So.... What exactly are you doing?

I know you are wondering how Greg and I can possible fill our days. Perhaps I should enlighten you at how time consuming being unemployed really is.

The first weeks we got here was spent walking around the entire city. We are not talking walking around downtown Winter Park here..... This was serious walking. We should have had sponsors that donated money to Breast Cancer research support us. Too bad for Susan G. Koman- we would have broken all sorts of records.

Once acquainted with the city, our first mission was to find a place to live. We were lucky enough to have a place to sleep with a friendly face that spoke English (Sara- she is from CA). However- I must first paint a picture. The apartment is probably 700 sq. ft. Upon entering, you walk into the living area. The kitchen is the size of my old bathroom (and yes, my previous bathroom was large, but no- not large enough to be a kitchen). Sara has yet to cook a meal after being here for 5 mo. Straight ahead is a small entry way- the bathroom is to the left, Sara's room is straight ahead, her roommate, Veronica, sleeps in the room to the right. Here is where it gets good. Enter into Sara's room: standing in the doorway, there are two beds to my left and a closet to my right. The two beds resemble those found in 4 year olds room.... not just because they are small and comparative to bunk beds that were pulled apart..... but also because the sheets on them resemble those that would also adorn a 4 yr. old girl's sheets. Underneath one bed is another bed that pulls out- different sheets but equally as childish. So here we are- 4 suitcases, 2 large backpacks meant for hiking, and the three of us.... crammed in this tiny room. It felt like a slumber party every night. Sara was amazing to let us stay for a week..... but we needed to hunt hard to give her room back to her in a timely fashion.

So we go to find a room. This is done by walking into real estate agents and asking them what they had available. A bit of a challenge when you do not speak the language. Lucky for us, a few did. Sometimes you could see the apartment the same day- sometimes not. We ended up finding our place through Sara- she rents an office in a place (where the receptionist is included, and everything else you need.... cannot think of the name for the American equivilent, but I know they are everywhere in the US). The man who owns the place is American and his ex girlfriend had recently reovated a place and was looking to rent it out. Perfect.... we saw it after 4 days of intense searching and took it. While it is not completely furished yet (she was not expecting to rent it out so fast)- it has a bed and shower and internet. Enough said.

So enter into the past almost 2 weeks. Our days are never quite long enough. We wake up and go to the gym. It is 5 min. from where we live - perfect! Finding the gym..... a process and 1/2. We stumbled upon it walking around- after looking at gyms for three days and several hours. We take Spanish lessons (which I have now stopped). They are Monday thru Friday for two hours. The walk is 30 min. to the tutor. Every night we have Spanish homework- 2 more hours. Greg is working on some online businesses, and I was getting situated for school. This week I have studied every day for 6 hours (I need A's in both my classes to get into school). I did not leave the house on Thursday, except to go to the gym in the middle of the day.

Shopping for things is also a huge time killer. It is also where most of our frustrations and laughter (later) comes in. I will give you a few examples. Greg and I needed notebooks. We had seen a Staples before- so we decided to try again to find it. We always go to the main street (Santa Fe) and go right. Right leads to down town. We walk for a solid 40 min. We find the Staples..... we get what we need after searching for a bit and walk home. Total time:2 hours. I need to make copies, so I go out of the house and turn left to get to the copy store. There is the equivilent of the Argentina Staples on the corner. Whoops.

