Sunday, September 22, 2013

Argentina: Tea Time, The Boss and a Porteño Wedding

It has been a busy week - in addition to taking tea with Susi and Flori and going to my first concert and my first wedding in Argentina, I also went to spin class with my friend, Agos, and met a group of American girls for dinner one night. I am finally starting to feel like I am settling in and am here to stay!

Tea Time ... 
Last Saturday, Marce and I met Susi and Flori at one of the oldest cafes in Buenos Aires. Las Violetas is a grand cafe in the Almagro district of Capital Federal (the city of Buenos Aires) that was founded in 1884, making it 129 years old. Susi treated us to a traditional tea, complete with sandwiches, pastries and one of the best chocolate mousse cakes I have ever tasted.





The Boss ...
Later that night, we went with Andy and Nico to see Bruce Springsteen at a nearby stadium. The show was fairly small given the big name headlining it, but The Boss was absolutely incredible! Scaling scaffolding, singing with an eight-year old fan, taking requests off of posters the crowd was holding up, dancing with a young girl and letting another play his guitar were just a few of the things Bruce did to make his show extra special. I hate to admit this, but prior to the show I only really knew his more famous songs. Now I am a lifelong fan. You can tell he truly loves entertaining and wants to make his fans happy.






Porteño Wedding ...
One of Marce's co-workers got married last night at a beautiful church in Palermo and then had an amazing reception at the Yacht Club in Olivos, right outside of the city. Let me break the wedding timeline down for you (along with some photos to make it even more interesting):

20:45    Time the ceremony was scheduled to begin, however, the church was   
            a little behind and the previous bride was just entering. It was a bit 
            chilly so Marce and I found a close cafe and took a Quilmes.

21:30    The ceremony began.

22:15    The ceremony ended.

23:00    We arrived at the reception - first, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres - and I 
            am talking a LOT of options: mojitos, piel de iguana, campari, 
            margaritas, vino, cerveza, just to name a few. As far as food, I only  
            saw half of what was offered and that included fajitas, tartas, pork 
            sliders, bruschetta, ceviche, lettuce wraps and fried fish on a stick,
            among other items passed around by servers.



00:30    We were ushered into the main event hall and into a huge ballroom, 
            complete with disco balls, lighting and, wait for it, a smoke machine.
            We found our table, threw down our belongings and joined the bride
            and groom on the dance floor.



Table 20

01:30     Dinner was served - cordero (lamb), calabaza (pumpkin) and a 
             scrumptious risotto - my favorite part, of course. A yummy
             chocolate mousse with the most amazing cream I have ever tasted
             arrived shortly after.



02:30     Back to the dance floor.



03:30     Carnaval Carioca (named after the carnival in Rio) - props were 
             distributed to the guests - think hats, glasses and masks, to wear 
             while dancing.



04:00     The cake is cut! An ice cream cooler you would find in a local 
             heladeria is rolled into the the room and a dessert table with other
             delicious sweets is set up.

I think we look pretty good for 4 am.

05:00      By now, you all know this is 5:00 in the MORNING, right? Just want to 
              make sure because I spotted a table of grandparents still partying 
              when I was on my way to grab a sandwich smothered with 
              chimichurri and filled with some of the huge hunk of meat they were
              slicing on the table for a little snack.
              
             


06:30      Marce and I finally give up and decide to head home.

07:00      Konked out.

13:30      Woke up and watched the last two episodes of season 2 of Newsroom.

All in all, this was one of my favorite weddings and I really hope I get to experience something else like this again while I am here! The Porteños really know how to have a good time - sin lugar a dudas!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Argentina: Home, Sweet, Home

I went on a bit of a hiatus due to craziness at work and preparing for the big move to Buenos Aires!

First, a huge thank you to my mom and dad who came to Dallas to help move all of my furniture and clothes back to Louisiana - and an even greater thank you for storing all my belongings while I am abroad! After we made it back to Jackson and unloaded everything from the UHaul, we went on a short rendezvous down to New Orleans for one last hurrah before I left.

Mom and Dad in Jackson Square

A fabulous dinner at Restaurant R'evolution

Love my family!

Absolutely scrumptious goodbye cake

After being home a little less than a week I had to say bye to my parents and these little guys. I was so excited to leave but also sad to say goodbye.

Can't wait to snuggle with Dulce 
and Joey in December!

I arrived in BA just over a week ago and settled into our new apartment in Palermo Hollywood. It still feels like I am visiting and I do not think that feeling will go away for a couple more weeks - even though Marce would beg to differ as he looks around at the apartment that suddenly has four more suitcases worth of clothes, shoes and toiletries strewn about it. 

I absolutely adore our modern loft apartment - think concrete floors, floor to ceiling windows, a large balcony with plants, a huge wardrobe upstairs in the bedroom and, the best part, TWO full bathrooms! 

The view from my "desk" 
aka the kitchen bar.

Our plants - I love the beautiful flowered 
plant Susi greeted me with at the airport!

Marce and I have both been absolutely crazy busy since the day I arrived - with work, running errands, exploring our neighborhood. On Saturday, the 31st, we spent the day napping and unpacking then went out to a celebratory dinner at a nearby Peruvian restaurant called Ceviche for salmon with tacu tacu, and, of course, ceviche. Before dinner, we were able to sneak in a quick hello and glass of wine with Kristen and Jim, who were in town for Kristen's birthday weekend!

Chi Os in Buenos Aires 

On Sunday, we went over to Marce's family's house for a traditional Sunday asado. Marce's dad, Victor, prepared three of my favorite argentine cuts of meat - vacio, chorizo and colita - so delicious! Marce's mom, Susi, prepared salads and a fabulous coconut cake we took with our coffee after lunch. I am so thankful to have a family here in Argentina, complete with a sister (Flori) brothers (Nico and Andy) and two pups (DeeDee and LuLu)!

Monday was Labor Day but I spent most of the day working just to catch up. Marce came home from work early and took me to my Spanish class evaluation. I am going to Spanish class three times a week and am on track to complete two levels before I go to Colombia in November for work. We were boring the rest of the week - working until 8 or 9 then eating dinner and watching tv.

Last Friday night, Marce invited friends of ours over for an asado on the roof of our building. We used the upstairs parrilla and dining area and bought lots of meat, salad, chips, alfajores, beer and wine. I met most of the guys almost three years ago but have not had too many chances to catch up with them since then so it was really fun for everyone to come over, see the new place and chat over dinner.

Marce lighting the fire in the parrilla 
for the delicious asado.

Yesterday, Marce and I went to Plaza Serrano - a beautiful plaza situated in the middle of Palermo Soho that has an outdoor craft market each weekend. It was so much fun but also very crowded. I restrained myself and did not buy anything even though the neighboring shops were beckoning me. I cannot wait to take our visitors here! It is a bustling area in the trendiest neighborhood of Buenos Aires with lots of boutiques, pubs and restaurants.

We ended the day with a celebratory glass of 
champagne to mark the end of the first week 
in our new apartment.

I promise to be more diligent about posting updates of our life in BA and cannot wait to show our visitors around this amazing city. Please let us know when you can come - we already started a calendar! :) Besos!