This is a post about swearing. Hence there will be swear words. If they are offensive to you, it’s probably not a good idea to read on. You have been warned.
As passionate as Argentines are about food, wine, futbol and family they really come up short when it comes to swearing. After you have lived here for a minute and have had your first encounter with Argentine driving, a good swear word or more would be handy. The reality is that while there are some creative curse expressions that Argentines use, there are not that many swear words in Castellano that a woman would use to blow off steam.
I do swear. Its how I express myself when I am frustrated or am adding emphasis to an adjective. I didn’t grow up swearing. As kids we weren’t allow to swear at home. Although I heard my father on occasion let one loose. I became fluent in swearing from sitting on an uspstairs trading desk for 8 years. Almost twenty years later, while I was able to kick a 1+ pack a day tobacco addiction, swearing is a habit that I haven’t even tried (or want) to kick. I find the word fuck indispensable when I need to make my point. It is a potent word in my arsenal that I try not to use around my kids.
There really is no comparable word to fuck in Castellano. If you watch an English language movie with Spanish subtitles they pretty much use the word maldición (a curse on you) for every English swear word including the F word. They of course do have some fun words that you might be familiar with like puta (whore), mierda (shit) and pendejo(asshole). But none of these expressions are used by women and usually are bantered about in the context of drunk buddies or sport fanatics, not really as a verbal assault. Not that any of that is a bad thing, but give me something to say to the asshole who almost kills me on the road everyday.
What is the typical shout out to a bad driver? ¿Qué paso viejo(a)? What happened old man (woman)? That flaccid remark is cutting here because everyone, especially women, are desperately doing whatever they can do so as not to get old. Calling someone viejo is as low as you can go with the insults. How boring and unsatisfying. So with no real meaningful Spanish equivalent I have resorted to using an embellished version of fuck (and hopefully silently if I have spawn in the car). It’s just going to have to do.
I think I have mentioned before that asado is a big part of life here. Typically the weekend is when most people are either cooking their own, have been lucky enough to be invited to another’s asado or go to a restaurant that specializes in asado. Yesterday, after an exhausting social calender this weekend, we were happy to go to a restaurant, specifically a parrilla.(parrilla is the spanish word for the barbecue or grill that you make the asado on) Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we wanted to walk to lunch meaning our regular parrilla (aptly named La Vaca) was not an option and we tried a new one. We were an abridged version of our family as the two older ones are mortified to be seen with us and basically dont like us at the moment. They stayed home and we were accompanied by the younger two, happy to walk hand in hand, excited to try a new place. Two uncomplicated children, how easy! What was I thinking?
This is how every asado starts...wine, bubbly water, bread, empanadas, provoleta (melted cheese) and morcilla (blood sausage)
Tira is similar to short ribs, very tasty. They were served with fried sweet potatoes.
Georgie usually opts for the fresh tallerines and tomato sauce. Pasta is good in Argentina.
Normally at home we have ice cream for dessert, the parrillas have extensive dessert menus. These brownies were very good, crunchy on the outside, gooey and fudgy on the inside
This is my personal favorite, Flan. The condiments are key, crema (whipped cream) and dulce de leche (milk carmel)
After a protein heavy meal like this, you experience a bit of food coma
Georgie trying to muster up the energy for the walk back
Here is the beautiful view from our table, city livin'
But he can play tennis and I like that he beat fashionista and sometimes tennis player Roger Federer. Vamos Argentina!
This epic win almost distracted us from the sport match that mattered last night , Yankees vs Angels. Yankees pulled it out a win again and are securely leading their division. This has been a magical season for the Yankees and their fans. While we will all suffer a bit of depression when the season is over, I cant take these post midnight bed times much longer. I am going to have to start napping. Here is one of the highlights of the season:
I know I have written a fair amount of posts about soccer on this blog and you might be thinking “enough”. If your only exposure to soccer has been taking you school age kid to a game at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning to the town fields, I don’t blame you. But having lived her for some time now, and already possessing the proclivity to enjoy a spectator sport, I have become a huge fan. For Argentines, its a religion. On those days when the Argentine National Team has a qualifying match, you can go outside and no one is on the streets, no cars, people, nada. Everyone is in front of the TV. When the team scores a goal, you can hear your neighborhood let loose a collective cheer of happiness. There aren’t too many things as good to watch (and fast, 45 minute halves, no commericals, no halftime shows) except maybe a great baseball game.
