Voting - Right or Responsibility??

This Sunday will be elections for the Governor of the province of Santa Fe and Intendente (mayor, I think) of the city of Rosario. Voting is obligatory in Argentina. You must vote unless you are more than 500 kilometers away, in which case you must go to the local police station wherever you are on election day and have them stamp your identity document approving your failure to vote. Missionaries that are called to missions not that far away have to travel home on election days... If you don't have the ID document stamped as either having voted or checked-in, no one knows what will happen, but everyone assumes that not voting would give a government official/policeman/customs agent the right to make your life difficult any time they should so desire so it's better just to go vote. Some people go to the voting booths, get their stamps, and then turn in blank ballets because they don't want to vote.

In preparation for election day, almost every street in Rosario has been repaved, stop-lights are going up, and garbage pick-up has been better than usual. Apparently stroller-pushing pedestrians are not a significant constituency because the sidewalks are still total crap. What I'm confused about though, is that the incumbent is not running, so I'm not sure who all these last-minute fixes are meant to help.

In case the improvements are not enough to sway voters, really annoying people ride around with megaphones promoting one candidate or another. Below are two we saw today while driving and I made Mario stop so I could take a picture so I would have something to blog about. He clearly was thrilled to be the subject of an internationally-read blog(according to statcounter I have visitors from 5 countries, I would be very happy if my readers from Australia identified themselves!) so gave me his best pose.
This is the truck that I swear passes by my house every morning at about 7:30 am. Does he not understand that if I could understand what he was saying, and if I could vote, I would specifically NOT vote for him for annoying me so early in the morning???
My favorite comment of the day was Mario when I was taking the pictures, "You're going to put those on your blog and your friends are going to think we live in Bolivia." Because Bolivia is a crappy south american country, whereas Argentina is an upscale south american country. I assured him that no one would think it was Bolivia, they would just think that Argentina was that crappy!!

Cute Gabe - 12 weeks

This is the cute baby who makes funny faces and sleeps with his mouth open that was awaiting me at home during my unholy escapades. He's been sleeping through the night the last 2-3 weeks so now I think he's at the perfect stage - can he quit growing now please!!!

Everything I need to know I learned from TAMMY

Some good friends' of ours are getting married in a few weeks, and I proposed to host a bridal shower for the bride. I was informed that people do not have bridal showers here, they have sort of modified bachelorette parties which include dressing up the bride or groom in an outrageous and hopefully embarrassing costume, and parading them about town. If you are male, this involves you being hauled about in the trunk of the car, and if you are not Mormon, doing this naked.

Thus my little cake and tea affair was axed and it was decided that we would dress very conservative Jazmin as a very sexy Cat Woman. We blew up balloons for her chest, padded her rear with shoulder pads (they might have come from Jessica's stash...) and dressed her in skin-tight black with accessories. We then drove her about, and as everyone sat in the car smiling, I rolled down the windows and was calling to boys driving by, gave her a candy necklace and was finding boys to eat the candies off, asking them to show Jazmin their tattoos, etc. The other girls, who have never seen me without Mario by my side, thought I was completely out of control. Tammy would have been proud. I would say it was kind of like being single again, only it's a completely different experience to flirt and prance about knowing that you're going to see your husband shortly, and you feel your milk coming in for your baby at home. Much more liberating!

We found this amazing modern art installation that was a perfect photo backdrop for Jazmin.

We met up with Mario and the groom at a restaurant later.

Two boys from Cordoba I had following us in the car. Jazmin is mortified.

Blogger Tag I

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1.Just got back from a year in France
2. Living with Jeff and Paige in LA
3. "whipping something up" for Jeff's dinner
4. Waitressing at night and working for Neutrogena
5. Taking public transportation in LOS ANGELES (Oh horror!!)

5 things on my to-do list today:

1. Print out photos of Gabe to start baby book
2. Finish decorating baby's room before he is too old and I have to change decor scheme
3. BLOG!
4. work (yuk)
5. Start list of items I need Ashley to bring me from the motherland

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Chocolate
2. Craisins that my mom brought on her visit
3. raw dough for empanadas (I am disgusting, I know, but I seriously love any kind of raw dough)
4. almonds
5. green apples (with or without dulce de leche)

5 songs I know the lyrics to:

1. Somebody - Depeche Mode
2. I'm sure there are a few church songs I know almost all the words to, but anyone who knows me knows that even when I think I know the words they are wrong.

