Overdue Life Update

My apologies, I haven't written a proper life update in a while and it occurred to me that some of you might care what I've been up to. A lot is going on in my life!


I finished Fitness Challenge #2! That was awhile ago but I realized I posted a 50% finished update and never said I finished! I did skip 2 days total, but for 60 days and  fitness challenges, I think 2 days is a pretty good record, don't you?

I still have not started my job in Buenos Aires. This is probably one of the most frustrating things I have ever been through. I got the job at the end of December and here I am, 3 months later, still not working. All the papers arrived in the country a few days ago and were passed over to the legal translators and lawyers. I was thrilled, thinking I was almost there. However, my Missouri background check may or may not be accepted, I might need the FBI one which will take a good 20+ days more to arrive here. We're not sure, I'll find out at my appointment on April 6th. If they say no, I will probably burst into tears on the spot or punch someone. Perhaps both. Let's hope none of that is necessary.

I am not currently in Buenos Aires, I'm actually in the middle of a two week trip through La Pampa region of Argentina. I have officially started working on the Argentina Go! Girl Guide. I am thrilled, to say the least. In 8 months the Argentina Go! Girl Guide will be out and available for purchase, written by yours truly. Please buy one then come visit me!

This trip includes 5 cities (6 if you include the few miserable hours I spent in Paysandu, Uruguay, which I do not- see: Dear Uruguay).

My first stop was Colón. I know what you are thinking, but it's not pronounced like the body part! I did, however, humour Emily by purchasing her a keychain that says "Colon tiene magia" (Colon has magic).
It's a tiny beach town. The river beaches are pretty nice and the town is so small you can leave your stuff on the beach while you swim. However, I was unimpressed with Colón until I went on an ecotour that involved a boat ride to an uninhabited island between Uruguay and Argentina. The tranquility and natural beauty was stunning.

The beach in Colon

No people, no buildings, just me on an uninhabited island

Next was Santa Fe. I was very happy to get to a pseudo-city but quickly saddened to find they practice the "no work between 1 and 5" rule. That means you can do NOTHING during that time. No eating. No entertainment. Nothing. However, it was a city on the river with a decent night life and some cool sites.

I didn't stay here, I just enjoy the sign. Very Don Quijote.

Fountains near the river at night

I spent 1 day in Paraná. It's a cool town but in many ways just mirrors Santa Fe, which is only 40 minutes away.

Church next to Plaza 25 de Mayo in Parana

One of the many ice creams I have consumed during my trip.

Currently, I am in Rosario and absolutely loving it. Not only has this been my favorite city on this trip, it is one of my favorite cities I have ever visited. The architecture is beautiful, the monuments are amazing, I saw Che's birth home and the people are awesome. I'm staying with a married couple I found on couchsurfing, they are excellent. I feel guilty because they treat me so well. Tomorrow is my last day, I wish I could stay longer! I'll definitely be back.

Monument in Parque Espana. I climbed ALL those stairs.

At Che's birth home, holding a sign that says "(El Corazon de) Jose Velez estaba aqui. -the heart of) Jose Velez was here. 

The pedestrian walkway at night

In short: I am getting paid to travel and write a book and eating ice cream at least once a day. My life is wonderful.

  

And on the 5th Day, We Rest

Actually, we'll generally be resting on the 7th day (just like the God) but as this is the first week of Emily and I's Fitness Challenge and Friday is the agreed upon rest day, we shall rest today. I actually started doing the Shred last Saturday so it has been 6 days for me on that, 4 for the yoga.

The challenge is going great. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I even managed to go to Boot Camp and do my challenge stuff. My sheet is full of stickers. I'll save the details for my Sunday update.

I've had a pretty excellent couple of days. Here's some highlights/small victories:

• I was interviewed for Cheap Talk Radio. (I start at 31m)
• I finally got my Christmas present package from Abby. She included some squeak toys for Padfoot (one of which he immediately destroyed) and this amazing book called How to Be an Explorer of the World. It has all kinds of adventures and exploration challenges. It's so much fun and totally me, a combo of art, scrap booking, collecting and general child like joy.  
• I always seem to get double Hendren love. When I came home from picking up Abby's package I had one waiting from Mama H. She sent me Monster Cookies and (of course) treats for Padfoot too.

