Our Last Week

Leading up to our departure from Argentina, life was understandably complex. We spent most of our free time deciding how to best organize our things to be moved, determine which items we wanted in our air shipment (which turned out to be a bust, the air shipment was tiny), and what we needed to pack in our suitcases so that it wasn't packed in our sea shipment. In the midst of all of this packing and reorganizing, we had a birthday party to celebrate Gretchen turning 3, attended a wedding, gathered the mortgage paperwork on a house the house we now own and said goodbye to our home for the last 4.5 years.

We had some great tips from friends that had already experienced an international move, especially regarding items that you need to bring with you as opposed to packing - just to make life a little easier:

• Proof of car insurance (if you had a car) such as your policy. This will help when you're applying for car insurance in the US, they like you to have continuous coverage.
• Shot records for everyone in the family, recent medical records for anyone undergoing any sort of medical treatment. It helps to have medical records for your little ones too, so that they can get up to speed with a new pediatrician without overlapping care.
• Checkbook. We hadn't written checks outside of our yearly taxes since leaving the US, this was one that we almost forgot about. You need it if closing on house, or for all of those little expenses when starting up your new life (school registration fees, school uniforms, law mowing service, etc)
• All identity documents, Social Security cards, birth certificates, marriage license and the like. You never know what the DMV, post office or other random agency will request.

Considering that most everything I just listed makes it sounds like we had a boring, mundane, work-focused week, it was actually quite exciting. Our last week in Argentina sums up many of the reasons that I loved living there. 

Starting out the weekend, we woke up early to help the new owners of our couch move it to their truck. Outside of our front window, there is an upsidedown pickup truck, which had hit one of the city buses you see in the photo. Not that I loved horrible accidents, but there was always something going on out the front window. 

Like the time a Fernet truck overturned and people ran out into the street at 5:00am to steal bottles of the popular liquor.

Or when it flooded.

Or when a helicopter landed on the street. 

Or once a year when the mounted patrols would parade by on hundreds of horses. 

Or once a year when there was a huge fireworks show. 

You get the picture.

We continued the weekend by attending a wedding. This was our second wedding in Argentina, and as with the first, it is an all night affair. This combines a few of my favorite things. The fact that we could go to an all night wedding (with which we stayed in a hotel because we had a big week of moving ahead and needed to get some sleep) and know that our kids were safe and having a great time with our wonderful empleada, Candy. She gladly stayed the night in our half-empty, totally disheveled home with both of our kids and acted as if it were an honor to be asked to do so. We miss her terribly.

The wedding was also great. Lots of food, lots of friendly people and plenty of last-minute-Spanish practicing before we left. 

Then Monday came, and Gretchen attended her last week of school. On my way to pick her up, I was stopped on the street by Dennis Rodman. Yep. Rodman reached out his massive wingspan arm to stop me and tell me that I looked too serious and needed to lighten up. Not that I'm in the habit of taking life advice from The Rod, but he had a point - I mean, I was walking down the street within touching distance of this enormous, recognizable guy speaking English and I had no idea until he stopped me. 

I love that you just never know who you're going to run into on the street. This was just one celebrity sighting that we had during our stay, others consisted of John Malkovich, Mike Tyson, Britney Spears, Madonna's children and posse (not the Material Girl herself), Ringo Starr and now, Dennis Rodman. Two thumbs up.

As the packers were going through the house, we tried to keep Gretchen as occupied as possible. It's pretty sad to watch your things be packed away and your house become an empty shell. Traumatizing even. So, she spent time with friends doing super fun things. Like going on this amazing picnic with Candy and her family. They made her fruit salad, delicious homemade cupcakes, sandwiches and the entire family (all four children and parents) took both of our kids to the park. They even went to the much further calesita park because it's what Gretchen wanted. Could they be any nicer?

Then we moved into this amazing hotel, the Four Seasons Buenos Aires and had a great view of Av 9 de Julio.

