A Navy Excursion up the Rio de la Plata

Yesterday turned out to be way more interesting than I imagined it would be. Matías was supposed to leave with his boat for Rosario quite early in the morning, but at the last minute, plans changed, and he wasn't to leave until after noon. Since he had to be on the boat anyway because of guard duty, he invited me out to the ship to hang out for an hour or two and say goodbye. Well, the wheels of the Argentine Navy needed more greasing than expected, and the boat wasn't ready to go for several more hours, so I got the chance to hang out, chill, eat lunch, and meet all the officers of the ship (up until then, I only knew Matías and the 2nd in Command). Suddenly I saw the boat with all it's crew members up and about. The place was bustling with activity. People were everywhere. The commandante was issuing orders, people were running around with walkie talkies, and suddenly all the pomp and circumstance of the Navy became apparent. People were saluting each other left and right, and I saw how much respect the commandante and the 2nd in Command get. It was incredible.

Then the 2nd in Command offered to let me ride as a passenger on the boat up to their first stop - in the city of Zarate - in order to see how it all worked, hang out with Matías some more, and just kinda chill. Well I wasn't about to turn up that opportunity, so after some fussing, a bit of paperwork, and the final delivery of fuel, we all set off. I got to watch the sun set over Buenos Aires while riding off up the river in a boat filled with men in uniform. Did I mention that living in Buenos Aires has been like a dream? It was really cool to see the guys fretting over the navigation charts with all these fancy tools I didn't understand, and sending messages over the radio. I got to hang out in the boat's version of the cock pit and ask whatever questions my spanish permitted me to ask.

The trip was about 6 hours. We traveled up the river past the final reaches of Buenos Aires (the city went on FOREVER), and past several little industrial towns with nothing but countryside in between them. Towards the end of the trip we came upon a giant bridge (that Matías compared to the Brooklyn Bridge) full of lights and super huge. We traveled under it at top speed, and as we were coming out the other side, I ran to the back of the boat to check out the view. The moon was hanging low over the river, as it was just rising, and it was perfectly framed by the lights of the bridge and the stern of the ship. It was definitely cool.

Matías was granted permission to accompany me back to BsAs on the bus and hang out with me for my last two days, so suddenly my last few hours here aren't as bad as I expected. I spent most of the day today buying gear for Nicaragua. I now have very fancy schmancy light-weight light-colored long pants and shirts that will supposedly protect me from mosquitos and the sun without causing me to overheat. Hopefully they operate as advertised.

The next time I post will probably be from Managua... por eso, hasta luego!