What comes next?

Well, first, I do want to thank you all for tagging along during my time here! I have enjoyed writing these blog posts quite a bit more than I had anticipated. I'm very impressed with myself, to be honest, for keeping up with them. It would've been pretty easy to give up because, not gonna lie, some of them were a lot of work. The vast majority took more than one or two sittings to finish. So, I do appreciate all of you who have kept up with them and all of you who have hopped on the bandwagon along the way! Thank you, too, to all of you who have made comments/given commentary about a blog post or two. It's super fun for me to chat with you about what I've written because, for the most part, it just feels like I'm talking into the void.

With that out of the way, what comes next for me? Will there be more blog posts to read? If so, what will they be about?

Well, as regards blog posts, I don't know. I hadn't really planned on continuing, but I have enjoyed them, so if there is significant interest, then I may continue. Let me know if you'd like to keep on reading! Text me, comment on the blog, comment on my Insta or Facebook posts, or even slide into my dms! :)

Now, as for what comes next. In the near future, as in this last full week of November, my mom and brother are coming to Argentina, and we are going to do a very very quick recorrido through the country (I'll be honest. I wrote this part before they came). We are starting in Buenos Aires for a couple of days. Then, we'll be making our way south to El Calafate to see El Perito Moreno, which is a super big glacier. Than, we're coming back to Puerto Madryn, so they can see where I've been living the last 8 months and so they can meet a few of my pals here! Afterwards, we'll fly back to Buenos Aires and then back to the U.S. on November 26th. That's all in one week. We're sprinting through the country because my brother has Thanksgiving week off, so we needed to make sure we got back in time for him to get back to classes.

I, of course, will make a post about the Bolda family recorrido through Argentina once we finish up and head back to the U.S.!

Once in the U.S., I'm going to spend some time in VA eating some of my favorite vegan foods, and, then, I'm going to go hangout with Gil a little in freezing cold Illinois. Then, I'm coming to back to Argentina.

Yep. You read that right. I'm coming back for a little. I am just not quite ready to leave yet.

Now, of course, this wasn't some overnight decision. I didn't just decide yesterday. This has been something I've been working on quite a while. It was a bit of a personal journey initially, and it eventually led to me reaching out and discussing with one or two or three people on the side. More than anything, however, I wanted this decision to be my decision and only my decision. So I thought about it...a lot. I'll be honest, I had a feeling that it might have been of interest to me way back in May, but nothing really came out of that thought really until about September. I had originally planned on trying to stay another year through Fulbright because it had been an option before, but, naturally, this year, it wasn't an option. That left me with two options, really: come back on my own accord or disregard the idea entirely. While the latter was a lot less work, my stubborn self already had the idea in my head and couldn't choose a different route.

Once kind of deciding that it was something that I probably wanted to do, I started to say it out loud, to test the waters, to see if I could get hyped up. Eventually, as I became more confident in what I wanted to do, the circle of people I spoke to started to grow. It extended beyond Argentina and then beyond immediate family. It was actually really interesting listening to everyone's different thoughts when I shared what I was thinking.

Then, instead of just saying it out loud, I started to do something about it, and everything kind of just fell into place. I started applying to tutoring jobs online after remembering that I happen to have a degree in chemistry, that I have taken graduate level chemistry courses, that I have worked as a chemistry TA, and that I study (generally) how to teach chemistry. I figured those qualifications probably made me a reasonably okay candidate to tutor some students in high school chem and gen chem. Turns out, the online tutoring companies agreed. I currently tutor for Varsity Tutors and The Princeton Review's tutoring company. (But just to shoot my shot - if any of you know of someone who is looking for a chem tutor, let me know! I'll make more tutoring privately, and I'll charge less than these companies.) Then, I reached out to a private English institute here in Puerto Madryn and chatted with them a bit. Then, everyone and their mother offered to give me the number of so and so who's asked about English lessons and the contact of this other person they know who works at this other institute because that's just what a lot of people do here: they make connections and then whip them out when you need them. Anyway, in short, I have a job that I can work with and will probably pick up some work like conversation classes or something on the side.

Then, I asked the people I rent my apartment from if I could stay, and they said I couldn't. BUT, they said that in part of their house renovation, they are making a section of their house into an apartment that I could use. There's housing.

So with those two big things out of the way, I think everyone was able to breath, since I had decided before all of this that I was coming back.

But, why? Why do you want to stay, Leslie?

Maybe this seems a bit out of character of me for many of you who know me. I've always been very goal oriented, right? I needed to do well in high school to get into a good college, and then I needed to do well in college to get a good job...or something like that. Then, I chose to go to grad school, which, knowing me, also made sense.

