Icebergs

This post will mostly be pictures. On our third day in Patagonia, we took a boat ride. Unlike the the Perito Moreno Glacier, which has walkways, it was the only way to get out to the Upsala Glacier. Along the way, I took a million pictures of the icebergs in the lake. Each iceberg looks like a piece of art. Each one has a different depth of color, and each is a different shade of blue. The first picture below is taken as we are coming up to the glacier.

The rest of the pictures are the icebergs that I couldn't resist posting. The picture of Sally near the bottom is at the back of the boat right in front of the glacier. She was the only one who would come out on the deck with me because it was so windy and cold. So I asked her, "If Leonardo De Caprio were here would you feel like you were on the Titanic? She said, "Leo de who?" She fulfilled her daughterly duty of making me feel old.

Until next time, Adios!

Awe Some

Last week I feel like I finally understood the meaning of the word awesome. Our family took our first must-see trip here in Argentina. We went to Patagonia. Patagonia is vast, so we only saw a little part of it, but the part we saw was spectacular.

We flew into a cute little town called El Calafate. At first glance, it looks like it could be somewhere in the West. An arid climate, mountains, and a beautiful turquoise lake.

Here in Argentina, it is the middle of the summer, but it was still pretty cold in Patagonia. In the above picture, we had been hiking, so we had stripped off some of our layers. It was weird, going from humid summer, to winter, especially because my body rhythm was thinking it really should be winter, given the last 41 years it was in the winter cycle in January, but it was really used to and liking summer. I think and I'm sure you will all agree, that is why I gained five pounds. Not because I ate ridiculous amounts of fattening food, but because my body was so confused it just decided to hold onto a little more fat.

So while the above picture is really beautiful, that is not where I experienced the word awesome. It was on our first day trip. We traveled about an hour from El Calafate where we saw this:

I realize this picture does not show the awesome. You may not even know what you are looking at. Behind us is a glacier. In case anyone out there is as clueless as I was, a glacier is a river of ice. It moves, very slowly mind you, but it is a very slow moving river of special ice. I say special because it is not like an ice cube. It is so compacted and so dense that when you get a little closer, this is what you see:

Again, the picture doesn't quite do it justice, but the ice is electric blue, because it is so dense. It is totally Awe Some!! The next picture will hopefully show how vast the glacier is. As far as glaciers go, there are bigger, but what I love about this one is how it is moving into this beautiful icy blue lake. Unlike a lot of the glaciers in Alaska, this one is growing. 

We walked all along the walkways on the mountainside to get different angles of the glacier, and all day I felt like my jaw was propped open. I was in awe!

So the other really cool thing about this glacier, is that it moves until it hits the mountain we were standing on, and it blocks the flow of water from one side of the lake to the other. So the left side of the lake builds water, and builds, until it can't contain it any longer so there is a water explosion and it breaks through the glacier. It only happens about once every three to four years. It happened last June, so in the next picture you'll see the water running between the glacier and the mountain.

So the other totally awesome thing was that every minute or so a chunk of ice would break off and fall into the water. Most of them were really small. Even though they were small, the sound was huge. It was the kind of sound that you could feel. Like it was echoing throughout the valley, and in and out of your body. I'm not exactly sure why, because we were actually pretty close to the glacier, but by the time you heard the sound, it was too late, all you saw was the splash. Something to do with the ice cracking and falling faster than the speed of sound - whatever. So, it was hard to see the pieces fall. Except that I saw this piece and thought to myself, that looks like it's going to fall. It might fall in the next few minutes, it might fall in the next few hours, or it might fall in the next few days. Just in case, I'm going to have my camera ready, because it will be too late if I wait to hear it.

I was blessed to be in the right place at the right time. By far, the biggest one to fall all day was this one:

It is just starting in the first picture, falling in the second, and continues in the third and fourth.

Because this post is already so long, I won't put pictures from our next two days in this post. I'll post them in the next few days. There are some other amazing pictures of some beautiful places.

Until next time, Adios!

And I'm sure you can tell from this picture Lance enjoyed it just as much as I did. No, he didn't fall, he just was tired of looking at the glacier.

NASCAR Buenos Aires

So we got our car! Yeah!! I can hardly describe how liberating it is to have a car. Honestly though, I don't go out that much. First, there are not a lot of places to go by car. Second, but definitely not least, the drivers here are just a little bit maniacal.

Today I had to drive into the heart of the city by myself for an orthodontist appointment for the girls, and I had to give myself a pep talk before we left. Why? As my remis driver once said, "We Argentines like to drive like Mario Andretti."

In my short 4 1/2 months here, I've already seen three pedestrians down.

I know this isn't the best picture, but it's with a phone, and in the car. This area is near what I would call the Central Park area of Buenos Aires.

Going into the city, there are between 2-5 lanes, depending on your location, but most commonly three. The collectivos (buses) dominate the two right lanes. They don't signal, they don't look, they just floor it and go. This forces cars to weave in and out of the right two lanes, while pushing into the left lane. Thus, lanes are merely suggestions. More frequently than not, cars ride half in one lane half in the other, so they can push into whichever lane does not have a road block.