Here is my favorite goal of Lionel Messi. This was a Copa Americana match against Mexico in2007:
He is only 22 years old, but if he continues to play the way he played this year, he could be an all time great. Fast footwork, eyes in the back of his head, a touch with his shots that is unrivaled and a generous player to boot. He is Maradona without the baggage. From all accounts, he is a nice kid, who still lives with his family who faced adversity as a kid with a growth hormonal deficiency. After years of treatments and surgeries he has come out the other end one of the greatest football players ever.
Here is another amazing goal, its happens so fast but it looks like Messi kicks the ball through the body of the goalie:
Lionel Messi won the UEFA Best football player of the year trophy last night. It could not have gone to a more deserving player and nicer guy. As a parent its great for the kids to have someone like him to look up to. Haven’t had enough, there is always more.
I have had a really nice last few days. The 16 hour car ride across desert and plains should have been optional, but it was all worth it. It rained or snowed the entire time when we were at the house in Junin. Which for someone like my hyperactive husband can be problematic (although he made himself busy and useful by doing some painting inside). I on the other hand, busied myself by sitting by the fire and reading numerous books. I did get up periodically to cook or go out to eat. I also got up to go to bed. I was in heaven.
Here are some photos I took. The outdoor ones I captured when the sun was out for the 5 minutes it was out during the entire 72 hours we were there.
For just a few days. GM and I (sin chicos) are taking a mini break to the house in Patagonia. We haven’t been since the beginning of February. When we left it was the dog days of summer, when we arrive tomorrow it will be the waning, yet still harsh days of winter. GM will happily walk around looking for broken fences, spilt water pipes and weather permitting he will fish illegally. I, on the other hand will be forced by wind, mud, rain or snow to stay inside and cook (sheppard’s pie and chicken stew are on on the menu) and spend time in front of the fire reading a good book. Poor me.
We just finished up another (almost monthly) long weekend. We got a taste of everything this past weekend as far as weather is concerned. Saturday it was stuffy and humid and hot (27C/86F). Saturday night the wind blew through and it rained and stormed (we have intense thunderstorms here, I love them) for hours on Sunday. The rain brought much cooler temperatures. (10C/50F) And this morning we woke up to clear, bright and almost periwinkle skies. Just gorgeous.
We had friends over for an asado. Excellent food, wine and happy children and dogs. Osa was especially happy because one of our guest loves dogs (more than we do apparently) and and she indulged Osa and her “problem” for several hours today. Osa didn’t even mind if the ball went into the pool, on a day like today she was happy swim for it.
Today’s holiday was Dia de San Martín. GeneralJosé Francisco de San Martín Matorras is kind of like what George Washington is to North Americans. He is considered the father of Argentina except in a mercenary kind of way. He was the go to guy if you were a Spanish colony and you wanted to be liberated. He also battled extensively in Chile and Peru. He along with Simon Bolívar are widely credited with throwing the Spanish out of South America.
Argentines celebrate with an asado which always implies family and friends. Followed by watching futbol which always implies a siesta.
One of the great things about the internets is that you can avoid human contact when it comes to doing mundane things like buying plane tickets. Its just so much easier to be able to look at your own computer screen and see all the flight options, prices, and seats than having someone have to communicate all this information via a bad phone connection. When I do have to call client service people, I am not looking for a fight, because generally I find these people are trying to be helpful,but often it is less satisfying than an electronic commerce experience.
