Week 1 — Settling In

“I don’t remember.” That’s what Emma always says. But contrary to popular opinion, she remembers everything. Here are her and Mae’s highlights from week one.

Our Taxi Reservation…we assumed it was for us

No matter where in the world we are, they can never spell our name right! Nevertheless, we made it to our Apartment in Palermo Chico, a beautiful part of the city.

First stop was food at Cafe Martinez, then to a grocery story and playground. The essentials (says Emma). Our neighborhood is amazing, full of cafes and restaurants, shops, and lots of cool parks. We have a nice place with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a cool balcony. There are 10 floors and on the 10th is the roof. On the roof there are chairs and a grill. There is another stair case leading even higher. Up there, there is a pool with lots of very disgusting DEAD nat’s.

We explored our neighborhood for the first few days. Here are some pictures of our apartment.

Emma hanging out on the balcony

first meal in our flat. Pasta (and grill cheese of course)

Once we got settled into our routine, we did some exploring around our neighborhood, and walked down into the city a little bit.

The girls mentioned some of the highlights from week one, which we will include here in brief. The parents are writing and the girls are narrating!

1. Eating at a traditional Argentine pizza place! The pizza was really oily and cheesy. We at Empanadas too. And bubble seltzer. They had a picture of larry bird on the wall! Will loved his pizza.

You can see Larry Bird on the left behind Paul.

2. The Oprah House book shop! — After visiting the Recoleta Cemetery (see below) we stopped in quickly at the El Ateneo Grande Book shop. As the picture shows, it’s an old theater converted into an amazing book shop. We didn’t really enjoy the visit (three hungry kids, who just walked three miles), but it’s an amazing structure, and a call for book shops again!

We did get smiles, but they were in no mood to just “hang around”

3. Recoleta Cemetery — Out official first stop on our journey was the Recoleta Cemetery, which is like nothing else we’ve seen. It’s like a little village that you can walk through, with ornate architecture and beautiful peace among those who passed. Emma’s research project is Eva Peron, and she’s buried there. You’ll see below.

This is the main walking road in the cemetery.

Eva Peron’s grave and Emma looking grown up!

4. Soccer and Parks — One constant of our first week was walking around our neighborhood, Palermo. While we were exploring we fell into a soccer clinic that the girls participate in twice a week, and we also visited the famous Palermo parks and taking family pics. Will is part of the family :-)

Our local playground, and a merry-go-round in the soccer park

5. A Classic Hospital Visit — There isn’t a welcome to a city for us without a hospital visit! After a week of a cough and low fever, Mae went to get checked out and treated for Bronchialitis. Poor Mae, always visiting foreign hospitals. She’s used to them now.

She’s smiling at least…and on Sunday morning.

6. Balcony — Something the Emma and Mae wanted to include was the fact that we have a balcony that spans the length of the apartment. They love to read and journal there, and play games. We also dry all our laundry out there (because there are no dryers down here). Mae and Emma can get from their room to the balcony, but aren’t allowed without say so. Will wants to go out there all the time. Fun never ends! The girls do like to read there though, like this cute picture shows.

That’s all for this week!

We can’t wait to see everyone again, and especially our little Mr. Will, who just goes with the flow and follows us around wherever we go!

Love,

The Miha’s