15 days away

My first post! Wow, where do I begin? Here goes...

I decided several months ago that I wanted to move to Buenos Aires, Argentina in order to teach English, become fluent in Spanish, and of course soak up the culture. WHY, you may ask? Well, it was a combination of reasons. I think I should credit my friend Matt Gosnell first. He outlined to me his plan of taking a TEFL course (teaching English as a foreign language) in Phuket, Thailand, traveling throughout southeast Asia, and then coming back to the States and looking for a job somewhere in South America. At first, I highly considered going with him to Thailand, but with such short notice (and a lack of mulah), it just wasn't feasible. I'd heard of people moving abroad to teach English, but never really thought to look into it. Another reason for my decision was that I've always, always, always had a passion for traveling and experiencing new cultures. I grew up in an expatriate family, living in Hong Kong and South Africa as a kid, and traveling to every continent except for Antarctica and South America (another reason for doing this!). Reason #3 (or 4? I lost count...): I studied Spanish from 6th grade up through my senior year of college, but never got to study it abroad. Oh, the shame! BUT WAIT- I have an excuse. I played tennis in college (University of Kentucky... GO CATS!!!!), and taking an entire semester off from a Division I sport is just flat-out laughable. Reason #4or5: I've contemplated going back to school for a while now, and think that international relations is something I'd love getting into. Most of the top programs require A) foreign language fluency, and B) international work/volunteer experience. Reason #5or6: I did not particulary love my job as an account exec (sales) for a market research company. Loved the people and company, but the job itself - not for me, really. Reason #6or7: I am 24 years old, single, and have no offspring. 'Nuff said.

AND SO... I began researching heavily. I read more blogs, websites, articles, and books than I care to count. I pretty much scoured the worldwide web until my eyes bled, completely enveloped in my budding plan of moving abroad. I knew I wanted to be in South America, because of my Spanish. But which country?? I looked into Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru... and of course Argentina. For those of you wondering why I didn't consider Brazil, I will enlighten you: They speak Portuguese there. Hence, not a great option. So after (again) LOTS of research, Buenos Aires, Argentina came out the winner.

Since I didn't tag along with my buddy Matty G to Thailand, I had to figure out my own way of getting TEFL certified. I looked into taking a couple of weekend courses here in Chicago, but eventually decided that it would be ideal to actually take a course IN BsAs. This way, I could acclimate myself to the city during the course, get an idea of which companies/institutes offer the best teaching opportunities, and of course get a head start on knocking on their doors with my resume. From everything I've heard, there is plenty of English teaching needed there. Fabulous! So now my next step was to decide on which company to take the course through... WHEW... easier said than done, my friends! There is a plethora of companies out there offering TEFL courses. It is slightly overwhelming, to say the least. In the end, I decided on a company called Bridge Linguatec. They also help with housing options during the course, so I signed up to stay with a host family. Turns out I'll be staying with a 60-year-old woman in Balvanera- a nice neighborhood just west of "el centro" (downtown). Sweet!

Thanks to my Pops having an abundance of British Airways frequent flyer miles, he was kind enough to fork over a few for my trip. I have to say, once the flight was officially booked... it all became real to me. No turning back now! It was a very exhilarating feeling.

So now I sit here, 15 days away from my departure date, and feel a complete sense of glee. I have a plan, but it's fairly short-term and open-ended. I have absolutely no clue how long I will be in Argentina. I have no clue where I will go from there. The Peace Corps? Another country to teach? A volunteer program somewhere? Back to the US? It is all so unpredictable, and I love it. So many people have been asking me "Aren't you scared?", and I can honestly say that I'm not. Anxious? Yes. Scared? No.

I want to give a special shoutout to my mom. From the beginning, she has been nothing but supportive and helpful. When I first talked about doing this, she was beyond excited. I'm not sure I would have pulled the trigger if she wasn't on board, because she just knows me so well... and if she didn't think it was a good idea, I probably would've backed off. She has always instilled so much confidence in both my sister and I, and it's definitely helped make us who we are today. Muchas gracias, Mama.

I will be using this blog to document my experiences, thoughts, feelings, opinions, photos, and knowledge as I embark on this journey. I hope you'll all follow me. I will do my best to make you laugh, smile, inspire you, and expose a place that most know little of.

Okay, back to packing up my life! I'm moving out of my Chicago apartment in 5 days, driving the Uhaul back to my old Kentucky home, unpacking, re-packing, then flying out of Louisville on July 16th. A busy 2 weeks ahead? I'd say so. Chau for now!