Looking back — This year (last year!) was, well, pretty awesome.  M and I both enjoy our jobs, have a cozy house, and got to go lots of cool places. We visited the Galapagos and Machu Picchu (did I fail to mention that?  We’re a little behind here) and hosted visits by two great friends and my family. M’s family was all together for Christmas and now we’re enjoying a lazy long weekend at home.  I am trying out my new crock pot!  Oh, the excitement.  Bet you never thought living overseas could be so … suburban.

This year, Shomi enjoyed life in the lap of luxury, with a nanny AND a dog walker.

Looking forward — 2012 will be another year of change!  We’re headed back to Washington in July/August and are SUPER looking forward to life with Starbucks and Target and Chipotle.  Mmmmm.  And, of course, hoping to cross paths with friends we haven’t seen in a while!  We’re hoping to find a house in Washington and to get “settled” … at least for a couple years.  Moving again means M will have to find a new job, never a fun process but hopefully a new opportunity.  Shomi really gets the bum end of all this, since her days with the dog walker will be over.  But back home you can take your dog to the pet store and she can pick out her own toys!  So that almost evens things out.

Here comes the obligatory year in photos!

Hope you all had a terrific year, a fun-filled New Year, and another great year ahead.  What are your plans for 2012??

Luckily, another State Department blogger did it for me.  If I may quote liberally:

I’m guessing our pal Rick Perry hasn’t actually met a Foreign Service officer before. But he probably knows there aren’t a whole lot of them out there (I’m told it is still true that there are more military band members than there are FSOs). Since there aren’t a lot of FSOs, maybe he figures it’s okay to insult the whole lot of them – after all, even if every single one of us votes against him, we don’t have enough votes to collectively guarantee a loss for him. And here’s the kicker: if he somehow manages to pull off a victory, those very same Foreign Service officers whom he just mindlessly insulted will stand up and support his policies across the globe.

Because that’s what the Foreign Service is about. Diplomats support American ideals in every country across the globe, often at great risk to themselves and their families. Diplomats (and their boss, the Secretary of State) don’t set their own policies. Rather, they serve as boots on the ground, the eyes and ears of the President in every corner of the globe. Diplomats report back what they see and hear and think in these countries that Rick Perry has probably never considered visiting. They present the facts – and yes, they present their own educated opinions – so that our President has the information he needs to create and direct policy. Once the President decides on policy, these same diplomats work to advance his agenda. Not their own agendas, mind you. Never their own agendas.

Thank you, Donna, for this beautiful defense of FSOs.  I agree with every word.

After some discussion, and confirming that they really didn’t offer a cup of ice cream (just cones), the salesgirl nicely offered me a scoop of ice cream in a paper Coca-Cola cup.  So I got what I wanted, in the end.  But I was still mad.

It’s not a communication thing here — not really.  I’m fluent in Spanish.  My dear husband is a native speaker and was standing right beside me.  So we communicated just fine.

And it’s not really a culture shock thing, either.  At this point, I’m not at all surprised that they don’t have cups.  That they don’t do things like we do.  I’ve been here long enough that I know not to expect that.  So it’s not a shock.

But the problem is, I still think they should do things like we do.  They should have carry-out cups for ice cream, not just cones.  And when they don’t — even though I’m not surprised — I still get frustrated.  That things aren’t just the way I want them.

I suppose that’s always the reason we get upset — because things aren’t the way we want them, regardless of the where or why.  And I suppose, too, that living abroad means that happens more often.  Even though it’s not a shock, it’s still a cultural difference.  Something you’re used to isn’t available, or isn’t the same.

It gets better — I get better — and I don’t get mad as often as I used to.  I’ve come to expect — to accept — that things are different.  That often times they don’t do things the way I think they should.  And I try to let go of the “shoulds.”

But really?  They should have more flavors with chocolate chips.

Yes, the built-in Argentine-style grill was a major selling point when we rented our house a year ago.

Since then we discovered that the grill doesn’t so much vent as fill up the entire garage with smoke and ash.  But hey, it’s totally worth it, even when your car smells for a week.

And hopefully everybody also has an adorable chef’s assistant to go with said grill:

We found an Argentine butcher shop here (El Cordobes, Av Gaspar de Villarroel E9-130 y el Sol) … and while it’s not actually Argentine beef, it is really good (chorizo and milanesas and matambre, oh my!).

Also?  Any time I don’t have to cook, I think it’s pretty great.  So I’m fine with a parrillada pretty much any day.

… Now I have proof.

Last weekend there was a major storm in Quito (luckily we missed most of it because we were still driving back from Banos) and it hailed.  Like a lot.

Pictures taken from a moving car, so they’re not terribly clear …. but that white stuff??  That’s all ice.  And see how it’s not really melting?

COLD, people.  It is cold on the equator.