Pasta

• seeing the many fresh pasta shops here made us wonder how common these kinds of places are in the States...and made Jake wonder about a business idea...
• made our first purchase of fresh pasta from the little shop I walk by on my way to school...you can watch them rolling the pasta on these large old machines...it's kinda neat
• the curly noodles looked fun to me:

•  another cafe shot...the question is, what is the main focus? Studying Spanish, or enjoying the coffee and sweets?

• first sweater day...Fall is here, crate with warmer clothes is NOT!  I really hope we get our visas soon so we can get our goodies that are waiting for us in Chicago!

St. Patrick's Day!

• recovered from the stomach business without having to miss work this week
• On Tuesday Jake left at mid-day for Rosario, in the northwest province of Santa Fe in Argentina.  He stayed the night in Rosario and the next day left for San Jeronimo to visit a client's plant.  He said it was very interesting and nice to get out of Buenos Aires and see another part of Argentina.  
• Happy St. Patrick's Day!
• may have celebrated a bit too much last night...went to bed/woke up with an awful sore throat...but we had a lot of fun at our lil' gathering!

the sign on our door

Jake made fun of my "child's birthday party"-like decorations.
He secretly liked them

The Spread...green theme of course!

miraculously found a clover cookie cutter and shamrock sprinkles!

Jake had the idea of place a green film over our terrace light...great ambiance! 

...and this was his idea too (can you see the gold coins spilling from his bucket?)

our lovely guests

Lately...

Well hello everyone!  Boy has it been a while.  Obviously a lot has happened since February 12th.  So let's get started!


M 2.13.12

• Colonia allowed us to relax, unwind, and not think about the apartment or job search! whew...but then it was back to reality
• I had back to back interviews...my 2nd with one school, and my 1st at another...both went pretty well and after some consideration, I ended up accepting the job at the first place, Septiembre Jardinar where I'll be teaching 7th grade literature, grammar, and self-esteem. I start tomorrow!
• my hesitations involved the pay and hours (only half days), both seem to be common down here and possibly the best I can get if I want to be in a school
• back to back interviews, followed by three apartment viewings...one of which we ended up (finally) getting!  Hooray! Just in time for our deadline of Feb. 20th

Tu 2.14.12

• first day was pretty good; met all of the other English teachers at the school and they're very nice...and of course all speak English well
• we have 2 weeks to plan before students start on the 28th; lots of planning to be done!  I'm in charge of the modernism era and will have to choose a classic work of literature from that time period to teach the students...I ended up going with The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald....sure to be a roaring 20's kind of hit! 

my itty bitty classroom...nice greenery outside our window

my itty bitty desk; have I mentioned everything seems smaller here?

• Valentine's Day was spent at a nice restaurant near the docks in Puerto Madero; Jake was saved by the restaurant who provided me with a rose...aww...

can't go wrong with steak, malbec, and fries

my rose...thanks Campo & Mar!

I got Jake cheesy heart-shaped sugar cookies from Sweet O'Clock.  he shared.  they were good.

F 2.17.12

• I received a response back this week about teaching beginner English on Tu/Th evenings to 5-6 year olds at an English Institute called Florence Nightingale; Jake and I walked by it in our first couple weeks here and I had also heard it was a good school from one of our realtors  
• so, I sent them an e-mail with my resume and turns out they had a position; interviewed this morning and before I had to head to Septiembre, I grabbed a coffee at this cute little place:

• I often see this dog walker on my way to work down Peña everyday:

• I e-mailed the director of Nightingale later in the day and accepted; two jobs! woo hoo!  now just need a few more to afford this city...jk (kind of)
• last night at the dazzler calls for delivery!  we ordered this pizza with something called faina...some sort of garbanzo bread thing; not our favorite, but willing to try again...maybe something more fresh?

Sa 2.18.12

• MOVING DAY!
• we REALLY slept in...so late that our Nature Reserve run fell right at mid-day; felt right around 100 degrees with humidity, making for a tough run with lots of stops for water
• spent the afternoon packing, before arriving to our humble abode around 7pm
• not ready to start using the new kitchen just yet, we walked down the street to see what kind of good grub we could find; stumbled upon this Armenian/Arabic restaurant, and as soon as I saw the hummus, I was sold

Su 2.19.12

• today was spent trying to cross things off our giant shopping list
• first we started at the grocery store; Argentinians really do it right when it comes to delivery...it cost us around $4 total including tip to have our groceries delivered to our kitchen floor:

• We also made a trip to Easy, America's equivalent to Home Depot...look, you can even saw things yourself at their handy workbench or test your light bulbs at the live sockets! (don't expect any big settlement for cutting your arm off! never would you see this in the States...)

• connected to Easy is Jumbo, similar to Wal-Mart...below is one of the only things I've found here that is bigger than in the States...their beloved Coca-Cola...a whopping 3 liters per bottle!

• this box comes fully equipped with the leg of ham you see there, a knife, and video on how to prepare

• the lady on this ad reminds me of me...cooking, while on the laptop, while drinking a glass of wine...

