A Weekend Worth Remembering

We have just finished such a wonderful weekend!

On Saturday we took the subway for the first time. It was a good thing we took it over the weekend because some of our friends have told us that during the week it can get so crowded that you might not be able to get off at your stop because it becomes so packed with people. Not sure if we want to experience that but it was neat to ride. Their is no air conditioning in the cars, so all of the windows are down to try and keep things cool. There is one line, Linea A, that was built in the early 1900's. The tracks are made of wood and the cars look like something out of a museum, when we go we'll take pictures.

We rode the subay to get to a bohemian district called Palermo Soho. There we stumbled on a huge fair - with a plaza and streets full of young vendors. There was a lot of have made clothes with very unique designs and all kinds of other knick-knacks. We didn't buy anything there because we were on a mission to find a paper store that my parents had found on their trip, they knew we would loved. When we did find it, we were in love. They make all types of handmade papers and books in different colors and textures. We spend a long time there before we sat on a sidewalk cafe and did some people watching.

That evening we had dinner with one of my Dad's closest friends in a trendy restaurant district. We ate at an italian restaurant which had so many different types of pastas and sauses to choose from, it was like going to Cheesecake Factory. It was such a lovely time; he is some one who enjoys hearing and talking about different cultures so our conversations were long and intriguing.

The next day, on Sunday, in the morning, the daughter and her husband of a very close friend of my Mom's came and pick us up, we were going to spend the day with them and have an asado. We drove out to the countryside where they have a small quinta. It is their weekend retreat and just a perfect little place. They have a tiny little house with a lot of character, a swimming pool and a nice, good-sized lawn and garden. The best part was their covered patio, complete with built-in parrilla (kind of like a bar-b-que but so much more) and an adobe oven to make pizzas. We had our first real asado! The food was delicious: tira de asado (short ribs), pollo, chorizo, matabre de cerdo (pork flank steaks) and a slew of salads, vegetable dishes and delicious wine. And of course, Grace won't let me forget, dulce de leche, chocolate and vanilla ice cream. We spent the whole day their eating and napping in their hammock. They also have a beagel named Lola... it was love at first site. That is her in the picture, resting on Grace's lap. I think it was one of our best days since we got here, we got along great with everyone!

This week we are going to try to make it out to the beaches, since now summer vacation is ending for most people in Buenos Aries, the beach towns are emptying out. A little camping and even more relaxing is planned. We can't wait to show and tell you all about that.

A Beautiful, Dreary Day

After 2 days of fever, and 3 days recovering from it, I am finally able to venture outside of the apartment again. Yesterday I walked with Martin to and from the laundromat (about 4 blocks) and then later to and from the grocery store (another 4 blocks) with a 2 hour nap in between. Not bad for a first day! I am still not able to eat too much, but I am definitely feeling better.


Today it was raining, a perfect day to visit the cemetary. Cementario de la Recoleta is in the middle of the city, and really, once inside seems like a city in itself. Inside the high brick walls are hundreds of paths flanked on both sides by stone and marble crypts dating from the early 1800's to the present. This is where the most elite citizens: past presidents, bishops, military generals, doctors, university professors and wealthy families, have been buried for the past two centuries. The crypts may hold entire families or sometimes only one person. Some are very simple where as others are quite ornate. There are very old, traditional ones, and some are very modern. Some are in perfect condition and there are fresh flowers inside, and there are others that have fallen apart or have been broken into and damaged. It is a beautiful place throughout.

We walked through less than half of it today, before I was too tired to keep going. Next time it rains, we will get to the rest (including the crypt of Evita).


Here are some more pictures of the crypts we thought were pretty cool...

Also, we know that for some reason not all of the pictures can be enlarged when you click on them... sorry. So we are also going to put them in an online photo gallery. You can go here to check it out: http://picasaweb.google.com/martinswims/Recoleta02 , each time we put a post with pictures, we will add the link to the album. Enjoy!

crackers without salt, tea without sugar

The past couple of days here have been a bit uneventful. Grace has fallen ill to a terrible virus which has left her either in bed or on the couch. She is now well on the road to recovery however a couple of nights were spent up with high fevers and under ice packs. My uncle Julio, a great doctor, has been visiting and calling regularly, regardless of the hour, and now has her on a pretty strict diet of crackers without salt and tea without sugar. This has given us some time to read up on this wonderful country we are in and talk to friends and family about Argentina. Some of the things we are learning are very interesting and even new to me. We wanted to share some of the more interesting and informative things about Argentina with all of you. Here we go!

