It's a small world after all

Finally, it happened: I'm in New York!!

The flight lasted 10 hours. Clearing customs took 1 hour, and finally getting to the hostel, about 2 more. Guess what? Check in started at 2 p.m., so since I arrived at 10 a.m., I had plenty of time to kill.

I was a bit stressed at first, because after a practically sleepless night due to turbulence, I knew I needed to sleep, rather than wander around an unknown city. Therefore, I applied a maybe excessive amount of caution when I left the hostel. I simply took the road the shuttle had taken, and headed towards Columbus Circle. However, I soon realized that getting around here is really easy, and relaxed.

Oh, and guess what? When I was in the shuttle, reaching New York in some really low trafic, I saw a van painted with the Argentine flag, which said "Go World Champions 1986"! And the first statue I saw on Central Park was... José de San Martín's! What? I actually looked twice, certain that I had made a mistake. But indeed I hadn't, and the equestrian statue was that of my country's most important national hero. I was immediately overcome by a wave of patriotism, and seeing the unexpected familiar symbol was quite moving.

I later found out that the statue was a present from the city of Buenos Aires to the City of New York, made in 1950. Close by are the statues of Latin American independence heroes José Martí and Simón Bolívar.

Isn't it crazy to literally cross a continent, only to stumble upon something so familiar? Oh, and by the way, everyone speaks Spanish here. I spoke both languages in almost equal amounts. Polyglot at large...