Daily Cordoba Life

So some of you are probably wondering what exactly we have been up to here in Cordoba. Due to the uncertainty of our immediate plans and the mmm… not-so-great economy here in Argentina, we are both living on the savings we have from our previous jobs. The positive side to this situation is that we are able to live pretty darn nicely with the currency exchange rate of dollars/Euros to Argentine pesos. It’s not quite how it was when I was here in 2004 (I was able to live like a queen on dollars then!) but it definitely makes for a very comfortable life…

It’s funny how just living daily life and enjoying every day together makes the time fly by… That’s the amazingly beautiful part of our messy love story, is that we savor spending every moment together and we definitely appreciate the simple things- going to the grocery, walking on the streets, holding hands, being in the same time zone (imagine that!) It’s lovely, it really is.

A very funny aspect of our life here together has to do with how much this American girl has to learn about life in Argentina! I can’t tell you how many times a day we are both cracking up because I don’t know how something works (a lot funnier than being alone with all these mysterious machines, let me tell you!) For example, just now as I was typing, I was getting chilly and the heater was not on. Since Franco was napping, I decided to take manners in my own hands and light the heater. It’s just a simple gas radiator, right? Well….I woke him up because I made a mini-explosion while trying to light it- whoops! Haha…oh, and don’t even get me started about the keys for the apt (they look like antiques) or the hot-water heater in the kitchen, or the old-school elevator that you have to close the gate and then the door or the laundry machine you have to turn on the faucet with a hose for….Sometimes I feel like a little kid around here- “How does this work? Whoa- what’s this for? Where does this go?” It’s funny- I’ll have to post some photos of my daily confusions!

Since I’ve arrived, we’ve settled into our apartment and are working on establishing some daily routines. We are running outside at the park a few days a week and just joined a gym. We also visit his parents and brother (they live in the neighborhood north of us) a few times a week. His extended family lives in a precious small town (where Franco grew up) called Alta Gracia and they have the family asado (barbeque) on most Sundays there….mmm…there is nothing like Argentine asados, ohmigosh! Lucky for me, I’m living with an incredible chef, so we eat amazing deeelish meals at home most days. It’s also been so refreshing for me to get back to myself and my interests- too busy in the school year to do it all! I’ve been taking more photos and am going to try to learn Photoshop even better. I get lots of time to read (oh, slow mornings with tea and a book…my favorite…) but I’m a little panicky because I haven’t found an English bookstore yet and I’m almost done with my current read (Bill Bryson’s Thunderbolt Kid) Oh, what am I going to do???? I know, I am a book nerd, and I come from a land of bookstores with a bazillion choices- I’ll just have to be less picky. They just have small Ingles sections at the bookstores here. Maybe I’ll surprise myself and discover some new books! I see loads of novels I want to read- but they’re in Spanish, which technically I can read, but it just takes the fun out of it a little, more like homework, you know?

I also have some artsy projects up my sleeve that I need to get started on. Franco is an artist as well and we promised each other we’d kick each others’ butts to work on our art this summer. And Cordoba as a city has a lot to offer- there’s always shopping (really cute clothes, I tell you!), they have quite a few nice art museums and tons of galleries, we have movie theaters right down the street, lots of cafes and dance clubs and great parks and places to walk to all around. Not a bad life we have here, no? ;) It feels good to feel so happy again, thank God! :)

Hasta luego! Chau!