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Last night the Pierce family put a deposit down on the rental of a house in Cordoba.  The house looks great and is in a pretty ritzy area.  It is only two bedrooms, but it includes a back yard, swimming pool, view, and importantly it is fully furnished.  Including fine art created by the owner, an artist of some repute here in Cordoba.  There is also a small guest house on the property for various mothers-in-law that come for long visits.  Robert negotiated the rental terms last night over gin and tonics with the owner.  We move in next week.

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Last night the Pierce family put a deposit down on the rental of a house in Cordoba.  The house looks great and is in a pretty ritzy area.  It is only two bedrooms, but it includes a back yard, swimming pool, view, and importantly it is fully furnished.  Including fine art created by the owner, an artist of some repute here in Cordoba.  There is also a small guest house on the property for various mothers-in-law that come for long visits.  Robert negotiated the rental terms last night over gin and tonics with the owner.  We move in next week.

Robert has been at his new job in Argentina for two days now.  It’s about time that he tell you about the two differences between the US and Argentine workplaces.  The first difference is that in Argentina every office worker regularly has morning coffee delivered to his/her desk by a man in a waistcoat who walks the coffee over from a nearby cafe.  Today Robert even placed the call for his coffee into the cafe himself.  Wouldn’t you know it?  About six minutes later a man showed up at his office door with a little silver tray and a cup of coffee.  The little china cup and silver spoon are left for the man to come back and pick up.  A pretty good system that keeps workers at their desks. 

But the second, and far more incredible difference, is that in the late afternoon the coffee delivery process is replaced with . . . are you ready for this?? . . . the milkshake delivery system.  Every afternoon a woman in a soda fountain uniform appears at Robert’s office door with A VANILLA MILKSHAKE IN A TALL FROSTY GLASS!!!!  This, he is told, is A MEAL!!.  The Argentines have four, instead of three, meals a day.  The third, ostensibly a “tea time,” has seemingly devolved into a time to enjoy a tasty treat.

There you have it.  These are the two differences between the US and Argentine workplaces.

Robert has been at his new job in Argentina for two days now.  It’s about time that he tell you about the two differences between the US and Argentine workplaces.  The first difference is that in Argentina every office worker regularly has morning coffee delivered to his/her desk by a man in a waistcoat who walks the coffee over from a nearby cafe.  Today Robert even placed the call for his coffee into the cafe himself.  Wouldn’t you know it?  About six minutes later a man showed up at his office door with a little silver tray and a cup of coffee.  The little china cup and silver spoon are left for the man to come back and pick up.  A pretty good system that keeps workers at their desks. 

But the second, and far more incredible difference, is that in the late afternoon the coffee delivery process is replaced with . . . are you ready for this?? . . . the milkshake delivery system.  Every afternoon a woman in a soda fountain uniform appears at Robert’s office door with A VANILLA MILKSHAKE IN A TALL FROSTY GLASS!!!!  This, he is told, is A MEAL!!.  The Argentines have four, instead of three, meals a day.  The third, ostensibly a “tea time,” has seemingly devolved into a time to enjoy a tasty treat.

There you have it.  These are the two differences between the US and Argentine workplaces.

This is a satellite view of our current home in Argentina.  The long rectangular building near the top is our hotel.  The larger black building above that is a very large shopping mall.  The towers at bottom are the apartment towers into which we will move on Monday.

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Today we had a barbeque lunch with the Acuna family, who have been great hosts thus far.  After lunch we toured some neighborhoods in order to get a better feeling for possible  neighborhoods.  Basically, the choices seem to include luxury homes in country club settings, apartments, and non-country club homes in upscale residential neighborhoods.  We have not yet figured out the tradeoffs involved with each choice, but Mira will be spending time with a real estate agent next week.


Also next week, Rory starts pre-school  . . .

This is a satellite view of our current home in Argentina.  The long rectangular building near the top is our hotel.  The larger black building above that is a very large shopping mall.  The towers at bottom are the apartment towers into which we will move on Monday.