The hotel was incredible and even better, it was 3 blocks from our apartment. I loved that we could go out to a fancy brunch or sit and have a drink at their beautifully decorated bar and it was a 5 minute walk away. I also loved that we could pay in pesos and spend as much as we would at a normal restaurant in the US.

I also love that we saw, and met, James Hetfield from Metallica on his way to the gym. Gretchen gave him a flower that she had picked. He was a nice guy.

We got stuck in a rainstorm as I scrambled to get the last 2 vaccines needed to get the chicos up to date on their shots before we left.

I did not love getting stuck in the rain over a mile from home.

I did not love the cab drivers waving their angry little fingers at me telling me that no, they are not interested in my dripping wet stroller in their car.

I do love that we walked home, in the pouring rain, with no gear and Gretchen thought it was hilarious. I think living in Argentina has taught all of us to be more tolerant when things aren't perfect. Sometimes you need to just go with the flow, walk for awhile in the rain while your daughter's school uniform shields your 6 month old from the downpour.

We had a going away party with some of the families at Gretchen's school. It was at a Burger King that had a play area for kids and when we tried to take a group picture all of the kids freaked out - so here is a picture of some of the moms from school. This was a great group of women who helped me out when I didn't understand, took me underwing when most of my friends moved away and helped us feel more connected to the community.

I love that as a foreigner, I was able to make such nice friends and even though it was hard for us to communicate at times, they still included me in their mom group.

To that point, here is Gretchen with Candy's son Ale on the way to the airport to catch our flight. That's right, Candy and three of her children accompanied us to the airport to say farewell. So incredibly thoughtful. To add to the sweetness, Gretchen and Ale held hands on the way and then both fell asleep in their seats. We are so lucky to have gotten to know this family, and Gretchen and Alex's early childhood was enriched by having Candy (and her family) in our lives.

It's hard to describe why we loved living in Argentina, there were so many reasons, but our last week summed up many of them in one 7-day package.

Leaving Argentina

We knew that living in Argentina was not to last forever, and we knew the end was near for a solid six months. There are many things that you can do to prepare for a large international move, and I recommend doing as many of them as possible - because even in the most prepared state possible, the move is a chaotic blur. When you are moving, here are a list of things that you should do as far in advance of the move as possible:

• Sell everything that you think you might want to sell. This includes anything that you can live without for 4 months (while the sea shipment arrives), anything you can sell for the same amount as buying a new one in the US and everything that you don't want to fit into your new life. That weird end table that you don't really like, sell it. The swing your child will grow out of in a few months, sell it. Argentina makes it very difficult to get anything into the country, so generally, things have a much better resale value there than they would at home. AND you don't have to add the risk of moving/breaking/damaging the item if you sell before you move.
• Close out all of your accounts as soon as possible. Argentinean pesos hold NO value outside of the country (as of 2014, many countries including the US don't even accept them as currency) so you want to leave with zero pesos. This includes, gym, school, bank, any sort of service should be paid in cash ahead of time if possible. 
• Sell your car. HUGE hassle.
• Plan your luggage strategy. Navigate the complex luggage policy of whatever airline you're on and know that you'll need to pack for 3-4 months. Pack clothes (and larger clothes for the fast-growing little ones) but remember to pack towels, basic kitchen needs, sheets and other daily items that you don't want to re-buy. I learned the hard way that you need a can opener, corkscrew and cutting board (all items we own multiple of that I was hoping not to repurchase). Note: I should have sold all of these things because now we own duplicates anyways.
• Have your "art" evaluated. The moving company coordinated this for us so I'm not sure exactly how to do it, but make sure that it happens FAR in advance of your move (at least 4-6 weeks before packing). They send an appraiser to look at any original art that you own. We are not big art collectors, but that fingerpainting that we gave Daddy for his birthday - yeah, that's art. The photograph that a friend gave me and I had framed, it's art. The $5.00 print we purchased at an outdoor weekend market, art. A representative comes out to take photos of your art and provides copies to the moving company to use while they pack. At the end of the day, everything that is considered art will have a print out photograph taped to the outside of the box. The idea is that customs officials will then be able to recognize if we are attempting to move national treasures out of the country - this all started after one of the national art museums had a large robbery - though it seems laborious and ineffective to me. 

