One more day until I leave! My flight to Dallas is tomorrow at 2:20 pm. From there, I have a layover for a couple of hours, then I fly to Buenos Aires. My flight lands at 9 am. The closer I get to when I’m leaving, the more nervous I get. There are so many things I sort of ignored as I got ready for this trip, like this whole getting from the airport to the hotel thing. I have to go by myself. In a crowded bus with my bags. Or a taxi. In a foreign country filled with people who speak a language in which I’m not exactly what you’d call proficient. This might be a problem. I suspect I’ll be doing lotsssss of deep breathing and finger crossing and hoping I run into someone else from the trip in the airport in Argentina so we can figure it out together.

Then there’s this whole airport and flying thing. I’m not worried about being on the plane. In fact, I actually really like flying. I like the seats, and the flight attendants. I even like the food (I’m getting dinner and breakfast on the flight from Dallas to Buenos Aires). (I don’t like annoying passengers, but you all already know that). I’m worried my flight will be delayed or canceled because of the big storms approaching. Someone from the group already sent us all an email saying her flight was canceled. So that’s a little worrisome. I don’t want to miss my connecting flight to Dallas for any reason (including sleeping through my layover), or be delayed leaving Dallas. I really just want to arrive at the hotel in Buenos Aires in one piece with all of my luggage. Oh, right. Did I mention that my mother told me to pack all of my stuff in plastic bags? Maybe you’re wondering why. I know I was when she told me. Turns out one of her students who’s from Argentina told her that the people in the airports there go through luggage and take stuff. While I’m not sure if that’s true, I know it’s a possibility, and it was easier to just do it than argue, so my stuff’s all in plastic trash bags. Oy. Putting all my stuff in plastic bags means that even if they wind up taking stuff, at least I’ll know. I hate people going through my stuff. When we went to the Dominican Republic over the summer, my bags were searched. I know they were just doing their jobs, but I felt a little violated, especially when I realized that they rifled through my underwear (sorry, that was probably TMI). So this is a major worry. I like everything I’m bringing, all 49.3 lbs of it (I can only bring 50 lbs without having to pay the fee for overweight bags, which I definitely don’t want to do). It’s a frustrating situation because I can’t exactly do anything about it. If my luggage goes missing or someone takes something, it’s gone. Adios, luggage. That’s not a good situation. I don’t want to be stranded in Argentina without clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc.

On a lighter note, I’m still really excited about going. My main piece of luggage is all packed (its name is Shrek, he weighs 10.9 pounds, which isn’t too great because that’s almost 11 fewer pounds that I can use for my stuff, and he’s my sister’s. He’s pretty beat up from her trip to China last June. He’s also big enough for me to sit inside of him. Maybe I’ll post pictures :D), and everything going into my carry-on is piled on my bed. I need to get on that ASAP so I can go to bed. I know I’ll sleep on the plane tomorrow, but I want to enjoy one last night in my bed. I can’t wait to get settled into the hotel so I can start my two classes, explore Argentina and get to know everybody.

Time to stop procrastinating and finish packing. Buenas noches, readers, and feliz navidad. Hasta luego!