It’s been a little too long since I’ve written a post. I’ve just been quite, well, lame about writing. And the longer I wait, the harder it is to catch up on everything. So enough of the dribble. You have enough to read as it is. I’ll start with a couple of sexy pictures for you, from where I am now…

Tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina

So I popped home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was great to spend time with the family and not pack & unpack the bag every few days… to have a shower that didn’t involve carrying a bunch of soap/shampoo/towels into a crowded room with a wet floor, using a bucket, or fighting for a mirror (if there is one)… etc. I had good home cooking, saw good friends (although not for enough time as I would have liked – not having a car can be quite an annoyance in the states) and generally had a fantastic time.

Home

Come new year though, it was time to go again. This time it was off to England, with a brief  New Year stint in Kitzbühel, Austria. I stayed in a random hostel owned by a guy named Dave who LOVED to tell you to f*&k off, but didn’t quite understand why people might ever rate his place poorly on Hostelworld. I actually liked the guy for some reason, but that’s because I was on his good side, for an even more unknown reason.

Anyway, what were doing there? SKIING, of course! Yay! It was great. Powder was easy to find, even off the groomed runs, so I was happy. I also learned how to play “Texas Hold-Em” poker, from a bunch of Kiwis and Aussies in Austria. How random is that?

Kitzbuhel, Austria

So yeah, England. The UK nearly rejected me at the airport. I’ve never been so close to being turned back by Customs. Why? Well, I was an idiot, frankly. I’m so used to easy border crossings that I didn’t give a second thought to putting ‘UNEMPLOYED’ under occupation, and say ‘oh, about a month or so, I dunno…’ for how long I’d be travelling, ‘LONDON’ as my address in the UK. Hmmm… did I have proof of onward travel? No. Did I have proof of sufficient funds? Um… no. ‘Here’s a credit card!’ I’m surprised they did let me in, in the end! But thank God, they did.

On to baggage claim. My connecting flight in Copenhagen had been severly delayed due to a snow storm. They decided not to load ANYONE’S bags in the plane because it was too snowy. They could load people and fly, but they couldn’t load bags. Does that make ANY sense? So I had no luggage. And I was going to Austria the NEXT DAY to ski with no luggage which meant no winter gear, at all. Yeah. I think the UK was giving a giant finger on arrival. ‘We don’t want you here!’  Oh, and I chose not to mention the fact that I was applying for a work visa in the UK! (which, by the way, was ACCEPTED! YAY!)

Classic bicycle in London

Living in London for a month was an interesting experience, coming from laid-back SE Asia and then laid-back Keyport, WA. London is fast paced; people run you over if you dawdle in the street and then curse you for it. Eye contact = aggression (like in the world of apes), so you’re supposed to duck and run in the masses of people on the sidewalk to avoid pissing anyone off. They don’t default to one side of the sidewalk in organized “people-flows,” either. I thought everyone would be walking on the left side of the sidewalk (called “pavement” here). Nah. It’s all out pedestrian warfare; survival of the fittest. Road rage meets the sidewalk. “Excuse me” means “get out of my f-in way” and “sorry” means “excuse me.”

And let’s not talk about the tube (the underground)… ok, let’s. The main thing to know is you keep your eyes down and it’s best if you have a trashy paper to read. Actually I believe there are two separate worlds in the tube. That of people who look up, and that of people who don’t. Those who look up sometimes connect eyes and telepathically agree, nay, bond yeah, we’re in the world of people who look around. This feels great, until you get the freak who decides to come up to you and have a chat. Then you learn to always, ALWAYS look down. And best if you have some sort of trashy paper to read.

In the end, London is not a bad place. The people warm up a LOT when the sun (yeah, it actually does come out now and then) goes down and everyone heads to their local. Ale + Gossip, whether political, global, or local is endlessly entertaining.

Kind of love it, actually.

London

However, without a job, London can get a bit boring. Yes, I did just say that. Being a bum is no fun when crossing the street isn’t a life & death dash (although crossing the sidewalk might be!) and there aren’t any good hiking trails nearby. I’m not really much of a museum person, and after a few days of museums and battling the sidewalk, I felt I had saturated London´s capacity for entertaining a homeless, jobless vagabond. I made pathetic attempts to shop, but the city is so expensive I more doubled my monthly budget! And I wasn’t even paying for lodging. With a job, things could certainly be a lot more fun.

So I was supposed to go to India after London. That didn´t exactly work out as expected, so I spun the globe and took a fresh look. Decided to go to a whole new hemisphere. Back to warm weather! Don´t Cry for Me Argentinnnnaaaa… I am writing you from the southernmost city in the worrrrld. Ushuaia.

Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina

Usuaia, Argentina

Cool bus in Usuaia

From here, people go to Antarctica. Unfortunately I don’t have 4 grand to spare, so I likely won´t go unless I can fit in someone’s suitcase. I dare say I might actually try it. To see Antarctica would be a dream come true. I will get to realize another dream though – Patagonia. I’m very excited about the trekking prospects.

Before this, I stopped in Madrid for a couple of days, then Buenos Aires, saw some Tango, learned how to play cribbage (wha? that’s not spanish!), and ate some steak… ahhh, nice.

It feels good to be here. My Spanish is coming back like a flood. It’s nice to be in a place where I feel like I fit in. In fact, I was just thinking that the other day.. walking along the sidewalk in Buenos Aires, no one running into me, enjoying the sun on my cheeks… thinking  Yeah, I fit in here. And that feels good. And just as the thought grew to the point where it was almost cocky, overconfident – I stood a little straighter and strutted like a local – I fell FLAT ON MY FACE. I was fully sprawled on the sidewalk, arms spread, groceries everywhere, people staring… Doesn’t matter that there was a huge gaping hole in the sidewalk. Locals just don’t do that.  That is grace for you. Yeah I fit in REAL good.

More Tango in Buenos Aires

…And now I’m in this new, unknown town with no guidebook (again) or any idea what I should do (again). I’m sure I’ll figure something out soon. :) As usual I am completely unprepared and disorganized. It’s 11pm and I haven’t eaten dinner. We’ll see what happens!