Los Padres llegaron!

It was about 10:30 and I heard a buzzing noise. I knew it had to be mom and dad, so I jumped out of bed (Maria did no such thing) and looked for how to let them in. Unfortunately, I never found it, so I had to run down 8 flights of stairs to open the door for them. They probably thought they had the wrong address for a minute.

Pat, doing what he does best: talking. (What else?)

Andrea, doing what she does best: cleaning. (What else?) "I'm going to have to tidy up in here." Good thing the maid came yesterday...not sure what would have happened if she saw it a few days ago.

But, despite my unusually early wake-up, we still didn't end up leaving the apartment until around 4, after the parents got some well-needed rest. So, in some senses, it was like any other day.

Since it was too late to do anything organized, we decided to dar un paseo through some of my favorite parts of Buenos Aires. We walked through Palermo, mostly. One of Maria's signature traits is to coo at every dog that walks by. "Aww...mira ese perrito...hola, perrito!" This time, a little black schnauzer came a-sniffin', and Maria (and I) were more than happy to oblige. When we asked the old man that was walking him what his name was, he told us. "Cau. It's an indigenous name from the Guaraní tribe." When we asked him what it meant, he told us "borracho." (That means drunk). When I asked if that meant he was drunk all the time, he replied, "No, only at night." A drunk black schnauzer puppy walking around with an old man? Couldn't get much funnier.

After a while, we ended up in Parque Febrero III. It was gorgeous--and so were the people walking through it. Porteños really care about their looks--and so they have to work on keeping their bodies in shape. We saw un montón de runners and people exercising.

Mom and la jardín 

Great sunset

After the parque, we walked around Palermo a little more until we found a great parilla called El Estrebe. It was delicious. We had wine (called Benjamin, HA) with some carne. Dad and I split stuffed beef with jamón, queso y tomate, and also had fried onions, also stuffed with ham, cheese and tomato. But the best part was dessert. A "panqueque" with dulce de leche and ice cream. I about shit myself from pure bliss.

Did you know dulce de leche is from Argentina? THANK YOU, ARGENTINA.

YUM (or as they say in 'Spanish,' "ÑUM!"

All in all, a fantastic day. Hasta pronto, amigos.