I woke up this morning with absolutely no idea where I was.

This was more than the usual AM disorientation following a night of insufficient sleep; it took a few minutes, lying there and going through the process of elimination, to get my bearings.

What language would I speak today? What city was I in? What country? And where, oh where, was Richard, my travel buddy, who has slept in the same room as me for the past month? (Not the same bed, don’t worry)

It couldn’t be Rio outside this room - it was weeks ago already that I left that magical city. Somewhere in Bahia, perhaps? No, as lovely as that would be, the sky outside the room I woke up in today was far too gray for that. Sao Paolo? I didn’t think so - I wasn’t even there long enough for the city to sink in.

Then, slowly, it came back to me. I’m in Buenos Aires, with one journey just over and another about to begin. While I won’t go so far as to call it home - we all know where that is - Baires (as the locals call it) is far more familiar to me than anywhere else I’ve been since 2008 drew to a close, and it’s good to be back. It will be even better when I sit down tonight for a meal of steak and red wine!

Now, I guess I have some explaining to do, as it’s been a while since I’ve given any updates on here. After a marvelous, Malbec filled year in Mendoza, on Christmas day I said goodbye to the Andes and the vines (as well as The Vines), and headed to Brazil with Rich to sink my teeth into the Portuguese language and charge my batteries on the beach before coming to BA to plot my next move. This town seems to be a good place for that, and from my past experience, for writing. So there’s much more to come, and photographs as well! (lots and LOTS of photographs)

For the moment, however, I just wanted to plug in and make my presence known, now that I’m back on the map, back in front of my Mac, and trying to get my juices flowing again (both creative and grape). Also, I’d like to wish everybody a very happy, if very belated, start to 2009! I hope you started the year off drinking something yummy.

Now I’m off to enjoy some of Argentina’s best, and something tells me that after this meal I’ll have no trouble remembering where I am…

January 28th, 2009 | vita | No comments