Pros and Cons of Life in Argentina

Cons: getting stuff fixed. 


It is simply not worth complaining about the fact that our kitchen hot tap snapped off. Because getting it fixed would entail calling the maintenance of the building to check the tap. They'd then call their regular plumber, who'll get his mate to call the school who rent the flat for permission to complete the work. The school wil recognise the problem, but will call their plumber, without telling the plumber caller, to fix the tap. The school will then call maintenance asking them to cancel their plumber and use their pumber who'll come here but be sent away by maintenance in place of their plumber who'll come here - next week and without notice- not to fix the tap but to shout at us about being 'disloyal to the building'... All the aforementioned plumbers will be called Juancito and they will all look a bit like Maradona.

Best do it yourself and use a retro-tap (aka a spanner).

Pros: 

On the plus side, you could just go outside anytime during the 'rainy season'...

... pity about Thursday 3rd, mind. Best plan a movie day.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the week:

The scene. Leah, in the morning, about to go to jardín. Maia, quietly, playing on the carpet.  

The jardín asks that kids bring only one toy each day, hence choosing the one morning toy is a cute, if occassionally problematic, part of the morning routine.

Katie: "OK, Leah, do you want to choose a toy?"

Leah: "Ooooooooo - YES!"

Katie: "OK, which one?"

Leah: "Hmm... I think..."

Leah casts her eyes across a seemingly endless expanse of teddies, bags, dolls...

"...maybe..."

Something catches her eye. Mentally, she has made her decision. 

"I will take... "

Finally, she points, decisively: 

"Maia." 

New Year's: National Stereotypes

The UN

Argentina - Polo

United States - Dolly Parton

España and Scotland -1978: Souness

Australia

Argentina

Newcastle

Mexico

Argentina - del Potro

France

Evil Genius

Christmas morning breakfast.

Having had no idea 48 hours previously who Santa was, nor what the all fuss about Christmas might be, Leah was converted to Christmas quicker than you can say "Chocolate For Breakfast."

So, her stocking long since ripped and stripped for goodies, I opened mine. Within lay a huge chocolate Santa. Good on you, Mother-in-law, I was already looking forward to Christmas movie matineee, tea and chocolate Santa on the couch in front of the fire. Ah, It's A Wonderful Life.

Leah, unbeknownst to me, had other plans for my kindest of edible gifts. As you'll agree: it borders on the genius:

Step 1: Ingratiate Yourself

Like an angel, Leah started offering some of her tiny little chocolates from her own stocking, circling the table, smiling at her beaming nearest and dearest.

"Here you go, Grandman... Here you go Mummy, it's for you... Here you go Daddy, I got a chocolate sweetie for you..."

Step 2: Become Invisible

Having lost all adults around the table in a round of glowing comments, she had, as such, become invisible.
"Purest altruition," we said. "Ah, the innocence. Not an alterior motive in sight!"

The object of her affection was the highlight of my stocking. Now, under a cloak of invisibility, Daddy's chocolate Santa was removed, and without fuss a quite place was found at the other end of the kitchen.

Step 3: Eat... until you get busted!

Step 4: Evil Chuckle. 

The simple joy... of getting away with it. 

Like I said: Evil Genius. If only I can harness these powers for good... 

Britain

I'd forgotten a few of the following things about my country of birth, that I thought were worth a mention cause otherwise I'll forget them. It was odd being back: one did look at Blighty as a foreign country, full of odd people and strange customs. A few things I'd forgotten and remembers. Some might be new. Most had clearly been there all alone, but I hadn't seen them before.

Here we go:

1. The apocalyptic cold. Since when was a day described as 'mild' simply because you couldn't see your breath (inside, with the fire on)?
2. The truly excellent sausages. Bacon: over-rated. Sausages are where it's at, as they'd say on...
3. Radio 1. I read once that you can measure your age against Radio 1. I think Radio 1 peaks when you're about 15. At 25, bands I thought of as new were being covered by bands I'd never heard of. This time round, at 33, I genuinely did not understand what they were talking about.
4. The heart stopping inanity of List TV: 50 Funniest Moments of 2010. Kill me now.
5. That re-cycling is important and completed diligently in many parts of the world.
6. The average human being is physically not very attractive. Particularly at train stations. Partcularly if that train station is Ayr. Chriiiist.
7. The weather has headline-news-live-blog-update importance.
8. Sexism is disapproved of. Well done there, love.
9. Whingeing: an art form.
10. And finally, the look of scorn that a supermarket checkout assistant can muster when you do not have your own bags. Excellent transferable skills from the look of pure, undiluted contempt I used to get when I told them I didn't have a loyalty card. And that people really do talk about supermarkets a lot.

That said, I can't wait to live there again.