Argentina Otra Vez

How often do you get to go to Argentina 2 years in a row? Now very. We were lucky, not rich. This is us in the ball pit at the peloteria where they had Valentina's birthday party.
Inside the Casa Rosada (their version of the White House) the day we arrived - no showers yet.
Cafe Tortoni's for a tango show. Diego and I fell in love with the accordion and we subsequently bought LOTS of tango music.
A picture of the band and the dancers at the tango show.
Proof that Diego has karaoked.
With his best friends Adrian and Alejandro at a party at Alejandro's house for their old classmates. When I say old, I'm talkin' elementary school.
Before the Boca Junior game. Unless you are a season ticket holder, you have to buy scalped tickets and sit in the visitor section with the rest of the tourist. BOO! Nevertheless, the game was good.
Mis suegros. My in-laws.
I spent 2 weeks in Argentina without Diego and attended a Spanish school almost 2 hours away in the capital. This was my teacher Maria Clara.
We had 6 people (a full class). This is only 3 of us. The guy on the right end is my new friend from New Zealand.
None of Diego's family speaks English. Sometimes it wasn't fun to be forced to speak Spanish. Now that I am home, I don't feel like I learned a whole lot. Huh. Still, I wouldn't trade my little study abroad. If nothing else, I got to know Diego's family better. And that will be important because who knows when we will be able to go back...

Valentina's 1st Birthday

Our niece turned 1 and with Diego's bonus we were able to go to Argentina again and celebrate with the family. We think she's rather adorable, so that means lots of pictures. Here she is on her actual birthday.
Her super-smile.
Playing with her dad.
Dancing with her mom at her birthday party.
The cute, little family.
No, that isn't Diego, it's his younger brother, Gonzalo.
With her old school Rolling Stones/Beatles haircut.
She's so awesome. Such a good baby too.
We miss you guys. Don't forget us!

These are a few of my favorite things.

Submarinos (con medialunas de manteca): one of my most favorite things in Argentina. So much so that it deserved it's own photo story.

It's as simple as steamed milk in a glass container.
Then you drop in the chocolate and add the sugar.
Stir until you have chocolate goodness. You don't even have to be too patient while it melts.
Drink. Enjoy your medialunas.
All finished, or is it...?
Now you have the most awesome sludge I have ever tasted. Chocolate goodness at the bottom of the glass.
And that, my friends, is a submarino. Recreate as you will and enjoy!

Boca vs Arsenal. Boca Wins!

Maybe the videos won't be clear but I was recording alot for sound too. The Boca fans are famous because the don't stop singing and chanting the ENTIRE game! You can hear how they explode after the goals. Good stuff, by itself.

More Photos of Food

Creme Bruleé. My first attempt. I think I did an awesome job.
In Argentina, my mother-in-law and I made Pasta Frola. It's like a tart made with Membrillo. Not sure the fruit it comes from but it's like a thick jam. They call everything made with flour pasta so be careful. Pasta, as in noodles, is fideos. Pizza can be pasta, this tart is pasta... Doesn't matter. It's yummy too!
I made empanadas again but, of course, I forgot to get a picture of them after they were cooked. Here is a picture of the assembly. Take the dough, top it with the meat filling, add chopped eggs and green olives and fold. Then fry or bake per the dough you are using. Delish!

Yo Motha!

Does anyone remember these old MTV commercials from the 90's? And more importantly, where I can get my hands on any more? "Yo motha's got a glass leg and it's got Kool-aid in it!" That was good stuff!

Does Anyone Else Think Robert Smith and Robert Pattinson Could Be Related?

Need I say more......but if you don't know Robert Smith is the lead singer of The Cure and Robert Pattinson is Edward from the movie Twilight

Food, it's what's for dinner.

So, probably not, but maybe you've been asking yourself what the H-E-double hockey sticks have Diego and Shannon been up to. Well, we're both taking a class at MCC, working, playing, and cooking (among other things). Here are some samples:
Whole wheat pitas with fresh hummus
Diego made pasta from scratch and I made sauce for Valentine's day (actually, that picture looks kinda gross, but really it was yummers)My first King Cake for Mardi Gras (complete with plastic baby)I didn't get pictures of the cinnamon raisin yumminess that we call bread or the Argentine yumminess they call empanandas. But, oh, they were delish!!! Come visit and you can partake of the yumminess as well...

Tom Tom

My tomato plant given to me by my visiting teacher to whom I must have mention (when she wasn't my visiting teacher) that I wanted a tomato plant. Someday I'll attempt the herb garden again. I just keep leaving town...It's got the cutest little baby tomatoes on it now (not pictured)! I can't wait until they ripen... Will it be my first success story?

Fight Night Round 2

Kurt Warner, Forest Whitaker, Steve Young. Forest is a stellar guy. I asked him to pose for me and he didn't want to. When someone down the line asked him for the same thing he came back down the red carpet and posed for me before giving it up to the other photographer. Very Cool.
Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle (his girl is to his left, I have no idea who the other lady is but I am there to get pictures of everyone. So...)
Michael Phelps (gold medalist extraordinaire), Jimmy Walker and Josh Groban
Jon Bon Jovi was supposed to be the final, end-all-be-all in entertainment for the evening but he sucked...rocks. He sang like 5 songs (which in itself, isn't unusual for the evening) however 3 of them weren't even his songs and not a one of them was remotely rockin'. Very Disappointing.
The real showstopper was this little Filipino gem Charice Pempengco. You'll never believe the voice that comes out of this tiny, visually harmless body. Listen below.


She sang the same song (among others) but it was SO much better that night. She sang I Will Survive to Muhammad Ali, a former boxer now fighting with Parkinson's disease. She climbed from the stage to the main table and was singing directly to him. It was amazing because you never really see much expression from Muhammed these days but you knew he loved it!

The Air Show

So we went to the air show. It's just as bad as going to Disney Land! We waited FOREVER in this line that wrapped around itself FOUR times and we were still outside waiting to go through security. Once you get in, you walk and walk and put your chair down and bake in the 100+ heat and stare into the sky. And if you want to walk around and do anything else, ya gotta wait in line for that too. Not impressed. The best part was when we left and sat under the shade of the nearby gas station drinking Slurpees. Boo. This is why I don't do theme parks...

Goodbye Old, Hello New

Diego's car finally bit the dust - or was gonna any day - so we chucked the 1997 Hyundai Tiburon for......the 2004 Nissan Sentra! We are now a two sentra family. We're so proud! Plus, we sold the oldie to the local pick-a-part and used the money to buy U2 tickets! YEAH!Of course we kept the plate! Silly people! Boca Jr never leaves this family. Seriously! Did you really ever even think?...

Ballooning, anyone?

One of the many reasons I love doing corporate photography... is all the fun things I get paid to do! This time was hot air ballooning. Here are some picts.
So maybe you've wondered how you actually land a hot air balloon. Well, this is how. Some times staking up, sometimes on your side, sometimes with a REAL bumpy ride but always with a chase car...

Farewell Deborah

Goodbye Deborah!
Deborah and Andres are moving the family back to Argentina. Deborah and the kids first, then their stuff, then Andres. Don't really know why they are moving back, but will assume it's best for the family. We will miss you!