The original email I sent home was in all lower case, and lacked punctuation, and I will keep it as such, only because it shows how I was speeding through to get an email out to let everyone know I had made it to my destination. However, I did remove totally irrelevant pieces. But, rereading this as-is makes me laugh because you could tell I was exhausted and pressed for time.

While my previous blogs about my journey thus far covered what happened after I can take a step back from the situation, here’s how it was written when I was in the middle of it!

I added hyperlinks to link back to those stories as I have written them out, after the fact, if you needed to play catch up.

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hola familia!

i have arrived in uruguay! i dont know how much free time i have of internet so here’s one long email to all of you. unfortunately i was told (after 45 minutes of aimless wandering in the airport) that i wouldnt be able to use the business class lounge and the shower unless i had another flight today.

so much for that nice shower i was dreaming of. while i slept. in a bed. in business class 🙂 i am not sure i will ever be able to fly coach on a long haul flight ever again.

i had halibut and risotto for dinner with a cheese and fruit plate for dessert. nearly all the tvs in coach were broken and mine wasnt great but i was only up for a few hours. my pillows and down comforter (yes, im totally serious) awaited me 🙂

was able to take a taxi (this is a story in itself — i felt like i was on the amazing race with a bad taxi driver. he was asking EVERYONE where to go and everyone but him seemed to know and i was racing the clock because i wanted to make the 12.30 so i wasnt sitting around all day) to the port and get on the 12.30 ferry to colonia uruguay instead of the 6.30 so i have just arrived here.

first order of business, find the info center and get a map, check and second, find out if they have wireless, check and third, let you all know i am alive.

the port where the ferry left from was puerto madero, where we had lunch last year with a and c with the big gnocci and the cheap steak with the spinach deliciousness – the restaurant was happenings, and i even saw the ice cream place we ate afterwards. i felt like i knew better than the taxi driver and i was there once.

i wasnt on the street in colonia more than a minute and saw my first stray dog. ugh

thanks to accruing a lot of american airlines miles [through a previous job], here’s how i flew down 🙂

ok off to find lodging for tonight. thanks to studying trip advisor, i already know where i want to stay, for 17 dollars a night.

ps – my sea cat ferry wound up getting put on the buque bus ferry anyway. more on why its such a scam later. it was only 3/4 full too.

pps – its SUNNY AND HOT HERE 🙂 people are in sandals, dresses, shorts and im in yoga pants and a long sleeved thermal. i need a shower asap.

ppps – boyfriend – please can you call citibank and find out when i took out money at a citibank in the airport it said i would get a charge from another bank called banelco. im not supposed to get any charges. thanks. love you all and i will check in again soon. not sure when i will be buying a phone but when i do i will send you the number. just check with your carrier to see if you will be charged if i call you from an international number.

boyfriend – also i will try to call you collect today when i can find a pay phone that is not near stray dogs.

love you all.

Now that I had a place to lay my head for the night, it was time to move on to the next order of business.

Shower, find something to eat and get Uruguayan Pesos.

The shower was so refreshing and the clean backpack I opened to retrieve my clothes and toiletries would never be so pristine and organized again.

The second two orders of business turned out to be a challenge as I arrived in between meals. Restaurants were closed until dinner and the first two cash machines I tried did not like my card.

Thankfully I would be meeting Laura in a few short hours so I was hopeful that she would be able to help my cash machine situation. In the meantime, I was ready to hit the ground running to start to explore Colonia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

These trees were outside of my apartment (ok, Fred’s apartment) and they pretty much lined every street in the city.

I didn’t take any photos of this but there were several tree-lined streets where old men brought out folding chairs and sat on the sidewalk. They rested and drank beers and said ‘Hola’ and ‘Como estas’ to passers-by, including me.

I had already fallen in love with Colonia but that sealed the deal.

I disembarked in Colonia del Sacramento (Colonia is more commonly used as the name) and my immediate priority was to find the tourist office to get a map and figure out where I would be sleeping that night. Oh yeah, because someone (else) would have figured that out prior to arrival. But not me.

I arrived at the very modern tourist office in Colonia and was greeted by a friendly woman. She gave me a map, pointed out some highlights and confirmed that there was free wi-fi in the building. Score! Let’s get myself a room for the night!

First I emailed my family to let them know that I had arrived.

I also emailed Laura, a fellow CouchSurfer, with whom I had exchanged several emails prior to my trip. We had made plans for her to meet me as I disembarked at the ferry terminal at 8.30pm.

Because I had made the earlier ferry I wanted to let her know I would be in the arrivals area sans backpack. I was certain there would be other solo female travelers disembarking and I wanted to make this as easy as possible.

Since I didn’t have a phone or know my internet situation for the afternoon, I let her know that we would keep our 8.30pm meeting time at the ferry terminal.

Eagle-eyed readers: Uruguay is an hour ahead of Buenos Aires, so even though the ferry is an hour, you arrive two hours later than you departed.

Now that I had let my family know I was alive and I confirmed my whereabouts with Laura, I had to get down to business. Where to sleep?

In retrospect: accommodations for my first night should have been planned earlier. But, you should know that I arrived in most places without planned accommodations so this experience served as preparation for the next 50+ nights as well.