It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

I have been following the blizzard in NY and cannot believe I live on the same planet as you. It is 37 degrees here- I've taken to the Celsius system because no one I talk to here (besides Amy) knows Fahrenheit, but I believe it is equivalent to almost 100 degrees. But what makes the heat even worse is the humidity; Amy has had to take two showers a day the past two days because of it. So you can imagine that it has been a tad difficult to get into the Christmas spirit: you can't bake cookies because you don't dare put the oven for fear of heat exhaustion and the smell of evergreen trees in the streets obviously doesn't exist here either. I can honestly say that Christmas crept up without me even realizing it. Fortunately, Amy and I got invited to a potluck Christmas Eve at an Argentine’s apartment, there was tons of food and drinks and we were in great company of people from all over the world. The holiday gathering was donned the moniker “the orphans Christmas party.”

Photo: An impressive non-traditional Christmas tree made out of green cerveza bottles

Christmas is celebrated a little differently down here. For starters, everyone gathers on Christmas Eve, which they refer to as Nochebuena, and have dinner at normal Argentine dinner time, anywhere between 9:30PM- 11PM. At 12 midnight you have a champagne toast and the children promptly open their gifts left for them by Papá Noel. Usually, the night lasts well in to the early morning hours. Christmas day is typically used as a day for catching up on sleep. So Amy and I followed suit. We left the party shortly before 5AM, and por suerte found a cab to take us home, we both slept in the next day, me till 2PM and Amy until slightly before!

Photo: Amy enjoying the fiesta with two Aussies: Allison & Marlo

Photo: Me dancing in the street to a drum parade down defensa with Anabel, another party-goer, cerca 3AM

Since most ex-pats are used to celebrating Christmas, well, on Christmas, we were invited to a roof-top asado (BBQ). Amy's Aunt Ro and fam arrived Christmas day so she obviously skipped out on the asado, but I moseyed my way on over to the asado at around 8PM. The asado was hosted by a New Zealand ex-pat and he made a great spread! Delicious food and the guests brought great desserts! This night I managed to get home by the reasonable hour of 3AM.

We are still smoothing out are plans for NYE, but I am sure it will some more good times.

Photo: Waiting for the Christmas meal to be served

Wishing you all a Happy, Peaceful Año Nuevo!

Visits + Trips = awesome!

Around the same time that the Murphys arrived in BsAs, my good friend Lauren and her good friend Lanny from high school came to visit.  We had a blast!  Since I'm working, I couldn't spend the days with them, but they made their way around BA (and Colonia, Uruguay) like true portenas.  Impressive ladies, impressive.  


On their first night, a Saturday, I hosted a bunch of friends (I use that term loosely - some people I had only met once and the portenos don't consider those people friends) at a bar to usher in the last year of my 20s.  It was such a happy birthday, definitely because of my visitors and BA friends, but also because of the amount of love I received in card or other form from back home!  Thank you to all.  So lovely.


My birthday actually was on Sunday and the 4 of us (Cait, Lauren, Lanny, and I) went to our first futbol game.  It was so awesome.  We all dressed in red for the occasion to route for the River Plate team and sat with the crazy yet amazing fans.  I have never felt energy in a stadium as I did at that one.  People did not stop singing, moving, throwing paper, etc.  It was wild!  They don't serve alcohol there because it's rowdy enough without it (or when people drink beforehand), and when the game is over, as a fan of the home team, you have to wait about 20 minutes before they let you out of the stadium so that the visiting team fans can escape safely.  When everyone lined up at the end waiting to get out, I thought there might be a stampede or something the way people looked.  Fortunately, we got out safely and got to enjoy a nice Mexican meal at a restaurant down the road.

On most days, it's incredibly hot here now.  Fortunately, we got to experience one of those days poolside at my friend's apartment building.  She lives in one of the luxury high rises in the Puerto Madero neighborhood (supposedly the most expensive place to live in the city) and invited us over for a swim, which I was ecstatic about - I definitely wanted to see her apartment and I also wanted to alleviate the strong urge I've been having to swim!   We bought stuff for mimosas and made our way over there.  Our friend Marlo was there too, so the 5 of us set out for the pool, overjoyed to have some relief from the heat.  Unfortunately, my friend hadn't learned the pool rules yet after almost a year of living there - and the guest limit per apartment is 2.  Oops!  She graciously let me, Lauren and Lanny stay at the pool first, with a rotation plan to take effect in 20 minutes.  Well, 2 hours went by and there was no sign of the girls.  We were really happy not to be released from the pool, but we were baffled that they hadn't kicked us out as planned!  A half hour later, my friend came down and reported that they had just enjoyed the apartment and didn't need a swim.  So, we got to enjoy the full last hours of the sun without interruption.  Amazing.


