I am trying my hardest not to let work-related overloads interfere with this blog. As I well know from failed blogatures of the past, once you stop you really don't start again.

So yesterday I began my most epic packing adventure yet: 5 years of life in 2 suitcases and a backpack. It's an exercise in decision-making and throwing things out, particularly for those of us on the verge of packratdom. But it's also a good way to start fresh and separate myself from my material possessions (I think too strong of an attachment to them will only hurt you in the long run).

In a similar vein, I also separated myself from another long-term obsession of mine: my hair. I finally decided to chop off my waist-length hair to an above-the-shoulder, practical and comfortable cut. I'm not sure I find it more attractive, but I think it's a healthy move to distance myself from vanities in my outward appearance and focus on feeling good inside. And boy was my long hair uncomfortable. So I suppose I am a feminist, after all, and this change is in keeping in line with my principles of health, comfort, and practicality over fashion. After all, we feminists believe women are equally valuable in all ways, right? So that means we can sacrifice looks for comfort and health, too, just like men? I like to think so. :)

A long few days of work ahead, combined with more packing fun. And all the while I am desperately trying to keep my mind off of that damn carta de nombramiento that should be coming soon to tell me where in Extremadura I will be working. This is yet another test of patience. So...zen.

Y listo! Ya están los que deben ser los últimos trámites que haga acá en Buenos Aires~! This time a relatively pain-free process, and much easier than the ones I am in the process of doing in the US (getting a federal background check, and getting it legalized with the Apostille of the Hague). I did this here in two short trips and one week. In the US this whole process takes some 2-3 months just for the background check, and another up to 4 weeks to get the Apostille. That's because I don't live in Washington, of course, which would make the second part of this process faster, although I'm afraid there is no remedio for the lengthy and complicated nature of the former. But I digress...

This is definitely something I will miss! Having everything so close, and not having to depend on shipping things off by postal mail and crossing your fingers for weeks or months that they will actually return to you. I won't, however, miss the waiting in lines for hours.

Now that I have all the paperwork I need from here ready to go, the move is finally starting to feel real. Now I just need to get started on packing. Packing 5 years of your life into 2 suitcases is not an easy task and will take some obligatory spring cleaning.

I'm very much looking forward to spending this summer in the US. The summer may be a long, boring time for most of the future auxiliares de conversación going to Spain this fall, but for me it'll be a very special time. Spend some time with old family and friends and relax down on the farm, and recover from this people-generated claustrophobia I have been feeling lately. Fresh air, no people. Sounds really lovely to me after a 2-hour walk through the microcentro doing trámites...

That said, a quote from a recent translation I did comes to mind. I translated an essay in which the author included a quote which I couldn't stop thinking about these past few days:  

"Nuestro apetito condena y desdeña lo que posee para ir en pos de aquello que no posee. - Montaigne" or basically "Our appetite condemns and scorns what it has in order to pursue what it does not".

I suppose this is a fancy way of saying "The grass is always greener on the other side" but it still made me stop to think. Maybe this is why change is so good. Because you get a bit of both sides, constantly gaining and losing things, and appreciate everything more in the process.

So who am I and why have I decided to pack up and move to Extremadura this year?

My name is Kay and I'm one of the many American study abroad students who came to Buenos Aires in the 2005-2009-ish onslaught when the city was still incredibly cheap for an American bringing precious dollars due to the devaluation of the peso argentino in 2002 post 2001-economic crisis. We lived it up. I mean, it was pretty cool to come to a large metropolitan city and pretty much do whatever you want, and eat and drink whatever and wherever you want, all on a student's budget. At any rate, this didn't last long, for two main but very important reasons:

1. Coming to Argentina with dollars as a student is awesome, but you can't stay long here on dollars unless you had significant investments back home which most of us 20-somethings of course did not have, which leads to a foreigner's first major difficulty in Buenos Aires: finding paid work. Finding paid work for English-speaking or otherwise European foreigners in Buenos Aires isn't actually hard at all. In fact, I'd say it's relatively easy, even post-worldwide-financial-crisis. So what's the major difficulty? Finding paid work that doesn't actually suck, and doesn't actually abuse you as the silly, naive, English-speaking foreigner you are (Although I did eventually find one job that treated us very well, which I don't at all regret working for. If you are reading this you know who you are !) Also finding work that pays well, but I believe that's a problem everyone has in Argentina, not just foreigners.

2. Inflation. Oh how I love thee. Except not really. Volatile economic situation where you must demand a pay raise at least twice per year in order to not get swirled down the metaphorical drain that will be your standard of living if you fail to do so.  Seriously. I don't know the official numbers, and frankly I don't care because the official numbers (from our friends at the INDEC) are basically lies, anyway. But I would say an inflation of approximately 30% annually isn't too far off. While all of this does not make life impossible here (of course not, there are millions of people who lived and will live their whole lives here), it does make life harder. So you have to have a seriously good reason for wanting to live here long-term; this isn't just a big joda like study abroad students like to think it is.

3. Work papers. I know I said two major difficulties. That's just because I didn't even want to go here. It's just too painful. But I decided it's gotta be present, or else I am leaving out something very important that any foreigner should know. Expect not to get your work papers in order to for what may possibly be a very long time. Even if you are lucky and this is a fast process and you DON'T have to live "under the radar" for many a year, once you do apply for your residency/work papers it will still be a process worth crying over. Sorry but it had to be said.

These two major gripes aside, I would recommend that anyone looking for a short time away from home give Buenos Aires a spin. It's a different world, the people are fun, and you've got a lot to learn. All you've got to lose is a bit of money, and perhaps a bit of patience.

That said, why have I lived here for 5 years? It certainly doesn't sound like I would want to of my own free will after what I've said. Complaints aside, I have a seriously strong love-hate relationship with this city and everything in it. It took me a number of years to decide, definitely, it wasn't actually for me and that I needed to try new things. And then I needed to wait for my (Argentine) husband to finish school and be ready to come with me.

So now we're off to Extremadura (or at least Spain) together! Here's to hoping it will have as much to teach me about life as Buenos Aires did.

After 5 years in Buenos Aires, I finally decided to make the move to Spain. In light of the current economic situation that Spain has been going through lately, notably the high unemployment rate, I decided to take the safer road and apply for the government scholarship/work program Auxiliares de Conversación Extranjeros en España. The upside? Go to Spain with a job and (small) salary already arranged. The downside? You don't get to choose where in Spain. And that's okay. After 5 years of Buenos Aires, I would probably rather become a hermit for the next 5 years than go to an equally large city like Madrid right now.

And...

Me tocó...Extremadura. I didn't know much about it either. I still don't. But I do know there's a lot of countryside. And ham. That's also okay, because I like ham. Better than I do the Argentine asado anyway. And my dream of returning, albeit for a short time, to a more relaxed, friendly life is surely what decided I would be going to Extremadura.

So the journey begins here. In two weeks from now, just 2 weeks shy of my 5-year anniversary here in Buenos Aires, I will leave this city for what may be forever, or at the very least a long time. With my eyes set on my next destination. I realize now that I thrive on change. Exchanging Buenos Aires for a town (which I don't even know yet) in Extremadura will hopefully be the change I'm looking for, as well as a punto de partida for finding my next rumbo.

Aires Extremeños