Leaving Argentina

We left our farm in Argentina, as scheduled on October 16. It was very hectic there at the end, as you can imagine. Dane tried to finish up many projects those last weeks (the road, hydroelectricity, highlifter pump, new barn, etc.), so those last few days were a whirlwind of activity. We had Ralph, our friend who is buying our farm, there with us until just a few days before we left. He was a big motivator in Dane finishing as much as he could.

The evening before we planned to leave, Dane took all of our luggage (17 - 44lb bags, 8 carry-on backpacks, and two computers) to town in the trailer and left them at a friend's house since we would not have been able to fit in the truck with it.

The next morning, we headed to the bus station in town to find a bus to Iguassu, a town bordering Brazil and Paraguay. We thought that if we went this route than we could easily find a bus to cross the border to Paraguay and then on to Camp 9, where our friends in Paraguay live, without having to change buses several times or having to go all the way to Asuncion and then back to Camp 9. Dane found one bus leaving at eleven A.M, so we bought tickets thinking that we would be at our destination in Paraguay by that evening.

After leaving us at the bus station, Dane headed across town to get our luggage and found that he had left the key to the trailer with us, so he returned to us and then headed across town again. In the meantime, the bus was there loading and filling fast. The children and I watched in amazement as more and more people ascended the stairs onto the bus.  Dane and our friend, Raul, arrived just in time, as the bus was scheduled to leave, to throw our luggage underneath (in the luggage hold).

The bus was so full that we wondered how we would fit in it. And when I say full, I mean full! As we stepped in on the stairs, Raul told the children, "Empuje!(which means "push") so that we could all fit in and they could close the doors behind us. Our children wouldn't push the adults around them, so Raul thinking the children didn't understand his Castellano, told us to tell the children to push in English. Thankfully, we did manage to get in with minimal pushing and much excusing; in fact, since I had baby John, I was quickly given a seat.

Then off the bus went and proceeded to stop every few miles from Obera to Iguassu to let people on or off.  The driver was even kind enough to stop and let a drunken man relieve himself a couple of times.  What could have been a 41/2 hour trip to Iguassu lasted for eight hours! Unfortunately, we had been in such a rush to leave that I didn't pack any food with us and Dane had given the rest of our cash to the bus usher for all of our extra baggage. The children hardly complained though, as everyone was so anxious about our trip and the upcoming visits.

We arrived in Iguassu that night too late to find a bus to take us across the border into Paraguay, so we got a hotel room and enjoyed a meal at the bus station.

**** Normally buses are World class in Argentina, and the preferred way to travel. This bus line was the exception and will be avoided in the future.

To be continued.............