Music Videos

So we have been back a couple weeks. Argentina is starting to feel like it happened a long time ago. Funny how time works. Anyhoo, after eating a lot of the brothers like to get out their guitar and sing some traditional music. I recorded a couple of them singing. In the first one is Sebastian Pozzo

This second one is Emmanuel Montenegro and Timoteo

Emmanuel played three songs that night, here's the second one

I didn't get the third one, by then my hand was tired of holding the camera. But you get the idea :) I really like the music, its pretty. I hope you enjoy.

Aeropuerto de Ezeiza

So we are here, can't believe its already been two weeks since we left North Carolina. Time has literally flown by. We are preparing ourselves for a looooong flight. From here to Mexico its about 10 hours, then a 5 hour layover in D.F. and then another long flight I think 7 hours? Not sure. Anyhoo to catch ya'll up to speed on what we have been doing. On Thursday we rented a car and drove to Alta Gracia. Its a cute small town about 30 km from Cordoba. We stayed at a super nice B&B called 279. Here's a pic of the courtyard

Its a small inn only two rooms and we were the only guests. She said we were the first couple from the U.S. We felt special :) We met up with Mike's friends Lucas and Paula and their two kids. Paula was super sweet we hit it off. She's my argentine chica. Here's all of us in service Saturday in the campo (where the rich ppl live, felt like I was preaching in English)

On Friday we went to Villa General Belgrano. Its a small german town about 55 km from Alta Gracia. You have to take a windy mountain road to get there. Some lovely views along the way. We got there and had some beer from the area. It was very yummy. We had it with sandwich de miga (or as i call it sandwich hormiga heehee)

When we got back from Villa General Belgrano we went to the Estancia Jesuitica in Alta Gracia, it was one block from our B&B. Its the largest in the area. It was quite impressive and they had lots of neat setups in the rooms.

Saturday like I mentioned was service and then we went to the meeting. I commented, go me! Afterwards we went to Lucas' parents house for pizza and sobremesa (talking after you eat at the table). Here's a shot of everyone who was there

Sunday we went back to Cordoba, turned in our rental car and had an asado mixta at Mike's tia's house. Here's tio lorenzo cooking and having a good time heehee (sorry i caught him with his eyes closed)

That evening we went to the feria artesenal in downtown Cordoba, which was basically a huge fleamarket. It was awesome, wish we had more money to buy all that stuff. So that's pretty much it. Our flight is boarding now so Ciao!

Last day here

Sorry I have no pictures to post usb connection is not working on this computer. We are back in Buenos Aires. Not sure what time we are leaving tonight, Mexicana says there has been a change in our reservation but we are having trouble contacting them. If all is well we should be on the plane tonight at 10:30 and arriving in NY at 4:30 tomorrow. If the airport in Mexico has a cyber cafe I´ll try to do an update. See ya´ll soon!

Happy 40th Anniversary!!!

So this isn´t a argentina related post but I had to say Happy 40th Anniversary to my parents. Sorry we can´t be with you today but we´ll celebrate when we come back :) Still thinking about you even though we are thousands of miles away.

luv, Vanessa & Mike

Caminito, Cordoba, Condoritos

Alright to bring everyone up to date since the last time we checked in. I´m finally feeling better only took a week. Hooray! Unfortunately I didn´t lose any weight being sick, all this Argentine meat making me heavy heehee! oh well, when the food is good you have to eat right? Took some pictures while we were in Caminito en La Boca. Mainly alot of street vendors and some restaurants had little tango shows or traditional folklore dancing.
Here the folklore dancers
We got up early morning Monday in the rain to catch our flight to Cordoba. As soon as we arrived I liked it better than Buenos Aires. Cleaner, smaller and more hip somehow. A brother, Paolo, picked us up from the airport and we had breakfast with him.
Here´s Mike and Paolo at breakfast

He dropped us off afterwards at Tia Rosa´s house and of course we had to eat again (this could explain the weight gain, haha). Her husband, Lorenzo, made pollo asado. Let me just say it was the best pollo we´ve had on the trip. He´s going to be doing an all out asado on sunday for us before we leave. May have to wear my loose pants that day. His cousin and her family we´re there. They are very nice and she´s funny.
Here´s a pic of the family