•  I went to the Cosa Rosada, which is like the White House (Cosa Rosada means Pink House). The president doesn't live there anymore but they used to. Magu's mom, Mirta, works there and she was helping me out with some paperwork. She took me and Magu to some restricted areas, we got to stand on Peron's balcony, ride in Evita Peron's personal elevator and sit at Evita's desk. Mirta also made me a beautiful necklace with bird charms all over it, just because she is nice. Magu and her mom might be the two cutest and sweetest people alive. 
• I managed to get ALL my paperwork in order and Fed Exed to my mom and the FBI (my mom has to get an Apostille, I need a background check from the FBI).
• I'm about to have wine and chat time with Liz who is finally back in BA. 

•  After wine, Liz and I are meeting up with Sara to try the new pizza place by my apartment and going to the movies. I even made it to the movie theater earlier to buy our tickets in advance.

•  I got my Kindle! I am so amazed by it, I feel like a grandmother who is constantly talking about the magic of technology. I bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. When I finished my first week of the challenge I can buy myself another book. Yes! 

•  Fed Ex just happens to be next to this amazing ice cream place that makes legit sundaes, a rare find here. The guy recognized me from my visit to Fed Ex/the ice cream shop last week (mildly embarrassing?) so he challenged another employee to make a better sundae for me. This resulted in the guy going totally over the top with the portions and extra fruits and cone cookie things. Kindle and ice cream = Heaven.

Happy Travelated Launch Day!

The day has come! Travelated is going at full speed and I would absolutely love if you would check it out and share the link. We also have a photo contest going on that you should definitely enter. I took my own photo and, if I were eligible to win, I think I'd have a pretty good shot.

Try and top this. I dare you.

Long Days and Pillow Fight Failures

It's been a little while. Sorry about that. I've been kind of stalling on writing an entry because I had a series of pretty shitty days. It seemed odd to put up a downer post right after "Freedom". Alas, such is life and I should be real.

My series of shitty days began 2 weekends ago, which was a pretty big social failure. I should note that people in Argentina, even expats who have now assimilated, are not known for their punctuality nor reliability. I had a weekend packed with plans involving 5 different people and only one plan/person didn't fail me. Thanks, Jorge! I had a lovely dinner at Sarki's (an excellent Armenian restaurant) with Jorge and his parents. They were both awesome and it was a fun time. After that, the weekend went downhill.

The week that followed was not any better. I was very stressed and after coming off a weekend of being bailed on, I really missed my dependable friends back home. In no way did it make me homesick, just friendsick. Keep the emails and Skype dates coming guys, because you are dearly missed.

I guess I cannot truly pinpoint why the past week was such an overall failure. I guess it was a combination of being stressed about budgets, receiving an email with unwanted information, being told I looked fat in a very matter of fact way right after an intensive workout, being bailed on multiple times, and plans just not working out as I had hoped. This weekend was supposed to make up for last weekend, I'll give it a B- for effort.

Friday night I went out with a new friend, Gaston. We went to a nice Mexican restaurant and I had delicious enchiladas for the first time since my arrival. I'll be honest and say these enchiladas were nowhere near as tasty as the Enchiladas Yolandas from Chimichangas, which I enjoyed with Ellen and Ben on my last night in STL. However, it was certainly the best Mexican I've had here. Gaston is one of my students so we started in English but thankfully we quickly switched to Spanish. Speaking English to my students actually is very tiring and literally hurts my face. You all know how fast I talk and how big my chipmunk cheeks are. I really have to force myself to concentrate on talking slowly and exaggerating my facial expressions. My cheeks are a lot of weight to move around and I generally end the day with face aches. Anyway, end of face ache tangent. The food was good, conversation was also fun. The night ended early, around 12:30 (that's really early here). I could have gone to a friend's house who was having a get together but I wasn't feeling up to a social disappointment so I worked on Travelated and chatted with Adam and Cole online. I enjoyed Friday night.

Saturday was supposed to be pretty awesome. It started great, with a delicious delivered sushi lunch with Jorge. After that, there was an event, LUCHA DE ALMOHADAS (PILLOW FIGHT) that involved thousands of people gathering in Bosques de Palermo (a big outdoor green area) and having a giant pillow fight. Obviously, this sounds amazing. The event has happened twice before and had great turnouts. This was not the case this year. Jorge and I walked through the streets, carrying our pillows and became more and more aware of the fact that no one else was carrying pillows. We arrived and found a group of maybe 40 people. It was so awkward we decided to turn around and leave. Disappointment.

