La vida es mejor con ukelele

Che amigos

I forgot to tell you earlier, but you might have already noticed while watching my vlogs that something very important also made it with me to Buenos Aires.

My ukulele.

(I mean, what was I going to do? Leave my identity behind?)

And now, after almost two months of living the porteña life with a ukulele strapped to my back, I can tell you, yes -- it was definitely worth the space that I had to sacrifice to fit my ukulele in my carry-on.

My first night in Buenos Aires, fresh off the plane, my ukulele was the first thing that I unpacked, which means it was also the first thing that my host mom saw when she first peeked her head into my room.

"¡Ayyyyy tenés que tocar! ¡Dale, dale!"

So, OF COURSE, I gave her a full, amateur-hour-style concert of every song in my repertoire (she is now officially my biggest fan in Argentina). Naturally, after playing through my entire English-only repertoire, I realized that I really needed to start branching out and learning something in Spanish in this new life of mine. And the first song that my host mom thought to play for me on Youtube that night, called No Te Apartes de Mí, I fell in love with. Immediately.

So I decided that I was going to learn it.

But I have to admit that I didn't really invest that much time into learning it -- until I fell deathly ill.

When you have a fever of more than 100 ºF for more than 5 days straight and are incapable of standing, let alone leaving the house, there's not much more that you can do other than think. A lot.

So, I did.

I practiced the lyrics in my head on repeat for those 5 days straight, picking up the ukulele and strumming a few chords if I had the strength. And after those 5 days of absolute torture, I emerged from my illness, picked up the ukulele, played the song from start to finish, and completely shocked my host mom.

As of right now, No Te Apartes de Mí is still the only song that I can successfully play in Spanish -- so that makes it my specialty. That, and the fact that my host mom asks me to play it for every single person that enters our home.

Little did I know, when I was stressfully padding my case with socks and sweaters in my carry-on, that the ukulele would be such a central part of my life here in Buenos Aires. Nor did I realize the number of unexpected places it would take me (on my way right now to play in what's become my weekly concert at the hospital) nor the never-ending number of conversations that it would start with complete strangers.

Por eso, I'm accustomed to carrying all my books in my hands now, so I can always wear my ukulele case on my back instead of my backpack.

This video I recorded as my first trial-run at video-recording and sent to my family as proof that I was still alive about one month after moving to Buenos Aires and dropping off of the face of the earth in terms of keeping in contact (sorry guys, I really do love you a lot).

So, if you're friends with my mom on Facebook, this video might look familiar.

But, I figured I might as well post it to my channel to promote my new life as a Youtuber.

This was my first and by far my worst take, but for some reason still my favorite.

Couldn't add subtitles, but I hope that the feelings still get through, and that you enjoy it as much as I enjoy playing it.

Un beso enorme,

Hannah

P.S. I have also officially become part of the open mic community here in Buenos Aires, but my camera battery died before I could get video proof of my first performance.

Will post proof when I finally learn another song in Spanish. And remember to charge my camera.