Día de Acción de Gracias- Buenos Aires Style

Celebrating holidays away from family is always difficult, especially Thanksgiving. It is the one time a year where you are guaranteed a good meal with your family and all you have to do is be thankful. You don't have the pressures of finding the last dyed egg or picking out the perfect sure-to-be-exchanged sweater for your holiday exchange partner. All you need to do is eat! I have to admit, I was sad to think that this year I would miss out on the festivities, since Amy and I did not have any T-day plans as of Tuesday. We were set on treating it like the other porteños- just another ordinary Thursday.

As usual, Amy and I went to yoga on Tuesday; however, instead of our private lesson that we're used to, another girl, Mary from NY, was in the class. Mary had just arrived to Buenos Aires and we got to talking about things to do in the city, etc. Well by the end of class, we had exchanged emails and Amy and I managed to create a surrogate family, which included the 3 of us and the yoga instructor for a Thanksgiving pot-luck dinner. Not too shabby. Amy invited one other girl from the States so in total we were 5.

The list circulated and we all received our assignments. We quickly realized that traditional Thanksgiving Day food was not so easy to come by since we are currently in the midst of a very hot spring season. For example: turkey, not available. We came up with a quick fix and ordered delicious rotisserie chicken from a Peruvian restaurant. (For those NYers reading this, think Pio Pio, and then imagined that it tastes even better!) I signed up to make the dessert, and originally thought that an apple pie would be nice and familiar, but those too are not in season. What fruits are in season? Strawberries and peaches. So I looked up summer fruit recipes and found an easy tart recipe- feel free to use it at your next 4th of July BBQ . I ended up with way too many peaches (who knew that a kilo of peaches equaled 14?) so I made two tarts for five people, this seems about right, no? Amy made mashed potatoes and also a delicious salad.

The tarts!

We decided to have the dinner at Mary's. She has a beautiful apartment in Palermo with great, big open windows looking out to the city. Mary was also kind enough to supply the vino- and boy did she supply, there were more bottles of wine than guests, I think it might have been a 2:1 ratio. And while we drank a good amount there were still 4 bottles left over!

The surrogate family: Amy, Diane, Barbara & Mary

The feast! Includes stuffing by Diane, and sweet potatoes and spinach made by Barbara!

Needless to say, although we were not in the US we were still super gluttonous and had way too much food! And I got to take an entire tart home! So in typical Murphy tradition, I had a piece for breakfast! And I am thinking about having another slice now...yumm! I hope you all had great Thanksgivings with your families and and are suffering from turkey hangovers (Mayen, I know you are).
This year I am thankful because Pat and Bri Bri are coming in less than a week!

Besos!

Truly running the Hash

We've talked about the Hash run a couple times on this blog and I've now done it 3 times (Cait 4 or maybe more).  Yesterday though, Cait and I, along with our friend Marlo, were the hares!  Hares = we were in charge of organizing food for 35 people and planning and then laying the trail in the morning before everyone arrives at 11.  From what we were told afterwards, ours was a big success.  Woo hoo!

Cait, me, Marlo as the crowd started to arrive

Marlo is big into running and so took on the planning of the trail route, thankfully.  We met her at 8:30 yesterday morning to lay the trail, i.e. throwing flour on the ground every 10 feet or so, trying to aim for places that won't get swept up or licked up by dogs.  The section I had contained the Botanical Gardens and it was not easy finding places to dump flour there - I didn't want to ruin the pretty plants and grass, and there was a security guard tailing me everywhere I turned.  So, I threw some near a garbage can and then on some of said grass in a couple spots, and then was on my way to the next part of the trail.  Ha oops, I heard later from the runners that it was impossible to know where to go in the Botanical Gardens, but fortunately they used their good sense and figured it out.  


I didn't run much yesterday because I'm still recovering from my stupid Achilles tendonitis.  Also, we anticipated about 20 people and ended up with 35, making it one of the biggest (if not the biggest) BA Hashes to date.  So, when everyone went out for the run, I went to the grocery store to get more food and then prepare it.  Everyone's clearly very hungry when returning from the run and especially yesterday since it was ridiculously hot, so it was a good move to have extra food instead of not enough.  There was also plenty of beer, which everyone wants even more than the food when they get back.


