Buenos Aires Days 7 and 8

Day 7

My brain was full from seeing so much in the last many days, so I spent the day visiting the Jardin Bottanico Carlos and the Jardin Japones, both in the Palermo district of the city.

I walked peacefully among the trees and plants and sculptures of nymphs and cavorting cherubim, all the while listening to the throng of traffic as it ceaselessly pummeled the pavement just outside the gates. The Japanese Garden was particularly hilarious. While being Zen in design, a circular saw whined relentlessly somewhere in the background, oftentimes joined by the thunderous cacophony of low flying 747s taking off or landing at the nearby international airport.

In the evening, I received some personal news that sent me into a spiral. I began to consider cutting my trip short to come home. I slept for maybe an hour, fitfully, and had a long call home at four in the morning to my best friend, seeking grounding and counsel.

Day 8

I woke up from my hour of sleep and logged in to my bank account to check my balance. Both my checking and my savings account had been completely drained.

I wondered how things could get any worse.

Apparently some thief in Brazil skimmed my card and has been withdrawing money from my account for the past month. And when my checking account hit zero he or she then drained my savings account. In personal crisis, I find that I am now also penniless -- my accounts have been taken to the tune of $2700. I spend the day in a haze trying to use the on-again-off-again skype connection to have multiple, repetitive, frusrating conversations with my bank to resolve the issue. I filed a claim for all the stolen charges, and since I’m traveling, I can’t close my accounts or receive a new card. So, at this point, if and when I get reimbursed for the stolen funds, I have to call my bank each and every time I need to make an ATM withdrawal.

I tried, without success, to get in touch with people at home with funds who could help me. And finally, toward the latter part of the afternoon, got a response and arranged to have my Skype account refilled (I was unable to do that without any money in my back account) so I could have access to a phone as well as have cash sent to me via Western Union to be picked up tomorrow in Cusco, Peru.

This experience has reminded me yet again that we are not islands and depend on each other to make it through the difficulties of life, as well as celebrate the joys it brings us.

The level of vulnerability I feel is epic, and I am so alone and isolated. The sheer discomfort of it has stolen my appetite. No food today, I can’t eat as the thought of it makes my head spin and my stomach seize up and twist inside out.

This is travel – the good and the bad. Sadly, it seems, when it gets to this level of bad, the problems are so much, much more difficult to solve and the aloneness so much, much more deep.

So I leave B.A. with a bitter taste in my mouth.

I have many more stories to tell about Buenos Aires, and maybe, at some point I will. Now, I just want to put it behind me.