Adventura! (Sigh.)

If you are ever in Concordia, Argentina on a Sunday that is also a major Argentinian holiday weekend, and you are faced with the decision between fulfilling your nerdly desire to see Uruguay's ginormous pride-and-joy hydroelectric dam or getting to a major city as quickly as possible, I recommend the latter.

I had seen that it might not be possible to cross the Concordia-Salto border on Sundays but had also heard that it *was* possible. There seemed to be enough alternate options to Plan A once in Concordia and we had no interest in staying in Puerto Iguazu for another night, so we took our chances on the overnight bus to Concordia.

What they didn't tell us was that the bus would pull over on the highway and let us off 20km from the central bus station in Concordia. At 7am. In the dark.

At least it wasn't raining.

The bus attendant impatiently showed us to a very nice lady waiting with a "taxi" (it was a car) and we took a very expensive ride into town. Judging from some of the neighborhoods we were driving through, I was fairly certain the bus station would be a shack with a bench (if we were lucky) and a bathroom (if we were really lucky), and that the ticket office would be closed on Sundays and/or major holidays.

But we turned a few more corners, the scene improved and the bus station was large, bright, had ample amenities (bathroom, coffee and wifi being the most important after that rude 7am side-of-the-highway awakening) and lots of bus companies.

oasis

The nice taxi lady offered to help us suss out our next move but I kept having communication fails and wanted some time to think things through with Kim. Taxi lady did remind us about the holiday and confirmed with an agent that there were no buses to Salto on Sunday (and no hotels/hostels in Concordia - not "none available," none period) and that was quite nice of her. But I still just wanted her to go away.

After a cup of coffee and brief discussion, Kim and I opted to head to Uruguay via Buenos Aires. Luck was on our side again - a bus was leaving for BA in 10 minutes, so we quickly snagged two tickets and settled in for six more hours of farmland scenery. Another cup of coffee and we would have been stuck there until 2pm.

And when we get to BA we'll figure out step 2. Which will hopefully involve a shower and a real bed in the next 24 hours. I am getting too old for this...

Interestingly, though, not once did I worry or panic like I would have a month or three ago. And I didn't get mad either... The situation was annoying (and more expensive than it should have been, I bet) but as with almost every other situation, everyone was very helpful and kind, and everything worked out fine in the end.

I want to remember this day especially as I reacclimate to real life and start the ominous housing and job searches. It's been a great lesson in how patience and calmness can pay off... And at least the housing and job searches will be in English!