And Then It Happens...

I just prepared my first mate´ since arriving yesterday morning and have only now officially landed...Exhale.

No shortage of mayhem to get me right into things...Sleep deprived, and feeling pretty wretched I arrived at our hotel in BA around noon yesterday only to learn that two of my students had just been tricked into going to a brothel, which they were told was a club with musica, and when they realized where they were, and tried to leave, they were forced to give up $250 pesos (about 85 dollars) by a group of men just to exit the place, which is a long-winded way of saying that they got mugged in their first hour in Buenos Aires. Ironically enough, one of these same two had already been pick-pocketed at the airport, and lost his driver´s licence, his credit cards and a small amount of cash. On top of this, two other students´bags didn´t make it onto their plane, but luckily just arrived at our hotel an hour ago...AND, I woke up this morning to find one of my students sick and puking. Everyone is already calling me dad.

All that aside, the group seems good, I feel old, and it is very surreal to be here. I am staying at the same hotel in BA that I was staying at exactly two years ago to the day, but am now with a different group of students, and have a much better grip on what I am doing. Like all occasions when you return to a place that you haven´t been to for awhile I am feeling the deceptive, falseteeth of time, and simultaneously feel like I´ve never been here before, but also that I never left, and am I really the same person with memories of this place? Very strange, indeed.

It was a whirlwind to get here, and I must say that it feels marvelous to finally be in motion, and to no longer be caught in the steeltrap of anxiety, preparation, concern...Now I´m just riding the wave. The language barrier is as difficult as ever, I tend to have no trouble with creating awkward encounters in my own native tongue, so you can only imagine how I excel here! That´s all for now...

-Dad