When all the hashers left around 5, Cait made the awesome discovery of a big bottle of beer that was left behind.  We weren't sure how it could have been missed considering it's a focal point of the after-run ceremony, but nonetheless, we hares treated ourselves to Cait's perfect find and toasted our good work out in the sun.  


Salud!

Who ordered the cubierto?

Last night at dinner, one of our friends told a story where the question of "Who ordered the cubierto?" was posed.  Everyone at the table erupted with laughter and every time someone said it for the rest of the night, it continued to make us giggle.

For anyone who hasn't been here to experience the ever-so-popular cubierto, the reason the line was funny is because most restaurants you go to charge you a cubierto for the table set-up, which sometimes means only silverware, a plate and the like, but most of the time includes bread too.  At nicer restaurants, it could also mean that they give you so much to eat, you don't even have to order side dishes.  This concept has always been kinda annoying (except in my opinion for the really nice ones), given that at home we get the bread or silverware for free, but I guess it just is what it is and in the end isn't all that expensive because of the exchange rate.

Example of what comes with a nice restaurant's cubierto (this one is from La Cabrera)

It doesn't sound as funny as I'm writing it, but as I said, the question "Who ordered the cubierto?" really made us laugh.  It's just one of those things you have to accept - nobody orders it, but yet there it is.  That lovely surprise!

I could say the same thing for my new buds here.  By buds, I mean that last week, I had a few mosquitoes hanging around my head while I slept, and this week brought moths in my closet.  I certainly didn't order them.

Since I've been exercising a bunch, another exciting surprise for me has been getting achilles tendonitis pain in my left foot.  It's like my body is rejecting exercise!  Of course,  now that I am enjoying my exercise, this is what happens - but, I'm dealing with it just fine and hope the pain will subside and let me resume my schedule shortly.  

I recently rejoined the working world, albeit part-time, but that has brought some surprises in the world of HR too, where I have found myself landing again.  For example, an applicant is required to put a head shot on his/her resume, as well as age.  Surprise!  It's not just for the modeling business.  

After dinner last night, we went to La Noche de los Museos (Night of the Museums), which is provided courtesy of the city of BsAs.  Pretty much all neighborhoods participate by opening the doors of their museums (170 in total) to the public from 8 p.m. - 3 a.m. and hosting various events.  The city also provides free buses to get you from place to place.  Despite the free buses, surprise - we somehow ended up covering major ground by foot (ouch, achilles tendon).  Our last stop of the night was at Palacio del Congreso (the Congress building), where at 2 a.m., the line snaked around the corner so far it looked like it would take several years to get in.  Fortunately, it only ended up taking 15 minutes before we got to the bag and body scanner.  In general, the security was pretty lax inside the Congress building, but the funniest we noticed was for a room we weren't allowed into. How did we know to stay out?  Well, there was a piece of paper over the double doors that said something like don't come in here. Trying to picture that going down in the Capitol building.

At least surprises can make life more interesting, even when they are of the cubierto style!

Good deal!

