4. Hola Argentiiiina!

woodburyroland
Mar 25, 2017
3 min read

one morning as I was sprinting around with apartment details, my friend toby who plans the panama pepe island, texted me saying his two skydiving friends in argentina would welcome me. within 30 minutes, i had a friend request from a girl named dasha saying to absolutely come to buenos aires- i could stay at her boyfriend’s apartment, she would pick me up from the airport and she would introduce me to her best friend who would take me skydiving. her warmth immediately radiated through her messages and in my gut I knew she was a sincere person. within 30 more minutes, her boyfriend messaged me to buy my ticket- i’d have my own room, bathroom and set of keys. 30 more minutes, dasha’s friend amalia messaged me saying we’d definitely skydive the first weekend I was there.

within an hour an a half on a thursday morning, 6 days before the day i’d chosen for leaving the U.S., i was going to argentina!

each time i messaged dasha about the ticket, trip- anything, she wrote back right away and was completely reassuring and excited. i got on that train to LA, plane to miami and red-eye flight to buenos aires not having talked to her or any idea where i was headed- but my gut told me to trust her and just GO.

i landed in argentina and dasha was already at the airport. i got off the plane and there was this total bombshell, blonde woman giving me a huge hug. her warmth made me feel at home immediately. i knew right away we would be like sisters- we connected like we'd known each other forever and laughed the whole way back to the city. i still do not have words to fully describe my respect, love, and admiration for this girl!

we met her boyfriend ale who welcomed me into his home. it was this beautiful, modern, huge flat in the nicest part of buenos aires. he showed me my own private suite, insisted i make it my home and gave me a set of keys. he then took me to meet his whole family who live in a mansion- they also were immediately welcoming and warm. afterwards i walked to dasha’s home on the 24th floor overlooking the beautiful buenos aires skyline. we sat there with coffee and talked and laughed- i was shocked at how quickly it felt amazing to be there. ale then had us and his kids for dinner. we sat at a round table eating empenadas and his confident teenagers made us all laugh.

just like that, in 8 hours, i had fallen into the amazing arms of dasha, ale welcomed a stranger into his house, an argentina family made me at home and i was having a family argentina dinner. that whole day is a day i'll never forget.

i think there is something we can all learn from seeing people open up and welcome us in. never in my life have I seen such generosity, trust and warmth. they welcomed in a total stranger from the U.S. into their lives. so often we build walls and block people out, scared of opening up. it can feel easier to build these walls, to protect ourselves from making those connections. it seems that this prevents us from getting judged, from getting hurt, from vulnerability. really though, i think that also prevents us from fully living, fully feeling, fully thriving in life. i believe people and community are what makes this life truly beautiful and if we don’t open up to them we are preventing ourselves from living. i hope i can learn to be as open and gracious as those argentinians.

happiness at dasha's beautiful home overlooking buenos aires: