After the shopping spree of the century, the half-frozen and gift-laden students of MYSO clambered on board with their cargo for the last bus ride in Argentina. People snapped last photos of the Casa Rosada, checked the bus for dropped souvenirs and money, and hopped off at the ferry port.
The building looked like it could have once been open air — the floors were made of rough brick tile, and a waterfall with a metal backing cascaded down the far wall. We finished checking our luggage, which involved a long line. We then went through security, which involved another long line and a metal detector. We then boarded the cruise ship. There was another long line.
I will interrupt this discussion of long lines to say that security was more relaxed than on an airplane — water bottles and phones could stay in the bags. Also, we did Argentine security and Uruguayan customs in one fell swoop. We were all very grateful for both of these things.
We were also grateful for the boat. It was beautiful — to the point that we were asked to cover our shoes with cloth to preserve the pristineness of the turquoise carpet. On the first level were the first class seats and a large shopping center. On first glance, I thought it was just a gift shop, but then I saw the carts lined but he door and the perfume racks and columns of shelves through the night window. It must have been the size of a small Walgreen’s.
We went up a stairwell that reminded me distinctly of the one in Titanic (there was a skylight at the top and everything) to get to our seats. They were very similar to airplane seats, cushy and close together.
Once the boat got going, we admired its speed — at least as fast as a car cruising down the freeway. We looked out at the back window and marveled at the how the motors sprayed out water, looking out at the sunset. We laughed about the rocking of the boat; we competed for who could stand the longest and tried our best to walk in straight lines down the aisle.
And then it started raining.
It was after dark, and the windows had fogged up, so we couldn’t see outside. The boat rocked more because of the weather, and people started to get seasick. Many moved up further in the boat, went into crash position, or ran to the restrooms. Chaperones tried their best to make everyone comfortable. In the end, a lot of people were really happy to get off the boat.
Because we had done customs at the Argentinian port, all we had to do was collect our luggage and head to the buses. Even though a lot of people were tired or queasy, everyone was helpful in getting the suitcases — people stood near the conveyor belt and lifted off all the suitcases with MYSO tags, and others helped everyone in their chaperone group to find their luggage. The situation seemed very similar to Houston–this time, though, the whole orchestra was involved.
We arrived at another Dazzler hotel at around 10:30 pm, and everyone dispersed for dinner. We arrived back late and were all really glad to get to bed.