25 Random Things...

There is a game going around on FaceBook.com right now called 25 Random Things. The process goes that a FB friend tags you with the game by listing 25 things of interest about themselves, facts, beliefs, favorites, whatever they want to list, no rules. When you are tagged you make your own list and tag 25 friends, and so on...

I ignored the 1st couple of tags I got because I didn't know the people who tagged me well or didn't find their 25 things that interesting, so the game seemed boring and a waste of time. Then my friend Jen tagged me and her list was deep, touching and fun, revealing and honest, and she got me.

It takes a lot of time to compile the list. If there were 25 questions to answer it would be easier because a specific question limits the possibilities. I like randomness though and so I took the time needed to complete it and have enjoyed sharing it with those who've seen it. I post it here because it is a window into a few moments in my life outside of BsAs, for those of you who only know me here.

FaceBook has become a meaningful part of my life here and is one of the bridges between America and Argentina as I have friends in both places on the site. It is one way I keep connected with ease to my friends and family at home and connect in simple ways with new people here.

Without further ado, here are 25 Random Things about me:

1. I love the Terminator movies and the Aliens movies and I watch them all at least once a year

2. I have lived in over 150 houses/apartments in my life and can't name all the cities I've lived in

3. 10 years ago I could run a 75 minute 10 miler, I was 35 and had moved the day before the race and been up drinking beer and eating pizza with my friends/crew until 11 the night before

4. I can partially dislocate my hip at will and it doesn't hurt, but if it goes out on it's own it hurts for weeks. I have dislocated my shoulder hundreds of times, my collar bone once and several other joints intermittently through out my life due to a congenital defect and an abundance of a peptide hormone called relaxin that is produced naturally in all women but that I make too much of. Doing Bikram yoga is the only thing that has ever helped this condition

5. When I moved to San Diego, desperate for a job, I lied and told the owner of the taxi company I had lived there a year so that he would employ me. I had a Thomas guide but mostly if you got in my cab I would just have you tell me how to get where you were going. I stayed away from the airport mostly...

6. I have lived most of my adult life without a television in my house and having bought one a couple of years ago to watch movies on, I didn't get cable. The most interesting thing about this is the constant level of shock and upset this causes in people when I tell them

7. I was in the US Navy and spent 2 years as a VIP driver in Honolulu Hawaii and 2 years as a boat coxswain in Coronado California. One of the things I learned from this experience is that truly powerful people, inside and out, are easy to work for, kind and considerate, and people who don't really believe in their own power are always trying to make life harder for others, just because they can

8. I have loved the food in every city, in every country, in every culture I have ever been to - and there have been many - the exception being Argentina. I am an omnivore and will eat anything that doesn't eat me first but my diet here is narrow, boring and generally just a compilation of various things to keep me healthy with as little disgust factor as possible

9. I once roller skated at a rink where Michael Jackson was skating. Because of my dislocate-y hip I don't pick up my feet when I roller skate, I just do figure 8s with my feet to propel myself forward. He noticed this and asked me why. I explained and he said, (I swear to God), "That's really weird."

10. I once baby sat for Jane Fonda's children and because I was around movie stars all the time this did not ruffle me. When I attended the Fonda family Christmas party to keep an eye on the kids and help get them to bed though, and Henry Fonda attended, I was floored, and even at the age of 12 I knew I was in the presence of a legend. This understanding was even more clear the night I saw Johnny Cash check in to a hotel in LA at 2am. I didn't speak to him or touch him but I was in awe from simply being in his presence, the man in black

11. I believe that our country would be wealthier, safer and a better place to live if the US government took all the money it currently spends on "The War on Drugs", "The War on Terror" and the other 2 wars we are fighting (upwards of $600 billion a year - this is a conservative estimate) and spent it instead on food, housing, medical care and education for THIS generation of children including art and physical fitness programs. 20 years from now we would have a generation of healthy, strong, smart young people who aren't interested in using or selling drugs because they have better things to do, like solving the problems our planet is facing and making the world a better place. They would be world leaders in art, music, literarture, athletics, science, technology, conservation, business, finance, global politics... America would be THE leader of the world again in every category of meaning and every nation would strive to be like us

12. I believe most people are deeply loving people who fail to express that love only because they allow fear to convince them no one wants it. I "remember" to love others whenever I hear the voices of sages, sent to remind us, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, MLK jr, Jesus, Buddha, Hafiz...

