The Rural Iowan Returns

D-Day has arrived; a bittersweet feeling actually. A part of me misses home, but another part of me will miss what I have created down in Buenos Aires.

Finishing up the rest of my packing early, gave me the time to get my hair cut at least one time in Argentina. The reason I waited so long was because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to communicate how I wanted to have it cut, and would have walked out of the barber shop without hair. LOL! (That was not the case, and everything went fine.)

It's not the "G" word...

I can’t believe the time has come…my last day working for uplifted. When I arrived, Rachael was already in the office working way with the window open. We had a nice conversation while we plugged away at the keyboard; mostly about how my time in Buenos Aires was.

Then the rest of the team, Nora and Katie, and our new intern Shelly, arrived. We mostly talked the rest of the morning away until Withers (the owner of Uplifted) was available to take us out for lunch at Fabrica de Tacos.

Uplifted Game Night!

The sight of the Retiro neighborhood and Retiro bus station was my welcome back to Buenos Aires. I finally arrived back in the city around 7:30 am this morning and took bus 151 to my place. By 8:15 am I was back in my studio collapsed on my bed.

Before I left Rio Cuarto, I was told by Nico and his mother to text them when I arrived back to my apartment. I did just that, but the internet wasn’t working in my apartment, and I was so tired I fell asleep as soon as I hit my bed.

It's only a "See you later"

Well, the end of my Rio Cuarto trip has arrived. After three days of pure awesomeness, it was time to say see you later. (But only after another full day in the city.)

Waking up around 11 am…it was time for me to do something for the Wagners after all of the generosity they showed me this past weekend. However, everyone was either at work or school so it was just Nico, Marta, and I. Famous for my American breakfast, it was time to put my skills to work! We walked to the nearest vegetable store and purchased the ingredients I needed. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and breakfast potatoes…let me finish your thought…"Wow Lance, what a great breakfast!”

What are clay courts?

Because of the trip to Johnny B. Goods…it was another late night. I think when I finally opened my eyes for the first time…it was past noon! (The frequency of that happening is starting to increase….Hello Argentina time. LOL!)

On the bright-side, when you wake up after 12:00 it’s still time to eat…just a different meal of the day! Since Gabi, Nico’s mom, was still visiting family in Cordoba, Nico’s dad, Richardo, made a quick trip to the store and grabbed some raviolis. OH MAN! DELICIOUS! Thanks once again, Wagner family!

ASADO TIME....NICO STYLE!

Taking advantage of our Saturday morning to recover from the Boliche outing that kept us out until 5:30 am, we weren’t up and moving until about 1:30 pm.

This weekend was also the semi-finals and finals for the US Open, so we chilled and watched the match between #9 Wawrinka and #1 Djokovic. It contained one of the most exciting final sets I’ve seen because a game went into its 12^th deuce.

Welcome to Rio Cuarto

Despite my rather early morning arrival in Rio Cuarto, Nico was there to pick me up from the bus station.

Driving to Nico’s place I’ve got my first glimpse of “normal” Argentina. I quote “normal” because Rio Cuarto is not tainted by the dense tourist/expat population of Buenos Aires or the touristic feel of San Antonio de Areco and Tigre.

Located on a quiet residential street was Nico’s place; a two story house with another house sharing the right wall. (I want to say it is very common in Argentina for houses to be right up against each other.)  Since his parents and sister were still sleeping we caught up in the kitchen until his family started to wake up.