That evening we ate again some sandwiches called Lomito Completo. I would like to say for the record I only ate half of mine. Tuesday we went to Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito. Now let me tell you, in the guidebook it says take the bus to La Pampilla and walk down the driveway to the park. So the busdriver yells La Pampilla, we look around and all we see is grass and mountains and a dirt road. Umm, driver, were are we supposed to go? We walk 1.5 km to the main entrance, wondering if were even going to see anything and lo and behold they did have an office! Hooray! The guy said, well you came kinda late its 2 hours just to get to the look out point (by then it was 1:30 and the last bus before dark came at 6:35 and it took us an hour just to get to the office) So we are thinking great we aren´t going to be able to see this, but we decided if we hustled we could do it. But 5km over a rugged mountain range ain´t no walk in the park, no pun intended. It was gorgeous though, just wish we had more time.
Here´s Mike on the hiking trail

We saw some condors but from really far off but it was cool. We made it back to the bus stop in time and got home safely. Forgot to mention Mike´s neck got crispy red on the hike. We forgot to put sunscreen on him. So in total we walked about 13 kms yesterday. Today we were shuffling along the streets of Cordoba too sore to walk fast ha! We did some shopping and saw Mike´s other tia Lucia. She was really nice and has a sweet dog that reminded us of Leela. Mike and his Tia
Tomorrow we head off to Alta Gracia to visit with the brothers from Mike´s old hall. We also are going to do some sightseeing in Villa General Belgrano.

Finally, I would like a moment of silence for some good friends of mine that after 10 years have walked their course. They have been with me all over the US, New Zealand and Australia. They have finally been laid to rest in Argentina. Apparently the hike was too much for them and they said enough! Goodbye AE shoes, its been real.

Updates

Hey everyone sorry we took so long to bring ya´ll up to date. Its really hard to get to the internet over here. Plus we keep running out of time. Wednesday we got in around 11 am. The couple we are staying with, Sebastian and Ruth are very nice. They made us a nice lunch of chicken. Me and Mike walked around their barrio, Barracas, and had some ice cream. You can see how tired I was

Thursday morning we got up early and went to Bethel. It was an hour bus ride to get there. Their Bethel is huge. Took all morning to see everything, starting on the first tour at 830. We still didn´t see all the printery since we ran out of time. We took the tour with some nice brothers visiting from the Colombia branch. They are going to the int´l assembly in Chile. Here´s a pic of the printing machine in argentina

After that we ate lunch at a buffet. That evening we went to meeting. They have a very friendly congregation. Friday me and Mike went to Calle Florida aka Times Square of Buenos Aires. We walked around and saw the Obelisco and Puerto Madero. I wasn´t feeling too good after that, think I caught a stomach virus so we headed back home. That evening at 900 we had dinner at a brothers house, an asado.

Saturday we took the bus tour of Buenos Aires. It takes you to all the major attractions in the city and you can get off and on as you want. It rained all day long!!! We went to the cementary Recoleta to see Evita´s grave. When we were going in we ran into some brothers and sisters who are here for the int´l assembly in Peru. They had their badges on so we knew they were brothers :) Didn´t think to take a picture with them till after they left. Today we had another asado aka bbq at the couple´s house we are staying with. I think its the best asado we´ve had so far. Right now we are in Caminito in La Boca. Their is a street fair going on and ppl eating and having a good time. I would upload more pictures but we only have 30 minutes on this computer so we´ll have to go for now. I´ll try to update again soon, hopefully in the next couple days. Hope everyone is doing well up there. Till next time.

day of flying

Mike wants to guest blog so here he his,
So here we are in mexico city and completely tired. We have been up since 3 am today 10-27-09 and flown on 2 flights so far and not in argentina yet. this is crazy to me cuz i love to fly but this is way too much. we have about 2 hours until our flight departs to argentina which is expected to be about 10hours long. with that being said we are very excited to get out of these clothes woo hoo and take a shower (tomorrow) and go straight to bed (for ever) haha, we are very excited to explore buenos aires and i cant wait to see my family and the friends in cordoba. we will try to keep this blog posted as much as possible and we both look forward to seeing everyone back in the good old USA. take care yall

last day in NC

We have been packing all week it seems. We are taking 3 massive suitcases one carryone and a small toiletry bag. In all fairness only one of the massive suitcases is ours the other two are for the brothers and friends down there. Just so you get an idea of what we are taking here are some photos.
The suitcase in the middle is ours the two on the end are full of clothes and gifts.

