Out and About in BA

So, we finally left our barrio (neighborhood) and saw a bit of the city. On Saturday we took a bus tour with other people from the embassy. It was a greatest hits tour of BA, and a great way to get a sense of the city and what else we wanted to go back to and spend more time at. The first stop was Recoleta neighborhood. In the middle of the neighborhood is the famous Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita is buried. It is a huge cemetery of all of these mausoleums for all these famous and rich Argentines over the generations. It is the family's responsibility to maintain the mausoleums, so there are some that are literally falling down because no one from that family is left to take care of them, and there are others that are just beautiful.

If you go to the Picasa pictures, there are some pictures of a big tree which is right outside the cemetery and was planted when the area was first developed. The tree is huge and the branches are held up with posts!

We then drove down the famous a 9 de Julio Avenue, which is a big wide avenue with parks down the center and a obelisk is the middle. After that it was off to the center of the city where the government buildings are. we saw their congress building (the one with the green dome), the presidential offices (the pink building) - which is the building where Evita gave her famous speeches from. The balcony on the left in the picture is the famous "Evita Balcony". The white building is the original "Town Hall" from when Argentina was a Spanish colony and the large building with the columns is the National Cathedral.

Our next stop was La Boca, which is on the water and where those colorful houses that you always see pictures of are. We didn't bring the camera on that stop - next time, we promise.

Finally we drove past Puerto Madero, a rehabilitated area of BA that is now very ritzy with restaurants and shops, and finally back past the parks and the zoo and back to the embassy.

So, now we have an idea of where we need to go back to and where to take all of our visitors when they come!

Chillin Like a Villain

So, every weekend, on Saturday or Sunday mornings we take the required weekly update photos of the bug. He is generally super happy in the morning and crazy chatty. He talks to himself when he wakes up which we like this becuase it is way more pleasant to wake up to that as opposed to him crying!

He is also becoming more interested in what is going on around him - especially when it comes to the dogs. If they come into the room all his attention goes to them.

When you check out the pictures, make sure and take a look at the ones from 14 weeks that I forgot to blog. He looks great in his frog outfit!

Our Apartment - Before

So, this is our place! Consider these the before pictures - before all of our stuff shows up. The place is pretty sparce. We have asked for some more furniture, and once our stuff shows up, it should be even better.

We have a 4 bedrooms, three and a half bath apartment in a more residential neighborhood (barrio) inside the city. In the picasa stream are pictures of the rooms, but basically you come off the elevator right outside our front door. Inside the front door is a little hallway and then to the right the living spaces, which sort of wrap around the front of the apartment. To the left is the long hallway to the bedrooms.

The living and dining room are a big L-shape room with a porch off the one wall that looks out towards the east towards the river. Then there is a small den, family dining area with a small porch looking to the south and a kitchen. Off the kitchen is the utility area and maid's quarters (currently the dog's room) and back door to the stairs and service elevator.

The bedrooms face the north and are nice sizes. Our bedroom has a small porch off it too.

Give us a couple of months and we will have some "after" pictures for you!

Ethan - 15 Weeks

Here it is - a "bug fix"! Ethan at 15 weeks. He is doing well and is as cool as ever. Currently he likes it when mommy and daddy sing. The "ABC Song", "Safety Dance" and "All Star" are current favorites. He also enjoys the new game of finding himself in the mirror. Our den has mirrors on two of the walls and he can see himself in one of them when he is on the love seat. The best part is when he sees himself , smiles and then gets all coy and shy and hides his face - hystercial.

He also his making quite the hit with the locals. Sometime Steve or I will put him in the baby bjorn and walk him and the dogs. We get multiple "que lindo!" (How cute!) on every walk.

Where's your family?

Several weeks ago, Katie and I noticed that our blog was full of KEGGS pictures and several of Katie's family, but very few of mine.
"Why is that," we asked each other? Then we figured it out - we saw my parents and brother frequently enough, and they were close enough, that we regularly forgot to bring a camera with us. Additionally, when we saw them, my Mom would take pictures with her camera, or Dad with his iFlip (where do you think the videos of Ethan, Mom and Gracie came from?).
I mentioned this to Mom, who said that several other people had also noted the lack. "Well," I said, "can you please help rectify the situation? Please send me a CD or SD Card with your pictures on it!"
She did, and so now we have an extra 78 pictures from her camera. Mom warned me in advance, and I pass this along to you, that there won't be all that many pictures of her: she hates having her picture taken!
So sit back, relax, and check out the latest additions to the Picasa web album. The photos were filed by the date they were taken, but you should be able to find them by looking for the most recently modified pictures.
Take note of one other thing, too. If you mail us pictures, or a link with high quality digital pictures, we'll add them to our album! We don't post many on Facebook, mostly because we put everything up here!

Puppy Walk!

