Relationship Advice... Yes, from me.

Disclaimer: this post has a lot of opinions... if you don't like other people's opinions, I urge you to check back tomorrow when I exhibit less of them.

Don't think that this post is JUST about BOY-GIRL relationships, but it's also about friendships.  I felt the need to write this because of a couple of reasons...

1. It's what I'm thinking at this exact second
2. I think it's important
3. I want to be taken seriously on occasional circumstances

So there are "expectations" all the time of PERFECT relationships...  

• "A good friend will hang out with you sometimes, a GREAT friend will hang out with you ALL the time!"

Not true.

• "A good boyfriend/husband will buy you flowers on valentines day, a GREAT boyfriend/husband buys you flowers ALL the time."
• This one is a stretch, my experience on the matter is limited.  

Basically what I'm trying to say is that some people have expectations of me to be the "right friend".  I can't commit to that.  I also don't want to come off as "I'll treat you the way I want because I CAN!"... That's not my goal.  But I don't want the situation to become what I've become all too familiar with (especially as I have gotten older):

• Friend A (we'll call her Rebecca) works a lot of hours and has very little free time for a couple of weeks at a time.  She also has a new family member (niece) and wants to see her whenever she comes home because it's a rare and exciting occasion.  Friend B (we'll call her Friend B) has a standard 40-hour per week job and loves to hang out with friends.  She has no kids, no boyfriend or husband, etc.  You get the picture... She decides that Rebecca is incapable of being a friend (good OR great) because she hasn't seen Friend B for a couple of weeks and turns to other friends to hang out and breaks ties with Rebecca.
• Close scene.
• I'm not a screen writer, do not fret

You get the idea. And it gets old...

I also feel like I need to see all of my friends somewhat regularly or I'm going to lose them. It's like - Ohmyword. I haven't seen this person in 2.4 weeks. We're growing apart. I need to talk to her. I don't even know what she's been doing this month. We have to get lunch now. WE HAVE TO GET LUNCH BEFORE THIS FALLS APART. I need to call her. She's not answering. I'll text her. She'll NEVER want to get lunch again because I've let too much time pass. I'M A HORRIBLE FRIEND.

I have a couple of really great friends but we only get to hang out MAYBE once per month... These friends are also my best friends because of our mutual ability to get along regardless of the situation.  Notice, I didn't say we agree on everything, have the same style, etc.  We are friends that just "get it" and it's refreshing.  If you don't have that, and need it, or want it, get it!  Talk to someone new, meet people, and put yourself out there.  Be you, completely.  If you're not you-you, people won't become that kind of friend.  You need you be you-you to be the best-you.  Make sense?  I thought so.

Have a great day, and remember... Whoever doesn't love you despite time, personality nuances, or style, doesn't love you enough to be a friend for eternity.  And quite honestly. that probably isn't their intention or desire.
I am me, quirks included and I love it. :)

Love to all!

Becca

Vacation Nostalgic Moment: Argentina, Part 2

So we're picking up from yesterday's post...

The trip was so so much fun that it deserves TWO posts.  FURTHERMORE, I will probably write about it again whether it's because I want to reminisce again, or because I forgot I wrote about it two days in a row, I do not care :)

So I photo vomited yesterday so I will take it easy today :)

I finished up my trip by hanging out with Sylvia, Martine, and Phillipe waiting for the drive to pick me up for the airport... Photos of Sylvia and Phillipe are attached... you need to know how good looking they are. :)

 

Earlier in the day, while Martine and I were out for milenesa (so delicious and thinking about it now makes me miss Buenos Aires), I found out that my flight was delayed by 6 hours due to volcanic ash.  Great... Just volcanic ash.  A volcano (the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcano) erupted in Chile (see here) and the ash was so heavy when I landed that it looked like snow!  Grey snow, but snow nonetheless.

We found out at about 7pm that we were delayed about another 3 hours.  This put my flight at 6am and the agent that we talked to on the way back to the house from the restaurant, rebooked me. 