13. I rode a bike with a banana seat and tassled handle grips from Washington DC to Disney World in Orlando with my mom, little sister and big brother when I was 7. People often call me a liar when I tell that story

14. I have had 4 tattoos done on my body. I have never had a tattoo removed. I have 2 tattoos on my body at this time

15. I get up with the sun, no matter how late I stay out or how much I need to sleep. It has been this way since I was an infant. I have never lived with another morning person in my life

16. Three things I would do anyway even if they proved unequivocally that they would kill me: 1) drink coffee with caffeine, cream & sugar 2) sex 3) owning a dog

17. My biggest fear is that I will have come so very far and not have learned all that I could on the journey

18. My greatest hope is that we will learn together how to live the way we were meant to

19. The greatest gift of my life has been the chance to share myself honestly with other humans, to be seen by them, and to be deeply loved and accepted. It has happened only rarely, but it is magic enough to last a lifetime

20. I love flat faced dogs (bull dogs, boxers) but I hate flat faced kitties, don't know why


21. Between 2003 and 2008 I dated over 300 people, 90% never made it to a 2nd date.

22. I have one son, he is 26 years old, we were very close once, we aren't now, I think of him every day and wish him all that is good and wonderful. Godspeed on your journey Alex.

23. My father was a racist bigot and my mother was a civil rights activist when I was a child and I am living proof that if children are given 2 examples of how to be in the world, 1 light and 1 dark, that most of the time they will choose the path of light

24. A man once flew to San Diego from Italy to go on a date with me. It didn't work out. It was still really cool.

25. I have done more jobs than most people can name. I have never done anything I hated doing. Every job I've had I've liked more than the one before it. I love what I do now, but Holy Cow I can't wait to see what comes next...

I had fun making this list. I strongly suggest it. You sometimes forget how awesome and interesting you are until you take the time to write a few things down. The next thing you know you are looking at yourself, and the world around you, from a different perspective. If you make a list, I would be interested in reading it.

Dollars and Sense...

18January2009

There is a commonly held perspective that living in South America in a 3rd world country is inexpensive and living in the United States, at least in a big city, is not. That viewpoint is held by people living in both places. People are often surprised to find that life here is just as expensive as it is in the states. Since the financial crisis the dollar has gotten a little stronger here in Argentina. The fluctuation of the value of the dollar as compared to the peso, which is a very unstable currency, is the reason real estate is traded in U.S. dollars here.

We are working on our apartment to make it the most amazing one in the city. When we sell it we will receive U.S. dollars in exchange for it and we will leave Argentina with as much money as we had when we arrived, likely more. During our time here however, the financial situation is a sea storm we’ll have to ride out. The things we are buying for the apartment are priced in pesos and while inflation is rampant here it cushions the blow a bit that the dollar is strong right now.

The cost of living in Buenos Aires is not, as one might imagine, cheaper overall than living in a large city in the United States. Inflation over the last five years has meant that the price of some things everyone needs, like food, has increased in price by more than 100%. When the value of the peso decreases, even temporarily, prices rise to level out the difference. When the value of the peso regains some ground prices don’t go back down. A restaurant owner I spoke with explained to me, seemingly unaware of his complicity in the problem, that prices for food go up, people eat out less, he pays more for his supplies. With fewer customers and less income he raises prices. Of course, when prices go up even more people eat out even less. He lets staff go. When people are losing their jobs ever fewer people eat out. He closes his restaurant an extra day a week, raises prices again, lets go more staff, and so on. The end result is more unemployment and much higher prices for less service, less availability, less quality, less convenience.

All the while wages don’t go up. We pay what our workers asked us for when they came to work for us. We didn’t bargain with them or ask to pay less. Still, our most senior worker, Miguel, a mason with 15 years experience, earns only A$R120 per day, or about U$S35. Our most inexperienced guy earns half that. When I bought a large package of heavy duty garbage bags the other day for cleanup I paid more for the garbage bags (A$R68) than I paid for a man to work to fill them for a day. Two things are in play. The bags are very expensive, average quality garbage bags for almost $20 and a day of hard labor for less than that. The friends I have here who earn in dollars or euro are living well in Buenos Aires. Those who earn in pesos struggle.

Argentines are used to struggling. There is a wealthy class here but most people struggle for the simplest of things. The middle class spends a disproportionate amount of its income on the children, doing without other things. Food is expensive and there is no way around that. Transportation is cheap but every day we are hit with small, unexpected expenses that seem to drain money away like sand through our fingers. Every time that happens I look around and remember that as hard as this is for me, it is much harder, and more permanent, for the other people around me.


This will be our kitchen when it is finished in about 2 weeks

What is really striking for me is that while my expenses have stayed just as high as they were in the states my quality of life is not as good. I can’t afford the small luxuries that I was accustomed to at home. Many things I took for granted there are either completely unavailable here or are so expensive as to make them seem so. So, while I pay just as much to live I enjoy my day to day life less. I believe this will change a lot when our little hideaway at the top of the city is finished. By then I will have learned where to shop in my new neighborhood, the Bikram studio in town will be open and I’ll be able to practice daily and teach there and I’ll be working every day, which always makes me feel better about my daily life. For the moment each day is like part of a hard climb. I know eventually I’ll reach the top and the climbing wont be hard any longer, but I look up just once as I start the day and then I put my head down and start moving.


The view from our apartment during the New Year's Eve fireworks