When Adam Is out of Town... the Cook Gets LAZY!

Beets and cheese on toasty grilled bread!

While Adam is enjoying his annual European work vacation, I bust out the quick and lazy recipes he doesn't favor, like beet sandwiches!  They are SO freaking fantastic, and he doesn't like them.  I don't know what his problem is??

Imagine, grilled feta or goat cheese on buttered sour dough, with a thick beet slice in the middle.  In Argentina, we go with whatever sliced cheese and whatever bread, but it is all good.  Sprinkle on some black pepper, and you are rocken it!

More olives please!

We also savor the panaderia's fresh pizza crusts.  We load them up at home with meat, cheese, and olives.  The kids are crazy about olives, and Adam can't stand them, so we olive it up on everything.

Oh the delicious salty preservatives!

And finally. the grand finale!  Top Ramen!!!  The salty, fried, noodle goodness packed with MSG and a mountain of other horrible things...  This is a special treat for our kids.  It is not something my heath-conscience self buys regularly, so to make myself feel better, I serve it with an equal amount of vegetables, and I enjoy the kids enthusiastic squeals of glee.  Personally, I enjoy the 3 minute cook time.  Fabulous!!







I compliment everything with a giant salad, so I am happy.  I throw in some extra lentils or walnuts for protein and call it done.

Immigration... How long can it take?

Argentina immigration was so enamored with our family in April, they did not let us leave the country.  They stamped us out, then had second thoughts at the border, canceled the exit in our passports and turned us around.  This calamity meant that our visas expire on May 10.
 

For the last week, it has been locura, madness, as the kids and I try to renew our visas and stay legally!!!  

Day 1 - Friday, 4 de Mayo - We have 6 days left in the country on our current visa. 

I pull the kids out of school.  I miss physical therapy.  We get to the immigration office at 7:30 AM.  We are first in line.  I get processed.  Antonio gets half way through the process, and ... everything goes black.  The electricity in the entire city was cut.  They sent us home.

Two and a half hours later, the lights are back on, and we return, only to be turned away.  The lights in the office are still off and the computer technician is working on the "system."  They tell us to come back on Monday.  

I am a little annoyed that I have to take my kids out of school again?!?!  A compassionate woman pulls me aside, and on the down-low she tells me not to bring the kids.  Cool.

Day 1 - Sitting in the dark

BORING

Day 2 - Monday, 7 de Mayo - We have 3 days left on our visas.

GO HOME!

I show up at the office at 9:15, after physical therapy.  

There is a sign on the door - Systems Are Down.  Pardon the bother.  WHAT??  I go in the office and talk to the couple sitting back enjoying mate and a day off with pay.  They insist I come back... tomorrow... with my kids.  Yup, I have to take them out of school AGAIN.  LAME.

Day 3 - Tuesday, 8 de Mayo - We have 2 days left on our visas.

The kids and I rendezvous at 9:10 at CIK.  We walk to immigration.  It is PACKED.  Everyone and his mother are trying to get the work done from the last week.  We inspect our place in the crowd.  Finally it is out turn and just in time.  They only process 10 people a day for visa issues, ?!?! and we are numbers 8, 9, and 10.  Everyone after us gets turned away.  Thank goodness I was processed on Friday, or I would have been unlucky number 11.

The kids place each fingerprint on the mini scanner which takes nearly an hour ?!?! then Adam picks them up and takes them to school.  

I am handed our four invoices which I need to pay at the National Bank two blocks away.  The line is endless.  The waiting room is overflowing.  People are spilling out the door, I take a number and wait.  I only have two hours before I have to pick up the kids from school.  I don't think I will make it. 

There is one line that is moving.  I decide to stand in it and play my, "Gringa, Extranjera, I don't know what I am doing," card.  Twenty minutes later I am at the front, I explain my situation, and the guy gives me a new number - with priority.  The Gringa card worked!  Ten more minutes, and my special number pops up on the screen.  People are always happy to take my money, so paying the bills takes less than three minutes.  

