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"Flying High Above the Earth Towards Peru"

Fate is such a playful character - pinning us down in an airplane, for many hours, beside total strangers - luring us to open our souls to fellow travelers we might never have noticed, and to listen to stories we otherwise would never have heard.

Tonight I'm on the way to Lima, Peru, scrunched for eight and a half hours against a handsome, young, very tall Argentinean. Andres is a bit sad, on his way home to Buenos Aires, returning from a trip to visit his love, Anna, near San Francisco.

After we discuss long-distance love and heartache for a few hours, I can't help but change the subject and mention that I've interviewed his country's internationally famous and fiery Hebe de Bonafini, leader of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. For 23 years the Mothers have marched every Thursday in Buenos Aires to demand justice for their sons and daughters, who were "disappeared" under the repressive military rule of the 1970s and early '80s (the "dirty war" of that era claimed an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 lives).<

Andres says he doesn't concern himself with politics: "In Argentina, either you're really interested in politics, or you avoid it completely," he says. "There is no middle ground."

He is eager to talk about Buenos Aires, though. "It is a fantastic city - an eclectic mix of people and cultures - extremely cosmopolitan, hip, yet somehow still trying to catch up with modernity."

He says there is a great artist community in Buenos Aires - and beautiful arts and crafts throughout the country. He promises to give the Wander Woman a tour one day.

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