A Different Person

I am now a different person than when I first arrived in Argentina.  I have been here now seven months and I see the world differently.  The people of Argentina have transformed my world view dramatically in how to live life, respect life, and basically just have fun and not take things too seriously.

I have lived in the same house in the same barrio the whole time I have been in Buenos Aires.   The people of the barrio are kind, gentle and sweet people.  They know me now.  I am the foreigner guy who lives in their hood.

I have been accepted with open arms and kindness.

People who know me know that I love to ride the busses.  I have wandered and traveled all over Buenos Aires.  I know the city now almost like the back of my hand.  Funny, if you read my earlier posts you will see my struggling with my book of maps of the city, wondering where I was, because the city is not an easy one to meander as it has a pie shape that is kind of bizarre.

The key to knowing your way around Buenos Aires as you walk kilometers and kilometers are the trains.  The trains in BA are the waterways in Holland.  They guide you from point A to point B and if you know what side of the train line you are on, you know where you are in the city.  Clearly, I no longer need my map.

The language is beautiful, challenging and a life long process.  I am now able to write in Spanish, with the help of my calculator friend called Google translate.  It is my guide to writing, and a template for the words that go on the page.  I still can not write quickly in Spanish, but the words do now flow a bit better, and the spoken word tambien.

I am a changed person.  I like who I am better now.  I like seeing the world through different purple colored glasses, instead of rose colored glasses.  As I have continued to write in my blog, the one theme has been appreciation for the opportunity to come to South America and really live here.  To get to know the people.  But most importantly for me, it has been satisfying the burning desire I have had in my heart for many years to come down here.  It was a long time in coming, but once you finally do the thing in your life that you always wanted to do, a peace sets in like no other.

It does not matter what that thing is, for all people on the planet that thing is something different.  For me, it was coming to South America and living.  And I thank the universe for giving me the opportunity to do just that.