Finally a farewell that made me laugh...

Ok, so in leaving, there is to be expected the emotional goodbyes.  I've already had two people cry (which is hard to digest since I can't imagine why anyone would be THAT sad to see me go.) and the end result of many interactions I have is a feeling that I may be terminally ill and just haven't seen it on the news yet.  I don't know.  I know I sound callous, but I think I look at this upcoming trip like many people are, I would be insanely depressed.  Don't get me wrong, I've been getting hoards of support which is very encouraging :)  And tonight, I was hanging out with my friends Chad, Paige, and Michelle.  Among our evenings antics was a video that Paige doctored up as my going away present.  I was deeply touched by the sentiment and enjoyed it so much, I figured I would share it with all of you.  

Enjoy

Argentina Trip/Move FAQs

Yeah, not much time passed between the last blog and this one.  But I figured since I probably won't be able to talk to everyone and since I've been getting a lot of the same questions.  I'd just have a section that explains the facets, origins, and hopes for the trip.

Q: Where are you going?

A:  Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I'm going to be staying in the Recoleta district.  it's supposed to be an upper-middle class neighborhood.  So hopefully the odds of me getting mugged will be reduced immensely.  

Q: When do you leave?

A:  October 4th.  

Q:  Why are you going down there? 

A:I've had an interest in other cultures for a while.  When I started working at Ka' at the MGM in 2004, I was exposed to people from literally all over the world.  It was part in giving me an excitement to experience other cultures.  It also gave me lots of exposure to different languages, which I also found fascinating.  I tried while in college to do an international program, but financially it was not an option.  

As many of you know, my brother took a trip to Chile in 2006.  He was there for around 6-7 months.  I thought the manner in which he did it was absolutely nuts, but he came back with all his teeth, vital organs, and had no visible scars.  AND he was fluent in Spanish, by the time he came back.  So the fact he survived it made me feel more confident about doing something similar.  I was always waiting until graduation, which was back in May, to decide where I wanted to go.  However, I was cast in a community theatre production of "The Little Dog Laughed" that ran until the beginning of September.  Once it ended, there was not much keeping me to the city.  

Q: Why Argentina?

A: I have a friend that lives down there.  During 2007, I thought I was going to have time to go somewhere foreign, and it was either to visit him or to Australia.  I ended up not going to either one.  However, when I decided I wanted to go to a spanish speaking country, I thought of my friend Kurt and all the great things he said about the city of Buenos Aires.   It made the decision easier.  Unfortunately, Kurt has been difficult to correspond with recently, so I don't know how around he is going to be while I am down there.

Q:  What will you do while you are down there?  

A:  I found a program called Spanish Por Favor.  It is an immersion program that sends you to a language school 5 days a week and offers a variety of living accommodations.  I elected to live with what is called a homestay family.  Think of it as a foreign exchange family.   After I arrive, I will most likely start seeking employment as soon as possible.  

Q: How long will you be gone?  

A: I am scheduled to do the program for 12 weeks.  After 12 weeks have passed, the duration of my continued stay will depend on 2 things.  First, I will need to find a job so I can continue to support myself while I am out there.  If I can gain employment, the 2nd factor influencing my duration of stay will be how long I can handle living there and be away from home.  I would personally like to be there for 9 months to a year.  This of course may and probably will change once homesickness sets in on day 2 I'm sure.  :)

  

Q:  Are you excited?

A: Ecstatic!  I'm so insanely lucky to have the availability and the funding to make this happen.  Every time I start to panic that it is a horrible idea or that it won't work out, someone tells me that I have to go for it.  I figure I may not have the opportunity to do this in the future.  I know that if I don't do this, I will probably regret it for a long time.  

Q: Do you have your Visa?

A:  Argentina does not require that you have a visa.  They do, however, require that all visitors leave the country every 90 days.  I've been told it's not that hard, and that it really is as simple as taking a ferry out of the country to Uruguay, and coming back the same day.  We'll see how that pans out.  If employment doesn't happen, then I won't need to leave the country at all.  :)

Q: Will you have a phone?

A:  I don't believe so.  That's really up to the folks (parents).  Since I am on their phone plan, they will ultimately decide if I have phonage while I'm down there.  If I do take my phone with me, it will mainly be for texting.  

Q: Will you have internet access?

A: I want to say yes.  I will be taking my laptop with me down there and the area does have wifi, however, I barely understand how wireless works, so I don't know how signals and junk work internationally.  I guess I have 11 days to find out. 

I think that about covers the first wave of questions about the trip, If I recall or are asked the same question repeatedly again, I will most likely have a FAQs II post.  

:)

Thought track- T-minus 11 days

Well, the tickets are booked, I am officially leaving Las Vegas for Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 4th of October.  When I say it's a funky mix of emotions, I may as well be my own personal DJ.  Excited, Anxious, Terrified, Thrilled, Nervous, (the list goes on) are only the tip of the iceberg of things going through my head.   

I usually pride myself at being an individual who always tries to march to the beat of his own drum.  That being said, my drum is going from a light tapping similar to that used to keep a simple steady beat, to a rocking-out drum solo on a full drum set.  Life for me has always revolved around vegas and has always been sort of determined for me (School/College).  Now I have to make decisions that are going to significantly impact the rest of my life.  Probably not a big deal for many, but just short of terrifying for me.  You would think a sensible person in need of a little change would get there hair done or try bungee jumping like a normal civilized person.  A person on pure air in need of a change of scenery would just leave the city, possibly the state when they want some new surroundings.  But no, I happen to have a brother who went to Chili for 7 months and then did the Euro tour of 15 countries 6 months later, another brother who has played professional basketball in 5 countries, and parents who pretty much travel because they can.  Needless to say, I'm feeling a little behind everyone.   And being the competitive being that I am, I need to have my own international trek of my own.  :)  I know you're probably thinking that I'm doing this for all the reasons.  To be honest, there are periods where I almost feel like I'm marching to the beat of someone else's drum.  But I keep looking at it and saying that I know I am genuinely wanting to do this trip.  :)

I am looking at this experience as a chance to grow as a person.  Gain some insight.  See life and experience a culture that I am unfamiliar with.  Be thrown out of my comfort zone and see how I do.  I also want to challenge myself to become fluent in a language that I should have learned years ago.  I wonder how things will work out.  I wonder if I'll be able to hack the minimum of 3 months I will be gone or if I will never want to come back after 3 months.  I wonder if the craziness, spontaneity, and overall Alex-ness will translate into Spanish.   Hopefully, the answers to all these questions will be revealed soon enough.  We'll have to wait to see.  

:)