Conocer

It's been a long time since I've written here in my blog. I can't lie and say that I've been too busy to write, because while I have been busy, I've mostly just been uninspired. My journals continue filling but recently I haven't felt the urge to share what has been going on because mostly it's just petty thoughts and worries. In three days will mark the on month point until I touch down on United States soil and my adventure ends. I remember telling people "I'll be down there for a year" and always hearing "Oh my gosh! Won't you get homesick?!" My response was always, "I've never really been homesick." And let me tell you, while homesickness is no fun at all, nothing feels better than knowing that I'm returning home without that nagging "need-to-get-out-and-travel" ache. I feel so satisfied with what I've accomplished here. I'm proud of who I've met, what I've seen, and what I've learned.

Any regrets? Just a few:
1. I didn't go to Patagonia. But honestly, I feel like Patagonia deserves its own trip. it deserves a full month of my attention.
2. I wish I could have travelled around more of Argentina. I'd like to go to the north: Jujuy, Salta. etc because the culture up there is so different! Maybe that'll have to wait for when I return to WWOOF around South America :)
3. I wish I could have gone to Brazil. Visas to Brazil are only obtainable by winning a Capoeira dance fighting match and then by single-handedly taming a pit full of anacondas. Or something to that degree of difficulty.

But all of that can wait. Right now I am filled with the excitement that I get to finish the year and a half of college and see where life takes me from there. Hopefully it'll take me in and out of our 50 states. People who have traveled to the USA always ask me, "Have you been to the Grand Canyon? Have you been to Vegas? etc etc" indicating the many natural wonders and tourist attractions that my expansive country holds. And shamefully My answers are always "No." When I think about the paces I did have the fortune to go to as a child, I remember not appreciating them. I wish I could have gone to Yosemite National Park more recently rather than as a disinterested 12-year-old.

In Castellano, instead of asking "Have you been to Florida" they ask "Do you know Florida?" It seems so much more personal. So my next goal is to know my country. Because honestly, how can I complain (something I did frequently about the USA before leaving) about a country that I don't even know?

Adrienne and I in Buenos Aires on her 21st birthday.