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Build a new house
2. Get a dishwasher and a clothes dryer!!!
3. Go to Italy with Mario
4. Go on a major clothes buying trip to NYC
5. Take a Girl's Trip with my sisters anywhere

5 bad habits:

1. opening the fridge any time I am bored
2. yelling things I shouldn't at other drivers
3. Having NO patience
4. procrastinating things I don't want to do
5. judging people before I know them

5 things I'd never wear again:

1. leggings and big sweaters - oh wait, that's back in style
2. Pegged jeans - oh wait, that's in style only now they come skinny instead of having to use safety pins
3. baby doll dresses over leggings - oh wait, I saw that in a store today
4. that long, plaid, pleated skirt I had freshman year at BYU - NOT in style again!
5. bangs perfectly curled under in what some called a "dog turd"
(but you get my drift...never say never)

5 favorite toys:

1. My computer. It is my life
2. my baby
3. my sewing machine
4. my drill - I no longer have any of my other power tools.
5. my camera

5 people tagged:

1. Ashley - so she has something to write about!
2. Adrienne Wilson
3. Marta Harris
4. Tammy
5. Marianne

That's What I Call Service

There are some good things about Argentina, here is my daily positive thought. Our insurance company pays the baby's formula for the first three months, as long as we have a prescription from the doctor. Gabe only drinks formula about once per day, but he has been really constipated and the formula's the only thing we can think of that would be causing it. So I called the doctor to get a different kind of milk. I got a prescription from the doctor, but didn't want to go to the pharmacy. So I called the pharmacy and told them I had a prescription, could they please bring the formula to my house. Only problem, I couldn't read the doctor's writing. So they sent someone to my house to get the prescription, take it back to the pharmacy, and then bring me back the formula. When they came back, I had gone out to lunch (no, I could not pick up the milk while I was out to lunch!) So they returned a third time to my house when I got home to bring me the milk.

So I'm really bugged when I don't think Mario gets paid what he deserves, but really happy when guys on scooters are so cheap the pharmacy can send three delivery guys to my house in one day without charging me.

Fashion Victim

This is a cry for help, a desperate plea to my friends...that I might be saved from fashion freakdom and sashay through a style savvy summer season. I prefer to buy clothes online from the US rather than in Argentina for a variety of reasons. (NO variety, terrible prices and quality, having to buy the largest size in the store, etc.) So before the summer season comes to a close and warm-weather fashion is no longer available in the northern hemisphere, I must get busy purchasing online whatever I want for a summer wardrobe.

Please share your summer favorites and where you got them so I can order away and my lovely sister/international mule ASHLEY can transport them for me when she comes in October. Thanks girls!

A Week In Review

Saturday

We went to the wedding reception of some friends, and I had a STAR SIGHTING!!! Okay, not really, but this guy seriously looked like Luke Wilson so I stared at him all night and then he totally caught me taking his picture, but I'm the crazy foreigner so no one pays me much mind...

Family pic. too bad you can't see my shoes because they were the hottest part of my outfit.

Sunday

I'm making Apple Pie for Sunday dinner. Mario says he doesn't like cinnamon, but I think he just doesn't know the he DOES in fact like cinnamon. So I make good ol' American Apple Pie. Mario smells it and asks if it has cinnamon. I tell Mario it doesn't have any cinnamon in it, only nutmeg. I swear to this. He eats the apple pie and loves it. His whole family eats the apple pie and loves it. I admit it is possible some cinnamon FELL into the apple pie, but since he liked the pie he must like cinnamon!! Clearly I am prepared to raise children and broaden their pallets.

Monday

I took Gabe on an exciting outing on the bus to go run some errands. He had huge eyes like this the whole time, looking at everything. When we got home, he had a really hard time going down for a nap. I think this is what the baby books call "over stimulated".

Tuesday

I finally bought Gabe a bath tub! He loves it, although he already seems too long for it...

Wednesday

This is Gabe learning to self-feed so that mom can do other, more important things. Like read her friends' blogs.

Thursday

Gabe needed his diaper changed, but I didn't have any more diapers in the basket where I change him. So I put him on his super fun play mat from Tammy while I went to get more diapers. On the way, I had to pass the computer, so I sat down for a quick read of every one's blogs. He didn't fuss, so I kept reading...I don't really know how much later, I checked on him and he was sacked out. He had to stay in his dirty diaper because mom was too busy blogging to change him. Perhaps that is why I got an addiction rating of 74% on the test from Paige's blog.

Friday

Cousin Pilar came to visit, and she liked Gabe a little better this time around. Although she commented that he doesn't have many good toys...

**note: either these two events didn't really happen on different days, or I let my kid wear the same clothes two days in a row. I will not admit to which one it was...

2 x 1

Adrianne is trying to do both things at the same time, gym and calm the baby! She's very practical , she should be in the kitchen so she can make breakfast also!...love mario

Abuelo Deo

Mario's father is a very serious, proper gentleman. He doesn't like to hold Gabe, he says "it's not my generation's way," or it's not what he was raised to do. But he loves to try and get his attention. And Gabe rewards him with lots of smiles.

