Por fin, Buenos Aires.

I've made it! After many, many months of anticipation, and 30+ hours of traveling, I'm finally in Buenos Aires (and trying to get the hang of the Spanish keyboard, so bear with me!). Travel included many legs, the first of which was from New Haven to Brooklyn, and was, ironically, the toughest. Actually, it was just the leaving home part that was hardest: saying goodbye to family (I was lucky enough to have my grandma, aunt, and uncle in town for lunch just before my departure) and cutting the cord from the house with the nervous hope that I hadn't forgotten anything. Turns out, I did, and I made my mom turn around and go back when we were 2 blocks away. Surprise, surprise!

Lovely dinner with my favorite girls in Brooklyn, and an early morning departure for JFK yesterday morning, and I was really off! I flew from JFK to Mexico City, hung out in the airport for 10 hours (slow, but not terrible), overnight flight from Mexico City to Santiago, and then two hours from Santiago to Buenos Aires. And finally, I'm here.

The weather is sunny and warm--it's probably in the upper 60s or low 70s. The city is tall and vibrant, at least in the Microcentro, where my hostel is located. The strangest thing about my trip so far is how incredibly calm I feel. Throughout the entire journey, and in contrast to how I'd been feeling in the weeks leading up to my departure, I've felt relaxed and at ease. My jaw didn't ache upon waking up from sleeping in awkward positions on the plane, and, despite this major abyss I've just stepped into, so far, I feel nothing but peace about it. We'll see if it lasts, but for now, I'm going to enjoy it while I can.