I trot back to Immigration with my stamped receipts and hand them over.  I am told to wait "un ratito."  Fifteen minutes later, I look at my watch.  I have 13 minutes to get home and get in the car to pick up the kids from school on-time.  I ask if I can come back tomorrow, and receive a crazy-eye, "Si!"

I run home, down a half liter of water and with a minute to spare, I get in the car and pick up the kids... in the same workout clothes I put on at 5:30 in the morning, smelly, and starving, but I made it on time!  Whoot!

Day 4 - Wednesday, 9 de Mayo - One day left on the visas.

I show up at Immigration; it is packed; I am recognized, and within five minutes I have my papers and success.  

Then, standing in the middle of the room with 25 people watching, they ask about my husband... Why wasn't he here?  Why didn't we renew his Visa?

Well folks, with one day to spare, he is boarding a plane in Buenos Aires this evening and leaving the country.  He needed a vacation (and to teach a workshop), so he is off to the lovely Grecian island of Crete for the next 10 days.

Must be nice.  Peace out Babe!  Next time I am going with you!!!

Day 3? I have lost track...

So what do the kids think of all this...

Carmela - "Immigration - not recommended."

SoJo - "They should turn the immigration office into a bouncy house made out of marshmallows.  Then people would be more excited to go there."

Caleb Antonio - "Never go to Immigration because it is the boringest place you can go to.  Never go.  Ever."

Peanut Butter is Nuts!!

We brought a jar of peanut butter with us from the States because we didn't think it would be easily available, and we were right.  The supermarket shelves are filled with Dulce de Leche and mermelada, but peanut butter can not be found.  I hoarded our sole jar and only let the kids have a nostalgic nibble periodically.  This was most difficult for Carmela who is a peanut butter junkie, but we survived.

In February, we delightfully discovered a little market off the beaten track that sells the gooy brown goodness, and we bought one jar to discern its quality.  It was perfect!  Not as sweet as the USA, yet rich in creamy flavor.  After that, it was on.  We gorged.  Everyone could eat as much as they wanted because we could always buy more.  And buy we did... Every week or two on our way home from mass and the carniceria we loaded up, two jars, three jars, four jars, whatever they had on the shelf.

See!!  Gringos love the Pasta de Mani!

During Jamie and Hans' visit, I ducked in the mini market, grabbed the only three jars on the shelf and set them in front of the astounded cashier.  She was in awe at our constant consumption, so I tried to deflect the blame on our friends visiting from the USA.  Jamie was listening in the doorway, and she threw me under the bus!!

"We just arrived!  We haven't eaten any of the peanut butter!  It's not our fault!" I admit; she was right.

When we got home, the Kiesermans decided to try it.  Over the next few days, they didn't eat all of the peanut butter, but Nina did put a good dent in it, and I was happy to take photos and share pictures with the cashier on my visit the following week - when we bought four more jars. 😂

Peanut Butter Tales from the Kids

Caleb

I do not like peanut butter. The peanut butter here is horrible. It is so sticky and creamy. We eat four KING boxes in one week. It is CRAZY. Everybody else thinks it's yummy, but I don't. I like it more in Seattle than here.  

I think with pancakes and peanut butter, it is fine. I think maple syrup and pancakes tastes better with peanut butter. They don't have maple syrup here.  My dad had to make it with fake maple flavor from home. It is not as good as real maple syrup at home. 

I like to write in cursive. 

Sofia

Instead of going home for lunch for two hours on Mondays, Caleb and I stay at school for special group activities called Taller. On the first day of Taller, I brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Everyone thought I was crazy, and many of my friends didn’t even know that peanut butter existed. 

Yup - that is a splot of peanut butter on my cheek!

Some people said it was gross, so I responded with sass as sticky as peanut butter, “Why do you think it’s so bad? Have you ever tried it?!?!?”  

