And I’m Proud To Be An American

Where at least I’m kind of free.  At least my refills are free.

Yes, I have reluctantly landed back on American Soil.  I have been here, in Los Angeles, for about 48 hours now, and I’m not too happy about it.  My final month in South America was wild and fun filled.  Most of it was spent in Buenos Aires, what many call the Paris of the south but what I found to be much more akin to New York City.  This isn’t going to be a full article on my time there, since I still have yet to organize and upload pictures.  When I do write my piece on it, I will have a large number of complaints to file, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.  I adored the nightlife, which begins at 2am, and though I don’t think I could do it for more than the month that I did, I experienced some of the most fun clubs, interesting cocktails, and inexhaustible crowds I’ve ever seen.  I also am proud to say that my pen pal of 6 years, Lucho, who I had never met, was able to come from his small city north of BA to visit me, and I adored him.  I don’t think I have ever before met someone with whom I have felt such a strong connection in such a small amount of time.  Unfortunately I had to leave him behind, but I hope our friendship grows.  But more on that mess later.

For now, I’m focusing all of my efforts on getting out of Los Angeles and back to the haven of the east coast.  Fortunately I have been able to book a cheap ticket to Boston for this coming Monday.  I plan on spending some time with the wonderful friends I have there, and then heading back to my home in Maine where I will crawl into my bed and weep quietly for a while and eat lots of American food and watch Battlestar Gallactica on my computer, before rising again to reasses and move on.  Odds are that I will be spending a month or so in Maine recooping before picking up and moving to Ohio to live with my sister and her boyfriend Luke in Columbus.  I just can’t stop moving, which may be beginning to manifest itself as a problem.

When I left Buenos Aires, the hot weather was quietly slipping into a subtle fall.  Now I’m here in LA and winter is blooming into spring.  How fitting it has been, to spend this transitional time of my life in such shifting times of year.  I can’t believe it was only 6 months ago since I went into the sleep study.  Now that money is gone and I feel like a different person.  I’m terribly sad to have to end my adventure in those mind boggling places with those complexly wonderful people I met.  At times like these, I think most travelers feel worn and confused, and it’s difficult to see into the nebulous space in front of me.  I have to enter it, just like I entered Peru, with fear and worry, but try to grapple for some faith that whatever comes next will be ok, and probably wonderful.

For now, I’m thankful more than anything for friends.  For Laura, Diana and Kyle who became so close to me in such a short time as we adventured together, and now for Brandon, Kady and Krystyna who are sheltering me in this City of Angelish things to protect me from completely losing my mind.

And as for the blog?  It’s going to be doing some transitioning as well.  In the nearish future I’m hoping to take some classes on web design and blogging, to get this baby up to full speed.  Soon I’ll be buying a domain name and moving all this to a bigger and more organized space.  Keep an eye out.  For now, I hope you keep reading as I catch up on the stuff I’ve left out:  the rest of the sleep study, more creative writing, more on volunteering in Peru, Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Lima, travel tips, and my upcoming attempt to insert myself into the gay rights movement that I have neglected for so long.  Stay tuned, tell your friends, give me a thumbs up on stumble, and for christ’s sake leave a comment if the mood strikes you!

Excuses, Excuses

In case you´re all wondering, whoever you are, I have made it to Buenos Aires in style and in one piece.  However, this country, though significantly more organized than Peru in most ways, falls far short of Peru´s ample and speedy internet cafes, as well as kind and helpful people.  I guess I should have expected as much, at least about the people, coming here knowing that the city was comparable to New York City in size and attitude.

But fear not, in 10 days I will be returning to Lima.  Whether I will go on from there to the USA, or stay in Lima and try to find work, has yet to be determined.  But in any event, I will be able to find a working shred of internet where I can post pictures, and talk about all the empanads, art museums, cemetaries, Jesus theme parks, maté, intense gay club experiences, soul-sucking party hostels, and hopefully by tomorrow Orca Whales and Penguins that I have seen since arriving down here.  Until then, invisibleinkling is taking a little hiatus.  For some fun reading, check out old blog posts in the archives, or visit the blogs on my blogroll.  I especially recommend my mom´s blog Throw Momma if you are hankering for like-minded stuff.