Back in Buenos Aires for 2 nights before heading sud for some camping in El Calafate and then Bariloche.
I used #Shazam to discover Naked As We Came by Iron And Wine http://www.shazam.com/music/web/track?id=40280939
coming off of 5 spectacular days in Villa Carlos Paz (http://bit.ly/7xT2kL), a place I didn’t even know existed 5 days ago. Very good times.
coming off of 5 spectacular days in Villa Carlos Paz (http://bit.ly/7xT2kL), a place I didn’t even know existed 5 days ago. Amazing.
Relaxing poolside with the Mendocinos. I like this town!
Oh that’s right, I WAS keeping a blog, wasn’t I. Well, I was supposed to be. Hey what can I say, not working and living in South America can be just such a time consuming task, who has the time to blog? Actually, after the first post, amongst the many great responses and words of encouragement (as well as words of “please get a job already and rejoin us here in the real world”) there was an email from an old friend who basically said “good luck with that blog and all. Every time I have traveled, I have tried to keep one and I never make it past 3 posts.” Well this, my readers (all 7 of you) is post #4 baby! And it’s only 4 weeks since the last one. Awesome.
I’ve gotten a lot of emails lately along the lines of: “so, um, what have you been doing?” and “what happened to the blog?” and “have you joined a Latin street gang yet?” The answer to third question is ‘yes, of course’ but that aside,
I was admittedly a bit derailed from my good blog momentum in early November. Still, here I am and there is much to report. This will be the summarized version however as I am both nursing a hangover and have to get to an authentic, Argentine style parilla/asado party. So here is what has been going on:
1. WORK. Don’t get your hopes up, so far, there has been none of it. Without question, the underlying theme for the last month has been that of work. Bottom line is taht I’m hungry to be working again, and even though I am down here, on a great trip and having an amazing experience, its hard not to think of work. After all it has been 6 months now since I was let go and while it really was the best thing that could have happened to me, I am jonesing to be back at work, adding value, contributing to something and making an income. (only this time, work that I like!)
2. JOBS. A good segue. So as part of the plan to be down here for an extended period of time, the focus of the trip after the first month became exactly what it was meant to be: networking and job hunt. I imagine that part of the reason I haven’t posted that much to front pocket in a while is that, from a pure travel standpoint, there really hasn’t been that muh to report. The last month has ripped by while I have been doing company research and going for informal interviews, coffees and meetings with people down here to discuss different work opportunities. And while nearly all of these activities have led to some great relationships and great responses on my plan and ideas etc, no concrete job offers have surfaced as of today. It’s still somewhat early stages, and no point have I been led to believe that it’s for lack of talent, ability or drive. The reality is, things just haven’t improved here quite the way people had hoped yet, and, as many of you know, since 2001, Argentina’s economy has been shaky at the best of times. Not writing it off just yet, but right now, its a bit touch and go on the job front. Still, that has been the main focus of my last 4 weeks.
3. SPANISH. The other main focus of my last month. 4 hours a day everyday can eat quite heavily into time spent thinking “what the f_ck am I doing with my life!?” which is a good thing. The formal lessons at Ibero have stopped now (as of the beginning of last week) but I am taking conversation Spanish 3 times a week which is a great next phase.
4. TRAVEL. This should be easy. There has been NONE so far. I have made BA my home base, and as such, have not left the city in 6 weeks which can start to wear on you. HOWEVER, as of yesterday, I have booked myself a an amazing 3 day trip up to Iguazu falls for early next week with some new mates and I am VERY VERY excited to see that and get the hell out of this city.
That’s the big stuff for now. I will load up some photos tomorrow as well as some new posts. Also, I think I’m going to move things over to blogspot tomorrow. Stay tuned.
So much funukah
need quick refresher on wattage and voltage when traveling. Have plug adapter but not a converter. Don’t want to fry valuable electronics.
OK so Burger King in Argentina. Slightly better, but turns out to be pricier than Canada and consumption-to-regret time frame not reduced
