Mo’ Bueno

I’ve been meaning to write more often, but I have this tiny-little-kinda-crappy laptop with me and I hate using the touchpad mouse, so it hasn’t been happening. But tonight I thought, “Enough of that (ya basta!), I just gotta do it!” Do. It. My blog/life theme. Oh yeah. Right.

Another reason I haven’t written much is because I haven’t being doing a ton of stuff I considered “worthy,” but I realized today that’s also not a good reason. It has been raining quite a bit, and yes, that has prevented me from being out and about as much as I might have liked. But I’m still a stranger in a strange land, and that’s pretty interesting in and of itself.

I was surprised to really realize that I am in a BIG, BIG CITY. I haven’t been to New York (sad, I know), but I thought it might be similar and a friend recently said that’s the city her parents compared it to when they visited. Being here I’ve come to realize that I really am a small-town girl… and I think I prefer it that way. Living here for a short while definitely is a cool experience, but it’s made me really certain that I like my little town and little cities, like SF… they’re a better fit for me.

I’ve been really surprised by a few things here. These include:

How stylish most people are. They look SO GOOD, everyday! I felt like I just had to buy some new boots to fit in… and I did. (I haven’t worn them much though… G-D rain. And they aren’t particularly exceptional (plain black with a low heel and a couple of buckles), so don’t get too excited. I love em though, and I will most def be sportin’ em back in the states).
The fact that I live right next to a massive, super modern mall that’s nicer than the mall Rich and I cruised through when we were in Beverly Hills a few weeks back. I can’t afford anything there! (I won’t waste my money on anything there, rather. Clothes are expensive and generally low quality here. I saw a super cute black dress with little white cats on it and I was tempted… It turned out to be around $200, and it was Macy’s junior section quality. No dice.)
Dinner is a 10 PM! I’m over this now, but it took a few days…
Exercise is a priority among a lot of people, and there are gyms all over the place. That surprised me because I came here expecting it to be similar to Chile, where I studied abroad in 2002… But it’s almost nothing like Chile, other than they have a lot of delish types of empanadas. In Chile, no one seemed to exercise. And another thing; I was in Chile 10 years ago already… 10 years! A lot can change in 10 years… I seemed to have forgotten that.

Along those same lines, in being here, I’ve also realized that this whole trip came about because of a 10 year old dream, and that dream doesn’t really fit into my current life. After I studied in Chile, all I wanted to do was return to Latin America. And I loved my short trip to Argentina so much, I wanted to go back from the get-go. I thought I would try to teach English and stay at least a year and really learn the language and culture. My idea for my trip to Buenos Aires was to live a modified version of that dream, but I’ve realized in being here that my dreams have changed, my life has changed, and what I wanted 10 years ago is no longer true. I’m not sorry for being here, but I don’t really want to travel solo for an extended period of time again. It feels like I’m just starting my life with my guy back at home, and I’m so excited about it! I can’t help but think, why did I leave?

So the adventure continues, even if it’s not what I expected or initially thought. That’s ok… I’m really learning a lot, and most excited about my upcoming weekend trip to one of the seven natural wonders of the world… Iguazu Falls! That will really be a dream come true.

Also, change of subject: one ultra cool thing that’s pretty cheap here is leather. Oh yeah…. love leather. I went to a “feria” this weekend and it was waaaay more my style of shopping: artisans selling their handmade goods. I saw this funky piece of leather and I had the vendor custom-create a belt for me — so awesome! I picked out the buckle from tons of choices and he sized it to fit me and in the end I paid less than $20. Sweet. My roommate here called it a hippie belt (it’s pretty colorful). I love it!

Here’s some pix of Enrique creating it for me:

It’s so cute! My one mistake… I sized it over my jeans and belt and sweatshirt, so it’s a little too big. I’m going back this Saturday to have him add a couple more holes and I’m waiting on Rich’s measurements to I can have one made for him too. Yay! Dammit, I love a deal.

Here are a few more general pix of the city… Disclaimer: I’m not much of a photographer. Sorry these aren’t more “interesting” or “cool.” 😉