If you can't deal with bureaucracy, you can always clean up the creek

It is almost 1 am and it does not feel too late to start writing. In the US, I would have had a panic attack to even think about something so outrageous. Time here is so different. It is almost like everything is moved two hours later.

We wake up between 9 and 10 am, have lunch around 1 and 2 pm, snack is between 5 and 6 pm and dinner is never ever before 9 pm!!! Today I started to cook around 8:30 pm and it felt perfectly normal. This is one aspect of my culture which I now realized I missed. People are laid back about time and things work in a later schedule.

There are other aspects of the culture that are actually driving me nuts. Well, it is not the culture, it is the bureaucracy of the establishment that is driving me bananas.

This morning we went to the bank! Yes, we actually walked into the building. I had not set foot in a bank since circa 2005, when we went the headquarters of USAA in San Antonio, Texas (can't remember what for?)

We went to both Santander and HSBC, just trying to open a saving's account. Could not do it. I have the ID to do it as an Argentine, but I do not have a way to show I earn a legal income. They could not care less that I am a homemaker and my income comes from my generous husband, who was standing next to me and had his salary stub at hand. Of course, Zach, as a foreigner without proper ID, could not open an account either. Rules and regulations, f...those!

Without an account, we are not sure if we can get a car or if we can get insurance. By the way, neither Zach or I are legally allowed to drive my mom's car or any car unless is a rental car. Here, to drive somebody else's car, the owner of said car has to do some paperwork for you to carry a "blue card" (or so is called) which is you legal permit to drive that car.

What???? Sounds crazy but this is just the way it is.

As if we hadn't have enough by then with the banks, we left and got into the office of OSDE, the most popular and reputable medical insurance in Argentina. Like Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or something on those lines. Offices were just in the same strip mall as the bank so it seemed convenient.

Ha ha!

The lady in the reception explained to us that she could not give us a quote for coverage given my recent diagnosis and surgery, which of course, I mentioned. She said I have to go to the headquarters in the city, an hour from Manzanares, with copies of my medical records to have a meeting with an auditor to evaluate my case. Then the cost will be decided by a medical team and will be communicated to me via snail mail in a notarized letter!

Oh well...
The girl at least gave us the quotes applicable to "healthy and normal" people. Yes, she said that. "Este el precio para personas sanas y normales." Thank you, said abnormal and sick client, AKA me. When she heard the tone of my thank you and saw my face she took it back.  

So, after a day full of frustration and tireless thinking, trying to figure out what should be our next step in order to fully function as a happy and engaged family within this society, I decided to put the computer and the phone away and, with Fede and the kids, we left to the creek to clean up trash from the creek's banks!

That was a fun, and refreshing, and a meaningful activity to do after such a day. It was not that hot and we all felt great! That is exactly what I wanted to do and I did it. My old self would have stayed and tried to get things accomplished. I hesitated, but I realized what was truly important. Paperwork can wait. An afternoon with your brother, kids and dog cleaning up the creek, can not.

Poor Zach, not only he spent all morning doing frustrating and fruitless paperwork, but also he worked the afternoon and could not join in for the walk and creek fun. Hopefully, he will go for a run tomorrow!

I posted the photos that we took today in FB but they are still in my phone. Meanwhile, here are the photos of another little outing to the creek that Nico, Luci and Coni did with Santi and Florencia in our first week here. They had a great time, and of course Pakita went along and took a bath!

Loyal Paka, best dog on earth, comes along all the time and loves the kids!!

Coni, Luci and Nico, across the field walk to the creek!

Santi & Flor guiding the excursion to the creek. 

These guys love kids. 

Thank Goodness, they are expecting a baby for July!! 

We are all very happy. The news was just announced!! 

This time I will be close to enjoy this nephew or niece of mine from day one. Can not wait!

Tio Santi teaches the girls to fish

Time to rest and make a fire. Nico is in heaven.

Santi is a 37 years old monkey! 

