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| Goodbye, Tetons |
I cannot believe it, but it’s happening again – I have
packed everything important to me into two suitcases and am hitting the road,
or rather, the skies. I am off to
Argentina for the next five months, not returning stateside until May 24th,
maybe. I am ditching the -27F
temperatures in Jackson, Wyoming for the toasty temperatures of 80F in Buenos
Aires, Argentina!
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| Goldie was super UN-helpful in the packing process |
The past few weeks have flown by in a flurry of feeding
horses in two feet of snow, staring at elk, visiting Virginia, home for
Christmas, sleigh rides, skiing, snowmobiling, and trying to cope with absurd
amounts of snow. I can hardly even
believe that I am actually going to Argentina for five months! In fact, it
doesn’t even feel real to me yet because I have been so (pleasantly) distracted
trying to fit as many winter activities into the week as possible. And yet, as I feverishly shove boots, jeans, belts,
and my polo helmet into a bag, it is slowly donning upon me that not only am I
an awful packer, but I am also packing for my next international
adventure! How did this even happen and
what am I doing?! Have I lost it?
Just over eight months ago I was surprising my mom at the
Denver airport after living in Tanzania for 2.5 years as a Peace Corps
volunteer. (check out my Tanzanian adventures at www.littlehutontheserengeti.blogspot.com)
Barely ten days after being home, I moved to Jackson, Wyoming where I worked
for the next eight months as the head wrangler at Spotted Horse Ranch. I had worked at this same ranch right before
I left for Tanzania and something about it pulled me back in. I have never repeated a ranch job, and yet
this place had an undefinable hold on me and drew me back. Throughout the summer and fall I was fully
engrossed in my job: leading trail rides, maintaining trails, guiding pack
trips, and working at hunting camp, but as the season neared its end, my mind
began to wonder what I would do next, and my heart was yearning to go abroad. For a few weeks, I could not figure out how
to merge the necessity of earning a living with my insatiable desire to
travel. One day, on a total impulse, I
started searching for international ranch jobs.
Despite the appeal of a dozen different places, I managed to narrow it
down to working as a camel guide in Australia or as a gaucho-in-training in
Argentina. Tempting as the camel gig
was, I landed on Argentina due to my desire to learn Spanish.
Once that decision was made, everything else fell into place
in just a few days and before I knew it, I was doing a phone interview with the
owner of the estancia (ranch) in
Argentina. Barely a week after that
interview, I was offered the position and before I even gave it due thought, I accepted
the offer and started looking up plane tickets to Argentina! In just two weeks my life took a turn that I
had not expected and I began the scramble to prepare for this impulsive trip.
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| Libby - another distraction from packing |
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| See ya later, Enzi! |
After dancing in the new year and cramming as many winter
activities as I could into seven days, I made the arduous drive to my home base
– my mom’s house – in Loveland, Colorado and furiously began to first unpack
all my summer and winter gear from Jackson and then to repack for
Argentina. I arrived at my mom’s house
around 4pm, procrastinated from packing until about 8pm, then berated myself
for doing so as I stayed up until 2:30am vainly attempting to stuff all the
necessary, but bulky, ranch clothing into a single pack. I failed. I ended up with one overstuffed 65L
pack and a barely zip-able duffel bag. Don’t
judge – do you know how much space jeans, boots, a helmet, and a couple of
shirts take up?! Not to mention the
handful of other clothes I brought in case I ever want to feel like a female
while there. All in all, I think I did a
great packing job, despite the last minute approach.
Barely an hour later, I woke up, tried to force feed myself
some breakfast, then tried to stay awake as my most wonderful mother drove me
to the airport at 5am. Turns out that I
booked the most convoluted ticket ever: Denver, Colorado to La Guardia, New
York, to Houston, Texas, and finally, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This odd route may have been the reason that
this ticket was $200 cheaper than all the others. Oops; still I would have done the same
thing. I’m all about saving money to
spend it on fun adventures! Speaking of
fun adventures, I guess I should explain what (I think) I will be doing while
in Argentina. The Estancia Los Potreros
is settled in the center of the country, about 2 hours outside of Cordoba. The owners of the ranch love to host people
from other countries and share their love of everything Argentine and
horse-related. As a member of the staff,
I will be responsible for everything from taking out trail rides, moving the
cattle, training polo horses, playing polo, entertaining the guests, and
sometimes cooking breakfast (which may be disastrous). To be honest, I am flying blind and am a
little sketchy on the details, but I love surprises and don’t mind making it up
as I go. I will have a much clearer idea
of my duties once I am actually there and engrossed in the work. For now, I am just focused on getting there
and meeting up with my friend, Shaylin, to explore the city of Buenos Aires for
a week before heading to work.
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|
After working alone at the ranch for 3 weeks feeding horses,
capturing escaped horses, and praying that I wouldn’t have to plow snow, I am
pretty much over all that fluffy white stuff and negative temperatures. So, in an effort to escape the brutal Wyoming
winter, avoid adulthood and experience new cultures, I’m off to spend the next
five months of my life stuttering my way through Spanish, learning to play
polo, and trying to figure out what a reata
is so that I can bring one home for my mom and Art.
While not quite as exotic as Tanzania, my adventures in Argentina are
bound to be embarrassing for me and entertaining for you, so I hope that you
will follow along and experience this dive into Argentine culture with me!
 |
| I'm trading in my ski pants and pom-pom hat for polo riding breeches and a helmet! |
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| No more living in tents buried in snow for me...at least for a few months |
I cannot believe it, but it’s happening again – I have
packed everything important to me into two suitcases and am hitting the road,
or rather, the skies. I am off to
Argentina for the next five months, not returning stateside until May 24th,
maybe. I am ditching the -27F
temperatures in Jackson, Wyoming for the toasty temperatures of 80F in Buenos
Aires, Argentina! 
Barely an hour later, I woke up, tried to force feed myself
some breakfast, then tried to stay awake as my most wonderful mother drove me
to the airport at 5am. Turns out that I
booked the most convoluted ticket ever: Denver, Colorado to La Guardia, New
York, to Houston, Texas, and finally, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This odd route may have been the reason that
this ticket was $200 cheaper than all the others. Oops; still I would have done the same
thing. I’m all about saving money to
spend it on fun adventures! Speaking of
fun adventures, I guess I should explain what (I think) I will be doing while
in Argentina. The Estancia Los Potreros
is settled in the center of the country, about 2 hours outside of Cordoba. The owners of the ranch love to host people
from other countries and share their love of everything Argentine and
horse-related. As a member of the staff,
I will be responsible for everything from taking out trail rides, moving the
cattle, training polo horses, playing polo, entertaining the guests, and
sometimes cooking breakfast (which may be disastrous). To be honest, I am flying blind and am a
little sketchy on the details, but I love surprises and don’t mind making it up
as I go. I will have a much clearer idea
of my duties once I am actually there and engrossed in the work. For now, I am just focused on getting there
and meeting up with my friend, Shaylin, to explore the city of Buenos Aires for
a week before heading to work. 
After working alone at the ranch for 3 weeks feeding horses,
capturing escaped horses, and praying that I wouldn’t have to plow snow, I am
pretty much over all that fluffy white stuff and negative temperatures. So, in an effort to escape the brutal Wyoming
winter, avoid adulthood and experience new cultures, I’m off to spend the next
five months of my life stuttering my way through Spanish, learning to play
polo, and trying to figure out what a reata
is so that I can bring one home for my mom and Art.
While not quite as exotic as Tanzania, my adventures in Argentina are
bound to be embarrassing for me and entertaining for you, so I hope that you
will follow along and experience this dive into Argentine culture with me!