Today on my way into the city, a piece of junk car did the non-committal lane thing, and as a car from the far left lane swerved into his half-lane, he swerved into mine, and I slammed on my breaks throwing all my children up against the back of the seats in front of them, and fortunately avoided the accident. I may or may not have cursed. After which he looked at me and gave me a thumbs-up, as if to say, "Good job not hitting me!"

Once we got to the Orthodontist, I had to park. Parking here is like parking in NYC, good luck! I ended up at McDonalds. Nothing like an ice cream sundae parking fee right before having someone look at your teeth!

The appointment took long enough that on the way home it was rush hour... in one of the largest cities in the world. I felt like Danica Patrick, except my car is twice as big as everyone else's. I usually drive in the far left lane to avoid the buses and the swerving. The problem is, the left lane has cars turning, and there is no turning lane, so there is always more swerving.

On the way home I experienced the motorcycle drivers. There is a place where there are five lanes of traffic. With a solid wall of cars. The motorcycle drivers would cross over the double-yellow line into oncoming traffic, so I had to deal with swervers, as well as head-on motorcyclists.

There may or may not have been a couple of times that I swerved just a little bit with my big fat SUV to scare them.

As soon as I got home, I went straight to my chocolate stash.

The positive thing that came out of my day, is the orthodontist's son told me, "Next time you can park right out on the street because you have diplomatic plates." I may or may not have felt just a little bit cooler than him after that.

Oh, and one more thing, about one out of every ten cars has these red ribbons tied to the back of their car. We asked a police officer what they are for. Apparently they are supposed to stop your car from  blowing up if there is a sudden electric shock. That is some awesome red ribbon!

Until next time, Adios!

Mosquitos, Cockroaches, and Sewage, Oh My!

I know it's been a while. The reason for that is multiplefold (I know that's not really a word). First, we got our household shipment (No, we still have not gotten our car), so I've been unpacking our stuff and trying to find a place for everything, especially in my kitchen. I probably have about one-fourth as many cupboards as I did in San Diego, so I've had to get creative! Second, honestly I've been depressed - and I didn't want to write about that. To give you a brief overview, there is a culture shock curve. It lasts about six months. In the beginning it is the honeymoon phase, next is the; This place must be Hades phase (which is where I was at), next is the climb out phase (which is where I am now), and at about six months you are thoroughly enjoying your new home (which I am anxiously awaiting). Third, I have been busy with some of the things you will learn about later in this post (which contributed to the Hades phase).

So, to go on to our post for today, I thought it was totally appropriate because tomorrow is Halloween, and things right now in Argentina are a little Halloweeny. Not in the fun, candy, party, way, because they don't celebrate Halloween here, but in the creepy, crawly, nasty way.

First, I am posting a picture of my house. It is just the outside, because it is just the outside that goes with this post. Why? You might ask. Because we live in what looks like a Haunted House!

The black gates with pointed tips, the black pitched roof, and the black bars on the windows all make it a perfect Haunted House. You can get a better view of the sharp angles from the back of the house here:

To compliment the atmosphere, we've had a few issues, as mentioned in the title of this post. First, we'll talk about these:

Cockroaches! Of all the places I've lived, I've never dealt with these before. So when I first unpacked my kitchen, I made sure all of the cupboards and drawers were clean. After a few days, I noticed what looked like little poppyseeds in some of the cupboards, and I wasn't sure why. Then one night when Taelor went down to get a drink of water, we heard a scream!! We ran down, and with tears in her eyes, she screamed, "A cockroach! Aaaaaah!"

After googling cockroaches, we learned that if you see one, there are more. I also learned those little poppyseed things, were actually cockroach poop. Super awesome! So after a little jaunt to the store to buy some roach hotels, we now see poison drunk cockroaches walking out of the cupboards on their way to die! That really is super awesome! I don't even mind the crunch when I step on their nasty bodies because I want them to die!

On to the next issue, I don't have a picture for this one because it's not really about the picture, it's about the smell. A week or two after we had been in the house, we had an issue. The sewer backed up into our garage. Again, super awesome! We quickly bleach-mopped the garage as we moved the shelves, dryer, refrigerator, etc. Lucky for us, it happened two more times! Let me just tell you, the smell alone may have been the thing that made the cockroaches drunk!

And last, but not least, the mosquitos are nasty. We are in springtime right now, so I am absolutely and completely terrified for what happens when all the eggs hatch and the mosquitos come in full force. I do have a picture for this one. Lance got bit right next to his eye, and this is the result:

Lance seems to have a much bigger reaction than the rest of us to the mosquitos here, including swelling, and sometimes blisters and puss. I wish I could say we were safe in our house, but the mosquitos wait at the door and come in when you do. The other morning, Mike killed about 20 of them in our kitchen.

For now, I think I've scared you all enough! Say your prayers that tomorrow on Halloween, you won't wake up into my nightmare!!!


Disclaimer: I make it sound all awful, but it's not really. But I can only talk about the scary stuff on my Halloween post!

