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.

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!

Argentine happenings

Today is a national holiday here because of ... the Census!  That's right - everything except for emergency services is closed and technically you are supposed to stay inside until the Census folks come and find you.  Being the smart chicas that we are, we stocked up on food yesterday knowing that restaurants and grocery stores would be closed today.  Very happy about that - and, lucky for us, the Census guy came around 10:30 this morning, so no more waiting to be done.  I can't imagine this happening back at home, but I'm sure for all my working friends it would be a welcomed day off!  


Last week my parents visited and we had a wonderful time!  I think they will be writing a guest post so I won't say too much here, but I think a point that can be mentioned more than once is that my parents rode horses!  I never thought I'd see the day.  It was so much fun!  Check out the photographic evidence:

I will post more photos of the trip when there's a post up about it.

On Sunday, Caitlin and I did the hash run again.  I figured since I will be running the McDonald's 5k this Sunday (Halloween!), I better go and see if I can actually run 5k.  Fortunately, I did that and more, even following the "wimp" route instead of the "macho" route (not afraid to admit that).  The McDonald's 5k this Sunday will be my first ever race, so I am excited and ask that you please send me good thoughts. :) Those of you who know me well know that running was never high on my list (it never even came close to making said list), but recently I have been running - and wow - actually enjoying it!  I don't know what's come over me.

Going to check out what's happening outside.  It probably would have been a whole lotta nothing, but as I'm sure everyone heard, former president Kirchner passed away today and Plaza de Mayo looks pretty packed from the news.