Would you like skip my rambling and just find out how to rent an apartment in BA? You don’t know what you’re missing, but OK. Click here. This is some quality rambling, though. Just sayin’. I signed the rental contract on my new Buenos Aires apartment yesterday, and then I went to look at it [...]

It’s 8 pm on a Monday night in Buenos Aires: the summer heat has finally receded and night is slowly beginning to fall. Enjoy that gentle breeze while it lasts, because the seventeen percussionists that make up La Bomba de Tiempo [sp] (Time Bomb) are just kicking off their two hour set and the crowd is about [...]

I was on Craigslist Buenos Aires today looking for a job and I came across this little gem: “Argentinean are just at the bottom of the bottom out of all the scumbags you can find in this world… THIRD WORLD COUNTRY like it or not… There are not jobs like in the US other than [...]

 … we’re in Buenos Aires, Argentina! I’ve found an apartment, and should be signing the contracts this week. Manu, my dog, will have to adjust to city life in a shoebox size studio apartment; I’m just thrilled it’s mine, all mine, and after months – years – of living in hostels or out of a [...]

Today, I’m running the seventeenth interview in my Adjusting to Expat Life series.  If you’re interested in being interviewed about your current or past expat experiences, please get in touch via the Contact page. Marcel Krueger used to be a heavy metal singer, something I find delightfully in keeping with German stereotypes.  Then he moved [...]

This post is brought to you courtesy of the folks at Vacation Home Rentals.  Check them out for holiday rentals in the United States. As part of my preparation for the upcoming DELE exam, I’m refreshing my familiarity with all of the different accents in Spanish – they draw the listening test samples from any [...]

  I almost died on the way home to Cusco from Lima. Maybe that’s a little dramatic.  But it felt pretty damn real at 4 am, when our driver took a little nap behind the wheel and we veered dramatically across the narrow Andean road before one of the wheels blew.  This was enough to [...]

That’s right, a new language challenge!  I’m not sure if I’m excited or terrified:  Jose’s confident comment – “you’re more street than anyone, Cam, of course you’ll pass” – pretty much sums it up.  My Spanish is very barrio, and very barrio limeño at that.  My friends are all from Lima, and they’ve taught me [...]

Disclaimer:  I’m a Matador U affiliate, so if you enrol with them by clicking through on the links here I will earn a small commission.  This review is, nevertheless, my honest opinion. When I was in Cuba, MatadorU‘s lead faculty Julie Schwietert hooked me up with a sweet casa particular and a great on-the-ground contact [...]

Feeding the masses?  Image: Camden Luxford Mistura, 2011 is over.  I went twice. Twice I fought the crowds outside to buy my last minute tickets at S/.25-30 (instead of the ticket office price of S/.20). Twice I elbowed my way through the hordes to line up for delicious ceviches, anticuchos, and chicharrones, along with twists [...]