What's up?

Lou: So, what have I been up to? I’m not sure what to say; the days pass quickly and mellow. Tranquilo.

We moved a week ago. The new apartment isn’t as new and squeaky clean as the last one, but it’ll do—and it’s a little cheaper. Also has lots of space and extra couch/ bed for visitors. I’ve been spending some time cleaning up the kitchen. I’m a grime fighter in Argentina! The owner and the realtor type guy (who happens to be her brother) are really nice. They supplied us with a new microwave in the hopes that we will stay for many months and since he had a “good impression of us”.

We have a tiny little balcony that functions as a laundry and not much else, but it is nice to have a little outdoor space. We would have a mountain view if it weren’t for the big apartment building between us and it. Dan thinks it looks a little like “Good Times” out our balcony. Oh well, mountainview probably would drive up the price!

I’m trying to keep up with studying spanish every day, even though I don’t have class every day, now. I also have my resume in to a few companies that are owned/run by gringos as well as the Hyatt--a long shot, but worth a try.

I’m realizing how much we relied on boxed or frozen—pre-fab food. Ok, and how much Dan used to cook, too. I’ve been looking up recipes on the internet to give me ideas on what to do with all the fresh produce and dry legumes. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it takes more creativity to eat vegetarian from scratch, I think. –To get great flavors that aren’t prepackaged. To my delight, all of the raw ingredients are here! I’ve been able to get ginger, curry, cumin, etc. –even though I can’t imagine any of these in average Argentine food. And I think I will try my hand at making more Indian style dishes.

I’ve been learning to not just shop at the super market and I have my favorite diet/ herb store, bread shop, and vegetable store/stand. It’s fun to be a “regular”.

Food: There actually are a few vegetarian restaurants here. With such great names as Vegetalia and Jardín (garden) de Pooh how can we resist? They seem to be a fast or “healthy” alternative for lunch. They are only open during lunch-time. They usually have a buffet style set up and most don’t even have a place to sit; they just have take out. Well, either way, one dishes up what they want into plastic throw away squares, they weigh it and charge by the kilogram, and wrap in paper for you to take.

We’ve found a couple with a little asian accent in which Dan loves the fried noodles and rice. Other items have a lot of cheese like rolled up crepe things or an eggplant bake. So, I don’t know if it is really all that healthy with the oils and cheese, maybe if one just opted for the salad (which depending on the place, can have a lot of options—some a little mysterious) which has olive oil as the dressing option and costs a few pesos less per kilo. Other common features are empanadas with cheese or spinach or mushed corn inside, squash (winter & summer) and spanish omelots with greens or carrots.