Summer love and the pool affair

Tomorrow it will be three weeks since our arrival. 21 days.
Of course, it feels like we just arrived and I think we all feel like we are still in vacation. We are in the middle of the summer here and that adds to that feeling. Also, our annual trips to Argentina were about three to four weeks, so we are still within that time frame to feel anything else but a vacation affair.
It has been hot but not awful. It has barely rained and the dryness of the land is beginning to be felt and seen all around. We need rain soon.
Thank goodness we have a pool in the house and that has helped with one important aspect: having fun!!
But there is a lot more than fun to having a pool. There is maintenance!
Zach spends thirty minutes to two hours every day working on the pool. And still we always feel in the verge of the disaster:  the water becoming green and dirty, which would mean emptying the pool to clean it and fill it again. That would be A LOT OF WORK!
We had no idea of the amount of chemicals a swimming pool sucks and all the steps to keep it nice and clear. It is not just chlorine, you also have to measure the acidic level of the water, because if the PH is too low or too high, the chlorine does not work. So, we have a PH test kit, and we get hydro-chloric acid (muriatic acid), to level the PH.  Then we also got the alguicide, to prevent algae, and "decantador" for the dirt to accumulate at the bottom so you can vacuum. Then there is the re circulation and filtering of water, vacuuming the bottom, and knowing when and how much of each of the chemicals to put on. As you might know, chlorine gets inactive with the sun! So, it has to go in at night!  All would be easier if the pump and all the accessories would in working condition, but...there are not. The pump is erratic and inconsistent, and sometimes just simply does not work. Same with the vacuum. And then, they work. Just like that. Same with the pump that pumps water from the earth to the house! Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. The owners sent an electrician twice and he did some changes but the pump continues to work inconsistently. It is an old pump, in a old house, in a neighborhood that has not updated its power lines in a long time. Demand for energy has grown exponentially and everyone's theory is that there is not enough energy to make things work fine. Makes sense, given that other people living near have appliances working inconsistently, too, and we can see the lights inside the house blinking at night when it is hot and people, specially in nearby private and wealthy neighborhoods, turn on air conditioners. We do not have air conditioners in this house but so far, we have been okay.

The kids are enjoying the pool the most! They swim everyday, morning and afternoon. The pool has been the anchor to our sanity. When we feel we still have miles to end this process of settling in, we just go in the pool and get a break!

The cousins all together!! Martin and his family visited for the Holidays and my nieces Jose and Cony played with Nico, Luci and Mora! They all got along pretty well, specially Cony and Luci!

Mora is in love with Fede! She calls him Fese. She knows he is her Godfather and she makes sure she demands lots of attention. Fede adores her and teaches her to swim. All three kids love all their uncles, they are devoted and fun! 

It has been hard to find time to relax with so much going and the constant demand of the kids and the never ending social interaction! Everyone is excited with our arrival and tries to help, visit, want to spend time with the kid, etc.. I at least tried every day to sit for a few minutes and breath in, look around and enjoy the view and remember how lucky we are to have this opportunity!

Recycling this blog once again

It is me, from Argentina! 
How is everyone doing? 

I am here to tell you the stories and share the roller coaster of feelings, experiences and anecdotes I am going through since my arrival back home. I want to keep up with all of you back in the U.S, show you photos, let you laugh and cry with me, stay as close as I can so we walk together this path of returning to my home country after 14 and a half years. To that end, I am recycling this old blog in which I used to write in Spanish. Now it is English.

I feel also like I need to write in English to stay connected with my "gringa" self. After living there for so long, there is a chunk of me that is United-Statian now. All I learned and what I became while there is an undeniable part of me. So this is the secret goal of writing this blog: Unite me. Make one of my two parts. Past and present. Argentina and United States. Come up with one Mariana for once and for all. I know I am one persona, but some parts feel disconnected and I need to put together my identity puzzle. 

So, to these objectives I write! 

Welcome to those of you reading. Enjoy and gracias for being there. Without you, I could not be here.