micheleandtom.com

One easy step to help Americans lose weight — don’t take the car to the grocery store. (Or, if you live in the country, park 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from the grocery store.)

I’ve been thinking about why I always seem to lose weight when I live overseas, and I have come up with two main reasons: 1) I walk more; and 2) I can only buy as much from the grocery store as I can comfortably carry over a distance of about 1/4 to a 1/2 mile.

Because we can’t carry very much, we have to shop every day, which means we get at least a mile of walking in on a daily basis just through the act of buying food!! On top of that, we are very picky about what we actually purchase because we have to carry it, so lunch food for the girls and dinner fixings take precedence.

Bottom line, there’s just a lot less food in the house.

Now, I’m heading to the table to eat some Oreos (I never said I was a saint)!!!

Big surprise, Zelda broke her glasses about a week ago. (She went to bed with them on…’nuff said.)

Anyhow, Tom and I would carry them around with us, ready to dash into an eye glass store whenever we happened upon one. A few days ago, we spotted a store, did the dash, but the very nice gentleman wasn’t really able to fix them. *double sigh*

Then, on Halloween, with blonde Zelda dressed up as a devil (wearing a red covering over her head with black horns sprouting out), we moseyed into the eyeglass store near her school. Needless to say, the American family walking in with their daughter dressed as a devil really caused an uproar. After several devil jokes, they took her glasses into the back for a technician to fix.

By the time we left, we had a pair of beautifully repaired glasses (free of charge), and a host of technicians and sales people gathered together waving a fond farewell to us as we strode out the door.

Buenos Aires is one of the friendliest big cities I have ever had the pleasure of visiting!

One of the things that I found the most frustrating prior to my move was trying to obtain information on schools while still in the United States. So, here’s a breakdown, with links, on what I know, to help those planning an international move to Buenos Aires with kids:

• I posted a list of school tips based on our search at the BaExpats forum, which can be found here. I would recommend starting with my observations on the BaExpats forum before diving into the schools.

• A good place to begin your school search is to go to the International Baccalaureate site for schools in Argentina, which can be found here. Many of the bilingual schools in Buenos Aires are combined primary through secondary programs, and although they don’t all offer IB at the primary level, it is a good indicator of their commitment to academics if the school offers it at the high school level.

• Schools mentioned to us by friends/family are: (there may be some overlap with the IB schools) Belgrano Day School , Nuevos Rumbos, Belgrano Uno, Colegio Buenos Aires, Felix Bernasconi, Palermo Chico, Escuela del Renacimiento, Uriarte School, Sworn Junior College, St. Patrick’s School, St. Brendan’s School, Escuela Septiembre.

• For a rough idea of tuition and fees, the schools we toured in Belgrano ran about $US 400 to $US 700 per student in initiation fees per year and about $US 300 to $US 500 per month for 10 months in tuition. There is usually a discount for 2nd and 3rd children. The 2nd child discount is 15-25%. I can’t recall the third child discount because, well, I don’t have a third child!

• Remember, by mid-December, you won’t be able to get in contact with any school as they will be GONE for summer break. Schools recommence activities sometime in mid-February.

DISCLAIMER:I am not personally recommending any of these schools, nor have I checked out every one of these schools. I am merely sharing the information from which I began my search. Good Luck!