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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Wild Wet Week

This is turning out to be a wild wet week in Buenos Aires! So much has happened in so little time and I am still trying to take it all in. On thanksgiving Monday, I moved into my own little apartment and for the first time in my life felt that I finally had a space all on my own that reflected who I am. But everything I have is given to me for a reason and I truly believe with all my heart that this space was given to me not just for my own comfort and pleasure but for the enjoyment of the people God is bringing into my life to teach english.

With this knowledge in mind, I wasted no time in heading down to the local supermarket to stock up on items like coffee, tea, coke, water, juice & snacks that I can offer to visitors and students that come through my door. The offers are coming in and I already have 5 people who have confirmed wanting lessons and a 6th person whom I am set to meet with to discuss classes with me. I have set a rate of 3o pesos per hr ($10 CDN) but depending on the situation, I am also accepting donations of food for certain people in the case that they are unable to give me cold hard cash.

One of the people I will be teaching is my friend Diana and I actually have made a special arrangment with her that I'm going to give her 2 hrs per wk free of charge and if she wants any more than that, she will pay me 30 pesos per hr. We will be beginning with the 2hrs a week that I am doing for free but she has told me that in November, she's going to have some cash and she would like to pay me to have another 2 hrs per week. In addition to that, her mother and brother are going to start paying me for lessons in Dec so in addition to the 6 people that I will be teaching, that number will be bumping up to 8. Also bit by bit the school is integrating me into their schedule and finding a way to use my talents and skills. Eventually it looks like I will be teaching there at least once or twice a week.

To add to all this, I have the challenge of trying to maintain my space and sanity in a foreign country and culture. The other day I experienced the joys of living in another country when I was trying to pay rent for the apartment and my bank account in Canada put a suspend on my bank card the day that I was to meet with agency to give them their money. My bank in Canada thought some kind of fraud was going on because my account indicated that I was pulling large amounts of money in a foreign country multiple times on the same day. In resulted in me having to arrange with the agency to come back another day for the rest of the money while I head down to the Locutorio to grab a phone so that I can experience what it is like to call customer service in Canada while in a foreign country. But all is good now and everything has been worked out with the agency and the rent payment as well as with my bank.

And as I sit here in my pad looking out the window on this rainy day and reflecting on this wild wet week, it is becoming more and more important for me to find ways to take some time out for myself in the midst of all this chaos and madness. I'm going to be on the go alot and it's not going to be like Victoria, BC where one has hours and hours to go to the beach and sit there just to watch the waves and reflects. But I am learning to take little moments for me that don't require alot of time.

Things like finding a program in english on TV for a show that I liked or was following while in North America and watching it for an hour or two or even buying stuff through itunes. By the way, if any of you are looking for a great way to bless me while I am here, an itunes giftcard that you can send through me online would be fantastic. It would help so much because I can then use the giftcard to purchase stuff and be able to have some creature comforts from home. Little things like that go a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way!

The way things are looking, it seems to me that so far tuesday is the only day that I don't have anything on my schedule. Group classes for tango with Eduardo Saucedo happen every week Tuesday 3:30-6:30. Eduardo is such a vessel of life, you can feel it when you get around him. It doesn't matter how relaxed or intensive the actual class is because he just loves life & people and the energy that he gives off is just revitalizing whether you're doing a group class or having a private lesson. I'm thinking that those weekly group classes would be a fantastic way to see old friends, make some new ones and take a breather.

Am really looking forward to making Argentina come to life through pictures, videos and of course blogging through words. This weeking marks the birthday of my church, Centro Cristiano Nueva Vida. There is apparently a massive church service happening on the outskirts of the main city. I'm going to be there with both my digital camera and my mini video camera. If all goes well this weekend, one day soon I may be bringing you a rare glimpse of behind the scenes of the Argentine evangelical church, uncut, uncensored and unapologetic....

Spare Rooms BA

Amorous Alpacas

Amorous Alpacas