Recent Events

Sunday the 19th was Mother's Day here in Argentina. All the flower vendors on Santa Fe (the big avenue a half block from our apartment) had their stalls open for the occasion. Linda celebrated by cooking the indigenous mountain potatoes she'd discovered at the grocery. The tag explained these "papas andinas," orginally cultivated by the Incas, were still grown at altitudes in excess of 2,000 meters. This particular batch was from Jujuy. Linda cooked them with sliced white onion and then added butter, blue cheese, and tarragon. We found them quite tasty, with a flavor between white potatoes and acorn squash.

Not so enjoyable is the continuing unfolding of financial disaster around the world. As recent retirees, we're quite anxious. We wonder how much of our savings will remain, whether the 401k will ever recover, what's next in the global rout. The Argentines are much more sanguine about developments, even though President Cristina Fernandez (no relation) plans to renationalize employee pension funds, a decision that's exacerbating market instability here. People we talk to say they've been through financial meltdown (in 2001), and things will return to normal. Maybe so . . . or maybe we should consider cultivating indigenous potatoes.