• it's 10pm...lights are turning off...we closed the place out! look at them lines!

M 2.20.12

• FELIZ CARNAVAL! Pretty lucky that our moving weekend fell on a holiday...we have today and tomorrow off leaving us time to unpack and prepare for school
• so how did I use my time off?  bake cookies of course in my new (to me) oven!
• first I had to figure out the measurements:

one cup for all ingredients

conversions to grams and cc's

• then gathered the ingredients....

• and began measuring and mixing...mmm...thanks for the peanut butter Grandma Ruth!

• had to toss in some oats

• Jake showing me how to turn on the gas, turn the knob and light the match 

• unfortunately no temperature gage other than high and low...where's 350º? 

• almost forgot about the best part! the Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips...I could not live with out these....SO good!  Thanks Mary and Paul for being our primary supplier via Sam's Club

•  first batch going in...

•  success!

•  what's wrong with this picture? the pizza pan did not seem to work as well as the cookie sheet

• finally got my homemade cookies!

• everyone else also thought it was a good idea to go to a movie on this holiday weekend; this place had popcorn, so I was happy

•  didn't get the preferred movie time, so to pass the time we went to this traditional Argentinian restaurant down the street for dinner; we got something similar to a shepherd's pie, a yummy stew, and some sort of traditional cookie; all very good

Tu 2.21.12

• because I haven't posted enough pictures of food, here is our breakfast from Tuesday morning...had to show off our cool stovetop toaster

Fat Tuesday feast

• enjoying breakfast on our terrace

• our apartment is a bit older, giving it a bit more character and charm...here are some pictures of the new place:

what you see upon entering 

couch #1 (sofa bed...come visit!!!)

opposite of couch #1 is couch #2 and a random stereo system

desk/eating area...used to be part of the terrace

inside that circle used to be a naked cherub-looking baby/woman
that really freaked me out...property owner took it away for us

entryway...lots of storage for those darn big suitcases!

terrace...equipped with lots of plants! 

might have to squeeze a parilla in there for grilling

bathroom

half bath/laundry...love the tile border!

bedroom looking out to terrace

lots of storage and a fridge bigger than one you had in college!

little prep table...and windows in every room = lots of light!

the hallway...obv

Jake likes to take cloud pictures...so here ya go...this was taken from our terrace

• sampling of Argentina's famous helado; actually this place, called Jauja supposedly serves genuine artisanal Patagonian ice cream...SO good!

Sa 2.25.12

• my 3-day work week went pretty well; turned in plans for the first week and director seemed pleased...hope I'm ready for Tuesday, our first day with the kiddos!
• we went out with some friends, a couple from Venezuela, to a brewery in Las Cañitas called Antares...nice to try some different beers other than Quilmes! 

Su 2.26.12

• met a really nice couple at the last InterNations event, he from Sweden, she from Japan; we met up today to go out for lunch and explore San Isidro...nice neighborhood north of the city...can finally get a good view of the river!

• saw some beautiful homes in this area...much larger and different from what you find in the city...then came across this UNESCO site:

Villa Ocampo...former mansion of the Argentinian writer, Victoria Ocampo

Tu 2.28.12

• Monday was another holiday, so no work for me and Jake...can't argue with that!
• FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! I was a little nervous, but the kids were really great and mostly just curious; starting any new job can be difficult at first...luckily each day has gotten better as I learn the ropes...
• check out what teachers get to wear here:

Th 3.1.12

• first evening at Nightingale with the little ones
• I have 5 students: Valentin, Juan Martin, Massimo, Sofia, and Catalina...love their names
• the hour and a half class went pretty well...they're definitely full of energy, as any 5-6 year old should be, but they really don't know any English...sure to be an interesting year!

F 3.2.12

• had Jake's colleague and her daughter (who is our age) over for dinner  
• the daughter and I have become language exchange partners, which is great
• we made tacos using the humongous container of taco seasoning Jake brought back from the States...I think they liked it...especially the homemade guac

Sa/Su 3.3-4.12

• one of Jake's colleagues in Chicago who is actually from BA was in town so he invited us out to his family hacienda or farm...a cattle ranch with lots of cows and around 100 horses...mom would be in heaven!
• had a great time exploring the 6,000+ acres, laying by the pool, holding his new baby nephew, and enjoying the delicious meat from our Sunday afternoon asado

woke up to cows mooing...they were our roosters telling us to get up

more and more kept walking by our window

so we strolled around the house to get a better look

the main house, pool to the right

Jake picked me a flower :) awww....

morning bike ride...going through sand was not easy, so shortly after this pic,
we turned around and went among cows and corn

beautiful day

let the asado begin! heating up the coals 

and transferring them over to the grill

carne!

went for a drive through the more woodsy part of the land

Sa 3.10.12

• low-key weekend...had every intention of being productive until I threw up after an afternoon yoga class...happened a couple more times and was in bed the rest of the afternoon/evening...flu? food poisoning? not sure which...

Su 3.11.12

• my body is achy all over but have managed to keep down my toast and banana...let's see if I can get some things checked off my list!