The Good Airs

trophy case

2008-08-11T14:43:00.000-03:00

No steak in BA? Is that like no Guinness in Dublin?

2008-03-26T17:47:00.001-03:00

Warning: I have no idea what I am talking about, but the following sums up what I think/feel/have heardSo in Argentina all the farmers are protesting the new tax rates. And by protesting, I mean blocking all the major highways, picketing in the city, and refusing to butcher their cattle, pigs, and chickens. I believe they are only delivering the fruits and vegetables that they would lose if

2008-03-07T10:53:00.000-02:00

United at it again.

2007-10-17T11:09:00.000-03:00

Congratulations to DC United for winning the 2007 Supporters' Shield!

Imperialism and Starbucks

2007-05-29T14:53:00.000-03:00

According to the local papers, ironically (see last post), Starbucks is opening a few locations in Buenos Aires - probably this year.Maybe it's time to move back.Nah.

Coffee? Or Café? Or Tangent?

2007-04-11T19:04:00.000-03:00

I was never much of a coffee drinker in the US. I never really liked it. Well, when I was in college and working on finishing a paper at the last possible minute, I would drink Nescafe with sugar and cream, and I kind of liked it. But I think technically that’s not coffee – that’s just a bunch of chemicals dumped in water with sugar. And at 4 AM, anything other than the paper you are writing

The 10%

2006-10-02T23:27:00.000-03:00

3 Americans are visiting Buenos Aires, so the story goes, and only one of them speaks any Spanish (much less Castellano - the local dialect). They want to go to Boca - a working class neighborhood on the waterfront that has a very popular spot for tourists and artists. In the tourist section, the houses are all painted bright colors, there are atisans selling their crafts, boats docked there (

Coca Light, por favor

2006-09-15T15:48:00.000-03:00

So I am aware that children at a very young age here begin drinking soda. Isa is exposed to soda at all the birthday parties and what not frequently, and she only likes the orange soda. Our foreign friends all just don't keep soda in the house and write it off for birthday parties as inevitable. Usually, they don't even have juice for the kids, just soda.And many of our friends started

Observations

2006-09-08T12:00:00.000-03:00

So here's what I've noticed lately.On every block (seemingly) there is a cafe, a kiosko (where you can buy candy or soda), possibly a gym, and probably a lingerie store.And up until recently, beef was the #1 industry. (Now it's tourism.)So that means that, based purely on the evidence of observing the popularity of their consumer habits, Argentines eat a lot of beef, drink a lot of coffee, eat

El Classico, part 2

2006-08-23T21:30:00.000-03:00

OK, the girls are asleep (for now) so I can continue the adventures of an idiot (me) standing between two groups of fanatics who want to kill each other (Racing and River fans).So we last left our heros at the Racing game where it was sold out and filling up quickly. The supporters for each side were singing songs back and forth much like the old "WE GOT SPIRIT HOW 'BOUT YOU?" cheers from high

El Classico

2006-08-23T11:24:00.000-03:00

For the uninformed, el classico in Argentine futbol is a big derby match. For those of you uninformed of British futbol, a big derby match is when two rival soccer teams from the same city play eachother. For those of you uninformed on soccer, it's like the World Cup, only bigger, but just for one city. Kinda' like the IRA in Ireland and the Ulster Unionists playing a rugby game. With weapons

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!

2006-08-10T19:12:00.000-03:00

So at the end of July and the beginning of August, all the schools close here for vacaciones. It's basically winter break with no holiday or, as far as I can tell, any particular reason. But it certainly rivals winter break in DC.In general, Buenos Aires is a lot more kid friendly than Washington. There are a lot of activities, parks, and an overal kid-friendly atmosphere here than back in the

Getting around

2006-07-17T21:45:00.000-03:00

You may recall that in an earlier post I mentioned that things are never as close, nor as far, as anyone says in Buenos Aires. That's probably true throughout Argentina, but my limited experience precludes me from extrapolating outside of the Capital Federal (Argentina's version of DC, only they have voting rights because they live in a democracy).So here we are, living downtown, and staunchly

Money

2006-07-05T16:09:00.000-03:00

So each month, around the end of the month, all the bills come in. And these bills usually have to be paid within a few days. But unlike the US, we can't just write a check and drop it in the mail. First of all, nobody takes checks. Second of all, the mail isn't completely reliable. (I would jump in here and make an argument that it's because of privatization, and maybe even a plug for my leftist

Medicine

2006-06-22T04:27:00.000-03:00

Sofia is sick. Well, she seems to be doing much better, but she has been sick for the last few days.Now normally when your baby is sick, you are troubled, concerned, and otherwise agitated at the horrible injustice in the world where a baby can be sick, and even question the existence of God - how could a just God let an innocent baby get a cold????But I put aside my faith-shattering concerns for

World Cup school

2006-06-19T00:22:00.000-03:00

You may have heard that in other countries, everything shuts down during the world cup. Well, in Buenos Aires, that's definitely true while Argentina is playing.For the first game, it was on a Saturday, and the pictures on the news of the streets of the city of Buenos Aires were more desolate and remote than at 6 am. (Mind you, at 6 am a lot of people are still going home from dinner normally....

World Cup: Argentina v USA

2006-06-16T12:51:00.000-03:00

It has been pointed out that I haven't written anything in a while and people have asked what happened? Well, the World Cup happened. It's hard work trying to watch 6 hours of futbol every day while still being an attentive father and husband! Especially when you enter a state of chronic depression caused by the disappearance of the US left back in the 4th minute,

Pictures

2006-06-15T16:09:00.000-03:00

...because I'm too busy watching the World Cup to write....This was a gift (the shirt, not the baby) from a good friend of the family (not like in a mafia sense - an actual friend of our actual family). I figure the message is pretty clear....Isa reading a book to her "cousin" Greta. Ummm, actually she isn't reading it, but she has it memorized so it's as if she reads it. I'm hoping she always

School

2006-06-01T09:58:00.000-03:00

Today is Isa’s first day of school. This, by no means, was a small fete. She is going to Bayard – a prep school nearby that our cousin went to, and is very nice and seemingly in the league of better schools for Bs As. But then, what do I know? I guess they could be teaching her the Napoleonic Code and advocating fascist doctrine surreptitiously, but I don’t think so….Most importantly, though, she

2006-05-25T00:31:00.000-03:00

2006-05-23T01:34:00.000-03:00

It will come as no surprise to you that my Spanish needs a little improvement should I really get the most out of the year here in Buenos Aires. It did, however, come as a big surprise to me. Friday night Ana and I enjoyed our first opportunity to go out without the kids. We left Isa and Sof with Antonia, our housekeeper who speaks no English. Isa, understandably, was nervous about this

2006-05-19T09:56:00.000-03:00

Day 2 – The Good Airs get a Good Cleaning So wait, what day of the week is it? I am already so confused I can’t even begin to say. I believe Bush is still president of the US, but I’m not really sure. Maybe it’s the wine speaking. So anyway, we last left our fearless heroes stranded in Buenos Aires, stinky, and sans belongings. When Our Fearless Heroes (or OFH, pronounced “Awfuh”)

2006-05-18T00:00:00.000-03:00

So we spent like 3 weeks dedicated to emptying our house, getting it cleaned, and packing our bags. A wee bit stressful, that process came to completion merely a few hours before we left for the airport (as these things tend to do). Our flight left Dulles at 9:45 PM, and in order to prevent nay problems from arising, we left DC at 4 – only 5 hours and 45 minutes before our flight. For the