Ms. Schiller's Neighborhood

I've been wanting to put a picture up of my keys - I think they are so cool! Most of the keys in Buenos Aires look like this. This is my keychain for my house, and it just happens to have Tinkerbell on it, which just happens to be Amber's favorite character.


I took my camera along with me today as I walked to a nearby cafe to have lunch and write this post. I wanted to take some pictures of things that I have found to be quite common in my area.


Ok, so these first pictures are not so common, but I went down a street that I don't normally walk and I found this awesome house - its all old and fun-looking, and to make it even cooler its hidden behind an ivy-covered wall.

This is another home on the same street that is constructed in a style not uncommon in my area. If you will notice, all of the windows have wooden shutters on the outside of the window. Many houses have shutters like these that are multi-purpose. They provide added security and are absolutely amazing at blocking out light, which caters to the Porteño (Buenos Aires resident) youth's lifestyle of coming home very late and sleeping in even later.

Now this, this is a Loquat Tree. There's another name in Spanish, but I don't remember what it is (that's the problem with learning so many words in one day; you can only remember a handfull! Sorry, I was in a car when I found out the name and didn't write it down.). The fruit from this tree happens to be my favorite in the whole world, and I have counted it as a blessing every time I have found one in the states because they aren't exactly common. So far I've seen three of these trees in my neighborhood!!!

We have some family friends that live in Oceanside who had a couple of Loquat Trees in their front yard, and we used to visit all the time when I was a kid. I remember passing the days eating Sour Grass and picking Loquats.

A friend tells me that the sell the fruit in the markets in November and December. I can't wait for them to ripen!!!

The sidewalks are different here because they aren't usually just poured cement like they are at home. The sidewalks are put together with tiles, which may have its reasons, but from what I've experienced isn't such a good idea. The tiles are always coming loose because water settles between them. The result of this is that you are incessantly tripping on the uneven ground or, even more fun; getting squirt from below by stepping on a tile with water currently under it. Fortunately I usually just trip.

All of their soda, and water for that matter, is served in a glass bottle.