Anyhow, the driver got to Martine's at 3am to pick me up (we had to be at the airport by 4am for the 6am flight), after all of the stories told over bottles and bottles of wine.  I certainly learned that I don't date enough (despite what it seems from past posts).  I got to the airport and waited in line for an hour (of course, we were delayed another hour putting the flight at 7am).  I learned, upon my arrive to the counter, that the woman who allegedly rebooked me, booked me for a flight THE FOLLOWING DAY!!!!  Mind you, I was flying into Chicago so I could ride home with my family.  My family was in visiting my aunt and uncle south of Milwaukee.  They were already bummed that I was getting home 10 hours later than planned...  After much coaxing (and possibly a tear or two, courtesy of no-sleep and a bottle of wine), and a bit of shouting about the importance of my getting home, I got on the plane.  The last possible seat on the airplane (the row in front of the restroom in the very back of the plane behind a row of babies and possibly a hundred naughty children). 

For those of you pilots out there, don't tell the passengers that "If we don't take off now, the volcanic ash will hit the engines and shut them down during take-off!" in a bunch of different languages.  Panic is a universal language... We get it.
Once we finally landed in Atlanta (9 hours after take-off, and at 3pm), I went to the Chili's in the airport to get a beer during my 4 hour layover (which was also re-booked wrong) to Chicago.  I was approached by a nice, good looking guy that looked super familiar...  He asked if he could buy me a beer (and after the night/flight I had, I had earned it!) so I said yep.  We sat and talked for about 2 hours and had some appetizers before we went to our respective gates.

I landed in Chicago around 9pm and called my dad, who had been circling the ORD airport for about an hour in anticipation of my arrival (mind you he KNEW what time I was going to be back...).  My dad was so excited to have me back that he wanted to be the ONLY one to pick me up from the airport.  He saw me outside of the door in the terminal and he honked the horn (aggravating all of the people in Chicago who seemed perpetually angry anyway) and jumped out of the car.  Biggest. Hug. Ever.  He was so excited it was as if I had been gone for months...  He asked if I was hungry (um yes) and took me to the Red Robin for a burger which I hoovered in a matter of 48 seconds. 

The food was amazing, the friends I made are fantastic, and the memories are forever... If you haven't taken a vacation like this, I urge you to make the plunge.  I can honestly tell you that the time leading up to this trip, the trip itself, and the homecoming have made Argentina unbelievable to me.  

Now you get the small photo vomit again and I will close-er up for the day...  Sorry for the two long-as-heck posts but they make me happy :)

 My sister and Dad skyping with me one of the nights I was there... We skyped at least once per day while I was gone and it was marvelous.

 Melissa took a great picture of me focusing on the conversation

 And then laughing at the realization that I was sitting there with my mouth open... My just-married twin sister interrupted me and started telling me about her first couple of weeks of marital bliss and I replied "It's not about you, Melissa." sarcastically (in case you think I'm a jerk) and dad thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Mom and Dad skyped me together a lot, too... They are such a silly couple :)

Have a great Tuesday, friends :)

XOXO
Becca

Vacation Nostalgic Moment: Argentina, Part 1

I'm sure everyone on the world wide web has been on a vacation that they want to replicate or "try to top" at some point...  I've been fortunate enough to have quite a few of these vacations (most recently the one in AZ seen HERE). 

One that I want to tell you about now is the trip I made to Argentina to see my friend Martine.  First a little bit about her...

Martine and I became friends at work in Milwaukee when I started at the company I'm at now.  She took me under her wing and taught me all about my new home.  She and I hung out VERY often while I lived in Kenosha and shared lots of laughs and stories.  She is the epitome of classy and I love her dearly.  We have a lot of great memories.

I was working as a computer program developer (insert nerdy scoffs here) and had to go to Argentina to launch the program and work with my IT counterparts to ensure all was working for their specific needs.  This trip was scheduled less than one week after my sisters wedding (I told everyone I was going to take her honeymoon for her).  Needless to say, traveling to a different continent was going to be a great detox from normalcy and stagnant life, but also it was going to be a bit nerve racking to go on this trip alone.  Martine had been living in Argentina for a few months (of the 11 she was going to be there) and offered for me to stay with her for an extended trip so I planned a week of vacation on top of the two days of travel and two days of work. She was living on Avenida Alvear y Callao and this is what I got to call home...

