criplomats

I love these trees in Recoleta – the internet says they are gum/rubber trees (“gomero” in Spanish). They are massive! I stopped to photograph this one as we were walking home from a yummy vegetarian brunch at Marti, where Lea and I have gone a couple of times. It is chilly but sunny today, and lots of people are out at the weekend arts and crafts fair by the cemetery and at a gastronomic fair at the nearby French Plaza.

The same was true yesterday – we stopped by the annual coffee fair across the street from the embassy. Lots of coffee shops set up tents to sell food and coffee – it was good people- and dog-watching. We also went to Villa Crespo neighborhood to walk around a bit – the leather stores were open but nothing caught our eye.

Earlier this week it was cold and rainy, so the sun was welcome. We had a farewell event for my boss on Friday at Bosch Palace — champagne and cake — before he takes off next week.

I had a great chat with my friend Nomi yesterday.

I binged on a podcast called “Scamanda” this week (really? fake cancer to get donations?), and John and I are binging on the series, “The Lincoln Lawyer.” We also watched this week’s episode of “Hijack,” with Idris Elba. I finished Jeannette Walls’ “Hang the Moon” and started “The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable Life of a 109-Year-Old Man.” And I was glad to see Alcaraz win Wimbledon today – I saw him play at the Argentine Open last December.

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!