This is our carryon bag and the toiletry bag that is getting checked.

I can't believe this is it. We are finally going. Woohoo! And tomorrow when we are in NY we are going to Brooklyn Bethel and having lunch there. I'm excited haven't had lunch there since I was a little girl. Anyhoo next time I write to my blog we'll either be in Mexico or Buenos Aires.
Our kitty thought she could sneak on with us, heehee!

argentina

Well a week from today we'll be on the plane right now flying to mexico city. Can't believe it has been over 3 months since we bought our tix for Argentina. Its coming up real fast and I feel like we have so much stuff left to do. When we're down there I will try to update the blog every couple of days so my avid readers can see where we are and what we are doing. Our plan is to spend Wednesday 28th - Sunday Nov. 1 in Buenos Aires. Then flying to Cordoba and staying there from Monday 2nd - Thursday 5th. Thursday we are renting a car and driving out to the campo to visit friends of Mike's from when he lived out there. Monday 9th we fly back to Buenos Aires and spend the day with friends. Then that night board the plane and begin the long journey home. We land back in NYC on Tuesday 10th at 4:40 pm. Needless to say we will be wiped out.

trips, trips and more trips

So its been a while since I've posted my going ons. Me and Mike had a good time at the wedding in Pennsylvania back in September. I took lots of pics but my fave picture was of the bride, I LUV her dress.

So after the weekend in PA the next weekend flew out to Vegas for my little cuz's graduation party. Had a good time hanging out with family, going to the strip, and of course the party!
this was at the swap meet in vegas

enjoying some drinks and shots at the mgm grand

at red rocks casino private vip bowling alley for grad party

being silly at the valley of fire

Psych

I know I should be updating this with the past two vacations I took. But until I load the pics there really is no point. In the meantime, if you don't watch Psych you really should check out Bollywood Homicide. Funny as always and I love the bollywood theme. For your sampling pleasure



Go watch it now!

The Beatles™: Rock Band™

So right now I'm wishing I had xbox 360 or wii or some other gaming platform so I could run out like everyone else and buy the new Beatles™: Rock Band™. Alas, though, I do not. So I have to wait for one of my hip cool friends to invite me to their house to play *ahem* hint hint. Until that time I will sit at home and listen to them on my cd player or mp3 player.

Btw I think the "cinematic video" (that's what it is called on the Rock Band site) is awesome. So had to share the link.

Videos // The Beatles™: Rock Band™

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dude, like yah

Came across this online and its hilarious!



Its nice to know some people never change :)

Wine and more Wine

We have been having a good time on our trip. We had lots of fun in San Francisco seeing the sites. We had an excellent tour guide in our friend Steve. He even took us to Napa Valley.

We tried several delish wines in different wineries. If you ever have the chance to go to that you should go to the Castello di Amorosa. Lovely place.

Now we are in Vegas chillin with the fam. Last night we had wine and cheese (I'm going to be all wine'd out by the end of this trip :)

Plans for today is to hit up the wax museum at the Venetian and walk the strip a little bit. Having a good time and I'll see ya'll soon :)

go disney

So looking like Disney will be on the ball next year. What with Alice in Wonderland coming out and all. So was already excited about that but at comic-con they just released new footage for the new Tron movie. Yeah that's right, Tron. I loved that movie growing up as a kid and I was so sad when our tape broke and I couldn't watch it anymore. Well here's the new trailer from Tron Legacy and it looks pretty cool.

alice in wonderland

Oh happy joy joy! So Facebook was supposed to be showing the first sneak peak of the new Alice in Wonderland trailer. Well boo on them because EW beat them too it. Thanks Eddie for the link. And now for your viewing pleasure.



I would just like to say as a child the Cheshire Cat and the caterpillar dude scared me. And from the looks of the trailer looks like I'll still be frightened. Haha!