The other day I was attempting to buy plane tickets on Lan Airlines. Lan is a Chilean airlines that we use when we can because they are much more reliable when it comes to scheduled departures than a local airlines that will remain nameless. In the past, in fact less than a month ago, we were able to buy tickets for a domestic flight on the local Lan Argentine website. Made reservations as Arggie residents, purchased with a US credit card, checked in online, no problems.
Before I even made this new reservation, I was already aggravated by the process I had been through to get our accommodations for this trip, which is another long story of stupid customer service. So needless to say, I was looking forward to smooth transaction online.
It wasn’t meant to be. I had successfully made the reservation, imputing six peoples worth of names, frequent flyer numbers, DNI numbers, birth dates and any and all personal data that could be asked for. When I tried to pay for the tickets, the screen went blank except for the words”<< payment error>>”. I was stricken in horror as to how was I going to be able to go back to the page that had the passenger information intact…I saw my only option was the back key on the browser and not surprisingly I ended up at the “welcome” page. So stupid me goes through the whole ten minute procedure again, only to get the <<payment error>> message again. I have to call. First I called the Argentine Lan.com sales office, and they told me if I am using a US credit card then Iwould have to use the US site. (which must be a new procedure, but they lead me to believe its always been this way and I am just a moron.) So I called the US Lan.com and they told me that if we are Argentine residents we have to book our tickets on the Argentine website. So since I have only US credit cards I was told I needed to change my reservation using US Passport numbers. I said, OK lets do that then. I was then told because I called Lan.com and not regular Lan sales, I will need to call another number he cant possibly forward me to. So I hang up and start over with a surly person who at one point when I was struggling to find one of the kids passport numbers amongst 12 passports (we each must carry two because our visa for Argentina is in an expired one) and 6 DNI books, said “maybe you can call back when you are ready…”. And I should have called back because it got uglier from there. I think bullet points would tell the rest of the story much better.
After lots of chastising of my apparent lack of clarity in communicating names and number we finally get to the paying part, yeah!!
First he asked me if my card is a debit or credit card and I said both, because it is. He said that’s impossible and asked me what it says on the card and I said both, he said impossible and I asked him to please try to process it with this card.
Then he asked what is the bank name on the card and I said [bank name here] and he said its not on his list. I reassured him it is a legitimate financial institution and could he please try to process it with this card.
He told me it is my responsibility to be able to tell him the name of the bank that issued my credit card…
I told him ” I have been messing (or similar word, not sure) around with this reservation for six hours and I would very much like to buy these tickets, now.”
He said “that if you are going to continue to talk to me using profanities, I will hang up on you” I respond, bewildered, “what profanity did I use that has offended you,” because I honestly did’nt know (and still don’t), I am pretty sure I didn’t use a really nasty curse word…
He said “YOU know what you said!” and I reply laughingly because it has now gotten so silly stupid, “I really don’t, please tell me..”
He said, “you are trying to trick me into saying the profanity and get me into trouble!”
In the meantime there were hungry children moving in on me and a quick conclusion to this was becoming a necessity for everyone.
“May I speak to someone else, please.”
“You can call back”
So now I am really pissed, “What is your name?”
“I gave you my name at the beginning of the call”
“Can I have it again”
“No”
Totally and utterly defeated, “I am going to give you another credit card its and its from Chase bank”
His response “JPMorganChase?”
Several minutes later I have purchased my tickets. He asked me “Is there anything else I can do for you Mrs. O’Connell?”
I think it would have been wise to say no, but I couldn’t help myself ” Was the word I used that you didn’t like screwing or fucking or mes…”
If I was clever I would have photoshopped some heads on, but I am not.
Its winter holidays right now. With the kids going to an international school we have 6 weeks in June/July and 6 weeks Christmas until the beginning of the February. Most schools in Argentina have 2-3 weeks off and start the second half of the school year the beginning of August. Well this has been a kind of funky holiday for us.
