Weekend with the fam
May 19 y 20
Weekend with Marta and Facu. Facu spent the night with his father (his parents are divorced) last night, and Marta had to leave early this morning for week (she’s a part-time real estate agent). So when I woke up Saturday morning, I had the house to myself. I unpacked my bags, settled into my room, had some breakfast, and cleaned up.
Around noon Facu got back and we went to walk around the neighborhood. He gave me a great tour and we grabbed hotdogs on the way back to the apartment. Besides that it was a lazy day. I spent a lot of time reading and working to catch up on this journal. I’m reading “What a Party!” by Terry McAuliffe, the former chair of the DNC. It’s a fun book, full of hard-to-believe anecdotes from a man who’s spent his life hobnobbing with the biggest names in politics.
In the late afternoon, Marta returned home from work. She made a tasty dinner of beef and tomato salad. We all chatted a while afterward.
On Sunday, I woke up pretty early and went for a run in the park. When I got back, Marta was making pancakes. We had talked yesterday about the differences in food in the U.S. and Argentina. In Argentina, breakfast is not an important meal – Argentines eat very little in the morning, and often skip breakfast all together. I made a big deal about how in the U.S. (or at least in the Anderson house), we have a big breakfast on the weekends of eggs or pancakes or something like that.
To treat me, Marta had figured out a patchwork pancake recipe this morning. I ran to the corner store to pick up bananas. And the night before I had given her and Facu a little bottle of maple syrup as a gift from back home. The pancakes turned out pretty well and we enjoyed them this morning. Marta didn’t eat them, but I think she felt really good about doing a little something for me to make me feel at home. Afterward, I cleaned up the kitchen from the past few days. Everyone started pitching in. Washing and drying dishes, sweeping the floor, folding laundry, that sort of thing. It was a nice little circle of family teamwork, and everyone was feeling really good. Call me crazy, but I really think that doing chores is both important and therapeutic – it gets everyone feeling like they have a stake in the household, and like they’re giving back to everyone around them. When everyone pitches in on their own accord, it’s like a little circle of good feelings.
This afternoon, I read some from my book and wandered around the neighborhood. I found a locutorio (internet café and telephone plaza), where I called home for the first time. It was great to check in with everyone, it sounds like they’ve had a busy but really exciting past week with events going on. Afterward, I continued my tour. I walked past a nice looking restaurant with outdoor tables. Hungry, I decided to check it out. I had a nice late lunch of empanadas de carne y jamon and a liquado de bananas. The service was as slow as an Argentine snail, but I enjoyed myself watching the foot traffic. The restaurant was right on the busy corner of the park. I don’t go out to eat solo very often, so this was a good experience. I took my time and enjoyed the smells and sights of Argentina, and imagined what it would be like to live in capitals all over the Latin world.
So that wraps up my first weekend at 1265 Santander. (Santander is the name of the street.) I like Marta a lot (we had some good discussions, and she speaks slowly and clearly). Facu’s nice and has a good job making me feel welcome. This afternoon, two of his friends came over. They were very nice and I spent time watching a movie with them. My room (and bed) is very comfortable. And it’s like they knew me before I even arrived – the room has a nice big desk! What more could I ask for?
This evening I went out with Facu and his friend Agostina. We took a colectivo 26 (bus 26) to a big shopping mall in Buenos Aires. We shopped around and I bought a cell phone (call me at 00-54-15-6869-5473). Then we wandered around the barrio a bit, dropped Agostina off at her apartment, and Facu and I hit up McDonald’s for some dinner. McD’s is one of the few American chains I’ve run into around here, and it seems a bit more upscale than back home. It’s still a bargain, but since it’s American it’s got a certain air of sophistication. And plus the beef is from Argentina, which makes it worthwhile.
Long colectivo ride back to Santander. So wraps up the weekend.