Travels

So its been a long while since I've updated my blog with any travel info. Looks like its going to be a busy fall for us. First off starting on July 31st we are flying out to San Francisco. We are going to visit a good friend out there and I'll have fun showing Mike the sites. I absolutely adore SanFran. Then a quick pop down to see the abuelos in Oxnard. On August 4 we are flying to Vegas to visit the fam and have some good chill time.
In September we have two quick trips one after another. The first will be to go to PA for a wedding. Then the following weekend I'll be in Vegas again for Jesse's graduation party ;)
And finally the big enchilada. Mike and I found super cheap tickets to Argentina and since he is dying to go out there and see his family we bought them :o So flying out October 27th and coming back November 10th. We are going to be in the capital, Buenos Aires for a few days then flying to his hometown of Cordoba to visit family and friends. Its been awhile since I've been int'l so I'm looking forward to the trip. I'll be sure to keep everyone (what my two followers? haha) posted of the goings on as the time gets nearer.

burton in wonderland

So eddie sent me this cool link with new pictures and concept art from tim burton's Alice in Wonderland. I thought this one looked pretty neat.

Wow that came up really tiny. Anyhoo if you want to see Johnny Depp looking crazy (course when is he not looking crazy) and some other characters the link is here.

blink-182

What the heck? How did I not know this? Blink-182 is touring this summer. I used to be on top of stuff knowing when my bands were out and about. So cool and they will be in Charlotte on October 1, heck ya! Here's a nice little video for their summer tour.

And did I mention the opening acts? Fall Out Boy and the All-American Rejects. Fun fun! Weezer is opening in some cities but unfortunately not in Charlotte. Sorry I'm so excited. After Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters these guys put on an awesome show. Ok their shows may be even a smidgen better than Foo but I didn't say it. haha!

Star Trek

OMG!!! The movie was awesome! Completely made up for the disaster that was Wolverine. We got the back story on the characters and they threw some new twists in there to give it a new spin. I especially like the love connection between two of the main characters. At first I was worried about Zachary Quinto playing Spock. I know he looks just like him, its just that when I see him I think Sylar from Heroes. hah! But after a few minutes of screen time he proved himself a worthy successor. The best dead on imitation was Karl Urban's Dr. McCoy aka Bones. He was perfect. I loved it when he said "Dammit I'm a doctor not a physicist". He had me rolling. I don't know what else to say only if you haven't seen it you need to stop whatever you are doing and go! right now!

X-Men Origins

Well I would like to say I was highly disappointed. All this hype and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. Once again a movie is overly hyped and way too many previews are shown. So when you go to the movie you have seen every single action scene already. I do mean the entire action scene, nothing was added, nothing new or even a different camera angle. I knew his girl wasn't dead b/c they showed her in the trailers releasing all those mutants. There was only one surprise in the entire move and that was kind blah. Don't bother for staying after the credits either just a waste of time. The only parts I did like was Ryan Reynolds character, Wade Wilson/Deadpool. I've never taken him seriously but in this role he absolutely kicked butt. Also, my man Gambit did not disappoint just wish he had a bigger role or maybe a new action scene! okay sorry I'll let it go now. Those were my thoughts and feelings.

p.s. All i can say is that Star Trek better not disappoint or I will be hurt :|
p.p.s. Ok I heard there was a cool alternate Deadpool ending to the movie. But since the movie I saw didn't have it I stand by my statement. We had the lame Wolverine ending. boo!!!

kentucky derby

I don't know why but i'm completely obsessed with the kentucky derby, preakness and belmont. I think it may have to do with the fact there hasn't been a triple crown winner since 1978. So it could be the fact there hasn't been one in my lifetime. hmmm. I love it when longshots win the race, such as the 2007 Belmont and a filly, Rags to Riches won. One of the best races I've ever seen. Especially since she was running against Curlin, one of the best horses this century. I'm not kidding you should check out his track record. This past weekend it was another longshot who won, Mine that Bird, 50-1 shot. Pretty bad odds. This proves never underestimate anyone.


I apologize now for the bad calling of the race, just dreadful. I read that Mine that Bird will be racing in the Preakness so maybe this could be the year. We'll just have to wait and see.

Wolverine...

counting down the days. 9 days 7 hours 12 minutes. nah j/k. Anyhoos, they posted some new clips of the movie online. By now you prob can put all the clips together and save yourself $10 :) I'm very excited about Gambit, I hope they did him right. One of my fave characters when I watched the cartoon. From the clip it looks right so I have high hopes.