Art evaluation: Check

• Visit your favorite places one last time. This was especially hard, there are so many places that we loved, including trips that we would have loved to re-visit (Salta, Mendoza, Bariloche) but there just wasn't the time. We were able to get back to these local places:

The Calesita Park:

The Four Seasons pool:

The Abasto Children's Museum:

Vicente Lopez Park:

Puerto Madero:

• Schedule the good bye parties for a week or two before you go. The night before a move sounds like a great time to bid farewell to your friends... three weeks beforehand. During the actual move you are tired, spent, and constantly running behind schedule. You don't want to have to cancel a despedida last minute or fall asleep in the middle of one.

Remember to have a little bit of fun. These weeks/months will fly by and I have to remind myself to take time to sit and relax with the kids. This is the first time that we have moved with kids of our own, and both Jon and I wanted to keep it as positive an experience as possible, in line with how our parents made moves for us. As a kid a move consists of eating out, sleeping in cool hotel beds and adventure. As an adult, it is a stressful, expensive and exhausting experience - and it is important to us that our kids feel as little of that as possible. Things that helped:

Lay around a little bit. If every second of every day is dedicated to the move, you will drive yourself crazy.

Look at this pre-cut hair! Such a moptop!

 Let them play. We "decorated" boxes with stickers, crayons and built cool forts while the packers worked around us. The packers thought it was great fun.

Caution: Precious Cargo

Watching iPad in a box fort = best afternoon ever

And on the landing end, picking out appliances is boring, but playing in a real play kitchen is superfun. Notice that ALL of the soap dispensers are in the microwave and cabinets. The salesman making commission on our appliance purchases was more than happy to put this all away.

Don't get me wrong, the move is still a chaotic blur, but if you can get organized before leaving, you may have enough sanity left to have time for fun while the chaos goes on around you. I'll let you know how we fare at the end of it all, the chaos is still swirling for now. 

Keeping Up With Moving

If you ever want life to fast forward in front of your eyes, have a baby and then move. If you really want to make it interesting, make it an international move. There is much to be said about moving, leaving Buenos Aires and starting a life in Houston, but there is a certain little guy that has been underrepresented on the blog and it's only because I haven't had a moment to breathe, much less record all of the delightful things that he is doing.

It is impossible to believe that we were still living in our apartment in Buenos Aires a month ago and only slightly more believable that we have a seven month old baby boy. Who is a precious dream. Who is a perfect baby. Until the night comes and he inevitably wakes up at least once if not twice. And it's making us mental. Luckily, he has this amazing smile that keeps us going the rest of the day.

Find the wise guy. What a sweet little champ!

Our baby is seven months old. He's rolling everywhere, showing signs of crawling and is eating like a starving person. He loves his sister more than anything, stares at her anytime she's in the room and giggles at the slightest attention from her. It is heartwarming, precious and amazing all at once.

He is happy all of the time. Until he's hungry. Then you feed him and he's happy again. While we're still nursing, food also consists of yogurt, chicken, bananas, prunes, pears, teething biscuits, and pretty much anything else in sight. Pre-made squeezy pouches have been my best friend through this chaotic time in our lives. Did you know they make little spoons that attach to the end of those pouches now? Ah, the amazing world of the USA, I'm honestly still in a bit of shock. More on that in a different post.

Alex got his first haircut days before we left BsAs, his adorable mop of black toupee hair was transformed into a little blond buzz cut in a matter of seconds. It took a few days until the child in my arms didn't surprise me when I looked down.

