It’s been an interesting, sometimes comical journey during my preparation for my move to Argentina. For those of you that are unaware; on the 23rd of June, I will be leaving the US and heading to a town called San Martin de los Andes, which is located in the Patagonia region of Argentina (Patagonia is the southernmost part of South America – it is a region (like the Midwest) that is made up of the southern sections of Argentina and Chile). San Martin is a little town of 20,000 people nestled at the foot of the Andes Mountains and lies right beside a majestic lake called Lake Lácar. In the winter (May-October) average temperatures range from 28-57 degrees and in the summer (November-April) average temperatures range from 34-70 degrees (pretty freaking perfect, in my opinion). Accompanying me will be Jose – yes, the guy I was dating when I was in Colombia. We are pumped! We will meet in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, on June 24. We’ll stay in a hostel in Buenos Aires for a couple nights and then will take a 20 hour fancy-shmancy bus ride (personal TV’s, a bar, and not just partly-reclining, BUT - you guessed it - fully-reclining seats kind of fancy. Oooh yeah) to San Martin. Once we are there, we will stay with friends we have met via Couchsurfing (a travel community online) while we begin the hunt for an apartment, and then jobs. In the meantime, we will probably drink lots of Argentinean wine while watching the sun set over the mountains (tough life, I know).
Telling people about my plans to move has proved to be quite amusing. Upon my news of leaving the country, I am typically faced with the wide-eyed, wonder-struck “that is so freaking awesome” response, or I get the just as satisfying (drum roll)….. blank stare. Now, the blank stare might not sound very thrilling at first, but if you play along, it’s quite laughable. It usually starts with someone that doesn’t know me very well. This person also probably doesn’t know too many people that do that many spontaneous things. As a matter of fact, spontaneity just might freak the heck out of them. Anyway, the conversation naturally begins pretty regularly - but just you wait. It might go something like this:
“What are your plans for the summer Jenna?”
“Well, I’m going home for a bit, doing a paddle trip on the St. Croix River (nodding, smiling) and then I’m moving to Argentina.”
Confusion slowly sinks in. Nodding stops. Smile turns into a half-smile.
“Wow… so… what are you going to do there?”
“I’m not really sure yet – I might find a job in the tourism industry since the town I’m moving to is pretty touristy. Otherwise I might teach. I’ll figure it out when I get there.”
Slowly, the half-smile dissipates. Eyebrows furrow. Lips part slightly. Blank stare arises. Silence.
Finally,
“Huh…. so…. where are you going to live?”
“Again, I’m not really sure. I’ll find an apartment to live in when I get there.”
“Oh.”
More blank stare. And then some more. It’s as if they just noticed I have a third eyeball, and are in a state of confusion/oblivion/amazement all at the same time.
“So… you’re moving to a different country… without a job… and without housing….”
I take this confused statement as a question.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Uh huhh.”
There’s the stare again, waiting for me to say something else, perhaps. In the meantime, I’m feeling like I’m in the middle of a very quiet, very serious meeting, and something hilarious that one of my second graders said or did the other day pops into my head and all I want to do it fall out of my chair in a laughing fit. But, I can’t. It is, after all, a very quiet, very serious meeting. Finally I break the silence.
“Well, I’m super excited for it, I’m sure it’ll be great” (still containing my laughter).
Blank stare blank stare blank stare.
……………………………………..
“Huh.”
I eventually allow the silence to force the conversation to an end, and it generally closes with a questionable-sounding “have fun,” “good luck” or something to that extent. Hahh. The way I see it, I’m simply facilitating character building via the breach of comfort zone approach :) Though I do apologize for any discomfort I may have caused during any recent conversations.
In case you are a visual person like I am and are in need of some visual assistance, Simon Cowell does a pretty good impression of the blank stare:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=624&tbm=isch&tbnid=42qPuroxxHoTmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/blank%2520stare&docid=K9cEtdMHFmzrCM&imgurl=http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6mb34JApK1ranhnao1_400.gif&w=317&h=182&ei=v3a2UZ_UH-bF0AGylIAI&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:12,s:0,i:128&iact=rc&dur=1162&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=252&start=0&ndsp=13&tx=142&ty=60
To all reading this, thank you for your support, love, and I suppose criticism (to an extent). I would not be the person I am today nor would I be where I am at without you all. Because of you, my adventures and once-in-a-lifetime experiences continue. Many thanks, mil gracias :) I look forward to exchanging stories as our new adventures unfold. Love you all!
Till next time,
Jenna
