...can`t believe I`m leaving

Feria de matadores- 1st weekend in April we went to a different place in Buenos Aires (an hour by bus) to hang out at this festival. It was sort of like a fair with many different vendors and lots of great food! We went specifically for the choripan and humita (a tasty corn slop), it was fabulous. After our first helping, along with homeade wine, I was completely satisfied. But once Negro finds something he likes, he goes all out. We shared 3 more choripans. (these are the size of brats) ... and that stuff on the table, incredible kicky sauce to dress the chori. yum The cow parade came to Buenos Aires, I liked this one because you can see the same look on street corners, subway corridors, and plazas.
This one was cool too :) Republic of Argentina cow, with lots of other postage from around the world.
We`re fun :)

This is Boca, a part of the city that opens up into the river. (the mouth of the river) A very colorful place, although here you can`t see all the green, blue, yellow, orange and red because of the sunlight- they are all there- covering the buildings on many streets.
This is the not-so-colorful portion of Boca, but it definately had character. One little guy approached us as he saw I was taking pictures and asked us if we wanted a tour of his house. "ahhh... thanks, very kind of you, but we`ll stick the streets"
Not a huge fan, but once every 10 years or so... its superb.
I really like this obelisco.
what a great blue, eh?

WINE-O

yes, I believe it. I have always been a procrastinator- but this has simply gone too far. Wines I have been enjoying since day one, but now that its time to go home I want to find the BEST of the best wines. None of the 9-12 peso wines ($3-4) that I have been indulging myself in. I have stepped up to the 15-30 peso range ($5-10) this week in seeking out the perfect wines to bring back. Ok, I have to admit, in this point in my travels- I don`t have money for anything more- but these wines just have to make it back with me. and its not like I can bring the meat with me- therefore- I am overly satisfying myself with bife de chorizos. Just this week was the first time that I had Negro make me a steak. Incredible. So today I went to the meat store (cause every'thing' has its own store) and bought 2 huge slabs of bife. It was 2.2 pounds of meat and when I looked at the price I instantly became disappointed with myself. Why hadn`t I been buying these pound steaks once a week? They go for a little over a buck a piece, and its not like restaurants can make them better than Negro- obviously. He doesn`t know it yet, but he`s got his hands full making me steaks until Monday when I leave. hehe.

go away

My Tuesdays and Wednesdays are finished in Argentina. I have never had to control this many emotions pumping through me all at the same time. It´s intense. Thursdays coming to a close sometime today. I hate this week so much and continues to crawl by ever so slowly letting me linger in the sadness of leaving my life here and anxiousness to get home! I am trying to find things that will fulfill and complete my stay here... for example last night I decided a big, beefy, suculent, bife de chorizo was in order. I was thinking meat, that was all. However, I guess you can`t just eat a big slab of steak here, one needs garnishes. I suggested mashed potatoes (so plain)- just to fill the void. While waiting for the meat to be prepared we nibbled the pizza I had made for lunch...and steak goes hand in hand with chorizo (excellent sausage) so we had an appetizer choripan...mmmmmmm When it came time for the bife, zucchini, and gingered sweet potatoes, we decided it was in our best interest to take an hour break before diving in once again.
Only 3 full days left here, tear. 3 more days to put up with my lazy, inconsiderate, dirty, loud roomate- who has found a new lo this week of not flushing the toilet. 3 more days to enjoy this country. 3 more days to spend with Negro... and it just figures that this my last weekend here, also comes 4 of his family members. The mom arrived today- I smelled her things before I could even unlock the apt. door. Aunt, Uncle, and cousin arrive on Saturday. Lovely. Should be fun, quite a send off anyway!

como en cuba

We decided to eat cuban style last night at a friend`s underground restaurant. Upon arrival we got asked in a cheerful tone "hey, wanna play futbol?" I don`t know why, but the first thing that crossed my mind was... "in the house?" I knew this sounded foolish as soon as it crossed my mind so I immediately changed "house" to backyard, ..again- foolish for a house in town. I asked where. Just around the corner. So they would play a friendly game around the corner, alright, I said, but I think I`ll watch. They laughed. Of course I wouldn`t play. Negro doesn`t play futbol. As disturbing as it is to admit, if he`s going to engage and fully enjoy a sport its going to be rugby, or something of the violent type. We got into the car. He didn`t want to play and I didn`t want to watch. I have the attention span of about 7 seconds when watching futbol. It turned out to be a tournament in a club miles away, clearly not the park on the corner as I had pictured in mind. Lots of futbol fanatics and us. It turned out to be fun, and the oppposing team had one guy walk away without an injury. A long futbol night, but worth the variety of underground pizza that followed.

