Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Jonathan says: Saturday night around dinnertime we started hearing rock music coming from outside somewhere in our neighborhood, so loud that we figured it must be a concert. After dinner Charlie and I took a walk, partly to see whether we could find the music and partly just to stretch our legs in the cool of the evening. We followed the sound, which turned out to be farther away (and so actually louder) than we had anticipated. A funny thing happened, though, as we were finally approaching. The music changed from rock to something much more percussive and horn-laden, and I recognized a song I know well, "Mal Bicho," by one of my favorite bands, "Los Fabulosos Cadillacs."  It sounded so like the original recording that I started wondering whether it was a DJ, not a live concert, we were hearing. Then the next tune started; it was "Matador," which I know inside and out, having played it 1000 times with the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. Now there was no doubt: we were about to stumble upon a Fabulosos Cadillacs show. We went through a gate, followed the crowd, and there it was, there they were. 

Charlie says: I was dancing to the music. Papa danced with me and we did the round-jumpy game. It was so amazing 'cause the lights were reflecting out in the sky and we got to hear one of the bands that Papa likes very much. There was a big crowd and we clapped our hands like clap-clap-clap-clap. 

[By clap-clap-clap-clap, Charlie refers to the four beats in the chorus of "Vasos Vacios"(at 1:20-21 of this video).]

JG: Charlie, what was it like being out late, after dinner, in Buenos Aires, past your bedtime?

CJG: It was so wonderful and really still amazing.

Okay, so the videos and photos below are of low-quality and don't do justice to the excitement of the moment. You'll have to take our words for it.

I'm still not quite recovered from the surreality of walking out my front door in Buenos Aires and discovering my favorite Argentine band playing a free outdoor concert. The sort of thing that usually only happens in New Orleans.

Jamie says: A couple pictures from the past couple days.

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Jamie says: Yesterday was Jonathan's birthday. We had worked on art for him the weekend before and had a big spread of drawings and hand-painted pictures to put on the wall. Charlie awoke around 6:45 and Dava uncharacteristically slept past 7am, so Charlie and I had plenty of time to hang the pictures. These photos are all from last night. They include the picture wall (it's longer than what you see here), Charlie helping to put the candles on Jonathan's blondie-peanut butter-nutella 'cake', and blowing out the candles. 

I had made reservations for the nearby restaurant Mishiguene and we had a delicious dinner thanks to one of our three fine babysitters (two of whom are from Amherst!).

 Below is the cauliflower and baba ganoush. The baba ganoush was our favorite. It included a whole roasted eggplant with spices and creams on top which we were able to cut and mix to our own liking. It also came with lime wedges which added a delicious tang. 

Later we went to Thelonious Jazz Club.

 We walked almost half way home before succumbing to my heels and requesting to jump in a taxi. Below is a picture of Jonathan on the street. Happy Birthday!

Here are a few pictures from Saturday. 
We've heard Spring has sprung in NYC and have enjoyed seeing pictures of cherry tree blossoms. Here in Buenos Aires we're starting to feel a chill in the air. Luckily, this weekend was pleasant. 

Some delicious late-week photos

Jamie says: Here are a few yummy photos from late this week. 

Dava is getting ridiculously cute. She's talking a lot and can say: yup, no, backpack, banana, fork, agua, cheese, keys, ciao, hola, egg, hot, hat, all done, and many other slightly intelligible things. We understand what she's trying to say, most of the time. 

A delicious "Bowl del mar" at Tiendas Naturales. 

 She usually stays awake the whole walk home... but when she doesn't it's very cute. 

Jonathan's birthday is next Wednesday. We're going to make him some type of brownie-peanut-butter-thing. They don't have 'regular' white sugar here, so I've been getting nervous about the recipe. I purchased brownie mix to check out if it would suffice... and we delighted in some taste testing. Everyone except for Jonathan who thought it was "Too sweet!" Good thing for taste testing. 

Walking (and riding) home after having a delicious empanada dinner at our favorite spot on Heras.

A quick stop in the playground.

