I knew as soon as we woke up that things would be different today: no trains, no subways, not even the din of buses usually part of the auditory fabric of morning rush hour in Buenos Aires. In fact, rush hour itself didn't seem to be happening. Instead, a strange silence seemed to have settled over the city, and was interrupted only periodically by the sound of sirens, or the odd helicopter traversing the otherwise empty sky.
Unions have basically shut down the entire city in protest against increasing crime and soaring inflation. Rallies are being held all across the country.
If I thought we were going to get to this afternoon's piano lesson, I was sadly mistaken. This is South America, and when the public has had enough, it is not "business as usual", As if the plummeting blue rate -- now nearly on par with the pretty much worthless official rate -- were not enough, it looks as though possible food shortages are in store for us. Without sounding too alarmist, I must say that I'm relieved to have stocked up on pasta, cheese and soy milk over the past several weeks! ;-P
With Alice in Wonderland running the country, who knows what the next few weeks will bring!!!
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Well, I know what the next few hours brought: A stolen laptop and iPad! Yep, it finally happened to me! On the way home from the boys' basketball class tonight, there was not a taxi to be found (and of course still no buses), so the boys and I walked most of the way, stopping in desperation at McDonald's for "dinner". Tucked my laptop and iPad safely in their padded case under the counter we were sitting at, had dinner and a nice chat with the boys, then left to walk home. Found a taxi!! :))) Got in, halfway home, then realised what we had left behind.... raced back to McDonald's very confidently and hopefully, but alas, no iPad, no Laptop, NADA!
Left my name and email with the front desk and teenage cashiers in hopes of retrieval (slim chance, I know, but ya gotta have some faith!) and went back to the very empathetic cabby, who was waiting on the street for us, still. He took home me and two crying boys, and now said boys and I are debriefing while I finish this this blog post -- sorry, no photo -- it was on my laptop. (Along with all my ppts, teacher workshop handouts for the summer, resumes and references for current, in-progress job search... the list goes on and on and on. Not to mention that it was a special gift from many for my 40th birthday. Slim, lightweight, long battery life... WAAAAHHHHHH!!!!)
Probably no posts from me for a while... got to change passwords, cancel online courses I was signed up for, and just generally acclimatize to this not-so-fabulous new challenge, while modeling calm in the face of the storm for Alex and Simon, for whom this is as much a learning opportunity as any other.