1/2 through
I’m a few days away from the halfway point on my trip. Which means time is going to fly by from here on out. Crazy. Let’s see… What has happened in the last three weeks?
- I got a pseudo internship with Mahalo.com, a human-powered search engine with HQ’s in Los Angeles. A few weeks ago, I was talking to my friend AJ about a good place to intern in LA and we decided that Mahalo was a great fit. It’s a successful web startup with a fantastic purpose, it’s well regarded in the Internet world, and run by a very smart guy named Jason Calacanis. Anyway, I was put in contact with the director of Marketing and Strategy at Mahalo and have been doing some work for him recently. Hopefully it will lead into an office internship in the spring when I’m back in LA. We’ll see!
- Last weekend we went to Colonia, Uruguay. It’s a nice, small town about a three hour boat ride away from Buenos Aires. Loni’s program was offering the trip and had some vacancies so I got to take a spot for free! It wasn’t all that exciting, but I got some stamps in my passport, for what that’s worth… We wanted to rent mopeds or these little fourwheelers but we would have needed either a credit card or a large deposit, of which he had neither (is that correct grammar?). All in all, it was nice to get out for a day and I got a nice lunch out of it in Uruguar. I tried tongue. It was thinly sliced and looked like lunchmeat kind of but I couldn’t really get past the fact that it was TONGUE so I ate one bite and left it at that. Wasn’t too bad, actually.
- We’re keeping up with volunteering, so that’s fun. The kids continue to be crazy, but are becoming more trusting. A few weeks ago, we went to a benefit type thing for the kids. That was nice.
- I’m planning two trips for October. One to Cordoba, which is a province about 12 hours northwest. We’ll go hiking, horseback riding, swimming, etc. Should be fun and relaxing and all that. The second trip is to Mendoza to do some wine tours, thanks to Gary Vaynerchuk. That one will be the last weekend of October, but…
- I’m thinking I should save the money in case THE PHILLIES WIN THE WORLD SERIES! THIS IS SO FREAKING HARD FOR ME! THE PHILLIES ARE MY FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE TEAM IN THE WORLD AND I’M IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY THE YEAR “IT” COULD HAPPEN! FOR ONE, THEY’RE ABOUT TO PLAY THE DODGERS, IT SEEMS, IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS. AND I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE WATCHING AT DODGER STADIUM. ANNNND IF THEY WIN, AND GO TO THE WORLD SERIES, (KNOCK ON WOOD) AND THEN…. I don’t even want to think about it. I feel so disconnected from everything that is going on right now with the team. I just don’t know if I could handle missing the first parade in my lifetime. I know I’m getting way ahead of myself. But this is major. And it’s taught me one thing. NEVER leave the country during playoffs. I won’t, ever again.
- Watched the Presidential debate at a Democrats Abroad meetup last week and the Veep Debate last night here in the apartment. I thought Obama edged McCain last week, but neither seemed great. Thought Biden did well last night and Palin did way better than expected. But everything she said was memorized and she never answered the questions, even remarking that she (paraphrasing) “may not answer the questions the way you or the moderator wants, but I’m gonna speak straight to the American people, gosh darnit, you betcha!” And thennnn she said something about how she had only five weeks of experience “with this” and so she had no promises!!! AND STOP WINKING AT ME! The moment that made the debate for me was when Biden went on the defensive about people saying he didn’t know hardships and got choked up talking about his wife and daughter, who died in a car crash in 1972. I think that man is ready to lead this country if needed. Palin still hasn’t convinced me she’s ready to run a McDonalds. I will cry if McCain wins.
Not too much else to report. Still eating empanadas and choripan and dulce de leche.
10 weeks in. 10 to go.
