criplomats

Things are looking up for Flavia! The vet came again Wednesday night and gave her a steroid and vitamins, along with some fluids. Almost immediately she started eating and hasn’t stopped! I’m sticking with canned chicken, as she seems to like it. We are thrilled and cautiously optimistic.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Lea and Jose at their house, along with Josey, another co-worker. The turkey was delicious and Lea made a great apple crumb pie for dessert. We really like them so much and are glad they are here. Lea and I also went to lunch on Monday (a local holiday) at a neat place called Mooie in Belgrano. I even drove and parked – getting my courage up to drive here.

Friday night we met Phil, a friend of Mike and Wayne’s, for dinner at Hierro. We didn’t know him, but he was just delightful and we had a great time visiting with him over a steak and wine while he is in Buenos Aires for vacation. Nice guy!

We stayed home this weekend and watched the Argentina – Mexico soccer match yesterday. Argentina redeemed themselves after a loss earlier in the week – the office was not a happy place to be on Tuesday after they lost their 7AM game. Across the street from the embassy, the city set up a huge Jumbotron TV and there were huge crowds of people there. I’m sure they were a lot happier yesterday after their win!

Last weekend I finished ”Jane Eyre” – I suppose I read it years ago (who knows), but it was fun to read. Today I finished “Bravo Company” by Ben Kesling, the nephew of our Hot Springs friend PeeWee. It’s gotten a lot of good press and it was good — and highlighted the need for better care for our veterans. TV-wise, Pamela got us hooked on “Dead to Me,” a potty-mouthed but fun dark comedy (Christina Applegate reminds me of a mash-up of Jennifer Aniston and Tanya Harding), and we have continued to watch “The Law According to Barbara” and the Swedish “The Hunters.” We also started the clever “Wednesday” last night.

Here’s another photo from dinner.

The week started well last Sunday when we met our DHS colleagues for a fun lunch at Roldan’s – the outdoor restaurant abuts a horse ring and we got to watch riders practice their riding and jumping while we enjoyed huge steaks!

On Thursday I was thrilled to be invited to the unveiling of a mural at the Ambassador’s tennis court and got to meet Gabriela Sabatini, someone who I watched play in the 80s and 90s – a tennis icon. I also had a photo opp with Diego Schwartmann, a top-tier player – both he and Gabby were featured on the mural. My selfies looked terrible, so I’m not posting them but it was fun!

The week took a turn when Flavia stopped eating suddenly. We’ve had a couple of home visits by the vet and have taken her for fluids and meds at the nearest emergency hospital for three days now. She isn’t in visible distress, but her appetite comes and goes, and she is having digestive issues. We love this little booger and hope she makes a recovery. She’s been all around the world with us, starting in Little Rock when we found her as a kitten.

John and I attended the Marine Ball last night at the Ambassador’s residence, Palacio Bosch. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. Instead of a sit-down dinner, we had the presentation of the colors and a few speakers, then drinks and hors d’oeuvres both inside and on the lawn outside. We ducked out before the dancing started.

Thursday night we had our first dinner guest, a woman who will be going to orientation in January to become a member of the Foreign Service as an office management specialist. She’s a friend of a friend of a friend and in Buenos Aires to brush up on Spanish. We had a nice time chatting with her.

Friday was a holiday and it was nice to spend the day at home reading. I finished a Liane Moriarty book, “Apples Never Fall,” a fun fiction. We enjoyed a good movie last week, “Loving Adults” – lots of twists and turns! I caught up with John and watched “The Inside Man” while he was out to dinner with the Canadians. We also watch a fun French crime drama and started the latest season of “The Crown.”

We celebrated John’s birthday Sunday by going to the famous El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore — and it was, indeed, splendid! It’s a huge bookstore housed in an old theatre and it’s really breathtaking. A co-worker’s great, great grandfather owned the theatre (over 100 movie houses), and we could see his initials in the crest above the stage. The place was filled with happy people buying books and taking photos — and, of course, drinking coffee in the coffee shop (housed where the stage was).

Afterward, we went across the street to Parrilla Aires Criollos for an early dinner; it was the best steak I’ve had here. The place was nice, not fancy, and seemed a bit old school — we really enjoyed it. Earlier in the day, we ran an errand in the car and ended up having lunch at a charming bar/restaurant while the car got a much-needed washing. El Octavo (the Eight) in Palermo is an old family place — kind of a diner of sorts. Not fancy, simple good food and a relaxed vibe with some charming touches.

Monday was Halloween and we opened the embassy late afternoon for kids to trick or treat. Different sections of the embassy went all out with spooky decorations.

Big news of the week was that I started driving my car! I finally got my diplomatic license plate. Driving in the city is OK so far, although I haven’t gone far or had to navigate too much traffic. The biggest challenge is getting down the corkscrew to the third sub-basement where my parking spot is in our apartment building – talk about scary! You basically just have to have the steering wheel turned all the way to the right to get down it. The scrapes all along the walls are not confidence inspiring!

Last Sunday John and I continued working on the house, then I met Lea at the Park Hyatt for a fancy lunch on a chilly, rainy day. Today she and I met at a cute place in Palermo called COWI – just a week later and we were enjoying sunny 71 degree weather. We walked around a bit afterward and checked out the Sunday street vendor fair.

Also this week we had a team of folks visiting the consular section from DC. It was a whirlwind trip and we packed in a lot, including dinner out on Wednesday night at a cute place in Las Canitas neighborhood. Finally, on Friday, we had an admin day at work, and we had an asado at the Ambassador’s residence outside in the quincho (grill area). It was a lovely day and everyone had fun.

John and I flew home from Iguazu last Monday, and went back to work Tuesday. The photo above is from the small hummingbird garden we visited last week.

We watched an excellent movie last night, “Argentina 1985.” It’s about the trial of military officials accused of human rights offenses here in the 70s. I don’t know much about that period of time, but it didn’t matter – it was an incredible movie. (Watch it!) We also finished season one of the Swedish crime drama, “The Hunters.”

We worked on the house all day yesterday and are making progress under Flavia’s watchful supervision: