Arrived

Bienvenidos to the new blog... conceived by Candace and implemented by Dave. Today is our first Saturday in the north Buenos Aires suburb of Martinez. We have been here since Monday and are trying to survive with practically only the shirts on our backs. We carried as much stuff with us on the airplane as we possibly could, but after carseats, diapers, baby clothes, kids clothes, things to entertain the kids, and the kids themselves, we were lucky to pack 2 pairs of underwear and a change of socks for us. As any parent who has travelled with kids, we planned our arrival at Dulles airport for a smooth transition through security to the gate and onto the plane. Since it was a 10 PM scheduled departure, we rolled into the airport at about 8:15 or so, only to find out from the check-in bearer of bad news that the flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours. The kids were already tired and cranky and tired, but we were able to distract the with all of our creative juices and we made it onto the plane.

The next step was a 10 1/2 overnight flight. Caroline slept the most by far and Lily slept the most for any kid that was restricted against their will, logging about 6 hours, so you can imagine how Sam felt about the whole thing. We were met at the airport by some people to transport us to our new house in Martinez. (THIS IS THE 'THANK GOODNESS FOR NICE PEOPLE' PORTION). The embassy assigns an office and a social sponsor to help each new family get their feet planted on the ground. Our office sponsor lives about 1.5 miles from us and had provided some local currency in addition to enough food to get us through the first couple of days. In addition to that, they have provided much needed time for our kids to play with their kids to alleviate the cabin fever. Some people are just genuinely giving people, and we sure were welcomed by some here.

We would like to think that after 18 days in a hotel that we'd be moving right into our home and would be all ready to go... but in reality, we still don't have anything so it's mostly just like a big hotel room. Enough room to run around, lots of bathrooms and places to play hide and seek, but we pushed through without TV, internet, car, games, books, or projects to do for a whole week. Check us out! Now we have internet (try dealing with Argentine utility workers to refresh your Spanish), but are still without the rest of our goods.

The house is three stories. 1st floor entry to a living room and formal dining room, around to a kitchen, 1/2 bath, and utility room. Up the stairs to four bedrooms and 3 full baths, and upstairs again to a 1/2 bath and full sized (entire floor) play room with large windows on three sides. We live on a corner and so we only share a wall with one neighbor, contrary to many of our embassy colleagues. The backyard is also larger than others, and we have a nice pool... unfortunately we arrived in mid-July, the middle of winter. It's been in the 30s and 40s and folks have been saying it's the coldest its been all winter long. Go figure. When we left Washington DC, it was a terrible heatwave of several triple digit days in a row.

We have made it to the grocery store twice and have spent our fair share stocking the shelves. We're going to walk over to Lily's school (that starts in 2 weeks) to play on the playground with coats on. I'm constantly keeping tabs on Candace's comfort level as we start this new adventure together. This is what I have gathered so far:

PROS:

Gas Range/Oven

Pool

House size

Grocery store options

Feasibility of having a maid (we have interviewed)

CONS:

House is loud

Kitchen is cold

No garbage disposal

Other than that, I'm sure we'll have a list to keep adding to. The good news is that from some conversations with other folks who have come before, her expectations were appropriate and she has ended up pointing out more things that she is pleased with than things she is disappointed with. All in all, we're happy after a week. We are far from situated, but we are here and alive.