After ministry each month, the entire squad gets together and travel to the next country via bus (except from Panama to Colombia in June, a boat ride through the Panama Canal wasn’t an option).
Here’s a recap of my last border crossing over from Chile to Argentina. Team Fénix did not travel with the rest of M Squad this time. However, we do have our Squad Leaders with us (Allison and Kari). It’s bittersweet. I usually don’t enjoy sitting in a bus for so long but it’s an end of an era!
Monday, October 26th
8:30 AM – Wake up; finish packing and cleaning. But first, coffee.
10:42 AM – Meet with Allison and reconcile treasurer spreadsheet for Joshie (did I ever share that I was the Treasurer for our team?)
11:49 AM – Prepare lunch, clean out the refrigerator and eat as much food as we can
1:10 PM – Write letters for the girls club
1:53 PM – Channing Tatum crossword puzzle with Kari
2:07 PM – Break for strawberry shortcake (chocolate or vanilla) and listen to Adele’s new single
2:18 PM – One last sweep of the floors and our mess
2:25 PM – Hail taxis for 7 people and our packs
2:39 PM – Found taxis! Say goodbye to Terry and Jaime (I’m going to miss her!)
2:53 PM – Buy tickets for the metro
2:57 PM – Board the metro for Valparaíso
3:36 PM – Arrive at the Valparaíso metro station (travel time: 0.6 hours)
3:43 PM – Hail taxis for Valparaíso bus terminal
4:02 PM – Arrive at Valparaíso bus terminal. A stranger decides to sit in the midst of our packs; it smells like pee here.
4:48 PM – Create a Canadian Hipster out of boredom
5:58 PM – Sing Whitney Houston’s 90’s set with Kari
6:07 PM – Amanda asks Allison to braid her hair. Mel Jo asks for the same hairstyle right after. They think they’re twins.
6:19 PM – Gatorade + Coffee + Water = Full Bladder. They charge 200 Chilean pesos for restroom use.
6:32 PM – The bus is here!
6:40 PM – We’re boarded! Ashley’s here too bus missed the cue.
6:50 PM – Depart bus station in Valparaíso; Argentina here we come!
7:05 PM – Eat “Once” (bread, butter and Gatorade) and take Dramamine pill.
“Once” is Chilean snack before dinner, usually with coffee or tea.
7:52 PM – Escape Plan in Spanish, of course.
9:41 PM – Pick up passengers in Santiago
10:07 PM – Movie #2. Tom Cruise plays Mayor William Cage in some movie I didn’t catch the title to.
Tuesday, October 27th
8:29 AM – Arrive in Osorno bus terminal, praise Jesus for sleep! (travel time: 13.7 hours)
9:09 AM – Eat breakfast whilst waiting for our next bus, nothing fancy, just granola bars and dry cereal.
9:10 AM – Found coffee!
9:58 AM – Name a Disney princess for each teammate (I get dubbed Mulan because I’m Asian, ha!).
10:10 AM – Board bus in Osorno; nap time!
11:56 AM – Arrive at the Chilean border; this old lady tried to cut in front of us!
12:06 PM – Exit Chile (forever).
Kari: “The exchange rate is 15 for the dollar.”
Mel: “But I have Chilean money!”
This was a funny conversation with Mel and she repeated that phrase five times. You had to be there.
12:28 PM – Lunch is served; driving through looks a lot like the ride to Lake Tahoe
1:02 PM – Argentine border; they didn’t ask Ashley nor Amanda the address of their hostel but asked the rest of us. Que raro!
1:24 PM – Build muscle whilst waiting
1:29 PM – Baggage check by Customs
1:32 PM – “He better be careful with my ceramics!” -Kari
1:36 PM – Bus attendant puts on Debbie Gibson’s “I Get Lost In Your Eyes” through the speakers
1:41 PM – 121 kilometers until Bariloche! We drove by the sign too fast and I didn’t get to take a photo.
3:48 PM – Arrive in Bariloche bus terminal (travel time: 5.6 hours)
3:56 PM – Hike across the street with our packs (our ministry home is on the other side of the terminal; glory to God!).
4:13 PM – Meet Dylan, our ministry host for the month
Total Travel Time: 19.9 Hours (doesn’t include layovers)
Actually, this border crossing wasn’t bad. We’ve definitely had worse, crossing Bolivia was definitely a memorable one. I hope you enjoyed the journey with me!