It's really all about me.

Here is the report on last night's festivities.

Cupcakes looked better than they tasted, but no one but me seemed to care.
I also made individual cheesecakes so there was something good tasting, carmelkorn, mini pizzas, and empanadas.
Mario blew out his candles.
Everyone ate a lot and talked a lot and even though it was Mario's birthday, I get the accolades for good hosting. And we know that's really what it's all about.

Feliz Cumpleaños...

...that's how they say it in Spain. (some word I never could say) in German it means the same...

Why does that song immediately pop into my head when I say "feliz cumpleaños"?? Anyway...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARIO!!

Today my beloved husband turns 32, and a few friends are coming over tonight. Inspired by Linsey's comments on cupcakes, I decided to make cupcakes. But they are not turning out very well, so I best get back in the kitchen and try to salvage something... It's true what Lindsey says: cupcakes - and cakes in general- just don't come out the same here.

I am somebody's bad joke

This morning I crawled out of bed, fed my baby, pulled on some clothes, and left the house when it was still dark to go to my appointment at the Civil Registry to solicit my identity document. My appointment was for 7:30am. When I got there at 7:15, there was already a line of about 50 people which I joined and we all waited in the freezing cold for over an hour. Turns out they decided to change their hours from 7:30 - 12:30 to 8:15-1:15. I finally got in to see the correct person, he asked for my documents. Mind you, he is listening to headphones and does not look at me or OPEN HIS MOUTH TO SPEAK, so I'm a little lost as to what I'm supposed to do. I start pulling them out and he tells me he needs a photocopy of the page in my passport from when I entered the country. I give him the photocopy I had made of my most recent entry. He doesn't want that one, he doesn't want the first entry, he wants some random one from a trip in 2006, so I have to leave, walk three blocks away, make a photocopy, and go back. When I return he starts reviewing my documents again, and tells me that the immigration department did not put my correct birth date on my residency papers. I show him both my birth certificate and passport, showing my correct birth date, but he reports he can do nothing, I must return to immigration, request a new residency document, and start over.

I left in tears. Are they kidding? Is this some kind of test to see how long the stupid foreigner will run around in circles kicking herself in the butt so she can have an ID and a driver's license?? I know it's not just me, they treat everyone this way.

I came home and told Mario I was done, I'm not trying anymore, I will never get my documents and I don't care. It's not worth it.

Mario just called and is taking my to lunch to try and cheer me up. I don't know if it will work. Can I go home yet?

I love to see your SMILE

Gabe is just starting to smile, and it's so adorable Mario and I have converted into dancing, high-pitched-singing dorks trying to get more out of him.



My first attempt at imbedded video! Here is two minutes of video for one smile...but he's cute all the same.

Ben Stiller Watch Out!

Gabe just may be taking your place as Derek Zoolander...

A Lightbulb Moment

This week I had a rare moment of clarity in my life, but to explain it I have to start with a bit of history.

Mario's mother has an oven that is so old and so weak that it basically serves as a warming device only. It does not get hot enough to actually cook anything. On top of that, almost no ovens in this country have thermostats. Which just means you turn them on, turn the gas up high or down low, and they just continually heat at either a faster or slower rate. It's something like cooking over a camp fire.

When we got our oven, I made Mario search all over the city for an oven with a thermostat that actually CONTROLLED THE TEMPERATURE of the oven. He thought I was crazy, my very kind and uncritical MIL just raised her eyebrows, and we spent 3x the normal price so I could have an oven with a thermostat.

I did not understand how anyone cooked - my MIL just told me she makes everything on the stove... WHAT??

So, on Monday I was invited to an Essen party - kind of like a Tupperware party but for pots and pans. I knew my MIL had a few and they are supposedly great. I just thought they were like cast-iron pots. So I go, and while looking over the pots, ask the sales lady if they can go in the oven. She looked at me horrified.

I was soon to learn that these are special pots, that act like a mini oven, so everything, from cakes to breads to sauces to WHOLE CHICKENS can be cooked in them, right on the stove top, and all in about 1/3 the time it would take to cook them in the oven. I started laughing out loud, and then had to explain, in terrible, grammatically incorrect, poorly accented Spanish (another blog, another time) that I was finally understanding how my MIL cooks...

My favorite part is that they kept talking about how these pans are so great because you save so much gas/money by not using the oven. This feature is even highlighted on the home page of their web site. Let me break down the pesos for you:
average Essen pan: 300$arg
average monthly gas bill in my house where I run the gas heater all day long, use my oven liberally, average 30 minute showers with my gas water heater, wash clothes in hot water,etc.: 30$arg

How many months of saving on oven gas would it take me to pay off my Essen pan?? I might have bought one, but I don't like that they only come in ugly brown.