feb-mar pics

Here is a quiet, little, or somewhat large beach on the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay. I love Uruguay!!!!! A bit more expensive than Argentina, but worth it...and when I say "a bit" its like pennies more.
We are in Punta del Este here, its about 2 hours outside out Montevideo- a tourist trap, but lovely, hot and full of sun!
Dan came to visit in March and was exstatic to go and eat at the Kosher McDonalds, but didn`t want to make it obvious that he was SOOO excited. He posed for a couple of pictures but insisted that I hurried up. Of course, making a spectacle of him was fun, so I took my time before indulging in my first kosher fries. --they taste different.
I don`t know the other 2 clowns but I ran into my wonderful Spanish teacher at the St. Patricks Day party- lots of foreigners there.....
Note to self: NOT a good idea to have an open tap at the table.
Here she is, Casa Rosada. Only kept vibrant pink on one of her 4 sides- she is lovely.
I think the only reason the people in this picture are looking around is to see what I was taking a picture of. It really didn`t startle them at all that someone had a 1/4 of beef on their back walking casually through the shop, or is it a 1/2 a cow?
Tranquilo... here someone took the lovely landscape of the park to make their home.
I got to visit Negro`s catering kitchen when his boss (who`s never met me but hates me) was out of town. He put me to work cutting strawberries, mixing stuff and other monumental tasks. It was really fun for both of us. I got to see what his work was like and he got to pose for some very fun pictures with his accomplice Manu. (no, not Chau)
Token sunset picture from Uruguay... if you look real close, or with a magnifying glass, the city of Buenos Aires is a silouette in front of the sun stretching far on each side.
Here`s Argentinas National Symphonic Orchestra playing in a prime location in the city. In the middle of the worlds widest street. Unfortunately a prime location for suicide divers also. Talking with Neil the other day I found out that the lunch-havers in a corner cafe had witnessed a spectacle when a woman`s body went thud from the 9th story and landed in front of the cafes doors. Luckily, she hit no one but herself. Wonder if she regretted it in the air. bummer.
Being the girlfriend of a up and coming world reknowned chef definately has its advantages- like other chef friends and free passes into the backs of kitchens and secret recipes and stuff :) weeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO sushi man, GO!

no time for popcorn

So I meet Negro in Tigre and we hop a boat to our island. It looked perfect, a perfect place for camping, not alot of people, not a lot of noise or lights... wait a minute- there wasn`t any lights, or anybody. The place was locked up, except for the mens bathroom with neon lights. Two smoldering fires were the only remains that life existed there at some point in the day. We cased the joint and Negro decided that finding a way through the (really secure) fence to talk to the neighbor was the best idea. After the neighbor, not so politely assured him that he would surely kill him if he did that again, he said that he didn`t know anything about the workings of the "gastronomic campground" and offered us no assistance. It was getting dark, but the moon was only one day away from full and the sky was cloudless. We built a fire and slapped our "tapa de asado" on the grill. Not the best meat you can find to grill- I found out, but it was big and served as our meal for a full 2 hours of endless fire watching. After muchos mosquitos and not much thought about where to sleep without a tent, we headed to the mens well lit bathroom. It smelled like mothballs, not urine, which hands down was more pleasant. Unable to shut off the lights we camped under the neon. Early the next morning we found our "tent keeper" raking and cleaning the place up a bit. He apologized for something he had no control over and set up our living quarters promptly. We built another huge fire on the cement grills they had set up and started the day off with hot dogs, so they wouldn`t get too hot in the sun. The entire day was filled with the suns rays. Very nice for an autumn day of camping. By sunset the sky had taken over with small, puffy clouds dancing in every direction in the green and orange sky. Negro said as we walked to the bathroom, "no doubt it will pour on us" and before we could get out, the wind was wailing and the river and sky were blowing rain at us from every direction. Our tent was trying to hold on... We ran as fast as our legs would take us to clear the table and tent of our belongs and get back into the safe haven of the bathroom. Soaked, minutes later, we were closing the intact windows in the womens bathroom and setting up camp for our second night. The keepers even brought us mattresses to survive the hard floor, our tent had flown over the fence. And there was no more roasting things on our gigantic fire... it was blowing its hot coals over all the campground... we had canned tuna and cookies by flashlight. Camping in Argentina... loved it.

what would you ROAST?

I`m going camping on an island tomorrow... but there are no marshmallows to be found in Buenos Aires. Can anyone advise me of alternates, or other tasty, non-perishable items that I can roast by a campfire????

bienvenidos a mi familia

He could be called KAJ, Kal, Lebikins, K.A. Joe, or Kaleb Allen Joesph Novak, either way- he is the newest addition to my list of excitements that go along with returning home. Congrats to all the family who now have new roles as mother, father, aunts, & grandparents- how exciting!!!!!!!
I am quite used to my role as a daughter.. and even as a second cousin, but somehow I was overly excited about this little guy coming. I find myself calling home much more frequently in this last month. Each time I hear news and the same old things. It is a sure thing that every time I call home, and I mean every time (whether I`m in Ukraine, Prague, Caracas, Buenos Aires, or Minnesota) my mom will answer the phone and give me the "lo-down" on everything, and for a short time after my Dad will get on and chat briefly, the majority of his message being: "come home" and lets me know I couldn`t be there fast enough; in order to hang up my mom returns with all the things that she forgot or left out the first time and of course, to repeat what my father has already drilled into my noggin. On top of all this I have 4 siblings. I`ll get messages of the delicious Easter dinner which is being prepared, all the fun and games (mostly card games) that I will be missing out on... and that if I have an urge to come home early- surely there will be room for me at the table. This goes for birthday parties, basketball games, concerts, backyard BBQs, or just watching a movie... they continue to remind me that I miss them. Before I graduated from St. Cloud, I prepared my parents for my departure of 2 years of travel "mas o menos" to see what I could see, do what I could do, meet, learn, and explore the world- broaden my mind, dreams, ideas, myself...and so its been, mas o menos, 2 years. I don`t know that I`ve done any of those fluffy things mentioned above-- but I`ve sure had fun trying!!!! I won`t miss anymore weddings (of those people in the midwest) this year, I won`t miss births, anniversaries, parties, Christmas, snow, or the cabin rented in July. I`ll be at the basketball games and maybe some concerts... Yes, Kaleb- you are a very lucky little man, the best family in the world surrounds you! I`ll be back next month to hold you.