Settling in BA (again!)

I’ve just returned to Buenos Aires from a ten-day visit to the Midwest to see friends and family and gather my things together for what looks like will be at least a year's stay in Argentina. Along with continuing to learn Spanish and absorb Argentine culture, I will be teaching Elementary students at a Montessori school and ESL to adults, privately. My visit home was great, but too short, and I knew the first day I was in Minneapolis that my trip could be dangerously comfortable: constantly surrounded by loved ones, home-cooked meals, quiet long walks in nature with clean air, no language barrier . . . .

Since my return yesterday, I’ve been trying to do everything I can to dissolve the dark pit in my stomach that developed as soon as I was settled back into my apartment. Today I visited my favorite tourist-trap cafe, wrote in my journal while drinking coffee and listening to the accordion player’s “La Vie en Rose” compete with the construction workers’ boom-box blasting a techno remix of “My Milkshake,” and tried not to itch a rash that has developed on my limbs caused by who knows what (I’ve never been allergic to anything except for piles of used hay on the sheep ranch, but I think that can kill you). I went to my favorite nearby park with the huge metal flower to read a bit and spent some time admiring how the scorched grass has been transformed into a vibrant green due to a newly installed sprinkler system.

While at home, I was able to go through my storage bins of clothes I left stacked in my parents’ attic. I’ve been getting by here for the past months wearing the few things I packed in my small suitcase and backpack. But needing more to wear besides skirts and tank tops as the seasons change, I dug everything out, took what I wanted for Argentina, and left the rest for my sisters (hand-me- downs is still a valued practice in my family). I could not believe the clothing collection I had going – I could’ve opened a store. The excess disgusted me and I decided I must’ve developed some sort of compulsive shopping problem over the years without even knowing it. How did I even afford all this stuff? My approach to clothes has completely changed while traveling. But even now, with the things I did bring, standing in stacks around my apartment (as I’ve been too lazy to put everything away), I cannot believe the excess.

More excess: eating out at home; shockingly expensive. The amount of money spent on a nice dinner in Minneapolis rivals what I pay a month in groceries here. There is amazing and addictively delicious food to be found at home. Here, I’ve grown accustomed to cooking very simply for myself, taking advantage of all the fresh produce, just eating and appreciating what I have. But then I went out for sushi with my family in Minneapolis and I found that the food had some sort of power over me, it tasted sooo good! I was drugged and couldn’t get enough. Here, that doesn’t happen. Ever. (Except maybe with some dulce de leche sweets.) I also discovered that my peanut butter cravings are no longer. It tasted so-so and I found myself missing my Lebanese tahini. Going to Whole Foods was fun, and I got my fill of organic produce and kombucha drinks, but the variety and choices were overwhelming! Here at the grocery, I can choose between red or green apples – no organic Braeburn, so get used to it. And I have. I appreciate just being able to have food, especially when I see someone outside of my apartment eating an old pizza crust out of the garbage.

Among my personal discoveries, I've also unfortunately returned with a limp caused by a combination of an alternative jogging gait to try and allow a broken toe to heal and walking in flip-flops for ten months. Anyone that has walked anywhere with me knows I like to walk a lot and walk fast. Now my gringa badge seems to shine a bit too brightly as I no longer walk with the quick confidence letting all know I am fully aware of where I am headed and was approached by strangers today a few more times than I’m comfortable with. This is a city for walking and while I complained about having to drive everywhere at home and how much time it seemed to waste just to get somewhere, I also can appreciate how driving is a bit more conducive to letting a hurt foot heal, or any other body part that would need to move in a non-sedentary setting.

So here I am, sedentarily typing away on my computer, still in limbo, but working my way out of it, ready to integrate on a deeper level, and getting ready for my first day of work!

Thanks for reading!