One month left...

The past 2 weeks have absolutely flown by. This morning our friend Mark left Buenos Aires to continue his own global escape. We have a couple of days to relax and regroup before our next set of visitors. These couple of days should be our last alone until we go home, there will be a steady stream of visitors until we fly home on August 3rd; which means, we have one month left! The nervousness and sadness has already started to creep-in now that we’ve set a date.

In the meantime, we had a great time with Mark while he was here. He was quick to get into our relaxed style of living here in the city – sleeping in, a few chores during the day, a café in the evening, a delicious dinner and staying up late… he even found himself a gym to go to near our apartment. Instead of visiting all of the tourist sites, Mark preferred to live in Argentina like an Argentine – which was also great for us. We got to visit all of our favorite restaurants, even some new ones. We finally ate at a Mexican restaurant, which is certainly one thing that Grace and I both miss dearly, and sadly, the restaurant didn’t quite fit up to So. Cal. standards. Another night we tried Japanese, which came much closer to the mark than the Mexican place, and of course, various parrilla places. We ate at Bice in Puerto Madero, our favorite pasta place in the city, and we also gave Mark the treat of having our homemade pasta. It was hard to tell which he enjoyed more. We left the best for last though; a couple of nights ago we ate asado at our friends, Laura and Jose Luis’ house, joined by their 2 kids and their significant others, and of course, Lola, their beagel. We had a wonderful time, the food was great, the company and conversation was spectacular. And on Mark’s last night we went to a new restaurant and bar close to the apartment called ‘Clasico y Moderno’, it is a book store/restaurant/bar/live-music venue. When we went there was a small samba group playing mellow samba and jazz, with an amazing Brazilian singer. The place had a fantastic atmosphere, very laid-back cool yet traditionally elegant. We think Mark very much enjoyed Buenos Aires, the people he met and the culture he saw. We shared many interesting conversations regarding culture, politics and people of all over the world.

In these past 2 weeks, my (Martin) grandmother (Mechi) came down to Buenos Aires to visit with some of her friends, take care of business, and to see us! So, we have had many lunches and dinners with her and our family friends – which have all been wonderful. Everyone always has something interesting to tell, and we are learning all kinds of neat things about my family. Another reason Mechi’s visit is so important to us is that Mechi is Grace’s final exam for her Spanish. Mechi speaks quickly and quietly, and very poetically. Before we came down here, Mechi would always chide Grace to always practice speaking Spanish and how important it was. In turn, one of the reasons for our trip was for Grace to improve her Spanish – which she has of course, done beautifully. Every time we see Mechi she has a compliment for Grace and her improvement in her Spanish. I think she is passing her final with flying colors.

Unfortunately we have been slacking on taking pictures, of all of the restaurants we have been to with Mark and Mechi, we have not taken out the camera once. Not to worry, tomorrow Tyler, Hillary and Jen will arrive and we have a super adventure ready for them, there will definitely be pictures.