Before:

During:

After:

Different, right?? If you are in Buenos Aires, I have to recommend Cortemania in Recoleta (Av.Pueyrredon 1979), they were quick, cheap and good. Now our two chicos resemble each other much more, with their baby blues and wide-eyed expressions. Precious little ones, that have been such troupers during all of the recent change. 

It hasn't been all work (at least not for the kids...). There have been snoozing times:

Luxurious times:

Alex enjoying his business class international seat

Gretchen enjoying the seat and an array of stickers to play with

 Fun-loving times:

Clean little one

 Delicious times:

Enjoying S'more night at the Comfort Suites. Most amazing hotel ever.

 Relaxing shopping times:

Testing mattresses on Day 1 in Houston

  Bouncy times:

Thank you to our friends for borrowed baby items

 Sunny times:

Getting ready to enjoy our new pool!

And family times. We have already reaped the benefit of living closer to family. Gretchen loved being with her cousins for the weekend. "When are we going back to my cousin's house?"

It has been a crazy few weeks. Our little man has grown before our eyes and we have had some wild times. I don't recommend doing it often, but it has gone well for us so far. 

Selling Your Car in Argentina

We lived in Buenos Aires for two years before we felt the need to purchase a car. The bus system in the city is fantastic, and if you live near the subway you have even more public transportation options. One of the greatest factors in deciding to buy a car was our daughter; it is tough to get a baby - plus the necessary accessories – onto public transportation easily. Knowing that we were planning for a second child, the car made life much easier when we eventually needed to travel with our two, and it gave us freedom to explore outside of the city on our own schedule. This being said, I still believe you can comfortably live in Buenos Aires with no car, though I am thankful that we decided to bite the bullet and buy one when we did.

Now that it is time to leave, we need to sell the car. And as we have come to find out, this is a prime example of inefficient Argentinean process. Of course you cannot just sign over the title and call it a day – that makes far too much sense. You need to go through a variety of steps, none of which are easily identified, and all of which take time. I started with a blog post from The Last Tango in 2011 which let me to a guia de tramites on the Presidencia de la Nacion website, which was helpful in identifying the documents needed to sell the car. It was not as helpful in figuring out how to complete the documents or where to take them. So, here are a few more details - here is what we did:

Before you have a buyer: 

1. Find your closest Police station that performs validation checks for a Verificacion Policia (referred to as a Formula "12"): http://www.pfa.gov.ar/default.asp?p=verificacion. No appointment needed, just bring your cedula verde (the green card that has your name and details about the car), DNI and the vehicle to the police station. Park outside, wait in line, pay AR$95, wait in another line, pay another AR$10.50, bring the car inside the station and have the police verify that the engine and chassis are original. Once verified, you go to yet another window, get stamped and you have clearance to sell you car. This check expires after 90 days.
2. Verify that you have no outstanding traffic violations/tickets associated with the car Libre Infracciones. You can perform this check online, though to make it official, you must print the verification letter, take it to a Rapipago location and pay AR$58. This expires after 90 days.
3. Visit the DMV that your car is registered with, it should coincide with your address in Capital. The DMV location number will also be listed on the top of your title, Registro Seccional. They will give you a Formula 08 which needs to be signed by each person who's name is on the title (and their spouse if the spouse is not a title holder), in front of a DMV employee who will stamp and certify the signature(s). This also has a cost associated, it's somewhere around AR$100 per time they need to certify the form. Bring the DNI of each title holder along with a copy. Note that ALL DMV locations are open from 8:30am - 12:30pm every day. That's right, you have a FOUR HOUR window to get this done - or nos vemos mañana.
4. As a buyer, they will want to see your Libre Deuda patentes, which is just proof that you have paid your yearly taxes/fees on the vehicle. 

