My World Family

Spending time in paradise

2011-06-08T03:17:00Z

It is about time I put a few lines down again as there have been soooo many cool things happening since my last post.

I will write about some of them later (I hope) but now, while fresh, let me share with you our Samoan adventure.

We were there from 2-6th of June NZ time and from 1-5th of June Samoan time. Yep! Samoans live in the past. They are the last country on earth to see the sun set on any given day but they say that may change soon and thus they will loose a day for ever!

Samoa is only 3:30hr flight from New Zealand but in the midst of winter (luckily, not a severe winter still!) these 4hr trip send you straight into paradise! Warm, but not extremely hot air. Bath- tub-like warm, inviting, transparent waters tempting you to indulge in hours long swimming and snorkelling sessions.

In one word – it is DIVINE!!! Simple, natural, tempting, scrumptious, invigorating, humane... (add your own to this description!).

We spent 3 nights on the largest Island in the Pacific (not counting NZ and Australia), Savaii, which is reached by boat from the main Western Samoa Island of Upolu. It is hardly populated and it cannot be defined as a place of modern conveniences but this is exactly what I was after for this holiday.

We stayed in a small Fale (house) 1m from the beach. Banana woven blinds separated us from our neighbours at night and the only party noise heard all and every night was the splashing of the waves on the beach…

At night the sky was peppered with stars and our only companions on the nightly beach walk were walking sea snails and running crabs of all different sizes.

(I got this guy's picture from the net but we saw his cousins every night at Manase)

Then we spent a day with friends living right next to the Baha'i House of Worship in Apia and here is the album you may want to have a have a look.

If you get a chance, pay this country a visit. My dream is to go and live there for a few months or may be a year or two…lets see what God has in store for me

a friday evening down town...

2010-12-05T05:39:00Z

Yes, many thousands of people work in this area....

I used to walk here nearly every single day for years passing up and down this streets, going for lunch or checking some other stuff out....(girls you know what I mean....).

As you can see it is totally transformed at night and with street vendors, tango and what not....

This is the place where for first time Omid told me one Friday night after work 16 years ago, lets go to the movies. It was 10pm. I said "What? A 10pm movie?" He said "No, it starts at 1am!". I: "Hu?!! 1am....?!!! Who is awake at that time?" well...not only awake! To buy the tickets we needed to do 3 block (300m) queue and then to enter the same!!! I mean where in the world...!???I did not like the queue!!!

Anyway....here some non-pro impressions of an ex-citizen of Buenos Aires...

With our lovely Nur in "Galerias Pacifico" - one the the most exclusive Shopping Center

Yes, 9pm and shops are still opened so...Im checking some stuff out This is Galerias Pacifico on my left

Further down the street (Florida) what do we see? this youngsters dancing Tango...

Yet a little further to the left...Madam's President's home (Sorry, not quite! Its the Pink House (it's been pink for a while now...not coz of Madam Presidenta...) something like the White house of Argentina!

And in front of it is this...Marking 200 years of the Interdependence of Argentina from Spain...

Now its time to get the bus home...#29....takes us about 40min and we enjoy Buenos Aires Friday night traffic ....

yeah....its quite a site!

...now goodnight!

when love never dies...

2010-12-05T03:42:00Z

We met with Kari and Niko today...

Niko is Arash's best friends since they were just a few months old till we left Argentina (6 yo).
Ari's Spanish is a bit rusty but he understands and after a while of silence they seam to hit it on again...

We spend such a lovely afternoon and night together, catching up in their new apartment overlooking the rooftops and to complete the scene went over for dinner in the "Farola De Cabildo", around the corner from where we all used to live once upon a time...where both Arash and Sofi were born ...so much memories! we used to ask food delivery from there all the time when Pizza was $12 pesos and now is...$120! Still, amazing quality and very reasonably priced! Fantastic! Can't praise it enough! Don't know of another place like it...

Again, Kari and I both felt that it was last week that we were last together...Once the hearts are bound by love nothing can separate them...

Here, enjoy some pictures from the Farola.

Lets see what tomorrow brings...

going places in Buenos Aires

2010-12-04T04:40:00Z

What can I tell ya!

Meat still is the most popular restaurant food! And we had 2 of those this far...Siga la Vaca and Las Cabritas, both Berugos recommendations...everyone who knows him will confirm the fact that he is the food expert de la zona (of the area)! Wonderful Ojo de Bife (Eye fillet) in the first and Amazing Matambrito de cerdo in the
second (needless to say they are all cooked on charcoal grill and medium rare - punto medio) ! Arash said the Argentine meat is better that New Zealand one...who wants to prove the opposite? A Challenge?

