Los Dougherty

My family came to Buenos Aires and has since left. Bridget, Justin, Mom and Dad were here for ten days (finishing up two successful weeks of visitors), and I can honestly say it was on of the smoothest trips we've ever had. It would have been the perfect family vacation had Brittnye and Theo been here. Then, however, we would have had eight people in the smallest apartment ever, which would have required the construction of some kind of bunk bed to fit everyone.

We accomplished everything Margaret and I thought they needed to do and see to get a good feel for the city: the Recoleta Cemetery, La Boca, a bunch of other neighborhoods, Plaza de Mayo, way too many good restaurants, San Telmo, a tango show, and we even went to Colonia, a city on the Rio De La Plata in Uruguay, for Thanksgiving. I had a really good time. I'm glad they came and am already looking forward to the next random family vacation. Where to next guys?

Here are a few pictures of the trip:

La Boca, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires.


A Parilla (Steakhouse) in San Telmo.


My mom chillin' with some fruit. Don't ask.


Our Thanksgiving Dinner Table.

Bridget and I sitting by the Rio De La Plata in Uruguay.

We met a dog in Uruguay outside a random restaurant in Colonia. All in all, she did the best job of summing up my general feeling about the trip, which, as you can see, was relaxing.

Can't we stay?

It is true, our lives have been very easy and simple here, with very little obligation. However, for many reasons, things have become a lot more busy here in the last few weeks (in a good way).

Brian's family visited, which was a blast, and which he will write about soon enough. Because we want to include pictures, you know, we needed a few days to sort through the thousands of fabulous ones that were taken...

And, because this always happens the closer you get to leaving, we've just become more involved. We've met people and spent time with them, and we're into various activities. I, for one, have decided that this is a good time to focus on things that I've always wanted to do, and so I've been taking silkscreening classes (!) and continuing capoeira. And I've begun to work with a great youth arts organization, Proyectarte. Brian's Spanish is amazing (really, he's modest, but it is), because he goes to class five days a week. And now, of course, it seems like the time is going by too quickly!

More to come soon, we promise.

Mom and Buenos Aires: A perfect balance.

My mom came to visit! And although it seems that she brought a little Chicago weather with here (where did those 80 degree days go?), we still had a blast. It was the perfect opportunity to do a lot of sightseeing and restaurant touring-- I think we pretty much hit all of the "must see" spots. For some reason several times we either forgot to bring the camera or discovered that it wasn't charged, so I'll do my best with the pictures we do have.

I have to say, I think it was a particularly successful five days because of our ability to balance everything perfectly. We stuffed ourselves silly with steak and discovered the best Malbec ever, but we also walked and ran through the parks and botanical gardens. We did the touristy but charming La Boca and saw an intimate little tango show, and also got off the beaten track by meeting up with some local friends-of-friends.

Mom and the lovely purple "jacaranDAH" trees.

We saw old Buenos Aires through the antique fair in San Telmo and the astounding Recoleta cemetery, and we saw "new" Latin America at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA).

Final resting place for anyone with power or influence in BA.
Also a fascinating architectural tour!

And of course, we balanced plenty of excellent coffee breaks (something my family has an uncanny ability for while traveling) with mom's first taste of yerba mate, Argentine-style. She didn't like it, but at least it was a new experience.

Mom: "I don't want to taste it-- it's ugly!"

Great balance-- we both wish you were still here mama!

De vuelta.

So after five years, I finally got to go back to Chile! The massive, gorgeous mountains are still there, surrounding Santiago on all sides, but the endless lines of sun-yellow, eternally speeding public buses are not! The view is still spectacular from on top of Cerro San Cristobal, and it includes views of new buildings and skyscrapers under construction. There is an underground highway and an underground museum at La Moneda, the presidential building. And although their lives have changed in lots of ways, the friends that I saw are still as charming and fun as ever.

Brian and I visited Santiago and Valparaiso-Vina del Mar last week, and I did my best to give him an idea of my time there. Along the way, we caught up with lots of people, sights, and transportation systems. We saw Ingrid, Carlos, Cristobal, and Cristian, my hilarious host family. They're doing well, were as welcoming as they always were, and the kids are three times as tall. They entertained the crap out of Brian, as they always did for me when I lived there...

Brian, Ingrid, Carlos, Margaret

We also hung out with my good friend Felipe, who took us out, showed us the sights and helped to bring back my Chilean Spanish.

La Marmota y Feliponcio

And we went to the coast, thankfully finding space in the coolest hostel ever after I sortofkindof forgot to make a reservation until the day we got there. We stayed up in the hills:

Hills (interior)

and took the ascensor (ancient rickety wooden elevator, capacity seven, that rumbles you to the top of a huge hill) to the top of a second hill where we had dinner overlooking the port.

Hills (exterior)

We went to the beach in Vina and got pooped on by a bird flying about 10,000 feet above us (imagine the velocity!).


We marveled at the beautiful, sunny weather. We took photos.

Back in Santiago, Felipe accompanied us on a sort of walking tour of the places where I spent the most time, and later we were driven at amazing speeds around the hills outside of Santiago by Brian's law school friend Rodrigo. We forgot to take a picture of him, sorry!

It was a whirlwind of course (revisiting a place you knew so well after five years has to be), but it was lovely. "Super," as the chilenos would say. And we came back just in time to get ready for my mom's visit! Yaaaay, mom!