Since it was so weird and everyone thought I was crazy, the next Monday I asked Mom if I could have something something different.  She said, “Yes,” so I brought a miga.  A miga is a type of Argentinian sandwich. I like migas with pineapple and ham.  I brought one with ham and cheese.  Nobody thought I was crazy.  Most people buy mini pizzas, pasta, or milanesa from the school cafeteria.  

Next Monday, I am going to bring peanut butter again because…

PEANUT BUTTER ROCKS!

Carmela

Peanut butter; the main item of my diet. Where would I be if this glory had not descended upon me? 

Even Dad loves it - on bananas!

Yeah. Pretty crazy. I am not kidding. It's sort of embarrassing how much peanut butter I can fit in my stomach. Then again its pretty fun being able to say how many relationships our family has sparked due to peanut butter!  We made great friends with the shop owner of the corner market.  It's still funny seeing her face when she sees how much we buy, “Five tubs of peanut butter please. See you tomorrow!”

But of course that’s all in Spanish, so it would be, “Hola, Buen dia. Cinco botellas de pasta de maní por favor.  Gracias!  Hasta mañana.”

Sounds crazy but we eat around a bottle ever two days, and we buy the King Size jars of Mani King! 

Now we are the "Loca, gringa familia, whose mom fue atropellado de un auto y comen un monton de peanut butter!"

We have made our mark.

The Shoulder Montage

Shoulder recovery..."One to two years," warned the orthopedic doctor!!  Loco!  I don't have time for that!!

Or more honestly as Adam pointed out, I don't have the patience.  "Anne, you want everything to happen fast."  True Dat!!

Progress is slow - but it is happening.  These pictures are taken over a series of four months, all on the 18th day of the month because on the 18th of November 2017, my shoulder was run over by Jesus's Ford Fiesta and smashed into a whole lot of pieces.  I am kind of surprised that Jesus is a Ford guy, but that's cool.  I am glad he went for a small compact car and not the Ford Explorer.

Walking up the Wall
I use my fingers to walk my arm up the wall.  I don't have the strength to lift my arm this high on my own - yet!!

February 18, 2018
3 months post

January 18, 2018
2 months post accident

March 18, 2018
4 months

April 18, 2018
5 months

Arm Extension on Table

The goal of this is to simply lay my arm flat on the table.  

January 18, 2018

March 18, 2018

April 18, 2018

Lift Up to the Side
Using my own strength to lift my arm to the side.  No photo from January.  Bummer.

February - this is hard!!  I got Crazy Eyes!

March - Any Improvement?

April
Progress is SLOW, but I have intentions
to get WAY better at this.  I am fixated on building
some muscles this month.  

Lift Up to the Front
Same as above but forward.

February 

March

April

Doesn't everyone do physical therapy
with Sriracha and mate?

I am working on building my muscles!  At CIK Claudio tells me to smile, then he straps weights on my arm, and I start lifting.  At home I do my "homework" and lift bottles of Sriracha, elastic bands made out of torn up pajamas, a wooden stick.  My arsenal of homemade therapy items rocks!  The only problem is I keep eating the Sriracha.

Lomitos with Fritz, Morena, Ale, Javi and hijos!
Buenisimo!!

I feel like a body builder as I eat my protein powder every day.  I know I need more protein, but I am just a junkie for carbs!!  Any carb - carbs are so delicious, but I am eating more meat.  Thank God the beef down here lives up to its reputation.  I choke it down 3 or 4 times a year in the States, but the stories about Argentinian beef are true.  It is fantastic.

Rico lomo Javi!  Gracias!

Break Dancing at Sunset

There are beautiful nights, and we have to enjoy them...

I take no credit for these poses... the kids jumped into model mode.

Caleb is in love with Break Dancing, so we stopped to watch the Augustine Taz and his buddies B-Boyz it up.  And then... the kids got involved.  Rad.  Just rad.

The Joy of JAMIE!

