First days of work….

For those who have been to Buenos Aires, we live in a neighborhood called “Belgrano”, which is next to well-known Palermo (SOHO & Hollywood). Belgrano is where high middle class families live. We live in a building that is not open to the public, so I feel very safe. I have my own room (with a double closet, tv, desk, world’s comfiest bed!!!) and my own bathroom. We also have wireless! YAY! My office however, is on the other side of town one metro stop after ‘Avenida de Mayo’ and right off ‘9 de Julio’, which are both very important main streets of the city.

Just like the first days of kindergarten, my Argentina dad (Gustavo) treated me like a Princesa! He drove to the apartment at 7am to make sure my “despertador” (alarm) woke me up, made me fresh café just the way I like it, toasted “medialunas” (croissants) and prepared them with butter & “dulce de leche”. This is a typical “desayuno” (breakfast) in Buenos Aires. We conversed in Spanish for 30 minutes as meal times are for bonding and sharing your life with the family. Gustavo presented me with instructions on how to get to my office, 2 metro tickets, 20 pesos for lunch and a “manzana” (apple) for snack. He then walked me 3 blocks to the metro station giving me a “beso” (kiss) on the cheek once the correct metro line arrived. Wow, he’s a great dad!

Once I arrived at the office, I met the staff over some café- bonding time again! (It’s considered rude to not accept an offer for café). Many have been asking what exactly my job is and I guess if you have never studied abroad before this concept is difficult to explain. I am an International Director, which encompasses a variety of things. Some examples of work I’ve completed so far today:

(1)Germans come every year for study and their Visa applications were in error. I had to contact the government office to request forms to change the dates.

(2) Tomorrow we host a special luncheon for an American group. Guess who did all the planning? Me!

(3) Two groups of high school students arrived today and I hosted the orientation (in English & Spanish) about Argentinean customs, do & don’t’s, emergency info, etc with a powerpoint. (I’m not supposed to tell them I am American. This way they don’t speak English to me. They all think I am from Chile haha!)

(4) A group of volunteers are coming soon and they attempted to write a “thank you host family for accepting me into your home for one week” letter. It’s my job to correct their letters in Spanish.

(5) Various USA universities have competitions to send 1-2 college students each summer to create community projects in the “campos”, the poor inner regions of the country. The most recent project, establishing a school, is sponsored by “padrinos” (godparents) from the USA. I translated a 5 page Spanish newsletter today so the American sponsors can stay up to date on how the money is spent. I imagine next week I will be translating their English responses into Spanish for the school director haha!

(6) “Open Hearts” is a new project beginning this summer. Guess who is in charge of the marketing? ME! That I will have to start brainstorming tomorrow.

It’s 4pm and my boss said I work too much and I should go home. I have only been here 7 hours- during that time I have taken the customary 3-4 café breaks, one hour lunch to bond with the staff over empanadas and dulce de leche cookies, 30 minute bank run (very long lines), and I played on Facebook & checked my personal e-mail lol. I impressed my boss with level of productivity and so tomorrow she is giving me my own set of office keys and cell phone. WOWEEH!

Well, if this isn't 'living the dream'.....wait, this IS living the dream, MY DREAM!

Bienvenida….south of the equator “spanish”

I’m staying with an amazing family and I already feel at home. I arrived mid-morning and spent the entire day enthusiastically talking in Spanish to the family. Immediately, we all gathered in the cocina (kitchen) for café. As is custom here, they wanted to create a bond by asking questions about the trabajo (work) of my parents, the interests of my hermanos (siblings), my daily schedule back in the USA and if I have a novio (boyfriend).

It didn’t take long for Spanish to come right back to me! (it’s been 4 yrs since living in Mexico). Even I am surprised at the fluency! The accent is quite a bit different here. First, think of those movies where the Italians are talking very fast and the tone of their voice is up and down like a yo-yo. Then, the Spanish you learned in high school is thrown out the door. They don’t use “tu eres”, instead they say “vos sos”. And on top of that, think of the tiger Raja from movie Aladdin….now randomly insert the “ja” part in daily words like “yo” (pronounced show), “ella” (like asia), calle (like cashe). I feel like a 5 yr old sometimes. I need about 3 seconds to process what verb they’re using. Ha!

