don and marie in buenos aires

Our Time Is Short...

2009-03-25T11:22:00.006-03:00

In less than a week we will be heading back to Washington, DC and the feeling is very bittersweet. It's amazing how quickly the months pass and we're trying our best to continue to take it slow and easy and savor everything around us. We've seen glaciers, penguins, whales, wine country, lots of tango, Brazil, Uruguay and more. We both agree that we spent our time here well and we're very happy with how everything turned out. Argentina just has so much to offer.

Sunday was my birthday so we hung out at the Four Seasons brunch for hours and hours. We had grappled with how to celebrate because I really don't like parties as much as Don does and so a lazy, food-filled Sunday turned out to be a perfect compromise. I feel like we're really part of the city here when we run into people we've met over time, which we did at brunch. It's funny how quickly strangers turn into familiar faces. It was such a beautiful day doing one of our favorite things here and soaking up the Buenos Aires weather. We have our fingers crossed that the DC climate warms up to welcome us back or it's going to be quite a shock! Not to mention it could take a while figuring out where all our winter stuff is packed away in storage...

So, I'm about to sit on the terrace and watch the water and read a book. Nothing more, nothing less.

Our new digs in Puerto Madero

2009-03-15T19:39:00.006-03:00

So for our last 2 weeks in Buenos Aires we decided to switch apartments and try our hand at living in Puerto Madero. Our new building is directly across from the entrance to the Faena Hotel on a nice, quiet street. While we loved the charm of our previous neighborhood on the Palermo/Villa Crespo border, we were looking to change things up a bit. There's an ecological reserve nearby to this new apartment with a path for running and we have a beautiful view of the river from our terrace. One of the other major perks: we have a real, fancy adult pool on the rooftop with a fantastic view--not our kiddie pool for those who know. Here's how it looks:It was also a pleasant surprise when we went out today and saw a big Sunday fair like they have in Palermo Recoleta. There was the typical Argentine arts and crafts, singing, dancing, and junk food. It didn't even feel like we were in Puerto Madero, which is considered more sterile than other areas and principally filled with business people. Everyone was laying around the park talking and having picnics or roller blading or jogging. Sundays are a great day to get out and enjoy the fresh air and people watch. Puerto Madero is already growing on us.

Our Last Asado on Loyola

2009-03-10T10:15:00.002-02:00

We put our parrilla to use and made our version of an asado on the rooftop in this apartment on Loyola for the last time last night. We check out on Saturday and move on to another place for about 2 more weeks before coming home. So, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather outside considering one of the top things we fell in love with about Buenos Aires is the way they grill just about everything. Tonight we made chicken with lemon, green zucchini, red bell pepper, corn on the cob, sweet onions...yum. Typically, we'd put a bunch of steak on there but Don had eaten that for dinner for the past two nights in a row so we went a little lighter and healthier. It was somewhat nostalgic being on the terrace snapping tons of pictures of Don and everything around us as I tend to do. We've had a lot of good times in this apartment---omelette and champagne parties at midnight, swimming in a kiddie pool on the rooftop, blasting Lil' Wayne until our neighbor below yelled at us that people don't do that on Sundays...But, alas, it's time to move on.

Getting a Glimpse of Uruguay

2009-03-06T10:38:00.007-02:00

We just spent a very peaceful and relaxing four days in Carmelo, Uruguay at the Four Seasons resort on the Rio (River) de la Plata. While we had been wanting to visit for a while we held out until the bungalow we wanted was available and as it turns out, patience really is a virtue. The bungalow had a beautiful sunset view and it was nestled in the trees and very quiet. And, I was able to fill up on fish and shrimp! We took a short 15-minute private plane from Buenos Aires to the resort and they had loads of seafood and fish other than salmon. Why can't I get that from more than a handful of places in Buenos Aires I keep asking myself?

Our mistake was hitting the spa immediately upon arriving for a few hours even though it was a bright and sunny day. Wouldn't you know it, the next two days were full of rain and dark skies. We did get a tennis match in that was just too funny. Neither of us has played tennis in years and so we happily had the courts to ourselves until some couple showed up. Of course they played like they were semi-professional. Our tennis balls were going everywhere...into their court, over the fence. Good times.