I had two days to accomplish the business I needed to get done.  I arrived to Argentina on Wednesday night (after a layover in Atlanta in which I had to sprint to the gate on the other side of the airport... I was the person they were summoning over the loudspeaker).  After 16 hours of traveling, I was NOT looking forward to going to work first thing the next morning but worse things have happened, right?

Anyhow the office was in a scary part of Buenos Aires - we drove past two landfills and a community of homes that had lost a wall or two that was now being supported by a car that hadn't been driven in what seemed like years.  People watched you from the side of the road with curiosity in their eyes and judgment in their hearts... I don't believe I've ever felt so isolated.  Martine and I sat in the back seat of the car listening mindlessly as our driver (and bodyguard, for what it's worth) was telling us stories of the community and why it became what it did.  I can remember vividly, what the spray paint and homeless dogs looked like, though.  It was a very depressing sight.  We pulled up to the security gate of the office and were granted access after a few questions and started our day.

 

(this is not a picture of our office...)

Now mind you, I'm blond with blue eyes.  This is a rarity (in a big and serious way) in Argentina.  The majority of residents have dark hair and eyes.  Martine has the dark hair but stands out with her green eyes.  I was welcomed warmly into the office and began work with my new friends.

The first day at the office the power went out twice... which wasn't as bad as when the water shut off three times.  You know those super inconvenient times when you all of a sudden have to go to the ladies room so desperately that you'd auction off your first born for the opportunity?  That bad.  Thank goodness I don't have kids yet or they'd be living in South America.

We went to supper with two of our coworkers from my department.  They brought us to a very fancy restaurant where we had fantastic wine, lots of different foods and dessert.  This is where I realized my love for Malbec.  I didn't become a wine connoisseur, I just got picky.

We tried blood sausage, filet minon, and pork.  We also had panqueque's.  My favorite was panqueque de dulce de leche (between that one and the panqueque de manzana).  It was a fantastically thin pancake (or something of the sort), with a caramel that puts caramel to shame. 

 

That night, we went to something called "after office".  After office is basically a RAVE that begins after you've left work and had supper.  As soon as we walked in, people looked at me like I was foreign or a twin or something... (for those of you that haven't read past posts, I am both in South America, just the latter in North America).  We had people walking up to us and talking so quickly in another language that I understood nothing.  We danced and people got drunk, the works.  It was fun but by 2am I was burnt out and we went home.  I learned later that a lot of people didn't go home until like 5 or 6 am... That is so far past my bedtime that I might as well just stay up until bedtime the following day.  It was fun nonetheless :)

Other adventures include:

• taking a tour of the city by bus with a coworker - I learned such a tremendous about the culture and the entire tour was done in castellano (they do not speak Español.  I know this because I unintentionally offended someone to a very large degree).

• Went to a Circus De Soleil show  

• Went to live music and sushi

• taking tango lessons - I wasn't good but I got a video of a solid attempt.  The instructor was a friend.  The video was taken when we were trying it at the apartment, not when we took it to the club where we "competed".  I got the "miss congeniality" prize.

• finding a fantastic bakery in an alley that sold something called "alfajores" (and if you think this means something dirty, I have linked a page that explains what alfajores are (and no, it won't put spam on your computer or send your colleagues emails about viagra)).

• walking to other fantastic cafe's and learning what a "table charge" is... it's like we rented the table for the low cost of 4 pesos.
• walking through the largest rose garden I have ever seen (the smell was amazing and it was the end of their summer).  There were thousands of roses all of different "breeds"

• taking a trip to Tigre where we got to ride a water taxi and eat at a restaurant on an island.  And on stilts.

• went to Uruguay for a day (specifically Colonia) to tour and see more culture.  It was a fantastically beautiful town... The difference between the Portuguese and Spanish homes was amazing and learning about conflict turned to harmony was enlightening.  The churches were all so beautiful and I would love to have architecture like theirs to enjoy now and again.

I know I look like I'm in pain but I wasn't... it was just super sunny

• going to a street fair - which is oddly similar to the 7 mile fair in south Milwaukee, WI only with all argentines

This trip was so much fun I want to experience it again. I'm addicted to learning about other people and where they come form.  Culture fascinates me.  I hope you found this as enlightening to read about as it was for me to write.  Have a fantastic Monday night!!

Xoxo

Rebecca