My life has
been simplified.
I have been stripped of
the things which are familiar, comfortable, and things I was good at… like
speaking English. I am just living… I wake
up, I eat, I read, sometimes I do laundry, I study Spanish, I talk with my
housemates, I go to Antares (a local pub with delicious beer), and I walk a
LOT!
I don’t have
a car or a bike.
To get around I walk or
I take the bus, train, subway, or at times ill take a taxi.
I don’t have a microwave to quickly heat up my
food. I don’t have a dryer to dry my
clothes, so I have to wait until the sun is out to do laundry (or else it will
take days to dry my clothes).
I wear the
same clothes because I don’t have very many.
I have one plate, one fork, one knife, one spoon, and one cup (which is
used for water, coffee, and as a bowl for cereal).
I no longer have a tv or a comfortable couch
to sink into.
It is nearly
impossible to express myself and be understood.
Small adventures to surrounding suburbs are now like crossing the
ocean. The smallest trips have become
the biggest adventures. The train is
like another world. The bus will just
keep going if you don’t know where to get off. The subway is always splitting at the seams, and conversations with taxi
drivers will change your life.
Yesterday I went
to the botanical gardens in Buenos Aires.
There were cats crouching behind every bush, tree, and statue; it truly was
like stepping into another world. I took
a tour around Buenos Aires… riding the busses, trains, and subways… all three
in one day! It was cloudy and so humid
that I was wet. It was sensory overload…
I was lost so many times, but always managed to find my way back to the subway
and reorient myself. I felt so alive, so
present to what was going on around me and at the same time like I was nonexistent. I was alone in the city, experiencing all it
had to offer… and nobody knew it. Nobody
knew I was there… except for me (and the nice man I bought an undercooked
milanesa sandwich from).
And you know
what… it’s ok.
Today I went
to a conservatorium and watched an orchestra practice with a friend of
mine. We just sat and watched… and my soul sang. Being in the presence of people who are so
passionate about something can really move a person. The simplest of things now make me the most excited. Simply walking 15 blocks to another side of
town and seeing new plazas bring me joy.
Sitting down and reading a book in the plaza or next to the ancient
heater in the pension brings me joy. I
cherish the moments when I have coffee in my cup… I even count myself blessed when I have the
strange liquid style yogurt in my fridge.
I appreciate invites to people’s homes… just to have mate (the
traditional drink of choice) and facturas (delicious pastries that might change
your life), because it’s a time to just be together… to be present! 
I appreciate this aspect of argentine culture… they love to be together! They love community and love sharing things! I love going to the small plaza grocery store, where the ladies at the check-out stand always have a comment about my hair or that im always buying vegetables. Or better yet going to the local Chino (grocery store run by a Chinese family… it’s the word they use here to describe these stores), and they speak Spanish in a Chinese accent… does it get any better than that? I don’t think so!
In reality
my world has shrunk and my life, simplified; yet at the same time, never been
more aware and present with my surroundings.
It’s as if im walking through a cold desert and aware of every grain of
sand under my feet, painfully aware of the lack of comfort and ever thankful
for the things I do have!
My life has
been simplified… and never clearer