Once you have a buyer:

1. Visit the AFIP website and fill out a CETA. In order to complete this form online, you must have a CUIL and a Clave Fiscal with at least a Nivel 2. I had a tough time with this one, even with all of the log in information, and the step by step instructions - finally I went to an AFIP to ask for assistance, they have public computers available so that you can complete the form right there. I still had to ask for help. Twice. To complete the form, you need the full name, CUIL, DNI of all persons that will be on the new title, and the selling price of the car.
2. Figure out how they are going to pay you, in what currency and how to get the money in your hand or bank account. Sometimes this includes wearing a big jacket with lots of pockets and looking like a Columbian drug lord. I think this is what happens most times.

After all of the paperwork is done, buyer and seller are ready to go, you give the buyer the following completed forms:

• Verificacion Policia aka: Formula "12"
• Libre Infracciones complete with paid receipt
• Completed Formula 08
• Printed CETA
• The car's official title
• The cedula verde, which is the little green card that functions as a mini-title. 

The buyer then goes to the DMV associated with your car with this folder full of papers, completes their portion of the Formula 08 (completing it in front of a DMV employee to get the official stamp), and the Certificado de la transferencia to have the title reprinted with the buyer's name(s). The new title takes a few days to complete, they buyer returns to the DMV to pick it up, then they drive away with your car. 

**NOTE TO BUYERS: You now need to go with your new title to the DMV that corresponds to your home address and register the car - but that is where my knowledge of this step ends. We never did this. Oops.

Simple, right? Ha! All in all, it takes time, patience and perseverance to sell your car. Don't let it wait until you're a week away from leaving Argentina, between power outages, computer system fails, rain, closed offices, strikes, etc, etc, this can be a VERY lengthy process. It took us two weeks and after asking around, we were extremely lucky.

Suerte!

Panini (And Holiday Drama)

Coto, you don't know me at all.

Let me set the scene:

Thanksgiving Day, 2009, I've lived in Buenos Aires for 5 days.  Our moving shipment is due to arrive in our new apartment the next day, so my plan is to go grocery shopping, clean the apartment and prepare to welcome our belongings to our humble abode.  I venture out to the closest grocery store, Coto, for my first Spanish-speaking grocery shopping trip.  I should mention that virtually every store in Bs.As. delivers, and since we don't own a car, I had our groceries delivered.  I was prepared, since I barely knew how to spell my name in Spanish, I bring a card with our new address written on it so there would be no confusion about destination of our groceries.

I pay for the groceries, went to our empty apartment and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Imagine my surprise when - count them - SEVEN HOURS LATER we have still not received our groceries.  We have to call a coworker of Jon's to call the Coto helpline to figure out where our groceries were, only to find out that they were sent to the wrong street.  Why that didn't warrant a phone call from Coto, I'll never know.  Not only that,  we shouldn't expect to see our things for at least another 3 hours.  SERIOUSLY?!  TEN HOURS for delivery??  We live like 10 blocks from the store.  Worst. Shopping. Ever. 

So, on Thanksgiving night as we waited for our well-traveled groceries to arrive, we tried Panini for the first time.  Panini is a chain of café-style restaurants with a location directly across the street from us on the corner of Libertador and Callao.  Across the street was as far as I could have made it, since I had sat in an empty apartment for over 7 hours terrified of missing the blessed grocery delivery, I didn't even leave for food.  So we sat at an outdoor table on the beautiful November day and waited to be waited on.  At this point. I'm done with waiting.  We go and get our own menus.  We vigorously wave to a waitress to say that we're ready.  We wait for a plate of saltines crackers and ham made into tiny sandwiches that looks like a kinder-gardener's mid-afternoon snack to be delivered and I send it back because there's no cheese.  The waitress and her cracker plate return only for a gust of wind to blow the whole plate, crackers, ham and cheese into my lap.  I start to cry.  I swear off of Panini.

