Indulging in the delicious delicacies of Buenos Aires

The beautiful colored houses of La Boca

So for those of you who have been following along you might have thought Laurie and I went AWOL here in South American. Not to worry...I just had to take a short hiatus from blogging in order to squeeze in being a genocide scholar by day and enjoying the amazing city of BA by night. It was not easy but with a zealous team of colleagues at the helm we took this city on in every way possible.

An average day included back to back sessions on Holocaust history and genocide prevention from about 10am-8pm (we might have missed a session here and there). The paper I presented went over great. I was joined on my panel by a Scottish academic who trains teachers at Auschwitz and an Armenian Argentinean speaking about identity in their schools. Led to some great discussion and overall a success. Ok enough about work...

Reunion!

When the dismissal bell rang Tomas and Emanuel (you might recall hearing about my travels with these Argentinian boys circa Bosnia and Croatia 2007) would always have a genius plan in place. Taxi rides to amazing eateries throughout the city would include the fabulous history of the city discussing everything from Jewish sites to current politics. I think only once did I actually order for myself....but in just a matter of minutes of sitting down, the table would be filled with gorgeous cheeses, sausages, and salads. And of course followed almost each night by grilled lomo (seak) so tender you could nearly cut it with a spoon. Our table was always full of laughing and debating in a mix of Spanish, English and Hebrew and more Malbec flowing than Iguazu Falls. We had a range of tastes and personalities that although different: Laurie at one end of he spectrum who hit her meat quota pretty early on in the week and even did the unthinkable (ordering chicken) to Tibi who could eat meat in every from for every meal of the day (even I could not bring myself to try the blood sausage he raved about).

However, by the end of the night we would all meet on common ground for outrageously rich desserts! While Tomas could always seem to find us a restaurant that could somehow seat a party of 10... Emanuel had an amazing art of ordering the perfect combinations of flan, chocolate tortes, cheeses, ice creams...each with the magic ingredient of dulce de leche! Eating is a way of life here...you sit at the table with your friends around 10 (any earlier than 9pm would be considered an early bird special) till the wee hours of the morning. Great stories were shared from Tibi and Kerry's recent wedding in Venice, to Laurie's afternoon tango class, to the state of transitional justice. Such an amazing culture and way of life. I was surrounded by old and new friends I didn't want to be anywhere else!

When not in seminar or drinking Malbec you might have found us enjoying a coffee in one of Palermo's amazing boutique hotels we called home or the other guilty pleasure of Buenos Aires...shopping.

In our best effort to support the growing Argentinian economy since the terrible crash in 2002...Laurie and I shopped till we dropped. Gorgeous leather bags, boots, clothes, jewelry....you name it we tried it on. I see now why BA is the Paris of South America, but with a currency much in our favor.

Alas this journey is coming to an end. I type this last entry somewhere over Texas. Reality awaits, but at least we arrive home tanned, rejuvenated, with dozens of new friends from around the world and in my case an extra suitcase.

Stay tuned for more photos in the near future.