Confessions of a Nomad

Yes, I've been seriously slacking with the blogging... but with good reason. Since my last entry in November, things had happened. A LOT of things had happened. And with the urging of my very good friend, Glenn, here I go:

My wonderful job at CNA came to an end. While I was hired to write and give a minimum of 5 workshops, I ended up giving only one thanks to bad scheduling and broken air conditioners. I'm still waiting for my writing credit in their yet-to-be-published textbook. (I wrote about being an ESL teacher. I know, a stretch.)
	I spent December and January with a backpack smelling like old socks. I started off flying to Uruguay and parking myself on the beach, taking a boat to Argentina to tango, crossing through the Andes by bus to Chile, and sailed through the Chilean fjords on a ferry remembering how much I really disliked boats. But, the goal was to make to 'el fin de mundo'. And I would like to say to Mrs. Gonzalez, my 6th grade teacher who made me travel my imaginary road to Tierra del Fuego, I made it to the end of the world. Woohoo!
While on my little adventure, in a little city called Córdoba, I did manage to pick up something (or someone) from the Netherlands. Let's just say I definitely wasn't planning on that happening. The things you do after being kicked out of the hostel so the workers can attend Christmas mass and being slightly inebriated by fermented wheat.
	My last month in Brasil was bittersweet. I didn't get to travel as much as I was hoping due to financial constraints. (Patagonia got a bit pricey at the end!) However, I was left with a lot of time to ponder about life, the future, and how to make the perfect caipirinha.
I also managed not to go to Carnival in Rio de Janiero. Why? I couldn't justify spending $1,000 on a 4 day party/drunk-fest. Instead, I hopped on a bus with C and A some 10 hours away with only the clothes on my back and $50 BRL to my name. (It was more of bad planning on my part. Good thing C had clothes and A had money.)
	I said 'abraços e beijos' (hugs and kisses in Portuguese) to Brasil with a bit of a whimper. For the most part, I did enjoy my time in the land of rice and beans. My only regret was the failure of the ring. Sei lá...
Home is where the heart is, I guess. There's nothing like sleeping on my own feather bed wearing clothes that doesn't have holes where holes shouldn't be. And the best part, I got to drive my car. No more buses with random weird guys wiping their sweat on me!!!
	And so, only after 10 days of being in the US, I jumped on a plane to Amsterdam to see what I had picked up in Córdoba. My objectives in Holland were to see a windmill, try on wooden shoes, and eat brownies. (And for all those who are curious: Yes, I saw one from the plane and one up close. No, but saw some middle-aged guy click-clacking around in very fashionable yellow clogs. No, I didn't, but I did the next best thing. It's legal, so it was ok!) As for my big reason for me cashing in all my frequent flier miles to Europe, the future for us is definitely foggy. 9,000km of land and water doesn't help us any. Only time will tell... Or maybe a trip to China...
Now, I'm back to a semi-quasi reality in California. Mother Nature was nice enough to remind me I was back by waking me up with a 4.4 earthquake at 4:04am centered 22km away from my bed. (Sarcastic 'yay!') I'm on day 2 of job-hunting/jury duty waiting/graduate school essay writing/exercising/photo-editing.

And with that, you have now been updated. Congratulations!