However, Jorge and I did manage to salvage the day a bit. We walked though the Bosques de Palermo, enjoyed the scenery and Jorge snapped some nice shots of our pillow adventures.
As we walked home we had several of our own spontaneous pillow fights, most of which Jorge won. He's very tall, serious height advantage. We decided to get ice cream (I swear it was Jorge's idea first!) and we went to one of my favourite places, Crepes and Waffles where Jorge and I ordered the same waffle which included chocolate sauce, dulce de leche, bananas and a scoop of vanilla.

After that, we both felt happier and sleepier.


I spent a large part of my Saturday evening watching bad television and working on Travelated. Jenny and Jorge came over for dinner and drinks but after dinner I was so tired and spaced out/upset I just wanted to go to bed, which I did.

Sunday was hectic. Gracia was supposed to call me on Friday or Saturday to let me know what time she needed me. I generally work 4-9 but this Sunday was the party for Coca, the grandma. Yes, her name is Coca. Gracia forgot to do this so I got a text at 11:00, which was 10 minutes after I woke up, telling me to be there at 12 or 12:30. San Isidro is far away, especially when taking into account the slower schedule of Sunday buses. I would have needed to leave at that moment to be sure I'd arrive on time. I quickly showered and had to kick Jenny out (she was crashing on my couch) and headed to work. I spent most of the day being sassed by the 13 year old and scrubbing outdoor chairs. I didn't mind so much, I was kind of looking forward to the family party. This was a mistake. I was thinking, families tend to like me and include me. I speak great Spanish so no one will be afraid to speak to me. Wrong. I sat awkwardly at a table of food that I mostly couldn't eat due to the meat content and tried to work my way into family conversations. Once I realized I couldn't make that happen I ate a lot of cake and cookies to occupy my time and hands. I hovered between the small children who were too young for me and the adults who were too old for me. My best social interaction of the night was with the 1 1/2 year old who took quite a liking to me and pulled me around the house in circles. I continuously cleared dishes and tidied up, feeling more like a maid than anything else. It made me miss the Mortons terribly and saddened me to know that I really have no family celebrations to look forward to at all.

That made my outlook for the week look bleak, but today did not turn out so bad at all. I tutored early as usual but did not have to work after 11am due to a lot of student cancellations. I actually hate cancellations because they affect my salary, but today I just went with it. I had lunch plans with another potential new friend, Andres. I had a nice lunch then worked out a lot. I also love Mondays because it is Travelated meeting day. I had an excellent meeting with Alex and Emily and we are all very confident the site will be in excellent shape for the big push on Monday, October 4th. I am so passionate about this site and my partners, I know it's going to be a success. There will be a blog about the push, don't you worry. I feel as if I have a weekend love affair with Travelated; I await the extra time all week then cram in as much work as I can during all hours of the night. I think it's a great relationship.

Things to look forward to:

• Several new friend hang outs
• Weekend in Colonia, Uruguay with Jenny this weekend
• Getting off the boat at 3am in Colonia and immediately going out drinking
  
• Bike rides in Colonia in 70 degree weather
• Another Sunday off work
• Travelated launch!

So, in conclusion, I think the rough waters are clearing up. Here's to what I hope is an awesome week and weekend.

For more photos and overall awesomeness check out Jorge's blog.

Crazy Nights and Lazy Days

Small Victories:

• Found Quaker square cereal. Finding any cereal that isn't frosted flakes or some random sugary version of kids cereals is quite a task here. Also, it reminds me of Rachel because this is her favorite cereal. Yeah, I know my ex-roommates that well. In fact, I am well aware that Abby would not have a problem with Frosted Flakes being everywhere, because she loves them. Roxy, on the other hand, would be more enthused about the fresh fruit and veggies stands here because she is not a huge cereal eater. --end of roommate tangent.
  
• Tested out several food delivery places- sushi, Chinese, pizza, empanadas and ice cream. All of them were a huge success.
• Went dancing at an all you can drink club.
  
• Took part in the "Buy 1 kilo get a 1/2 kilo free" ice cream awesomeness again. I got the old favourites- Banana Split and Dulce de leche as well as some new flavours to try- Mint Chip and Almond Cream.
• I have a pile of monedas (coins) saved up. This sounds odd but there is a freaking coin shortage here and you can only use coins on the buses so it can be a total pain in the ass to get places. Luckily, since I haven't been spending coins to get to San Isidro and back every day I have been using all my tricks to get coins as change and hoarding them like a granny.

