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Our plane on the tarmac in Arequipa :) Smallest airport ever!
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Chile
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One thing you should know about my mom is that she’s terrified of dogs. In fact, when I used to ask for a dog, she would reply, “either you get married and move out first, or I die first.” Like any young child, I would tell her she’d die first because I was never going to get married.
Anyways, it took about 45 minutes to walk to Caminito, and the walk also included passing some semi-questionable areas in La Boca. We were walking at a fast clip when suddenly we noticed there was a black dog following us. Stray dogs and pet dogs are both very common in Buenos Aires and they never bother people, so we didn’t think much about it. That is, until we stopped at a street corner to consult our map and the dog stopped right beside us. Nervously we edged closer to two police officers (although how police officers would save us from a dog I really don’t know). The dog casually followed us and sat beside us again. We moved away from the police officers, and the dog moved away as well.
We crossed the street, the dog crossed the street. We walked faster, the dog walked faster, just a foot or two behind us. We slowed down and the dog would walk ahead, and then nonchalantly slow down or completely stop until we caught up with it. I was laughing so hard and Mom was having a complete breakdown! Finally we ran into a supermarket and hid in there, periodically peeking out at the entrance to see if the dog was still there. Every time we checked, it was standing outside, paying the entering/exiting customers no mind. After a while, it lay down in front of the door and started napping! At this point I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe, and Mom was all, “Why does this dog like us so much??? What is going on???”
Finally we left the supermarket and as expected, the dog got up and followed us once again. Every so often I would turn around to check if it was still there, and Mom would also tell me not to look at it and to pretend it doesn’t exist :P This went on for at least another 10 blocks until suddenly, the dog wasn’t there anymore. So weird! I jokingly told Mom that it must be an angel sent to protect us from unsavoury people, and Mom vehemently protested that she did NOT want an protector angel-dog. If it was an angel, she would prefer it be anything but a dog, really.
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Currently sitting in a cafe in Buenos Aires and eating what I hope is a legit Argentinean breakfast :D
The most interesting part of this breakfast is the fruit soaking in freshly squeezed (aka extremely sour) orange juice. Yum yum. Healthy eating is a success so far! Although we’re only on day one…
A recap of my first impression of Argentina will come tonight. Hint: taxi drivers calling the traffic “loco”, widespread graffiti, and ridiculously long customs lineups.