November 22nd - 11:11pm

People have always told me that holidays away from home, family and friends are the hardest. To a point I agreed with them but mostly I thought it couldnt be much different from your average day away. Once again with this job, I was wrong. Totally wrong. Dont know if it was the weather (rainy), the lack of sleep (up during the night several times the last few days), Thanksgiving or a mix of all three but it was, without a doubt, a craptastic day.
Ive been homesick before in the time Ive been in Argentina. Anyone who is away from home is at some point or another but today was a whole other level. Even when Ive wanted to see family, I could push myself and come up with why I wanted to stay. If someone had offered me plane tickets home today, however, I would have been hard pressed not to grab them and run. Everything from working with the horses to trying to communicate with the guys took on a whole new level of frustration. Especially with Rodrigo. Hes a great guy sometimes but every so often his ability to constantly find fault with anything grates on my nerves. Add in the fact that I almost never understand what correction he's trying to make and it can be a recipe for diaster. Usually I can breath deep, try to understand and do what he wants but its not always easy. Today fell into one of those not always easy days. Somehow or another the day managed to come to a close with only a few tears thank goodness. Considering how I felt, that is a near miracle.
After work, however, the day picked up. Megg and I went over to Martin and Rachels for thanksgiving dinner. Its not an Argentine holiday but they celebrate it anyway. Some of their friends came over which was quite fun. Phillipe, Pampa's owner, was one of the friends and as always, he was hysterical. Definitely one of my favorite people in Argentina. He and Mono are tied in that at the moment. The food was amazing and the people even more so. It wasnt quite the same as being at my grandmothers house with my family but it was still very nice. Definitely not a bad way to end a day and it did serve to pick me up a bit. Two more work days this week with horse shows on both of them. Then the Argentine Open again. Just have to remind myself, as much as I might hate days like today that leave me sapped for energy both physically and emotionally, I am living a sort of fairytale life. I ride 6 days a week and spend my days off exploring one of the biggest cities in the world. Cant complain too much but I will be keeping my fingers crossed (and wishing at 11:11) for a better day tomorrow.