This past Sunday Caitlin and I ran the hash again.  It was supposed to be 75 degrees, max, but lo and behold, it must have been in the 90s.  We were melting.  Luckily, the hash hosts had a pool, so I got to jump in right after the run (yes, with my running clothes on - who has time to change in that heat!). An awesome asado (bbq) followed and it was definitely the highlight of the hashes so far!


In Amy-Caitlin trip news, we are planning our trip to Patagonia for January.  It will be about 2.5 weeks.  We have flights and most hostels booked and it's sure to be amazing.  Obvs there will be a report when we return.


In the meantime, work ends 12/30, my aunt, uncle, and cousins arrive on Christmas, and several other folks I look forward to seeing will be here around then as well.  My friend Lisa then arrives in early Jan.  Yay!


Lots of other things I can report on, but for now, I'll leave you with this already long post.  
Happy holidays to everyone!

Guest Blogger: Mama Pat Murphy!

On November 30th Brian and I arrived in EZE airport BsAs for the start of our Argentine vacation and visit with Caitlin. The 11-hour trip was not nearly as bad as we anticipated. We got through immigration and found the driver who would take us to our apartment that did not look as good as it did online and the promised American kitchen did not exist. And yes the Bunsen burner did run out of gas and the rain on the roof sounded like gunshots but it was in a nice area and Caitlin was able to stay with us so all in all it was fine. Our first day consisted of eating lunch, visiting with Caitlin and having dinner. The following day began our series of “forced marches” through the city of Buenos Aires. Caitlin walked us until we could go no further most days! Our first stop was the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. The cemetery is filled with the beautiful mausoleums of the rich and famous of BA. Caitlin has taken all her visitors to the cemetery and by now it is a little boring for her. She spent her time in the shade while we explored the cemetery.

During the following days we took 3 tours – 2 BA FREE tours that were super. The guides were hilarious and informative. The tours took us many areas of the city; we saw all the major buildings, plazas, the cathedral and neighborhoods. We experienced the protests which occur daily, learned not to be careless and step out in the street without looking (you WILL get run over), and were careful not to step in anything the numerous dogs left behind.

Protest

The bus tour, as Caitlin said, was the worst by far but it did take us to the Boca area that was colorful and interesting.

On our longest march we walked about 8 miles from Congreso to Puerto Madedo, walked an ecological reserve and then walked back to San Telmo! This is the day we managed to find bad beef in Argentina!! And while the meal was not great, we barely cared. We were happy to be sitting down!

Reserva Ecológica

We spent a day in Tigre a 45-minute train ride outside BA. It is part of the river delta area. We took a boat ride along the river, walked the riverfront and visited the art museum. The museum, a former casino, was a beautiful building housing Argentine artists.

We spent Sunday visiting the street markets in San Telmo and Recoleta. In San Telmo we watched Tango dancers demonstrate their moves and I found a Bolivian artist selling great watercolors. I bought 2 small village scenes I am delighted with.

On Monday we boarded a plane and headed for Puerto Igauzu and the Igauzu Falls. The Falls were spectacular. It is hard to imagine the power and grandeur of the many falls that roar out of the rain forest to empty into the river. We took a boat ride up the river to the Falls the first day. It included a truck ride through the jungle. We were surround by the noise of birds, dense vegetation and had our first experience with the friendly butterflies! Not long into the ride one landed on the woman seated in front of me and rode all the way to the river with us!

