Um, this KICKED ASS

I saw the best thing ever today. An amazingly awesome puppeteer rocking the shit out of a two skeleton puppets!! I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter show. I gave him pesos, for sure. I used to dabble in puppetry here and there… nothing crazy… but as you can see from the photo below, getting down with a puppet is most definitely my kind of fun.

Oh yeah, I meant it. I am SO DOWN to play with some puppets.

So you can imagine how I felt when I saw this dude on the street absolutely KILLING IT with his skeleton puppet rock band. He blew my fucking mind. Here’s a little vid I took. The sucky part: I didn’t realize my camera cuts the sound when I zoom in and out. Aaannnd, I went vertical but I don’t know how to flip it/I don’t care to go to the trouble. Aaannnd the quality does suck. No awards in cinematography in my future, that’s for damn sure. But hang in there. Turn your head sideways or something, and watch the end at least and trust me that it was amazing in person. =-D And later I heard him doing Stairway, but I was on a bus and couldn’t get over there to film it up. No Stairway? Denied.

Check out the true MASTER OF PUPPETS on the streets of Buenos Aires…

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.” 😉

Busy people, always up to something…

 

I Did It In South America… And I’m Going To Do It Again

I studied abroad in Concepcion, Chile my junior year of college at UCSB and it was by far one of the best experiences of my life. I was 20 and that year I really came into my own, in so many ways (*queue up the cheezy coming-of-age music*). It had everything to do with my badass Chilean experience.

On an island in the middle of Lake Titicaca. The two girls that I tagged along with and I stayed in Copacabana, Bolivia. I had the worst camera in history on this trip. I didn't realize I might want a good one!

I went to Chile wholly unprepared and without any expectations. How could I have been prepared or have had expectations? I had barely traveled before that point in my life. I think the trip there was the second or third flight I’d ever taken (the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth since I booked my tix with a student travel company and there were SO MANY layovers). I didn’t grow up in a family that had the means to travel; truth is, I would spot my mom money to pay her phone bill once in a while.  I grew up with my grandma as my primary caretaker, and in high school, just my grandpa.  I went camping with my mom and step family a couple of times, and I tagged along on camping vacations with a good friend’s family too.

I had no idea what to expect when I left for Chile, but I was determined to study abroad from the time I started college and maybe even before that. Where the motivation came from, I can’t really say because I don’t know. It was the same motivation that lead me to be the first one in my family to go to college too, without any real encouragement to do so. There’s always been this innate quality in me that said, “You have to do these things, make it happen!” And I’d say this quality is one of my very best.

One of my first days in Chile; in Santiago soaking in the scene.

Now that I’m just about 10 years older, I look back and I’m like, “How the hell did I do that?” Seriously. I didn’t have any money in savings. No trust fund, that’s for sure. I was counting on my financial aid to get me through, and lucky for me, I had a couple family members who were a little bit comfortable at the time and helped me with money for the plane ticket and a few bucks for my first couple of weeks before that financial aid kicked in (blessings to them!) But I wasn’t scared, and I didn’t freak out. Maybe that’s part of the lovely naivety that is being young.  😉

Me and some friends at Chile's "mini Niagra Falls," Salto del Laja (Google it for some way better pix).

It’s exactly this feeling of faith, the pursuit of pleasure and ultimate life experience that I’m trying my best to channel now as I begin a new chapter of my life and take a somewhat similar risk. I fuckin DID IT in Chile. I lived it up BIG TIME! And it was the best time. Ever. I gained so much confidence in my short three months living in Concepcion and traveling, mostly by bus, to Santiago, Vina del Mar, Valparaiso, Pucon, Mendoza, Argentina, the Atacama Desert, La Paz, Copacabana and across Lake Titicaca (I know… you can’t NOT giggle when you see that name!) I came back so, so… STOKED; on my experience and on myself. I had had this huge, unique experience, just going there and living with a host family. Once there I suddenly found myself the “exotic girl,” being blond and blue eyed, and I won’t lie, I loved that shit. I met a whole bunch of awesome people who were also traveling, including an international set of gentleman who made me feel really pretty, and cool too, and I didn’t really have that before (yes, dammit, I’ve experienced my fair share of “daddy issues”). Getting that attention was big for me. And the confidence I developed through those experiences has never really gone away. Aw yeah, I was feeling awe-some!

Midnight river rafting in Mendoza, Argentina. The moon rose above us as we cruised down the river... !

So now I’m here, almost 30 and I’ve worked at the same place for almost five years and I’m 100% comfortable in my job; I’ve started to do new things that I think are super cool, I love the people I work with, and I’ve managed to save some money for the first time in my life. All is well! Annnd, I’ve decided to take a giant leap into the unknown and my first stop is back in South America. I’m quitting my cozy job on May 4 and leaving May 12 for Buenos Aires, Argentina to do a month-long language program, and more than that, to live my dream! The weekend I spent in Mendoza, Argentina has always stayed with me as one of the best I’ve ever had, and I made a vow then and there that I would go back. So now I’m at this point where I’ve found my man, I love him to death and hate the idea of not seeing him every day; we’re getting married next year, we want to move to the bay area, and I’m leaving! Bahh! Sounds kinda crazy, but I just have to do this. I might not get the chance again, right?!? I must DO IT.

The world's largest salt flat, the Salar de Uyuni. We took a jeep tour through it. My k-mart quality camera really bitched out right about this point in my trip, hence the incredibly crappy lighting. The two photos on the end were taken on this amazing cactus filled "island" in the middle of miles and miles of white salt. I got a hell of a sunburn that day.

So here’s my message to you (and to myself, cause I’m just as freaked out and scared as I am super excited): DO IT.

You won’t regret it. I promise.