shoes, laptops, and anything in your pockets, Argentina just needed you to place your bag on the xray belt and walk on through, old school style!
Checking in my luggage/backpack they asked the normal questions: did you pack you bag? Are you a drug dealer? Normal :) When the agent asked if I had been with my luggage the entire time from when I packed to now I thought of the hours in-between that it was unattended with plenty of others while I was no where around, I said yes. I hesitated and flashes of drugs being hidden in my bag flashed through my mind. BrokeDown Palace anyone??  Shrugged it off and continued.
Went through a quick pat down as a secondary inspection and walked to an open area to sit and wait for my flight to board. Time passed and with a half hour to spare, I decided to walk towards my gate.  Checking the departure boards I noted that they had already begun to board.  Quick walk. Nobody was waiting at the gate, as everyone had already entered the plane.  There were two more check points I wasn’t used to.  First was just to look at my passport and the second they wanted to look through my carryon bag. They took my jar of jam.  A woman came up and asked me if I had any explosives with me.  I laughed (what normal person would carry that!) and said no. She waited for them to finish looking through my bag and asked me again.  I said no and felt a little uneasy now, why was she here and standing so close to me? She told me to follow her. We passed the gate and then I asked what was going on.  Another agent joined us on the walk. She told me I had a combustible in my check-in backpack.  We walked further and faster and I was getting really nervous as to where we were going.  I asked again what was going on but this time to please answer in English. She told me again. I started to think and then understood. I was going to prison!
No : ) Actually I was an idiot not thinking that carrying a gas can used for camping, intended as a gift to my father, was a very dangerous thing to pack on a plane! Even in check-in baggage. I told her I knew what she was talking about and that I had forgotten about it. She was unfazed by my plea of ignorance and stupidity.
We passed through customs and she asked for my ticket and passport.  She gave them to one of the agents and told me to follow her.  Without my passport? Yes, she said, and to come quickly.  As I was giving my passport up I tried to explain again that I was so sorry that I forgot something so simple.  I felt like this was one of those points as to if something bad were to happen, the point when I gave up my passport would be a regrettable moment.  She told me to come again and I looked behind me as I walked away from my passport. I told here I didn't want to leave without my papers and she assured me it was going to be quick and easy and ultimately there was no other option.  We walked to the baggage claim area and there was another agent with my backpack sitting there.  The three agents around me told me that I needed to open my bag and get the combustible. I dropped everything I was carrying and ripped open that bag pretty quick.  I thought that since I was not in a small box like room, that it was a good sign. Finally, deep in the middle of my bag, I found the large canister of gas I got from my Patagonia camping and gave it to one of the agents. I packed up the rest of my things and they told me that was it. She had me follow her once more back the way we came.  I got one more escort and we went back to the plane gate. I breathed. Sighed.  They let me one the plane, as one of the last passengers and super happy BrokeDown Palace didn’t happen!

As with every experience this large there is always the good, bad and the ugly.  There have been countless events of all of all types of situations but this was an amazing trip.  No where near ready to return home but, as always, returning and ready for a new adventure again :) Until next time folks :)

San Diego, I will see you in a few weeks!



Wow.  Internet is so much faster here!!!! More pictures than normal this time and in half the time. Priceless.


This is at Ricoletta Cemetery.  It was so much more beautiful than I expected.  This is also where Eva Peron was buried.


 Also at the cemetery.  This is where the rich and famous are buried.  Quite a few Generals. I tried to follow an English tour but the guide caught on and ditched me.  I did catch a story of a woman buried here who was still alive.  Creepy. 
 This is the theater where I saw the Opera La Forza del Destino, Force of Destiny. Amazing. Just amazing.  I understood maybe 7 words of the whole thing but I did research on it before so I got the jest of it :)
In El Chalten. It was a beautiful hike for a beautiful day.
La Boca in Buenos Aires. It was beautifully colored but also waaaay too touristic to be somewhere that I would want to stay for long.


Help! Being eaten by a dinosaur!!!

Also at the cemetery.

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