thankful for ups and downs

[NOTE: this post was written on Sunday, November 11th...felt it was appropriate to post it on Thanksgiving]

• found lice in my hair on Tuesday night at 11:30pm...
• went to Farmacity at midnight to buy lice shampoo and comb...
• was up until 4:30am getting them out, cleaning the apartment, and doing laundry (5 loads in a row! ...or were there more?)
• on Wednesday morning, I swept, vacuumed, and mopped the floor...in such a furry that I stubbed my left pinky toe so badly that it maybe broke

• Wednesday evening we took the couch covers (from both couches) up the street to be laundered...hobbling all the way
• finally iced, elevated and splinted that darn little pinky toe and it's feeling better now

• the ants are back in the bathroom (they're not liking their little suicide gel so much anymore...), joining the water flies that we just can't seem to get rid of...
• the laundry machine broke, luckily we got the 5 loads in before it decided to bust...now if the service guy would just get to it...
• used 1TB baking soda instead of powder in the blueberry scones this morning (yes mom, you are right, you live and learn...)
• what is wrong with me?
• do I really need to experience every little illness and annoyance possible in the year 2012!? sprained ankle, colds, UTI, flu, eye infection, lice, not to mention our credit/debit card numbers being stolen....come on BA! I'm learning to like you, please learn to like me too!
• upon reflection of these frequent mini-bumps in the road...I realize that I REALLY need to appreciate when these pesky things AREN'T happening...  
• when I can run, fast or slow, just being able to get out there when I'm injury-free!
• when I can breathe perfectly well through my nose
• when I can drink a cup of coffee with a healthy throat, rather than Airborne with a sore one
• when my stomach feels fine and I'm not nauseous (still can't stomach ground beef...)
• when my eyes are clear
• when I can do laundry from the convenience of my own home
• when my head doesn't itch like crazy 
• and when I don't feel disgusting due to bug infestation...
• the good, healthy comfortable times are SOOOO much better than the bad, ill, stressful times
• but if it weren't for the discomfort of these bumps, perhaps I wouldn't enjoy the contrast of the good times quite so much
• I'm happy about the Christmas tree and decorations we purchased this weekend

see how sunny it is outside? doesn't quite feel like Christmas with summer weather...
but we'll try our best to make it feel like it

this little guy can barely hold up its lil' star

love me some white xmas lights...

• and I'm happy for having AC during this 80-90 degree week when so many went without due to power outages 
• for the break in the heat...being able to enjoy a cooler weekend
• for the technology that allows us to easily replace our bank cards...thank goodness for Skype and online banking
• and for super clean couches
• for the funny movie we saw last night about the history of the vibrator (Hysteria...go see it)
• and for my husband who's willing to stay up until 4am with me to pick through my hair (6 billion times, he says)
• and that he sometimes dresses like a Feauto (it wasn't for Halloween; he really is out golfing today) I seriously came around the corner and thought I saw my brother or something

• and of course, for family and friends, who I love and miss so much
• and how could I forget, for Notre Dame being 10-0...GO IRISH! [now 11-0...please make it 12-0 this weekend ND!!!]

• always lots to be thankful for...
• HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

lost in translation...

• there's something missing here with my students...
• why have we not felt the bond that a teacher and student should have by the end of a school year?
• where is the respect? where is the understanding? 
• am I an ineffective teacher? what have I done wrong with this group to be missing this special connection? 
• I think it could be a variety of things, but right now I'm blaming it on the language barrier
• what I say to them must not be getting through...
• they must not be understanding me fully, because if they were, then I don't think we'd be having such problems
• and the reason I think this way at the moment is because I just received an e-mail from a former middle school student helper of mine from Chicago who is now in her first year of high school...
• she kindly sent a short, sweet little message to say happy thanksgiving...
• just what I needed to brighten this (yet again) frustrating day in Argentina...
• with emotions flying due to having to miss an important family holiday, her e-mail really made me feel a lot better...
• funny how a student can have such an effect
• I hope that deep down my students here feel that I care about them, and respect them, and wish they could feel the same way too...aside from differences in culture and language

BA Saturday in the Park

Sa 11.3.12

• this weekend, the city hosted picnics in several parks scattered across the capital
• one park, just happened to be Parque Las Heras, right next to our house
• so we decided to check it out for a bit

• not only was the park colorfully decorated with ribbons, flags, and tissue paper flowers,
• but hippy artists took it upon themselves to paint the wall that borders part of the park...how fun!

• park loungers are a very common scene in the parks of BA...they love to tomar el sol

• here are some of the artists finishing up part of the wall

•  a stage was set up for the various performers
• we happened to catch a hip-hop dance off, which was quite entertaining 

talkin' smack

flip!

some moves 

• not sure what these painted boxes will be...

• remember that post where I mentioned merry-go-rounds? there's one in our park too...it's pretty cool

• a little kiddy-art going on...

