criplomats

This was a pretty low-key week. With the 4th of July falling on Tuesday, lots of folks took Monday off work. Friday was an admin day in consular – we take one day a month to have without visa applicants so we can catch up and catch our breath.

I had a hair appointment on Tuesday – it’s nice when there’s a US holiday but Argentine businesses are still open. Afterward I met Lea at a leather store to look at jackets – our current quest.

We said goodbye to Jamie and Kat this week – I’m so glad we were able to reconnect with them and get to know them better. Safe travels!

Lea and I met for a delish Israeli lunch today in Villa Crespo, then we tried to go leather shopping afterward — but today is Argentine Independence Day and all the leather stores in Villa Crespo were closed. We found one that was open but not much else – oh well!

Happy birthday in San Antonio, Jim!

We celebrated Independence Day at a huge representational event at the Ambassador’s Residence Thursday evening after work. It was a huge blow-out party – much bigger and fancier than any other we’ve attended. The number of guests goes up every time I hear it, from 1200 to 1700. While fun, for us it was a work event, on top of an already full day – John and I were there not so much to have fun but to engage with foreign interlocutors. The party is funded by big corporate donors who provide food and drink, etc.

Yesterday John and I went to a smaller embassy celebration for the 4th at the Ambassador’s quincho (the outside grill area). We had a good time eating party leftovers and potluck fare, visiting in a casual setting with the coworkers who opted to come, and listening to a band made up of local staff – much more relaxing!

I finished reading “Unbroken” – wow, just wow! I’m now reading “On our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to be Good.” John and I have started watching the new and final season of Jack Ryan, plus the Mexican “Who Killed Sara.”

I spent this morning at the office working to get our computer systems back up after a power outage, then Lea came for an early afternoon coffee. Here we are at the big party:

Thanks to a U.S. and a local holiday back-to-back, we had a four-day weekend which was great! Last Monday we went to a small going-away get-together with Patrick, Jess, and baby Logan. We visited with Jamie and Kat and I got Logan to sleep for a bit. Tuesday I met Lea for lunch at a Spanish place, then we went shopping at a leather jacket store – fun. Later we met up again for happy hour with Kat at La Cotidiana.

Work was busy and stressful this week – lots to jam into three days. I was glad for Thursday’s yoga class after work with some co-workers – we’re using the consular waiting room so it’s very convenient!

I met Lea for lunch yesterday at a good Peruvian restaurant and we briefly shopped at another leather store – thanks to its proximity to high-end hotels, the prices were easily double what we looked at last weekend.

Today we walked to La Carniceria for what’s probably our last get-together with Jamie, Kat, and Toby Ravetz – we’ve really enjoyed getting a chance to hang out with them during this tour! Jamie had been telling us this restaurant is his favorite parrilla here, and it didn’t disappoint!

Friday was the 8th anniversary of Mom’s death – hard to believe. I’m reading “Unbroken,” a fascinating story of a WW2 survivor and Olympic runner – it’s engrossing. He was born in the same decade as Mom – truly part of the Greatest Generation.

My in-laws Pete and Ginger celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary yesterday – happy anniversary! We had a nice chat with them.

My boss was out this week so I covered some extra meetings and issues – it made for a busy week. John and I laid low this weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We ventured out a bit on Saturday – lunch at the parrilla around the corner from us (pretty good and very convenient), then later we walked up to the park to see the dogs for adoption. This gorgeous galgo (AKA Spanish greyhound) was hanging out with us, then decided he needed to get under my legs and lift my feet off the ground (I look a bit like Edith Ann in this photo). He’s a bit too big for us and they are known to like to chase small animals (i.e., cats), so he’s not the doggo for us, but he was really beautiful and so calm and sweet!

I finished reading “The Maid” today then had a video chat with Ann, Pam, and Jackie. Saturday night, we finished the 16th and final episode of “Crash Landing on You,” the Korean series we’ve been watching for a while – it was just so much fun and such a sweet, sweet show – watch it!

We were happy to have our good A-100 friend Jimmi come visit Buenos Aires, along with her brother Shelby and friend Drew. The photo above was taken a couple of hours outside of BA at Estancia Ombu – they did a day trip out there on Wednesday.

The five of us went to El Aljibe for a good dinner and tango show Tuesday night and we went out to dinner again on Thursday with Kat at Cabanas Las Lilas. The travelers stayed at our apartment Thursday evening until time to leave for their red-eye flight back to Ecuador where Jimmi lives.

Friday night we were relaxing and having a good time at home when I noticed we had a visitor:

Yep, it was a free-tailed bat on the A/C vent above our heads! We think he flew in through a window we had cracked to let some fresh air in. John was an absolute hero – he got up on a step-ladder and gently got him into a trash bag, then released him on the balcony where the little fellow flew away! We’re now being more careful about closing windows when the sun goes down!

I had a hair appointment on Saturday and went to lunch with Lea today at Anafe (good small plates). We loaned my Honda to friends for a few weeks, so I have been learning to navigate the very large 4Runner in and out of the garage (through what I call the “death spiral”). I scraped the side of the truck on the post in our parking space on the first morning just trying to get it out – as John says, I was predisastered. My stomach lurches every time I get behind the wheel, but after that first morning, I’m doing OK (just OK, still scared!).

John emcee’d a town hall at the embassy this week – I dialed in via Zoom:

I love the older buildings and doors in BA – I came across this grand dame this week:

I finished reading “Spring Chicken” this week (exercise is probably your best bet to age well), and just started “The Maid.” I tried to read “Quietly Hostile,” by a comedian that’s been getting a lot of good reviews, but it was a bit too raunchy for me so I put it down. Life’s too short for a bad book! We watched “The Heist of the Century,” a good Argentine film about a real bank robbery here – we drove by the site the other day where the bank was (before it was razed) – a pretty incredible story! And we continue to enjoy the Korean series, “Crash Landing into You.”