Old friends

March 17th, 2024
With Marina at Mishiguene

An old friend from Hot Springs is staying with us for a few days, Marina P., and I don’t think she’s changed a bit since high school! We had a great dinner at Mishiguene on Thursday and another great lunch at La Cabrera on Saturday. We’ve had a lot of fun catching up and she’s having a good time exploring Argentina. 


In addition to Marina, we had a chance to visit with Don H., an old friend of John’s, after John saw on Facebook that Don and his husband Bo were in Buenos Aires. They came over last night and spent the evening with us – big fun! 


Last Sunday John and I had lunch at Sarki’s, a fabulous Armenian restaurant – I really loved the food. Coincidentally my book club met there the very next night (we read “Lost Voices”) and I was happy to go back and try different dishes. 


We had epic rains here this week – it just poured for days! We were soaked getting to the restaurant for book club and it didn’t stop until Thursday. 

La Cabrera with their pole of lollipops

Full moon?

March 10th, 2024

Was it a full moon this week? It seemed like a tough week all the way around!

I talked to some friends this week — Karen in Brazil and Muffy in Arkansas. John and I are enjoying “Feud: Truman Capote and the Swans” and we really liked the movie “American Fiction.”

Lea and I had lunch at a cool vegan place last week, Sacro. Yesterday we had hair appointments at the same time in San Telmo, so we had lunch beforehand at a little steakhouse, Grandes Carnicerias del Plata.

I was shocked this week to learn my friend Jay died in Puerto Vallarta – I’ve known Jay and his husband David forever. David reached out to me for assistance, and I was able to put him in touch with the right folks at the consulate in Guadalajara and the consular agency in Vallarta. They did amazing work (as usual) to help David. Jay would have turned 57 next week.

Retirement class

March 3rd, 2024

I worked from home most of this week so I could take a four-day retirement class. It was a lot of great information about our savings program, federal benefits, social security, taxes, insurance, etc. – lots to absorb and now I have a three-page to-do list of things to follow up on.

Last Sunday I biked over to the Malba museum for the first time. It’s a lovely museum. In addition to their fabulous collection of Latino art, they currently have a small Frida Kahlo exhibit and a much bigger exhibition of Cecilia Vicuña, a female Peruvian artist/activist from the 70s and 80s.

Love this tiny piece by Vicuña (translates to “Clean”)
”Self portrait with monkey and parrot”

Friday evening, John and I met Ed and Catherine for dinner – they were in town from neighboring Montevideo. We served with them in Islamabad. We enjoyed an al fresco Thai dinner in Palermo at Punch and had lots of fun catching up with them.

Saturday John took me to Desnivel for lunch in San Telmo, an old school bodegon (translates to something akin to a diner) where we had a good steak. I like that neighborhood and need to spend more time wandering around there. We stopped in a cool little art shop on the way to the restaurant where we enjoyed looking at small works by young artists.

I had a long chat with my friend Scott (also from Islamabad) yesterday that was a lot of fun, plus Joan and I got in a good conversation during one of my lunch breaks. John and are enjoying “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” plus a few movies: “Sliding Doors” (oldie but goodie), “Nyad,” about long-distance swimmer Diane Nyad (excellent, and the super-cute French comedy, “Up for Love.” I finished reading “Burnout” and “The Guest.”

S comes to Buenos Aires

February 25th, 2024
SecState with John looking on

Secretary of State Antony Blinken (“S”) made a trip to Buenos Aires after the G-20 in Brazil to meet with the new Argentine president and to say hello to embassy staff. John coordinated the embassy reception on the lawn of the ambassador’s residence Friday morning. The event went off without a hitch! Even though his visit to Argentina was very short, it required a lot of preparation in advance of his arrival – every event is choreographed down to the last detail to keep things on schedule and to ensure there are no gaffes, etc. I didn’t participate in the numerous countdown meetings with S’s large advance team, but it was fascinating to watch the process as John and other co-workers went through it. Adding to the week’s earlier schedule was a CODEL by Marco Rubio, which was also a heavy lift for post. I think we’re all anxious to return to regularly scheduled programming next week!

With girlfriends waiting for Blinken to arrive
John, Master of Ceremonies
And a tango demo, of course!

Also in big news this week: John and I celebrated 28 years of marriage! It seems like we’ve been together forever, but at the same time, it seems like yesterday that we were newlyweds living in Costa Rica! He treated me to a nice lunch at El Preferido.

Last Monday was President’s Day. I celebrated by cleaning out the bulk of my closet, inspired by reading “Wear It Well” last week. I still have a little bit to go, but it felt great. This week I also read “The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying What Other People Think of You” and “The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos” – I enjoyed them both. John and I finished “Criminal Record” and “True Detective,” and started “Expats” with Nicole Kidman.

Tennis!

February 19th, 2024
Alcaraz

I had a great time at the Argentine Open tennis tournament this week! After watching some of the qualifying rounds last Saturday, I went back on Monday to see the first round. First Djere beat Cilic, then I got to see Stan Warinka beat Cachin. Stan is a long-time favorite of mine, so it was fun to see him in person!

Stan the Man

John went with me on Saturday and Sunday for the semis and then the finals. In the semis, we saw two Argentines play, Diaz Acosta and Coria, followed by what really should have been the tournament final: #2 ranked Alcaraz vs #21 ranked Jarry. In a big twist, Jarry won over Alcaraz and then the #87 ranked Diaz Acosta beat Jarry! John and I would have certainly lost any bets on the outcome! The weather was perfect and we had a great time!

Monday and Tuesday were local holidays, so on Tuesday I finally devoted some time to my Antarctic photos. I curated them down to a manageable size to share – click here if you’d like to take a look. Goodness, baby penguins are adorable!

This week I read “The Psychology of Money” – I think I read it before, but it was fast and had some good reminders in it. We finished the season of “Poker Face,” which we’ve enjoyed, as well as “Criminal Record.” We started “Expats” with Nicole Kidman last night.

John was sweet to bring me flowers on Valentine’s Day. On the 13th, Mom would have been 99. It’s hard to believe she’s been gone nine years now.