Our one adventure for nightlife was quite hilarious when we showed up at the casino next door to the resort and we were the ONLY people there. I saw about 20 workers just standing around bored out of their minds in this bright, tiny wood cabin casino. Well, they opened up the BlackJack table for Don and I kicked back listening to the Best of the 80s that is quite popular in Uruguay it seems. We won a tiny bit of cash and it turned out to be a good night.

I don't think I've ever mentioned Don's fear of lizards on this blog. The way I feel about creepy, crawly nasty things like spiders is how he feels about lizards... He had a seen a "big" one--so he claimed--one day as we were heading to the bungalow but it got away before I could see it. I wasn't too worried about as we've been to many places with roaming lizard life. Well, on our way to check out on the last day, guess who was hanging out by our bungalow? This massive lizard who then promptly ran away from us right into the direction of our outdoor shower! Good thing we were checking out.

A Lesson in Tango Fusion

2009-02-21T11:57:00.006-02:00

Tango is one of the true treasures of Buenos Aires and it's everywhere you turn. The other night we decided to try a "tango fusion" show, which purported to meld pure tango music and steps with modern dance and original compositions. The show was called Quintaesencia and performed by a new company under the direction of Leonardo Cuello. We had never been to the Centro Cultural Borges so we decided to give it a shot. From the start we were taken aback by the sophistication and skill of the dance moves. It really opened our eyes to the difference between a professional dance company and watching a dinner and tango show at the other places we've been. The show is divided into four short works that are the result of three years of development. We even recognized one of the dancers from a previous show we had seen and the choreography just made her appear more advanced by lightyears. It was fantastic and cost us about a quarter of the price of some fancy place.

Not to mention, the photography displays in the Cultural Center were excellent. There was one showcase on daily life in India that was full of vibrant colors and candid portrait shots. Another captured the faces and places of people going through abuse recovery, mental hospitalization, and illnesses. It sounds depressing but the photographs spoke volumes.

Here's Don posing outside the auditorium:

Art in the City

2009-02-17T11:28:00.009-02:00

The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires is a treasure trove of the region's artistic culture and we recently immersed ourselves in it. The Constantini collection was a favorite and it includes all mediums from paintings and sculptures to photograhps and engravings. I was itching to take pictures of the art but I respected the rules and resisted. So, naturally, I was so jealous when I saw a lady taking up close and personal shots of the Frida Kahlo self-portrait. Good old me, always following the rules. In any case, this here picture is just a photograph of the exhibit's brochure cover. We also particularly enjoyed the abstract and optical art pieces where you could hit a switch and lights and pieces on the art would move around as the artist intended. There was just so much to see and the museum has a nice little french cafe to rejuvinate you.

We definitely recommend this experience to anyone visiting Buenos Aires.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T16:01:00.005-02:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Ours was spent relaxing at the Faena Hotel pool and spa. We had foot rubs by the pool, massages in the spa, manicures, pedicures and lots of champagne. The weather held up beautifully and it was a perfect day. Ain't love grand?

Temaiken Bioparque

2009-02-11T19:51:00.009-02:00

We had been hearing for a while about this amazing zoo in greater Buenos Aires that was even better than the one we'd been to twice closer to our house. Yesterday we decided to try it out and we were not disappointed. Temaiken is a bio-park about 35 kilometers outside of the federal capital lines and the landscaping and layout of the animal exhibits are exquisite. They say that a bio-park is a zoo, aquarium, museum, and botanical garden that focuses on endangered species. We got really lucky with such a beautiful day with almost no humidity following a really horrendous thunderstorm the day before. A saleslady sold us on an aquarium event so we went in with a huge crowd of kids to watch the divers feed sharks, who, oddly enough, had to be essentially force fed because they weren't even hungry. They told us that these sharks eat about every 15 days in their natural habitat but that Temaiken feeds them 3 times a week. Go figure. The pictures in the aquarium didn't turn out well since we couldn't use flash. The park was so tranquil and the birds chirping and soft music playing reminded us of the spa! We definitely recommend this day trip to anyone visiting here.

This picture below shows two bats wrapped up together, a mom and baby we suppose. It was surprising to find that the bats were one of our favorite exhibits; they were so large and watching them fly around was creepy and interesting.

Oh, Natal!

