These past few months have been a bit hectic, to say the least. A wonderful, short-notice, “sure let’s go work and travel a bit in South America for 2 months” kind of adventure.

Flash back to November, when this story began to unfold. An email came out at work about a position that would require 6 weeks of working and living in Buenos Aires. The email asked for those with at least 2 years of experience to apply, which I fell a bit short of. But, I thought, maybe it’d be a hard sell to send someone away for the holidays? Hey, it’s worth a shot, right? I put my name into the ring with a “why-the-heck-not” mindset.

Fast forward a week and a half, and I found out I had gotten the position. I was to travel to Buenos Aires for 6 weeks…and my departure date was in about a month. I called my mom laughing, “Soooooo….remember that opportunity I briefly mentioned to you because I thought I didn’t have a shot? It’s happening.” She laughed, too. She then called me the next day: “Soooooo….you know how you’re going to Argentina? What do you think of me coming to visit?” I laughed. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

 

Fast forward about a month, and I was deep in Argentinian preparations. A lot had happened in that month before I left – I dug out all my summer clothes to prepare for the 85-degree days in the Southern hemisphere, celebrated an early holiday season with loved ones, had a screw surgically removed from my knee (just in the nick of time), booked a trip to Patagonia with my brother Dan and high school friend Thomas, and enjoyed my last days in the states with friends. I arrived at the airport in December with a big blue suitcase full of business clothes and a bright orange backpack filled with hiking gear. Business-traveler-meets-20-something-backpacker, I told myself, chucking at a wonderful contradiction. And just like that, my 6-week (mostly) solo adventure began.

And a lot continued to happen in the 6 weeks that followed. The position at work was both incredibly challenging and rewarding. There were wonderful days, and there were rough days. Looking back, I am thankful for them all – each day shaped my experience to be exactly as it was.

I met wonderful people both during and after work. I joined an evening Spanish class to brush up on my high school-level Spanish (much of which had been erased by my college days of learning kindergarten-level Mandarin). The Spanish started to come back to me surprisingly quickly, and at the end of my time in Argentina I found myself able to understand and speak some basic, kindergarten-level things. But perhaps the greater takeaway from the Spanish class were my classmates – a mix of Brazilians, Dutch, and Germans who became some of my closest friends during my time in Argentina. Thanks for keeping me awake until 6am that one time in an Argentinian night club, guys – couldn’t have done it without you.

I met some other wonderful humans on Christmas Eve – an inspiring group of lady expats who found themselves in Argentina to teach English, pursue relationships, and do other rad expat things. I will forever cherish my time with these gals talking about Argentinian cultural norms and how they differ from Austria/New Zealand/Brazil/Israel/the U.S., and the comforting mix of Spanglish that occupied all of our conversations. One of my good friends Lisa even traveled with me to Uruguay for a day! We spent most of the day wandering down the cobbled streets of Colonia del Sacremento while Lisa chatted with all the friendly Uruguayans in Spanish and I greatly improved my Spanish listening skills (and contributed if/when possible). Days like those were ones that made my time in South America so charming.

 

In addition to all these lovely people, some lovely people from home had the opportunity to visit as well! My mom took her first trip to South America – we spent our days in Buenos Aires wandering around different craft breweries and doing all of the touristy things that I had not yet done, including (but not limited to) wine, steak, and tango.

But perhaps my favorite part of my mom’s time in South America was our long weekend in Mendoza, the wine capital of Argentina (and, arguably, South America). Back in my college days, I had considered spending a semester abroad in Mendoza, so it felt like it had all come full circle as our plane descended on the place that had been my mind for quite some time. Life works in strange, funny ways.

In Mendoza, we indulged in a healthy mix of wine and mountains (quite a perfect pair, really). While visiting wineries, we met a group of folks from the United States that had just spent two weeks climbing to the summit of Cerro Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. They had probably earned their wine-sipping more than we had, but we enjoyed sipping and appreciating the large mountain from afar at a wonderfully breathable altitude.

I’m so thankful that my mom and I could experience our first times in South America together and build up our repertoire of international Mother-Daughter adventures (of which I’m excited for the many more to come).

 

As I wrapped up my 6th week in Argentina, I felt thankful and was left with great experiences and a full heart. It had all happened so fast, and yet my life on the east coast felt like a distant memory. It’s a rarity in life that you get to pack your bags and go live and work on a new continent, exploring new territory and spending each weeknight and weekend exactly how you choose to. From a crowded weekday morning bus ride to a stroll home through a variety of city parks and dogs, every day in Buenos Aires was its own unique adventure. My time spent in this city wandering around and eating at a table-for-one were moments of my 20s that I will forever cherish.

And there was that absolutely wild week in Patagonia, too…but that deserves its own story, coming soon…

Nos vemos, Buenos Aires!