back "home"

• I sort of really didn't want to get out of bed this morning
• maybe it was because I knew we had a 7 miler ahead of us (and my legs have been awfully achy lately)
• maybe it was more because I wouldn't be waking up to the cute faces of Ricky, Irelynn, and Alex... :(
• or maybe I was just really tired from "sleeping" on a plane the night before
• Jake eventually got me out of bed, and we've had a semi-productive day: we did the 7 miler (thank goodness we're back to 50 degree temps), hit up the organic market, got some reading and unpacking done, and now we're waiting for our sushi delivery...
• unpacking is never fun, unless it involves some of your favorite US foods, and none of your pb jars got smashed (success!)
• we ordered in...I think mainly because we got used to my mom cooking our meals...gosh we're going to miss that lady's home cookin'!
• feels weird to be back to our "home" but I will say it is a little nice to be back to our little Argentinean apartment in our little now-familiar neighborhood
• and it's nice to sleep on our pillows again
• and although I miss the States like crazy, I'm determined to make the most of our time here...the little and big differences alone (good and bad) make it an interesting time for us to observe, explore, learn, and grow as a couple
• sushi's here!

empanadas, cinnamon rolls, and asian cuisine

• I tend to forget about my Sony camera, and usually only upload photos from our new Canon
• here are some shots from the ol' Sony
• Empanadas con Semillas (pollo, palta, y queso relleno)

• I'm kind of getting the hang of this empanada making thing...
• tried an Argentinean cinnamon roll...a little dry, but the gooey center was great! best part of a cinnamon roll...

• I swear this wasn't me

• first day of my winter vacation! celebrated with...
• lunch @ Sudestada in Palermo Hollywood...for ~US$11, I got a glass of wine, this salad...

• ...and this bowl of vegetable, chicken fried rice...great deal, and was YUM!

• pretty tiles in SoHo!

some things...

some happy things...

• suitcase out and ready to pack (so far, I've packed swimsuits and malbec...I think that's all I'll need)

• we have officially completed 1/3 of our marathon training program! a little hard to believe...I haven't told Jake yet that the second third is probably the toughest...good thing he's tough! yesterday was our last "shorter" long run...bring on the 10+ milers! (terrified of our long run in Sioux City next weekend...PLEASE be below 80 degrees at 5am!!!)

a funny thing...

• if you click on the photo below of our canilla (tap) you will see why I ordered an "empanada calda" the other day...why is our tap labeled in Italian?! so confusing...

and a bittersweet thing...

• our Venezuelan friends came over last night to cook arepas for us before they move away from BA... :(

• I was taught as well...and they even left us the rest of the bag of white corn flour so we can make them on our own in the future...hooray! this is me trying to get my arepa symmetrical and with an even thickness

• the first bite (p.s. that's Venezuelan rhum mixed with coke and lemon juice in my glass...lemon is the secret; they also brought these amazing little straw cookies called pirulin...such great friends)

• Jake assembling

• Beatriz knows how to fill her arepa well! with (pale) yellow cheese and shredded chicken...the green stuff is shredded chicken, red pepper, avocado, and mayo...another arepa filling

• we had a great night eating, drinking, chatting, and planning future trips to Venezuela and Australia
• we are very sad that Beatriz and Ricardo are moving to Perth this month...but we are excited for them, and look forward to seeing them again someday either in the US, Australia, or somewhere else in the world!
• 4:30am bedtime = lazy Becky and Jake today...in bed until 11ish...thank goodness we had a scheduled Skype date with family...otherwise we may have never gotten up
• we forced ourselves to get out of the house to get some studying, reading, and trip planning done...so we went to a café in our neighborhood that I'd been wanting to try, Bella Italia
• we had some tasty cafés con crema and shared this lil' alfajor...yummmy

• while browsing through a Cosmo magazine at the café, I came across this page...thought it was quite funny

• 2 days to 'til the States! (AHHHH!!!)

