New York Minutes, Vol. 6: Feliz Año Nuevo

Greetings from our new home, a whopping six blocks away from our old home, seventeen floors above the construction site next to the Woolworth Building. The site is to become a Four Seasons Hotel – but not until the completion of the Freedom Tower, so our view north should be unobstructed for a few years to come. The week around Christmas was spent listening to the mellifluous sounds of packing tape – but all in all it went smoothly...

...hopefully indicating a trend of seamless transitions, as I finally left company payroll a few weeks ago. It's incredible how much more responsive organizations can be when you leave than when you stay: I got booted out of the e-expenses system and received my severance pay and accoutrements faster than I'd ever had an issue resolved by the company before.

A friend through work circles just moved his small consulting firm into a space that's a few sizes too big for now, so the four of us working on the UN mandate who've all been working at home will actually try sitting together for awhile.

Having people to talk to during the day other than doormen and gym staff is almost as exciting as the fact that the office itself borders Chinatown, which is a treat for all the senses. The drawback is the threat of the China Ten, the weight-gaining phenomenon I was warned about upon moving to Shanghai: like the Freshman Fifteen from college, but brought on by an abundance of dumplings and noodles rather than calzones and pizza.

Speaking of food (and when do we not, really), we just spent two weeks eating beef and empanadas in Argentina and Chile to celebrate surviving our first year of marriage. You may recall that since Adrian planned the honeymoon as a surprise last year, it was my turn – and I was SO close to pulling it off…

…But a few weeks before we left, I found myself in a rare moment of high stress, my only full week at home during the entire autumn, during which I spoke at two sessions at the annual conference of my field so it wasn’t exactly relaxing. We still hadn’t found a new apartment; I’d managed to slip out of the conference to see one that I thought might work, but Adrian didn't think he'd have time to see it the next day, so the following conversation ensued while cleaning up after a dinner party we’d hosted:

Panicked Wife: “When do you think we’re going to find a place?”
Calm Husband: “A few weeks before we have to move, I guess.”
Frustrated Wife: “When?! We can’t look at anything while we're in Argentina?!...”
Disappointed Husband: “You didn't mean to say that, did you?”
Exasperated Wife: “Say what?!...”

A moment after which Said Wife crumbled onto the floor into a little heap, and the next day dropped a few extracurricular activities and vowed not to spend as much time on the road. (No longer having a travel budget will help.)

But bless him, he did his best to forget and we had a fabulous time. A few nights in Buenos Aires; three nights in Mendoza, touring vineyards; one night at the truly spectacular Iguazu Falls, which we visited by light of the full moon; then all the way down to Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city, where after the requisite visit to the world's southernmost Irish pub we embarked on a three-night cruise that took us to Cape Horn and through the Beagle Channel and Magellan Straits.

Now, I'd never had any interest in going on a cruise, but Adrian had, so I figured this would be a good introduction – supposedly not a very cruisey cruise, and it's the only way to access Cape Horn.

But my apprehensions were vindicated when we were assigned to the table at which we would spend the next eight meals, and one of the first things the couple next to us said to the couple on their other side (thankfully) was, “Sarah Palin? I thought she was a breath of fresh air.”

So instead of meals being long leisurely affairs as one might want on vacation, we spent as little time at the table as we could while still masticating like civilized people. Luckily our waiter had us pegged and kept the Malbec flowing.

But we did get to disembark at Cape Horn, and see a glacier calving in a big way – and I nearly exploded when I spotted a pod of dolphins swimming alongside our boat.

After disembarking in Chilean Patagonia we made our way to Torres del Paine National Park where we hiked to the base of the iconic mountain peaks, then flew back to Buenos Aires before heading home. The three-hour time difference is negligible, but it was the typical 9:30pm dinnertime that it took some time to shake off.

So there you have it. I’m ready for 2009: New Year, new apartment, new haircut, new work mode, new MacBook… and yes, finally, a Facebook account. See you there – it will help distract me from my attempts at a booze-free January.

Much love,
cb

P.S. Speaking of putting 2008 behind us, one of my favorite nonprofits has been hit hard by the Madoff fallout; grateful if you might consider whether you know anyone who could support an initiative to track lawsuits against companies accused of human rights abuses.