Day 2

Our first day in Buenos Aires ended with a nice meal at the corner restaurant down the street, and unpacking to the booming sounds of the speeches and music coming from La Rural, on the last night of the exhibition. We left the windows open so we could hear the sound of the announcer, and watched from the balcony as the prize steer were led in to the hall from their pen across the street from us. On the streets nearby gauchos, in their distinctive garb, walked through the streets, standing out against the clothing of the Portenos.

Our first full day -- after a good night of sleep -- was spent exploring our neighborhood. It started just right -- Jonah, Aviva, and I went out to our local bakery/cafe for pasteles and, for me, much needed coffee. We sampled pretty much everything in the case, just to see what we liked best, for future visits.

After a few more games of spit and BS (the current favorite card games of the kids) we headed out to see a possible school for the kids, just a few minutes walk away -- Colegio Beth. Security is tight at Jewish day schools, so we could not go in without an appointment, which we will make today. We had lunch around the corner from where Borges lived as a child (which was then at the western edge of the city), and then walked to the zoo, which we can see from our apartment. Many of the animals roam wild through the zoo -- wallaby-like creatures, and other small furry creatures that someone could be forgiven for calling large rats, and the many cats that live permanently out of the kindness of strangers.

We then went to the super mercado -- aka the Jumbo -- which is five minutes from our apartment, and just up the street from the huge mosque and Islamic cultural center. Well, let me tell you, this Jumbo beats -- at least for size -- any Costco or Home Depot I've ever seen. I believe there were 50 checkout lines. It reminded me of my visit to the Carrefour supermarket in northeast Philadelphia with my friend Steve Conn, where the staff wore rollerskates to be able to get from one part of the store to another. It had basically everything -- from hot water heaters to dulce de leche to mattresses. We are naive about most everything about Buenos Aires life, but we do understand that this is clearly a store for the rich of this "gold coast"neighborhood.

"Home" (I'll soon stop using the quote marks) for our first home-cooked meal (accompanied by a glass of Malbec, the first of many samplings), a few quick Skype chats with Sasha and Jonah's friend Andreas, and then to bed, in preparation for our combination tour and Spanish class Thursday morning.