Argetina

With 4 kids born in 4 years, it shouldn't come as a surprise when I say I haven't gotten out much..  So when the Lovely E suggested a girls trip to Buenos Aires this past January, I POUNCED!  I was a smidgen nervous to fly international solo, but had the good fortune to sit next to a sweet Brazilian gal who let me talk Portuguese with her the entire time, calming both of our nerves! :) 

Everyone says Portuguese and Spanish are sister languages, but I beg to differ!  Somewhere between the accents and the key vocab differences, I was once again beyond lost as we arrived in BA.  Thankfully I am quite good at charades now and was able to mime my way into my first taxi ride EVER (I know right?!) to meet up with the rest of the group (they had arrived 4 days sooner, but due to Miss B's bday I decided to postpone my arrival).

The Lovely E stayed for a week in order to get her Brazilian work Visa (you have to leave the country for who knows why?).  It worked out great since the other gals couldn't stay the entire time either so we had a day overlap and soon it was just E and I.

 Soon after everyone else left and we had two minutes to put our feet up, we had a little visitor fly in (look closely at the top shelf)..

I tried to be a good friend, honest I did.  I just wasn't expecting the anxiety/fear of my dear friend to be so darn FUNNY!  ...and I may possibly have an immature nervous laughter issue that I'm still working on...  That being said, the little sucker had to go, and I was bound and determined to help him go in peace.  Girded about with sunglasses for safety (his beak was SHARP I tell you!), we suddenly became 7yrs old again. 

I got him out of the bookshelf, but our shrieks only steered him into the upstairs bedroom.  After way too many squeals and bursts of hysterical laughter, I threw a towel over him and carried him outside, feeling rather proud of myself!

He sat bewildered for a VERY long time.  I think we gave him a heart attack..  I won't tell you that we found him belly up the next morning outside our bedroom window because that would be depressing.. Poor little guy. :(

Aside from becoming a murderer, we didn't do anything major at all.  No touristy sight seeing - just enjoying the CHEAPNESS that is Argentina!  We shopped, got our hair done (cut, all-over highlights and style for less than $80!!!), and SHOPPED!  We were two shopping deprived girls from SP set loose to help the local economy.. it felt so nice to be of such service! ;)

Aside from experiencing my 1st taxi ride in Buenos Aires, I also took my first train ride (we took out the sister missionaries for lunch), my first local bus ride, AND my first subway ride as well! 

..speaking of subways, that was definitely the most life altering experience from the trip, hands down!  As we boarded the subway we definitely realized how much we stood out.  Eyes burned into our backs, but we managed to play it incredibly calm and collective - and really, we are from Sao Paulo!  What could be more dangerous than that?!  The Lovely E most recently moved from New York too so I took her lead and we stood by the doors.  As we started to break for a stop, 3 men came up and crowded the door to leave.  One man was quite friendly and pushed himself up against me wrapping one arm around me to get to the handle bar.  "I am surrounded by arms" I mumbled to E, but she just smiled and held tight to her purse which was wrapped around her neck and clutched in both hands.  As I shouldered the guy behind me to move back he wouldn't budge so I turned around to give him a warning glare and that's when the others went in on E.  She felt a kick and fell back briefly, mistaking the kick for an accident as the doors opened.  In a flash they were all gone and as I stood there shaking off the awkward remains of this stranger Lovely E exclaimed "I think they took my wallet..  Oh my gosh, we were just robbed!".  We started frantically putting the pieces together and it all suddenly made so much sense!  Her and I were within 2-3 feet of one another and I had first been distracted so that she could then be distracted while the 3rd player somehow unzipped her purse and pulled out her wallet without either of us noticing until after the fact!  They got away with her credit cards and some of my cash that was also in there since I didn't have mine on hand that day.  Thankfully cards are easily cancelled, and we had had the forethought (ok, divine intervention!) to put my cards in separate places (the side zip pocket of her purse and my back pocket).  We ran to the bank to pull out more cash and paid the taxi to get us back home.  So much for saving money on the subway!  But really, I had no idea they could be that smooth!  On a scale of 1-10, I definitely award them an 11 in stealthiness!  And truly, as shaken as we were, it was short lived - because truly, of all the ways to be robbed, that is by far the best!  No wounds, no verbal exchanges, just a quick, clean grab and we were on our merry way (after the calls to our husbands of course, who weren't as calm about the whole ordeal as we apparently were!).

Even with that though, I give our little getaway 5 stars!  It was so wonderful to have a little time to myself, and after 4 days, I returned refreshed and rejuvenated for more mommy time! :)