• was not quite a Sioux City Saturday in the Park, but fun to meander around for a bit
• later that evening, a friend and I attended Moonlight Yoga...which included a little over an hour of yoga starting around 9:30pm, followed by a vegetarian meal ending around 1am
• was fabulous to do yoga again after some time, meal was delicious, and enjoyed meeting other expats..thanks BuenaOnda!

Crusader Connection

• my alma mater did a little feature story of us in their series of Crusaders Around the World
• you can check it out here 
• and see what else my fellow-Crusaders are up to...
• GO HEELAN!

An Argentinean Wedding

Sa 10.27.12

• before wedding festivities, I baked a cake
• earlier that week I was inspired by all of the Facebook and Pinterest posts about pumpkin-infused baked goods, and wanted to bake something myself
• however, I was a little bummed to discover that canned pumpkin doesn't exist in Buenos Aires (or at least I haven't seen it, nor had other bloggers whose posts I came across)
• entonces, I decided to try what another blogger had done....use mashed butternut squash (pumpkins are a bit different down here, but butternut squash is the same and in abundance)
• so over the past week, I found the recipe (thanks Monica, for testing it out and positing a delicious-looking photo of your Pumpkin Dream Cake on Facebook...your culinary genius inspires me)...
• ...gathered my ingredients: lots of butter, sugar (which we're kindof sortof trying to cut out), flour (white...also trying to cut out...good grief), and eggs...
• and THREE bags of this sugar: 

• yes, THREE bags of powdered sugar were used to make this delectable maple cream cheese frosting (the Philadelphia Cream Cheese costs about $7 for 8oz here...needed 1 1/2 packages....ouch)
• the next obstacle (after deciding upon my squash and hunting down cream cheese) was that I don't have our cake pans here...and I needed three 8" round pans...I did have one 10" round glass baking dish...so I used that...twice, and came up with this two-layer cake:

• we cut a portion for that day to savor with our coffee, a portion for the fridge, and the rest (3/4 of it) went into the freezer...

• a 10" 2-layer cake is BIG for two people!

• even got a thumbs up from the husband...

• ...ended up being super moist, super rich, but the perfect pumpkin baked item to make it feel like Fall around here (it's spring and 80 degrees today btw)
• onto the real point of this blogpost now...
• ...the wedding
• Jake's co-worker, Romina, got married
• she invited everyone from her team at work
• the ceremony was at a beautiful, old cathedral downtown, Nuestra Señora de la Merced...

• the invitation said 8pm for the ceremony, but I think the bride actually walked down the aisle closer to 8:30 and it was finished around 9:15pm...all customary practices for an Argentinean wedding  

• I was in love with her dress...which had this amazing train (note the paparazzi....the videographer and photographer were pretty intense)

• the mass was in Spanish, of course, and the priest was a cute, old man that I couldn't really understand
• only the couple received communion and the music included an organist without vocalists 

• another bride was preparing to walk down the aisle as we were leaving...they sure are night owls here!
• a co-worker of Jake's generously gave us a ride to the reception, which was held at a former warehouse in Barracas (neighborhood south of downtown, next to Boca)
• the venue was beautiful...really did a great job remodeling this warehouse...fully equipped with huge disco balls, a great sound system, and beautiful decorations

• the upstairs looked down to the main floor

• before the couple arrived, we were ushered upstairs for international appetizers (taco bar with chips and guac, and sushi bar!) and endless drinks
• we were asked to take our seats around 10:30

• and before the first course, about 5 songs were played where the couple danced, along with the father-daughter, family members, etc.  it was fun to watch

• they also had fog machines...so cool

• our table with Jake's co-workers and their significant others

• table settings and center pieces were all very similar to what you might see in the States, as well as the guests' party attire
• around 11pm the first course came out...was basically crepe-like packages, one filled with meat, the other with spinach and cheese...pretty tasty

• in between courses, there was more dancing, and super cute slideshows of first the bride, then the groom, then the two together, and finally a video of their Civil Ceremony (which took place on Wednesday earlier that week...this is also customary for Argentinean weddings)

• around 11:30 the main dish was served...beef, half of a twice baked potato, vegetables, and dinner rolls...I guess I was too hungry to snap a shot of this one
• with an open bar, we had some fun.  I started with white wine during appetizers...was asked if I wanted champagne when we sat down at our table (who would say no?), then couldn't resist a strawberry daiquiri that another girl at our table had ordered...
• our table looked something like this with all of the stemware:

to be fair, one of those glasses has water in it

• before dessert, there was more dancing, more slideshows, and maybe around 1am this came out:

• brownie tower with a side of vanilla ice cream topped with a fruitilla sauce
• then there was lots of dancing

Jake with José...who sadly left Aon that next week

shot with the bride!

• and then some cookies came out...loved these teeny tiny alfajores 

• Jake and José had switched to gin and tonics by now...but because we were pushing 3am by this point, Jake accepted the waiter's offer for a coffee

what a combo!

• we were home around 4am, but many stuck around and partied on
• Argentineans party LATE and party HARD
• thanks for the invite Romi!  We had such a great time!!!  
• Felicitaciones a vos y Fernando! El matrimonio es buenísimo!