Can't believe it's already November

Hello Family and Friends!   Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween weekend.    How are you adjusting to the time change?  We are now 3 hours ahead of ya'll there in Texas.   Halloween is one of our favorite times but unfortunately it's not a major event here in Buenos Aires.   There were some decorations displayed but I'm thinking that was a carry over from the Expats living here.   We didn't have any trick o treaters... although that was not a major disappointment for Bob.   I actually didn't think we'd receive any kiddos either living in a building on the 7th floor. 

We've been living a pretty boring life so far and let me tell ya, it's been awesome.   We've covered a lot of territory here in South America and in a relatively short period of time.  So our time here in Buenos Aires has been a great break to catch up on sleep, TV episodes and doctors visits.   Yes, seeing the docs for yearly check ups.  

Several of you have asked, "What do you guys do for doctors?"   "Do you have insurance?"   "What about prescriptions or medications?"   We do have medical insurance that covers us in the event that something serious may happen, what we like to call "Catastrophy" insurance.  Other than that, expenses come out of our pocket.   Doctor appointments, emergency medical and medication has been a breeze so far.   We've gone out & searched for preventive medical assistance in Mexico & Argentina.  Emergency medical care was needed in Belize when Bob cut open his foot.  Some of you know what I'm talking bout, cause you were there when it happened.  We have been pleasantly surprised at the facilities, the attentive attention of the doctors & most importantly the cost.  Plain and simple health care outside the states can be high quality and a fraction of the cost.  So what drives up the cost back home?   I'm guessing lawsuits & the amount of insurance Dr's must have to cover these possible suits is a major factor. 


We're still waiting for our opportunity to play some golf.  The days have been wonderful but the evenings and late nights have been stormy.  We've had lots of heavy rain and some great electrical storms.  I'm loving that.  We're not that high up but, watching the storms at this level has been so cool.   The lightning seems so close and the thunder rattles our windows.  OK, it's a little scary but I still like it. 

So, while its storming, we're sitting on the couch with our microwaved butter popcorn, wine and watching a flick.  Bob bought lots of new release movies while we were traveling thru Ecuador.  We found lots of stores that sold boot-leg cuts for $1 - $1.50.  They were actual stores; not flea markets or street vendors and so far all the copies have been fantastic quality and in English.   

We're meeting more people but only at the bar on Sunday's called Casabar.   Most of the folks are young Americans, several being from the Houston area who are living here and experiencing a different culture.  None of them speak a lick of Spanish.   Some of the guys are in between jobs, "taking a break" they call it or waiting for the appropiate papers to be able to teach or do some kind of work here.   I think its a great opportunity for them and pretty cool that they're venturing out. 


Spanish here is very different and is actually called Castellano.  Here are some of the differences...   In my people's Spanish two "LL" make a "Y" sound as in yo-yo.  Here two "LL" make a "Sh" sound as in show.  For instance, the word 'street' is spelled 'calle' in Spanish.  I would pronoun 'kah-yeh' here its pronounced 'kash-eh'  It was hard to understand at first but now that I figured out what they were saying I started implementing it in my conversations.  I had to so the Argentinians could understand me.  When I'm asking for a nearby street and say calle w/a "y" sound; I'm getting blank looks.  They don't roll their double "RR" either.  They say the 1st R as "Sh" and then roll the second R.  O' and don't follow the signs saying "playa".  You're not going to find a beach.  The word playa here means parking lot or garage.  There's lots more that I'm trying to figure out as I go, but fortunately the Portenos are very patient and try to understand me.   Just to clarify, people from Buenos Aires are called Portenos.

We are compiling a list of things to do for my Mom's visit.   We're looking forward to seeing her.   She loves to shop and I'm thinking she's going to have a ball doing that here.  Not to mention, the lady loves beef.  I'm pretty sure she could eat a steak every day.   Thanks to some friends of ours back home who frequent BsAs, we have a list of restaurants that we must try.

Well, we just wanted to touch base with you and let you know all is going well for us.   We'll be here in BsAs till November 25th and from here we'll be heading over to Uruguay for a short visit.   We do plan to be back in Houston on December 7th for about a month's visit before heading to the islands of Honduras and starting the next chapter of our lives;  researching & building our "mini beach resort".   We look forward to seeing you soon.

Take care and much love,
Bonnie & Bob