The entire family gathered at 2pm for almuerzo (lunch) and the mom made Italian food, mi favorita! Then we had a torta (pie) of a delicious fruit that they believe we do not have in the USA. “Bien rica”- very delicious! A little about mi familia nueva (my new family)…

The family I live with is divorced. There are two children- Leandro (22yrs) and Giselle (24 yrs). Leandro lives with us (as is custom until married or 30 yrs). His birthday is tomorrow and so the family is going to the mall tonight for presents after the “partido” (soccer game). Go Argentina! Giselle is a “jefa” (boss) at her dad’s company and makes good money to have her own apartment down the street to herself. La mama, Bianca, is a manager at the local hospital and she spends her nights studying a higher degree (masters?) in counseling/psychology. Her board exams are in one month. (She is from Italy and loves cooking!!!) Her “novio” (boyfriend) is Gustavo, who still has his own house and lives between both places. He owns a restaurant across town and is studying law, criminal and international. Conversations are never lacking with all their knowledge. In fact, this family only welcomes scholars, specifically they’ve had 3 from Duke University in the past.

Gustavo spent the day with us giving me a driving tour of the neighborhood, taking us out for café and sweets, telling me “bromas” (jokes) and talking to me about the politics and government here. He said here in Argentina he is my papa and he will protect me like his own daughter. How sweet! Just as sweet is the “dulce de leche” Giselle introduced me to. It’s a cross between nutella and caramel in the USA. Here it is in muffins, cookies, bread and croissants. I’m falling in love with the food already. Yummy!

Not so ready for takeoff...

4 hours early? Seriously? What is one to do arriving at the airport the requested 4 hours before departure of an international flight? Only thing on my mind is curling up next to a nice piece of wall for a nap. Why not? I’ve slept at an outdoor Italian train station in the pouring rain before. A piece of carpet is luxury! But no, anyone who knows me knows that I live at hurricane speed, yet always behind schedule with a million things on my to-do list. So after arriving at the Orlando airport at 5:35pm, I checked my luggage, passed security, took the shuttle to my gate, ordered a coffee and created an “office” in a corner all by 6:05pm. Did I set a world-record?

Well, here I am. My backpack exploded into a makeshift desk to do all those last minute travel details like pay bills, call AT&T about freezing phone plan, schedule to move last of my house furniture, make arrangements for someone to sell my Acura and charge every apple product I own for the long flight. Did I mention I don’t have any Argentinean pesos either? No time to order money from the bank when I was vacationing in California the 2 weeks prior. Most people use the expression “jumping in feet first”, but I liken this foreign travel to being “pushed in head first”. Totally unprepared. When people ask me what I know about Argentina my typical response is “a friend told me to go to Iguazu Falls and I bought a travel guide. I’ll know whatever the book tells me I guess." There’s no nicknaming me “Frommer’s” this trip!

***

Most pleasant international flight this past year! Longest leg was only 9 hours! No crying babies, window seat to lean on, I bought one of those cheesy neck pillows so my head doesn’t bob when dozing off and I had my first Spanish review lesson watching “Entrenar a tu dragon” (How To Train Your Dragon). Wow I need to work on my Spanish skills.

Also crazy that Americans, Canadians and Britains have to pay a special tax of “reciprocidad”. $140 US dollars! Afterwards they tell you it’s okay because that tax is good for 10 years. Is that motivation to skip out on visiting other countries of the world and opt for round 2 of Argentina in the future? Everyone speaking Spanish at the Miami airport and on the flight over is beginning to mess with my brain. I get confused in what language I’m thinking and what language I want to speak. I end up saying something like “si, yo want jugo de oranges” to the stewardess.

Let’s hope my 2 suitcases make it here with that insanely early check in requirement. Time to go see my living arrangements…hmmm, it’s winter here with 55 degree weather. I’ll take that over 100 degree humidified Florida.