Monday, April 22, 2013
Part 2: In the interim, or...
Life is what happens when you're making other plans. I
realize in my prior post that I oversimplified the preparations, and some of
that was intentional as a narrative device. The truth is a bit more complex. I
paid for the conference in January, but the conference was Easter weekend at
the end of March. This left plenty of time for buyer's remorse,
self-recrimination, and more than little criticism from my friends, some of
whom chastised me for wasting money, and all of whom wondered what the Hell I
was up to. The answer was, as always, no good.
In addition to wondering if I'd made the right decision, two
important developments occurred. One was, if not expected, at least
unsurprising; I would never have guessed the other. The latter was that I'd
begun dating someone. We had dated briefly last summer, but there was too much
going on for us to work out. In February, I'd heard one of her family members
had passed, and I sent her my condolences. We started texting, and eventually
met for dinner. There's a funny story about finding places to eat on Friday
evenings during Lent, but that's another post. Spending time with her reminded
me how much I liked her,and enjoyed spending time with her. Naturally, I
didn't bring up the Santiago trip in the beginning, as it tends to make me
sound a little... er, crazy? Reactionary? Insanely right-wing? Take your pick,
and it would probably be correct to boot. Even when I did mention where I was going,
it took a while to really open up about the reasons. I shouldn't have worried,
as it turned out. She didn't freak, and she was even curious as to what I'd do,
how I'd do it, etc. I was a little surprised and very happy at this.
The first development was my mother's most recent hospitalization. As you can read in a prior missive, she had stopped taking her meds yet again, and the outcome was all but pre-ordained. Upon her release, the same pattern took place, and she was re-hospitalized not 3 weeks later. Please note that the post to which I refer concerns only the first time in the hospital and I was utterly fed up with this at that point. You can imagine how I felt after the second time.
The effect of mother's actions was to strengthen my resolve
to attend the conference, and to jettison any concerns where my mother was
involved. Whatever plans I made from that moment, my mother's welfare would not
be considered. If she has no willingness to care for herself, then why should
I? If it sounds harsh, that's because it is. Honestly, I should have taken this
approach back in 2008. Still, thanks to no small amount of personal growth, I
wasn't as emotionally derailed as I was 5 years ago, and was able to be
effective at work, in my personal life, etc. My realization that I was going to
be OK, and that I was still determined to attend to the workshop, only cemented
the knowledge that this was the right choice.
In the midst of all this was the nation of Chile
itself. Simon owns a 2000 acre farm there, and he encouraged us to investigate
it as an off-shore location. I knew I wouldn't stay longer than the conference,
but I did intend to investigate the city itself. Specifically, I wanted to find
"cafe con piernas" which translates to coffee with legs. Imagine
Starbucks crossed with Hooters, and you're in the general vicinity. Of course,
I gave up coffee for Lent. I also learned Chile is very welcoming to immigration,
as the transformation from Pinochet's quasi-fascist dictatorship to democracy
and a stable market economy is complete. Combine this with the knowledge that
immigration attorneys would be there, and the notion of an idea of a plan began
to form.
On the day before the event, and only after juggling my work
schedule like a circus clown, I left the office for the airport and the
off-site parking. I'd run the numbers, and I could afford the trip. I had the
papers; I had business clothing, and I had my passport. My flight took me to
Dallas first, where I changed planes and boarded a full flight to Santiago. As
there aren't many flights to Chile, I knew other attendees would be with me. I
didn't expect to sit next to one, but when I saw his book "Currency
Wars" I knew I found a fellow attendee. We spoke all through the flight,
and was introduced to others whom he met at the airport. 
