We are in Buenos Aires, arrived this morning from Santiago after attending the International Convention .... in a word ..... The International Convention was AWESOME! Getting there was another story..... it went like this.... As it turned out our trip to Santiago was a pesadilla (nightmare!) as we took off from Guayaquil and had to return twice, because of a door, that would not close and stay closed on the plane. After the first time, the pilot said all was well, and had been repaired .... "a sensor" I think is what I remember him saying ..... maybe they changed out the wrong one, because after we took off we had the same terrible noise and shaking, (I'm not talking about the passengers who were visibly shaken) before long, the captain said we were returning to the airport for the evening. That of course after we spent all day at the airport, waiting for the plane to fly out to Lima. Well they did put us up in the Marriott and told us that we could eat and drink as much as we wanted to... Frankly after waiting all day for the flight, and then going up and down in the plane twice the only thing we were interested in was sleep, as by the time we got into the hotel with our bags and all our junk it was about 1AM ..... (Yes in the morning, and yes, the following day!) Where we were at the airport (before we were sent to the hotel) they told us, that they would have information the following day at 8 AM, as to what the plan would be for getting us to Lima .... when I arrived at 8 AM, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for the instructions ... NOT! We were told that we would be leaving for the airport in 30 minutes ....ALL ABOARD! So we showered and shined and miracle of miracles we were on the bus at 8:30 .... and then we WAITED on the bus until 9:30 to leave for the airport as some persons didn't move with the same enthusiasm as we did when we received our marching orders. When we arrived at the airport we went to the counter and had to recheck in. There they told us that we had the same seat... exit row (extra leg room) and we were off like a herd of turtles.... when we got onto the plane there were to guys sitting in the seats we were in the night before. (The nerve of those guys) Then when we looked at the tickets, we realized that the lady at the check in counter, who had then told us that we were in the same seats, ..... scratched out the numbers for the seats we were in, and gave us different seats on the plane and ........ we were not even sitting together! ..... WHAT IN THE WORLD !!! Sooooooooo! I went to the attendant and mentioned that we had exit row tickets and there were two persons sitting in the seats that we had originally been assigned ..."Oh we will take care of that" she says with a determined look on her face. So I go and sit down in 1st class and wait with Carol.... hoping they would get the hint (they didn't) and when the attendant comes back, she proceeds to announce to me that she now has 2 seats together .... but there "not in the exit row" I tell her. So this time she sallies off with a less then happy look on her face (sorry lady) and 15 minutes later says "we have your original seats for you" and marches off! When we arrived at Lima we had the long layover, all afternoon and then some of the evening..... the only up side to that was, we had the opportunity to meet brothers that were going home from the International in Lima, as they were arriving for there flights home.
Finally we board the plane, and fly to Santiago and arrive at ......... ? (Any guesses?) 2:30 AM, when we get there, we go through all the Immigration stuff and pay the entrance fee, turns out the Chilean government returns the same favor to Americans, and a few other countries, that the US government and a few other countries, charge Chileans when they visit the US $131.50 per person. I kid you not! The only country that has to pay more, is Canada and they pay 1 buck more then US passport holders. Well, we get through all that, and then we get to go get our baggage..... NOT ON THE PLANE, right, it didn't arrive into Santiago with us….sooooo we turn in the paperwork to the airline, and they of course tell us that it should be there by 12 PM the following day (it's 3:15 AM by now) Brent is there to pick us up, and there are brothers from Santiago that are there to welcome the delegation from Ecuador, of which we were not part (but got the same warm welcome, wasn't that nice!) Well 8:30 later that same night..... day, whatever it was,… the next night…. confused? So were we, we still don't have our bags, so I call and they assure us that they will be there no later then "9:30" yes an hour and half later..... 