Sofi went for flan with Dulce de Leche in "Las Cabritas" de las Canitas



Where we went with Anisili and Nurcito!



Then they can to our apartment (above) where we shared some suave, creamy, tantalizing (Arash's word) Ice cream from the Heladeria infront: Roche, Dulce de leche granizado and Mascarpone con frutas del Bosque! DELICIOUSLY SMOOOOOOTH!!!!

Today, a new day, led me to Cristina's home...my dear old friend I met in Liga de la Leche while we were both pregnant with our sweet first babies: Arash and Ludmila.

Her home remind me of amazing Birthday celebrations with the most delicious cakes ever! And here she is with her grand-son Peter:


And here is the gorgeous ballerina and seriously studious - Ludmila


Next one with more pics...from Micro centro (down-town). K?! Gonna get some surprises...

Choice!

JYG in BsAs - Making History

2010-12-04T04:36:00Z

Yey!!! We were a part of the historical end of the year party of the first junior youh group in Buenos Aires eva!!! Vamos Belgrano todavia!!!

A cool detail is that is was a few blocks only from the apartment where both, Arash and Sofi, were born and is run by our sweet friend Romi in the school where Adri teaches.

The principle of the school LOVED the idea and told all the parents that Adri had very important news to tell them one day sooooo...about 10 of the junior youth from the school started coming...

Romi has lots of support from a team of Gigi, Ciro, Adri, Cheryl and others...

The kids were sooooo exited to know about other JY groups around the world and in the place we came from Auckland NZ. We shared that there are thousands of them all over the world which made them sooooo happy, that it is their job to multiply those groups in their neighbourhood and also since one of the most important purposes of the group is to serve their community - could they imagine what the different place they will be living in if there were more of those groups changing the neighbourhood!!! Their eyes were shining!!

Here, some pictures from these future leaders and their animators:

Cheryl and Leila from Canada

Local JYs (junior Youth)

Romi, Sofi and Adri

Animator - helper and visiting JY Arash

More local JYs (Junior Youth)

Chill-axing Animators and JYs

illusion of time

2010-12-02T06:13:00Z

Tired but happy! 6am in NZ and 2pm Buenos Aires. Left the kids to have
breakfast and watch some Argentine Disney Channel and crossed to the cafe in
front to have my fist BsAs cafe experience since arrival....and use the WiFi
(that was the main reason btw!

Another turbulent night of tossing and turning for the three of us...was
hoping that it was not gonna happen again but there is still hope with other
night ahead of us...tonight.

Adi just got up, Sofi, the princess with the pea (as mum used to call her!),
the sensitive one, spend most of the night awake and got up with me at noon
after sleeping at 9am according to her...yes, our routine is beyond nuts!!!
The magical time is somewhere around 2 and 3:30 am when we all wake up
regardless of sleeping at 1am this morning to avoid it!

The body says "K, you are tired? Sure, take a couple of hours nap! That
should do you...then later you can sleep during the night....OK?"

Sure baby...but you better get your facts straight! We have crossed the
ocean hellooooooo!!! Don't you see it is night here?! Man!!! C'mon! 7-9 am
is when people get up here, not go to sleep!!!!

Anyway...that's the body...

The heart however is at home....

No wonder the Sages say "life shall pass like the twinkling of an eye."

These 8 years have passes exactly at that very speed!

The friends we see as if we left yesterday...

The places we visit, the spirit we feel is just as if we have returned after
a week of absence...

We have traveled the tunnel of time into this Buenos Aires dimension...

Funny thing is this heart! It gets someone or something inside it and never
lets it go...

Hence, one is not truly far away from anyone...once you love them once, they
are here to stay and everything testifies to this.

Want facts?

We saw Anisi the other day, she is the same. It felt the same to be
together. We can just talk about today and daily stuff and not about all
this time that has passed...or if we do it is just as if we are reminiscing
with someone you may as well be meeting every day in person...

Berugito, same, picking us up in his car as always, caring, loving, making
sure all is in order...

Adri, paddle in Porton (well, the one on the cancha next to her is not me
but...)...the place is exactly the same! 2 of the ladies there recognize me
at once and come to say hello. They are the same. They say , I'm the same!
The Porton is the same! Same tables, same chairs, same look, same route to
the toilets...same! (When I tell that to the ladies there they are a bit
alarmed and ask me how I feel about all that and if I'm not alarmed? I say,
"Nothing. As if I've never left. I feel at home! It's perfect!" They say
"ufff....we feel that it may be lack of progress?!" Is it?)

