"Do you know why I like it here?" Ivan said. "Because they have lots of fishing stores with cool gadgets". Konstantin pipes in, "Yeah, and they have lots of candy stores!" We walk a lot, take the bus, subway and taxi's. It's a charming city to explore. We pass a lot of shops and it's fun to see what they have. We' ve tried so many bakeries and pastry shops already. Our favorite for soft tasty sandwiches is Bel Aria. "When I'm hungry, I order 4 jamon and queso sandwiches" says Konstantin. "They have the softest bread and they taste better than all the others, even San Marco bakery. "I like to get a mix of sandwiches at Be Aria" says Ivan. "I get 1 jamon y queso, 1 jamon y palmito, 1 jamon con lechuga, 1 con zanahoria (that's with grated carrot). Then we pick out a sweet pastry for dessert each."
We took a week to adjust before starting school and went to the zoo, natural history museum to see the dinosaurs and spent time with fun "Uncle Tony" and his friends.
Kids love the zoo. We've gone twice now. Maria Rosa took us and Ivan and Konstantin's favorite was feeding the Coati's with some some food you get there. It was so much fun. We'll have to tell you more about the animals that roam around. We live 2 bus stops and 1 Subte stop from the zoo. And we have even walked it, not too far, it's in Plaza Italia.
"So how do you like school?" Mom asks after the first day. " It's good, I especially like the English class, it's so easy" says Ivan. In fact he anticipated the reverse pattern as Ivan has a Spanish class back home in school and sure enough it was a cool experience with all the kids wanting to hear Ivan talk. I overheard a Kindergarten girl talking to her Mom and pointing to Ivan and Konstantin incessantly chatting away as I picked them up from school and saying, "They are doing well in their English class." We entered mid-year and the teachers and staff couldn't be more attentive and supportive. The other day as I'm sitting with Konstantin before his class opens up it was cute to observe that Konstantin was talking with the little girl sitting on her Mom's lap in English and she was speaking in Spanish and they were responding back to each other and making zooming and hand flying signs as part of the conversation yet both were talking about totally unrelated stories and it didn't make any difference and said they were friends already when I asked.
Ivan is learning rugby and handball. They will also play volleyball and soccer. Ivan has Portuguese class twice a week and is learning to write in cursive. It can be a little frustrating and you can appreciate to do your homework in Spanish and cursive when you're just learning both. We got lucky and the babysitter that helps out is a school teacher and has all the patience and skill in the world to help the guys.
"Look at my notebook Mom!" Ivan excitedly said when I picked him up later in the week. "We did long division and a lot of hard math that I learned it in Stanford math and I got an A+." Both guys have adjusted to the new school and like it.
The school has very nice uniforms and the boys like them very much. Ivan likes his gray slacks and navy sweater as well as his PE Wind team shirt and fancy shorts. Konstantin wears some very lush and comfortable green sweats with think sweat jacket and it really is so cozy.
We are living simply and people don't use dryers here so when I wash, we hang the clothes in the patio to dry or on the chairs so the radiant ever so cozy heat from the floors drys the clothes. However, you still need to plan ahead. So when I asked the kids to take of their school clothes the first week of school and put them away and put on some play clothes, Konstantin said cutely "No, I love my uniform" and hugged himself wearing his clothes. What can you say to that, I'm happy he likes the new school and environment so I let him keep his really soft and cozy Kindergarten sweats on. Mommy will just do laundry more often so one of his uniforms is always dry.
The guys brought some of their birthday Legos and enjoy playing with them. I see their scenarios adjusting as they integrate experiences already from being in Buenos Aires.
Well, soccer fever was fun! The city was one big homage to the World Cup with soccer player placards that you can stand behind and get your picture taken as Messi or one of the other players everywhere from MacDonalds to plazas around town. In fact, San Martin plaza was loaded with big screen TVs and a history of the world cup exhibit. We saw a few of those around town from the bus. "It was exciting to watch the games at Tony's house. It's right across the street from one of our favorite fishing and camping stores" says Ivan and Konstantin. But it was closed on the week-end during the game...as everything was...even cell phones get turned off.
We are going to explore San Telmo today!
