Dear LA Drivers: You've got nothing on me.

I'm not scared of your horns, your death looks, your curses, your lack of blinkers, your ignorance of blinkers, your rapid lane changing, your sudden stops, your big shiny cars or your even bigger egos. I will no longer cry when I am forced to pass through your grossly overpopulated highways on my way to and from San Diego. I will still complain about your unfathomable amount of traffic, but I will revel in the organization of the traffic, the respect of lanes, the practical use of police officers, the fact that police officers actually mean something, and the fact that annoying as pedestrians are, they are still not a target nor a nuisance to be crushed under your wheel.

I write to you today because I faced a monster more terrifying and insane than you, I faced the streets of Buenos Aires. Compared with BA, you are suburban drivers cruising the residential streets of San Ramon (FYI it's a city in the north of CA, I know many of you would scoff at driving to that land) attentive to all the speed limits, signs and lights.

I drove in Buenos Aires, and I loved it. After driving a block or two I realized I didn't know what the speed limit was so I asked. My response was this: baahahahahahahahahaaaaa. I didn't encounter a street sign with the speed limit on it either, but that's probably because I was incredibly preoccupied with exactly where my car belonged and where the other cars were coming from/going to around me. Buses too, they're the worst actually. The added problem of figuring out how to navigate an infinite number of non-stop-signed intersections was quite the physics operation: if I'm approacing this intersection at 30kmph and I see a string of cars approaching the same intersection from the other direction at 40kmph and they appear about .7 km further from the intersection than I am, should I pass or let them pass? Plus, are there any suicidal pedestrians trying to step foot in the street as I pass through? And if so, how much time do I need to slam on the brakes and swirve out of the way to allow them continued life?

Let's not forget the 2 navigators screaming and pointing OPPOSITE directions to me in a mix of Spanish and attempted English corrections about 5 seconds too late. I very quickly learned the difference between 'derechO' and 'derechA' (straight, right). I also learned that you should probably listen to the much more sober owner of the HOUSE that we are trying to get to rather than the much more drunk owner of the CAR I was driving. Tough choices though. I always opt for the owner of the car, they tend to want the car in good shape the most, which means that you and the occupants of said car will end up in good shape as well.

It was an adventure to say the least, one of my favorite nights in BsAs by far. I miss driving, and it was fun driving without REAL rules for a little bit, but I'd never want it forever. Houdini, LA, SD and SR, I will be with you soon enough my loves.

Also, my spell check just highlighted EVERYTHING because it's set in spanish right now, I appologize for the abysmal spelling.

Oh The Places I've Been

It's funny the things you learn when you're abroad. Obviously I cannot speak for everyone, and I know that 'you' is far too broad, but language has it's limits so for the sake of ease and clarity 'you' will be used to replace 'me' or 'a handful/some/any quantity more than me' throughout this entry and much of my writing. As I was saying, when you're in another country you learn much more than a language, the geography of a new land, the people it holds, the customs, the streets or the classes (which by the way have been a bit of a joke), you learn you and you learn how much more there is to be learned and how much you will never know.

This is not to say you cannot learn you or the tremendous scope of lessons in this world without being abroad. I learned much of me the first year I went off to college. I learned that the people are more important than the place, I learned that over drafting really sucks, I learned how incredible coffee was and I began to learn how pointless yet valuable college is. As the years progressed and especially once I reached my upper division classes I was introduced to the indescribable frustration at the fact that one will never understand everything, that it is impossible to understand everything, that some things are so beyond reason that to understand them means insanity yet come next midterm or paper I will be held accountable for the everything I couldn't possibly understand. This is the futility and value of college in one: knowing you don't know but finding a way to prove you know. Chamuyar.

This is all very good and well, and if I hadn't gone abroad these lessons alone would be more than sufficient; but I did go abroad, I am abroad, and this world is now one country more real to me. This world is huge yet it is small; the people are different yet they are the same. That sentence is what some people call 'art' or 'poetry' but what I tend to call 'bullshit'. It is indirect nonsense that some hopelessly loony people write to come across as mysterious and deep when they're in fact lazy and inarticulate. They write nonsense like 'my heart is warm yet it is cold' and leave you with the chore of deciphering their depth and profundity when really all they meant was 'I'm very confused because sometimes I love, but sometimes it hurts, and sometimes they happen at the same time'. So allow me to save you the drudgery of unearthing the meaning behind my incredibly profound statement by explaining it myself. (If only Emerson or Steinbeck did me this courtesy 11th grade would have been so much more simple)

So, the sentence went: this world is huge yet it is small, the people are different yet they are the same. It's not that profound; so do not be offended by my unnecessary explanation. It's not that I don't think you (this you is referring to you personally, not those that haven learned lessons abroad) can't figure it out, I only wish to welcome you to my very own brain and what thoughts are passing through it. Ok, for real now, I'm getting to the topic, mil disculpes.

WHAT I MEANT: This world is literally huge, there are many miles, kilometers, seas, lands, however you choose to measure distance, there is a lot of it in this world. There's lot's of depth and height too, especially if you include those terrifying trenches near Japan, Earth is incomprehensively large. Good thing we don't live on Saturn or Jupiter, how much more distance we would have to cross!! Plus all those moons? oi. Also, with all this space, distance depth and height, and diversity in geography there is bound to be vast diversity in the people and culture of this world. This generally goes without saying, it's something we learn in books and it's something we hear the intellectual types tell us, so me saying it is just another drop in the bucket, but it's because I am seeing it that I say it. It's because I experience this difference everyday, and even stranger yet, the difference I once saw is becoming progressively normal; YOU are becoming the different ones now. They speak a different language that is also becoming progressively normal, they wear clothes that are different (and some clothing I prefer to remain different thank you very much US designers), they drive differently, they learn different things, the list of differences goes on, I don't have the patience to continue.

This world is small because the means of communication is flattening. I can communicate with YOU right now with no more than a second delay if there exists a delay at all. I can see pictures of YOU right now if I choose, and not just the ones I brought, but the ones someone took of YOU yesterday and posted today. I can find somebody here who knows YOU, or someone you knows someone who knows YOU, or someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows YOU. Ask me anyone and I will be able to connect myself to them through the people I know here. Promise. Also, I'm in Argentina, yet here I am at Starbucks sipping on an iced mocha snacking on a bagel while I blog on my Mac. Same world. The people are the same because they are people, they still breathe oxygen and drink water, and though they may have different ways of searching, what they search for is still the same: love and acceptance. They're a bit rougher around the edges with a more inward focus, but that very well may be the big city influence.

Anyhow, that's basically it for now. My computer is dying, I have no Internet at house, and I want to get on with my day right now. Hope you enjoyed! Sorry these have been so far between! I love you all and miss you all as well.