Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes

Today, Monday, is a bit of a let down for me.. mostly because we had such a wonderful weekend full of exploring!!

I wasn't expecting to explore this weekend.. mostly the last few weekend since we have arrived have mostly been chores/tasks/settling type of things that make the living here a bit easier... routine..

Instead though we went into BA and explored!!!!

Saturday we hit a sweet little brunch restaurant named Croque Madame Café.  It is located on the property of the Decorative Arts Museum.. sadly the museum was closed but the café was open and lovely..

these little pine cones came off of a tree on the property.. from bottom to top is the progression of how they open.. it is quite interesting.. and makes for fine brunch discussion.

 

After brunch we headed over to the Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes.  The museum is free and therefore your first thought is that well it will be OK..... nothing special... but let me say it is so far from that!!!  It is spectacular.  (the 2nd floor isn't complete or open yet, but we cant wait to get back ).. Each room holds a special surprise.. They have art work from DeVinci, Degas, Van Gough, Picasso, Giudici, Renoir and a host of incredible local BA artists.. It is truly a beautiful museum and what I thought would be a 30 minute tour easily was a 2 hour tour.  Some of the art is over 600 years old.. so lovely!!

 

 

The day was lovely... lunch was at a place in Puerto Madero Fredy's

 

.... followed by some shopping.. late night ice cream at Munchi's and home to bed... all in all a great day!!

 

let me just say.. this was listed as 'waffle con helado'.. I assumed it would be a waffle with ice cream.. it was however so much more.. I love sweets.. I love nuts.. I love waffles.. I tolerate ice cream. and I sorta like Dulce de Leche.. but this was over the top.. and why.. oh why.. must every dessert have Dulce de Leche in it??  I get that Argentines like it.. but there is a time and a place.. just getting that out..



 

The best part of the day though.. was when we came home.. we came home to our first piece of mail from the US.. we still haven't found a post office here but I have an address and we are going to try and find it!!

 

 

Sunday we ran a few errands.. and then ended up at lunch at this little German Restaurant in the small town of Cardales.  Let me say this is the BEST meal (besides meat on a grill) I have ever eaten... Beef Stroganoff cooked to perfection.. I will be returning.. many times..   we had dessert too.. but I ate it too fast for a picture.. it was heavenly..

 

 

 

so you can see why Mondays are a bit of a let down.. :) 

 

 

18 days.

Yeah.  The girls and I are home sick.  Let me rephrase that.  Nola and I are home sick.  Cora is loving every second of being here.  She's my happy go lucky kid.  So not her nature but hey I'm going with it.   I wish Nola and I felt the same way.  Nola I think is having a harder time than I am as I can vent more here and there.  Nola misses everything.  Her friends, her room, her routine, knowing where she is when we leave the house.....   Big things in her world.  I keep letting her melt down and regroup.  Always give a hug and remind her we are a team.  It's hard.  I miss my normal.  I miss my friends. I miss my job. I miss knowing the language everyone is talking and I miss my normal comfort foods.  And so much more. 

We have less than 2 weeks until school and I hope we all find a zone when we get into that routine.  Until then I am in a fake it to you make it mode and have decided that exploring the foods here is our new thing.  Today the girls and I made torte which is popular here. We used ham, cheese and eggs.  It was awesome!!!!   Nola enjoyed cooking wih me and being in charge.  :).  

Let's talk about the grocery stores

today is day 2 of Spanish lessons for my lovely children and I .. while they have their lesson, I will blog...

So in Argentina, at least where we live, we have a few grocery store choices... The Disco, Jumbo or the Walmart (yup.. WALMART!!).. the closest in the Disco and the girls and I have decided that this is sort of our main grocery store.  It is small and easy to get in and out of and in just 10 days I think the staff already knows we are expats with little to no Spanish speaking ability.. so it works. 

The main difference I notice immediately of course is the way the store is divided. The largest sections seem to be what is most sold/most important.  It is wine, cheese, deli counter, meat and then the rest.. WINE.. it take up like 1/4th of the store and there are experts there to guide you making the perfect wine/meat pairing.  I have yet to use this service as well... I don't know how to ask.

There are lots of products that I do not know, lots that look the same just with a different name (Mr. Masculine is Mr. Clean etc) and then 75% of the store is just products I have never ever seen.  The girls and I have seen Hellmanns, Lays, Coke, Pepsi, Knorr and Bimbo.  We are always on the look out for products that are familiar.  All of these products are the names, but what is in them is all made here in Argentina.. so the taste is different.

Egg and milk are sold unrefrigerated. I am just not sure how I feel about it. I mean I buy both and I have used both.  I find the milk once in the fridge seems to taste fine to me and I like it.  The eggs are fine to me either way but it does seem to gross Nola out that they are very dirty when we buy them.  Milk is also sold cold here but we have been told not to buy it, why I am still figuring that all out. 

Nola also complains about the yogurt here.. it is all like drinkable, even out of a carton or little container.  I like it because they seem to use more fruit in it, but nope.. not Nola.  she's off yogurt for a while. 

Because things seem more separated here you won't find a large selection of easy to make products like cake mix, brownie mix.. things that in general are just easier.  In Argentina they still do things the "old fashioned" way and it is ok.. if only I could figure out where the flour is...  I will admit though we did find ONE box mix of brownies and promptly bought it, made them, ate them in one day..