Gives me goosebumps or as Eddie says goosepimples, heehee!

Primer Aniversario

Our one year anniversary is coming up. I can't believe this time a year ago I was running around like crazy trying to get everything done for the wedding. Time is a flying by. I'm excited cause we are getting out of town for a few days. Going down to Charleston. My mom tells me I've been there but I don't remember, so it doesn't count heehee. We are staying at this really cool place called the Joseph Aiken Mansion Carriage House. I searched high and low for a good price and nice atmosphere and judging by the photos and reviews I think I did pretty good (pat's self on back). When we get back I'll post some pics of the trip for all to enjoy. In the meantime here's a blast from the past.

case of the muhndays

If you have never seen Office Space its hilarious!!! It usually comes on comedy central every now and then. Milton and his red stapler crack me up and lady with her "looks like someone has a case of the muhndays" is sooo funny. I couldn't find that clip but this one pretty much sums it up for me.

Final Wolverine Trailer

Having one of those days, just not in the mood to do anything but be a bum. Just saw the new Wolverine trailer and can I just say, OH YEAH!!!!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Enjoy!

P.S. Look for the gratuitous sans shirt shot of Logan :) Never need an excuse to take off your shirt even in a drafty old barn, ha!

Lovin' me some Franz

Pictures

So I promised snow pictures like a million years ago. Finally uploaded the pics off my camera, ALL the pics off. I haven't uploaded anything since ummm June of 2008. How sad is that. So here are some snippets for your viewing pleasure starting with the oldest and working my way to the present.

Me and my man Nicolas Cage in Vegas.

Boat ride near Myrtle Beach.

Hubby fishing. He caught two!

Our shadows near Asheville in the fall.

The lovely Leela in the snow.

I love this picture! From when we went to the San Diego Zoo.

So that's my life in pictures from the past several months. :)

sci fi nerd

So my bestest buddy tells me i'm such a sci fi nerd all the time. Does it make me a nerd that I totally want to go to Star Wars Weekend at Disney's Hollywood Studios? I don't think it does. See for yourself and tell me you wouldn't want to go.


That's what I thought.

The Daily Show

Jon Stewart and the writing team at the daily show are hilarious. I really need to watch this show every day.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Obama Closing Gitmo

Daily Show Full Episodes
Funny Political Videos

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Comedians on Tour

my new carro

So I had been browsing online looking at cars from all over. Last Monday I went to the mazda dealership in durham and test drove the mazda3 and mazda6. I instantly fell in love with the 6. I felt it was time I got a grown up car. But the dealership wasn't really working with me on getting a deal or anything. So I left and kept browsing and low and behold on Tuesday of last week I found my car. 80 miles away in winston-salem. Its a used '08 Mazda6 with only 5,500 miles on it and fully loaded. Me and the hubby went over there on Wednesday, test drove the car, loved it, worked out a deal (already an awesome deal b/c of internet price but got it lowered a tad more) and drove home with it. Her she is


I know, I know, red? But I wanted a change from silver and i love the black interior and its a 5-speed. Everything I could want in a car. When I get the windows tinted tomorrow it'll looked all pimped out ;) So just thought I'd share my joy. In my next post i'll put up some pics of the snow from this week.

Which kind of car?

Since I wasn't really planning on getting a new car anytime soon I don't really have an idea of what I want. I did a little research yesterday and these are my top 3 choices.

Honda Civic


Mazda3 5door (i am partial to the hatchbacks:)


Mazda6 (a little upgrade)


any other suggestions or opinions out there?

Soooo my weekend sooked!

How come everytime you are bout to pay something off, such as a car, something happens to it? It seems that's the way it always goes for me. I have been paying car payments for 9 years now and I was soo close to paying off my car but alas, it happened again. Someone hits my car, totals it, and I have to start all over again. So by the time I finish paying off this new car (which I haven't gotten yet since the other person's insurance is still working out the details) I will have been paying car payments for 14 years. That's depressing when you think about it that way. Here's my faithful, once lovely car :(




These pics were taken at the junkyard. The accident happened at night and the night shot is really hard to see and blurry. So even though my car is a complete loss, me and my friends are okay. That's whats important. Material things can always be replaced.