I think it's been over a year since I've posted here. A lot has happened, but for some reason, I wasn't so interested in sharing my experiences. But some guy dropped me a note off the blog wondering how things were going, and I remembered how interested in Argentina I was 2 years ago and how much I scoured the Internet looking for information. So Steve, here I am, still alive and well in Argentina.
Now that I think of it, I guess the reason I haven't posted here is that I'm living a real life now in Argentina, as opposed to that extended vacation I was on. Trying to sort out how I was going to survive down here became less and less a story I wanted to share. But what the hell, I can pass along the the abridged version.
To those who may have forgotten (me included), I came down to Buenos Aires via San Francisco in September of 2004. I left a job at Barclays Global Investors, where I had worked for exactly six years (I didn't realized I had quit on my 6yr anniversary until my boss pointed it out). For five months, I enjoyed an extended vacation in BA. Looking back, it seems so strange. As much fun as I had, I also felt pretty lost. It's hard to truly enjoy enjoy yourself when you have no idea what your next step is going to be. I don't know, maybe some people can do it. Or maybe it's an age thing and I felt I had to know what my next step was going to be, and sooner rather than later. Well regardless, good times behind me and doubt ahead, I returned to San Francisco after five months.
During my last month two months in BA, a new friend and I had talked about opening a bar here. We had befriended a great Argentine bartender who we wanted to partner with and we had what we thought was a great concept for a bar. After a month back in San Francisco to sell my crap (it's hard to let go of crap) and saying goodbye to my best friends, I headed back to BA.
Seven months went by, as well as several iterations of the bar idea and a couple of girlfriends. By October of '06, I was frustrated and stuck. But one day, I received an email, coincidentally off this blog. It was someone from the States looking for a little more insight about Buenos Aires. A month or so later, he moved to BA and we met for a beer. Five months later, he, a friend of his, and I opened California Burrito Co (CBC). People have reminded me that I've always wanted to own a restaurant, but I never thought it would be selling burritos, or even more strange, selling burritos in Argentina.
Finally, I feel like I'm living in Argentina, though not sure where I'll be in the next two or three years. It could be here, back in San Francisco, or some other part of the globe. But more importantly, I realize the place is less important than the connections you make in it.
