Rock On!!!

Last night Christy and I went to see Levi's band, Dead by Sunset, practice. They were awesome!!! Most of their songs are covers, but the originals are pretty rockin'. Here is Levi playing Bass, with Floyd getting ready to belt out a little Sublime...

Chris on guitar Matt on drums. Chris brought the song Wheelchair Girl with him when he joined the band. It's a real crowd pleaser.

Christy and I are loving it! They played our requests for Green Day, Bad Religion and STP. Next time we want to hear some Guns N Roses, and you know Christy loves her Metallica!!!

Dead by Sunset plays covers, but Floyd sings original versions of the songs. Lyrics? Learn em? Why bother?!

9...

So today I am packing for both the family trip to Lake Shasta and my trip to Buenos Aires. I am trying to bring grubbier stuff to the lake, then pack all the winter stuff I will need/want to wear first, and will put the rest of the stuff into my backpack which I can forget about until I need it in spring. But, truth be told, I like to be able to see all my options at once (hence the mountians of clothes on my floor at the moment) because sometimes it's nice to layer. Or, if you are going to a bar you may wear a technically "summer" top because it's a tank top, but it might be ok for a bar or something casual at night. You see the dilemma? It is a tricky situation. So I am playing shufflemaster with my clothes and bags. And don't even get me started on how to sort the shoes...

The family is going on a vacation for a few days, so I will have to catch up about that later next week, but should be fun. I will definitley have pictures, too! Yay! I think the trip it starts with a 5-6 hour car ride, so I'm psyched for that! At least I have my iPod which oficially passed the test and ran for eight hours straight, so I will test it myself and see. Then we are going to go golfing, which I haven't done in about 10 years, so I am sure my scores will be phenomenal. I may just get a lot of knitting done! Ha!

10...

10 days. I can't believe it!!! So much to do...

11...

Here I am with my new scarf...getting ready for winter which Argentina is in the middle of. I put ribbons in it which I think looks adorable.

So OK. Here's the worst part... as I wrote the countdown it didn't register in my head! I am leaving much earlier than I thought and the days fly by already, which means that the calendar says 11 days and it will feel like 2. Eeek!!! I have been furiously uploading CDs onto my iTunes which now has 1.2 days worth of music, whatever that means. It went from hours to days, but I think that's a little presumptuous to say days. I mean, how do they know how much music I can listen to in a day? And I don't want to keep multiplying by 24 to figure out how many hours of music are on my computer. Sheesh. :)

So I heard about the legislation that said the iPods weren't lasting up to their stated hourage (is that a word?) so I brought it in to the store but they took it to run some test. So I am without it for three to five days. If it fails i get a new iPod (#3!) but if it doesn't it is a futile attempt for me to latch onto someone else's lawsuit. Fingers crossed- wish me luck! But the CD uploading has been a stressful little adventure. You see, I have a bunch of CDs that people made, and those don't have the song names on them, or the artist, they just say 1,2,3... so I have to listen to each song and see if I want to burn it. Because last time I had whole albums I didn't listen to and there are so many songs that I know but don't like, so this time I am being way more particular (does anyone LIKE the Steve Miller Band Swingtown or do we just know it because it's the firt on the greatest hits? I decided "Hmmm...hey! I really don't like this song!" UNCLICK!!! Not on my iTunes). So in between distinguishing songs from the first thirteen seconds and deciding whether or not they are what I like (which is stressful) I am trying to get everything sorted out before I head out and most importantly spend time with everyone as much as I can before I go. I would like to think that people are coming to visit, but realistically I'd better see them now, so far no one has booked a ticket anywhere...and who knows where I'll be? But I got great news yesterday, a girl I wrote to who is teaching down there said she talked to her Academy and they are interested in me, so I have a contact for when I go. I think she works with kids too, which should be fun. We'll see.

I am off now to exchange some yarn and finish some knitting projects. That is one thing I am so excited about-the yarn there is incredible and I will definitley be into making stuff. Maybe I'll join a knitting group-talk about needing to know Spanish, I want to hear the gossip! I started working on a sweater last night...it's not too hard, but it will need a lot of yarn. And it's going to take me until I leave. I will take a picture when I am done. Get excited...

18...

So I have been writing my resume and I can't remember all the stuff I have done over the past few years, and I am feeling like I haven't done anything worth mentioning. Do you ever feel like that? Like, mental note to self: start volunteering, take more classes, win more prizes! Then reading it over I totally forgot about studying in Spain, and I didn't have anything about what I am about to do. Like, my life is so consumed by going to Argentina that it doesn't even register that it is something worth mentioning to someone I don't know, because it has become such a constant thought. It's so weird I was talking to Liz yesterday and it's like so soon that I am going to get on that plane. And be away. For a long time! Crazy! I am really going to miss everyone, so y'all better keep in touch, write every now and then...

