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,