Buen Viaje!

We left our apartment in Philly this morning. We'll be staying with family in the 'burbs until our flight out to Buenos Aires next week. Sandro and I have lived there together for last couple of years, so it was hard to say good bye to our little home town nest!

Our friends came out to our neighborhood bar before we left to shoot some pool, have some drinks, jam some 90s on the jukebox, and wish us Buen Viaje! It was awesome to see my A team and some friends that I don't see that often all in one place. A friends' birthday party the next night was perfect. Pumpkin cake, boxed wine, and so many more friends. It was a pretty epic send off and for everyone who said they'd miss us, I meant it when I said you're welcome to come down to Argentina anytime!

Hasta luego, mis amigos!

Funny South Philly

All these funny things about South Philly that I take for granted everyday were popping out at me while I was out running errands this morning. I'm going to miss this weird place!

1. Inappropriate "quotation" marks. You'll find a random word wrapped in quotes on nearly every sign in our neighborhood. No one's really sure about why, or how to properly use punctuation, apparently!

2. The Philly Skyline. When I stand at particular intersections I can see the tippy top of it.

3. Outrageous window decor. Every day, holiday, season, weekend, whatever, is a reason to celebrate, and therefore, decorate in South Philly. The old timers take this pretty seriously and it makes it feel like our 'hood is a carnival all the time.

4. Philly street art. Toynbee tiles are one famous example. I've looked out and followed particular artists throughout the years and they've always made my walks around the city more interesting.

Visiting Buenos Aires

Everyday for the year we've been planning our move to Buenos Aires, I've told every single person I know, "Come on down to Buenos Aires! It's so beautiful and fun and awesome and we'll totally put you up and we'll have a great time!". And this is all true! However, one real hurdle to visiting somewhere as far flung as Argentina is that it's not cheap to get there. Here are some things to consider if you are looking to make the trip:

Flights

Air travel is pricey and the flight from the States to Argentina is no exception. From Philadelphia, you'll likely fly three hours to Miami for a layover then another ten hours to Buenos Aires (or ten to Sao Paolo and three to Buenos Aires, something like that. Thirteen hours total). The price of the flight hovers around $1000 round trip per person. This, I realize, is totally insane. However! There are deals to be had and if you're serious about making the trip down, keep an eye out and do your research. Many people have had luck with Aeromexico and their US-South America specials. I'm talking $400 round trip tickets from Houston to BA. Of course, you'd have to get to Houston. But this would still be a really awesome deal.

Passports

You must have a valid passport to get into Argentina. A US passport costs $135 for first time, adult applicants and $110 for renewals and are valid for ten years. Processing times are 4-6 weeks which means it could take up to two months for it to be delivered to your door. For expedited service, you'll pay an additional $60 and a $12.72 delivery fee and can have your passport in 2-3 weeks. So if you don't already have a passport, apply with plenty of time.

Entry Fees

This is some dumb thing the government made up to make money. Citizens of the US, Canada, and Australia must pay an entry fee when visiting Argentina (Argentines pay it when they visit those countries as well). For US citizens, the fee is $160. This fee gets recorded on your passport and is good for reentry for ten years. To speed up this process, the fee must be paid online in advance and the receipt presented to customs officials at Ezeiza Airport upon arrival in BA. Dave has thoroughly explained the process here. Some people have avoided this fee by flying into Montevideo, Uruguay, taking a 3 hour bus ride to Colonia del Sacramento, (across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires) and then a 1 hour ferry trip into Buenos Aires. Prices and convenience of this method may vary and I haven't looked into it, so if this of interest to you, you'll have to do the research!

The Good News!

