un año

1.7.12

• we arrived in BA

1.7.13

• we've lived (survived) in BA for one year!*
• today was also my first day of group Spanish classes at an institute (3weeks x 5days x 4hours = too much money spent, better be speaking better by the end)
• at said first Spanish class, met Serbian who informed us that today is Serbia's Christmas day
• today is the BCS National Championship game, it's ok ND...you're still #1 in my heart

looking back on year 1...

• happy to say both of our Spanish-speaking abilities have improved
• Jake works every day, all in Spanish (WHAT?! ...sorry Jake, I'm just still so impressed)
• I found a (several) job(s)...the arrangement being bittersweet
• we found a very nice, cozy apartment in a not-so-easy-to-understand real estate market
• watched the exchange rate go from AR$4.30 to 4.90
• persuaded Jake to run a marathon with me (he's really great)
• met friends and have had to say farewell to friends
• traveled to other cities in AR, with brief stops in Uruguay and Chile
• celebrated the year's holidays with our own little family of two
• Skyped...A LOT!
• had good days and bad
• friends visited
• family visited
• drank a lot of wine (particularly malbec)
• ate a lot of local cuisine (particularly bife)
• made a foreign city our home

year 2...we're ready for ya 

• hope to do more of all that traveling, friend-making, visitor-hosting, eating, drinking, etc.
• ...y esperamos hablar perfectamente el español cuando volvemos a Chicago! [so what if Jake kind of had to edit it a little bit?!]

*one of my New Years Resolutions is to be more positive about BA and AR...going to try really hard to do this while still portraying an accurate re-telling of our lives here...want to convey our true feelings, but working on making these feelings more optimistic

BUGS

• bugs like our apartment...ants, flies, mosquitos, water bugs, spiders, lice, and now weevils (we think) and moths
• Mary discovered weevils in our oats (sorry Mary)
• later on I saw moths flying around in our bag of quinoa
• then I remembered reading this: (you might want to read it too)http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/11/16/moths-invaded-our-pantrybugs-like-real-food-too/ 
• and I said to Jake that it was time to do a full clean out of our pantry (see steps 1-6 in the link above)...
• we proceeded to find a moth larva in a bag of dried chickpeas, but that was it (we're hoping!)
• coincidentally, the oats, quinoa, and chickpeas were all purchased from bulk food bins at a dietetica, health foods store, in our neighborhood...
• not so sure I want to return there, but apparently finding these bugs in food is very common...and they especially like healthy, whole foods...rice, beans, grains, etc...wonderful!
• we've put a lot of our things (after opening their packages and sorting through) in zip lock bags then in the fridge or freezer, or in glass jars with tight seals, then back in our cleaned out pantry
• we also hope to buy some moth traps (mentioned in the link)
• let's see if we can reduce the presence of bugs in 2013!

• ...working on xmas/Patagonia/New Years post...stay tuned! ;)