This feels like progress

Today I moved into my new apartment. I actually signed a two month contract for this place, which makes this by far the biggest commitment I´ve made in last ...oh lets say... 2 years. It´s in a great part of Buenos Aires, just about 6 blocks from the Cementario de Recoleta where Eva Peron is buried. It also happens to be one of the major spots for night life in the area, spooky huh?

I also got myself enrolled in an intensive Spanish language course. It´s 8 hours a week for the next two months. I start this tuesday and can´t wait. Maybe finally I can actually learn this language properly. Plus I think it´s really cool to be able to say I´m a student at the University of Buenos Aires.

And I got a SIM for my cell phone. So anyone back home who wants to get a hold of me can do so at their leisure. Drop me a line if you need the number. And I´ve already started collecting a couple local numbers to put in my cell phone. I do love this country you know.

All this might not seem like that much work, but one must not forget I am in Argentina. And while I still consider Buenos Aires to be the jewel of South America, it is still a South American country. I haven´t quite figured out what it is about this continent, but things just don´t work.

After a while you get used to the fact that when you stop into a bank to use the ATM you only have a 50/50 chance that it will actually give you money. And when you call someone on the phone you stop being suprised when the line doesn`t ring after three or four tries. And sometimes when you go to look at an apartment, no one can seem to find the keys. This all seems to be par for the course.

Truth be told, many fewer things worked in Cuba and Brazil. It´s not too terrible here, but you can definately tell the difference between here and the ¨western¨ world. None of this really seems to bother anyone, except the tourists of course. We all sit around and tap our feet, and look at our watches and utter frustrated sighs. The Argentineans seem pretty content to sit and wait.

Maybe our economic success has spoiled us. We want it all and we want it now. Or maybe the lack of success in South America keeps the folks here from realizing how things could be, if only their continent functioned, and therefore keeps them complacent. Either way, I´m going to head out and get a café con leche now and sit around and read a newspaper.