So last week was fairly eventful. I have been adding new students at Profesores Nativos. I have started with 2 of them and I have 2 more that I should be starting with soon. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to quit American Forum as I had planned. I sent my resignation email, I told them I couldn't afford the taxes but would be willing to finish out 2 weeks and pay them once. They approached me and said they like me and want me to stay so they are willing to pay me under the table as long as I stay with the 2 students I am with through December. F. I have always sucked at quitting jobs.

I like my students at American Forum, more or less. The 30 year old is a pretty bad student, but he is nice enough. I have been doing an intensive immersion program with a couple who are in town for a week and take classes 8 hours a day. I'm one of 5 teachers working the program. I like the couple and they are easy to work with. One of my Profesores Nativos students is a total creepster, though. I tutor at his apartment, which is a 38 story complex for ridiculously rich people. It has a pool, gym, several lounges, a tennis court and even a mini cinema that seats 20 people. (See photo for the view of the pool). I know all these things because the guy, Carlos, really feels the need to not only tell me about them, but take me on a tour of the facilities so I can be oh-so-impressed. Last night he not only tried to get me to stay for tea but also insisted we must play tennis at the tennis court because I mentioned I played tennis as a child. He also drives me home and felt the need to tell me he has the SUV and also a Mercedes Benz from the States. Ugh.

My Friday night sounds pretty uneventful but I actually thought it was pretty enjoyable. I was going to see a movie with Jenny but nothing good is out here and she was too tired to venture into the city. I took my laptop to a cafe nearby and got some "apple pie" (their version is not nearly as tasty) and a cafe con leche (basically a latte). It also came with some adorable little heart shaped cookies. I really enjoy that when you order a coffee or tea here, it often comes with some sort of unexpected surprise. Sometimes it is cookies, or an incredibly tiny glass of water (which is actually really nice since they charge for water here), a tiny glass of orange juice, mini toast, etc. It's adorable and I just love the surprise. I got a ton of work done on the site I am working on with Alex. I'm not really going to say much about that project, but I do really love working with Alex again (we worked together at Announce Media) and I am pretty excited about the work we are doing.

I made up for my tranquil Friday night with a crazy Saturday. Jorge came over for lunch and brought 2 random Germans I will never see again. One of them somehow knew Jorge's ex from the States and the other was just a friend. Anyways, we ordered Sushi and it was delicious. Jenny showed up later and we decided to get coffee and maybe a snack. We came upon this waffle and crepes place right by my apartment. Waffles basically don't exist here so I have been meaning to try this place. We both indulged in some insanely sweet treats. I got a waffle with bananas, dulce de leche, chocolate and a scoop of ice cream. Jenny got a crepe with tons of chocolate and dulce de leche, also with ice cream. We both got a Baileys Irish Cream frozen coffee. Super delicious.

Saturday night Jenny, Rosie and I ordered Chinese food and it wasn't bad. However, Chinese food doesn't automatically come with rice here - a fact we sadly forgot - so we ended up with several boxes of chicken in various sauces. It was still tasty. After dinner we met up with Jorge to see a local band he knows, Lenny's Wife and the Boys. They are all expats from different countries and they were pretty good. After 6 liters of beer between the 5 of us, Rosie, Jenny and I headed to a party. The party got canceled/moved so I called Joan and asked him where he was and we ended up meeting him at this club called Amerika. Once you paid to get in it was open bar and lots of dancing. It is a gay club so there were a lot of ridiculous, interesting and fun people. I only had to tell off a few gross dudes. It was a blast.

Jenny and Rosie crashed at my place because we got in around 6am. I made about 10 pieces of toast with various toppings before we fell asleep because all of us really wanted bread for some reason. Jenny and Rosie slept til 3. Our outdoor plans were ruined by rain so we proceeded to have the laziest day ever. We ordered pizza and empanadas and watched Mean Girls in my bed while we ate. After that, we popped in Aladdin. After Aladdin, we ordered ice cream and watched UP. They went home around 10 and we ended our super lazy day of food and movies. Excellent way to end a weekend.

Okay, wow, that was a lot. Life is good here. I promise, I'm happy!