Welcome to my new blog!

We arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina on July 4th, 2006.  A month later, we’ve purchased an apartment in the lovely neighborhood of Belgrano, enrolled our youngest daughter in an outstanding international school, and traipsed all over the city to explore our new place. 

Here’s what everyone asks: 

Why did you leave the United States? 

Why did you go to Mexico? 

Why did you THEN go to Argentina?

We’re not running away from the law or anything.    We’ve been wanting to live abroad again (my husband and I actually met in rural Japan, where we lived for five years) for a long time, and despite what everyone says about it ruining your children’s lives if you move while they are in the middle of high school, we decided to do it anyway.  We wanted this to be an experience we shared with our kids.  Fortunately, they agreed (with some coaxing) and on most days, they are happy with the adventure we’re all having.

Is it easy?  No.  We make tons of mistakes every day.  We are far, far from fluent in Spanish…in fact, we are beginners.  But we sold two homes, two cars, all of our belongings and headed south KNOWING it wouldn’t be easy. 

The first year, we started fairly close to the U.S.–we went to Mazatlan, Mexico.  We’d been there on vacation, and loved the historic area (away from the resorts and fast food chains of the north) and rented a lovely apartment with a courtyard just four blocks from the ocean. 

It was a fun year, full of laughter and happy memories, but we were ready for a bigger challenge–a bigger city, more offerings, and especially a more rigorous school for our youngest daughter, Talya, who is a sophomore in high school.  She went to an all Spanish-speaking private high school in Mazatlan, and it was great for learning the language and culture…but not challenging in terms of academics. (And I want to emphasize that I am far from being one of those parents who is always complaining about their children’s schools…I’ve been thrilled with every one, but, well, this was a bit of a stretch….)

So, despite the fact that we loved the charm and friendliness of Mazatlan, we headed for Buenos Aires (Talya’s choice!)…a bustling city of nearly 12 million people.
What a change!  Buenos Aires is very sophisticated, very European.  There are tons of museums, parks, galleries plus every kind of restaurant imaginable (we’ve had Middle Eastern food, Japanese, Hungarian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese–in Chinatown!–and there is fantastic Italian food on nearly every corner)….  There is tremendous interest in design here, and a great deal of building going on.  The economy, which basically crashed and burned just a few years ago, is becoming more stable every month, and many people are investing in real estate here.  Prices are extremely reasonable compared to similar offerings in large cities in the United States.  We bought a brand new three bedroom, two bathroom apartment with radiant heat under the hardwoods, top of the line Italian appliances and fixtures, and tons of light in a great neighborhood–for $135,000 US (cash).  Something like this would go for at least $600,000 in Portland’s Pearl District.

But mostly, we bought a place because we plan to live here until Talya graduates…three years or so.  We could rent, but we’re not afraid to invest here and live in a lovely place.  We can rent out our apartment after we move, or leverage it in a house-swap arrangement while living in some other wonderful place! 

So, what do we do all day?  Well…..when not exploring or eating or exploring or eating, we actually work.

My husband runs his company online.  I do my thing online.  We stay in touch with our two oldest daughters daily online–Tara, 18, is studying in Europe this summer before entering college in New Brunswick in the fall, Taeko, 20, graduated from college in April and has been traveling through Central America. She’ll be joining us in Buenos Aires for a few weeks before heading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to do some humanitarian stuff.

Teal, our 16-year-old, spent last year as a Rotary Exchange student in Brasil.  Now she’s with us in Buenos Aires, where she will take online college courses to complete the last bit of high school requirements and gain credits that will transfer to her chosen college in the fall of 2007.  She’s looking into taking Spanish through the University of Belgrano in our new neighborhood, and she’ll work part-time for Tom, be our cook and basically spend the year studying, earning money, and connecting with interesting people here in Buenos Aires.  It’s her last year at home with us, and we are hoping it is as wonderful as last year was with Tara–who, let it be said, was NOT thrilled about missing her senior year of high school but ended up having a fantastic experience with us in Mazatlan….

So…that’s the story.  We’re here because we want to be here.  We came because we thought it would be fun.  It’s funny that people are so confused by our choice to move.  I mean, people move all the time because of their jobs…we are moving because, well, we CAN.  We feel very lucky to have this opportunity, and just can’t think of any reason why we shouldn’t do this.  The benefits far, far outweigh any difficulties.

At least, on most days….. 

That’s what this blog is all about— Good times.  Frustrating times.  And a whole lot of learning going on….

Thanks for joining me on this adventure!