So Greg and I get the copies and then need to find a fan (desperately need white noise in our room to drown out the 80's music that is blasted by the apartment across from us until 6am every night). It is winter here - so no one has fans. We finally stop in a random place..... they have every random thing you can imagine..... from nails to mops to toys..... We think "they must have a fan!" And we were right...... except when they went to the atic to get the fan (20 min. wait) they come down with this huge metal industrial strength fan- the kind you would use in a huge factory. They are telling us how great the fan is- that it is very high quality and will last for years....We need a noise machine (which do not exist in Argentina...according to several sources)- we don't need to cool down Africa. So we gave up- and decided to go to the grocery store. Never a quick trip, even though it is 1 block from our house. While I love going to the meat market to get meat and fruit market to get fruits and vegies..... sometimes it takes several hours to round up everything you need. So we took a chance and got chicken from the grocery store. The vegies were terrible- so we skipped that. The lines for checking out go down the isles. So not only can we never find what we need (different packaging and different language = very frustrating), but we have to maneuver around people to even see what is in the store. The only isle that does not have a long line going down it is the wine and liquor isle. Perhaps that is because it does not have a check out person in front of it. (There is another less crowded store that is very nice- we found it recently, but it is a 20 min. walk). We get home and the chicket "breasts" have weird bones and need to be cut. If only we had a sharp knife...... And somewhere along the way I lost my papers. So I try retracing my steps for a bit- but every store just tries to sell me more paper.... they just do not get that I left mine there. So I need to reprint them..... but the removable drive thing is at the house..... so I go back to the house to go back to the print store to reprint my papers- and we still do not have a knife for the chicken because the knofe store is closed. So we drink wine and eat yogurt- because that is the only thing that we can find and eat without problems.....Do you see where I am going with this. I now firmly believe in travel gods- and I am certain that we have angered them. If anyone has ideas on what to sacrifice to them, I am open.

I should also probably tell you a bit about classes. Online Anatomy and Physiology along with Microbiology...... 8 weeks- how hard can it be? Hmmmm..... A&P involves reading 4 chapters per week (150 pgs), posting a thoughtful discussion (topic is provided) of your own and thoughtful comments on others postings....minimum of 2 times per week. Home based lab- done with things that you would normally find in your kitchen- unless you are in Argentina where baking soda, wheat germ, and peanut butter do not exist (another time consuming and intensive search), Post about the results of the lab and also make insightful observations about others results, weekly quiz, coloring book assignment of 40 pgs (I still do not have the coloring book- it was suposed to arrive forever ago- so I gave up on the one company and reordered from another company- hope it was not stopped in customs), and an online lab experience as well that has a quiz to follow. Multiply this by two - Micro is equally as time consuming.

But it gets even better- my laptop stopped working Monday- the day before class started. The warrenty is only valid in the US. So while the Sony store here could diagnose the problem (three days), to fix it would cost $12oo USD. The motherboard is fried- and it is only 2 mo. old. So it is in the US now- getting a new motherboard- hopefully one that does ot spontaneously combust. I will have it in three weeks. I hope- it also might get stopped in customs- where I would have to pay large taxes on it- about $500USD. Seriously- if you have any ideas for sacrifices to the travel gods... I will pay.......

Getting the computer looked at was another funny one. A friend of Sara's was going back to the US for 6 mo. She left Wed. Since I had to pay for the shipping to and from the US for the computer, she offered to take it to the US for me. I could pick my computer up Wednesday at noon. She was leaving for the airport around 1. Perfect..... the Sony store is a quick Subte ride - 10 min. and it dropped me right at the entrance to the Sony store. So I go to get on the Subte- it is closed because the Subte workers went on strike. THAT Morning! The bus lines are literally 100 people long because the Subte is not running. So I get a cab- but traffic is horrendous here - esp where the Sony store is (think NY city ). So it takes forever. I get there- pay the 50 pesos- and then have to wait 20 min. for them to give me an important sheet. Their printer was out of ink and they could not find the ink to replace it. At this time it is 1 pm. I get the paper- it just was a paper saying I had paid 50 pesos and refused repair from them. Did I really need this?!? I get in a cab and get the computer to Christine just in the nick of time- for once I beat the travel gods.

And I forgot to mention- I got a job here - working for a US company doing sales. I start next Tuesday and will wok 15-20 hrs. per week. I had training this week- 5 hrs..... We shall see how it goes!

So that is life here ..... crazy, frustrating as hell, and amazing at the same time. I wish there were a quick subte ride that took me to Denver- just so I could go, get the things done I needed to, and then return (peanut butter and baking soda in hand) to this place- where I can get my hair highlighted for $20, a mani and pedi for $10, an amazing steak with great wine for $9, private Spanish lessons for $8/2 hr., and salsa classes for $3 for 4 hr. - with an amazing culture that I cannot get enough of. Unfortunately- I have only done the last two so far.... the rest will come in time. Hopefully sooner than later.

Hope you enjoyed my novel today!
Ciao.

Word of the day: chocar- a strike- like the Subte workers went on chocar when I needed them the most!