An American in America

So, we were back in the US. Two weeks of what was supposed to be a vacation for the family. You know spend a little time seeing friends, check out the neighborhood and maybe take in a movie without Spanish subtitles. But really it has turned into a trip that was too short with Janalee working everyday and us trying to see everyone that we miss when Janalee is not at work. Thankfully our wonderful friend Sarah has been willing to share child care duties (the kids call them “switch days”) so that I had a little bit of time to procure a laundry list of items that people have asked us to take back to Argentina. Any guess of what item is was most requested? Velveeta. I didn’t bring any back (with two bags over the weight limit the Velveeta was sacrificed for another bottle of Zinfandel – red, not white).

The strangest part of going to the states was being a social oddity everywhere we went. There are only so many times you can have people say to you, “you are the guy who moved to Argentina” before you run out of things to say. For me the number of times I heard that statement before I was tired of it was once. I think I am a curmudgeon (I spelled that correctly without spell check! Really, I did!) or at least a little bit antisocial.

The best part of being in the states was seeing our friends and neighbors (sounds like something Janalee would force me to say – I will neither confirm nor deny that rumor). I think this was especially true for Amelia who got to play with her friends (Mom, these kids speak Ingles!). When you are 4 it is really important that your playmates understand things like poopy diaper head and for some reason that just doesn’t translate to kids here. In what must be a strange case of karma gone bad, Mia’s best friends in Arlington are named Charlotte, Amelia, Charlotte and Sally. Charlotte is Mia’s friend from a nanny share we did a couple of years ago, Amelia and Charlotte moved in across the street last year. The kids had a ball, but the parents get the names screwed up all of the time. A sad note Amelia and Charlotte are moving to North Hampton, MA (with their parents Jolie and Alden). I guess we will have to visit North Hampton next year. Sally is just odd man out in this one (perhaps we can get her parents to change her name to Amelia). I will add a photos page in a couple of days (having a bit of technical difficulties (some bug in the system -- couldn't be anything that I am doing).

We timed our visit to coincide with our friends Peter and Zoe's wedding. Fun event! I have to say it is much different getting married when you are 30 something (I am being generous Peter) than when you are 21 (Janalee was a babe when I got her to say yes). One big difference we noticed is that there were no butterflies involved. My mom really wanted to decorate our entire ceremony in butterflies -- lord knows I loved the woman, but there are some things you just can't do. That is not meant to say that it is bad to have parents involved (I had better stop now, Jan's mom claims to read the blog...). Anyway here is picture of the big event.

Food choice of the month – Metro 29 Diner on Lee Highway – best pancakes, best omelets, the best breakfast. And, it is much closer than any place in Mendoza for those of you who are not going to make the trip.

I would go with the Orange Juice -- no wine with breakfast (we have to have some standards afterall).