Generally we have traveled during this holiday, sometimes north of the equator, sometimes here in Latin America. This year, because the oldest was going to be going to camp in the northern hemisphere for 2 1/2 weeks smack in the middle of the break, we decided to stay here and ski. There has been one problem with that plan, there is no snow. At least not in Argentina. There are some great places to ski in Argentina, Las Lenas and Cerro Cathedral are probably the best. The one problem is that they have little to no altitude, so it better be cold. In past years we have been to Bariloche twice to ski at Cerro Cathedral and have been rained out both times. So we are now looking at going to Chile to ski where there does appear to be snow. That will happen at the end of the month.
Normally this would be a great time to take the kids to the zoo, museums, the movies, shopping etc..normally kids in local schools would still be in session for at least another two weeks. But not this year. The gripe porcina (swine flu) has hit hard, or at least the government would like us to believe that. To show how responsive they are being, they close everything down. The kids are all out of school, basically until further notice. In the last week they have closed cinemas, my gym, concerts and sports events. And as of tomorrow (which is Argentina’s Independence Day, 9 de Julio) there is now a long weekend, including Friday which is a “feriado sanitario” (or health holiday) in which everyone has been encouraged to stay home, away from large crowds, with the hope to stall out the virus. It makes things very quiet around here. I never left the house today. The kids went for a walk with Corina to buy medialunas (sweet croissants) for tomorrow. Its OK for a few days..but even I, who can always be entertained by a book, could see how this will get old quickly. When GM gets back from the States we will for sure go somewhere. This would make him nuts. Either to the more immediate campo or to Junin.
Until then, more Camp Mommy. There has been a lot of Pictionary the last few days and we started a Puppy/Kitten 500 piece jigsaw. We got all the edge pieces isolated and the corner pieces identified. Then Ana, in her quest to clean every surface of humanity, stuck the puzzle back in the box. Well there is tomorrow, and the day after that, and the next day….
I am participating in a McLinky Thingy, curious how it affects traffic but more importantly, its a fun way of throwing darts around the world and making contact, in this case with moms.
Here is a current photo of all the kids.
While it might not look like much, it is a photo of all the kids, they are all looking at the camera, and and for the most part they are smiling. (Georgie doesn’t smile, she smirks) It may not rival past Christmas photos, but I wouldn’t say it wasn’t an effort. We are at the point now where the kids, especially Hank(13) and Cal(11) need to be bribed with chocolate (in this case hot chocolate) to be cooperative in front of the camera for what turns out to be less than 5 minutes out of their busy day. And long gone are the days of coordinating outfits from Bonpoint. No more velvet knickers for Hank, I am fairly sure those are the clothes he wore to bed the night before. Callum is in his underwear and t-shirt, Owen, the only sane one, is in his school uniform and Georgie, who has a wardrobe full of beautiful pajamas from Baby Cottons and Petit Bateaux is wearing a Sponge Bob T-shirt of her brother’s. At least she wears it with confidence.
Click here to enter your link in the blog hop and view the entire list of entered links…
We had a kind of sad little 4th of July. GM and Henry left for their respective destinations in the Northern Hemisphere last night so its me and three kids for the next few weeks. The plan had been to go to the center to a Fourth of July party that the Argentine-American Cultural Institute does every year. We have never been, we usually aren’t here for winter, but we thought we would check it out. While it was not promising fireworks, it was advertising American food, music and games for the kids. Well, it was canceled. Because of the swine flu. Yes, the swine flu is hitting pretty hard right now. It is flu season here and there are 15 million people living in this metropolitan sprawl called Buenos Aires. So there have been about 2400 reported cases in the country and about 50 deaths.
Enter the Kirchner government, who only last Sunday choked big time in their congressional elections. They were not gracious losers. But never to turn down an opportunity to look good, the government has roared into action on the swine flu. Feeding into an already amplified latin paranoia about health related issues and germs (per my latina friend), the government has order pretty much everything and anything shut down, closed, keep out. That means school (which only has a 2 week winter break) has been closed down 3 weeks early, most cultural/civic events (like the big 4th of July in town), and some musical concerts have been postponed until further notice. There is discussion about non essential businesses closing for several weeks. I heard my gym might be closed next week and the hairdresser was closed for the weekend. So there is a bit of panic going on. Since the weather has been BEAUTIFUL here and the Kirchners finally got theirs, I guess there needs to be something to talk and worry about. God bless the swine flu. And God bless America.
