Go day

Departure day is finally here. I get on my flight from Washington, DC tonight and will arrive at Buenos Aires at 10am tomorrow morning. The last minute details are mundane, but I had a bit of running around this morning, closing my bank account, visiting my credit union to withdraw some US currency, and to visit my dogs, whose ashes are buried at Folger Park on Capitol Hill. It's a bit emotional to leave them behind and I'll think of them often.

Mentally I am swinging between a high level of anxiety and excitement. I'm excited to get on the road and explore my new world, but also question if I've made the right choice to quite my job and head to a new country without any assurances of what I'll find. But c'est la vie.

I can't believe I managed to fit my life into a 70 liter and a 40 liter backpack. Except for a couple books and sweatshirts I left behind, everything else got in. Buenos Aires isn't quite the backwoods and I'll be able to get the common items while I'm living there, but I tried to take Rick Ridgeway's attitude regarding packing for a trip. When he and his team prepared for their trek across the Tibetan high desert, Ridgeway's mantra was " If we don't have it, we can't get it, and if we can't get it, we don't need it."

Next stop, BsAs.

Progress

I feel a bit like General John Burgoyne, the British commander who fought the Continental Army while refusing to part with his creature comforts. It's not like Buenos Aires is the wilderness of the Adirondacks, but . . .

Before

Attempt # 1 - Stuff everything in the rucksacks and hope they fit. It didn't work.

Attempt #2 - Tidy up the tarp, lay out the gears in a somewhat orderly fashion, then repack the rucksacks. It was better, but not there yet.

Attempt #3 - Remove 20% of my clothes, then repack. Almost there.

I'll have to have another go at it. All this packing worked up an appetite for dinner and a few pints.

I am willing to turn down some of my clothes but refuse to slim down on my wet/cold weather gears and my books (which adds at least 20 lbs to my pack). We all have to make sacrifices for the revolution.

After - ish

Reading list

One issue I'm still sorting out for my Argentina journey is my reading list. Do I carry everything to Buenos Aires with me and deal with the weight? Or ferry a few down initially and have friends send my collection after I'm settled? I've heard some horror stories about the Argie postal service.

But here's my initial list. Anybody with further suggestions?

Into Thin Air - John Krakauer
L'élégance du Hérisson - Muriel Barbery
The Wings of the Dove - Henry James
Persian Fire - Tom Holland
Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain
i, Lucifer - Glen Duncan
The Postman - Antonio Skámeta
On the Road - John Kerouac
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon - Jorge Amado
1491 - Charles G. Mann
The Lemon Tree - Sandy Toland
Writing New York - Phillip Lopate
The Peloponnesian War - Donald Kagan
Travels with Herodotus - Ryszard Kapuscinski
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon - Pablo Neruda
The Power and the Glory - Graham Green

Stepping off . . .

I sat across from my ex, my nose stuffed up and my head fuzzy from my cold. We were at the Lighthouse, a Korean tofu hot pot specialist in suburban Washington. It's one of my favorite meals during winter and I probably won't find it once I get to Buenos Aires. In a way, this is a farewell to an aspect of my life in DC.

I have been a bit flighty lately. As my shove off date to Argentina approaches, I am realizing all the tasks I need to accomplish prior to leaving. There are academic commitments to fulfill and office work to to finalize. There is the boxing up of my apartment and the packing and repacking of my two rucksacks. The list is endless and unforgiving. But I'll get them done.

But the real weight on my chest is the idea of moving on. Although I made that choice quite some time ago, the idea that I will soon step off the edge is truly giving me the butterflies. I've been on many solo trips before, from the sands of Arabia to almost the bottom of the Earth. But for the first time I am off on a journey not knowing if I will return. I feel like I am charting a course without a map.

Ever since I was a wee boy I've been told to follow a professional path - be a lawyer, a banker, etc. I read my parents' disappointment as I detoured time and again and eventually ended up working on Capitol Hill. But at least that was a professional field right? I was working and breathing the same air with decision makers who can change the world. But was I?

Friends came and went and I am still standing on the same spot. It's time to go.

As I personally said goodbye to friends, I am realizing that I'll be alone pretty soon, with nothing to bank on except my wits and my savings account. I know I've plans for graduate school in Europe, but I also need to have my head right before I get there.

Perhaps this was how my parents felt years ago when they forfeited the comfort of their homeland for the unknown promises of California.

Fightin' Scots

Is Scotch a drink or a person from Scotland?

My friends from north of the Tweed would have a pretty firm answer about that question. But for some reason, when waves of immigrants came to the States from Northern Ireland, the Ulster Scots became the Scotch Irish. Many Americans can trace their ancestry back to the those who participated in the Plantations of Ireland.


In looking at things I want to do before the end of 2008, I hope I will be able to up myself to New York City for the Black Watch, a National Theatre of Scotland play about the Royal Highland Regiment's experience in Iraq.