19...

I can't sleep right I have so much on my mind. This morning I was up at 7:30, which hasn't happened to me since I was working. And I was stressed yesterday, as I mentioned, so when I read about a sale this morning I went and bought a new laptop. It's big but I like it. I even got my photos on and set up iTunes, but in doing that wiped ALL the music I had off my iPod. Oops. So I now have hundreds of songs to get back on there. And I think I got most of my application done. So that's a good thing. And I got my hair done today. I feel SO much better.

20 days to go...

So today was kind of boring. I have been working on my application to work next year in Palo Alto, which is not the most fun way to spend a day, but I suppose it's better to get it done early. I have also been thinking that I should get a new laptop, because the one I have is a little Sony Vaio and it's just old and has a ton of accessories which I don't want to crate around, so I want something with everything included. You know, so that I can put new canciones on my ipod, new fotos from my camera (see below), and a video to see mis amigos when I call them on skype!!! (If you don't know about it, skype.com is a website that allows you to make phone calls over the internet. I will be downloading it shortly and hopefully many other people will have accounts so that we can chat in person!)

I am hoping to find a deal at Fry's or something, Levi is going to help me out this weekend which should make for a great day...hopefully not as painful as the camera experience. I was so drained from looking at hundreds of cameras and about to cry by the time I decided on the one I (finally!!!) wanted that he taught me the little acronym HALT to keep the crank-meter down. It's great. When you get cranky, figure out why. Are you Hungry, Angry (I put frustrated in this category), Lonely or Tired? Like my fancy lettering? I am so nerdy. Liz just called and was like "What are you doing?" "Blogging." "Oh, you're talking?" "I'm blogging." "You're walking?" "No! I'm Blogging!" (Laughing hard) "Oh my god! You're blogging!"

So I am trying to figure out my finances as well, and what I thought would pull me through my time down south is really not going to stretch as far as I thought. Turns out apartments are pricey ($500 a month), I need insurance ($580 for 9 months of coverage), the course was expensive ($1590), my camera retailed at $279, which really meant a little over $400, and now I need a laptop ($500?). Plus trips to Antarctica (my dream destination) start around $3000! To visit is a bargain, there is so much to be had for so little once you are here. But to put your life on hold and head there for 9 months is a lot more of a financial commitment. And of course the wages there are roughly equivalent to between $2-5 an hour at the language schools, and then about $8-10 doing private tutoring. So don't all come a-knockin' to borrow mi dinero because clearly that will just make me laugh. BUT--I would love visitors or to meet with people who plan on coming down. I am thnking I will work through December, travel Jan. and Feb. then work through March/mid-April when I will return for interviews. I am also looking for apartments to share, but for the fist month I will probably be on my own in a little apartment somewhere in Recoleta. My fingers are crossed that I will happen upon something good. In the meantime I am going to go find my transcripts, reread my cover letter and think about my personal essay on what teaching means to me...

The Countdown

Ok so the titles are a little lame, I am going to stop that, but I thought this one was appropriate, since that is exactly what I am doing in my head every spare moment. Levi and I went out with Erin and Dave on Saturday night, and Erin said I haven't been posting. Well, the reason is that I figured there was nothing to write about yet, but the truth is there is a ton to write about.
I have been researching where to live, which is quite a chore and I am still at square one, but hopefully something will turn up soon. The prices for furnished apartments (studios and one bedroms) run around an average of $500 a month. My income is roughly nothing for the first month while I take classes, so that's a bit steep! I have tried to contact a guy who has an "international house" kind of situation, but I have't heard back yet. It's much cheaper and would be perfect. Hello, Walter! Write me back, por favor!!!
I have also been trying to figure out what to do about my car, the insurance, my cell phone, been making doctor's appointments for any *gasp* shots I might need, had to get my watch repaired (long story- thanks, Dolores!) need travel insurance, need to get my applications in for working next year...overall it's been a lot of paperwork and phone calls, none of which are very fun. But I have also been seeing friends, spending lots of time with Levi, and reading my book club book Love in the Time of Cholera which is great and I think I might finish today! Yay!
So Gina left for Buenos Aires today and I can't wait to hear from her, because I am relying on her to have a general knowledge of the coolest spots to go to at night, where to Tango, have a coffee or an ice cream. In the meantime I am practicing taking pictures, too, and will be sharing them on Easyshare, as many of you know. If you know anything about Argentina or anyone feel free to give me the info, the more the better. In the meantime Levi and I are planning that first week, staying in Palermo in an apartment 17 stories up with a view of the entire city. It looks spectacular and I can't wait!! xoxo