2009-02-03T12:45:00.021-02:00

Natal, Brazil turned out to be a wonderful way to spend two relaxing weeks. Natal, City of the Sun, is the capital city of the State of Rio Grande do Norte and we managed to achieve a nice balance between kicking back and relaxing and pulling ourselves away from the beach house for excursions and activities. Our friend Butch had been nice enough to give us two thriller books in English and I hadn't had my hands on a book in English since we got here. So my plan was to completely veg and read by the pool or on the beach. Don convinced me to leave the house and have some fun so our first adventure was to the sand dunes. Natal is full of sand dunes in the hills overlooking the beaches and we took a dune buggy tour that was amazing. We went up and down the slopes of sand at top speed in this cute little red buggy.

We also went sand boarding, which was fun but a complete disaster! Don didn't bother trying to understand the instructions from the Brazilian guy so we were covered in sand and falling everywhere instead of gliding down the hill smoothly. But, it was hilarious.

The much more successful activity was a simple zip wire that Don did where you end up plunged in the river. If only there had been bungee jumping or diving off a cliff he would have done that too, for sure.I have to admit that I was nervous about the next adventure, our ATV trip along the hills and to see lagoons and rivers. I had never been on an ATV and I was sure that I'd be left behind. My hand was almost crippled from gripping the handles so hard! Well, no major mishaps occurred and so I settled down and even sped up pretty fast a few times. All I will say is that it's a good thing no one had their camera out when I accidentally drove into the river! Yes, that's right. Instead of following the path along the river, my ATV went crazy and I went right in. Oh, well. I guess it was pretty funny.

One of Don's favorite things to do, as I've mentioned before, is to take private boat tours whenever we're on vacation. I've struggled with sea sickness but gotten better over the years much to his happiness. Somehow, of course, whenever we take a boat on the ocean it happens to be during the roughest periods! On our way to Anguilla from Saint Martin, for example, we were caught in the most outrageous swells that only happen 1 or 2 times a year. Brazil turned out to be no different. We woke up at the crack of dawn to have a "calm" sea and we were caught in the biggest waves and violent rain storm ever. I felt bad because after 2 1/2 hours on that boat I just could not wait for rain to stop so that we could snorkel in the natural pool in the ocean. I may be smiling in this picture, but I'm screaming inside! Not to mention a big wave knocked Don off the boat while he was climbing on. I'll stick with relaxing by the pool with a book and a drink any day.

We already miss Brazil. The people and sights were amazing and we'd love to return one day.

Tastes and Sights of Rio de Janeiro

2009-01-21T17:26:00.011-02:00

Our journey recently led us to the colorful, eclectic country of Brazil and our first stop was Rio de Janeiro to see Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The sun was blazing and people were loud, friendly, and vibrant. Personally, I was looking forward to finally getting a really good selection of seafood and seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain. Well neither one of those disappointed me! The massive statue of Jesus Christ with his armed outstretched is just as impressive as we'd expected. We kind of went picture crazy and also bought a small replica of it for memories sake. And I promptly began stuffing myself with sole, shrimp and other stuff from the sea.

Another treat was seeing Sugar Loaf with its amazing views and the excitement of riding so high above the ground in cable cars. We were hot as anything in those cable cars in the jungle weather but it was really fun. When you find shade up on the hilltop it brings a nice breeze along.

Oh, and Ipanema Beach...what a busy, crazy mix of locals, tourists, and salespeople everywhere. You can basically lay on the beach all day and at the same time be fed caipirinhas and shrimp skewers, buy a whole new wardrobe, and get amazing shiatsu massages where they make your joints crack in places you never expected. Who doesn't love the beach?

We're now in Natal up in northern Brazil for 2 weeks and we spent most of yesterday watching Inauguration Day at our beach house! More about Natal later...for now, take a look at our Rio slideshow.

A Day in Tigre on the River

2009-01-07T20:01:00.011-02:00

Welcome to Tigre!

One of the primary reasons that we love Argentina is because the country is full of interesting and beautiful places to visit and to see new things. Just when we think we've hit a good chunk of the most raved about spots, someone is sure to start talking about some other place that they've been to that sounds amazing. Well, today we hit yet another of the destinations on our list, a place in the northern province of Buenos Aires called Tigre. The main draw is to take a boat tour of the delta and inlets and see the various islands. A couple we met who owns a nearby restaurant had recommended that we visit a particular island that houses a delicious restaurant named Gato Blanco. We were lucky enough to arrive and just look around until we found a boat company that would offer us a private tour, drop us off at lunch, and then take us boat to the main port. It was a fantastic day on the water. People were kayaking, jet skiing, taking motor boats, and even floating in the water on plastic recliners. We had a spectular lunch...the grilled black hake was the best I've had here in Buenos Aires. All in all, a successful trip, a beautiful day, and another destination checked off of our list!

