Farewell South America

Holy cow, gee whiz, wow!!

In 10hrs I will be on a oneway flight to New York City. It has been nearly 8 months of backpacking by foot, bus, and hitching rides from Costa Rica to Argentina.

Tomorrow I will be home.
Sort of.

I will be in New York City (Brooklyn specifically). It is such a strange, anxious, happy feeling knowing that I am going back to the States. I have no idea what I'm going to do in Brooklyn or how long I am going to stay. All I know is that I have arranged a sofa to crash on with a girl who was on the Tyra Banks Show talking about dumpster diving. This should be exciting.

Traveling for such an extensive amount of time has taught me many things. It has helped me grow. It is impossible to explain everything that has happened in the 8 months of being in and out of different countries. For me to recap the things I've seen, people I have met, situations I have been in would be exhausting. It has been a whirlwind. One beautiful chaos.

What traveling has done for me has expanded who I am in ways I never considered. I have a new appreciation for being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet, buy deodorant and duck tape at the same store, bicycle lanes, peanut butter, and simple conversations with strangers.

I miss Austin.

I miss cycling at 5:00am on the Congress bridge, bonfires & Jameson, coffee shop talk, breakfast burritos, friends, interesting lectures, my seersucker pants, house keys. I miss all of the things that I never really thought I liked that much. This is what traveling does.. it teaches. It has put what matters most in perspective.

For example, I never considered having a home as liberating. I always viewed it as something you were tied to, like that it owned you in a way. All I want are my own keys. I want to have an address again. I want to be able to go to the grocery store and know where the olive oil is and know that when I buy apples or a toothbrush I am getting charged the same price as everyone else.

Many people have asked if I had any bad experiences. If anything truly terrible or frightening has happened during my solo travels through these "dangerous" countries. A part of me wishes I had something shocking to say, but truthfully and fortunately, I've had far more problems in Austin. I have had more unfortunate events in one of safest cities in the US then Colombia, one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

The last year I lived in Austin I managed to have my car stolen, get accused of insurance fraud, arrested, physically threatened while riding the bus for being queer, and shot in the leg. The worst thing that happened in South America was that I got travelers diarrhea and got in a fight with a Rastafarian because he believed that white people aren't supposed to have dreadlocks.

Things happen.

I think that the grandest lie we ever tried to pass as truth was that people are different. Cultures are different, people are not. People's lives consist of the same things but in different orders. We all struggle, love, desire, need... We have deadlines, routines, chores... We put emphasis on different things, but I feel that it is all relevant because here is there is everywhere... We are all moving at the same speed on this planet but just in different directions. This world is a kaleidoscope of instances. We are all under the same sky just looking at the stars from another angle.

It is summer in December here in Buenos Aires. I feel the sweat pellets underneath my t-shirt and I know that in 10 hrs I will be shivering from the blistering New York
cold, cursing the winter. My priority will be finding a bagel and a nice hot cup of coffee. I want to give the biggest smile to someone who has forgot how and tell a women who looks like she is having a bad day that her shoes look nice with her dress, even if they don't, just because..

I'm not sure if I'll be in New York, Boston, Vermont, Rhode Island or New Orleans for the New Years. I'm not sure how I'm going to get anywhere, but I can worry about that later. If I managed to travel alone and with a limited knowledge of Spanish then I better be able to navigate my way around New York by subway and figure out how to take a bus to Boston. After my time on the northeast I will pass through Mississippi and then onward to Austin. When I will be back is a good question. I'm still trying to figure that out...

I think it is going to take some time before I am able to articulate my experiences. To be able to digest all of the conversations, sensations, and places I've had the opportunity to be a part of. It is safe to say that I have changed, but we all have. We all have traveled in our own way. It doesn't take a plane ticket or a car ride to go to another place. I don't feel like I ever really left, actually. It is because I feel very connected to the people and city of Austin. I guess it is because in the back of my mind I knew that this trip was temporary. That even though I would be gone for months there would be a time I would come back.

It has been great. Really. I don't know what else to say. Traveling is everything you think it would be and not all in the same package. Being gone doesn't mean that you escape routine, either, it just means that you are on a different one. I'm still not done with traveling. Like I said, I will be in New York and various other places before I get back to Austin.

What I have now are fond memories of countries I used to look at on maps. Learning about how other people live has taught me more about how I live. I have learned more about my country by not being in it and this has been incredibly interesting. There are still many places that I want to travel to and experience, but all in good time.

I wish could explain myself better, but right now all I can think about are tacos and Tecate. Right now I need to find my passport and reserve a taxi to the airport.

I can't believe it!!!

I'm going back:)

country bumpkin city slicker

It has been one month of living in the city of Buenos Aires.
Never thought I would have made it this far:)
But here I am. Another day, another couch, another part of town...

Off to find vegetarian food now because I decided to be a vegetarian again.

It occurred to me this morning:)

what I do for fun

Contrary to popular belief, backpacker's don't have that much money. We survive off street food, instant coffee, and $1 peso baguettes. We get our entertainment from conversations with homeless people, haggling with taxi drivers, and sitting in parks... Not glamorous at all. But I have discovered the best source of free entertainment.

Going to the grocery store:)

I go down every row (usually 2 or 3 times), never buy anything, and take pictures. Security gets annoyed with me, people think I'm crazy, and old ladies like to ask if I need help.

No gracias. I tell them with a smile.
Estoy solamente mirando.

Today I stumbled across frozen meat patties called Barfy and tampons branded as Enjoy.

Hahahahaha, I love it! My favorite discoveries of the day.

it's here. it's there. it's everywhere!

One thing I have noticed about Buenos Aires is that they have their fair share of hipsters, too. It is a little more popular with the girls, though. The difference is that here hipsters don't ride fixed-gear bicycles or drink PBR from a can, they drive really small cars called Peugeot and drink a beer called Quilmes. You may find them at the Film Institute & the Andy Warhol exhibit at the MALBA (modern art museum). I discovered all of this yesterday:)

Oh! I almost forgot, they listen to Madonna & The Killers. And that's pretty much it.

Polution, Poverty: The Dirty Secrets of Buenos Aires

Below is one of the most contaminated rivers in the world. 80% of the pollution is caused by industrial waste (ie. chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical units). The neighborhood most effected by this is La Boca as well as the surrounding areas. La Boca was predominately inhabited by Italian immigrants and then became one of Argentina's biggest slums. Due to gentrification the slums got pushed to the otherside of the river (like most do) and La Boca is now known as Buenos Aires most picturesque barrios.

About 4,500 of the residents live in a part of the river valley that has become known as Villa Inflamable, close by a major Shell refinery and other petro-chemical plants. It got its name because if you drop a match, the ground is said to ignite. A study by the Avellaneda municipality and the national government found that 50 % of the children there had lead in their blood, while many also had chrome, toluene and benzene in their urine.

The city of Buenos Aires has tried to make some improvements to the pollution in the area, but since the nearly 3 million people who live around the area represent Argentina's lowest class I don't foresee much happening.




(the dirty river)



(tourist street)

good morning buenos aires

Last night I slept in a hammock on the roof of someone's place. Woke up to a breeze. We ate eggs and drank instant coffee. No one drinks the real stuff here. Im going to go to the cemetery today. And then to the Japanese garden. The sky looks like a pillow. I want to take a nap under a willow tree. But Im not sure if they got 'em here. We'll see..