We have a dog!

Rusty came to live with Will and me about ten days ago from the East Bay SPCA. He's about eleven pounds and five months old, and we're guessing he's a corgi-chihuahua mix. He loves to play fetch, hide his treats and go on walks with us. He's a good lap dog but also has a lot of energy -- a very sweet puppy!

Last days in Argentina

The first pictures show Julia, Martina's mom and my fairy godmother in Buenos Aires, with Gaston and me. In the next-to-last last photo I'm saying goodbye to Ana Paula; then come my companieras from highschool in Mercedes, Marianela and Itati. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends -- and get to know new ones as well as if I'd known them forever.

On Monday I arrived in Sao Paulo to begin the next stage of my research for the summer. It almost feels like summer here, surprisingly enough -- in that regard SP wins over Buenos Aires any day! It's a very difficult city, however, so I'm struggling to adjust. The library seems great so far, and I'm confident I'll be able to get a lot of work done.

visiting Ana Paula in Rosario

Last Saturday I caught an early bus to Rosario, Argentina's third-biggest city and the location of the revered Monument to the Flag, to visit Ana Paula and her fiance, Federico. Located on the Parana River, the city is beautiful --much cleaner and more comfortable than Buenos Aires-- and I loved the chance to go for a walk with an old friend. They're doing great and we all had lots of fun catching up.

Ana's a psychologist and is working with developmentally- or cognitively-challenged children, and Federico is a civil engineer who designs and constructs asphalt. They're planning a wedding for September 29th, and I'm so bummed I can't be there. The quick visit was great, though -- I was so happy to see them!

visit to the Austrian ambassador's residence

This picture shows me with Bernd, a former colleague of my dad, and his wife, Gudrun, who is currently the Austrian ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay. They invited me over for a chamber concert on Friday evening. It was lovely to meet Gudrun and one of their sons, Florian (I'd met Bernd previously), and enjoy the music.

with Martina in Buenos Aires

My longtime friend Martina was here to visit her family at the beginning of my trip. It was tons of fun to catch up with her, since she lives in LA and we don't see each other very often any more, and I've loved getting to know her mom, Julia, and sister, Erica (pictured in the first shot above).

Mercedes: Juan and Silvina, the newlyweds!

While in Mercedes, I visited one of my few classmates who still live there (most have moved to Buenos Aires). He and Silvina just got married two months ago. Juan has a daily radio program that my host-sister, Clarisa, works on -- he's the desk man, and she's out on the street, calling in with interviews several times per show.

My apartment in Buenos Aires

visita a Mercedes: los Altieri

I spent last weekend in Mercedes visiting the Altieris, my first host family from the high-school year with Rotary. This pictures shows mama and papa, Ana and Roberto, at a family birthday party. It was wonderful to catch up on all the news with them. The first picture here shows mama and papa Altieri, Ana and Roberto. #2 has Alejandro, the Altieri's youngest, and Clarisa, who's about my age. Then come Damian, another Altieri brother, and Cecilia, his Uruguayan wife who I met for the first time. Then, pictured with me: the blondies are Damian's and Cecilia's girls, Maite (4) and Julia (1 1/2), and the little boy is Ulises (6?), Alejandro's son. The lowest picture shows the birthday boy, Roberto's brother-in-law, with some of the new additions to the family since I was last here.

Dinner with Ana Paula in Buenos Aires

I got to see Ana Paula last Sunday evening, after spending the weekend in Mercedes. She was in town to have her measurements taken for the top-secret wedding dress -- which I might be allowed to see a the next fitting! Next weekend I'm planning to visit her and Fede in Rosario. Stay tuned for updates!

This picture also shows Ana Paula's sister, Carla, and her boyfriend David.

more Argentina photos

Another shot of my old classmates from Mercedes, and one of Will on the Plaza de Mayo, center of Argentine civic life. He liked the famous Cafe Tortoni a little better -- who wouldn't take caffeine over pigeons?

fotos de Buenos Aires

Will's back in the Bay Area, just starting his summer internship today, and it's off to the salt mines for me as well -- the "bosque espeso", as Dario called the daily newspaper La Nacion. I'm hoping to spend most days in the national library here in Buenos Aires, going over years worth of the newspaper and as many issues of literary magazines as I can.

The vacation week with Will was wonderful! To the left is a photo of one of the best dinners we had during his visit -- for him, some bloody beef, and for me, house-made vegetable ravioli with pesto. The food was in general a mixed bag, with prices not necessarily correlating with quality. Empanadas are always a delicious fall-back, though!

The day we arrived, someone I didn't recognize tapped me on the shoulder as we crossed the Plaza del Congreso, returning "home" after a day of sight-seeing -- it turned out to be Sebastian Villareal, one of my classmates and neighbors from my high-school year in Mercedes! I really couldn't believe the coincidence. We went to a party that night and got to catch up with a bunch of the people I went to school with (above, right).

The third picture above is of Will in La Recoleta, a fabulous cemetary of Argentina's historic elite. I can't seem to get the pictures down here by the text, but having a blog at all seems like a pretty good start! I can't seem to post any more pictuers in this entry, so I guess I'll post this one and start another.