A year?

Last year at this time, I was sleeping on my Thai bodywork mat, having sold my bed (among so many other things) in preparation to leave the States and settle in the America on the other side of the equator.

Yesterday marked 10 months in Buenos Aires, and next week will be a full year in South America when you count the fiasco that was Chile.  Sometimes it seems that this year has been marked more by what we didn't do than by what we did:  we didn't go to Peru, we didn't go for a visit to the States, we didn't go to Brazil, and we didn't see any of Argentina outside this great city.  You'd think that in a year´s time, especially with having the intention of doing all that and more, that I wouldn't be able to make a list like that.  It's insane how quickly this time has gone, and more insane that we don't feel we've progressed much from the day we got here.

And that's not entirely fair.  We have met a bunch of amazing people, we found an awesome apartment, I speak some Spanish words, we both have jobs, and we have not been struck by any moving vehicles.  Nothing is wasted, and our time in Argentina has been good despite the challenges.

But we're just not city kids, and this is a lot of city.  We knew after a few months here that we didn't want to be here forEVER forever, and we've talked recently about this: why spend so much time and energy building a life here when we don't really want a life here?  Why not face these challenges in a place where we really want to be, and where we can have a puppy?  

Put some pants on.

These short, chilly days are proof that we are moving into winter.  We've had a few frigid days, but for the most part they are fairly comfortable in jeans and coat.

The locals tend to overreact, often wearing gloves, hats, and scarves while I have my winter coat draped over my arm, thinking that maybe I could have gotten away with one more dress day.

I regularly take my coat off on the long walk to work, and tend to walk the four blocks to the gym in my workout shorts. This, apparently, is shocking behavior, since the people who pass me regularly exclaim, "¡Que frio!"

I'm not talking about someone mumbling under their breath about how cold I must be.  I'm not talking about one person mentioning to their one friend that it's way too cold for shorts.  I'm talking about at least one person, during every single one of my underclothed walks, making loud mention of how cold I surely am feeling.

It surprises me every time.  Are they really that concerned?  That surprised?  I mean, can't they figure out that I'm in gym clothes and am probably not going that far?  Can't they see that I have my coat in my arms and that I would put it on if I felt it necessary?

It's so predictable at this point that it's funny.  Might even be worth leaving my coat at home for another month or so.

Stuck but poised to spring.

Argentina is a challenge, which we do a pretty good job with until recently when we realized that this country has probably stolen the July trip to the States we had been planning on.

When Brent moved the office last month, he lost quite a few clients who don't want to travel to the new location. Every time the government passes a frightening new law, which happens about every week, the people cling to their money and cancel their appointments. When the weather is cold or rainy, people stay inside and cancel their appointments. It's not a good time to be leaving for two weeks.

We're at a point where we're unsure whether we need to put our heads down and plow through this challenging time, or if we need to start considering other options.  Yes, we did just sign a two-year lease, but we're listening when an Argentine says, "You should probably move out of this country" -- and more than one has told us that.  Things change every day, but when you take a look at Argentina's history, the big crises involved changes that happened overnight: the people woke up to discover themselves screwed.  We really don't want to be here when that happens.

But we've put a lot of time and money and energy into Argentina. We don't want to give up without a fight. So every day we do the best we can do, but our eyes are open and looking around.

The farther you go, the smaller it gets.

Some years ago, when I was living in the Netherlands, I connected with another ex-pat nanny.  We never managed to meet in person, as she lived far enough away that neither of us made the effort to work around our busy schedules to arrange a meeting, but we emailed numerous times even after we both left the country.  After awhile, though, Kara and I more or less fell out of touch. 

Last weekend, I was going waaaay back through my email inbox, curious as to what I might find, and making an effort to reach out to friends I hadn't heard from in awhile.  I came across my last email from Kara (from like 2009) and thought, wow, I wonder what she's up to.

I sent her an email, asking after her well-being and telling her that I'd moved to Buenos Aires in August.

She emailed back the next day, saying that she had to read my email twice -- not because it had been so long since we had last talked, but because she had also moved to Buenos Aires.  In August.

She lives four subway stops away from me, and this time, we are planning to meet.