Temaiken

Monday was another long weekend here in Buenos Aires.  I believe that the holiday in question was Flag Day but who's counting?

We decided to take the day and head north of the city to the Temaiken Zoo in Escobar.  Temaiken is a private habitat zoo that opened about a decade ago.  It's extremely well run - clean, safe and the animals all look happy and healthy.  Walking around the park I can see glimpses of the San Diego Zoo, the Singapore Zoo and even at times Disney. In addition to the animal exhibits, there are many playgrounds, good restaurants and of course first rate ice cream. The crowds are never oppressive.   It's a good day out for kids and parents alike.  

It was a cold morning to head out - about 8C.  I realize that this is a temperature that makes a Canadian balk, but one that brings out winter jackets and leather gloves down under.  I was having flashbacks to our last visit during the summer. It turned out to be the hottest day of the year.  The kids bright red faces and the near heat stroke burn in my memory.  It was a day when the ice cream melted faster than it could be scooped.  There would be no melting ice cream this time!

The meerkats have been our favourites for a long time.  What's not to like about a meerkat?  We also spent ages looking at bugs, zebras and tigers.  The tiger exhibit is fantastic.  It's a huge enclosure with four tigers, including one albino tiger.  They are glorious and every time I go, they look deliciously happy.  They romp and frock and wrestle and swim.  If they have a care in the world, I wouldn't know it.

We stopped for lunch at a parilla restaurant.  This is no amusement park food.  The kids munched on milenesas and french fries.  And The Force and I enjoyed salads, a grilled chorizo and grilled provoleta.  It was just what we needed after walking all morning in the crisp air.

In the afternoon we continued to walk - taking in the animals of Patagonia, hippos, various species of antelopes, as well as the new bird park.  It was completed about nine months ago and it's always a site to behold the eyes.  To enter each exhibit, people must pass through triple doors to keep the birds secure.  Once inside birds and people are together.  The toucan room and the African exhibit never fail to disappoint.

It's tradition that we always go for ice cream at the zoo...even when it's 8 degrees outside. Through chattering teeth The Glamourous Girl ordered up her classic dulce de leche and The Earnest Boy surprised us all by ordering and finishing a huge cone of mint chocolate chip!

Thoroughly chilled to the bone, the warmth of the car was calling all of us....and a cup of joe for The Force and I.  Time to go home.  A good day out...

World Cup Fever

Check out the official world cup songs!  Good fun to get you in the spirit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kq2UV8jDaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBD9h0jUq3w

I have never been a sports fanatic but after living with The Force for twelve years certain things rub off.  While I bail when he chooses to watch snooker, Formula One or the highland games....I have come to appreciate the World Cup.  Growing up in Canada, the World Cup was a non-event and something I never gave much thought.  

But when we moved to Quito, Ecuador in 2000 we watched the national team work it's way through the trials, putting it's best ever team forward.  Ecuador had never qualified for the games and as they amassed points the country could feel that maybe they had something.  They adopted the motto "Si se puede"  meaning "Yes we can!"  and it could be heard throughout the country.  The games were jam packed and those who weren't fortunate enough to attend watched them in person watched them on TV.  Those without TV's listened to the radio.  I caught the fever.  

We were lucky enough to watch two of the qualifying games in person - with Brazil and Argentina. Ecuador beat Brazil for the first time ever and people went crazy.  The Force and I walked out of the stadium covered in beer and fanta as the whole stadium literally erupted at the finish.  It was a good day.  Later on we were on a plane returning from the Galapagos during the final qualifier.  The pilots announced over the Pacific Ocean that Ecuador did it!  They were going to the World Cup and the entire plane cheered and bumped it's way along over the ocean.

Ecuador certainly didn't win the 2002 World Cup but it was fun watching them try.  

Flip forward to the 2006 games and we had newly arrived in Argentina from Malaysia.  We'd had two kids and life had certainly changed enormously for our family.  We bought the kids (then one and three years old) their Argentina blue and white.  We were told by her nursery school that The Glamourous Girl cheered the loudest of anyone for Argentina!  They of course watched any game at school, gathering kids in front of large TV's.

We invited people to our downtown apartment at mid-day to watch the games.  It amazed me to watch a vibrant downtown core like Buenos Aires completely shut down during a game.  I went out to pick up ice cream one day during a game and I had the city to myself, literally.   That is until Argentina scored and then the city exploded. The sounds coming out of apartments was deafening.  

Four years later we are still in Buenos Aires.  2010.  The kids are now five and seven years old.  Gulp.  When did that happen?  We have new and bigger Argentina blue and white sports jerseys.    We invited friends to our suburban home for a BBQ to watch the Nigeria game on a Saturday morning.   And then the USA vs. England game right afterward.  Ecuador sadly did not qualify for these games. But they are still my team and always will be - the underdogs.  They have my heart.  

