Random Learnings from South America
I'm traveling internationally for business this week -- and have so far been in Colombia, Peru and now Argentina. Tomorrow I'm off to Chile and then HOME. I know many people would KILL for this job -- and I'm grateful for the paycheck -- but I hate planes with the passion of a thousand suns and it's been a long week. However, here are my random observations so far:
o The lobby in the hotel is Floor 0. Below it is -1 and -2 (where the treadmills are). The floors above it then start with 1... so I'm on floor six, which is really 5 in America and having a meeting on Floor 1 does NOT mean you're on the main level.
o The value of the American dollar may suck, but it's still cool to see a price of 43,00 pesos and pay less than $10... I feel like I'm getting a deal.
o I am SO lucky I have not locked myself out of my room yet. In order for the lights to work (everywhere, bathroom, main room, closet), you must insert your ROOM KEY in a slot inside the main door -- similar to where the light switch would be in American hotels. The bathroom lights WILL NOT go on for anything, without this. I always keep my room key in my purse so that I don't forget it... Here I can't DO that, because then I'm stuck in the dark. At some point I will go out, hear the door slam and know, "Oh, the lights were still on, so ......ohhhhhhhhhh. Crap." Hopefully, today is NOT that day.
o Colombia and Argentina have THE best coffee I have ever tasted. I wasn't a big Starbucks fan before, but I don't think I could EVER drink their stuff again. This coffee is smooth and flavorful and hmmmmmmmm.... and I bought a pound to take home!!
o Living on Diet Coke makes for long days in countries that don't have it. Colombia has Coke Zero, which, to me, is Tab. Remember Tab? It was one of the first diet drinks in the 60s and it was AWFUL. I almost wept when I got off the plane in Buenos Aires and saw Diet Coke at the airport. Sad. But true.
o My boss, who has been traveling for years, is SEVERELY amused at how anal organized I am. I read the service listing in the hotel and found out they have FREE CELL PHONES at the Front Desk. Hers works here, mine does not. She said she's been here five times and never even opened the portfolio on the desk. :) She also was surprised that I had hotel addresses, phone numbers and all the US Embassy contact information, "just in case." She said she just depends on the company provided driver to know where they're going. This came up when our company provided driver in Bogota DIDN'T have the hotel address and Boss was calling a local employee for help. I pulled out the printed address and she looked like I'd just told her that I suddenly spoke Spanish (which I don't.)
o Saying "Please", "Thank you", "Good morning" and "Good afternoon" in really bad Spanish with an American accent gets you a lot. Shop clerks are amused AND they are much more patient. (They probably made fun of me after I left, but we'll skip that part.)
o I saw two different people at the Bogota airport with one of the Twilight series of books.... when I pulled mine out, even though all were in different languages, the world got a bit smaller and more friendly.
o I very much miss my kitties. There are few animals roaming Buenos Aires main pedestrian plazas (mostly dogs), and I've been SO temped to sneak on back to the hotel for a cuddle.
o I'm going to try and be a tourist today and visit a couple of big sites -- #1 on everyone's list? The Cemetary. But I could just sit in my room and drink Diet Coke and read any be happy. But I won't. I'm going to go out and use my bad Spanish with too much English and see what happens.
Have a great Saturday!!