leaving Argentina

Mike & I were sitting in a Salta coffee shop Monday morning when we noticed on the TV news that many of the day's flights into & out of Salta had been canceled. We were not able to translate the subtitles well enough to understand why, although Mendoza & Córdoba seemed to be experiencing extreme weather.

Back at the hotel I visited the LAN website to check the status of our 3:25 PM flight from Salta to Buenos Aires. On time, it claimed.

Arriving at the Salta airport far too early, we found the LAN ticket counters closed, so we stood in line. Soon we noticed travelers behind us whose flights on other airlines had been canceled. When LAN employees began to appear after 1 PM, we learned that the LAN ticket counter would open at 2 PM, that our flight would be delayed & combined with another flight, & that there would be no tickets for these stranded passengers. One couple with a baby in a backpack went off to find a bus.

Our flight finally took off shortly before 6 PM. The projected 7:30 arrival would have worried us more except that the domestic airport in Buenos Aires is closed for renovations during the month of November, which means all flights are arriving at EZE, & we didn't have to take the cross-town taxi ride.

Still, we needed to retrieve our luggage before we could check into our 9:30 PM Delta flight to Atlanta. EZE was crowded & chaotic. Shortly after 8 PM, I suggested to Mike that he stay at LAN baggage claim to pick up the bags while I ran to Delta to secure our seats to Atlanta.

I was nearly too late. Even though it was barely 8:30 PM, the passport-checker said the flight was already closed. I told her that wasn't okay, so she sent me to argue with the ticket agents. Even though Mike hadn't yet appeared, the agents were sympathetic & guaranteed our place on the flight. One agent even proposed that she & I go find Mike. Needless to say, while we weren't finding him, he arrived at the ticket counter where I wasn't.

Soon we all found each other, the agents checked our two bags & gave us boarding passes. We dashed up the escalator to security where we found an endless line. After turning 3 corners & watching a couple with a baby slip past us all as if they were royalty, Mike decided we were royalty, too. We ducked under the barriers & raced to a security check station. Our cavalier behavior worked perfectly. Within minutes, we were through security & rushing toward immigration.

During this particular passage, we kept an eye out for the ticket agent who had promised to usher us through the crowds. She never appeared. But as we arrived at the immigration line, a Delta official hailed us by name. Yay, I thought, we're going to make it.

"You have missed the flight," he said.

I said, "No we haven't. We're right here." "

No, he said, you are too late, the door is closed."

While Mike headed for the immigration line, I kept arguing with this guy. I refused in six different ways to be kept off the flight.

The official called Mike back from the immigration line, chatted into his headset, then suddenly told us to try to get through the line.

I told everyone in the line, "Let us through please, or else we'll miss our flight." Everyone let us through. In two minutes, I cleared immigration, & the officious official told me to come with him, quickly. I said, "We have to wait for Mike."

Then I noticed the 6 or 7 Delta employees, trim as soldiers in their blue & white & red, milling before us. "You have 2 minutes to run 100 yards," one said. Another employee in high heels sprinted ahead to clear a path through Duty Free.

We ran so fast & so well, we ran right past the final bag inspectors. Someone turned us back to allow the officials to go through the motions of looking through our bags.

Then we ran to the gate, hurried down the jetway, noticed surprise on the faces of the flight crew, & stumbled to our seats, giddy, goofy.

The young man who had taken our seat cheerfully moved back to his own. When he told Mike he had a few things in the seatback pocket, Mike pulled a can of chewing tobacco or snuff, held it up & said, "Oh no, this is bad for you. I can't give you this."

That's when we started to laugh.