criplomats

John and I hosted his management section officers and spouses last Sunday for a late afternoon happy hour to welcome the new folks and say goodbye to those leaving. We had around 20 people and everyone seemed to have fun! Lydia and Cesar stayed afterwards for a while to catch up.

James and Marybeth arrived Wednesday morning – we had dinner at home with them, then they were off to Mendoza early the next morning. Unfortunately they got hung up in an Aerolineas Argentinas pilots’ strike, and are spending a few extra days there. I hate that they got stuck, but at least it’s a beautiful place.

I checked out a new dermatologist after work on Thursday. On September 11, the embassy had a moment of silence outside at the flagpole (23 years still seems like yesterday in many ways). The week was filled with John’s bidding news and interviews – it has us on pins and needles!

Lea and I went to lunch at La Paroloccia yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and I wandered a bit through the arts and crafts fair on the way. John and I are hooked on “The Perfect Couple” on Netflix, the new Nicole Kidman limited series – I could hardly bring myself to go to bed last night!

John returned from Arkansas last Monday morning (Labor Day) and I returned from Mendoza later in the afternoon. It was back to work on Tuesday and thankfully the week was relatively calm. I had book club on Thursday to discuss “Real Americans.”

On Saturday John and I ran errands and had a nice lunch at Lo de Jesus – the sommelier gave us a tour of the building that we enjoyed — an old house and market. Later in the day I had a great catch-up chat with my friend Cathy in DC, then John and I settled in to start season four of “Slow Horses.” We also started a new Aussie series that’s pretty funny, “Collin in Accounts.” (Spoiler alert: Collin is a dog.)

Here are a few photos from the last couple of weeks —

Our friend and masseuse Lorena is the coach for the Argentine Paralympic Rowing Team, and her athlete Brenda Sardon qualified for Paris! Lorena sent these photos – we’re so proud of them! And they finished in the top ten – wow!

I couldn’t have had a better father-in-law than Pete (Clarence Phillip) Crippen. We connected on a level that allowed us to have a very comfortable and easy relationship, loving the same people. Just happy and occasionally sharing an inside joke. You were very much loved. 

We learned Pete passed away in his sleep Monday morning. John flew home that night to help Ginger and plan a memorial in October. 

I continued with plans to go to Mendoza with Lea and Rachel over the weekend. Thanks to Lea for planning – it was lovely! We stayed the first night at Huera, then to the wonderful Lares De Chacras for two nights. It was a bumpy start on Friday night due to thunderstorms, but we loved an amazing lunch and wine tasting at Riccitelli vineyards on Saturday, and another yummy lunch and tasting at Clos de Chacras on Sunday. Dinner at the hotel both nights was delish! We enjoyed walking around Chacras de Coriá on Sunday, especially the arts and crafts fair. And who doesn’t love the white wine breakfast tasting at Casa Vigil before catching a plane home?! Thank you, Mendoza!

The Ambassador invited John and me to a dinner in honor or Arkansas Congressman Rick Crawford this week. There were about 15 people at the table, most of whom were involved in agriculture. It was interesting!

Last Sunday John took me to San Telmo for lunch at La Brigada – it’s a fun venue with good steaks. The walls are covered with soccer memorabilia. Despite it being a popular place with tourists, there were lots of Argentine families there, as well, and the food and service were good. We browsed in an English language bookstore afterward and picked up a couple of bottles of wine at a neat little wine store, Vinotango.

Today we had lunch at Kansas – sort of like a Bennigan’s in the US. But first, we watched around 40,000 runners complete a half-marathon that went by our apartment. You can see a bandstand in the photo, as well as some of the runners in the earlier group – what a gorgeous day with the river in the distance! There was a live band all morning cheering on the runners.

Lea and I met for a yummy lunch Saturday at a simple place called Cantina Mandia – with really good, fresh food.

We watched “Dangerous Liaisons” this week, followed by a Glenn Close classic, “Fatal Attraction.” I finished reading “The Tennis Partner” and enjoyed it – Verghese is such a gifted writer. I just started “You Should be Grateful,” about adoption from the perspective of a Black woman adopted into a white family.

I think I spoke too soon about Flavia last week. She gave us quite a scare this weekend when she got very weak and stopped eating or drinking for two days. She’s slowly coming out of it, but I really didn’t think she would make it through Friday night.

One thing John and I really love about Buenos Aires is the abundance of dogs – Argentines love their dogs and they are everywhere. I had to laugh this week when I saw these two dogs in a taxi in front of me on the way home.

Lea and I had a great brunch yesterday at Franca, a good start to a pretty lazy weekend. I’m reading Abraham Verghese’s “The Tennis Partner,” and John and I are thoroughly enjoying the Argentine mini-series “Coppola,” based on a true story about a colorful man who was the agent for a famous soccer star. We also watched a couple of movies about the French Revolution (guess what John’s reading about these days!).

For anyone wondering about Flavia — she seems to be living her best life and going strong at age 20!