Hey, Who is the New Kid ??

Every day we go to the park with the dog.
Pup lucked out when our wish for a home as near to a park or green space, came true , when we found an apartment that we loved just a block from huge parks. He has his choice of which park to go to, the one with the incredible large trees and a cafe where he can have water , hang out and pup watch while mom and dad have their coffee and people watch.
He can roam around the park where he can greet tourists, get his photo taken (we are positive that there are millions of photos of Pup, in family albums marked "Our Vacation", all over the world) , he can go to the Museum Park and enjoy the statues and in summer watch the children swim and play in the reservoir, and more. Lucky dog.
Everywhere he goes people want to pet him, but everywhere he goes, dogs want to meet him too.
As we have found out, some dogs want to get to know him a little more intimately than he would like so we have had to be sure to control the dog encounters that advance beyond a sniff and a bounce around ..
Pup is friendly but he is still a large male dog that prefers to be Left Alone sometimes.

There is a homeless couple living in one of the parks. I think they sleep in a shelter of some sort, but they spend their days in the park, on a bench or on the ground near the bench, under a huge tree.
They have a mattress, they have coolers and bags and just recently, there is a new member of their little family.
A tiny puppy. An adorable tiny puppy. I have done my best to keep Pup away, the puppy obviously has not had shots and is so small, would be terrified of Pup, but no, the little one wanted to meet Pup yesterday.
Pup was all wiggles and happy to meet the baby. The baby is about the length of Pups nose. The bonding was immediate.
I know that even though they may move on, Pup will always look for the Baby when he goes to that park now.
The lady and I spoke, my Spanish was there for me at that moment and now I feel the need to do things for them. Not sure what, I never want to offend, just to be helpful, so this is something I will ponder and work on.

My computer remains at the hospital, maybe they will call today and say it was easily repaired/replaced/cured and I should come get it.
The weather is getting hotter, more humid and storms are forecast. I need my computer.

But it is still not raining so maybe we will take Pup to a park, have lunch at a cafe and plan Things To Do.

Monday - Look At This Blog !

Reading a newspaper here can be trying. When you have to try to figure out the language, the news becomes a bit "twisted" .. one word mis-translated and you have an entirely different story ! Wars could be started over something like this !

I try to find as many English language news sources as I can and this has been one of my favorites. Discussing World leaders/buffoons, finances, discord and Christmas trees.. my kind of news !

So here is my blog for Monday , see what is going on in my part of the world .. The Argentina Independent

The Computer Doctor

Monday, we have to take my beautiful loyal computer to the Doctor.
If it goes the way it has in the past, they will keep it in the Hospital for a few days/weeks, then hopefully ( please God) I will get it back , in Tip Top shape again.
Last time was a long hospital stay but it turned out to be something that they were able to replace ( courtesy of Dr Apple) and it has worked well , until lately when there have been many signs of illness.
A reluctance to get up and do some work.
A slowness that can only mean that it has no energy and would rather sleep.
No fever, but it does go dark sometimes and is in no mood to listen to me.
Maybe a headache since there have been times where it seems reluctant to look up something or to tell me what I want to know.

I had thought it might be overworked but then, remembered, these things are built for people who do more than I do on a computer... I am a cream puff to what some computer users can be.
So I am sure, my Computer needs a Doctor.

This all leads me to say that I might not be posting until it comes home .
I can use my husbands laptop, so I might post but if it is annoying to use .. My files ! My photos ! My Stuff !!... I might just let it go until I can post "normally" again.

So don't forget me if you don't hear from me, I will be there, holding its keyboard, urging the doctors to Save him whatever you can do, Save Him !!!

1-1-11 A Good Start to the Year

1-1-11 started out very well. We had a late sleep, not having gotten to bed until near 3 am. And having a last gasp fireworks/bomb going off nearby at around the time I had just fallen asleep. The day was bright , sunny and in the 80's with low humidity so everyone was happy. Yes, even me. We walked in the shade and it was downright cool ! Pup was happy ( although that boy is always happy) and I was glad that we could be out with him and not worry about his dying of heat stroke or something. The agonies of a vivid imagination, you just don't know.

We wandered down to "our parks" , thinking that since today was the beginning of the Dakar Rally. , we might see them , as we did last year, coming down the big avenue on their bikes and their trucks and cars.

There were hardly any people in the parks when we got there but slowly they began to fill the sides of the streets, bring beach chairs, umbrellas and blankets to sit on the grass.

The Museum Park has new sculptures ! I have to find the person responsible for these, I love them. There is a mix of modern, odd and marble and it all looks right for a Museum Park .. rather than the rusty metal ( dead Transformers) "sculptures" that were there before.

Pup was interested but then, he likes Art . . yes, I am joking !! although for all we know, he might have very specific thoughts of Picasso versus Van Gogh or Modernist compared to Art Nouveau .. we will have to have a talk one night when he is not too tired and see what we can find out. I will let you know.

We sat on the base of a marble sculpture and watched the Dakar bikes go by , then the Buenos Aires police, who deserve their own parade .. and then tour buses .. full to the brim.

The park is looking perfect, the shade trees are fully open and the grass is green .. we seem to be having a bit of a drought but they put in sprinklers and they are working !

The boat basin/reservoir is full of little boys stripping down to their underwear and jumping in, swimming, splashing.. I sort of envy them some days ..

I am sure Pup would be happy to dive in.

It seems like most of the people of this city are out of town. The mountains, the beaches and the countryside must be full of Porteños, all enjoying the coolness of being out of the city. But today, they missed a good day.

Please say please .. por favor

We had the annoying "honor" of helping some tourists today, who proceeded to ask us why we live here and at the same time, tell us how awful the people are here.

Apparently, according to their world, Telephone operators in South America should speak English.

When you get your finger smashed in an occupied bathroom door, an apology is not enough, you obviously should be compensated in some way by the owner... especially since his waiters don't speak English.

After asking us about a dozen times, "So you really like it here ?", sort of in the tone of someone looking down at you while you sit in hot tar .. " you like it here ?? " ... After I told them one of the greatest aspects of living here is the People... we were treated to a list of woes about how they are not nice here, they are rude, they don't speak English.

I used the example of us .. the "foreigners" in a building where everyone knows each other well and for a long time.. kind of like moving into a dorm at the end of the year .. and being welcomed and accepted like long lost family members.

But that didn't really make a dent in their steadfast bullheaded opinion that Everyone here is rude ... because they don't speak English.

I know a young woman, she is Japanese and learning to speak English. When she visited here, she carried a little Spanish phrase book so she could pronounce things correctly and ask for things in Spanish and Please and Thank you in Spanish.

She was treated as well as we are , probably better, since it seems that no matter where she goes, people fall in love with her ... regardless of the language she speaks. She smiles, is polite and quiet spoken. And respectful.

That will get you a long way in some places. At least it does in my book :)

These awful tourists made me thankful for all the polite , quiet spoken people who come here and want to enjoy everything , who learn a few words before they leave home, who smile and say Thank you and are not demanding .. who leave a Good Impression and hopefully set a standard that everyone wants to meet.