Well, we know most of our pictures have been of Ethan, so as to not to leave out the other kids, here is a George and Gracie fix! This is a picture of Gracie walking George and I to the park. Every morning and evening they get a nice walk to the park, which is about three block away. Steve is their usual walker, but in the evenings and on the weekends, Ethan and I tag along.

All of the parks here are "dog parks", which means there are always dogs off leash running around in them. Unfortunately, they are not fenced in, so G&G are not allowed to go off leash. Actually, the only fenced areas at the parks are the children's playgrounds!

A very dog-happy city here, the supermarkets even have a place where you can tie up your dog outside while you shop - sort of like a puppy hitching post! Look for pictures in the photo stream!

Three Months Old!

Today is Ethan's three month birthday! He is falling into his new BA routine really well. An E-man day goes something like this:

5:00am - Wake up mom for morning snack
5:30 - 6:00 - Talk to myself in my crib and fall back asleep
6:00-7:00 -Sleep!
7:00 - 7:30 - Get up and dressed
8:00 - EAT!
8:30 - 9:00 - Play
9:00 - 11:00 - Nap
11:00 until dad comes home - rinse and repeat -Eat, Play, Nap - with some general fussiness and multiple diaper changes mixed in to change things up.
6:00 -Go on walk with dad, mom and doggies
7:00 -Bath time!
8:00 - Last meal of the day (maybe.....)
8:30 - Bedtime

I know, a very excting day!

To catch you up

I guess it’s been a while, perhaps over a full month, since last we blogged. There is actually a really good reason (or several), and so I’m going to share them with you, along with some updates. Therefore, let’s begin.
Actually, before we get there, let’s start with a picture of Ethan in his, “Yo soy tan mano” (I'm soo cute) outfit, courtesy of Auntie Mara.

Reason #1: We Weren't Home

Almost continually for the last 24 years or so, Katie’s family has rented a beach house in Brigantine (a barrier island north of Atlantic City) for a week. This year, they rented the house for July 4th week, starting Saturday, July 3. Katie and Ethan stayed the whole week, but I had to return to DC for class early Tuesday morning. While there isn’t terribly much to do in Brigantine beyond spending time at the beach, watching TV, eating, and leaving the island, Katie couldn’t do any blogging because the house doesn’t have a wireless (nor wired, for that matter) network. Since she had the camera and SD cards, and most of you aren’t really reading the blog, but come here for the link to the pictures, I chose not to blog when I got back. You folks, however, are in luck – as we have beach pictures! Go to the gallery link, and click on the albums dated 7/3 – 7/11.
Anyway, here are some beach highlights: Upon arriving in Jersey, we stopped off at Nick and Sue’s house and got to spend some time with Nick, Sue, Sadie, and Mom-To-Be Becky! Good times. That night, we got grandparents to watch the babies, and Katie, Nick, Sue, and I went to Bobby Flay’s Steakhouse in the Borgata and indulged our foodie sides. Mmm, steak, shrimp, and general goodness! July 4th was fun, I barbecued on the ancient gas grill, and the neighbors next door played their music loud enough to annoy darn near everybody – but, since some of it was patriotic, and other bits were pretty good, it almost seemed difficult to ask them to turn it down. Other beach highlights included: Seeing Kelsey, Jay, and Rachel; playing ball in the ocean; Paul breaking the cheap glass in the old table; a visit from Aunt Peg, Uncle Paul, and Laura; some good family time; and oh yeah, more loud music from the neighbors!

Reason #2: Katie's Birthday

Ok, so this reason’s not really a great one – in fact, it’s really just an opportunity to thank Lea for introducing us to Victoria’s Cakery in Fairfax. I went up to PA to pick up Katie and Ethan on July 10, and we came home on the 11th. The 12th was Katie’s birthday, and my parents were kind enough to have us and Peggy over for a barbecue. I ordered a peanut butter / chocolate cake from what has rapidly become Katie’s favorite bakery since Lea introduced her to it at Debi’s baby shower – the ubiquitous Victoria’s Cakery.
http://www.victoriascakeryinc.com/

Reason #3: OMG, WOAH!

