The great escape.

Leaving for the country for 5 months doesn't seem like a big deal until your on the plane, watching England fall away below. Or at least that's how it felt to me. At that point you're on the edge of a precipice and have no idea whether it's a bouncy castle, a lake or a pit of snakes waiting at the bottom.
Numb is the best way to describe that feeling, then walking around a German airport, looking for your next flight and waiting amongst hoards of Spanish speakers becoming increasingly nervous about landing on the other side.

In this state, a simple gesture from a stranger goes a long way. So when the woman 2 seats across on the plane handed me a boiled sweet, it was enough to break me out of my daze and contemplate the journey ahead. A nap did a whole lot of good too. Our video monitors were broken so I spent the journey napping, reading, and researching the city. When the lights of Buenos Aires appeared 13 hours later in the plane window, I had at last managed to muster a small amount of excitement!

Ministri Pistarini airport was straightforward. Apart from the signs indicating where to queue for passport control but after some deliberation with a fellow confused passenger everything continued smoothly. Coincidently, this passenger happened to be going the same way and spent our bus ride chatting, alternating between spanish and english. My first human contact since I left england and felt a lot better for it! Found myself a tandem partner for the next couple of weeks. :)

Met my couchsurfing host, Martin, at the bus terminal and took a train uptown. Trains are heavily subsidised by the government, making them extremely cheap! Will definitely be making use of that. Writing from Martin's flat, I now have the afternoon to myself whilst he's gone back to work. Time explore I think...