I will never be able to properly thank all of the people that have helped and continue to help me recover my life.  Jamie Kieserman went above and beyond and beyond and beyond in ways I can never repay.  In addition to being our neighbor and close friend, Jamie is an incredible ER doctor and professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.  

She has saved our family on numerous occasions.  In 2015 when I returned to the US with the kids after three weeks in Guatemala, SoJo was having a weird allergic reaction.  The advice nurses wanted me to take her to the emergency room at 9 PM after little sleep and a full day of travel, but Jamie examined her, prescribed some over the counter Benadryl from her cabinet and called it good until the morning when we could visit SoJo’s primary care physician.  

Caleb Antonio tiene ganas de Jamie!

In 2016 when Caleb was pulsing blood from his head after he cracking it open on a corner while running in the halls at school, Jamie scooped him from the office, took him home, and was stitching him up as I arrived on my bike from work 45 minutes later.  Caleb was grinning, watching a video, and looking forward to a promised popsicle. He still fondly recalls the event and sports a small scar on his forehead as a happy reminder.

Jamie and Javier got to meet for the first time!
I truly truly love these two!!

Jamie was 7000 miles away when I was run down by Jesus, yet she was 100 percent involved in my care.  She was in constant contact with Adam, my doctors in Buenos Aires, and neurosurgeons in Seattle.  She found Javier, a colleague’s cousin’s, brother’s, uncle’s, grandma’s, dog-walker’s, friend’s, neighbor… or something like that... who lived and worked in Buenos Aires.  Even though Javier is an ICU doctor in a different hospital, he did everything he could to help.  With his recommendation, Adam moved me to Hospital Italiano where Javier enlisted the best orthopedic surgeon in the country to mend my shoulder. Javier visited my ICU room frequently and recommended Claudio and Sonia as my therapists in Puerto Madryn.  He called them in December and told them to expect me in January. 

When I was prematurely released from the ICU, Jamie was the first one Adam contacted when my fever and vomiting hit.  They were on the phone at 4 in the morning, and I remember Jamie telling me I had to go back to the hospital.  I also remember begging her for two more hours of sleep.  A few hours later I was readmitted, spinal punctured, and diagnosed with meningitis.  

North America meets and loves South America!
Bring on the Fernet and Coke Ale and Javi!

Jamie didn’t stop there.  She WhatsApped with my doctors; she advised; she analyzed x-rays and CatScans and test results.  She connected us with neurosurgeons in Seattle.  She gathered cards and gifts and had a lovely care package delivered to my Buenos Aires door by her colleague’s delightful father.  She was a rock for Adam and me.  

What a magnificent joy it was when Jamie, Hans, Nina, and Margot arrived in Argentina and crossed our threshold!  It was an explosion of squeals and long embraces.   We were beyond ecstatic to see the fantastic Kieserman Krew and share our little house for five days.  

Hermosa Stella cut the boys hair!

We had a blast.  We were “Glamping,” aka “Glamor Camping” in our tiny two bedroom, one bathroom casita.  Jamie swept the floor three times a day because she got so much satisfaction with the continual piles of dirt that magically accumulated.  Hans manned the fly swatter and kept us relatively bug free, and Nina and Margot were impressive card sharks.  

Margot's first day of school in Patagonia

It was spectacular to have haircuts and colors and an asado with friends from two continents.  We relaxed and explored the lovely beaches, chased penguins and laughed with the sea lions, and sent our kids to school together – uniforms and all!

We ate empanadas, migas, choripan, lomo, mariscos, discos…  We drank mates, gorgeous wines, artisanal beers, Fernet and Coke, and savored hot fresh bread on a trice daily basis.  You could always find one of us at the Panaderia!  We savored every moment together, and I wouldn’t have been disappointed or surprised if their passports mysteriously disappeared.  

Jamie continued her kind and generous doctoring.  She snapped photos of my most recent shoulder x-rays and discussed my progress at length with Claudio.  I am honored, grateful, and humbled to have such a fantastic friend. I can never give enough thanks.  

