Holy crap the first day was scary. The flights were smooth but when I got to Buenos Aires I forgot my debit card at an ATM, left my bag of carefully curated adapters and backup chargers at home, and my cell service, which was supposed to work in Buenos Aires, didn't work. Those things were carefully planned out ahead of time and they still went south. I was kind of panic-y but by the end, it's all good.
I configured my Amex card to give me cash at ATMs (not cheap, but it works) and once I found an ATM that spoke English, I got cash. I had put a United States outlet to Argentina outlet adapter in my backpack so I had that, I didn't think it would work with a three prong plug but turns out, it does. I still don't have cell service but I stopped caring for the most part. I had saved maps offline in Google Maps. That combined with stilling having a GPS signal meant I could still get where I needed easily. You can't search for places or get directions without a data connection but you can look at the map and figure it out.
Being able to charge my laptop was probably one of the most important things to figure out by Monday. I couldn't do what I'm doing without a super flexible job but to have that super flexible job, I need to be able to work and that means I need my laptop and wifi. And I do.
I can eat, I can work, I have a safe place to sleep, I have a clean place to shower and poop. I'm pretty happy. The only thing I'm a little worried about is feeling isolated because the language and culture barrier is bigger than I thought it was going to be.
Today was more interesting than the last few months combined back "home".