More than one-third of the country's population lives here in Buenos Aires, about 12 million people. There are two other major cities in Argentina but neither one has more than one and a half million inhabitants. It's indigenous population is low compared to other South American countries. Argentina was built more on Italian and Spanish immigrants than indigenous or African slavery. Today, about 97% of the population claims European descent but the list of countries which has influenced the Argentine culture and still has communities throughout the country is as varied as at home - Syrians, Bavarians, Welsh, Croatians, Germans, English, and Jewish, and more recently Japanese and Koreans, to name a few. There are still strong indigenous communities in the northern Andean provinces as well as in Patagonia.

Things are very different between Buenos Aires and the rest of the country in many respects - socially and economically - and in some instances very different from home. Some examples of the differences between Argentina and the US are the free social services offered to anyone, including ourselves: emergency and non-emergency healthcare is offered to anyone free of charge, this includes doctor’s visits, treatments, medicines, even surgeries; education, both at lower levels and even university and master programs are free (doctorate programs included).

Although in the past the government has been a bit shaky and shady, usually due to radical ideas by presidents - like keeping the peso equal to the US dollar, which is one of the things that sent the country into economic turmoil in 2001 - it is progressive in it's political ideology. Women occupy about 30% of congressional seats (compared with about 12% in the US) and in Buenos Aires gay civil unions are allowed, a Latin American first.

In Argentina, private life insurance is almost unheard of. This is in part due to the fact that almost no one here as debt accumulated. Homes and cars are purchased in cash and in full, no loans, and almost all transactions are paid for in cash, no credit cards. Also, here in Argentina every job is respected and appreciated. Even menial jobs are taken very seriously, like being a waiter or dog walker - which really is a sight to see. Many people in the city have large dogs and some one is hired to walk them. A dog walker may have 10 leashed dogs with them walking down the side walks or in the parks, and you should see the control they have over the dogs, it's incredible.

Here is Buenos Aires the lifestyle is a lot like one of New York or Paris. Most people live in apartments and rely on walking or public transportation, subway and bus, to get from here to there. Every one is socially active through their entire life. People are always eating out or just getting together with friends at cafes or parks almost every day. Throughout Argentina, family is very important to everyone. Kids live at home much longer than in the US and almost every weekend entire families get together for a day long asado (bar-b-que).

This weekend Grace and I have a trip planned out to the countryside for an asado with the family of a friend of my moms, which we are looking forward to very much. This week we'll be taking it easy but hopefully we will still get our fill of social activities meeting friends for coffee in the afternoons or a delicious Italian dinner one night.

We love hearing from all of you in the messages you post and the emails and phone calls. We hope every one is healthy and happy, and you are all in our thoughts.

A New Post...A New Country

A quick geography lesson: Buenos Aires lies directly on Rio de La Plata, near the Atlantic Ocean. Rio de la Plata is extremely wide near Buenos Aires (because that is wher it meets the Atlantic ocean) and serves as part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay.

So today we took the ferry to Uruguay!

We went to a town called Colonia which has a very well-preserved "Bario Viejo" complete with cobble-stone streets, colonial architecture, and some buildings remaining from the 17th century. We walked around a lot, stopped for lunch at a restaurant where the waiter sang to us and sat on the grass by the river, until the mosquitos and a thunderstorm chased us away.

Settled In...

Hi Again!

Thanks to everyone who has posted and emailed us, that has helped to keep the homesickness away. Unfortunately, it did not keep the jet-lag away, and we spent most of the weekend sleeping and trying to get used to the 5 hour time change. We did go out a bit though. On Saturday we spent some time in the Recoleta neighborhood wandering around a craft fair. On Sunday we had lunch with Julio, Martin's uncle, and the later in the evening we had french fries and Quilmes (argentina's national beer) for dinner (yes!) on Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world. We also discovered that our apartment has a roof-top balcony on top of its 13 stories, so below are some pictures taken from there. (almost as good as Grant's rooftop view in Brooklyn)

And... Yesterday we went to the zoo!!!

Our First Post... Our First Days!

Hello Friends and Family!!

Bienvenidos a nuestro website!

Here we are a couple days ago just before we left. We had a bit of worries trying to fit everything we wanted to bring with us in the limited 200 lbs. of checked bags and only 2 carry-ons each, but we managed. Each checked bag weighed between 45.5 and 50 lbs each... phew.

Our flights also all went off without a hitch. A quick layover in lovely Houston and then another quick 10 hour flight down to Buenos Aires.

We arrived yesterday afternoon and got settled into the apartment throughout the evening; unpacking, cleaning, doing a little grocery shopping. The weather here is as we expected to find it, hot and humid. We slept with all of the windows open and the fan all night long, however the hordes of traffic and noise did not seem to need any rest and wailed throughout the night. It may take just a little getting used to after the super quiet nights in SC.

For the next couple of days we are planning on just hanging around here in Buenos Aires and seeing some friends and family... then maybe to the beach!

We are very excited to be here, and we look forward to sharing all the neat things we do with all of you. You can comment on the website or send us emails, we look forward to hearing from you all.