June 03, 2011

Let's just pretend I wrote this a month ago, shall we?

OH, INTERWEBS! HELLO! HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU!

the all caps shouty-fest might seem overenthusiastic and unnecessary, but i have been overwrought - OVERWROUGHT, I TELL YOU - with this unexpected blogging hiatus. especially since it's not like Things Haven't Been Happening. Things! they keep Happening! and i'm not sharing them with the internet, NOR am i reading other blogs, because it turns out that when one starts a new job, and one has a computer screen that faces Everything On Earth, one is not as inclined as one has been in the past to keep a window with blogs open in it all day long so that one can read a blog every few minutes in between tasks.

(i am working in a conference room today, and my screen is facing a wall, and IT IS GLORIOUS.)

(and no, i don't know why i don't/can't blog at home. i just.. don't. computers are for the daytime, apparently.)

i never even finished posting about south america, eesh. so, uh, here are some quick highlights from our last stop, Buenos Aires. we scrapped all our original plans after the gotmyfare disaster, and my lovely friend JM graciously let us stay the whole time at his sweet apartment - plus he picked us up from the airport, took us to nice restaurants, and showed us around the city. not too shabby.

first up: the San Telmo market - a large outdoor antiques/craft fair that springs up in one of the neighborhoods.


In one of the courtyards

i have a strange affinity for cemeteries as it is, and love visiting large / old / interesting ones while travelling, so La Recoleta was really, REALLY up my alley: an entire miniature town made up entirely of mausoleums.


There are no open plots - just paved walkways and elaborate mausoleums




They ranged from somewhat understated to... not understated.




Many were new, glassy obsidian, but then they'd have these old decaying ones in their midst as well

there are a lot of wealthy neighborhoods in BA, and apparently all the wealthy people get dogs, and then hire professional dog walkers to take their pups out during the day. so all around the city, you see these guys (and gals) with an enormous tangle of leashes all around them - we regularly saw walkers with more dogs than this, even.


One of Buenos Aires' dog walkers! These guys (and gals) are found throughout all the parks in the cities, with at least this many dogs in tow.  Although most dogs seem to spend a lot of time offleash as well, and are completely trained and non-agressive.

i feel like my BA pictures are not that great - they definitely don't do the city justice - which i'll blame on the fact that i was fairly unwell while there. i experienced my very first Visit To An ER While On Vacation In Another Country, which was surprisingly pretty great, all things considered. like the fact that the cost of a full round of antiobiotics WITHOUT INSURANCE was a whopping $25. the pharmacist apologized profusely for how expensive it was, and urged me to submit the paperwork to my regular insurance when i got home.... where the copay would likely have been more than $25 anyway. unreal.

uh, but anyway! onwards! the hugely touristy - yet still interesting & worth a visit - La Boca neighborhood:


'Calle

supposedly this neighborhood was built by Genoese immigrants who were super poor, living in slum housing.. so they painted everything all cheery colors to remind them of home. it's still not located in the best area; JM warned us not to visit and night and/or stray off the tourist-friendly path, since thugs in the area had taken to jumping tourists and cutting off their fingers to steal their rings.

we stayed in the touristy areas.


It's now hugely touristy...

one of the best parts of BA (for me, anyway) was the super-great food you could get for practically free. we ate at some amazing restaurants, and paid about 1/3 the price we would have paid in the states.


Dinner at Cluny - my awesome fish (both boys opted for meat, naturally)

we even hit up a milonga - a tango club where you can come first to learn, then the rest of the night is devoted entirely to dancing the tango.


'The

(things at which i am not naturally gifted: the argentinian tango. eesh.)

so! BA! that was awesome. the entire trip was crazy fabulous (um, once we got the vacation back on track, i still hate you gotmyfare.com) and i thoroughly recommend taking a trip down that way if you should get the opportunity.

so, um, yeah, that was over a month ago. hah. whoops.

since then, i've been settling in at my new job, which is a TON of work, but i'm really enjoying it so far. it's good work - i feel like i'm doing interesting, challenging things, and not just busywork. it's a neat company to work for, too: i'm officially the 200th employee, for example, so they held a small ceremony (with cake!), had me ring a gong, and made me a special "200th employee" tshirt. also they have a keg every friday. :)

i really miss everyone online, though. i'm may just have to relocate to this conference room permanently.

8 comments:

  1. Miss you too! But I get it about the new job. Glad you could come up for air today. Gorgeous pics!

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  2. an entire miniature town made up entirely of mausoleums...
    That is amazing! More pics on flickr? I'll have to look when I get a chance.
    Love the colorful buildings!

    And seriously, a keg every Friday? Where the heck are you working, and can I get a job there!?

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  3. A keg? Is this like a club promotional company? Nuts!

    Glad to see you back!

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  4. Your vacation sounds absolutely amazing and I am sitting here reading this positively green with envy. I'm so glad that your horrible experience with that evil company didn't ruin anything. And congrats on the new job!

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  5. Wow - the new job sounds pretty great, even though it IS keeping you to itself!

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  6. Oh, I feel EXACTLY the same way! I haven't blogged in forever and I have SO MANY things I need to update!

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  7. Our cubicles are set up so that if I were to sit at the computer my back would face the opening thus allowing a) people to scare me because I can't see them coming and b) everyone to see that I am reading blogs and not working on a spreadsheet. So of course I moved my computer to a different part of the desk so that I can see people coming AND keep them from seeing what is on my computer. It's not ergonomic but fuck it.

    Good to hear from you!

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  8. Sweet pictures! I'm so glad the trip worked out after all of that mess! Except for that trip to the er... and of course you had an accident.

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