A few months later I realize that Panini may have been given a bad shake.  It's not their fault that Coto sucks.  It's not their fault that the wind gusted my food into my lap.  To date, Thanksgiving Day has been my most frustrating day here in Bs.As. so maybe it just wasn't the best time to try a new restaurant.  We have since been there three other times, and though the food has been better (it's also been worse...) the service has been consistently horrendous.

In our best meal there, Jon had a steak sandwich:

 And I had a roast vegetable sandwich

The insides were good, but the bread was stale, hard and burnt.  Bad combo.  The menu prices are reasonable, but they are all a la carte, no sides with this meal.  We had a pizza once and it was decent - but I can't tell if it's because the pizza was good or if we just desperately want this super convenient café to be good.  One thing is for sure, the service is terrible.  I went for a quick bite with my brother Chris while he was in town and when we walked in there were five employees behind the bar eating and zero employees helping the 7 or 8 tables of people in the dining room.  It's not that big of a place either, it's not like we couldn't see each other, it's more that the staff just doesn't care.  Panini is a good stop for coffee and to catch up with friends because you'll never be bothered.  More likely. they'll forget you're even there.

All in all, a big thumbs down to Panini.  Even on my best days, it's unimpressive.

Keeping in Touch

This post is dedicated to the various ways that we keep in touch with friends and family as we live 5,270 miles away (according to United's direct flight to Dulles). I consider it extremely good luck that we moved during an age where there are so many ways to keep connected. It wasn't so long ago, when Jon and I first dated in high school that my family was transferred away to Illinois and we had to write letters to keep in touch. I can't even imagine that now. Although we love and appreciate the mail that our friends have sent us (so please, keep it up!), it does take awhile to get here. Since we are past the age of snail-mail, and since my husband is a complete technology guru, we have plenty of items that were not available until recently. So, on to the items that have made our lives easier:

• Voltage Converters - Buenos Aires is not called the "Paris of South America" for nothing, it looks, feels and powers it's electronics just like it's European sister. Not only are the plugs themselves different, but the power is a standard 220v (strong enough to power a clothes dryer at home) compared to 110v in the USA. In come our voltage transformers, we have 4 of them. The two mega-transformers are used for our desktop computer, laptops and to charge misc. items in the office, and the TV, DVD, Wii, PSP3, etc in the living room. We have one stationed in the kitchen so that I can use all of our great wedding gifts, the KitchenAid, blender, food processor, etc and one portable transformer that I use for plugging in the iron, crock-pot and other random low power items. I know it sound like something small, but it has made the transition easier and our apartment feels much more like home since we can use all of our own stuff.

• Vonage - I used to see commercials for Vonage services and regard them with as much attention as those old "Dial 10-10-321 for free long distance!" ads. I take it all back and if they asked me, I would voluntarily give my customer testimonial on any Vonage ad out there. Life as we know it would not be the same without Vonage. This amazing little device allows us to call the US and 40 other countries for a flat rate of $22.99 per month. It also allows people from the US to call us as if we were still in Virginia. You just buy the Vonage box, hook it up to your internet connection and then call to your heart's desire. You can even choose your area code.

• Slingbox - As I mentioned in my South American TV Recap, we are lucky enough to have plenty of English-speaking TV shows to choose from. Unfortunately, we get very little live TV and virtually no college sports. This is simply unacceptable to the biggest sports fan I know, Jon. He has rigged up a Slingbox in his parents basement that we can control from our computer here. The idea is that you buy the Slingbox and then set it up at a TV that has the stations you desire. Through some internet magic, you can then control that TV using an internet log in, and watch through your computer screen. This is especially helpful for watching Virginia Tech games, even if they are just competing for the NIT title :).

• Skype - I remember a time when I dreamed of a futuristic phone that had a video screen so that you could see you friends while you talked. This clearly was a shared dream that has been answered by the inventors of Skype. I was really late to join the Skype bandwagon, more because I didn't understand it than anything else. For those that are still non-believers, it is incredibly easy and best of all, it's FREE. If you want to see the people that you're talking to, you either need a freestanding web-camera or one built into your computer. It's especially great for seeing those things that can't actually talk for themselves, like new babies, new pets, household furniture and households themselves.

