south american explorers club

we are members of a very exclusive club! (see doctored membership card at right)  yup, we are official members of the South American Explorers Club!  (not to be mistaken for the Clean Plate Club, which according to my mother we can be members of if we finish our dinner) ... one of the many perks of membership to SAE is baggage storage.

now, we had a little problem with baggage coming here.  we overpacked.  i'll admit it.  i am typically an overpacker, but the two of us went overboard with this trip.  part of the problem is that since we will be traveling through various climates and temperatures we need a variety of different things.  then we will be settling down in buenos aires, and we'll need our regular day-to-day things there.  so when we tried to get on the plane in new york we were met with some serious baggage overage problems.  we very nearly had to pay for extra tickets for our luggage!  but luckily the saintly woman behind the counter was able to do some sleight of hand tricks, and got us onto the plane for a much smaller fee.

anyhoo, yesterday we dropped off our extra baggage at the south american explorers club (you know, all the stuff we won't need until argentina, which is still a few weeks away).  luckily we had the good sense to take a cab because shown here are the endless cobblestone steps which we would have had to climb up with luggage in tow. 

now, the bolshevik doesn't really know what i've packed in this extra luggage.  sure he saw me pack about 12 or 13 dresses and we had a good laugh about that.  but i think he will be rather shocked when he sees me pull out pair after pair of calf-high boots from my bag, similar to the endless exodus of clowns from a clown car.  shhhhh, don't tell him what's in there!

then last night we went to a pub trivia night hosted by the SAE.  now, the bolshevik and i are both some smarty-pantses, so we thought we had this one in the bag.  but sadly, it was harder than we thought.  where were the literature questions?  or movies and music?  instead there was sports, car logos, country outlines.  in the end, we placed 7 out of 9 teams, but in our defense we were the only team of two.  most teams were 4 or more.  the bolshevik has taken this loss to heart and never wants to return to the pub again.  but i on the other hand am obsessed and want to return every week, twice a week if necessary, until we can leave victorious.

p.s.  do you know what the first human invention to break the sound barrier was?  i do, but the bolshevik didn't believe me and then we got the question wrong.