On the boat ride traveling along the delta:

Our fantastic lunch spot:

Watching visitors lounge at a resort on the river:

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T13:06:00.010-02:00

It's 2009! Don and I brought in the new year with a few friends and we are so happy to have Butch visiting from DC. He's been our Buenos Aires companion for the past week and we've been wining, dining, and dancing all over. One of the best parts about having a visitor is that you get a great excuse to make reservations at all of your favorite restaurants and so far they have not disappointed. Last night we were at the Faeno Hotel dinner and tango show because you just can't come down here and not see a tango show. So that's one major thing checked off the list but now we're on to shopping for leather and visiting Tigre in the north to sail through the Delta...

Here are Butch and Don at Asia de Cuba in Puerto Madero having a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon:
The boys leaving brunch at Olsen's:

Simple Life in the Countryside

2008-12-26T17:50:00.005-02:00

A few days ago Don and I spent some time with friends at Estancia Bella Vista, which is about 170 kilometers from Buenos Aires. This delightful place is 60 hectares of natural woodland on the banks of the Salado River. It was so peaceful and so nice to trade in the city sounds for nothing more than birds chirping. For the first half of the day we were the only four guests in the whole place. Some more people showed up later but there were never more than about 10 guests. It was cozy and everyone talked and ate dinner together. Here's the entrance to our room at the Estancia:

Our favorite activity was the horse back riding. We were used to the slow guided tours where the guide is teaching you about everything around you and you move at a leisurely pace. This guide just let us break out into pretty fast gallops and ride as we pleased. Man were our butts hurting the next day! The guide rounded up a baby cow with a lasso like a real cowboy. It was actually kind of sad because the animal was running so hard trying to get away and all the other cows were mooing like crazy. But, that's life in the countryside.

Feliz Navidad!

2008-12-25T11:36:00.006-02:00

It's Christmas Day here in Buenos Aires and it's a blazing 90 degree day. The morning was eerily quiet after all the families in the city partied hard last night. Christmas Eve is a very important night here and at midnight fireworks started going off all across the sky. Our whole neighborhood was filled with bangs, booms, and streaks of color. But we really missed the Christmas movies that we would have watched in DC. The cable service we have in our apartment just wasn't providing the right stuff! What's Christmas Eve without watching "A Christmas Story"?

As our celebration today, we went to the Alvear Hotel for a long beautiful brunch. We, of course, met another couple--as we always do--and proceeded to tell them about all the best things that we had learned about this city and other places to see in Argentina. There is so much to do here and always so little time!

Boca Futbol

2008-12-15T23:15:00.005-02:00

So, we finally made our way to a soccer (futbol) game and it was yet another interesting segment in the Don and Marie drama of living in Buenos Aires. This is a city where spontaneity does not breed success for us and everything must be carefully pre-planned with tons of questions. Well, we had let our soccer planning fall to the wayside so when a last minute opportunity arose to see Boca Juniors play in the last game of their season we jumped at it. Let's just say that everything we had planned to avoid about watching a live soccer game here in Argentina happened to us that day. Instead of the private car transportation we were expecting, we ended up on a school bus. No joke. And, when we were handed our tickets we realized that we had paid 10 times the face value for the "general admission" area. That means you are crowded in a bleacher-like section with no assigned seats with several hundred very passionate, screaming Argentinians clawing their way to see the action and push you out of the way. Oh, how we missed the Verizon Center at that moment. At least we won a raffle to get an authentic, Nike jersey of one of the most popular players.

