A family from B's 3rd grade class generously hosted a despedida party for us on Saturday night. They were so kind and generous! In addition to us, they invited 8 or 9 other families. There were tons of kids and adults in a small apartment. It was crazy and fun. We ate delicious cheeses, meats, stew, dessert, etc. The gathering started at 8:00pm (we arrived about that time but nobody else arrived until around 8:20). The party didn't end until about 1:00am. The kids kept busy with videogames, hide-and-seek, and a ball. Playing with a ball wasn't such a great idea - B tossed the ball to a friend and broke the window in the boys' bedroom. Fortunately the family has insurance that covers the replacement of the glass.
I want to have some nice family photos to remember our year in Argentina - this is an important experience in our time as a family. Furthermore, when making F's photo album for his school retreat, I realized that we don't have many good family photos and I would like to have some. So we hired the photographer, Connie Brooks, for a photography shoot at Puerto Madero.
An Argentine scholar invited me to present my book to the National Science Academy. The building, in Recoleta, was beautiful. It was on one of the fanciest streets in Buenos Aires (Alvear). I felt like I was jumping back in time.
Monday was a holiday so I took the boys to the planetarium (Gallileo Galilei) to get them out of the house while John was on a conference call (it wasn't a holiday in the United States. Of course the boys had screen time. F discovered a surprising game on a Minecraft server (Potter World). To earn points, you have to attend class and the number of points that you get depends on your grade. You are graded on an essay that you write at the end of the class. F wrote several essays. For one, he listened to a presentation on the history of television and then wrote an essay in his own words. I wonder who does the grading. I can't quite believe that I willingly wrote essays during a videogame.
After the late night with lots of meat and wine, I had a quiet birthday. After horseback riding, we had hot chocolate and sandwiches at the old standby, Café Tortoni.
John's aunt Tin Tin came to visit us in Argentina. We had a relatively quiet Saturday. We took a quick walk in the Botanical Gardens. John and I hadn't spent time there in years, so it was nice to see how it has been cleaned up. It's a lovely park. I wish we had more time to spend there but everyone was hungry. Aunt Tin Tin generously invited us to dinner on Saturday night at a closed-door restaurant (Steaks by Luis - #2 for all restaurants in Buenos Aires per Trip Advisor). It was quite a treat, and not a place we would have gone to otherwise. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday (the dinner carried over into Sunday morning). We ate tons of meat and drank lots of wine and met some interesting people. We sat next to two American women who have been living in Buenos Aires for approximately 10 years. |