Another long overdue update...

(Note: This is from October of 2009)

So, I've gone another few months without posting on here. Life really does fly by.

So I am going to try to be brief.

I moved one last time from Acassuso to Belgrano. I am living in a really big house with a terrace and patio and I really like it. I have 5 roommates from different countries.

I have spent the last few months working on applying to be a part of the cabin crew of Emirates airline. I had my first interview at the beginning of December and I just had my final interview this past week. The first day was a group interview, and out of 71 they chose me and 10 others to have individual interviews in the following days. After the individual interviews, they told us that it could be up to six weeks before we hear back from them. They also told me that it if I got the job, they would fly me from NYC to Dubai. So, that means I am heading back to Atlanta.

I'll leave Buenos Aires on March 25, to go to Perú. I'm working on figuring out of I can afford to go to Machu Picchu. Actually, better said, I know that I can't afford to go there but I am trying to figure out the way to go and make the least amount of damage to my financial situation. Going to Perú before the US is saving me about $300 or so, and after Machu Picchu I may come out even. I will be arriving in Atlanta at the beginning of April.

I haven't been feeling the effects of the financial crisis much, but now I am starting to. Schools aren't hiring in the US. And right now it's hard for substitute teachers to find work, 'cause everyone wants to work. I am hoping I can find some hours. If Emirates hires me, I'll be fine financially. If not, I'll be scraping by through the summer and hoping to find a teaching job somewhere in the world for the following August. May even go to Korea. In Atlanta, it looks like schools are on a hiring freeze. They are firing not hiring.

So, I have had an amazing experience here in BA. I have made lots of friends that I will definitely be keeping in touch with. Right now, I am hoping that I'll be in the ATL for a couple of weeks and then off to Dubai. But we'll see how that goes. Emirates may stop hiring if things don't change in the global economic situation.

Well, this is Matthew Stephen "Teo" Valdés... signing out.