We tried to make lemonade out of lemons and we held our ground in the crazy crowd. Did I mention that it's a dry stadium? We didn't even know those existed. It's not hard to imagine why when you see how crazy everyone is even without alcohol. The opposing team's fans have to sit in a special section and they enter and depart the stadium before the Boca fans. We ended up making it through the first half and we saw all 3 goals that Boca scored that day! Part of the fans' aggression was pretty contagious and we screamed and clapped with every goal. Even really old ladies, mothers, and little children squeeze into this suffocating madness and jump all over the place. We've never seen one crowd know so many different songs--and every single lyric--all devoted to one team. When four year old boys with their dads are screaming "putos" (bitches) at the other team, you know you're at a Boca game in the rowdy, low budget section. All in all, Boca beat Colon and we took great pleasure in that. I hope you don't think we got back on that school bus to go home. Fool us once...

Anniversary Tango Show

2008-12-10T19:58:00.000-02:00

December 9th was our 3-year wedding anniversary and we decided to celebrate with a romantic tango show in San Telmo. We went to a place called La Ventana inside a historic, refurbished building and it was very charming. The evening started out with a gourmet 3-course dinner and we were seated right at the front edge of the stage with a good view. When the show started we immediately loved the band of musicians playing the piano, cello, violins, and bandoneon (which we always thought was an accordion). The dancers were all pretty exceptional, too. It was more of a traditional style tango show than we we had seen at the Faena and we couldn't help but compare things. But, in the end, the styles of the two shows just represented different interpretations and we enjoyed ourselves just as much if not more. We captured some video of the dancing:

Overall, however, the star highlight of the La Ventana show was not really the tango dancing or singing but rather the two artists representing northwest Argentine folk music and dance. Don was most impressed with the guitar player and I really liked the guy who played the Argentine drum or Bombo leguero. We hope to post videos of those acts elsewhere on the blog. It was a fantastic night and we definitely need to make our way over to San Telmo more often. Maybe this Sunday for more tango and shopping...

Kosher Night

2008-12-04T10:46:00.010-02:00

As always, Don and I are on the constant look-out for new restaurants. We keep our eyes trained on new signs and fliers in Palermo searching for something new and interesting. Well, since we got here in September, there has been a huge purple wall announcing the arrival of an Asian steakhouse on Cordoba Avenue. We've waited patiently and walked by every week or so to monitor the progress of the construction. Finally, it was open! We tried to go there for lunch one day and ran into a security guard in an ill-fitting black suit standing near the elevator entrance. It was then we discovered that the restaurant was open only for dinner and that it was "Jewish food" as he called it. Kosher-style Asian only, so we probably wouldn't want to eat there, he assumed. Don and I are no quitters so we politely informed him that we would return at a later time for dinner. That dinner came a few days ago and we ran into him and yet another security guard. After a lengthy conversation about us 1) not having a reservation, 2) not being part of the "community", and 3) being from the United States and aware of what Kosher means, we were finally allowed to take a seat in the restaurant and order dinner.

The duck rolls were rather tasty but didn't really surprise us. Don was a bit reluctant to order the deep-fried gizzards but we relented after the waiter insisted. They tasted like sweetbreads wrapped in dough as one would imagine. But man, oh man, did we get a big surprise when our rack of beef rib steak came out. It was a massive sight to see. They like to serve the meat on the bone here a lot and this thing looked like it came from a brontosauras and it was covered in barbecue sauce. A little overcooked for us but we were so excited just to figure out how to eat the thing. A successful Asian Kosher dinner if we may say so ourselves.

Don't you see the resemblance?

Feeling Festive and Stuffed Like Turkeys

2008-11-28T20:50:00.016-02:00

The past few days have been full of fun and FOOD. Wednesday was Don's birthday and we hit up two of our favorite places, La Cabrera and Osaka. He's been going to the dentist a lot lately and we were afraid that he wouldn't be able to eat. Luckily, he felt okay so we headed out to make the best of it and had a great time on a blazing hot day. It turned out to be a wonderful birthday for him despite experiencing our first black out here. Not a thing worked in the apartment, including the air conditioning, so we didn't stay in long. Here's a snapshot of some of our feasting:

Oh, and then there was Thanksgiving on Thursday... Another blackout all day. So, of course we were missing our family and we decided to have a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant called Kansas. We had turkey with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, glazed carrots, broccoli, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, the works! It was wonderful. We even went to two more American-style places (Casa Bar and The Alamo) to watch football and have seconds with yet another Thanksgiving day dish, which we shared. We ended up seeing the Dallas Cowboys win, wrapping up a great day for Don, no doubt.