The kids wanted barbecue ribs but I wasn’t able to find any pork ribs so I had to modify the meal (which is the challenge of cooking here, a key ingredient will be in the market one day, not the next) and instead we had pork chops, applesauce, macaroni and cheese and a green salad with tomatoes. Kind of American. For dessert, we made these yummy red velvet cup cakes with cream cheese icing. They might not look like Martha but they tasted like Martha.
I don’t know why this story cracks me up so much. I am sure it is not so funny to his wife and four beautiful boys. I am not feeling so bad for Governor Mark Sanford though. What a monster of a hypocrite he has turned out to be. He was a vocal part of the lynch mob that was demanding Clinton to resign during the Lewinsky blow job. He is also part of the political party that for the last 30 years has been trying to impose their “family values” on me and my friends. The GOP demise is a gift that keeps on giving. I am just waiting for Rove to get his.
These personal emails between him and his “exotic” Argentine honey, that are making the rounds, were even too much for me to read. Its a little too voyeuristic and Reality TV Show for me.
Today we are celebrating “Flag Day” or “Dia de la Bandera” in Argentina. The actual day is really the 20th of June, but in the last year or so, the Argentines have gotten hip to the idea of celebrating federal holidays during the work week, specifically Monday. Today Argentines are celebrating their beautiful and unique flag with barbecues (asados), trips to the mall with the entire family and big nap in the afternoon.
I think Argentina may have one of the most beautiful flags around. Its different in its color scheme, no provocative and warring red white and blue here. Its a calming celeste , yellow and white. Its a happy peaceful flag, no weapons or crest with fighting animals, just a brilliant sun with a lot on his mind. Another bonus to this pretty flag are the awesome national sports uniforms that this flag affords.
Messi, Crespo and unidentifed cutie
National Rugby Team
National Hockey hottie
However there is a price to paid for the undeniable loveliness of the Argentine Flag. This flag has its own song..its really a sad and melancholy song that is played everyday at school when the flag is raised on the playground. This happens at the beginning of school when the kids have all just arrived at class. You know you are late for school if the song is playing on the PA when you enter the school building. While the song is playing, everyone (that means YOU) stops what they are doing and freezes. No moving or talking. Its like playing the game “statue”. The song is not long but is really depressing. In the 5 1/2 years we have been here, the school has had 3 versions. I personally like best the instrumental version, you are spared the suicidal voices.
I wrote this post years ago (literally). Its is my most viewed post and just yesterday it got over 40 hits, weird…So I thought I would take a look at it again and I was sorry to see that the link to some great mullet photos was no longer active. I found a new one that is hysterical here. I am happy to report that the mullet is on the wane here, unfortunately it has been replaced by the equally unattractive thick heavy bangs with long hair. Especially not pretty when sported by a 60+ year old, with leather skin, surgically modified features and a cigarette. Muy elegante y classy!
Not your typical Argentine beauty
the Oprah/Pam Anderson Of Argentina
Original Post from 2004
I am a forty- something year old woman of average build. While in the recent past I have been much smaller and bigger (four kids), now I feel like I am at a good weight for me and while keeping toned is a constant battle, I am pretty happy with my body.
Or was happy, until I moved to Argentina. It didn’t take more than a few days for it to become apparent to me that I was living in a country of women who are genetically predisposed to long thin legs, tight and high butts and concave stomachs. Apparently eating disorders run rampant here, but that cant explain away the fact that the standard deviation of body types is pretty narrow, literally. Woman generally look great in clothes, lots of low slung pants, little t-shirts and almost always a FM heel. This is a Latin country and the pressure on a woman to appear young and sexy is palpable. Between this genetic gift, an active lifestyle, high protein diet and plastic surgery that your medical insurance covers, women manage to hold it together pretty well. It can be frightening though, when at the gym I see women from the back, tanned, skin tight workout clothes and the long blond ponytail but when you get a frontal shot it is a 60-70ish women that has spent A LOT of time tanning. Not a good look, a haircut and a hat would do wonders.