When I think back to why I applied to the Fulbright in the first place, it really was almost directly related to how good it would look on my resume/CV. A Fulbright is an internationally recognized grant, so it would look pretty good to say the least. As the academically motivated person that I am, it made sense to apply for the Fulbright then because receiving it, ultimately, gave me the academic validation that I craved. I don't think anyone prepares you, however, for how impactful this opportunity is once you are in your country. Also, once you're there, no one asks you for your credentials, no one rereads your application, no one makes sure that you actually did what you said you did. After the first week, I pretty much forgot that we even had Fulbrights. Although my background did matter because who I am as a person greatly impacted my experience, my credentials, like what my GPA was in college or how many awards I had won, really didn't matter. It was refreshing to take a step out of the academia bubble because while you're in it, that's literally all that matters. It's interesting, really, that when I reflect on my experience as a Fulbrighter, although you can easily see how it can impact my academic future, nothing even remotely close to academia nor my future career comes to mind. It's really so much more than that, more than a line on my CV that makes me look accomplished.

But does it make sense to stay a little longer and just tutor online to just get by? Won't I just be throwing all the work I've done away? What about my career? What about grad school?

Well, I wouldn't be here in the first place if it wasn't for all of the work I've done prior to this experience. I have had this opportunity because of my work. Eventually, I need to treat myself and do something I want to do rather than "what's best for my future." Also, does it really matter that much? I want to spend more time in Argentina, so I will. There's really no reason not to. No, it's not just "another gap year" but a life decision that I am excited to make. I'm grateful for all you who helped me to make this decision :) I know I was super pesada bringing it up way too often, but look at me now! I did the thing! I made the decision!

I miss my people already, but it's chill, tranqui. I'm going back to the U.S. to take lots of pictures of Targets and grocery stores and Chipotles and will be back to report all things yanqui.

In the meantime, here are *some* goodbyes that were a lot easier than normal goodbyes because they were actually just see you laters.

I coincidentally ran into Juana at school, and Sonia insisted on taking a picture of us. I'm glad she did.

This is one of my last classes with Sonia. I frequently took my One Second a Day pictures (if you know, you know) when I was in class with her because class was a much more exciting part of my day than the gym or my lunch, so she frequently whined about me taking a bajillion pictures of her.

Just waiting on Angi (right) to get her nose pierced so we can all match! I'm sad that I met these wonderful humans a little late in the game, but I'm super excited for our plans for next year. We had our "despedida" (goodbye) merienda at a cafe down the street from my apartment, and, funny enough, Sonia suggested getting a quick coffee there right after. Right after I said my goodbyes to Luz and Angi, I walked right back into the same cafe to grab the same exact drink but with Sonia. The server clearly noticed and made a comment about how I must've just loved the coffee.

Pictured: Yani and our server. Yani was nice enough to bring me, my mom, and brother to El Doradillo to attempt to see whales. Unfortunately, we happened to go on the hottest, windiest day possible, so we were kind of out of luck, but it was the thought that counts. We tried.

We had a little Thanksgiving! This initially was just going to be a coffee with Sol so she could meet my fam. Then, it became a get together with Sol, my family, and Ceci, and, then, I realized it would be Thanksgiving, and Ceci and Sol did as Ceci and Sol do and went all out. They made us vegan food; I convinced my mom to bring some boxed stuffing, pumpkin puree, and cranberry sauce for them to try; and I made cookies. It was a super special dinner. Sol's family came and Ceci's partner was there, too. Although not everyone spoke lots of English or lots of Spanish, we made it work and were able to communicate. It was kind of silly, but everyone got a kick out of the way Jo talks. I think he must talk really clearly where as I mush everything together. Sofi said he sounded like a listening recording of a U.S. American accent you would hear in an English class. I guess I'll just stick with speaking in Spanish. We also shared some Thanksgiving traditions, and then Sofi, Sol's daughter, convinced us to go around the table and say what we were thankful for.

We did this my last night in Puerto Madryn, and for me, it was a really nice way to close things off.

Sol, Sofi, and Ceci were the only ones who passed the vibe check.

In a very Argentina fashion, someone had to drive us to the airport. While Sonia drove me the week prior, Sol drove us (practically speaking, the best move because she could help us bring alllllllll the suitcases in her pickup truck). It seemed only appropriate having Sol be both the first person to say hello to me and the last to say goodbye to me in Madryn - a nice full circle moment.

Eternally eternally eternally grateful for finding such a special place and can't wait for what's to come!