And, if we hadn't had enough...we baked homemade macaroni and cheese and brought it to our friend's house for another Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. Yes, you read that correctly. We baked. Macaroni and cheese. Just a big pan of scrumptious, creamy cheese! We love the holidays.

Patagonia III: Villa La Angostura

2008-11-20T13:46:00.003-02:00

Hotel Correntoso in Villa La Angostura was the perfect way to end our tour of Patagonia. We were intending on staying at Llao Llao but our apartment owner suggested this alternative and he was right on target. After tons of excursions we needed a relaxing way to decompress with less people around. We ended up getting 4 days of much-needed spa time, fine dining, and beautiful lake views. They knew us really well in the spa as we had different treatments 3 days in a row and they couldn't keep us out of the pool! Las Balsas restaurant deserves a special mention here because our lunch there was exquisite and we had our first encounter with a really helpful sommelier. We both think the food was probably the best we've had since being in Argentina overall.

We did drag ourselves away from the hotel to take a private boat tour along the Nahuel Huapi Lake and a walk through the Arrayanes Forest. The picture above is one we really like of an old bridge that is near the entrance to the national parklands where the boat docks. It was much different having a small boat and a gourmet lunch to ourselves versus being on a catamaran with hundreds of people and a tour guide trying to speak English over the loud speaker! But we feel like we got a full spectrum of the Patagonia experience.

Click on the title of this post to see our picture slideshow.

Patagonia II: El Calafate

2008-11-18T20:50:00.000-02:00

After enjoying bright sunny beach days with penguins, whales, elephant seals, sheep, and guanacos, we moved on with a little under 2-hour plane ride to El Calafate. This area of Patagonia is known for its world famous glaciers and we planned two full days of excursions to see the best ones. The first day we went on a big catamaran from Punta Bandera Port and sailed along the Argentino Lake to reach the Upsala and Speggazini Glaciers and Onelli Bay. The boat was surprisingly comfortable with nice leather seats and a bar and we didn't get any seasicknesses even though it was a full day tour. Here you'll see some of our favorite views from the boat:

This short video shows the view as we pass by the Spegazzini Glacier. It's the highest glacier in the National Park and it's a rather amazing view.

The second day's excursion was the real highlight of our El Calafate trip: trekking over the Perito Moreno glacier, which is the most famous of the National Park and the only one that is not receding. We took a boat to a small landing area in the woods near the glacier, put on our snow trekking shoes, and started on an hour and a half walk across the glacier. This experience is somewhat hard to put into words and the pictures don't even do it justice. The air was so fresh and crisp and you could hear running water whenever you stepped over a crack in the ice. After the trek, we stopped at a part of the glacier where the guide had set up Patagonian whiskey and he served it over freshly cut glacier ice!

Next and final stop on our trip will be just 80 kilometers from Bariloche. Stay tuned!

Patagonia I: Puerto Madryn

2008-11-16T22:31:00.003-02:00

Our second trip outside of Buenos Aires was to the Patagonia region, first stop: Puerto Madryn. When we heard that you could take a boat out and go whale-watching and walk through groups of penguins, we knew we couldn't miss this area. What a nice surprise it was to arrive and realize that we were right across from the beach! Somehow we had missed that piece of information and it made our walk along the sand just that much better. Not to mention Hotel Territorio was a major treat with its spa jacuzzi overlooking Gulfo Nuevo.

Our first excursion was to Puerto Piramides where we saw two Right Whales, a mama and her baby. There are only 7,000 of these whales left across the world. The whales were amazing because they are very curious creatures and not afraid at all of boats and people. In fact, the mama led her baby over to us and they swam right under our boat so they could figure out what we were! We were able to film a mini video where you can hear the whale breathing and the guide talking.

We also saw a bunch of big elephant seals on the beach, which were really funny to watch. This map shows the area that we traveled during that first day:

Our second excursion was just penguin heaven in Punta Tombo. They were everywhere and walking all around us! We were lucky enough to see a mama penguin feeding her baby, which is quite rare. The first chicks had just hatched the day before we arrived. This picture shows how close we were able to get to the penguins, who don't mess with you unless they feel threatened we suppose - since we did see one of them snap at a guy's leg when he passed by!

Here's a video of some penguins, too:

Abroad and Proud of America - Obama/Biden '08!!!

2008-11-05T01:27:00.026-02:00

OBAMA!

