Meine Argentinienreise 2007/2008

„Why are you going to Argentina?“

My name is Thomas Kunze, I am 38 yrs. old and an engineer, have (or better: had) a good job, live(d) and work(ed) in Dresden/Germany, have a nice family, friends and lots of interests, traveled around the world (as far as I could during my holidays), enjoy life, culture and social security – but there is something in me which keeps my longing to experience other countries and cultures alive.

When I was a kid we had a game which was called “My favourite country”. All my friends said “America” or “Australia” or “Canada” but I always said ARGENTINA. I can not explain why. I haven’t got any relatives there (if so I don’t know them) but I have a warm feeling when I thought of South America and especially Argentina. Lots of pictures and sequences passed my mind: wide countryside, proud people, football, Tango, a melancholic mood, immigrants with their European roots, “fin del mundo” – it is my Utopia.

The idea to live in Argentina for a certain time came up in the mid 1990s. Unfortunately, as a student I couldn’t afford a stay because Argentina was one of the most expensive countries in that time. After a few years I tried it again and asked my boss to give me the opportunity to take a time-out of three months to go to Argentina. He agreed (Thanks to him!), and my girl-friend and I had a great time during our travels around the country. Since then I know that I will stay there for a longer time to learn Spanish, to discover the country and its inhabitants and to take part in daily life.

I know that a project like that is more common for young people who just passed high school or college. I am a little bit late for that but I am mature and have life & work experience. Yes, I quit my job but I am sure that some people will understand and do agree with my decision. Nothing is for ever and ever, and for me it is important to reach new goals and to discover new challenges. I like to work but I do it to reach a goal (and I got!).

Many of my life’s decisions were done by my “inner voice”. You don’t know is it right or not. You have to do it, and after a certain time you realize the meaning of it. I always trusted my “inner voice”, and I was never disappointed. This travel is my chance to extend my capabilities, to improve my Spanish knowledge, to deal with different cultures and mentalities and to spread my focus on life in general. I know that I come from a well-organized country named Germany where everybody knows how to solve a problem but on the other hand during my travels e.g. in East Europe I have learned that there are more than the one and only strict approach to organize life. I picked up some pearls of those “not German” mentalities, and that helped me a lot in my life and made me calm and flexible.

In this weblog I want to describe how people live in South America, what kind of life they appreciate and what they have to fight for. I want to participate in their life for a while, want to get to know the good and bad sides of life, want to introduce you to interesting people, their heritages and roots, take a look at history and contemporary policy and will provide you with short stories about football & Tango, food & wine, art & culture, urban life & countryside, habits & clichés, and more. There are too many ideas in my head...

My plane to Buenos Aires takes off on 18 July. To keep my feets on the ground I will stay there for 4 weeks. There I pass Spanish courses to be prepared for my job for a non-profit organization in Córdoba where I work for three months as a volunteer in humanitarian projects. After that I want to travel southwards to Patagonia and other places but this is far in the future, and I have no plans and schedules yet. In addition to that, there are some friends from Germany who want to come to Argentina for a visit. In February, 2008 I will welcome my family there – my son Leon (11 years) and his mother.

It’s gonna be a hard time - I know - but it is necessary! This travel is, of course, a very personal travel but also dedicated to my family and my friends who gave and give me support. I know that not everybody has the desire to go to a far country but if you have it you have to do it. You have only this one life and a few opportunities.

If you want to share my travel just visit my weblog, read my stories and stay in contact with me. I would be glad to get feedback from you and to get to know your opinions. Think about it: the world is not big enough to get lost, and one year will pass by very quickly!

Good luck

16:17, 19 June 2007 .. Geschrieben von Thomas from Columbus

Security depends not so much upon how much you have, as upon how much you can do without.