Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays from South America. Forrest and I just said goodbye to his sister Kristin and her husband Nome who were fortunate enough to get down here and visit us for a week and a half. We had a great time with them and have had a very busy tourist schedule during this time. Forrest promises to write soon with the details of all we saw during this time!

We arrived in Las Grutas, Argentina on Christmas Eve after a 14 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. It is a quaint little beach town and is the farthest south we will go on the east side of Argentina. The beach was packed on both Christmas Eve and Christmas and it was a wonderful way to spend the holiday. I have been laying on the beach in the sun quite a bit. Baby seems a little shocked each time I expose my belly to the sun - I picture it wondering "what in the world is that"?

We are officially in the Patagonia region of Argentina, and again, it is not as I expected. When we awoke from the long bus ride I told Forrest it was as if the driver drugged us and drove all the way back to Idaho. The landscape is that of the desert where I grew up. It has been really interesting to us that the food here is not nearly as good as in Buenos Aires. The vegetables in particular are not as fresh, and in fact are really hard to even find in the form of a fresh salad. Lots of meat and seafood (and tons of ridiculously cheesy pizza) but not many veggies. Most meat dishes are served "a la carte" and it is strange to have a plate of shrimp skewers or steak set in front of you with absolutely no accompanying food.

On a side note, I heard yesterday of the death of one visitor and mauling of two others at the San Franciso Zoo by a tiger. It is so sad to me that we are afraid of so many things, when the most unexpected and routine could be our ultimate demise.

I approached this trip to South America as I have approached most of my decisions over the past 5 years, as a therapeutic excercise in fear confrontation and its ultimate defeat. You see, everything can be made scary. If you think hard enough, you can talk yourself out of anything based soley on the risk instead of considering the truly awesome experience it could be. I am happy to say I am here and healthy, as are Forrest and the baby. We have eaten food from street vendors, flown down the Avenida 9 de Julio at 60 MPH in a taxi with no seatbelts, walked the city of Buenos Aires at night, and eaten sushi and bloody rare steaks. All these actions took some degree of courage to complete (ok, the taxi was clearly a fluke) but we can look back on them and laugh or have a fond memory.

What in the world is my point you may be wondering? Well, it is this; as the new year approaches, I always set new goals for myself. As I have experienced firsthand how liberating it can be to overcome the fears that drive us in our daily decision making, I encourage you to enter the new year with an intention to be a little braver and a little more free-thinking. The experience is enlightening and hopefully it will open many doors as it has for us.

For those of you wondering about Baby Beck, we saw a doctor in BA a couple of weeks ago for my 20 week check-up. That's right, already over halfway there. The ultrasound looked great, baby is just slightly larger that average which is surprising since at 22 weeks I have only gained 6.2 pounds! Clearly all the walking is making a big difference, as well as Dr. Beck's high protein diet requirements. My legs are so much more muscular than when I left Port Townsend! Here is a terrible photo, but one for all of you looking for the belly shot. This was a church in the Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

We miss everyone and wish you the best holidays with your families.

Love,

Nicole, Forrest, & Baby Beck

Happy Thanksgiving from Buenos Aires, Argentina

11/22/07

Our apologies to those who were worried we had dropped off the face of the earth. Our first week here was a real shock to the system, but now we are recovered and settling into the city nicely. It hasn’t quite been a month since we left Port Townsend, but it seems like much longer. We miss you all, and hope that this email finds you well, especially on this Thanksgiving Day.

Buenos Aires is a city of gigantic proportions; three million people in the immediate area and another nine million in the surrounding suburbs. It is hard to comprehend until you are in the middle of it. The name itself means “fresh air” or "fair winds" which I immediately found contradictory. The people here find it perfectly acceptable to drop trash wherever they may be standing, and the streets are packed with taxis and buses that seem to burn oil rather than gas or diesel. As if the air wasn’t dirty enough, smoking is considered high fashion here and we consistently find ourselves walking extra fast to pass a smoker on the sidewalk, only to find ourselves behind yet another. However, after a week, my mucus membranes have adjusted and now we have moved into an apartment on the 16th floor of a building with an expansive view of BA (although it is probably only a small portion of the total city). From here, I can clearly see why the city has its given name. There is no smog layer, despite the constant stream of pollutants; the fresh air from the Atlantic Ocean must help to cleanse the air each day. It is amazing to say the least.

The food in BA is fantastic! You may have heard people speak of Argentinean beef with a look of longing in their eyes, and now we see why. It is the most tender, juicy, and tasty beef we have ever had, far surpassing even the delicious options in the local Washington grass-fed community. For a white tablecloth dinner service for two including bottled water, the best beef tenderloin steaks we have ever had, salad with delicious fresh veggies, and desserts will typically cost only $15-20 USD total. The timing for meals has been a strange adjustment for us. The locals eat lunch each day between 1:30 and 3:30 and then have dinner sometime after 8:00 with the prime restaurant time being 9:30 to 10:30 on weeknights and later on weekends. When we went out last night at 9:30, we were faced with a 40 minute wait for a table! And, it should be noted that a meal is no quick event - a couple hours is standard. Needless to say, with these late nights, we haven't really experienced the breakfast scene.

Forrest’s Spanish is improving each day and he is intent to learn as fast as he can, and even master the Argentinean dialect that was a surprising change from the Spanish he had learned previously. The people here are very kind, but it was surprising to find that English is not commonly spoken – this has been unfortunate for me!

The weather here was cool and even a little rainy when we first arrived, but within a few days it changed to what we had expected; highs in the 80’s, lows in the 60’s and only a couple of days so far with much humidity. It is really pleasant, but the sun is very intense and we easily burned after a few minutes of watching a professional tennis match on clay courts last Sunday.

Tuesday yielded a trip to the National Museum of Fine Arts, where we viewed an impressive collection of both European and South American artists. The well known included Picasso, Rodin, Gaughin, Cezanne, Degas, Diego Rivera, Jackson Pollock, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Kandinsky. Surprisingly, entrance to such a museum was by donation.

We walk a lot! Transportation options include subway and taxi, but we are in a great location to be within walking distance of many places, especially when you don’t have to be there in a hurry. The subways are very clean, the taxis are for thrill-seekers, and we have used both to some degree. The most expensive taxi ride we have had so far was about $7 USD and the subway only costs $.30 per ride.

The other main news to report on of course is the pregnancy. All continues to go well. I am feeling fantastic and the additional walking is nice. There are days where I am more tired, but nothing unusual. Due date is April 30th and I am a little over 4 months along. I look forward to feeling movement any day now....and in the meantime, we are searching for a doctor here in BA to do a check-up and ultrasound in December. For all you curious folks, we are still determined to have the gender be a surprise at the birth.

Check back in a couple of weeks for an update and more photos!

Peace and Love,

Nicole and Forrest