It is the same with the meat, produce and cheese though here too.  While the stores here seem to have a good enough selection to get you buy, most Argentine's buy those products as local places.  We found a lovely town square in Benevidiez that has several fruit and veggie stands, a butcher, a chicken only butcher, a cheese shop, a fresh pasta market and even a bread shop.  I am anxious to try to get meals from there rather than a supermarket mostly for the local flavor and also because I like supporting a local business.  Not that I won't be at the Disco plenty, just would like to go old school a bit.

lastly cleaning products.. I sorta like Argentinian cleaning products as they seem to embrace that bleach, ammonia and basically any other harsh chemical is the way to keep a house sparkling.  They have shelves of cleaning products.. (maybe as many as the wine)...I have yet to see any dirty establishment or home in Argentina.  I like it.. :) 

the world cup... and other things

.. my favorite part of Argentina (one of them).. sunrises.. even when I am so down, or stressed I see a sunrise and think.. wow.. so beautiful.  Every day is a new day for me to make the most of this adventure.. I do sometimes need the daily reminder

So there is a Walmart in Argentina.. which I was a bit reluctant to enter as in the US they hold a 'unsavory' reputation.  I also didn't just want to be the American that comes to Argentina and shops at Walmart and eats at McDonalds.  However, we did find this Walmart similar to what we were used to and different all at the same time.  I really enjoyed it, but it is good only in a pinch.  I really like the fact that here there are so many mom and pop shops and I would rather support that then Walmart..

since we have arrived it has rained A LOT.  

  So the world cup.. yes.. Argentina vs Germany in the final.. and we were excited, and then sad they lost:(  but such fun going to get shirts and the anticipation of the game.  We even watched all of the games before we arrived in the US.. I will say it is a much different vibe here.  This is a big deal!!

  Lastly we need to explore more.... for this kiddo.. she is so not a homebody and we are spending much too much time in the house waiting for deliveries or insurance guys or whatever.  My goal this week is to hit the pet store I promised to take her to, find the bigger Jumbo (market) on Rute 8 (I need a clothes dryer.. manual.. can you imagine I have no dryer).. and we may just drive into Tigre and get a little lost (you know with GPS) 

 

All in all we are making it.. we are cooking more and learning the house. We are slowly acclimating to the new.  We accomplished a lot last week and I think we are all anxious for a bit of routine when school starts. 

the first 96 hours....

So we arrived on Saturday the 5th of July to a cold and wet Argentina, but it was lovely despite the outside weather.  My girls are thrilled to be at home with their dad and our rental home was left furnished and beautifully clean and ready to move into by our hosts William and Maria.  Of course on Saturday I was hoping for an afternoon of rest, but that never happens with my husband, so it was showers, lunch and the DISCO. Now don't get too excited the Disco is not the dance, it is a local grocery store shopping chain here and quite satisfactory.  Even if the only product I recognized was Hellmanns Mayo (and yes I did buy it) and Lay chips.. LOL.. again bought them. Most everything else is new and different and we will just have to figure out what brands we like.  Finally after a grilled cheese dinner.. I was allowed to sleep.

Sunday we bought a car.. yup... petrified of driving so what do we do.. we drive!!  to the Unicenter mall here on a Sunday at 4 pm.  Remind me if I ever say I am going to the mall on a Sunday that I don't want to.  Horrible traffic, got separated from Scott and somehow I was circling the parking lot for 1/2 hour stuck in traffic trying to return to the parking garage.  When I finally get into the mall I was to meet my husband and kids at the Burger King.. easy enough, right??  well I stood there and stood there for about 40 minutes, found a security guard who spoke no English and cried that my phone didn't work and my husband was missing.. of course kidnapped by ninjas (cause my mind races).... finally a text.. who knew there were 2 Burger Kings in one mall??  Off to shop, only to give up because of the bazillion people in the mall.. 1/2 hour to exit the parking garage, burgers and shakes all around and then finally home.  I am thinking I can easily say I feel ok driving here..

Monday.. lets just say finding any government building here is almost impossible..  and takes allllll day.  Also much to my surprise NO ONE (ok almost no one) speaks English at the US Consulate.. who knew.. that was sorta the one place I thought I wouldn't feel so out of place at.  After a very long day (yes we did make it back to the mall and shop.. whew) we did find this lovely little empanada shop here by our home.  It is so lovely and yummy.  Much like everywhere I go, the people here are so warm and inviting.  Even with the language barrier they want you to enjoy your surroundings and learn a bit of Spanish and they take in any English words you will give them.  I like that.

Tuesday.. despite my fear the girls and I do survive a trip to the Disco by ourselves.. hey it is outside the neighborhood (2 guardshacks)... It is sort scary..  NOTE TO SELF.. must learn more Spanish... stat

Wednesday I woke up sure I had made the biggest mistake ever and I broke down to my husband saying we must have been high when we thought this move was a good idea... but a day at the Tigre market buying goodies for the house, a good chiripan sandwich, lovely ladies at a spice shop, the fact that all of my 80 pieces of laundry were ready for me to pick up from the cleaners and some fresh pasta for dinner made me realize that it will be ok

(also a good friend 5,000 miles away that you know, sells your car while you are away, make the day seem all ok)

ohhhh and trash talking the Holland team with my boys (Jake, Sam & Tyler) isn't so bad either.. especially when Argentina takes the win..

so I guess I am writing this all down so maybe in like a month when I am homesick again I can read this and realize that if I can make the first 96 hours.. ahhh the rest is nothing.. 

the adventure is just beginning!!!