Argentina has won it's first two games.  They beat Korea 4-1.   I watched the game on my own as it was an early morning mid-week game and The Force was traveling. It's not very often that I find myself sitting down to watch sports on my own. Am I officially a football fan?

The world is watching Messi - one of the world's top (if not the top) player.  The world is also watching Maradona - the bad boy turned soccer coach.  Everyone knows he can play soccer.  Can he coach a team to victory?  All will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The kids like the idea of football but don't have the patience to really watch an entire game.  The Earnest Boy has decided to cheer for Brazil (I'm still trying to figure that one out!) His favourite part of the games is his World Cup sticker book.  And for the Glamourous Girl it's Shakira's Waka Waka song.  She's as much Latina as she is Canadian.  

Go Argentina!  We'll be watching!

Despedida

A despedida in Argentina is a good-bye party.  When you live in a world with expats, the despedida is sadly a part of life.  People always seem to be leaving, especially at the end of school terms.  When you live this life, whether you stand still or move often, saying good-bye comes with the territory.

The upshot is that that you get to go to parties.  There has to be a silver lining to saying goodbye, right?

During this particular despedida season I have dressed up as a cowgirl, a pirate and a disco goddess.  And there have been props - a pirate bouncy castle (for The Earnest Boy) and a bucking bronco (for grown-ups...don't ask!). Another day The Glamourous Girl hosted a poetry cafe at school, speaking on a microphone for the first time in her life, reciting her poem "Lazy Dazy" to a group of wide eyed parents.  All in all a very sleek affair.

The Earnest Boy had an end of year pirate party complete with all the children, teachers and parents dressing up.  Ahoy matey!! It was a wild day!  There was a treasure hunt, a pirate bouncy castle, enough food to feed an army, pirate games and a pirate ship "photo shoot".  It was a little boy's idea of heaven.  How better to finish preschool?

I have been to end of year celebrations for after school activities - watching the Earnest Boy do sport and the Glamourous Girl with her Girl Scout troop.  There have been play dates with friends - both those friends leaving and those who are returning next semester.  The older the kids get, the more I enjoy having their friends over.  It's a joy to listen to them play upstairs.

There have been coffees and lunches and night time affairs. There have been cocktails and champagne and too much food.  Laughter and dancing. We dressed up as crazy 70's disco goers and  I enjoyed hitting the dance floor in my flares.  The Force is completely averse to dancing....and stays as far from the dance floor as possible at any event.   Nevertheless he looked fabulous in his silk collared shirt,  John Lennon glasses and crazy wig.

But alas the parties are all said and done.  Tomorrow is the last day of school.  And the real good-byes are upon us.  Families leave and we are sad. Change is here.  In August new faces will appear and we will be the local experts, but for now we are the ones left behind.

Over time we end up with friends flung around the globe.  Staying in touch gets easier every year in this age.  Remarkably somehow our paths will cross...until we meet again.  Good bye!

High Tea with the Glamourous Girl

A couple of times a year The Glamourous Girl and I try and sneak off for High Tea at our favourite spot - The Alvear Palace Hotel in Recoleta. We almost always go at the end of May or early June to celebrate the end of another school year. When we walk in, I can suddenly see how much she has changed from the year before. I get these annual mental snapshots of her. Of how much (and how quickly) she is changing. How can I hit the pause button?

High Tea at the Alvear is old school glam. There are the coated waiters, sterling silver, bone china, fresh roses, starched tablecloths, musicians and lots of tiny sandwiches and cakes on tiered platters.

I order tea and The Glamourous Girl orders hot chocolate. When we started going, she was three years old and would bring her own plastic cutlery from her kitchen set and place it beside the silver. She looked so tiny in the overwhelming beautiful room. Over the years we have worked hard on what we call "princess manners" and she no longer has to be reminded what to do. She has learned to nibble on her cucumber sandwiches and can pour her own hot chocolate into her tea cup. She can wait patiently for the waiters and she knows not to run in the hallways.

We chat about the year that has passed us by as the sun sets over the roof top room of the hotel. We watched Recoleta fall into darkness for the night.

The final course is to choose dessert from a very elaborate dessert cart. The Glamourous Girl of course picks a dulce de leche cake and gives the waiter a little grin. Even a princess can have a weakness.

Over dessert I ask her if we should ever bring The Force and The Earnest Boy. She shakes her head no. This is our place.

As always we take some pictures in the beautiful room and I give her an extra squeeze. As we wait for the car to be brought around we shiver in the evening chill. Winter is here. We chat about our upcoming trip to Canada. The thought of long days in the north warms us up. Then we are on our way home. There is school in the morning.