Then we walk the 15 blocks from the Porton to Adri and Berugo's home,
chatting on the way, as if we are just continuing yesterdays conversation
about the progress of the Core Activities, Adri's appointment onto the
Institute Board, the Huquq Board, the challenges of life, pass via Arash and
Sofi's Oxford High School until we reach the black iron and glass door of
Barrio Chino, climbs dark yellow steps one has climbed soooooooo many times
over....and enter the living room, where the only things that has changed is
the lack of the Persian mat and pillow in the corner. We sit on the table we
know sooooo well and discuss dinner....shall we go out or let have Adri's
speed meals as usual.

We have tea, the thermos is the same, and soon Adri is cooking...I go to the
shop around the corner to get what's missing using the same pesitos in the
familiar style shop arrangement...its 10pm but you still just get to the
corner shop to stock on necessities... (well....the difference is you buy
soooooo much less with then now...but what!)

Pizza, tarta y ensalada is the menu...The kids are there, all grown up, that
still feels normal and at 11:30pm adri sais lets go out buy Ice-cream...Ok,
let's! We walk a few blocks but they are just closing that shop...maybe we
leave it for tomorrow as don't want to walk 6 blocks to the next one....

Let's go home and sleep...we walk to the apartment for 2 blocks and the
restaurants still have people eating on the street...its pass
midnight...It's all the same. Vio (see!)! J

Here a few pictures from yesterday...

(And btw, NZ coffee totally matches the one in BsAs....take my word for it
.... even I must admit I've had better coffee in NZ but the Wi-Fi was worth
it! )

Buenos Aires - we are SO JET LAGGED!!!

2010-11-30T18:28:00Z

It is 4 am and the kids and I are sitting in the lounge of our cozy Buenos
Aires Apartment chatting, getting annoyed about not being able to sleep
passed 2 am for second night (after sleeping at 10-11pm).

They just had an empanada each and do hope we can hop into bed soon again
(successfully) as it is a decent 8:30 pm in Auckland, NZ now so we should be
able to sleep!!! Right?!!

We are going to bed (both nights) early (10-11pm) as to try to get used to
the new time (16hr behind Auckland).

Do hope tomorrow will be a better day, kids wake up before 2pm (or IÂ'll wake
them!).

I must say, I've never been this jet-lagged in my life, in spite of all my
travels. A good night sleep has always fixed matters at once...hope
2-3nights will do the trick...(Oh Please God!)

One explanation can be the lack of much direct sunlight coming through the
tall building surrounding us all over, although I've been up since 10am
constantly going places in the neighborhood..,however, you really need to
look up to see the sky with intention...

High lights were seeing Berugito and Anisi today!!!! As is we've never
left....

These photos are from today's outing to Lago Palermo, a short 10-15min walk
from the apartment in "Las Cañitas"
Good night!

Piha beach

2010-11-18T06:02:00Z

Auckland is one of the best cities in the world to live in and we were brought here by Destiny...

Soul nurturing places where only silence, the changing fragrances and sounds of nature envelop you, abound.
You can find yourself alone after only 10-20 min drive from most places and feel as if you had reached
the end of the world with God your only companion!

Exploring Auckland can be a long commitment as there is so much to discover and explore -for soul and body. Walks - bush, beach, rock, plateaus, park, city; beaches - rocky, white, gold and black sand; waters - turbulent, mild, waterfalls, mineral springs, sea and ocean, open and sheltered. Food from every imaginable kind. People from every nuck and cranny of this tiny planet.

Here is one of the iconic black sand, west coast, Tasman sea beaches we have visited a multitude of times...

Enjoy these few snaps as if we went there together....

And if you want to see more go here to this tinny settlements site.

Till soon...

8 years minus 9 days...

2010-10-28T00:38:00Z

There are not much preparations happening yet on the material plane for the big trip back to Buenos Aires after nearly 8 years away.

On the dream plane however, over the last year, more than 3 vivid dreams heralded our return to the city we called home for 7 truly life-changing years in every sense you can possibly imagine.

This blog is created today to reflect the experience of going back and discovering that place a new and also with the intention of documenting travels to all kinds of dream or mundane like, intriguing or suspicious, new and seen anew places in the visible as well as in the invisible to me worlds.

Join this dreamer, explorer and passionate learner on her journey and lets see where its gonna take us...