Here’s a photo of my room and then of the Aguilar kitchen:
Weekend with Marta and Facu. Facu spent the night with his father (his parents are divorced) last night, and Marta had to leave early this morning for week (she’s a part-time real estate agent). So when I woke up Saturday morning, I had the house to myself. I unpacked my bags, settled into my room, had some breakfast, and cleaned up.
Around noon Facu got back and we went to walk around the neighborhood. He gave me a great tour and we grabbed hotdogs on the way back to the apartment. Besides that it was a lazy day. I spent a lot of time reading and working to catch up on this journal. I’m reading “What a Party!” by Terry McAuliffe, the former chair of the DNC. It’s a fun book, full of hard-to-believe anecdotes from a man who’s spent his life hobnobbing with the biggest names in politics.
In the late afternoon, Marta returned home from work. She made a tasty dinner of beef and tomato salad. We all chatted a while afterward.
On Sunday, I woke up pretty early and went for a run in the park. When I got back, Marta was making pancakes. We had talked yesterday about the differences in food in the U.S. and Argentina. In Argentina, breakfast is not an important meal – Argentines eat very little in the morning, and often skip breakfast all together. I made a big deal about how in the U.S. (or at least in the Anderson house), we have a big breakfast on the weekends of eggs or pancakes or something like that.
To treat me, Marta had figured out a patchwork pancake recipe this morning. I ran to the corner store to pick up bananas. And the night before I had given her and Facu a little bottle of maple syrup as a gift from back home. The pancakes turned out pretty well and we enjoyed them this morning. Marta didn’t eat them, but I think she felt really good about doing a little something for me to make me feel at home. Afterward, I cleaned up the kitchen from the past few days. Everyone started pitching in. Washing and drying dishes, sweeping the floor, folding laundry, that sort of thing. It was a nice little circle of family teamwork, and everyone was feeling really good. Call me crazy, but I really think that doing chores is both important and therapeutic – it gets everyone feeling like they have a stake in the household, and like they’re giving back to everyone around them. When everyone pitches in on their own accord, it’s like a little circle of good feelings.
This afternoon, I read some from my book and wandered around the neighborhood. I found a locutorio (internet café and telephone plaza), where I called home for the first time. It was great to check in with everyone, it sounds like they’ve had a busy but really exciting past week with events going on. Afterward, I continued my tour. I walked past a nice looking restaurant with outdoor tables. Hungry, I decided to check it out. I had a nice late lunch of empanadas de carne y jamon and a liquado de bananas. The service was as slow as an Argentine snail, but I enjoyed myself watching the foot traffic. The restaurant was right on the busy corner of the park. I don’t go out to eat solo very often, so this was a good experience. I took my time and enjoyed the smells and sights of Argentina, and imagined what it would be like to live in capitals all over the Latin world.
So that wraps up my first weekend at 1265 Santander. (Santander is the name of the street.) I like Marta a lot (we had some good discussions, and she speaks slowly and clearly). Facu’s nice and has a good job making me feel welcome. This afternoon, two of his friends came over. They were very nice and I spent time watching a movie with them. My room (and bed) is very comfortable. And it’s like they knew me before I even arrived – the room has a nice big desk! What more could I ask for?
This evening I went out with Facu and his friend Agostina. We took a colectivo 26 (bus 26) to a big shopping mall in Buenos Aires. We shopped around and I bought a cell phone (call me at 00-54-15-6869-5473). Then we wandered around the barrio a bit, dropped Agostina off at her apartment, and Facu and I hit up McDonald’s for some dinner. McD’s is one of the few American chains I’ve run into around here, and it seems a bit more upscale than back home. It’s still a bargain, but since it’s American it’s got a certain air of sophistication. And plus the beef is from Argentina, which makes it worthwhile.
Long colectivo ride back to Santander. So wraps up the weekend.
Here’s a photo of my room and then of the Aguilar kitchen:
posted by Nick Anderson @ 9:01 PM
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