View Larger Map

Today we had a barbeque lunch with the Acuna family, who have been great hosts thus far.  After lunch we toured some neighborhoods in order to get a better feeling for possible  neighborhoods.  Basically, the choices seem to include luxury homes in country club settings, apartments, and non-country club homes in upscale residential neighborhoods.  We have not yet figured out the tradeoffs involved with each choice, but Mira will be spending time with a real estate agent next week.


Also next week, Rory starts pre-school  . . .

Today we got out of our hotel for a drive through town to Sarmiento Park where Rory quickly found the ducks and pigeons. He held out his hand with some rice and had his finger nibbled by a rather big and scary goose. He didn´t know what to make of that for a few minutes, but after regaining his composure he chased them all around for a good while.

The weather here is warm with a touch of humidity. Robert was not expecting any moisture and he´ll need to get used to it.

After naps Mira took a tour with Joaquin of one of the neighborhoods where we are scouting for a house. She saw only one available house and thought the layout of the rooms was unusual. The backyard and surrounding neighborhood was good. We´ll be doing some more looking in order to find a place we are very happy with.

Robert and Rory stayed behind and had an all-man dinner together. Mom was not around to sing bedtime songs, so Robert needed to do his best for a very critical audience.

Tomorrow we are invited to our first real Argentine barbeque. Robert needs to find some leisure clothes, but is otherwise looking forward to that affair. He´s also looking forward to cracking open his first bottle of wine since arrival.

Today we got out of our hotel for a drive through town to Sarmiento Park where Rory quickly found the ducks and pigeons. He held out his hand with some rice and had his finger nibbled by a rather big and scary goose. He didn´t know what to make of that for a few minutes, but after regaining his composure he chased them all around for a good while.

The weather here is warm with a touch of humidity. Robert was not expecting any moisture and he´ll need to get used to it.

After naps Mira took a tour with Joaquin of one of the neighborhoods where we are scouting for a house. She saw only one available house and thought the layout of the rooms was unusual. The backyard and surrounding neighborhood was good. We´ll be doing some more looking in order to find a place we are very happy with.

Robert and Rory stayed behind and had an all-man dinner together. Mom was not around to sing bedtime songs, so Robert needed to do his best for a very critical audience.

Tomorrow we are invited to our first real Argentine barbeque. Robert needs to find some leisure clothes, but is otherwise looking forward to that affair. He´s also looking forward to cracking open his first bottle of wine since arrival.

The Pierce family arrived in Cordoba, Argentina early this morning. We were met by Matias and Joaquin, Robert´s new business colleagues, and taken to the Orfeo Suites Hotel somewhere in the city. Not like it is in the batcave or anything, it´s just that we have no idea where in the city we are. Anyway, there is a mall complex attached and there is nothing like international sportshoe branding to make one feel at home. We will probably stay here a few nights and then check in to an apartment run by the same outfit. Mira has a date with Joaquin´s wife tonight and Robert will stay with the kids. Anyway, all is well and we are excited to be here.

The last few days in Oaxaca have been sorta hectic. Cady is shifting her sleeping schedule and Rory has been missing naps and getting to bed late. Not some mention the bit of diaper rash that makes things a little miserable for him. Yesderday was pretty much a wash as we did little more than take a short walk in the morning and then spend the afternoon on the roof getting some fresh air and a view. For all the talk of food in Oaxaca, the best meals we’ve had were of tacos, beer and fried pork skin. With a palleta for dessert. Feeding a family of four for about $10 a meal. Robert likes that.

Today we Robert and Rory went and watched the construction “guys” for a long time. We saw a big roller move on down the street. Then, after naps, we went to the antigua aeropuerto area and met Mira’s friend Serena at their totally awesome modern house. Getting there was a bit of a challenge as there was apparently some sort of large protest causing some roads to be blockaded. That, combined with all the construction of the roads lead to some delay. We had pasta for dinner, which Rory really liked. Desert of chocolate cookies and coffee. Very civilized. The view of the mountains from their rooftop is spectacular, and the cool breeze up there was too.

We have tickets for the bus back to Mexico City leaving tomorrow at 11 am.