President-elect Barack Obama! Wow. Don and I were literally speechless huddled around the laptop last night crying and watching the final results come in. We stuck it out for quite a while at a huge Democrats Abroad party but then decided to go home where we could really take it all in. I feel like we've been holding our breath for 21 months awaiting this outcome. We still cannot believe it's real...thank God for live, streaming video over the internet. How we wish we could have been dancing in the streets of our wonderful Washington, DC. But we were certainly there in spirit.

The Argentines have been so warm and friendly about Barack Obama since our first days arriving here with me walking around wearing an Obama t-shirt and pin. People would just stop me on the street or in stores and say a few words of approval or speak at more length about their support for Obama's candidacy. This world is clearly anxiously awaiting the new dawn of American leadership.

Here's a look at the front page of a major newspaper here in Buenos Aires that I picked up today. Of course all of the major dailies are commenting on Barack making history by becoming the first black man elected president of the United States.

We can't forget to congratulate our friend Gina for her winning t-shirt design selected by Democrats Abroad Argentina! Si, se puede! Yes, we can!

Ready for Summer...with a Pool!

2008-11-02T12:24:00.018-02:00

Don has finally gotten another one of his many wishes with our apartment here. Today we went to Easy and bought a mini pool for our rooftop terrace. We wanted a really big one but the owner was afraid that the ceiling would come crashing down (although he did joke that we could get the biggest one possible if we were willing to swim in the ground floor garage!). So, we settled on a nice size that will comfortably fit Don and I, but that could fit more people if we don't mind getting extra cozy! Now, at home we might think of this as a kiddie pool, but we've had to modify our expectations somewhat for our terrace in Buenos Aires. It gets just as hot here, if not hotter, as in DC so we are set with a cool relief for those humid days of 100 degrees that are sure to come around December. Now all we need is a blender and we are poised to have some fun days, and funny stories, with this pool. Anyone up for a dip during the New Year's Eve party?

We also just met our neighbors across the way - Jonathan and Beverly - and they invited us over for an asado. We had a lovely time drinking wine, eating pollo a la parrilla, homemade bread by Bev, and homemade guacamole also by Bev. They are both obviously great in the kitchen and fantastic on the grill. Not to mention we have someone else who feels our pain about the incessant dog barking in this neighborhood. It's pretty much the only noise that could be prevented that people just will not step in to stop. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Sunday at Feria de Mataderos

2008-10-26T21:32:00.007-02:00

After hearing so much about this great fair in a part of town called Mataderos, we decided to check it out with our friends Layne and Angela. There was a stage with dancers, tons of arts and crafts, and all types of tasty treats. Of course, we loved the places that offered free samples, especially the dulce de leche and this yummy mixed berry jam we bought. For lunch we tried two cuts of meat that were new to us, vacio and bondiola. Both turned out be tender and grilled to our liking. Other than some loser snapping at me for taking a picture of his ugly little llama and pony without tipping him, it was a beautiful and sunny day!

We watched a horse competition for quite a while but couldn't quite figure out what the game was trying to accomplish. There were a bunch of competitors racing down the road and trying to push a stick through a loop at top speed. We think...but it was difficult to figure out the difference between when someone was successful at it or not. I'm sure I could look it up and educate us. In any case, we ended up just clapping when everyone else did. Homework for us: figure out what exactly is the object of that competition?

One of the funniest parts was this horse-riding dog that yapped at everything that passed by him. He rides this horse every week but just could not stop barking at other horses, dogs, and people as if he had never been out in public before!

Sounds of Jazz

2008-10-19T17:31:00.007-02:00

What a lovely Saturday it was. The 2008 Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival on the rooftop terrace of the Recoleta Cultural Center was quite a treat. There's not much we like more than free live music outdoors. The turnout was amazing and when seats ran out there were tons of people standing up in the back or just sitting on the ground. This picture is of Roxana Amed, a very important figure on the Argentina jazz scene. She opened her set with a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace.

We had a nice dinner in the Unicorn Room at the Faena Hotel -- where we saw Julia Stiles hanging out. Wonder if she's filming a movie here? In any case, after dinner Don finally got what he had been waiting for...a trip to the floating casino in Puerto Madero. As luck would have it, we won big! We had a lot of fun and walked away with a big stack of pesos.