If you were me, you may have heard that Argentines take summers very seriously and said: “eh, whatever.” You may have cited your previous summer in New York City, where you were sweatin’ it out with the commuters like it was any other day in November. Whatever quantity of people that had supposedly flocked to “the Hamptons” were not only not on your social register, but their absence didn’t even make a dent in your peripheral vision. At best, there were Summer Fridays (for other people, you’d heard) and you felt less guilty about wearing flip-flops to work.
But let me be the first to tell you that down here, when you’re (even semi-) employed in Buenos Aires and summer arrives, do not expect business as usual. I won’t waste your time citing the probable European origins of this (but I’ve heard that Europeans really do know how to take a load of. They can spend an entire afternoon at a café without the slightest twinge of anxiety!). Nor will I flaunt my ex-patriotism and whine about the cultural failings of America, that stressful cesspool of overworked, eternally unrelaxed individuals. It’s just– you gotta respect the fact that in Argentina, “vacation” is spelled with a capital “V”.
People ask each other “when” (not “if”) they will take their vacations, and as though any amount of time would be an acceptable response – which, in fact, it is. Admittedly, the incentive to take time off is probably furthered by the fact that both Christmas and New Years usher in the Argentine summer, but I’m telling you, they really go to town with this stuff! So far, I have noticed the following screeching signs of the Summertime Halt: Stores opening and closing at whatever hours they want (including some who have closed until March!); Peace and quiet on the subways (at least at midday); An excruciating amount of cancelled, postponed, and dropped classes; The impossibility to find another job until March.
Sigh. Officially, my “vacation” has come and gone. As has my family, with whom I spent two very pleasant weeks—first in the capital, and then in Patagonia. What what to family time, glaciers, and me being an extreme mountain babe. Pictures here.
That pretty much leaves me with two months to ponerme las pilas about a new job, while being extremely frugal and patient. I plan to look for more work, and I plan to understand that I’m probably not going to find any—so I am trying to get a little more into the onda of the whole “unemployment” thing (take naps, read, go to parks in the afternoon, etc.). Plus, on the up side, I have joined my neighborhood gym and video store. We’re getting a new roommate in February. And I am going to– I swear– start writing more.
Of course, while I usually reserve winter for my lonely season, summer has its own brand of solitude too. Especially for a free-lancer like myself (ha). I’ve got no office to go to, no classmates to see daily. And I worry about my obsession with the internet. But luckily I have ironic responses for each of these concerns, and it is with that in mind that I leave you tonight with not one, but two internet nuggets.
1) “Me Myself I” by Joan Armitrading
This song was shown to me by my newest amigo, M. M is a DJ and I say that first because it’s a redeemable quality amongst some other more questionable ones, so nobody get too excited. Anyways, he played me this song inadvertently; it was on an album with another song that began with the lyrics: “He was from Ohio…” but it turns out that this song is a little cooler than the other. Plus its subject happens to resonate with me even more than the hometown shout-out. It also has a pretty sensational music video that illustrates, quite aptly, some of the more fantastic aspects of being alone.
2) Brule’s Rules: Living Alone (John C. Reilly, Adult Swim, etc.)
This video I don’t have much to say about because we always knew John C. Reilly was absurdly hilarious. My bro showed it to me. I think there is some really good advice in here, though.
Here’s to a creative and blog-fully fruitful 2009!
Afternoon?? Shit, I was born in a cafe