Jamie says: It's a four day weekend for the girls so, Jonathan and I decided to break up the time with an afternoon together. We decided to go to Chinatown because I have been fiending for a chair massage or reflexology. We didn't find the place (over crowded in a small mini mall) until it was too late... but now at least I know where I can find one. Oh yeah, and I just came upon this, so I'm good. We did go grocery shopping to get sesame oil, some curries, etc. We also had a delicious Thai lunch outdoors.                                                                    





[JG says: Look at me, experiencing the rapture on Good Friday!]

San Telmo Sunday

Last Sunday the Big Kid and I visited San Telmo, my favorite walking neighborhood in Buenos Aires. We arrived early enough that the cool cobblestone streets were practically empty.



Our first stop (no image) was MACBA: Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Buenos Aires, where we saw art made from spiderwebs.

Charlie says: That was so fun! I wish we could go there every day.

We stopped for a meal in the Mercado San Telmo. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love to eat at counters in covered markets. I was lucky that Charlie was game too.


Charlie says: We went to a very big house. I got a hamburger! I was expecting French fries but instead they gave me potato fries. (They were round and crunchy.)

I love San Telmo. We go here almost every weekend. We sometimes see tango dancing. There was a dog that was chasing me. He thought that I was playing by running around. I was playing, but I didn't expect the dog to play with me. 

Next time I'll get pictures of the dog.

Giggles and Laughter

In case you miss the girls. They're into butting heads. I don't even know...

https://youtu.be/srvJWwBGFqQ

https://youtu.be/8q6-gGuuzRw

Jamie says: Going anywhere with Dava is a challenge. Unless she's locked into the stroller or in a carrier, she doesn't bother to walk much. Everything around her is far too interesting. Her favorite activity lately is putting a key in any hole she finds. Suggest that she not be given the keys? High pitched screeching and crying. I thought I was being smart by having her push the stroller, at least we were going somewhere. But that didn't last long. A whopping half block later, she decided to just sit down. 

La Cabrera

We braved a downpour for La Cabrera. It was worth it. 

Dog Show According to Charlie

Charlie says: I found a leaf. It's a very, very big leaf. Wow, look at all the lines, I wonder what those are. 

 Wow, this truck is big. I am in the truck, I'm driving it around. Yay, finally I am a cowgirl. 

Look at all those cows. They are big and fat. How big do you think they were? They were big of course.

I was feeding that little, little horse. 

Those doggies, they were cute. They were getting a hair cut. They were very cute getting a haircut because the people who were trimming the fur off the puppies were going "snip snip snip". 

Wow, that was fun! I wish I could visit this every day. Here is a little picture of Dava and all the people in the background. 
I love those little flowers and that pony. It was so amazing. When I say that this picture is of me, the pony, and little flowers; the flowers are right next to me, they are those little red things in the tree. It was too bad that I didn't get a chance to ride the horse. 

I got a balloon! It was so fascinating because it was a Disney princess balloon. There was Ariel, and Belle, and Snow White. And in this picture I'm holding the picture and Dava is in the little stroller. 

We were watching Peppa Pig. I think Peppa Pig is my favorite movie now. 

General Strike!

JG says:

The Argentina teacher's union has been holding weekly 1-day strikes over failed negotiations with the government. Today all unions in the entire country are striking in solidarity and (as I understand it) as a general gesture against the "austerity"  measures that are depressing workers' salaries and quality of life.

Hooray for unions!

Our jardin's teachers are not on strike (not part of the union). But public transportation is shut down, and the jardin's teachers can't get to work. As we understand it, the school is not allowed to tell us not to come in for the day, but it is generally expected that parents will not burden an understaffed institution.

All this is to introduce the real point: We had the day to spend together, and Charlie managed to get a butterfly land on her hand multiple times.

  
Charlie says: I got a butterfly on me. Yay!


I found it flying and I waited until it landed and I said to myself: "slowly, slowly, slowly" and I put my finger in the front of it on the ground and it crawled onto my fingernail–on my pointer of course. Then I moved my finger really slowly and it crawled on and then I very slowly got up from where I was on the ground. Then I showed it to my parents and my papa took a picture. That's all. 



JG says: For good measure, more union music.