A month later, we're in the final stages of moving (we hope), and, as such, have taken to following David's prescription, which is to "blitz" rooms. I'm not sure why he uses that word, but whatever, it seems to suit the action, since in blitzing we remove everything from a room. In doing so we find some interesting things, like a grocery recipt from July 13, 1989. Want to know what was purchased? Of course you do!
Stephen Colbert doesn't need to worry about our having been eaten by bears (if you just want to see the bear section, it starts at the 5:39 mark, although threat number four is hilarious, and the rest are pretty funny, too). And no, despite having posted from Las Vegas weeks ago, and then disappearing, we didn't lose what money we had, so we haven't been hiding in shame. Though possibly that would be better, since at the moment we're both exhausted.
Some of my favorite music from long ago is by an alternative band called They Might Be Giants. It turns out that, since long ago, while I was doing foolish things like studying at school and working, They Might Be Giants kept rolling out great music. Acquainting myself with their new albums has been a joy.
I'm still recovering from landing in the US and having the unsettling sensory overload of understanding the language and culture nuances of everyone around me. And, sifting through the nearly 10,000 pictures we took! (Seriously! Just consider yourself lucky we only posted a fraction on Picasa Web.) I'm also enjoying some simple things I missed while away. Here is one of them, slightly modified to remove all the fat and most (or all, depending on the egg choice) of the cholesterol:
We have lots more to say about the trip, but for now this is to say we made it back for Mother's Day and celebrated with German pancakes for Sharon, David's mom. The recipe is surprisingly simple and was a big success, so naturally we had to post it.
German Pancakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt butter in small saucepan. While butter is melting, combine milk, flour and eggs and mix well. (Whisking works best, I think.)
Pour melted butter into baking dish (large pie pan, 8x8x2 dish, etc.) and slosh around to coat sides. Pour mix into pan on top of butter. Put pan into center oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve by squeezing lemon juice and sprinkling with powdered sugar.
And the answer to everyone's burning question: we're back.
For the last few weeks internet cafes have been easier to find, cheaper and faster, and I´ve spent some time scripting (writing short computer programs). I appreciate that it´s escapism, and maybe I should feel a little guilty about using vacation time this way, but I don´t.
I recently discovered some Google Gadget resources, which allow anyone with a google account to create scripts using an online tool. Since I´m sitting at a different computer from day to day, it´s perfect. Here is a screenshot of a Gadget I made, which creates an interactive map of album covers from our Picasa Web Gallery:
Leah patted me on the head and said it's pretty. Anyone else have an opinion?
We haven't done too much in Mendoza over the three weeks we've been here, other than going to the zoo (where, of course, we took lots of pictures), running and spending entirely too much time watching tv. It makes me feel so decadent. Courtesy of the public library and its (rather pitiful) collection of English books, my brain also managed to not rot completely, since I finally decided to take up one of David's favorite science writers.
It's been a tough year in many ways. We've each sustained unexpected injuries, which, if we or the situations had been different, may have ended the trip early. But we are in astonishingly good repair compared to some of our stuff. We've lost, ruined or damaged most of our equipment and because we're about to fly back, we thought it would be fun to share the list of everything so inflicted.
No, this post is not about my shoulder. Although it could be, since having an injury to such a major joint does make me sometimes feel like a sack of meat and bones. No, my shoulder is healing well, but this post is about Argentina´s staple food: meat.
