cheesy, sentimental post alert

It’s my last day (¡¡¡!!!) so I’ve been thinking, and I’m going to use this last (sniff) Yo Tengo Tango blog post to reflect on the last 5 months. In advance, I’d just like to thank everyone who read this blog. This blog, in a way, was for me too--to track my trip with pictures, stories and anecdotes I wouldn’t put in a journal. But I’m mostly glad my friends and family got to track my travels, so thank you for reading. It means a lot.

Okay, so I’m leaving Argentina. Ay ay ay! I’ll miss a lot of things, definitely. I’ll miss the food: empanadas, alfajores, milanesa. I’ll miss cheap (really cheap) delicious wine, and the laziness of an Argentine day. I’ll miss constantly meeting people from all corners of the world and having intense political discussions right alongside a couple of jokes. I’ll miss the pecks on the cheeks as greetings and goodbyes, and having people calling me “amor,” “querida,” and “linda” just as they would my name. I’ll miss traveling. I’ll miss the people.

But I’m going home. I’m excited to see everyone, obviously. But I’m also looking forward to talking to strangers and not being afraid I won’t understand them. I’m looking forward to Late Night TV shows, the variety of kinds of food (Trader Joe’s, here I come!), running in San Francisco again, not seeing stray dogs everywhere, and finally being able to drink legally!!! And school, I guess.

Looking back at all my goals and what I expected out of my five months here, I’m really happy. I’ve gotten closer to fully mastering the Spanish language (and picked up a Córdoba accent along the way). I don’t know if I consider myself fluent yet, but many people do…and it takes me halfway through an Argentine T.V. show before I realize I’ve understood the whole thing-- that’s a good sign. I’ve trekked in the Andes, danced my butt off in Rosario, paraglided in La Cumbre, saw the best waterfalls under a full moon in Puerto Iguazú. But some of the best moments have been the simple ones: tranquil afternoons at Lucio’s farm, when Mom and Dad came to visit and when my sister came a month later, drinking a beer on my terrace, the wild asados, deep conversations. I feel really lucky for those cool, photogenic moments, like horseback riding and seeing old ruins, but I feel extremely fortunate to have had these amazing simple moments that make a true life. So even though I never got to ski in Bariloche, and even though I never made it to Salta, and even though I couldn’t go to Valparaiso, I became a part of an Argentine family, met people from all over the world, and enhanced my Spanish. I really came to understand Argentine history, culture and politics. I was here for one of the most tumultuous periods in the nation’s history, but that didn’t shake my love for Argentina. I witnessed dozens of protests, manifestations, route closures, and milk shortages. But I’ve also seen the passion for national holidays, the passion for soccer, the passion of intense discussions over an afternoon coffee. I see the country’s passion, and I love it.

I also learned so much about my own country. I met fellow Americans who delighted me, confused me, embarrassed me. I understand and can see why a lot of countries hate us, but at the same time had SO many near blow ups with people about why every American is NOT a gun-totin’, Bush lovin’, rich, ignorant yankee, and why speaking the English language should not be an automatic reason to be despised. I can’t wait to share these discussions with you guys.

This study abroad experience has been my life, not just a separate extension. I think that was something that surprised me, that I haven’t considered my time here just another part of my life in parentheses. It wasn’t a long vacation, not an asterisk next to the year 2008. And that’s why I’m nervous to go back, because I don’t know if life in the States will pick up like no time has passed, or if I’ll need a few days or weeks to get used to breathing American air again.

But I will be back. I’ll ski, I’ll go to Salta, I’ll see Valparaiso. And when I do come back, I’ll know the culture, the landscape, the history and I will have a whole bunch of people to say hello to. And that’s awesome.