Countdown to leaving Buenos Aires

It's my second last day of teaching. The month of January is drawing to an end. And my departure from Buenos Aires is drawing closer and closer. I don't exactly have a date of departure or an itinerary yet; I have to get to Santiago for my flight on March 1st, and I'm going to get there overland. I want to see the south of Argentina, I want to see Misiones province in the extreme north. I want to see the mountains, I want to see the ocean. I have to connect the dots and esee what I want to see and also get myself to the other side of the continent in time for my flight back to snowy Canada.

It hit me last week as I looked at the calendar how little time I have left here in this city. Even though I've just been here for a couple of months, you start to put down roots in your own little ways. You start to make long term plans and projects. But I realized last week that all those things I've been meaning to see and do in this city but keep putting off? If I don't get around to them now, they won't get done. The next week will be busy.

It's sort of sad, you know? The friends I'll be leaving, the students of mine that were practically crying when I told them I had to go... But at the same time there's the undeniable impression that life goes on and it will go for everyone once you leave. Departures always seem to provoke these two opposing feelings....