Day 129: The Countdown

3 December 2014

December 3^rd.  I have exactly two weeks in this beautiful city before I make my way back to the United States of America and I already miss it.  I don't know if it’s normal to have such strong nostalgia before one even leaves a place, but here I am, having that. 

Walking on Avenida Santa Fe, I realized after December 18^th, I will never have to run to hail another colectivo; after December 18^th, I will never have to fight with another taxista over the best way to get to Palermo; after December 18^th, I will never get to play “who gets the leftovers” with my wonderful host dogs Pacha and Duarte.

The house is already not the same without Andrea, our pillar.  Nobody will laugh at me for my weird eating habits, my incredible ability to sleep until 3 in the afternoon, or teach me how to sneak out of the house when there are family guests over and I have plans with my friends. 

It really is the little things. 

It’s also painfully hard to leave a city with summer on its way only to return to the tundra I call home (read: Boston).   

I will miss my entire host family.  My heart will ache a little every Wednesday night from now on knowing I am missing the delicious and hilarious family dinners.  I will also miss the quarrels that the my host siblings have with my host parents about how much they are eating and how unhealthy it can be for them at their age.   I will miss this terrace on which I am sitting and enjoying the early summer breeze.  I will miss all my wonderful friends I’ve made here with whom I’ve shared this unforgettable journey.  I will even miss my hour-long transport to Universidad Torcuato di Tella every morning despite all of those miserable 6:45AM departures for class when the sun hasn't even risen. 

The farewell with this new city I’ve learned to call home will be more bitter than sweet.  People keep asking me if I’m excited for Paris, the answer is always ambiguous.  It’s not that I’m not excited to study in the city of love but that I don’t exactly want to face the reality that my Argentine journey will and must come to an end in two weeks.  There is so much I have yet to do and so many places I have yet to explore in this Paris of South America before I start a new adventure in the real Paris itself.   It scares me to think that it might be years before I get the opportunity to return to Buenos Aires.  I know I must, regardless of how old I will be or how many obligations I’ll have. 

You’ve given me everything I could have ever wished for, BA.  I will miss you dearly as the first South American city I know so well that I can call home.  Thank you for the extraordinary people, mouthwatering food, and fond memories.  I will be back soon.  But until then, don’t cry for me, Argentina.  

In my happy place with Freddo & Zara