Events

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Global Meetings Industry Goes for the Record

Yesterday I took part in an event whose organizers hope to break the Guiness Record for the largest virtual conference ever!

The Global Meetings Industry is an association for all professions connected with conferences, conventions and other large events. I was, as you may know, a professional speaker for many years and thus part of this world.

Given the situation we are in, many of the GMI members are cancelling meetings right and left, and this event was kind of meant as a word of encouragement to them, as well as a fun way of connecting. One of the organizers was my speaking colleague Jennifer Spears — well done, Jennifer!

They won’t know for a few weeks whether they broke the record, but the attendance peaked at 12,500, which is impressive whether a record or not. I think it will be.

Honestly, I could be online from dawn to dusk these days with all the events landing in my emailbox. I’m being a bit discriminating, but I’m glad I took part in this one.

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Partying Lockdown Style

Yesterday was my friend Vivi’s birthday, and we decided to have a virtual party for her! We logged into Zoom at 7 pm, champagne at the ready.

These are two attempts at screen shots — difficult with a glass of champagne in one hand. On the left, the birthday girl is in the large foreground shot. I am on the top left, then our friends Joanna and Gary who are currently at home in Canada, Vivi again (not sure how that happened), Cecilia wearing her party hat, and Gillian ducking for some reason.

In the second one, Venetia is second from the left, but her Internet was so bad she eventually had to leave. Gillian, back from ducking down, is in the large image.

We were online for over an hour, and it was fun even though a bit chaotic!

Happy Birthday Vivi!

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Carnival!

A number of years ago I went with Cecilia and another friend to Gualeguaychu to see the second biggest carnival in South America, after Rio. It was spectacular.

Other cities in Argentina hold carnivals, including Buenos Aires. Even though this is the capital, the carnival is quite low key and nothing like as exciting as Gualeguaychu. But it’s fun in its own way, so I went with Venetia and Sally to check it out.

No huge floats, no almost naked people, no professional dancers. Just people having fun. Here are some photos and a video to give you a feel for the event.

This was some sort of exhibit of costumes, but we never figured out exactly what they were.

Parade make-up station

These were some cool boots!

I don’t want to be here. Why did you make me do this?

Carnival baby

Carnival baby’s mum

Backstage after the parade

Not sure what role this bus played but it was pretty cool looking

More backstage

And of course we ended the afternoon in the usual way!

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Wedding on the Beach

A couple of weeks ago, I went with Cecilia and three other women friends to Pinamar, where we celebrated the wedding of Cecilia’s daughter Pia — on the beach! I was so excited looking forward to this, as it’s such a romantic idea. And it didn’t disappoint!

We left on Friday and stayed until Sunday around noon. We had rented a full apartment through Air BnB, and it was amazing. So new you could still smell the newness. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, kitchen and breakfast room, one balcony with built-in asado and an ocean view, one with a view of the hills behind the town. And a pool on the roof deck.

There were eight women — seven Argentines and me! You can only imagine. Seven women speaking rapid colloquial Spanish, all at the same time, all weekend! I actually understood more than I thought I would, but I have to admit from time to time I simply tuned out in the interests of my sanity.

Pizza Night

On the Friday night Pia and Valentin had organized a pizza party at a local bar, imaginatively called The Bar. There were about fifty people there and it was fun, but it was really quite cold. We were a bit concerned about how cold it was going to be on the beach. In fact, many people had warned me to take warm clothes as it can be very windy and cold on the Argentine coast.

The Big Day

Fortunately, the warm clothes stayed in the suitcases as the weather was hot, sunny and beautiful. We went up to the roof after breakfast and enjoyed swimming in the pool. Then we brought up a bottle of champagne from the kitchen and got started early on the celebration — this was 11 am! Cecilia sent a photo to Pia, who then begged us not to drink as there would be lots of booze at the wedding. Too late!

We had snacks for lunch, and then all the other ladies went to get their hair and makeup done. I chose to do my own, which gave me a blissful two hours alone in the apartment to get ready and give my head a rest!

Obligatory Panic

Pia’s sister, Macarena, was the bridesmaid. She had chosen a cool little dress in a fabulous shade of jade green. Unfortunately, before coming to Pinamar she hadn’t been able to find shoes to go with it! So Saturday morning was spent with her partner, Daniela, running around Pinamar and neighbouring towns frantically trying on shoes! Eventually, she found what she liked and the panic was over.

What we didn’t know until later was that Pia’s brother, Joaquin, had forgotten his suit, shirt and tie! Carefully chosen and assembled for the wedding, it had inadvertently been left behind. So he and his partner, Corinna, were running around at the same time as Macarena and Daniela! Joaquin ended up renting an outfit, which solved the whole problem.

Dressed to Kill

We had planned to leave at 6.30 pm, and by that designated time we were all dressed up in our wedding finery. We all looked pretty good and couldn’t wait to get to the venue!

I have to say it was what we call in Scotland a “well dressed wedding”! There were eighty guests, many of whom were friends of the bride and groom. What a group of beautiful young people, both chicos and chicas! The range of styles was wide, but all chosen with care and they all looked happy and lovely!