It’s hard to come up with new and interesting things to write about after being here for so long, especially when you fall into a routine, everything feels so ordinary. However, the truth is living here is very different from living in NYC for a few reasons, the obvious one is it’s a different county with a different culture and language, but the other one is that this is the first time in my life that I have been unemployed for more than 3 months since I graduated from college in 2003. And even when I graduated from college I had a temp job, so this whole not working thing is a lot more challenging than one might think…I find myself constantly thinking about how I can save a peso or two.
I remember during my first few weeks here I met someone who said that you could live here off US$15,000 sans employment without any worries. This person ate out all the time and took cabs everywhere. He suggested I make a spreadsheet to keep track of my finances. I never made the spreadsheet, that’s probably because I didn’t really have the budget that he had and I wasn’t planning on spending above my means- I mean after all, last time I checked they weren't throwing money at social workers. Instead, I chose to take advantage of the low cost of living in Buenos Aires because it is a good place to live on a tight budget.
A ver, for example, last night I worked with a girl down here- I am using the term work loosely- I am helping her with some grants she is working on and also researching other possible funding. I digress, the point I am trying to make is that transportation down here is a steal. I took the subte to her house for a whopping US$0.30; and then for helping her, I got a delicious meal for free! We finished up working around 12am, which meant the subte had been closed for two hours. I was faced with two options, I could take a $5 cab or I could take a $0.30 bus ride. After looking at my nifty Guia-T, I realized I could take a bus that would literally drop me off in front of my apartment. I opted to take the bus and 20 minutes later I was at my door- that is what we call a good deal! For those of you (Mom) worried about me taking a bus so late at night, don’t be, the Argentines are just finishing up dinner so everyone is on the streets heading home. However, I am a little afraid of the buses; I once got eaten by the bus doors and Amy had to pry me out. Fortunately, I was able to escape without injury, but Amy in the midst of her valiant efforts got a huge ass bruise on her arm. However, I have made my peace with the busses and I am vowing to take advantage of them more!
Now, another way that Amy and I save is by eating in. We’re getting a little more daring with our recipes, but we’ve also discovered the joys of the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and after already having two meals from the chicken, I made a soup! It grossed me out a little bit, because I really had to rip apart that chicken to find the meat, but in the name of saving a buck, I did it. So today, on my free day, I made a bucket-full-I’m talking at least 8 servings- of delicious chicken soup (yes, technically all days are free days so to clarify a free day is when I don’t have a 2 hour Spanish lesson. And yes, I do realize I live a really tough life down here). Now, I am calling it delicious, but I may have used one too many bouillon cubes for the average persons’ likings. See the recipe (which I recommend) was in English, but the directions on the bouillon cubes were not, so I winged it. I also didn’t realize how much meat and flavor comes off the bones after you boil them in the stock- it’s like the chicken re-grows itself, I was a little disturbed. If you do make the recipe he gives a really smart tip about using a colander and a paper-towel, but I would try a coffee filter instead, I think that would work better. For $10 Amy and I will get 4-5 meals each- another good deal!
I am now on the lookout for other good deals, such as free museum days, free art shows, etc. So hopefully I can share some good finds like those soon! Un beso!

Mom & Dad Schulman in BA - Guest Bloggers!

After a 10 1/2  hour flight to BA and not seeing Amy for 4 months, we felt great joy when Amy walked into the lobby of the Marriott Hotel and into our waiting arms!

After checking in, we pushed forward despite our groggy state.  We had an early introduction to the Argentine parrilla (steakhouse) for lunch, where we mapped out our plans for the week, tried some Argentine food and Jeff had his first Quilmes beer!  By this time, we realized that Amy was speaking Spanish quite fluently, in both the hotel and restaurant!  When we met up with Cait, we realized the same for her!

One of the first things we noticed on our trip was that dinner in BA was off-limits until at least after 8:00PM, which was still very early by BA standards.  We even noticed that families were eating dinner with babies very late at night.  Since Amy and Cait were more accustomed to this late hour, we had to compromise about the time and generally went to dinner about 8:30 every night, which is very late for us in the USA!  But we did get with the program!!  

On our first full day, Amy took us on a beautiful walking tour where we went to the famous MALBA museum (Cait could not join us). On our way, we also passed the Floralis sculpture and other interesting sites in addition to noticing the many dog walkers that Amy and Cait have written about.  Later that night, we took the girls to a fabulous parrilla dinner at Cabana Las Lilas in the beautiful Puerto Madero neighborhood. We loved it!

The following afternoon, the 4 of us went on a 3 hour guided tour of BA. Our tour guide, Enrique, was excellent and a highlight of this tour was the Recoleta cemetery where Eva Peron lies in a mausoleum.  There are more than 6400 mausoleums and they are all architecturally interesting to look at.  We also noticed the many cats in the cemetery, which was very interesting to see.

Mom and Dad in front of Teatro Colon

Lucky for us, the first Sunday of our trip was Mothers Day!  Amy and Caitlin came to our hotel room with beautiful flowers in my honor, so I celebrated two Mothers days in 2010.  It was also Alissa and Bill's first wedding anniversary, so we called them to wish them well!   Sunday was also a terrific day at the San Telmo antique market and the Recoleta craft fair.  We ended the day at Marcelo, a fantastic Italian restaurant, where we  enjoyed a delicious mothers day dinner!

