Last Twmpath in Buenos Aires

There have been good times here in Buenos Aires. Oh, how there have been good times. Being here has led to many positive outcomes, but this week has included one sad occurrence.

I never wanted to use this blog as a platform for ranting - god knows I do enough of that in the flesh - so I have tried hard to refrain from ranting about the niggily little issues that have succeeded in grinding my gears over the last few weeks. I did not, for example, rant about the Sube Card Saga which, after many failed attempts, culminated in an afternoon of queuing for 4 hours outside the Oficina de Sube before the elusive tarjeta was finally obtained (Buenos Aires´ equivalent to the Oyster card). I also haven´t ranted about the porteño love for queuing or the daily grotesque sight of hundreds of doggy testicles jiggling about in front of you on the street because castration simply doesn´t exist as a practice here. I also haven´t ranted about my job situation (or the lack thereof) or moaned that all the jobs I´ve been offered so far don´t meet my princess-like expectations.

Rhys has been subject to some of these rants and has been very sympathetic with his comments, such as “…and kids in Africa think they have problems”, which, to be fair, is exactly what I need to hear.

An issue which has genuinely caused a certain level of sadness, though, and which I think necessary to mention here, is the death of my beloved Compaq Presario laptop.

“Compy” was my 18th birthday present, and now, on the eve of his 6th birthday, he has finally run his last program. After seeing me through my A levels, degree, and 8 months of teaching, he was well beyond the age of retirement, but despite this, he held out to see me through my CELTA. Not only did he help me through some of the most important qualifications of my life, he also helped me to relax and do all the other fun stuff one does on the computer - like Solitaire, and Hearts.

He leaves behind not only a legacy of loyalty and joy, but also all my important documents and pictures which, in a final act of love, he allowed me to copy over to my housemate´s external hard drive.

Oh, Compy, I have not yet figured out how I´m going to prepare for my upcoming ESL classes without you, but I will follow your example by powering on through despite all the challenges I face. I wish you all the best as you ascend to hardware heaven, where you can finally stop being on stand-by.

Besos.