Day 18, Returning to BA
Day 18, 3/29/07
My bus leaves today at 1:30 p.m. and arrives tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. It´s a 20 hour trip, but the buses here are luxurious and even allow me to sleep. The trip costs 193 pesos, only 200 less than catching a cheap flight with LADE. But it´s still savings and more than anything, I get to spend the night on the bus. Thus, one less night I have to pay for in Buenos Aires. It´s strange to be going back when I was hoping to travel for a month, but I am very content with my decision. I´ll be back here soon to enjoy it with Vanesa.
The trip home went by quickly as I was able to sleep relatively well on the bus. Late afternoon or early evening we had to stop in the middle of nowhere because a group of picketers was blocking the highway. They placed cars on either side of the highway and blockaded the road with tires. In between the tires, they sat in lawn chairs, cooked, played soccer, and carried on having a good ‘ol time. We had to take our things from our seats and walk over to another bus while the company employees quickly shuttled all our large bags to the other bus. (Hats off to Via Bariloche for the rapidity with which they handled the situation). During my stay in Argentina, I am trying to understand everything I can about the culture and put myself in their place. But this is one of those situations I will never, never understand. My blood was boiling and I stared down several people as we walked through the people on our way to the other bus. I’ve never been in a fight, but I had an inclination to start something that afternoon. The first thing a 
foreigner in this situation cannot wrap their mind around is the lack of law enforcement response. It’s a combination of corruption, fear, and giving into this childish behavior that has created the mess. Equally difficult to understand is the mind of the protesters. Blockading the road and sitting there drinking and eating with a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper taped to a tire as your message doesn’t exactly constitute intellectual debate. But, like undisciplined children, they continue to do so because they not only get away with it, but often get their way.