So that's what we do to stay current. If you know of other ways to keep connected, we're open to any and all ideas, each new development I hear of amazes me more than the last.

Return From Antarctica

When we found out that we were moving in May 2009, we decided not to spread the news until we knew more details about the assignment, which turned out to be in mid-June. Little did I know that in the meantime my middle brother, Chris, would announce that he had accepted a job that was located in....wait for it.... Antarctica. This significantly decreased the shock value of our news, so I owe him a thank you for that. He said that he was planning to move to the McMurdo Airforce Base for six months to be a fireman. I think our friend Rick put it best when he said "If I think of one place on Earth that would have the least amount of fires, it would be Antarctica", which is the same thing that most of us were thinking. So since this weekend marks Chris's return to the US, I will dedicate this post to his reasons for going and why he wants to go back.

Many countries have built bases on Antarctica, the US, New Zealand, Argentina, Russia, India and Chile just to name a few. The United States owned McMurdo Station is located on Ross Island, south of New Zealand and with the ability to support over 1,200 residents, it is currently the largest community in Antarctica. It is a working Air Force base and requires the support of emergency fire and rescue crews to assist with the daily operations of the airfield and provide medical services support to the base and research facility. This is where Chris and his team come into play. They have done everything from "pave" the ice runways (with water to smooth out the cracks in the ice) to chasing penguins away so that planes could land. The latter is one of my favorite things that Chris has told us about. There were 4 Empire penguins on the runway that just stood there for multiple days. Eventually, a plane needed to land and they had to somehow get these 5 foot tall penguins off of the runway - I would not have wanted that job! Another great penguin story was when Chris and a couple other guys saw a huge herd (flock? gaggle? What is a group of penguins called?) of smaller penguins from a distance. They took a bunch of pictures of the herd, until they realized that 3 little guys were breaking away to come and check out the humans! They walked right up to Chris and the guys, they were only a few feet away - can you imagine?!

It wasn't all penguins and fun for him, they had emergencies where people were lost out in the cold, heart related health issues and yes, even a fire. The travel down to Antarctica was gruesome, he flew from DC to Denver (there he trained on the huge trucks and foam hoses for three weeks) to LA to Sydney to Christchurch, New Zealand to Antarctica. The last leg was a military C-17 where you had to sit looking into the middle of the plane for 5 hours. When he first arrived, they had an unexpected cold front move in and the base underwent unseasonable cold temperatures, the coldest Chris reported was -115 F. That's freakin cold. They have TV, internet and they can call out from the base (they cannot receive any phone calls). Chris said that the base has a 24 hour bar, a pool and rec room and there are plenty of hikes and photo opportunities. My family sent him care packages and Christmas presents and he was kind enough to send Christmas packages back to each one of us. He seems to have done an amazing job there and is now celebrating his completion of the 6-month position with a glorious vacation in Sydney and then a week in Hawaii.

We all missed Chris like crazy while he was gone. I can't wait to hear all of the stories that he has to tell. The experience was overwhelmingly positive and he seems to have met some really great guys. If nothing else, he has a resume builder that very few others can compete with. It has gone from what we all thought was crazy to something that we are all very proud of. Welcome Home Chris!

Welcome to Buenos Aires!

Much to my surprise, in May 2009 my husband and I found out that we were moving to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Six months and a mass of paperwork later, I boarded a plane to meet Jon in Bs. As. Though living far from family and friends has it's difficult moments, our new home has been good to us in many ways. We have begun to settle into our new neighborhood, so now is a great time to start tracking our life together in a foreign country.

I hope that some of the information I provide is helpful to anyone who wants to visit Argentina or just wants to keep up with Jon and I. Enjoy!

Besos,
Dawn