11:00 when we return from dinner, N O ... B A G S! I call, but of course there is no one at the counter after 10PM (that's funny there was someone there the night before at 2:30 in the morning) So I tried and tried to call several different departments to somehow connect me to the "Lost Baggage" department but no one could help me except for one lady in reservations, of all departments who was helpful, but then we got cut off.... so at that point I gave up until the following morning. At 8 AM I called and the lady told me that she needed to call the driver and find out what happened. (I told her what happened... "They didn't deliver our bags") but evidently she wanted to hear that, ….. from the horses ahhhhh, .... drivers mouth. When I call her back in 15 minutes she proceeds to tell me, that they didn't have the correct address and so it couldn't be delivered the night before. I then tried to remind her that she confirmed the correct address on the previous phone call and she gave me the address not the other way around (in other words they had the correct information) she was lying to me and when I called that to her attention (sorry I didn't have a bunch of patience at this point) the phone went deadly silent. Then she told me our bags where going to be there in the next 1 1/2 hours.... (yes of course I was holding my breath) and of course this time, after making 3 separate promises, to get us our bags they got them to us. (Third times a charm or so they say) Not so fast... when we get the bags to our room they have plastic wrap and a security band around them (I felt better just seeing that, knowing that all was safe) removed all that and started to unpack all our stuff and ............... 3 of my 4 ties for the convention ensemble are missing!!!!! So now I get to call the same helpful liar ahhhh, lady and let her know that my ties have been stolen ..... "that's not our responsibility" she tells me ..... "well whose is it"? "Customer service" she then proceeds to give me the email address and I sent an email telling them what happened..... Haven't heard back from them yet.... 7 days and counting...... I'm sure when I get a hold of them they will tell me they never received my email.
But once all was settled we really enjoyed our week and the International Convention was the best ever .... the friends gave us such a warm welcome and thanked us for coming, ..... hundreds of times, lots of hugs and kisses, and photos, and more hugs and kisses, and photos..... some of the brothers from Uruguay took a trip on the bus that lasted 57 hours ....... no stopping except for fuel fill ups, can you imagine? When Saturday after the end of the program the foreign delegates started to in unison say "Les Queremos"(we love you) to the Chilean brothers in the stadium they in turn spun their umbrellas around and around... that was quite a sight and then after more les queremos'es they started to lift them up and down, .... quite another spectacle, then the wave started going around the stadium (we received counsel the following day not to do that anymore, the wave that is) then the singing of Kingdom songs started, needless to say, I don't think there was a dry in the house... ahhh stadium! All that took place because it was our last day at that stadium, we were going to another the following day and we were going to repeat that all over again on Sunday after the program ended....... with the exception of doing the wave of course. Peak attendance on Sunday 100,604 at three different locations…. The "Big national stadium" is being remodeled so we couldn't all meet together in the same location.
One other thing I forgot to mention was that when I arrived at the information desk in the lobby on the first day of the convention, of the hotel we were assigned to, I was informed that the brothers had been looking for me, as I was one of the bus captains (Captain Bill they called me) I was in charge of entertainment .... right up my ally!
That was fun! …….We packed this morning and got up at 2:41 AM Yup! so that we could get the plane to......
Buenos Aires! We arrived without a hitch (got all those out of the way, up front, or so I hope) and got to our apartment that Brent found for us on the internet (yes using that nasty technology) First thing we do after getting settled in? Go to a Cemetery... hard to imagine, having a good time at one of those, no? But this is a very unusual cemetery, I will put a few photos on the blog site for all to see..... this is the place where Eva Perrone is interned with her husband.... wait till you see the photos it's amazing what this place is like. It's arranged like a town with memorial tombs but you really can't call these tombs in the traditional sense ...... you see what I mean? Each building is a memorial tomb and most times it for the family. In addition to the coffins that are in each ... yes .... you can see them .... (the coffins not the bones) there is a stairway that goes below where other coffins are stored of the other family members.
I have had other things I wanted to share with you like paying for a water at the airport in Miami a 2.85 for the same exact thing we pay .25-.30 in Cuenca .... when I saw that I started laughing ..... then crying when I paid for it.
I have a very good experience talking to a cabbie (of course about the truth, not the soccer match) for you all, but it will have to wait ..... my fingers are tired.
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteI spent a great time last month in Buenos Aires. I rented a Furnished apartment in Buenos Aires . I suggest that service called ForRent Argentina.
Cheers,
Jane