All the goodbyes having been said it is now time to begin the new adventure....
A good flight over with Malaysian Airlines. I can certainly recommend them. The 9hrs went by rather quickly and when the plane touched down at Ezeiza International Airport I was such a mix of emotions. Customs and baggage collection passed through uneventfully and my transporter was there to meet me. Th airport is about 35km sw of the city centre and the drive took us about 50minutes. I'm sure if the traffic backs up it can take hours! I arranged an airport transfer before hand, which is advisable. I was taken right to my front door for US$30. I opted to rent a room in an apartment for the period of the TEFL course. The apartment is in Ave. Juncal, in the neighbourhood of Recoleta. My room is small but I have everything I need in it including a bathroom, tv and internet connection. The owner of the apartment, Alicia (known as Cookie),speaks english, which is a great help as my spanish is pretty non exisent. Cookie is a psychologist and practices from home. The other flat mate is Aldo, he is Mexican and has been in Argentina since January. We share the common areas - kitchen, dinning, lounge and balcony. Recoleta is an exclusive neighbourhood with a distinctive Parisian feel. It has grand apartment buildings, beautiful monuments, wide tree lined avenues and lovely lush landscaped parks. The shopping options match the neighbourhood Cartier, Dior - all the top names are here. But inbetween are lovely smaller shops and loads of eateries and street cafes. One block from my apartment is a "Carreforre" supermarket. It is big with an excellent selection of every thing. The exchange rate is about R2-25 for $1 (argentian peso). Generally I think the prices are about the same as in SA.
Argentina has a time difference of -5hours to South Africa, so even though it was 5pm here when I arrived it was my bedtime by SA time. I was feeling a little tired, but thought it best to keep going so that my body clock could slowly adapt. I unpacked and put my stamp on my new room by putting my books and photos on the shelves. After some fruit and a shower, I finally went to bed.
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