Cuca time again!

Summer has only just begun but the cucarachas have already been visitors for a little bit. Warm weather paired with the occasional rainy day make it a perfect climate for them. Once a month the 'exterminator' comes to spray the house to keep them at bay a little bit. Fortunately it works because usually in the few days after his job, all we have to do it pick them up and discard. They seem to get bigger and bigger every year though just like the kids :)

Last day at school

The last day at school for Nina & Stasiu: finally summer holidays! Both had little closing ceremonies in their respective classes with music and the hand-over of the much awaited art file with all the pieces of art they produced in the second term! Then it was time to say goodbye to their classmates and lovely teachers. The kids will miss them all although they will surely meet up with some of their little friends during the summer. Next year: sala de 5 and sala de 4!

El Chalten

After visiting the glaciers we drove to El Chalten, the hiking capital of Argentina for a healthy family hike. The trail we took was quite challenging and not as easy as we expected, but the kids did great and after a few motivation sessions we all returned proud, tired and hungry to our hotel. That evening, while we walked back from the restaurant, the clouds moved a bit so we had an almost unobstructed view of the Fitz Roy mountain.The next day, just before we returned to the airport to catch our plane back to BA, we discovered that Stasiu is blessed with the gift to understand the language of penguins....

El Calafate

We took a short trip to the south of Argentina to see some glaciers....and glaciers we saw. It took a flight of just over three hours from Buenos Aires and early evening we arrived at the small and beautifully located airport of EL Calafate.  The next morning we left our hotel very early to catch a boat that would bring us to three different glaciers during a 7 hour trip. The experience was nothing short of spectacular (and very cold...). 

Brazil beach holiday, Taiba

Our Brazil holiday: we rented a house for a week in Taiba close to Fortaleza. Nina and Stasiu had a great time on the beach several times a day and we enjoyed chilling in the hammocks on the veranda at a perfect 30Celsius every day but with wind to make is super enjoyable. A true little paradise of relaxation.

Mendoza

Last weekend was a long one here in Argentina so we decided to venture out west and make the crossing via Mendoza over the Andes to Santiago de Chile. It was a full day drive to get to Mendoza and when we arrived there we heard that the pass to Santiago had been closed due to snowy weather but that it would probably open the next day again. We did go all the way up to the tunnel that connects Argentina with Chile, but the wait just to get into the tunnel was already very long; they did only let a limited amount of cars in at the time because on the other side there was a long line for the border control with Chile. Once through the tunnel it could take up to 4 hours to finally make it into Chile! We decided not to spend our weekend waiting and went back to Mendoza. Passing the Puente de las Incas where Nina & Stasiu got to play in the snow and later visiting two bodegas/wine houses in the region. The drive in Mendoza was spectacular, especially when the weather picked up. 

Drum lessons

Stasiu is going to take percussion classes with one of his school buddies. We had already wanted to get him a drum set before but now was the time :) After mounting the set, the whole family had a go and we all love it! Not sure by now who spent more time making noise, parents or kids... In any case, it's good that we don't have residential neighbours!

Oil for the people: YPF nationalized.

Argentina is looking carefully at the highly successful business model of Venezuela....

By presidential decree, Repsol, the biggest company in Spain, lost 51% of its 57% share in the biggest company in Argentina. Just another monday morning....

Pulpo

Kids eat the weirdest things: last week we went to Buenos Aires China town and got fresh octopus. Left it in a marinade for a couple of hours, fried it and this was the result - They are lovin'it!

Stasiu's Birthday

The 8th of April was Stasiu's 3rd birthday; he's a big boy! In the morning there were lots of presents and later in the day we had some kids over to double the birthday fun together with an Easter egg hunt because the two coincided. Then during the week, we had Stasiu's birthday party for his whole class in a salon de fiesta, as is custom here in Argentina. It was a pirate party complete with entertainment, snacks. sweets, treats, a pirate cake and of course a pinata! The kids had great fun and Stasiu got lots of presents, but the treatbag at the end was the most important; sweet!