Our Month of Winter in BA

• so it's been a while again...I think I've put off posting anything because we haven't made any major trips or done anything super huge over this past month...it's been work all week...train for marathon...clean and relax on weekends...just nothing too exciting
• part of me is so anxious for our trip home, that it's hard to focus on much else
• another distracting thing for me lately has been reading other people's blogs...it's SO addicting! and so fun! it's like reading a never-ending story...
• anyway, let me get out the ol' camera and planner to see exactly what we've been up to this past month:

Sa 6.16.12

while waiting for the bus we spotted these characters...see the thumbs up?

fall/winter foliage in Chacaritas

wouldn't be BA without the graffiti

• checked out a coffee shop we'd been hearing about, Full City Coffee House in Chacaritas...after our 9 miler I was dying for food and could barely wait to try the burgers, coffee, and croissants:

• afterward, walked over to El Galpón, an organic market that we had also heard good things about

• I'd say we came home with some good stuff 

quinoa, Full City coffee, honey, multigrain bread, natural yogurt,
brown eggs,  grated cheese, goat cheese, greens, apples, oranges

btw, isn't it great to see such a full spice rack? thank your crate from Chicago!

• Sa night we were lucky to meet up with our dear friends (who are leaving us for the land down under very shortly) for dinner at a wonderful organic restaurant, Artemisia
• everything looked so delicious that we had to take a picture of each plate individually before snapping a group shot:

even got my own half bottle of chardonnay!

Su 6.17.12

• happy father's day to all the daddies out there!

M  6.18.12

• big HHI debut...had fun Skyping with family in order to watch...
• thanks for everyone's kind comments during and after the show...most were not too harsh despite our horrendous acting skills...
• I especially enjoyed people's Facebook pictures of their TVs displaying a Becky and Jake mid-house-hunt...funny stuff!

• we're enjoying House #3 in our "romantic barrio"

W 6.20.12

• Feliz Día de la Bandera! 
• Septiembre honors Flag Day:

this isn't a flag day pic...these are some projects my students have been working on:
Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and group painting of Van Gogh's Starry Night

• ...and Nightingale goes green (don't think I've posted pix of my little kiddie school)

I feel like I must note, I am only in this room 3 hours/week...
so unfortunately I cannot claim the beautiful Tinkerbell display, nor the "green" decor...cute though, huh?

• in honor of flag day, we checked out a new café in Palermo, recommended by friends, Casa Mua...how could we not try one of these larger-than-our-heads chocolate chip cookies!?

an example of a mansion we hope to own in some big city someday....

Th 6.21.12

• I jinxed myself with that last post about caca in BA...
• on my run this morning, I had by far THE WORST dog-business-step-in of my life...
• ...needed to soak my shoe all morning in soapy water, used Q-tips, toothpicks, you name it...thought for sure the shoe was a goner...I'll spare the details, but Jake caught a great picture of me post-"power washing" my shoe on our patio...thank goodness for our hose!

• I am back to wearing the shoes after a good thorough weeks worth of cleaning

• Jake volunteered at el banco de alimentos (food bank) through a service day at work...here they are sorting soups:

Sa 6.23.12

• struggling to find a place to get a good haircut here
• but, we came across this Italian barber shop and Jake decided to give it a try
• below you can see what is of #1 importance here:

• in their defense, this was the soccer game that determined whether or not River, one of the two most popular soccer clubs in BA, would return to the A group...they won, so they did

• other than the longer-than-preferred faux-hawk, Giuseppe the owner did a pretty good job with Jake's hair
• Sa night we went to a non-traditional one-person tango show with some friends

• very strange, but different and fun

Su 6.23.12

• I'm terrible and made a quick morning run to a nearby pastry shop to pick up these for breakfast:

LARGEST MEDIALUNAS EVER

• we spent the remainder of our Sunday walking off the above pastries...
• took our first Subte ride up to Belgrano, then walked our way back through Colegiales, then Palermo Hollywood
• enjoyed the architecture, differences in the neighborhoods, and fall/winter sites

• here are some of Jake's shots of us crossing the old train tracks from Belgrano to Colegiales

W 6.27.12

• met up with a friend for my 6 miler today - hooray for running buddies!

Su 7.1.12

• happy birthday little Ricky!  can't believe my nephew is 7!!!
• checked out a new neighborhood very briefly today...Caballito...we only had time for some street viewing... 

•  ...and super pancho eating at Pancho Factory...

they had a gazillion topping options!

