As I write this (in all likelihood extremely pesemistic) post I am begging for a shower, waiting at the Mendoza airport for my flight to be called. The volcano that erupted in Chile has wreaked havoc across the Latin American continent and has caused increasingly growing problems in Australia in New Zealand.
After having what could best be described as an interesting and educational weekend in Buenos Aires which included amongst its highlights: Visiting Uruguay drinking Malbec, more tequilla in an hour than can healthily be consumed, and inadvertently ending up in bar where I was offered significant discounts on the products available, I have finally arrived somewhere where it is possible to get home (flights being called, so will finish this later).
I finally made it back to Santiago just before midday, and had the absolute best shower ever - but after 18 hours in airports, 20 hours in a bus I was back, and feeling surprisingly good. Fortunately for me my good friend Matt had his flight cancelled due to the volcano also, so we were able to spend some quality time complaining about the amount of seismic activity in this part of the world. I felt terrible for him, but at least now he has gotten himself on a flight to Lima en route to LAX and the Sydney. Have a safe trip mate!
Currently I am in the Atacama again, working on the commissioning of some new items at a plant we have up here, and whilst I am in the dryest place on earth, I can't believe how cold it is here. Commissioning is for me the best part of the job, where you get to see all of the things that you have imagined in your head and then translated to a sheet of paper end up physically in front of you. You get to do all the things that you never get to do (or are normally really bad results!) to the plant as well, and get to hear pumps cavitate, instigate trips, alarms and generally do all the stuff which in the future you will dread hearing about.
Immediately after I finish up on Friday, I fly back to Santiago, then to Sao Paula on my way across to a new continent. I will be meeting up (again) with Dave to head on a safari with a couple of friends before we convert into table ridden jugadores de ajedrez, at the Commonwealth Championships. It really is looking like a super tournament and I can't wait to get there.
I have well and truly cought the travel bug, and am extremely excited about getting to see everything else that the world has to offer!
Hope all is well back home, and I do apologise on behalf of the volcano here for making life for my New Zealand and Aussie mates significantly more difficult.
