criplomats

When John and I were in Buenos Aires in 1996, we saw a ton of old Ford Falcons – there was (is?) a big Ford plant in Argentina, and even in the 90s, they were everywhere. We don’t see as many on the streets today, but we were alongside this one on our way to work this week. I think it’s a Falcon (or maybe a Fairlane?). Anyway, it’s always fun to see them. We also reminisce about the old parking meters we saw back then that were manufactured in Arkansas.

Yesterday I went on an adventure with Mara and her baby Magnolia – I drove the 4Runner for the first time in years and took her to the airport (about an hour outside of town) to pick up her dad and stepmom. She and I both have a bad sense of direction and I was a bit worried about driving the 4Runner after so many years, but we made it fine thanks to Google Maps. Later in the day I walked up to see the dogs for adoption, then John and I delivered some food to our colleague whose wife just had a baby (the baby is only a few days old and just adorable).

Last Sunday Lea and I went for sushi. We met again for Italian around the corner from our apartment at La Locanda to celebrate her birthday – nice cozy place with good food and fresh pasta.

We watched the American version of “A Man Called Ove” last night (“Otto” instead of “Ove”) and thoroughly enjoyed it. We loved the book and the Swedish version of the movie, too, and thought they did a nice job of the US version. We continue to enjoy “Shrinking” and we started the new season of “Ted Lasso.”

Another beautiful sunrise!

The heat wave here continues! No bike riding for us this weekend as temps have hit the high 90s. I did get in a ride early last Sunday, then met Lea for lunch at a coffee shop in the early afternoon.

Work seemed busier than usual this week – it’s the time of year when lots of reports, employee evaluations, and award nominations are due on top of our regular duties. The consular section hosted a consular corps reception at Bosch Palace Friday afternoon that was a nice break; our consular colleagues from other missions are fun and interesting, and it was nice to get to know them.

John and I watch the fun (but violent at times) Bollywood movie, “RRR” – really fun (one of the songs is nominated for an Oscar). We’re continuing to watch the excellent “Shrinking” and “The Liaison,” plus we started the Korean series, “Little Women” last night. I finished reading “The Secrets of Happiness” (meh) and have started Joan Didion’s collection of essays, “Slouching toward Bethlehem.”

I split my time this week between being back in the office and finishing up my DC project from home. We had a DC visitor this week who came to help us with some team building exercises – the other managers and I took him for drinks after work on Tuesday, then Lea and I had dinner with him on Thursday.

Yesterday John and I went to a party upstairs on the (mostly enclosed) roof in our building (the “zum”), hosted by our friends Mara and Ben. Gorgeous views from there! They were celebrating the anniversary of their meeting at a “jorts” party (jean shorts) – it was a fun afternoon chatting with work friends and meeting some new people from other missions.

I finished Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair.” Ann recommended a new Apple TV show, “Shrinking” and we just love it – the creators of it are also writers/creators of “Ted Lasso.” Really cute.

Not much else to report this week!

John and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary on Friday! The years have flown by with lots of happiness and adventure!

I worked from home all week – it was exhausting! I worked a couple of almost-12-hour days, plus a full day on Tuesday, which was a local holiday. It’s an interesting project but quite tedious.

Tuesday night was a treat – Kyle and Jon, two acquaintances from Little Rock, were in town and stopped by for a visit. We enjoyed catching up and reminiscing about old friends; it’s always a treat to see a familiar face in a foreign country.

Last Monday was also a holiday, and I set out for a solo bike ride. It’s so fun here with all the bike lanes! John and I got out again this morning and it was lovely.

I met Lea for brunch yesterday at Gontran Cherrier by the cemetery. Good food and lots of laughs. Later in the day, John and I walked up to see the animals for adoption – it’s so hard not to bring them all home with us! Today we went out for lunch at a little parrilla not far from here; it was a nice walk. Afterward we ran an errand at the mall. John also got his 4Runner running and decked out with a new battery this weekend.

We watched an excellent movie this week, “God’s Crooked Lines” – really, really good. I finished reading “The Body Keeps the Score” and started re-reading a 1959 favorite of John’s, “The Magic of Thinking Big.”

I fooled around and didn’t buy a ticket in advance for the Argentine Open, but I got incredibly lucky and found someone selling a primo ticket outside the gate for yesterday’s final, #2 Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) vs #12 Cameron Norris (UK). It was a fun match – Alcaraz won 6-3, 7-5; Norrie made the second set tight at the end. Before the singles final, I watched the doubles team of Bolelli and Fognini (Italy) beat Barrientos and Behar (Colombia/Uruguay). It was beautiful weather and just a big time overall. The venue is relatively small, around 5,000, I think, so it felt very intimate. And to be able to watch two really top-ranked players in the world was phenomenal!

Saturday was also a lot of fun – Luis and Mercedes, who we met at the Ambassador’s wedding anniversary party, invited us to their home north of town for an asado lunch. We sat outside overlooking the gorgeous pool and yard – very peaceful and great food and conversation. Very nice folks!

I’ve been working mostly from home on a joint project with DC this week; it’s an interesting project that requires a lot of reading and analysis. I had dinner with Lea one day after work at Carneros. The walk up there was chilly! The temperature dropped into the 60s all of a sudden and stayed cool on Friday with a crazy low of 55 when we woke up. Luis and Mercedes said it was the coldest this time of year in 60 years – I’ll take it as a nice break from last weekend’s 99! John and I took a nice bike ride Sunday morning and the cooler temps made it so pleasant!

I finished Selma Blair’s “Mean Baby” and started “The Body Keeps the Score.” TV-wise, we watched season one of “The Recruit,” which was kind of mindless and goofy; we started season two of “Astrid” last night.