19 days and counting....

WOW. Its hard to believe that this experience is coming to an end. I am finding myself really comparing my life here and my life at home, the pros, the cons, and what kind of place I want to live in in my future. I have a list of things I want to do before I leave, and i don't have much time to do them. But every experience here has been amazing, and I will miss so many aspects of this incredibly rich culture. Ya know what I'm looking forward to? My family (including the dogs), mexican food (preferably mi cocina), my music equipment, my bed, spicy food in general, and the absence of dog poop everywhere. Ya know what i'll miss? I will miss the overwhelming amount of cultural activities and lifestyle, that i honestly feel we lack in the US. I will miss that instead of nodding their head at you when you make eye-contact with someone walking down the street, the people say hello! or whats up! I will miss the parks here, with the many fairs and artists offering their art at extremely cheap prices. oh yea i'll miss cheap cab rides and 3 dollar pizza. and i'm going to miss street venders selling vegetables, and alfahores. oh. I know what I will miss the most (other than the astonishing amount of beautiful women here)... EMPANADAS. Days without empanadas will be hard, and I will need some therapy to get through the withdrawal period. Other than the food, I will miss the positive, accepting, open, offering, and loving perspective that Argentine's have on life. I don't know if it because the city  has so many things to offer, or that Argentine's history has been a little rocky and dangerous, but every person seems to live life to the fullest, as if it were their last day on earth. The people here really live in the moment, and it's an incredible way of viewing life. They say that Americans live to work, and down here (and what I hear about Australia) the people work to live. Working is simply a means of supplying the necessities and luxuries of life, but not your life. I am hoping to make my work my luxury, by playing music every day, but even then I know I will want to balance it out with something else. We all need balance and something to bring us either up or down from the world that seems to consume us more than we'd like it to. This experience has been incredible, and I can only thank my family and friends who allowed this opportunity to come to me. I have learned so much, and love this country and language, and I will not want to go in 19 days... although I will be heading to PERU for 2 weeks so I won't be sad for too long!!! Mucho amor, 

What does it mean to elect Barack Obama to the Unites States Presidency?

What does it mean to elect Barack Obama to the United States Presidency for me? It means to me that the words we speak, the emotions and cries we show others, and the passion and hope we feel for a better world are eventually heard. It means to me that it is my duty as an American now, to write, speak and promote my perspective, because my perspective is one of peace, love and positive change. The United States of America started electing Barack Obama as the first back President on August 28^th, 1963, when our first great black leader, Martin Luther King Jr, expressed his heart and soul, and uttered the famous words common to us all, “I have a dream.” Dreams are quite amazing experiences. My dreams told me that I am to be a musician, and that my purpose is to connect to the world’s people through music. Today, I believe in that dream more than any time in my life. I am so lucky, excited and humbled to have been 20 years old, living in Buenos Aires, with the entire world ahead of me, the day we began to change America.

Today Barack Obama is President. And tomorrow we will take our reactions to the change we created, and use this knowledge: that we believe and support one another, regardless of race, religion, or any other seemingly outside barriers, to work hard and fulfill our dreams. Because with Barack in the White House we are one step closer to viewing the other people in our world not as others, but as fellow humans striving for the same goal. I support Barack Obama because he says everything that I, as a future leader of our world, think about how we must change in order to evolve, and progress living standards. I am almost without words to describe my reactions. It feels like everything is possible. This happened with words!!! This happened with honest listening and reacting!!! This happened because we as the generation of today, took a stand, and publicly said, we will not wait any longer as our brothers and sisters around the world suffer. Because we are finding out that in order for me to succeed, you must succeed. This change will forever shift the perspectives and actions of our nation’s people. Our brain’s realization of the first black President on November 4^th, 2008, will stick in our minds and hearts, and be transmitted to our children, and generations and generations in the future will live in a world where bigotry and ignorance are a thing of the past. I am so grateful for the American change, and for the faith I have been assured is pivotal in changing our world. First we must dream. And then we must speak our world into the existence we desire.