Nuestra Casa - Cosquin 1481

I have so much to say, but as I've said before, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

After some setbacks, we are moved into our home!!! It's wonderful.

This is a big room where we will also have couches and TV (where I'm standing taking the picture). We bought the table and chairs for 1,550 pesos which is about $375... it's beautiful! We, obviously, did not pick out the wall color. It will be changed soon.

The boys' room.

Chris's and my room. We got the bed last Friday and the sheets and comforter yesterday (Monday). We were sleeping in sleeping bags which are now serving as the pillows inside the brown pillow cases. The flowered pillowcase has bubble wrap inside it. Whatever works, right? It was a little difficult to find something that matched the wall color, but I think we did. Also, be sure to notice the pink, white & black marble floors. They have grown on me.

The first bathroom. David turned on the bidet and got squirted in the face. (We haven't been bold enough to ask someone how to use it yet... we've been told it's for "washing".) I love the antique tiles with pictures painted on them.

The second bathroom (with a portable bidet hidden in the toilet)

The big tiled garage that is being used as Buddy's room and a work-out room. It's great!

And, my favorite feature? Heaters in EVERY ROOM!!!

The kitchen is very big, but I want to wait to post pictures until the trabajadores finish the work on the cabinets. Currently there are no doors on the bottom cabinets and I'd like to show you a finished photo. It's really big. I like it. The first item we bought was a coffee maker and my brain has begun functioning mejor now that I have real coffee.

We also have another big room that will serve as our guest room whenever any of you plan to travel south. It's unfurnished, but painted a lovely shade of sea-green (like the others) with a nice pink floor. Eventually, it will be furnished with a nice, cozy sofa-cama and desk.

It feels so good to be settled.

¡Nuestra casa es tu casa!

Quote of the Day

"This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life - being in Argentina."

~Andrew, age 8

I couldn't agree more (and I told him so).

~

However, I do feel like I should tattoo the super-girl logo on my arm for driving a manual transmission on the psycho roads of Argentina while transporting my husband, three boys, big dog, and a weeks worth of stuff for our tiempo de descanso (time of rest) that everyone here suggested we have. Suffice it to say that it is NOT tourist season in Carlos Paz and internet photos of cabañas do not match the reality of real-life cabañas. More to come on that later.

Much more.

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We have since returned from our tiempo de descanso and are back at the church in our room with the bathroom way, way down the hall where we're destined to run into people working, cooking, serving, or cleaning on the walk/run to it. We've been told our house is ready and we'll be able to move in tomorrow. Since we rented the car (and paid cash in advance - the way things are done here), we're hoping to be able to use it to move ourselves into our new home. I'll post pictures on that later as well... I'm just not in a great mood for creative, up-beat posting this evening.

~

Here's a picture of the boys enjoying some homemade helado (ice cream) yesterday in Carlos Paz.

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They are each such amazing troopers... they handle each event as it comes, in each of their unique ways. David asks a lot of questions, Andrew sits back and makes profound observations, and Johnny? I guess he and I are alike. Depending on the situation, he laughs, cries, lays on his bed and sighs, or throws a little hissy fit.

Buddy!

Sweet Buddy arrived safe and sound. Poor dog travelled over 24 hours in his kennel and went 42 hours without food. Chris picked him up with our new friend named Abel and they were at the airport for four hours dealing with ridiculous bureaucracy. Chris said he hasn't felt that " North American " since we've been here (as far as wanting / needing efficiency ). There was about 45 minutes where he could see Buddy in his kennel but was not allowed to get him.

~

So, now that we are all here, guess what?

It's raining.

Thunder + lightening + rain + dusty , dirty roads = a lot of mud.

Buddy is a champ and has an iron bladder.

~

I'm so thankful that he had a week with his special friend Rocky the Chocolate Lab and the Yager family, a day with his cousin Gloria the bulldog and the other Frohling Family, and a night and morning with Blossom the Cocker Spaniel and my mom. She took him to the airport at 6:00 in the morning (and also had to deal with a lot of inefficiency and bureaucracy at LAX).

~

And now, I'm especially thankful that he's here with us. He's "home".

Quote of the Day

Last night as we were getting in our beds in the cold room, Johnny said:
"What the heck?!? I only have FOUR toes!"

It was because he was so cold he couldn't feel all his toes.

We're close to finding a house to call home.

The internet connection is a little sporadic so we'll post when we can. Miss you all!

We're Here

So, we arrived in Argentina at 3:15 am on Wednesday morning. During our 8 hour lay-over in Panama, we toured around and got to see the Panama Canal which was amazing. David, Andrew & Johnny are the best travelers ever.

Once in Argentina, we were welcomed in a big way even at such an ugly hour. (And miraculously, all of our luggage arrived as well. The experience at the COPA check-in counter at LAX should be a post in and of itself.) We slept for 8 hours in our temporary room in the church (that is stocked full of food, beds, and coffee). We have ridden the colectivo (bus), bought jackets for the boys (to say the climate is different here is a huge understatement), and walked to a park. We are in the process of looking for a house to call home.

Today is Día de los Niños. (Children's Day) The church sponsored an event for children and our boys jumped right in and were in age-appropriate groups (which means they weren't together). They held their own.

Here are quotes from each boy regarding their experience:

Johnny (not Juanito, it's Shonny): "It was fun! But, I don't really know the language, so it was kinda weird."

Andres: "There was a funny joke and everyone was laughing really hard. I just went 'ha ha ha'. I did not understand one word of the puppet show."

David: "I'm not exactly sure how it went because I don't know the language."

There is a lot more I could say and write. But, I'll leave you with a mental image of me with dreadlocks. I haven't had the courage to shower yet (it's in the men's bathroom with no shower curtain and the drain is on the opposite side of the toilet so it takes about 10 minutes to sweep the water down - even a 60 second shower). And my main form of cardiovascular exercise is my bodily shaking due to the cold temperatures - I think I've actually lost weight on this regimen.

We miss you all and are trying to enjoy the adventure.