Hey Mama!

From Iguazu, we ventured a bit south to the subtropics of rural Misiones.


Led down misty roads boarded by red earth and dense vegetation, we found our way to our home for the majority of July: Mama Roja. Here we worked hard, helping to build and maintain an ecologically-conscious, self-sufficient community.

Our home!

Mandarinas grow everywhere in this rainy Eden. Mmmmm...

For three weeks we cooked with a wood stove, and were only allowed the portion of electricity that the solar panel could capture each day. We missed the warm summer of the northern hemisphere, but were happy to experience Winter '09, round two.

Everyone shared the work which included cooking, taking care of the animals, cutting 'Elephant Grass' for the cows, chopping firewood, making adobe bricks, building garden fences, etc.






...scooping poop was Jackie's favorite...






We met great, unique people from all over the world. Our time here wouldn't have been the same without them!

Thanks again to all the caretakers and creatures of Mama Roja... we miss you terribly!!

Iguazu Falls: the pictures speak for themselves...

Update!

Hey family and friends! We´re now in Misiones, living the sweet, organic life. We´re learning a ton and enjoying nature and the technology-free environment that comes with it. Unfortunately, keeping the blog updated is impossible, but after our 3 weeks here, we´ll be on the road again, hopefully with internet access! Hope all is well back home. We miss and love you!

Bye, City!

Hi from Puerto Iguazu!!

Our last few days in Buenos Aires were spent getting ready to leave the city, buying bus tickets and booking cheap places to stay. We made sure our last full day was a memorable one, and it was definitely one of our favorites.

We perused Jardín Japonés in Palermo which pleasantly reminded us of our meeting place, Fo Guang Shan, Taiwan. We can't believe it was almost a year ago! After enjoying a pot of green tea at their tea house, we ventured on to MALBA to take in some of the best Latin American art South America has to offer.

Our last dinner in Buenos Aires was exquisite. We originally planned to return to Las Pizzaras, but were bummed to find the menu unchanged and a party of 20 seated right before us. Sad, but excited to try somewhere new, we took a look at the candle-lit, posh Lelé de Troya. This restaurant was huge and each room was painted a different bold color. We could have chosen yellow, purple, green, or orange, but picked the red room sporting red velvet couches. They had a great selection for us Veggies, including creative salads of goat cheese, pear, mango, avocado, arugula, and a peanut dressing. Seth had pumpkin/basil fettuccine and Jackie had a mushroom risotto with fresh vegetables. It was quite the treat.

We left the next evening for Puerto Iguazu on a huge sleeper bus. We arrived around noon the next day and settled into our hostel. The next morning we headed for the falls. HOW AMAZING! More pictures later..

Bu, Bu, BuqueBUS!!!

Our last week in Buenos Aires was quite the eventful one. We didn't do a great job on keeping this updated, so here's a big post with everything!

Friday, 6/19, we visited San Telmo again, sans Sunday street fair. We enjoyed a lunch in Centro on the way there that reminded us of home: California Burrito. It is Buenos Aires' own version of Chipotle which was a great switch up from the beans and rice we'd been making at home.

After exploring, we went home and got ready for a concert unlike anything we've seen before. The band, Tremor, (to quote their site) merges "different types of Argentina folk music by using various digital techniques, electronic music, and everyday objects". Have a look & listen.

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Another day, we returned to Palermo Viejo and checked out neighboring Palermo Hollywood, its 'other half' across the railroad tracks. This more residential area was shabby/sorta chic and had more stores and restaurants that were out-of-business than IN business. We still liked it, including the cool street art.

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It's not every day that Jackie and Seth wake up at the crack of dawn to take a day trip to another country...but that is exactly what happened on the 23rd.


Colonia, Uruguay is a mere hour across the Río de la Plata by boat from Buenos Aires. We woke up at dawn to walk to Puerto Madero and caught a "Buquebus", a huge ferry that felt more like a cruise ship than the barge we expected to be thrown on.

There it is! We were pleasantly surprised!

After a very relaxing three hours (the cheaper option) across the river, we arrived in Colonia. This town, founded in 1680, looked like little time had passed.

We climbed a very scary spiral staircase to the top of the Faro (lighthouse). From there we could see the whole town, and far out to sea!

It was a bit scary on our way down, but we made it.

And of course, Seth made friends with the local cats...

After a long day, we said goodbye to Uruguay and got back on the Buquebus! Their catchy theme song (that they played non-stop both ways) is STILL stuck in our heads.
Overall: Colonia was a great little get-away.

Our Home, Recoleta.

As we're getting ready to leave Buenos Aires, we thought we would post a few pictures of the gorgeous house and neighborhood we had the privilege of calling home for the last 18 days:

There it is!

¡¡Feliz Dia del Padre!!

Love you, Dads!!!
We're thinking about you and wishing we could spend today with you. Play the video!

New Yorkers --> Porteños!

Tonight we felt like real Porteños as we ventured back to Palermo (using the Subte for the first time!) with no plan or destination in mind. We scratched out ideas for shopping and instead decided to sit in a few cafeterías and catch up on our books. Lately we've been feeling quite comfy in this city!


Here's Seth at a cool, independent bookstore/bar/cafetería that we found. We spent several hours there paging through photography books, enticed by the some musicians warming up on a small stage in the background. We stuck around anticipating some kind of Celtic bagpipe-and-mandolin concert, but instead were stuck listening to a book talk in Spanish which neither of us could follow. After squirming our way through the crowd, we wandered over to the store's cafetería for some good cheese and good reads.


For dinner, we decided to try a place that we had passed on our last trip to Palermo, Las Pizarras. We had read intriguing reviews online which talked of a one-man kitchen with a menu of innovative dishes that change regularly according the freshest ingredients available. Of course, we feared the usual: mediocre vegetarian options. Boy, were we wrong!


The menu was not presented on paper, but instead on huge 'pizarras' (chalkboards) on the walls. Each dish description was accompanied by a cute chalk sketch of the main ingredient, including little pigs and mushrooms. After a complimentary shot glass of peppercorn-garnished pumpkin soup, we enjoyed our appetizer of croquettes of corn and cheese, dressed with a tangy, spicy, tomato salsa. Seth's entrée was pumpkin ravioli in a lemony-butter sauce with loads of parsley. Jackie enjoyed falafel curry with basmati rice.

The atmosphere was very homey as we were one of the 3 tables enjoying a meal late into the night and our helpful (and conveniently English-speaking) waitress chatted us up about the house music.

As you can see from Jackie's facial expression, WE LOVED IT! ...and we're going back for Seth's early birthday celebration. AND this million-dollar-tasting meal cost us just a fraction of what it would have in New York. Thank you, Buenos Aires!