Estamos aqui

We have arrived in Buenos Aires.

After a long, cold flight (the most frigid flight I've ever been on - they had to chip out the penguin to make room for us) we arrived this morning.

We found our apartment in Las Canitas and met with the person to get keys. Walked around a little, bought some food, made lunch, and napped. The neighborhood is nice, plenty of dogs, nice shady streets, we can see the polo grounds from our window. The apartment is clean, very sunny and bright, sparsely furnished but acceptable. The funny little things about life in a foreign country interest us: the tiny elevators, the keys (like something from the 14th century), the food packaging that is of course foreign to us. Maybe it's the jet lag, but in the market we were like dogs staring something they don't understand with heads slightly cocked. Is this tomato sauce or a juice container? Is this fat free or lactose-free or not-milk-at-all? Anyway, we figured it out (I mean, like, we're pretty well educated, so we should be able to figure out something as uncomplicated as yogurt). We settled out on vermicelli and salad. Can't go wrong.

We'll be snoozing most of the rest of the day and trying to set up Vonage.












View of the river delta approaching Buenos Aires











Gen pensively looking out the window.

NY-PR-NY-PA-OH

Oct 19, Cleveland, Ohio.
I'm studying for my LEED exam, Gen is working on her state department information. We leave for Chicago on Sunday.

We spent some time in NY to see family and friends. Ezra Zizmor is cute kid (and chatty). Of course we didn't see everyone we wanted but that's the way things go. Dad and Mary stuffed us like little veal. If you've never seen a Stackel order take out, you'll never understand. It's more than the sheer quantity of food. It's about strategy, it's about goals, it's thinking three or four moves ahead (how long will Mary permit the roast pork as leftovers? If I trade up to the large egg roll will Greg take the whole thing anyway so why not sacrifice the egg roll and get some noodles? Can the General Tso's chicken be made into a sandwich? Are we taking any planes or trains where a whole turkey leg might come in handy? the issues are many and complex).




Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty, NY
Both Gen's family and my family came through here in the early 1900s. The tour was fascinating - you really get a sense of what these people had to go through.














Our hotel in Pueto Rico. With all the stress of being homeless and unemployed we decided to take a break to hurricane-prone Puerto Rico. (Actually it was to celebrate the finalization of the sale of Gen's apartment). We spent 3 days in rainy PR and loved every minute of it. In particular the hour we spent in sea while it poured rain was surreal - little droplets like jewels sprouting up from the sea.