Approaching the falls from the river was amazing - you heard nothing but the roar of water and felt the spray of the Falls. We got soaked and stayed wet for the rest of the day. It was near 100 degrees and over 100% humidity. It was also the rainy season and the trail through the jungle we hoped to walk and spot túcans among other creatures was to muddy to hike. The park was a great place to visit. It had good trails, a train to take you to some of the furthest points, good restaurants and rest stops. And like the national parks in the States, visitors from everywhere. Our stay in Puerto Igauzu was delightful. It is a very small town with friendly people, easy to walk to and interesting to see after the city of BsAs. We found a great taxi driver, Basileo, who took us to and from the park each day and showed us the “Three Frontiers”, the area where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. On the third day he took us back to the airport where we waited for hours for our delayed flight back to BsAs. Our complimentary lunch from LAN Airlines was a no choice milanesa – breaded steak – which topped this worst meal list by a mile. We arrived back in BsAs in time to pick up Amy and go to dinner. We went to a wonderful restaurant in a truly beautiful building with a great tango band! It was a perfect last supper. The next day – our last – we had our only rain. We did a little site seeing, went to a museum, hugged Caitlin goodbye and headed for the airport. We had had a wonderful trip. Good food. Great sites. Time with Caitlin. Laughs with Amy. Plenty of exercise and stories to tell. The woman who checked us through customs kept looking at my passport and then at me. I was beginning to think I wasn’t going home when she indicated that I looked better then my passport photo. She waved her hand and said Bye Bye Patricia. And with that we were on our way home.

The Murphy's take on BA and Iguazu

Per usual, Murphy's Law ruled and there were some bumps along the road. For example, it’s said that you cannot find a bad piece of steak in Argentina, somehow we did. The "stovetop" (which most would call it was a Bunsen burner, but stovetop has a nicer ring to it) in our apartment ran out of gas on Friday, 2 days before check-out, and apparently you can't add gas over the weekend so no tea or coffee for us. Also, our flight from Iguazu to BA was delayed for 2 hours so we got to know the 2 gate Iguazu airport pretty well. One perk was that we received a complementary meal on LAN airlines for the inconvenience- we all got the milanesa: don’t bother looking at the menu because it’s your only option.

So yes, there were a few bumps, but overall it was a really nice trip. They got to see all the good things Buenos Aires has to offer and by the time they left Argentina they had their share of really good quality Argentine beef. They were able to enjoy a free tango concert at Mílon and saw the tango dancers of the San Telmo Market. Unfortunately, we did sit through a really bad city bus tour. The guide was sweet and gave it a very solid effort, but she gave the tour in both Spanish and English so by the time she'd get around to explaining the point of interest in English, she was out of breath and the it was usually 200 meters behind us. However, a highlight of the tour was that it took us to La Boca, which is always worth a visit. To redeem myself from putting them on that awful time-killer, I took my parents on the two Free BA Tours, both the Aristocratic Tour and the City Tour were great. The guides were knowledgeable and funny. We also visited Tigre outside of BsAs and there we went to the Museo Arte. The museum is housed is the most beautiful building I have seen in Argentina and it is only AR$5 to enter!

The highlight of the trip was Puerto Iguazu which is located in the Northeast of Argentina near the borders of Paraguay and Brazil. We went during rainy season, not on purpose of course, and while there was rain, we lucked out because we had two sunny days in the National Park. I should also mention that the weather was beyond hot- we were all dripping with sweat, it was 112% humidity and close to 100 degrees. Thank goodness our hotel had a pool- we all took advantage of that amenity. The waterfalls were spectacular- they put the Niagara Falls to shame. We took a boat trip underneath the falls, which was a lot of fun and a great way to cool off (you get soaked). We also saw some great wildlife, such as butterflies, birds, coatís and lizards. You literally walk through a jungle to get to the waterfalls and as you walk you see all these different types of creatures flitting and scampering in front of you. Mom was the official butterfly whisperer, every time I turned around there was one sitting on her hand. While we (meaning Mom and I) didn't get to see the grand túcan, Dad caught a glimpse of one on our way to the airport and was even able to use his expansive Spanish vocabulary to describe it-- he asked our driver "¿grande?" and was given an affirmative "¡Si!"

When we got back to Buenos Aires, we obviously arrived a little later than expected due to our layover, so we really only had time for dinner. And while I pushed for the early 8:30PM dinner timeslot, it was Pat who insisted on 9:30PM. I think I turned them into true porteños. Hopefully Pat will write her guest blog spot soon and share some of her photos, but in the meantime below are some shots from Iguazu.

At the Tres Fronteras.

The Falls.

The butterfly whisperer with her friends.



Dad getting soaked in front of the falls.