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Way to Mar del Plata
The day finally came! Planning this trip more than for 6 months ago
ended this day. I have got
anticipation as well as anxiety, but my heart was not beating so
much. I wonder why.
My travel companion had a small traffic accident the day before the
departure, however, it wasn't so serious one so that she could come
with me. It wasn't a good sign. We would know it later.
July 9th, Friday, our flight left 17:30 from Narita (JPN) via
Seattle, Miami, Buenos Aires, and Mar del Plata. One way took about
30 hours including transit time. It was beyond our imagination how
far it was to get to Argentine from Japan. Now I know all Argentine
players feel about going to Japan.
We didn't have any problems on the way to Argentine at that point. There was a nice-looking black male flight attendant on Buenos Aires
flight. He was quite tight for the flight regulation such as putting
your carry-on luggage in overhead bin, not under the seat. He spoke
good English and Spanish as well. By chance, we happened to take his
flight again on the way back to Japan. He said to me "I recognize
your face. You were on board last week." Good memory! I guess there
are only few Japanese passengers on this flight course.
My friend and I started talking about the games and players as we
came close to Argentine. We didn't speak loud, but one guy who was
seating one row ahead of us looked at us quite often. Then meal time
came. While we were enjoying our meal pleasantly, my friend saw that
guy explode the bread when he tried to brake into small pieces. He
seemed to be very neat person because he took off his white shirt and
get rid of debris of bread. We thought he was a really strange person
and we continued to watching his actions.
Finally the airplane landed at Buenos Aires without any problems. I
still didn't feel whether I was really in Argentine. After picking up
our luggage, we advanced to the immigration. Accidentally I looked at
the next queue and saw the guy from the same flight. What a
coincident! Then he gave me a shock because he was carrying a bag
which had FIVB logo on it. That means he was an official or any kind
who related to FIVB? Mystery continued
We took a taxi to go to a domestic flight airport. It cost US$35 and
took 40 minutes. We were from Japan where the season was hot and
humid summer. That was why Buenos Aires was cold (of course it was
winter there). Due to unstable weather our flight was delayed about
40 minutes, but flight time was 50 minutes as expected. The guy was
taking the same flight with us. Some people who was with FIVB ID were
waiting for that guy and other familiar face FIVB officials at the
airport. With no doubt that guy must have been one of officials.
We found Tourist Information at the airport and were able to get some
information brochures about the World League. All we had to do was
going to the Hotel! It took us about 20 minutes to the hotel by taxi
via central area of Mar del Plata. We passed by a huge casino. When
we got to the hotel, there were few fans outside (looked like junior
high school girls). They must have been waiting for players.
There was the information desk of the World League right after we
entered the door.
We arrived a little bit earlier than check-in time so that our room
was not ready. The hotel front service guy asked us whether we had
lunch at the cafeteria on the first floor or waiting for the room in
the lobby. We decided to eat first, and then looked back to the hotel
door. Guess who we saw. It was Rafa!
He seemed gaining back his weight and looked healthy the way he used
to be. I should have asked the hotel whether Argentine team already
checked in the hotel or not. They arrived at the hotel and checked in
while we had lunch. Damn!
But we saw 2 Argentine players (Romano & Firpo) while we were
checking in at the reception. I had to go and greet them! It was the
time that I had to use my privilege as the only Argentine fan in
Japan. They knew my face anyway.