The next day brought us to the town of San Antonio de Areco, about an hour outside the city.  We went to a beautiful silver shop and then spent the rest of the day on Estancia El Ombu de Areco with our new friends Kaye and Tony.  What an experience!  Part of the day was horseback riding on a pictureseque trail surrounded by soy and wheat fields, llamas and sheep.  Meanwhile back at the ranch, they were preparing our traditional Argentine asado.  Jeff was very brave, and tried everything on his plate, including the blood sausage (a.k.a. black pudding, or as it's called here - morcilla)!!!  We really loved this day and our daughters were very proud of us that we went on horses!

For our next trip, we took the Buquebus high speed ferry to Colonia, Uruguay for a wonderful overnight stay.  We booked the Radisson hotel on line and were so surprisingly pleased with the very pretty hotel and its location, given that the online reviews didn't say such kind things.  After checking in, we had a lovely lunch at El Drugstore and then walked around the old part of the city.  Amy and Jeff climbed the old lighthouse while Cait and I waved from below!  While on top of the tower, Amy and Jeff discovered what a small world it is.  They met a guy named Andrew, who ended up being from Smithtown, which is not far from our home town!   After walking around some more, we returned to our beautifully located hotel to watch the sunset from the pool terrace.  The view from our hotel was stunning!

Dad and I on top of the lighthouse

Cait and Mom on the ground

Views from our hotel

When we got back to BA on Wednesday, Amy and Cait took us on a wonderful guided tour (with the help of Mr. Frommer) from Ave. 9 de Julio to the Congress building.  We so enjoyed finding the buildings that were highlighted in the book.  That night we all loved El Querandi, a beautiful Tango show complete with singing, dancing, and wonderful music.  

          Walking tour with Frommer's           Cait and I at the tango show

Lastly on Thursday, Amy took us to Tigre via the Tren de la Costa, where we took a boat out to the island of Tres Bocas and ate a surprisingly great lunch.

To close, we want to say how proud we are of Amy and Caitlin. Their knowledge of the city was fab and we so enjoyed being with them.  We know that this experience will help them to make good choices in life and will be a benefit in any path that they choose!

Five months and counting!

It's hard to believe it is November already! Tomorrow will be our 5 month anniversary in Bs. As. - the time has truly flown by.
Yesterday, Amy and I ran the 5K- I am sure Ame will give you a debriefing about her first race ever, but she did awesome. It was a huge race over 3,500 runners, so it was a bit tricky to maneuver around the crowds, but we both were able to eventually break away from the pack and find our pace! It’s funny how something like a road race can seem familiar and comforting. The race was just like a NYC Roadrunner Race, accept the cheering was in Spanish instead of English!
So I too have continued on with private Spanish lessons. I meet with a women named, Maria (Spanish One on One: spanish.personal@gmail.com - for those of you looking for a Spanish tutor in Bs. As.), I would certainly recommend her. She meets you were you are and moves at your pace, which is great. I take lessons 8 hours a week, 2 hours a day, I have one day off from lessons. The Spanish is coming along. I can certainly communicate. I understand most of what is said to me, but my responding with any real fluidity is still a struggle. I still have a few months to get to that point, right? Right.
Another great way to practice speaking is through Spanglish (www.spanglishexchange.com). It is sort of like speed dating, but instead of switching bachelors, you switch languages. They have two language exchanges a week and two bilingual pub quizzes per week. Amy and I have done both the pub quiz and the exchange; obviously the language exchange is better for practicing your skills, but the quiz is usually a good time. There are usually some pretty interesting people on your team, but I have been with a few people who were a little too competitive… However, I would still recommend it as a way to meet new people.

Amy and I at a Spanglish language exchange talking with Fede!

In unrelated news, spring has finally arrived. It is nice; we’ve suffered through two winters so it is about time we get to experience some warmer weather. I keep looking at the weather back home and I see that NYC weather is slowing getting colder and then I see that it is getting warmer here. I have to admit, this does make being so far from home a little easier. I am not going to miss NY winters!