After writing about our amazing coworking space, Sinergia, during my first week, and publishing some photographs of street art in the city in Uruguay, I haven’t been able to find more time to put my thoughts down, “on paper.” I feel as though time has sped along back in the United States – that I’ve been gone for months and missed so much; at the same time, my having so many new experiences away in South America has led to a feeling of life passing by slow motion. It’s like time passes slower in Uruguay than the U.S. I’m only now reflecting on the last two weeks and writing this update as I sit on a plane between Montevideo and San Francisco, where I’ll be speaking at Elastic{ON}^2 this week.
Since I last posted, I’ve really gotten to know the other remotes. There’s only a handful of the 70+ people with whom I haven’t shared a meal, a morning commute, or an adventure on the weekend. We’re settled into two hotels near the Plaza Cagancha, and at the start, we’d simply meet up with a group in the lobby for breakfast and a walk to Sinergia, or to go eat somewhere for dinner (and try to split a check with 30 people!). I really love the diversity of the group – we’ve got some super kind, hilariously funny, and intensely interesting people that Remote Year has created an infographic about:
Our first weekend, in addition to an orientation session on Saturday, we also enjoyed the final two nights of Carnival (Thursday & Friday) and a hilarious game of bubble ball on Sunday (American soccer with players inside inflatable bubbles); these pictures speak for themselves!
In addition to all of that excitement, I also took a few nights to spend by myself, doing a solo dinner and keeping an early evening. Since I started remote working 2 years ago, I feel like I’ve shifted towards the introvert end of the introvert/extrovert scale – and being with 70+ people all the time now, I’m really noticing that tendency to pull back when we’ve had 5 events in the last 3 days with almost eighty of my closest new friends. Even when we’re all around in one spot, sometimes I’ll look towards the city or just enjoy the scenery, instead of trying to make any overzealous attempts at conversation.
At the events out, I sometimes even find myself just listening to the music and people-watching at the venue. I think there’s something really valuable about traveling solo, and being present as an individual (vs. following the group and being more passive). I’m going to enjoy spending a week in San Francisco off on my own (not to mention picking up and shipping off a few items I’ve miss-packed).
In upcoming posts, I’ll post a retrospective on what I packed vs. reality, some of the new experiences I’ve had traveling in new countries with new people, as well as going back over some of the ground I’ve covered in Uruguay already. Until then, enjoy this picture of the Rambla at sunset: