Blips in the radar

I understand that a huge part of travelling is leaving behind expectations for, well, anything, and rolling with the punches. Truth is, I`m no good at that, but boy do I get my daily lessons of life as ¨easygoing.¨

Take, for example, the chicken pox. Who in the world would have guessed I would be in that .001 percentile that, A) gets chicken pox as an adult, and B) gets chicken pox for a second time. But the bumps came, I itched (mostly I tried not to), and they left. So be it.

Then again, almost more frustrating than getting sick in a foreign country, is learning to not sweat the smaller stuff - like slow Internet, misguiding directions, or inconsistent everything. Like not finding a hostel your travel guide swears is the best place to kick back, relax and enjoy nature. Because it doesn´t exist. Or it does exist, guiding you for one hour with encouraging signs through mid-day piercing sunshine and some serious humidity. But, as is true for Block Island, Telluride and even Tahoe, this quaint little river town had an offseason. And apparently that season is now.

Then there`s missing ham. No, no - stolen ham. Having slept in well over 10 different accommodations in our month here, we have, thus far, managed to secure all our valuables. Unless it was in a fridge. Some drunken traveller at one hostel not only ate some of our unopened ham, but took the whole package. Fortunately we were ingenious enough to throw together a cheese and cracker sandwich to sustain the following day`s adventure. We´ve eaten more than enough ham in our month here anyway.

And there`re expectations for time (or punctuality), something the general Argentine population has no sense of. Yes, yes, the buses depart precisely on schedule, something you are likely to learn right after you`ve gotten the hang of not showing up on time. But when someone invites you over for a churipan (a divine sausage sandwich) party at 9:30ish, make sure you`ve eaten a snack, and maybe even dinner #1, before arriving at said party around 10:30 or 11 p.m.

But the best part of it all is that in the end, hindsight bias and all, it usually makes for a story. A funny story even. At least for those involved. Even after a month trying to adapt to life on the road and the ways of another culture, we continue to bitch and moan about the small stuff - and laugh about it even more.

- JMH