Until next time, Adios!

God Bless America

I know it's been a while since I've posted. I've been pretty busy. We got our air shipment, and we moved into our permanent house. But today, that's not what I want to post about. I'll post pictures of the new house and all the details later.

*Picture of the Washington Monument we took when we lived in Washington DC

For now I just want to share what a blessing freedom is. I realize a lot of my freedom in America comes from living in the places I've lived, and what I mean by that is middle-class America. I've always lived in safe communities where I've felt the freedom to go out and do, and experience what I wanted to.

Living here, in a home with bars on all the windows (pictures to come later), a guard on the corner who may or may not be extorting us, and a plethora of stories about being a victim, leaves me feeling trapped. (Okay, maybe not speaking the language contributes to that a little bit ... okay maybe a lot ... I can't tell you how many times I've called a taxi company only to have them hang up on me because they couldn't understand me).

If you aren't familiar with the Harry Potter books, you may not understand this next analogy, but in the last book there is a constant gray dread hanging over England. It is a constant presence. In fact it is such a strong aspect of the story, it almost becomes a character in and of itself because it is always there, affecting the mood.

That is to me how it feels here right now. The bars, the gates, the bolts, etc. are constant reminders of what is out there. They are inanimate objects that are pushing me into my house and keeping me here.

I miss my freedom! I miss the LUXURY of getting in my car and feeling safe enough to go and explore, and do what I want to. I miss the LUXURY of pulling my iphone out in public to answer a call or look up some information.

As I mentioned before, I realize there are places in the States where I might feel the same. I know there were places like that in Los Angeles, and probably places like that in every State.

The thing is, here in Buenos Aires right now, there isn't anywhere that feels like safe middle-class America.

About two weeks ago, shortly after we moved in to our house, a man came up to our gate and offered his services as our gardner. He also told us he is the head of all the security in our neighborhood. They have a little guard shack that looks like a telephone booth on every block or two, and someone sits in there 24-7.

After he offered his services as a gardner, he asked for the $950 pesos ($200 dollars) for the month for the security detail. Mike told him we'd get back to him as the Embassy already has a security company driving by our house and other Embassy houses in the neighborhood 24-7.

As we noticed these corner guards watching our every move and talked to friends who have a guard shack two feet in front of their house who were robbed while they were out of town, we realized the guards are probably watching us more than protecting us.

Yesterday our neighbor was talking with Mike and told him the same gardner/security director who had approached us was his gardner until last week when his wife saw him take a rare plant from their yard and have his son put it in their landscaping car.

That of course makes us feel super-safe having them watch every time we leave our house. And they make sure we know they are watching. They walk out of the shack, just to let us know they are watching.

At first we weren't sure if they were just trying to sell their services to us, trying to convince us they were worth their $200 a month, or extorting us. After yesterday, it looks like it might be the latter. The question is, do you pay for their non-security to keep them from robbing us themselves?

I won't let all of this keep me from enjoying Argentina, because there is plenty to enjoy. Just yesterday I walked to a little store a few blocks away that makes fresh pasta, which was divine. And right next door to that was a little bakery which is equally as good. I will focus on those benefits, and once in a while I'll get frustrated by the lack of freedom I feel, and be absolutely, and completely grateful that in three years I get to go back to the best country in the world!

Dora

I saw this today and laughed out loud because it's as if someone pinned it just for me!

Yes, I now watch Dora the Explorer in Spanish while my children are at school. And yes, I couldn't answer any of her questions because I didn't understand them.

You think I'm kidding, I wish I was. When Dora talks, it's at lightning speed, and the same goes for Boots. I never thought I'd see the day when I was wishing I could speak as well as a toddler and her pet monkey.

Until next time, Adios!

Life is like a Rollercoaster .....

So first first things first, for some reason the pictures from my last post weren't working, so I fixed those.

Second, this post is like a jump off post from my last post. Yesterday on my way to Joonbo again, (actually I guess it was on the way home), I was sitting in the front seat on the bus, which faces towards the back, so I could see everyone else on the bus. I was looking out the window and kind of zoning out after my shopping ordeal. After a stop, a few people shuffled onto the bus, then suddenly a man started talking in a loud voice. Of course, I had no idea what he was saying.

I looked up and saw a man in black standing right in front of me, but he was facing everyone else, so I couldn't see his face. Immediately my stomach dropped and I pictured this:



I felt like I was sitting at the top of a rollercoaster and it was about to speed down the hill and through two upside-down loops. I froze as I tried to understand what the heck he was saying. I even saw a women start to open her purse.

Mike had warned me of guys coming onto buses and into stores and robbing everyone.

A second later I looked at the faces of the other passengers, and they didn't look terrified. I looked closer at the man in black, and saw a basket at his feet. He lifted it up and it was full of home-made goodies. Apparently he was trying to make some extra money the right way.

While it was only a three-second ride, I felt like I had just been on the world's craziest rollercoaster and we just pulled back into the loading zone. After a few deep breaths, I chuckled, and I might have cursed my husband just a little bit for his "preparation."

Until next time, Adios!