• ...before meeting up with friends to watch the Euro Cup final...Spain vs. Italy...I was cheering for Italy, but sadly they lost 4-0...
• after the game, we were walking past Recoleta cemetery and came across a game of live Angry Birds...Jake loves the juxtaposition of the angel statues in the background with yellow angry bird ready to fire!

M 7.2.12

• hand mixer fail...blown out at the hardware shop whilst trying to select the proper converter
• (mind you, we were "playing it safe" by taking our transformer into the hardware shop to get the "expert" advice...)
• should've known it was over when the employee turned it on at top speed...really haven't had much luck with appliances here...
• RIP hand mixer, alarm clock, and toothbrush charger...let's keep our fingers crossed with the coffee bean grinder and coffee maker!

W 7.4.12

• HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
• the day started off ok...during my morning run, I happened to pass by the US embassy; naturally I stopped, and with my hand over my heart, I proudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance, like any good American school teacher would do...AND I got a little sneak peak of the events going on at the embassy...I tried to convince them...hey! let me in to the party!  Soy Estadounidence! I promise! 
• then I spoiled myself with a latte and medialunas while getting some work done at a café...
• I must admit, the rest of the day was a little rough for me...it wasn't just missing the family cookout, swimming, and fireworks back home...
• ...it was more the fact that it started to rain...and I was late for work...so into a (smoky) cab I hopped...
• ...then my students frustrated me and made me feel sad and alone in this foreign country...
• ...then it was the awful, awful supermarket where I spent 2.5 hours after work (1.25 of it WAITING IN THE CHECK OUT LINE)...if it wasn't for that darn 15% off coupon for my total bill, I would've left...
• ...groceries were delivered to our house after 10pm (took over 3 hours)
• luckily, Nightingale saved the day with a girls night out with pizza and beer...
• ...then home for cheesecake and wine with Jake while Skyping with my family...that helped a bit
• I would say my day looked a bit like an inverted bell curve...up, down, up

Sa 7.7.12

• date night with the husband: Itamae Sushi

look at all that sushi! can hardly wait to dig in!

playing with Jake's glasses

•  submarino and chocolates

goin' for the dunk

• followed by 12:30am movie - To Rome with Love...really tried to be Argentinean and do the late night movie...too bad the latest was at 1:30am or something crazy like that!

Su 7.8.12

• happy to break our day of frustrating (expensive) trip planning with a night out with friends
• on our way to the bus, we came across this fun site in our park...it's like a circus!

hippies in Parque Las Heras

• we went to the blind theater and saw what I think has been the most unique show yet
• it was called "El Sueño de Los Elefantes"
• you arrive at the theater, they take you through a side door, up these stairs, and you sit down. then they explain what will happen (in Spanish of course)...all I know is that we had to take off our shoes and put on blindfolds...and we could get a quick sip of tea if we so desired
• then, in small groups, we were led into this dark room, told to lay down on a mat with a small pillow, then we were given a blanket
• for the next (almost) two hours, we experienced a multi-sensory show which included singing, musical instruments (like didgeridoos), vibrations, different scents, and even mists of water...all blindfolded and lying down
• I fell asleep for part of it...apparently some guy was snoring...the floor was mostly uncomfortable, the music was mostly good, and the whole experience was a little strange, but worth it

cool artwork (fileteado) on building near theater

• what better way to end the night then with beef and malbec?
• we tried a fairly well-known parilla in Palermo SoHo called Don Julio
• we split provoleta (cheese sizzled on a grill) for an appetizer, as well as three cuts of meat, salad, malbec, dessert wine and ice cream with fig flambé for dessert...we left happy and full
• the restaurant is filled with signed wine bottles...we signed ours too, to add to the collection 

M 7.9.12

• another Argentine holiday?  Fine by me! Happy Independence Day Argentina!
• I swear all we do is eat...and it's so much fun!...we met a co-worker of mine and her husband at a tenedor libre for a late lunch (buffet/all-you-can-eat = DANGER!)
• then we napped

Tu 7.10.12

• one week from today we will be boarding a plane to the States!!! YAY!!!!
• hopefully see MANY of you soon! ;)

*p.s.  winter here is like a chilly autumn...