Te amo amiga!  Un monton de besos y abrazos!

Ale!  Dos mates y una playa hermosa! 

Nina rocking it in school!

Ice cream and roller blades... what is not to love!

Running... Tengo Ganas de Correr!!

I love it when the kids come in to visit before school.
We are all a bunch of monkeys.

Three and a half months after being hit by Jesus, I got angry at God for the first time.  My faith brought me peace and strength throughout all of my ordeals and a multitude of close calls.  I was never stressed or upset.  That all changed when I started running again.

I love to run, and when I was finally given the go-ahead, I laced up my new Brooks, and I went.  I ran on the beach, short stretches at a time, and over the course of a two weeks, I built up to my old routine of six miles – at a much slower pace.  My joy lasted a day or two before my left knee started hurting more and more until I could run no longer.  

I prayed for a miracle.  “Lord, please heal my knee!!  I want to run happy again!”  It didn’t happen.

I was angry because I wasn’t prepared to deal with another injury.  My knees have ugly scars from the accident, but I was unaware of any internal damage.  I know and accept the brain trauma and future brain surgery I will endure along with the risks.  My arm is a wreck, but it gets better every day, and I understand the pain. The left side of my body is a mess of scars.  Isn’t that enough?  Do I have to have running taken away too?  

Claudio - Getting all of our colas in shape!

I vowed to accept my life with all of its changes, but that doesn’t mean I won’t go down without a fight.  Once again I am so thankful for Claudio and Sonia.  On a Friday morning I rolled into CIK with a grimace.  Claudio listened kindly as I explained my knee pain when jogging, and he investigated.  He pushed, probed, and dug his fingers into my knee and thigh, then asked me, “How long has it been since you ran? Three and a half months.  Your knee is not the problem.  You are weak, and you don’t have the muscle strength to run like you did. No more running for a while until we build up your muscles. Eres debil.  You are weak. Me entiendes? Understand me?”

With every ounce of my being I hoped he was right.  I never wanted to be weak so badly in my life, and I was so ready to get strong again.  I joined the strength building daily work out groups in therapy, busted it out on the elliptical, got sweaty and started my Brooke Burke-Charvet 30 minute cardio workout video again.

Yup!  Adam and Jamie K. joining the
daily workout!  Love it!!

Prior to the accident I used the video as a back up for days that were way too rainy to run or when I just needed to bust some energy out.  I could easily do the video two times in a row, skipping the breaks and with extra reps in each set.  It is a solid workout, and it energized me with a healthy heart rate, sweat, and deep breathes.  

The first time I tried the workout again, I almost collapsed.  I couldn’t believe how hard it was. Another slap in the face on how completely weak my body had become.  I knew the exercises that involved my shoulder would be difficult, burpees and planks with leg taps, etc… but I could blame that on my shoulder.  Obviously it would hurt.  But that is not all that hurt.  My stomach muscles had dissolved into a pot of jello.  I could not repeat the reps and had to take unprescribed breaks. 

Over the last few weeks, with Claudio working my legs, abdomen, and arms in strength building, and doing my Brook Burke-Charvet video every day, I can feel my strength coming back.  I am still not where I was, but I can bust out the video again – almost. The parts where I falter can be blamed on my shoulder.  It feels so good to build my strength back.  So so good.

And... a little vino tinto with the friends... Amor.

Now, I need to get my knees back in shape.  I started running again… 10 minutes, then 15, then 20, then 25.  Today was 30 minutes for the first time.  The knees don’t hurt, but they are swollen.  Claudio stretches, torques, ices, pushes, and I absolutely love his dedication to getting my body back to my normal.  It is evident obvious why CIK gym is filled with gifts of love and appreciation. The photo wall above the freezer tells the story of healing and happiness.  I want to be on the wall.  I want to be healed.  If you have an extra prayer, please send it to my knees!!  I KNEED it!  Oh my gosh, I am such a dork.