Speaking of long blond ponytails…..Almost all woman here have long hair. I think that is a very Latin thing. Lots of girls have really beautiful thick dark hair. There are also quiet a few that have very thick and fried orange hair and hair extensions are big here. In theory hair extensions would be a great thing. I might even consider them for fun if I wasn’t constantly finding chunks of hair randomly on the ground but most often on the floor of the gym and sometimes stuck to gym equipment, thanks to sweat. It’s truly FOUL!!!!!
While not having the gag factor of hair extensions an equally disturbing hair trend here is the mullet. A mullet is normally reserved for middle-north American (Canada is equally adept at the mullet), blue collar dudes. However the Argentine girls have embraced the look and are calling it their own. For those who have no idea what a mullet is I just don’t think I have the vocabulary or language skills to properly describe it here. Therefore, I am going to suggest a visit to http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/9195/mullets.html.
My point is that its really unfortunate that these beautiful girls who derive such societal power from their looks would set themselves back at least the 5 or 6 months it will take to grow out all evidence of this heinous hairdo.
In Argentina, like in much of the world, today is May Day. Having been school aged in the height of the Cold War, I vividly remember May Day being the day that the USSR paraded all their warfare in front of the Kremlin. In reality, its a day when workers have a day off, nothing more sinister than our own end of the summer Labor Day. So today the country is pretty much shut down. Unfortunately for me, this includes the newspaper delivery guy. And while we are well in to the autumn season here, it may be a pool day. Kids are home, the weather is warm and no where to go.
Our first summer in Junin De Los Andes was spent building a house, exploring all the amazing rivers, and me trying to figure out who this person was. I came across her frequently in my shopping adventures in Junin. Pretty much at any commercial enterprise I would find some version of this rendering framed and predominately displayed, often behind the cash register. I believe the organic vegetable stand had her floating in a Lucite block amongst the tomatoes. I think it took a few weeks seeing this image in a very subconscious way before my brain asked me why is Anne Frank being lionized in this sleepy Mapuche town in northern Patagonia? Is Junin a sister cities with Amsterdam? Was there a Anne Frank/Patagonia connection? Had the Frank Family spent a fly fishing vacation in Junin? (more…)
I love my flowers in Junin. The climate in Junin is Steppe. It means the step between desert and alpine. So while it is extremely dry in the summer (good for us!) the transitional seasons are rainy and it gets cold in the winter. So roses and hearty perennials do well. There are a lot of trees by the river and we have lots of natural grasses by the lake but the rest of the property is pretty scrubby, think High Chaparral. One thing that is particularly happy here is lavender, which makes me very happy! (and relaxed)
Here are photos of the roses that are in beds on either side of the front door. There are about thirty mature plants. Originally they were all Flame (orange-pink rambler) but we lost several during one especially wet winter. So in additional to the spectacular coral colored roses we have some white Paloma Blanca. These flowers come 2 times when we are here in Patagonia. They are prolific and we have more flowers than vases. The house is full of these flowers.