Studio 360, a public radio show in the States, just ran a captivating interview with Gregory Burke, the play's writer.

What do I want to get out of My Stay in Argentina?

Since I started reading up on Argentina in preparation for my trip there next January, I’ve been so consumed with researching points of interests, logistical questions like hostels, public transit systems, apartment rental, SIM card pricing, etc, I feel like I’m running around without a clearly defined goal for my trip.

So – I feel like I must take a step back first, reflect, and chart my course.

What do I want to get out of my stay in Argentina?
There are a lot of things I would like to experience in Argentina. However, rather than a laundry list, I am going to instead list the two broad categories I’m keen on. In some way, my experience in Argentina will revolve around these two items.

• I want to honor my father in some way. With his illness, I don’t know if he will last until my Argentine trip. While he’s not been a big part of my life thus far, he is still my father. As I was reading up on Argentina and various places I would like to visit during my stay there, it occurred to me that perhaps I can ascend Aconcagua (6962 m/22841 ft). This is a big goal. I’ll need to get fit and get organized. I’ve got a great deal of work ahead of me.
• I want to learn Spanish. Coming away with Porteño is fine. But I would like to be fluent in Castellano by the time I leave Argentina. I know that is a tall order in eight months. But I think it’s not out of my reach to leave South America with at least conversant Castellano.

Logistics
In planning for an eight month trip, logistics are important. I have several areas I still need to sort through. Some will just fall into place while others will require more effort.

• Immigration: Although I know I can enter Argentina and stay 90-days at a time as a tourist, being a gringo is expensive there. A gringo without a proper resident or student visa cannot get a DNI number (Argentine social security). Without a DNI number, one cannot open bank accounts, turn on utilities, etc. I believe I can bypass expensive ($500-700 per month) furnished apartments by renting my own apartment in Buenos Aires. But without a DNI number to turn on the power, gas, and Internet, that apartment is not very useful to me. So I am keen on finding out if I qualify for a student or 1-year residence visa in Argentina.
• Apartment: I know I will not be in BA the whole eight months. But if it is affordable enough, I would like to keep an apartment there the whole time. Aside from having a secured home base to store my belongings, I hope and expect friends to visit me in BA. Having my own apartment would make visitors more comfortable. As the whole immigration bullet point above mentioned, I can pay the gringo furnished apartment or I can rent apartments like the Argentines (reportedly $200-300 per month in one of the nicer BA neighborhoods). Guess which one I prefer.
• Mobile phone: Easy enough. I take out my T-Mobile SIM card when I get down to BA and insert a pre-paid Movistar or Vodafone SIM card. My contract with T-Mobile is up January 2009 anyway.
• Spanish language lessons: I can go about this a number of ways. The cheapest so far seem to be the courses at Universidad de Buenos Aires. It’s a fantastic public university and it’s very affordable. But I’m not sure I want to be tied down in BA eight weeks at a time. I can attend private Castellano language schools but the going rates for that seem to be $100-150 a week. That price is quite steep. Finally, I can sort out a private tutor when I land in BA. The hourly rates seem to be around AR$20-25 (USD$7-8) and would provide more flexibility. I think the language lesson issue is something I’ll have to figure out once I get to BA.
• Trekking gears: If I’m going to attempt Aconcagua, I’ll need good gears. It’ll be a 20-days trek from Mendoza and I’m not going to be cold and wet on that long of a trip.
• Fitness: I’ll need to be fit to scale the world’s second tallest peak. I’m not fit right now. I can put myself on a cardio/weight program for the next eight months, but altitude will still be an issue once I get to Mendoza. Altitude is something I have to train for. But I can’t very well deal with it while I’m living at sea level in Washington, DC.
• Plane ticket to BA: Already got it. Leaving DC on January 5, 2009.
• Plane tickets in South America: I’m considering a Mercosur air pass. But if I sort out the immigration issue and can get a DNI, I can buy flights in pesos. That means I get the local rate rather than the North American rate!
• Health Care: I can go to emergency rooms for free in Argentina. Or I can buy travelers insurance to get some proper care. I suppose an extra USD$50 per month isn't a lot. But that still comes to a few hundred dollars for my entire trip.
  
• Bus: Busing is easy in Argentina and Chile. Show up at the bus stations and buy tickets 1hr to 3 days before departure. These buses are Brazilian models designed for long hauls and they’re comfortable (relatively speaking). Some even serve meals! I was on quite a few of these buses during my 2001 Chilean trip. I imaging I’ll be on a couple 24-hour long bus rides when I’m in Argentina

I can keep going with a laundry list. But I think I’ll stop here and process the information a bit. I know nobody reads this blog and updating it is more for my personal pleasure, but if anyone come across this entry and can further suggest other questions I should be asking in preparation for my travels, please open up.