Crusty Cordoba

Let's start at the end so we can get it over with and then get to the good stuff, shall we?
Getting home from Cordoba was one of my worst experiences in this country and one I will diligently try to avoid repeating. We went to Cordoba for one of the many three day weekends we enjoy here in Argentina. I guess I've never left for one of them by bus, but by the looks of the bus station there and back the city empties out and everybody is leaving by bus.
We left Cordoba at eleven thirty pm leaving time for a nice fish dinner and headed to our bus on time even though we knew there would be delays. We bought our tickets through Chevalier but on our ticket it said the bus company was to be Sierra de Cordoba. We found three study abroaders who played in the tournament with us and waited with them for our bus to come. Their bus wasn't arriving either, and Josh ran to ask about our bus at around 12:15. One thing I should tell you about the Cordoba bus station is that there is no board announcing arrivals and departures. Instead, you find out between which platform number your bus will arrive and you wait, stressing out with eyes darting back and forth with the hundreds of other people doing the same. Its impossible to walk without bumping people and there is no where to sit. The platform is thick with stress. Josh came back saying, "I think that Urqiuza bus was ours!!!!!!!" and we ran over to it but arrived to late. Turns out, the Chevalier people should have told us that the bus could be either Sierras de Cordoba or Urquiza and we had just missed our bus. If you've ever missed a bus or a flight you'll know that feeling that hits your stomach like congealed mashed potatoes. You are hours and hours away from home and now even farther away. Josh told me to wait where I was while he confirmed the fact that our bus had in fact rolled away without us and returned with two tickets for two pm the next day. I couldn't believe it either. Not only would I miss three classes, but we'd have to spend another night in Cordoba!!!! This was turning into a nightmare. When we found out the same thing had happened to the study abroaders and that they had gotten new tickets for a bus leaving within the hour, only one thought flashed through my mind. There is no f-ing way I'm staying in Cordoba tonight.
We headed downstairs to the Chevalier desk and Josh warned me to let him talk. We got the same old story and when Josh told them about our friends he said, no, those have all been sold out. He started talking to someone else and I said in English, "There's no way that's true, there have to be more tickets! He looked at his computer and said something to a woman, and then told us that in fact there were two tickets for a bus leaving at 1:30 am. Finally!! We were getting somewhere. I cooled off with a walk for the bathroom and then we waited. And waited. And waited. Our bus finally took off at 2:15 and by then the place had emptied out a bit. It was all I could do to keep reading The Omnivore's Dilema and not pass out after the 4 hours of sleep I had gotten the night before and a less than one hour nap on some steps in a plaza. We had been downgraded to semi-cama (still better than any bus or economy airline seat) but it didn't matter. I popped a sleeping pill just to make sure and passed out harder than ever before on public transport. We didn't get home until 12:15 instead of 7:30 but we were home and I hit the ground running with three afternoon classes that all still needed to be planned.
Ok, now that you have the bad ending, let's get to the good stuff...