Who Am I and What Am I Doing?

(Me, looking extremely sure of myself.)


I ask myself that question every single day. And, let me tell you, the answer changes just as often as the question is asked.

Today, I am a US American living in Buenos Aires. Six months ago I was an Oregonian living in New York City. Two years ago I was living in Canada. And Mexico. And Germany. And Brazil.

You get the drift, I'm a nomad. A bohemian. A transient individual. To be honest, it's exhausting. New jobs, new apartments, new roommates, new language, new currency. You think one would get used to this, but I swear I'm just as frazzled as I was the first time I moved. This is why I've decided to settle for awhile...and, I feel I picked the right place to dig in.

Buenos Aires has got to be the coolest place I've ever been. It's the perfect mix of Latin flava and Euro sophistication. If London, Rio, and Paris were to spend a wild evening together, I feel that BsAs would be the resulting lovechild. And, it's cheap.

Apparently not cheap enough, though. I am working a job that pays JUST enough to scoot by, and because I am waiting on my papers w/ migraciones in order to get a job in an Argentine company, I am hesitant to get another full-time expat job. So, I needed something part-time. Something random. And of course, I did what any other smart-minded individual would do: I looked on Craigslist.

And, boy, did I find a schweet gig...and, even better, I got it!

So, what is this part-time, wonderous, fantabulous job, you ask? Well, its not really a job, to be honest. It's learning Spanish! Or, learning it over again. You see, I have just been given what is possibly the most rockin' gig in the world--take a Spanish course for free (that I love already) and get paid to blog about it! Mmmhmmm, lookin' forward to it!

I've take about 234902342 language courses in my lifetime...okay, maybe only 11 or 12, but who's counting? :

1) Spanish at Westview High School in Oregon.
2) Portuguese at Yazigi in Espirito Santo, Brazil.
3) Private Spanish lessons in Mexico.
4) Private German lessons in Mexico (yeah, I know, that was an interesting one).
5) German at Philipps Universitaat in Germany.
6) Spanish and German at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada.
7) German with Rosetta Stone.
8) Spanish at the Universidad de Belgrano.
9) Spanish at a language institute called VOS in Buenos Aires.
10) Spanish at IBL in Buenos Aires.
11) Spanish at Portland State University in Oregon.

I'm sort of a language learning addict. In addition to learning at this various places, I also taught English in Mexico, Spanish in Oregon, and currently I am in the process of getting my TEFL certification. Language learning is my thing, and trust me, I know my shit. Or I like to think that I do.

Which is why I am stoked to see how this new program is. It's called Bueno, entonces... and so far, I'm loving it. I'm already pretty fluent in Spanish, but I love love love watching the episodes. Honestly, it's super fun.

I think it's pretty ballsy for Bueno, entonces... to have me do this. They were great in letting me know that wherever I take this blog is totally up to me, and they didn't tell me anything specific to say. Basically, I am not being paid to talk them up; I am being paid to take the course and let the world know that I think. So...brace yo'selves.