I have been happily ensconced in Patagonia now for a week. It has been lovely. We have had hot weather for so early in the season, but beautiful nonetheless, hot days and cool nights. Perfect for swimming and sleeping. There has been the usual chaos around the holidays in combination with setting up the house after an absence of nine months. But it has been really quiet nice and relaxing and couldn’t be more different than our life in Buenos Aires. (more…)
*downgraded to Portenos, people in the provincias are much calmer and dont fancy picking off pedestrians
One of my first posts way back, asked the question “what’s up with the crazy driving here, why??” While I have lived here, no one has been able to answer that question to my satisfaction. Often when I ask a local friend, “what is it exactly that happens to you when you get inside your car and you drive like you are insane?”, they will without fail say something that indicates that I have exaggerated the reality and am guilty of hyperbole. Coming in a close second is they honestly don’t have a clue what I am talking about. Just recently a good Argentine friend finally enlightened me about two driving mysteries, that until now were unsolved. (more…)
Haven’t written for awhile because I have been stupid busy. I was in Miami for a week at the beginning of the month, back inBsAs for a week and then company came and then we went to Junin for Thanksgiving break. I have been wanting to write about my trip to Miami but just couldn’t find a chunk of time to relive it with you. (more…)
I am feeling a lot less in exile these days. But my blog is still a mess of political and personal thoughts along with experiences of living in Argentina. While I can't promise, I will try to balance talk about my kids with something more universally relevant. And sorry if salty talk is offensive but I was a derivatives trader in another life and it cant be helped.
I think I have mentioned before that asado is a big part of life here. Typically the weekend is when most people are either cooking their own, have been lucky enough to be invited to another’s asado or go to a restaurant that specializes in asado. Yesterday, after an exhausting social calender this weekend, we were happy to go to a restaurant, specifically a parrilla.(parrilla is the spanish word for the barbecue or grill that you make the asado on) Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we wanted to walk to lunch meaning our regular parrilla (aptly named La Vaca) was not an option and we tried a new one. We were an abridged version of our family as the two older ones are mortified to be seen with us and basically dont like us at the moment. They stayed home and we were accompanied by the younger two, happy to walk hand in hand, excited to try a new place. Two uncomplicated children, how easy! What was I thinking?
I have had a really nice last few days. The 16 hour car ride across desert and plains should have been optional, but it was all worth it. It rained or snowed the entire time when we were at the house in Junin. Which for someone like my hyperactive husband can be problematic (although he made himself busy and useful by doing some painting inside). I on the other hand, busied myself by sitting by the fire and reading numerous books. I did get up periodically to cook or go out to eat. I also got up to go to bed. I was in heaven.
For just a few days. GM and I (sin chicos) are taking a mini break to the house in Patagonia. We haven’t been since the beginning of February. When we left it was the dog days of summer, when we arrive tomorrow it will be the waning, yet still harsh days of winter. GM will happily walk around looking for broken fences, spilt water pipes and weather permitting he will fish illegally. I, on the other hand will be forced by wind, mud, rain or snow to stay inside and cook (sheppard’s pie and chicken stew are on on the menu) and spend time in front of the fire reading a good book. Poor me.
We just finished up another (almost monthly) long weekend. We got a taste of everything this past weekend as far as weather is concerned. Saturday it was stuffy and humid and hot (27C/86F). Saturday night the wind blew through and it rained and stormed (we have intense thunderstorms here, I love them) for hours on Sunday. The rain brought much cooler temperatures. (10C/50F) And this morning we woke up to clear, bright and almost periwinkle skies. Just gorgeous.
One of the great things about the internets is that you can avoid human contact when it comes to doing mundane things like buying plane tickets. Its just so much easier to be able to look at your own computer screen and see all the flight options, prices, and seats than having someone have to communicate all this information via a bad phone connection. When I do have to call client service people, I am not looking for a fight, because generally I find these people are trying to be helpful,but often it is less satisfying than an electronic commerce experience.
While it might not look like much, it is a photo of all the kids, they are all looking at the camera, and and for the most part they are smiling. (Georgie doesn’t smile, she smirks) It may not rival past Christmas photos, but I wouldn’t say it wasn’t an effort. We are at the point now where the kids, especially Hank(13) and Cal(11) need to be bribed with chocolate (in this case hot chocolate) to be cooperative in front of the camera for what turns out to be less than 5 minutes out of their busy day. And long gone are the days of coordinating outfits from
I wrote this post years ago (literally). Its is my most viewed post and just yesterday it got over 40 hits, weird…So I thought I would take a look at it again and I was sorry to see that the link to some great mullet photos was no longer active. I found a new one that is hysterical 
Not your typical Argentine beauty
