We've arrived!

We are in Buenos Aires! And what a relief -- the trip was much too long and exhausting. We are very happy to finally be here and getting settled.

A group of us met in Amherst at 1:45 p.m. on Monday, and boarded the Megabus at the Hampshire Mall: Sameerah, Kimal, Sybil, Mariah, Michele, Eve, Max, Jonah, Aviva, and Ruthie. The nice Megabus driver waited patiently for Max, who had to rush home to retrieve one important bag -- and we were on our way. The trip was easy until we got to Westchester County, and then we started sitting in traffic. From there to New York City it was slow going, and the bus was about 30 minutes late. We hopped off the bus at 28th and 7th Avenue, and tossed our heavy luggage in a van to head for JFK airport. And then we sat in heavy traffic once more. The trip from Amherst to JFK took us over six hours! We had planned to arrive at JFK by 7:00 p.m., but got there after 8:00 p.m. -- fortunately, we had plenty of time to check in and get a snack before boarding.

In New York, we met three more students -- Steven, Elizabeth, and Jennifer -- and our whole group sat nearby on the flight. It was looooooong -- some people slept and others read or watched movies. We arrived at Ezeiza Airport right on time, at 9:45 a.m. local time (it's one hour later here than in New York). At the airport we boarded another van, and sat in yet another traffic jam. This time, a cement truck had overturned and spilled wet cement all over the entrance to the highway, and some cars got stuck in cement. The accident had happened 5 hours before we arrived and it was still a huge mess. But we got past it, and after the driver took us in the wrong direction for a while, we set him right and arrived at our hotel just before 1:00 p.m. -- just 24 hours after leaving Amherst!

The hotel is not fancy, but it's clean and the rooms have nice views (we're all on the higher floors). The rooms all have little kitchens, stoves and refrigerators, and dining tables. Right now, Max has taken a group of students to find the essentials: the bank, the supermarket, the electrical adapters/converters, and subway tickets for later. The weather is perfect -- 68 degrees F, sunny and breezy -- much better than the cold rain we left at home! We are excited to be here and we will post more later. Meanwhile, here are some photos from our travels.