So this was supposed to be a blog entry all into itself. OMG, WOAH! As of July 14, we’ve become homeowners (OMG, WOAH = Oh My Goodness, We Own A House!). Taking advantage of the VA home loan program, and unbelievably low mortgage rates, we found a 5 BR (although we consider one of the rooms more of a den/family room), 3 Bath house in the Falls Church part of Fairfax, just inside the beltway. The house is B-E-A-UTIFUL, and full of updates. It started life in 1950 as a post-war 3 BR/1 Bath rambler. The previous owner bought it almost 20 years ago, and taught himself to do all sorts of updates. He redid the floorplan of the original house (there’s only one room from the original floorplan that hasn’t been touched), moved the door, pushed out the back, and added a second floor. When he pushed out back, he moved the kitchen and put in granite countertops and a Viking professional range.
We have ideas on what we want to do with the house to make it even more ours. When we walked in the first time, we agreed with our realtor’s comment that the renovations were well done, but lacked imagination. Externally, the front of the house has a long, high, unbroken roof that doesn’t help the curb appeal. We’ve got several thoughts, including adding double dormers, a single large dormer, and a standing seam (metal) roof. Internally, we want to rip out two walls – one that separates the small dining room from the living room, and one to create a hallway between the kitchen and the 5th bedroom (the one that would be an excellent family room), where there is currently a large closet.
You’re probably asking, as so many have, “Why buy now, when you’re leaving? What are you going to do with it while you’re gone?” Well, I think I already answered the first – the market and interest rates were right, we were still eligible for the 8k tax credit, and we had to seize the opportunity. As for the second, well, we’ve got renters! Surprisingly, the renters will cover a good chunk of our mortgage. The best part: we’re able to do this on my overseas salary alone, so anything Katie earns, or any raises I get (including for serving in DC), enables us to enjoy the house and area even more.
There are some pictures in the gallery, but the best way to see the house is to visit when we’re back in the area.

Reason #4: PACKOUT!

We closed on the house on July 14, and the movers were supposed to come on July 15 to pack up our stuff, or so we thought. They had the 16th as their day to arrive, and so that’s when they came. They were supposed to be at my parents’ house (because there’s a bit more space in their basement than in Lisa’s condo) between 1 and 4, but the individual they packed out before us added a thousand pounds or so to his shipments, so the packers didn’t actually show up until 5:30. They finished up fairly quickly, or so I hear. I had class, so Katie, my parents, and Peggy were there to ensure they did their job well.

Nonetheless, preparing for the packout took a lot of time. We went through all of our stuff, and a chunk of Lisa's, and tried to figure out what we had, what we thought we might need over the next 6 weeks (while we wait for the air freight to arrive), and the next 2-3 months (for the rest of our Washington-based stuff). Additionally, we had to guess at how much space we'd have in our suitcases, and what we'd need to bring with us. Oh, what fun.

Reason #5: Gotta go, gotta go!

The next week was spent getting ready to leave. We had numerous last minute errands to do, and phone calls to make – although some of those didn’t get done, either. Additionally, there were things at the new house that needed doing; most importantly we had to better cover the entrance to the crawl space to keep rain and runoff from getting in. James and Erica hosted a goodbye party for us on July 24. We spent the 25th packing, only to discover that we didn’t have enough bags or, more importantly, a high enough weight allowance, for all of our stuff. Nonetheless, we packed it all up, loaded up my dad’s minivan, and took it all to my parents as we moved out of Lisa’s place. We left it there on Monday and Tuesday as we finished up our local errands, and on Wednesday, dumped it all out, rifled through it again, and packed up our six bags, at 50 lbs a piece. We also packed some 4 boxes of stuff to ship to ourselves, until we left my parents house for the airport – only to arrive at the airport with just over an hour and a half to spare before the flight was scheduled to depart.
There was another family at the airport that planned on bringing their two dogs with them on their move abroad – this one a military family relocating to Heidelberg for their first move overseas. Unfortunately for them, one of their kennels didn’t meet FAA standards, and the guy running the pet desk for United was not the most efficient we’ve ever seen. We waited about 15 or 20 minutes, getting more nervous by the second, until Katie noticed that some of the other 40 lines were empty, and approached one of the other employees. They processed us and our stuff pretty quickly, and so we only had to half-run through security and along the terminal to get to the plane – which we, our luggage, and the dogs, all made it aboard!

Sorry, no pictures for this one - it was a bit crazy, and I'm surprised we actually pulled it off!

Reason #6: ¡Bienvenidos a Argentina!

We have arrived safely in Argentina. We were met at the airport by my office sponsor, Vanna, and a large van to get all of our stuff, us, and the dogs to our new apartment.

Our apartment is quite large – occupying half of the 11th floor of our building. We have 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, plus a maid’s quarters that has its own bedroom, bathroom, and “living area”. Right now, the dogs are in the maid’s quarters! The elevators are tiny, which doesn’t makes Katie very happy, and we don’t have internet yet. They say it could take a while for the internet set up, but luckily, there are numerous cafes and restaurants that have free wifi – which is how we’re sending these blog entries. The only other major hurdle we face is the stove. I figured out how to light the burners yesterday, but we still haven’t figured out the oven. Soon, Ojala (the Spanish version of Inshallah).

So far, so good – and thankfully we got some Spanish before we left, because you definitely need Spanish here. It’s coming back, and getting stronger. We’re just a few blocks away from a large park, and everybody here really is super dog friendly. Even Gracie’s mostly behaving herself! We still have to find a place where the monsters can run, but they’re doing well with their twice-daily walks.

We went to the Embassy on Friday, and got most of the administrative check-in done. I still have some more to do, and Katie's gotta come back in on Wednesday for her ID, but we're in good shape. My office seems pretty busy, but a good group of people should make for a good time!Our stuff may arrive sooner than expected, which will be fantastic.