Casí casí casí!

First a foremost, HAPPY HALLOWEEN. I must admit, I am feeling a bit homesick today, knowing that the festivities are all getting started back in the states and I am all the way down here, the first time in my life without an epic costume to wear. Sofí did invite me to a Halloween party so I need to whip something up out of literally nothing. I considered being Adam or Eve, because that is the closest I can get to materials and time. Obviously, that wont be happening. Anyhow, I will figure something out (=. Now, back to the trip...

The last few weeks have been sort of a hectic daze. I had to go through all of the migration hurdles to get my temporary residency down here and my oh my, I truly dislike migration workers. It was a big mess with no structure and I was the only gringo there. All the other people were Peruvian and Bolivian so they spoke very fast about everything and I felt a bit lost. Eventually, after about four or five hours in chairs and lines and booths and rooms they stamped my papers and I am officially legal.

The last few weeks have been sort of a hectic daze.

These last couple weeks have also been catch up in school to turn in the final papers and take exams. I had to write a ten page paper in spanish about the political, economic and social changes post neoliberalism in Venezuela and it was very, very hard. Sofi helped me a lot with the editing though, so hopefully I didn't turn in something too awful. It will feel good to feel like I am taking classes in a language I speak again. Sometimes it feels defeating when something that would be a sinch in the states is so hard here. No, it is defeating when everything feels like. Anyhow, school is over next week and I am so relieved. After finals I will be able to take advantage of my last two weeks in Buenos Aires.

It is strange to think I will be leaving my life here and I will never have it back. Even if I do come back here, it will be all new people, house, job, everything. I am going to miss some things quite a bit. Here is a short memoir of the little things I will be sad to see go: facturas, the dog walkers, the shops that sell tacky quinceñera dresses, Nelly singing in the house in Flores, the rain storms, dulce de leche y alfajores, cheap decent wine, saying very dumb things at work for language deficencies, blaming clumsiness on foreignness, chipa (tasty cheesy bread), super panchos, the simpsons in español, empanadas, colombian coffee in the mornings, Sofi's spanish classes with me, lazy fridays with Tati, my bosses Maxi and Diego, too many free cookies at work, the buses, subways, trains and trollies, Lisandro's dance moves, Aixa's kitchen inventions, Nino the house cat, never knowing what vegetables I am eating, sugar covered street peanuts... Its a bit hard to write it all down at once. I must also admit, there are pleantly of things I will not miss and they are equally deserving of mention: dog poop on the sidewalks, the lack of household recycling, the crazy drivers, the coin shortages, creepy pick up lines from every argentine boy, man or sometimes woman while walking in the streets, the inexistence of meatless food, the cucarachas, nightmares of strange sea animals in my bed, the people who sell underware in the streets, the funny tasting milk (i might miss this one), the rat in flores... Again, this continues, but it is all with a hate of love.

Anyhow, in two weeks I take off for the next journey backpacking the south american continent and I am so anxious. I will keep posting on the updates on the trip!