The Wedding

Apparently there had been a disagreement between the bride and groom as to whether the wedding would be actually on the beach or in a restaurant right on the beach. Naturally the bride won, so it was in the restaurant. I think she was probably thinking of all the ladies’ shoes sinking into the sand. Anyway, it was a fabulous venue, with lots of space both indoors and out, and the best party I’ve been to in a long time!

They had hired a well known Argentine celebrity MC, and he was hilarious. He had obviously done his homework about the couple and their friends and added immensely to the fun.

They also had a DJ and the music was non-stop. It was the kind of dancing where you just dance with whoever is in front of you, or even several people! I barely sat down except to have a sip or two of wine! Eventually Maria Luisa, my roomie, and I got a taxi and went home at 2.30 am. Cecilia and the family were still dancing up a storm, and they eventually got home at 6.30 am!

Next morning we had brunch at a cafe on the beach — nobody talked much, just drank a lot of coffee.

All in all, it was a great weekend, a happy occasion and a GREAT party! Here’s a selection of photos of the event.

Champagne by the pool

One of our balconies, this one with a barbecue and a view of the beach

The ladies’ table — which Cecilia and I promptly left to go walkabout!

First we found a table full of men — a good place to start!

Ready for the party with Cecilia!

With Macarena and Daniela — las chicas!

With the bride

Cecilia’s tribute to her daughter

Pia with the MC

Valentin pays tribute to his bride

Happy Bride and Groom

Bride and groom in the sea — no, not at sunset, at sunrise!

The morning after the night before

Too cold to go all the way in, but at least I got my feet wet!

 

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Send a Child to School

Some of my expat friends here belong to an organization called Send a Child to School (SACS), whose main program provides backpacks full of school supplies for underprivileged children throughout Argentina. On Thursday I was delighted to be part of a day of packing supplies in the backpacks.

The event was very well organized. We went through a line-up, picking up backpacks for specific children according to age and sex, and adding supplies that had been prepackaged by other volunteers the previous day. Although it was a hot, sweltering day and keeping cool was an impossible task, I enjoyed the process and it felt good to be helping kids.

SACS sent out a message afterwards telling us we had contributed to assembling 2,768 backpacks — that’s a lot of happy kids!

Here are a few pictures to give you a feel for what it was like. The map also shows the work SACS has been doing throughout the country. Thanks, as always, to Venetia for taking the photos as I always forget!

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Cecilia’s Birthday Weekend in Chivilcoy

I’ve been very lazy this week about posting videos. This is Saturday and I’m just posting the video from last weekend in Chivilcoy.

Cecilia’s birthday was on Sunday, so all the family plus Venetia, Gillian and I descended on Macarena and Daniela’s home in Chivilcoy, a pleasant market town a couple of hours from Buenos Aires. It felt as if there were about 700 people and 50 dogs in the house, but in fact there were 11 adults and 4 dogs. In any case, it was enough to produce a lot of noise and a great deal of fun over the whole weekend.

Here’s a short montage of photos I took over the two days.

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New Year’s Eve by the Rio de la Plata

This was the fourth year of bringing in the New Year in the posh, upscale barrio of Puerto Madero. We, however, don’t pay the ridiculous prices they charge in the waterfront restaurants or upscale hotels. No, we have a picnic, complete with table and chairs, Christmas tablecover and fairy lights that we twine around the nearest tree. And of course lots of food, wine and champagne. We take advantage of the music from the restaurants to dance along by the water and across the bridge, and when we need to go to the washroom we use the one in the Hilton!

Here are a few images from this year’s picnic.

Thank you for reading my blog, commenting in the Comments section as well as by email to me, and general telling me you enjoy hearing about my exploits here in amazing Argentina.

I wish you and yours all the best for a Happy New Year, and a wonderful 2020.

Apparently Vivi didn’t get the memo about everyone wearing white! It’s a Brazilian custom that’s made its way here the past few years.

The beautiful Puente de la Mujer

Spacey on New Year’s Eve!

Lina and me

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Another Party!

Last night my friends Marcia and Cliff had a holiday party, and I’m so glad I was invited because it was great fun. I met some new people, as well as the “usual suspects”, and they also had two musicians to entertain us. They were amazing. A wonderful pianist, and a violin player who is just discovering that he can play so much more than classical music.

Here are a few shots of us in Christmas mode — thanks to Venetia for taking the ones she’s not in.

Now I’m off to get ready for Lolly’s brunch!

Lolly, Paula and me. I’m going to a brunch at Lolly’s place as soon as I finish posting this!

Venetia, Viviana and me

Vivi with Axel, the pianist

Axel and me

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Another Goodbye

One thing about having a lot of expat friends here in Buenos Aires is that they are constantly coming and going. So we are often having some sort of despedida event for someone. Last night we said goodbye to Gayle, who has been a fun member of our little clan here for a while now.

Some go back for several months and then return, as I did for four years before moving permanently last November. Others, like Gayle, move back for job related reasons, and we don’t know when we’ll see them again. Hopefully she’ll come back to visit one day.