Only a Matter of Time

Only a Matter of Time

Dear Friends:

A few months back, I posted my intention to build another casa in Buenos Aires, Argentina (or somewhere nearby). About 22 days ago, I arrived here, and set about making things happen.

After taking a few days to adjust, I began the apartment hunt. This was a questionable decision in retrospect, since I jumped straight into battle with the city before giving myself much time to get acquainted with it on friendlier terms. But I (and others) needed a place to stay, and figured that there was no time like the present.

The world of buenos aires inmuebles is bizarre and unforgiving - full of intrigue and nepotism. There is no virtual money here, and all transactions occur with wads of cash. Bigger deals just mean bigger machine guns, and you can be mugged walking around with your life savings if you're unlucky.

The rental listings used by argentines are buried under many layers of tourist-oriented services. Still, many realtors still assumed that my foreign-sounding voice must have reached them on accident and immediately directed me to temporary rental agencies. I made dozens of phone calls each day, slowly learning who to call, what to ask for, who was lying, and when to do some lying of my own.

The days unfolded into a familiar roller coaster of unpredictability. At one point we were on top of the world, about to sign a lease on a house that seemed absolutely perfect. Over the course of the next hour, the apartment was snatched away by friends of the landlord, and one of us was robbed of a laptop at gunpoint (at 2PM!), a block from where we were staying. And if a day started out bad, it was a clear sign that something great was about to happen.

I met a wonderful friend named Pablo through BeWelcome (the only BW volunteer outside of europe!), who became a close confidant and trusted adviser. When it was clear that I would need collateral from a local property-owner in order to sign a lease, Pablo expressed his willingness to put everything he had in legal jeapordy in order to help me make the project happen.

We finally found another place that looked just right. I put down a small sum to reserve it, and we settled in to wait while the agency verified Pablo's credibility as a guarantor. But in the intervening days, I became consumed by a nagging belief that the landlady wanted few visitors, and thus would be furious when she discovered our intentions for her house. With the lease signed, her hands would be tied from a legal perspective. But I was uncomfortable with occupying someone's space in violation of their express wishes. So after much thought, I decided to reveal some of my cards before we sealed the deal.

I wrote her a long and friendly email introducing myself. I said nothing of nomad bases, but described my flavor of friendly co-operative living, my desire to host small regular vegetarian dinners, and told her that she was always welcome to come over for dinner or for tea. I decided that if this email made her back out of the process, we were probably better off not doing business with her anyway. When I hit 'send', I felt a wave of relief rush over me. I had relinquished control of this impossible decision - the universe would decide what happened next.

As it happened, the universe had other plans entirely. The dueña did not, in fact, appreciate the email, and killed the deal the day the lease would probably have been signed. And then, that very evening, I received a piece of news that made me unimaginably thankful that I had not signed a two-year lease hours before.

For reasons outside of my control, I will have to leave Buenos Aires in about two weeks. The details are complicated, but suffice it to say that long-term residency here is not an option for me for the next several years. But as that door closed, another opened: I now have the opportunity to move to Europe as a permanent resident after spending a few months back in California working out the details.

So I will be seeing many of you again, much sooner than I thought. The idea of this is pretty exciting - enough to counteract the disappointment of having to abort my efforts here. I'm still fired up about making more nomad bases happen, and can't wait to see you all and work on projects, brainstorm, code, do dishes, and give lots of hugs. :-)

And most of all, I'm optimistic that something will happen here in my absence. There is a nexus brewing of people excited about these ideas, and some of them may choose to pick up where I left off and take things in a similar (or perhaps different) direction.

I went to dinner with a few friends last night. We were sharing a liter of beer (they gave us heineken, of all things! It's everywhere), when in walked someone whom none of us had met. He was a friend of somebody's couch-host from another city - that kind of thing.

When he arrived, we talked for a while before I realized he didn't have a glass.

Me: "Oh, we should get you a glass."
Him: "No you shouldn't. I should get myself a glass."
Me (to the table): "See? SEE? That's the spirit that makes a nomad base happen."
Him: "Nomad base?"
Me: (starts to explain a little bit...)
Him (interrupting): "Oh yeah, I've heard of a place like that. Somewhere in Amsterdam I think? Casa...casa something?"

Beautiful ideas like this one are mindviruses. Their spread is governed by exponential curves. Our individual actions can, of course, accelerate things. But on a grand scale, it's only a matter of time.

Comments

Adancito's picture

That's for all those who talk

That's for all those who talk sht about Unitedstatesians.
It´ll be great to have you back in Europe Billy! I hope it works down in BA sometime...

valentina's picture

I love the way in which this

I love the way in which this story (and life itself) unfold. Again it teaches us the importannce of being true and stanbding between chairs.

I am so happy you are coming to Europe, Bobby: I hope to see you and your energy soon in Berlin (where I ll be sorry to disappoint you with a washing machine).

robino's picture

Yala! This post makes me

Yala! This post makes me smile. If I would have the option between you here in Europe or BA, I actually do prefer the first :)

Shall we leave today's dishes for you as well? ;-)