As much fun as it's been since I've been here, there hasn't been a shortage of obstacles. The most recent issue involves my lone credit card. Between going to dinner a block from the hostel around midnight on Saturday and going to a pharmacy no more than two blocks away on Sunday, I lost my credit card. Not only does this suck normally, it really really sucks in a foreign country. I'm still not sure how it happened, but I'm pretty sure it fell out of my pocket after taking money out before dinner Saturday. Who knows? Either way, it has proved to be a not-so-fun part of my time abroad. I also managed to lose this valuable item at a most inopportune time because not only were banks closed on Monday (Columbus Day), I moved in to my new house and had to pay my first month's rent. After brainstorming and brainstorming and brainstorming, I was finally able to get some help from a really nice guy Jared I met in the hostel from Tennessee who was willing to withdraw the cash I needed to get it reimbursed through PayPal. Fhew! It turns out too that even if the banks were open, I would be totally out of luck since the only way to withdraw money from an actual teller is by showing your ATM/Debit card. Not quite sure what people do that aren't able to get bailed out by someone they met two days prior. Fortunately there are Western Unions here so I'm going to have some cash until my new card arrives. Another bullet I dodged is that I woulda been screwed had I not already found a place to live since Wells Fargo will only send you a card to a permanent (meaning 6 months or longer) residence. Had I not found a place to live before losing the card would have posed a Catch 22. No card no residence, no residence no card.
In any case, I am here in my nuevo digs. I've met three of the five roommates: Tigre (from Argentina, and yes that is his name) Annika (architecture student from Germany) and German (a guy from Uruguay who is a musician and has a mini recording studio set up in his room. He uses Reason too!). So far, the first day here hasn't been boring. Had a few hours of broken spanish conversation. It is improving already though, I'm getting excited. Spent some time shopping for food with my remaining cash. My meals today included a plate of Chef Boyardee-like pasta and a couple of sandwiches with ham and mayo on 2 peso white bread. Mmmmmm. It's been a crazy couple days though. I was losing sleep over how I was going to explain to my new landlord that, "uh sorry I can't pay you, but I'm good for it, I swear." Fortunately it all worked out in the end, as it usually does. So for now I'm just taking it easy in my new room in my version of L'Auberge Espagnol after watching the Devil Rays stomp the BoSox in the living room. Should be an interesting few months to come, I'm sure...
By the way, the title of this post is my new mailing address.
HI AARON,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE BUENOS AIRES, WENT THERE IN JANUARY 2007 FOR 2 WEEKS. STAYED ON RODRIGUEZ PENA IN THE RECOLETTA AT THE SAN DIEGO APARTMENTS. WANT TO MOVE DOWN THERE. GOING THERE PROBABLY IN JANUARY OF NEXT YEAR AGAIN WITH MY PARTNER.
AL SANCHEZ
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA
Hey, so you have been to Argentina? I loved it. The first time I went to BA and I was actually shocked that the city was so similar to Paris or even New York. I though it was going to be like when I went to Peru, but it was totally different. I fell in love with Tango and argentine food. I had an apartment for rent buenos aires
ReplyDeleteand visited every single museum and square. I had the best of times!
Tiffany