Back to the beach...

Mar del Plata, Argentina

March 20, 2007
S 37°59.389
W 057°32.687

I insisted we sit on top of the double-decker bus for our ride to Mar del Plata. I really wanted to see the views from the top as we crossed the countryside and had our first views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Well, we sat on the top of the bus, and next time I will request a seat on the bottom. We had the very front seats and could see everything happening right before our eyes—this included all the near misses as we passed one semi-truck after another. Being on the second level you’re farther from the bus’ center of gravity; thus every little shimmy and shake is greatly accentuated sitting 15 feet above the pavement. As we traveled down the narrow two lane road the on-shore winds didn’t help the situation. With the wind ripping I was amazed at how our driver passed trucks—including those coming towards us. We felt every single truck we passed accompanied by a loud WWWHHHOOOSSSSHHH! I finally put the curtains up in front of me to avoid seeing the road and to protect us from the blazing sun.

After seven and a half hours we arrived safely in Mar del Plata to an abundance of sun, beach cabanas, and thong bikinis. We found a little place to stay two blocks from the beach, and we even have a slight ocean-view if you strain your neck.

24x7x365:
We’ve received a few questions about how we’re doing as a couple being together every day, all day long. We’ve been together 24x7 for the past 70 days and probably a little more since we had time together preparing for the trip.

We’re doing very well and get along great… Marc thinks so too ;-). There have been a few tense situations like the “bag incident” and a few misunderstandings with locals due to our inability to fully understand the language. This doesn’t result in any serious issues between the two of us. We’re able to get by with the limited Spanish, but there are times when we don’t have a clue what is being said. We normally just laugh these issues off… what else can you do?

We definitely know each other’s annoying habits, most we knew before the trip, but some are new or more exposed being together 24x7. Marc started making fun of me and my stray hair fetish. I don’t like it when I can feel a hair on my shirt, tickling my arm or chest, and I have to find the damn thing. This sometimes results in us stopping and searching for this one annoying hair. Other examples include Marc’s knuckle cracking or post beverage burps… classy American.

Another challenge that Marc finds funny and I find frustrating is dinner conversation. As most of you know, Marc already tends to be a man of few words. But when we are together all day long, and see and do the same things, dinner tends to be me talking about nothing in particular and Marc occasionally nodding. We figure when we get to Buenos Aires we will spend a few hours apart a day while I attend Spanish Classes and Marc takes pictures.

Overall, I think we enjoy every minute, well almost every minute we spend together, and would hate to see something during the day that the other misses. This way we see all the great sites and share all the memories together. I think this is a pretty good trade-off for an occasional lull in the dinner conversation… More 24x7x365 to come.