If you can save up and swing these costs, Buenos Aires can be fairly inexpensive to visit. Just like any big city, there is plenty to do and see and eat that will set you back way too far. But there are also big time ways of doing it on the cheap and easy. For example:
Lunch and dinner out can cost around $10-15 USD per person and this includes bread, LOTS OF MEAT, a glass of wine, and coffee and cookies for dessert.
Domestic beers are usually $2 at any bar.
The buses and subway system are government subsidized and fairly extensive, so a ride anywhere in the city costs only 40 cents!
Also, museums often have discounted rates around $5 on particular days of the week if you're into that.
Let's put it this way...a bottle of decent Argentine Malbec wine can be bought at any corner store for $5! You could definitely get by in this town on not a lot of cheddah!

Check back here because I'm sure there will be updates once we get there. I will be keeping tabs on prices and deals and let you know! Keep in touch if you have any questions about how we worked it out.

'Moving to Buenos Aires' Stoop Sale a Huge Success!

In Philly we don't have yards or garages. We have stoops. So the classic American yard sale or garage sale is demoted to a Stoop Sale, well, because...that's the best we can do. So I spent the entire day yesterday pulling things from our shelves, emptying out closets and kitchen cabinets, and nearly tearing our house apart. I separated items by kind, size, price point, etc. and tagged them. I woke up at 6:30 this morning and hauled it all out to the stoop and arranged it in a presentable way so as to say, "Buy This Junk!". I did some big time social media promotion and Katie helped me put up signs at the street corners and local coffee shop. All the hard work paid off because I got rid of about 2/3 of my stuff! And all the bigger ticket items flew out the door!

Thanks so much to all my generous friends and neighbors for coming buy and giving me cash for my stuff. It's so good to know it's all in great hands!

Like I've said before, the purging feels amazing and I couldn't be happier to be one step closer to our move. But there are a few things that won't fit in my suitcase that I'm really going to miss...

Transition Brain

Our move from Philadelphia to Buenos Aires is happening in four short weeks and as our apartment empties out our furniture and our plans with friends become limited to only a few more days, everyone is asking all the questions:

"Are you excited?"
"Are you nervous?"
"What are you going to do with your stuff?"
"Do you have work lined up?"
"Can we come down and visit?"

The answers to these questions are exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Today I am so excited and just a healthy bit nervous about moving from our home.
Excited because what's not to be excited about?! We've both dreamed of living abroad, and I (more than Sandro, a confident and helpful gentleman) had big time doubts about where, when, and how that could ever happen. But it's happening! We'll be in a new place; a big, beautiful city where the people speak Spanish, there's a street market everyday, the apartments come furnished, and the wine is cheap! We'll explore, work, meet people, and learn something new everyday. We have each other and so far so good. Countdown 27 days!

In Transistion: We've sold our furniture so we're sleeping on the ground and living out of boxes. Miccio Cat doesn't seem to mind.

But nerves too. Because what's not to be nervous about?! No matter how much research, planning, and effort we put in to getting to Argentina, life is unpredictable and the future is a fickle place. We don't really know how it will go. We are leaving behind our apartment where we've built a home of books, food, art, the cat, and comfortable, happy memories. We are leaving our besties who we see everyday for a place where we know a couple of (great) people. Our routine is in upheaval! We'll get lonely, overwhelmed, and lost sometimes and won't be able to call a last minute happy hour at our favorite bar with our long time friends for normalcy and comfort.

But the good outweighs the bad and that's why this move is possible at all. Routine is a centering and balancing thing but can also cause complacency and wanderlust. Age makes routine more necessary so if adventure calls, it's best to pick up the phone and meet it while you can. My friends, thanks to technology, exist in my computer, which is coming with me! Our new apartment will feel like home as soon as Sandro and I are in it together. Feelings of displacement will fade, the same way they did when I moved from my hometown in California to Philly ten years ago. And we are able. We make the life we live, and so far we've worked it out pretty well. Natural disasters and financial collapses are out of our hands. This is our life.

All that too say, moving abroad is a great and difficult thing. If you are considering it, know that a mix of feelings and experiences is pretty normal. If you've done it, I'm probably missing the actual depth of this idea as I haven't even arrived yet and please feel free to comment with your own experiences! How did you feel leaving home at first? How do you feel away being from home now? Or has your new place become home?
xoxo Amber