It’s been raining.  A lot.  Coming from pure sunshine, swimming pools and oceans to cold rain and dark clouds for days on end can be tough.  We’ve been here for nearly two weeks and all the days have been overcast; most also wet.  Add in the lack of a car, using crowded buses and the subway, and putting in 15K+ steps every day and well, any six-year-old may appear not to be thrilled.  “We have to walk again??!!!” is repeated in three minute intervals.  Daily.

We have so much to learn.  Everyday we put on winter clothes, bundle up, and start our journey of exploring neighborhoods and schools. Would we want to live here?  Maybe here is better?  This area seems cool but has too many high-rises.  This neighborhood appears to only have clubs and bars.  Maybe we want only clubs and bars? Should we forget that we have kids?!?? This is cute, but too much like Upper West?  Are we Upper West people?

This would all be fun and games if not for two small factors:  1) kids and 2) well, we are not working so we don’t have that much disposable income to do exactly what we want.  Oh, and one other detail…our super limited knowledge of Spanish is also substantially hindering our search (Rob, thankfully, can get around much better than me).  That said, apartment hunting has still been fun.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I love real estate and although this is a bit different than buying a house, (it reminds me of hunting for apartments in NYC nearly 20 years ago) it’s still exciting to see all different types of places we could make our home for the next year.  Prices are, not surprisingly, very high.  Buenos Aires is still a major metropolitan city and of course it’s not Bay Area prices, but not midwest either.  It’s been tough to decide our criteria, to essentially try to imagine what will be most important during next year.  Is it having outdoor space or being close to a park?  Maybe walking distance to school vs a new remodeled kitchen?  It is as if we are taping an episode of ‘House Hunters International’ every time we step into a new apartment.

Then there are schools.  The search for the school really deserves another post – so I won’t spoil it here, but needless to say it ranges from comical to stressful to unbelievable on any given day.

And of course food.  I love engaging with new foods and flavors, going out to new restaurants, waiting with anticipation for my meal to show up.  But this is not a vacation and we’re not going out for every meal, so instead, we’ve been learning about the best grocery stores, butchers, bakeries and veggie shops.  It’s a fun game to discover where all the best fruits and meats are sold (we’re on the hunt for the best steak!).  We need to adjust our cooking as well…Why can’t I seem to find celery root anywhere? How am I supposed to cook broth? I now will have time to expand our recipe selection; I might as well try with new ingredients.

It seems like all of this has been so much work for the first days here. Not unexpected, but moving to a new country as a family to set up a life for a whole year is not that simple.   My attitude may be partially impacted by the fact that I have now been with my kids every day for six weeks straight (wow – I thought it was closer to three months!).  Like every day.  All the time that they are awake.  I recognize that this is nothing new for many parents, but it’s an adjustment for us.  We are a bit in limbo – not on summer holiday exactly, not on any vacation, but not in school either.  We’re out of rhythm with every family here but trying to fit in.  We fill in the gaps with ice cream.  A ton of ice cream.  Every day ‘paying off’ our kids with sugar.  Parenting at its best, really.

To be fair, these kids have been troopers.  Instead of having their summer fun in the sunshine, they are being dragged to see apartments and do psychological testing at each school in the cold and rain.  To compensate, we’ve been throwing in all sorts of indoor activities from ropes courses to bowling, mixed in with exploring new corners of the city, and having fun seeing something different every day.  Little by little, we’re also connecting more.  There has been endless hours of playing board games, card games, and any other games, dancing, laughing, baking, and well, doing chores.  The chores part doesn’t seem to be their favorite, but it sure makes mom and dad smile.

Overall, it appears that for everyone it’s fun to be out of sorts a bit, although slightly more challenging for me;  I like order.  We’re all growing through the process, learning more not only about BA, but also more importantly about ourselves.