criplomats

John and I celebrated the end of the work week – the first full work week since before Christmas – by going out to dinner at a nice steak house. The embassy was busy all week bidding our Ambassador farewell as his tour came to a close. I was also busy in the consular section covering several different emergencies involving U.S. citizens.

John and I got caught up with “Matlock” and continued with episodes of “The Agency.” We also started “100 Years of Solitude” last night. I just watched “Woman of the Hour” with Anna Kendrick on Netflix while John was outside roasting coffee on the balcony. I finished reading “All Fours” and also “Bellevue” by Robin Cook (who I met on our cruise last year). I just started a book about having a fulfilling retirement.

Not much else to report this week!

We had a lovely time last night at Martin and Rosario’s house for an asado with Hernan and his wife Sandra. It’s hard to believe we’ve known them now for almost 30 years. It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were living in Costa Rica with Martin and Rosario and their newborn baby! It was a beautiful summer evening and we enjoyed eating outside, overlooking the pool and watching their two dogs run around the yard.

We were off work on Thursday to mourn the passing of former President Carter. I ran some errands and took this photo of trees across the street from us on my way to lunch alone at Invernadero. John was busy selling off a lot of his game collection – his phone has been pinging and the doorbell ringing all week, with happy gamers coming to pick up their treasures!

The week at work was busy – my boss is on vacation so I’m in charge of the section for a bit. Lea is also away — as are a lot of Argentines. I love January because the city is so quiet and streets feel empty. The downside is that lots of shops have “away for vacation” signs on them, so my attempts at finding an open frame store have been thwarted.

Speaking of cats — Flavia is doing well. She is glad Pilar is back from her vacation so she can be better attended to throughout the day!

John and I wrapped up “Shogun” this week – we can see why it won so many awards. We’re still enjoying “The Agency.” I just finished reading “All Fours” for my book club.

And finally, here’s wishing my mother-in-law Ginger a happy birthday this past week!

I was thrilled to see Ted and Tommy Harps after 40+ years — they were in town on their way to an Antarctica cruise and made time to come visit us Saturday afternoon. They were exactly the same and I was really happy to see them. And bonus: Tommy’s daughter Lauren, her fiancé Jesse, Tommy’s son Cameron and his wife Becca also came over, so I got to meet the kids for the first time ever. They were just delightful and we enjoyed a couple of hours yakking and catching up.

It’s hard to believe it’s 2025! John and I were tucked into bed well before midnight and spent New Year’s Day at home. We enjoyed a morning bike ride and had to laugh at all of the young Argentines still roaming around in groups looking a little worse for the wear at 8AM. I also had a nice chat with Ann.

I finished reading “Challenger” and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite its grim topic. It was an excellent overview of the space shuttle program. I was reminded of watching the Columbia disintegrate overhead in 2003 when John and I were in Dallas – 17 years after Challenger exploded after liftoff.

We continue to watch “The Agency” and “Dune,” and also started “Shogun,” which we are enjoying.

I was sad to hear that my friend from Hot Springs James McCully passed away on Christmas Eve. We had spent a couple of Thanksgivings together when John and I lived in DC.

2025 will be full of changes and I’m ready to get that party started!

After having lunch with Lea at a great little cafe called Evelia, I finally stopped in a little shop called Facón that’s been on my radar for a while. I brought home a ceramic Pachamama from northern Argentina near the Bolivian border. Pachamama is an Earth Mother type goddess worshiped by the Inca – I like to think she’s settling in to her new home with us!

We were off for both Christmas Eve and Christmas — both were quiet days for us. I was thankful for my annual Audubon calendar from Ginger, plus a donation to my favorite animal rescue, Out of the Woods. (Thank you, Ginger!) John cooked up some Kahlua Pig on Christmas. Christmas doesn’t seem to be such a big deal here and it’s hard to get in any Christmas spirit, but we enjoyed the days off. We also went bike riding on Christmas morning – lovely! We also got out again this morning – lots of fun. The bike paths are good and there are lots of parks.

This past week I read two books by Jane Campbell: “Interpretations of Love” and a collection of short stories, “Cat Brushing.” She is an older author, in her 80s, and while some of the stories are quirky and a bit odd (with a spoonful of science fiction thrown in), I do like her writing. This morning, I started Adam Higginbotham’s “Challenger,” about the 1986 space shuttle disaster.

John and I finished the second season of “Shrinking” and are enjoying “The Agency” and “The Day of the Jackal.”

As I write, John’s got several friends over to play a board game – he’s in hog heaven!

A former co-worker from Monrovia was in town on his way to an Antarctic cruise, so we caught up over dinner Tuesday night. It was fun to hear what’s happened since we left! I met him downtown at the Parilla Aires Criolla, one of our favorite little steakhouses.

John couldn’t join us for dinner because he was attending a work event at Bosch Palace honoring a group of scientists heading to Antarctica, plus Star Trek’s William Shatner (Neil deGrasse Tyson missed due to a delayed flight – darn!). John was thrilled to visit with astrophysicist Brian Greene and his wife Tracy Day – I guarantee you John was the only one there who actually was familiar with Greene and his books and sought him out to chat.

Flavia has had spells of not eating this past week but seems to have bounced back (again!) today.

John and I watched “Black Doves” (I wasn’t a fan), plus “The Agency” and “Dune.” I’m enjoying season two of “Bad Sisters.” This week I finished reading Paula Hawkins’ “The Blue Hour,” as well as David S. Tatel’s memoir “Vision.” Thanks to Joan for that recommendation – I really enjoyed the book. Tatel spent 30 years on the D.C. Circuit Court (he took RBG’s seat) and is also blind – fascinating insights on both the Court and blindness. Made me wish we had more judges like him on the Supreme Court!