Left my safety net to explore Argentina-- Introducing a new me!

Hello Steemians! I’ve been told that I ought to introduce myself to you all-- so I will do my best!

My name is Bird (not really, but that’s what all my friends call me), and I’m twenty five years old. I was born and raised in New Orleans, and I’ve spent much of the past several years in Charleston SC where I went to college. Initially I was going to be a physics major, but my grades were terrible so I switched halfway through to study fiction-writing! Since college I haven’t written very much, though. I self-published a book of short stories, but it didn’t sell many copies aside from what my friends bought. I started writing a non-fiction book, essentially a series of physics and philosophy essays, but I struggled to find the motivation to finish it. In the meantime I’ve had a series of odd jobs: house painting (which led gradually to studio painting), group photography, delivery driving, and most recently lead-generating for a Chevrolet dealership. About a year ago I realized that, despite superficial changes, my life had become quite repetitive, dull, and frankly depressing. I had withdrawn into myself. I was working jobs that were neither lucrative nor terribly interesting, going to the same bars and restaurants I’d been going to for years, and hanging out with friends who were growing just as bored and frustrated as I was. I knew I needed a change.

(me, smoking cigarettes at a skeezy bar as per usual)

One night at a party in Charleston, I was talking to the ex of one of my good friends, and she told me that she would be leaving the country within a month to travel to Thailand and teach English. I was jealous, and when I asked her what program she was using I wasn’t just asking to be polite. I looked up the program, TEFL Heaven, and went through the list of countries it could allow me to travel to. Argentina appealed to me immediately because I speak some Spanish and two of my favorite writers, Jorge Borges and Julio Cortazar, spent most of their lives in Buenos Aires. The idea of walking in their footsteps, reading in their libraries, drinking coffee in the same cafes they frequented, became an obsession for me. What started as a flight of fancy, a wistful daydream, gradually solidified the longer I fantasized about it.

When my lease was up, I quit my job as a delivery driver and moved back to New Orleans, into my parents’ house, to save money. My friend managed to get me a job at the car dealership his dad owns, and after a month as a porter they promoted me to the lead-generating gig. I had planned to move to Argentina in January, but I couldn’t get the money together in time. I planned to go in March, but they cancelled the March TEFL course. I started to get discouraged, and at the same time I was growing comfortable at home. I’m a creature of habit, and over time it became difficult for me to imagine leaving. After the promotion I was making good money at the car dealership. The managers there were telling me I ought to stick around and make a career out of it, that another promotion might not be far away. In the end, I forced myself to leave. I had made a contract with myself, with a past me, that I couldn’t break. I bought my ticket, I paid for my TEFL certificate course, and in the middle of April I boarded a plane for Buenos Aires.

For the last month, I’ve been living in a hostel with a bunch of Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and Brits, and I can honestly say I haven’t felt this happy in a long, long time. I'm attending and teaching classes in a building a few blocks away from the library Borges used to work in! I’m loving the city and the people I’m surrounded by, I finally feel the inspiration to write again, I’m dating a badass Norwegian chick, and I’m reveling in the fact that every day brings a new experience. I thought I should make a SteemIt account to share some of these experiences with all of you.

I don’t want to just do diaries and travel posts, though—I have a ton of interests and I’m looking forward to sharing all sorts of content with you… In the next few months I want to share the short stories, paintings, essays, and music I’ve made, as well as discuss books, crypto, movies, politics, and anything else that crosses my mind (frequently conspiracy theories ¯\(ツ)/¯ ). Also, I’m legitimately addicted to memes, so expect memes… Lots of memes…

Anyway, thanks for reading this far, and I’m looking forward to getting know you all!