London for Less

There are some silver linings to the economic crisis. First, for some reason the U.S. dollar is up against most other currencies, including the British pound. Second, air fares are down. Both good reasons to finally make that trip to London. 

Another good reason: we very much needed to change our travel pattern from Texas - Buenos Aires - Texas to BA - Texas - BA. So on February 26 we flew back to Austin, using the return portion of our tickets that had brought us to Buenos Aires last May. (Thanks to our good friends Roger and Maria Nasr for putting us up!)

With our Texas business (tax filings, bank runs, and medical appointments) out of the way, we left for London on March 4 on an open-jaw ticket that allowed us to return from London to Buenos Aires. Of course, we had to connect through Houston on the return leg, which made for a very long trip: we left the apartment we had rented in London at 6:30 am on March 12, and arrived at our home in Buenos Aires at 11:30 am on March 13, some 31 hours later. 

London was worth it, though. We stayed in Southwark, right off the Tower of London Bridge, on the south side of the Thames, in an area of refurbished warehouses that had served the docks in past eras. We were pretty much in walking distance of most attractions: we trekked across various bridges, to Bloomsbury and the British Museum, to Westminster and Parliament and other government buildings, as well as to closer sites, including Burrough's Market, St. Paul's Cathedral, the National Theatre (where we attended a dramatic reading by playwright David Hare), and the adjacent Festival Hall area, with all sorts of enterprising entertainers performing for passers-by. Photo impressions here.

Lorenzo & Ceibos

Lorenzo, the Bounder look-alike from across the street, is now officially our "pretend dog." This afternoon we took him for an hour-long walk up Azcuenaga to the park across from the Buenos Aires Design Center and then around the British Embassy and back home. It was a treat to have some doggie time.

Here's Kurt with Lorenzo, framed by blossoms of a ceibo tree. The ceib0 blossom is the national flower of Argentina. A treeful makes for a pretty impressive sight - just about as impressive as the jacarandas in the spring.

Celebrating Bounder

Bounder didn't make it - at least not physically - with us to Buenos Aires, but his spirit lives on. We celebrated his memory today, on the date our favorite Austin yellow street dog passed away in 2008 after enriching our lives for 14 years. As a dear friend put it at the time, "it is hard to lose those trusty tail-wagging always-there friends."

We see Bounder all around us here. Lots of yellow Labs and yellow partial Labs and just plain yellow mutts that look and act like the B-dog. Right across the street from us, on the same level as our apartment, lives a Bounder look-and-act-alike whose owner we have just met. Tomorrow we have a date to take Lorenzo for a walk. Bounder lives on.

Nuevo Amigo

At mid-day Raul Vidal, our new friend, stopped by to final measurements and design for the mirror he's going to make for our living room. Raul is an artist in cristal.

Raul would fit well in Austin: he's a radical vegan whose workshop's walls bear the Argentine flag adorned with photos of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro with Cristina Fernandez. 

We took an excursion there last Saturday to see more of his work. Raul lives in Avellaneda, outside the limits of Capital Federal, in Buenos Aires province. We were reminded of Mexico City.

The mirror should be finished around the end of the month. Stay tuned. 

Protesting the Gaza Massacres

At 5 this afternoon, tens of thousands of Argentines in Buenos Aires representing some 50 political, social, and labor organizations marched from the congress building to the embassy of Israel to condemn the massacres in the Gaza Strip. Many held signs with gruesome photos showing the bodies of some of the 400 plus children killed in the 3 week bombardment that left dead more than 1300 Palestinians and some 13 Israelis (including several military personnel killed by "friendly fire"). Body counts and other reliable details at Free Gaza and the Palestine Chronicle.

Speakers at the march condemned the attacks and urged the Mercosur nations to repudiate any free trade agreement with Israel. Mercosur members include Argentina and Brazil (the two largest economies in South America), along with Paraguay and Uruguay. Associate members include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. 

We marched today with our new neighbors. As the poet Miguel de Unamuno said during the Spanish civil war, "sometimes to be silent is to lie."

Tuesday, Jan. 13

The day turned nice. Some gentle rain fell last night, but not nearly  enough to break the drought affecting the campo. Though gray and humid was not intolerable after recent warm days, the cool, dry wind that blew in from the south around 6 pm scattered the clouds and also refreshed the spirit.

Daughter Belen continues here with us for another few days. She stays constantly occupied with her writing. Her most recent publication.

More ordered furniture arrived last week. That triggered a flurry of box-openings, selecting books and photos from our culled down but still ample collections.

The photo was taken from the living room around 7:30 this evening.

Peace in 2009

Buenos Aires welcomed in 2009 with an almost eerie quiet. By yesterday afternoon, the streets were deserted and most businesses closed. Later, as we waited with daughter Belen to ring in the new year, we noticed how many apartments in buildings around us were shuttered and dark. Even the few fireworks (more noise than lights) at midnight were sparse.

Many people here (as in Europe) take off for the mountains or the beach for several weeks over the summer, escaping the heat of the city. Our favorite pasta factory, for example, closed down Dec. 29 and won't reopen until early February. (Fortunately there are other options in the neighborhood.) 

The peaceful mood here contrasts starkly with the images of carnage, desperation, and grief coming from the Gaza Strip. How can we be allowing this massacre to continue?