It all started with an email from Dana White. She and her family are also traveling around the world this year (www.6explorers.com) and they visited Argentina last fall.  As we were trading notes, she said something like “In the unlikely event something happens and you need help, the Goulds [another family from Dover] are in Buenos Aires this year.  FJ and Claudia are awesome and I’m sure they would lend a hand.” 

Well, that was all it took.  I sent an email off to FJ asking him if he could recommend some kids’ activities and if he thought it would be safe to attend a Boca Jr. futbol match at the infamous La Bombonera stadium.  Within minutes, I received a reply and shortly thereafter, an invitation for us all to meet for coffee.  We met near the Recoleta Cemetary at one of the oldest cafes in Buenos Aires, and two hours were not enough! 

Several days and cortados later, we made plans to get together for dinner.  Claudia, who is originally from Argentina, offered to teach me how to make empanadas and I jumped at the chance.   The Goulds have three kids (Sophie 14, Elizabeth 12, and Andy 10) who welcomed Carter and Katherine with smiles, Sculpey clay, and a PlayStation 3.  Everyone was happy as we savored homemade ham and cheese empanadas, great wine, and even better conversation. 

Carter interviewed the Gould kids on what it was like to live in Buenos Aires (for the interview, click here) and learned that, even though many things were really different, BA was an exciting place to be.

As dinner continued, we learned that FJ and Russ had both grown up in nearby Boston suburbs and joined the same class at Harvard; and that FJ and I had both lived in the same building (Eliot House) at school!  We had never run into each other because FJ was a varsity soccer player, while we were focused on extracurriculars. 

It wasn’t until  dessert that we discovered FJ’s freshman roommate was one of our close friends, Chris Min.  (Chris, we heard some stories we’d like to ask you about.)

Of course we had hoped to encounter new friends during this journey who shared our passion for exploring other cultures and corners of the world.  We were surprised though, that these new friends live less than five miles away!  It took a chance email introduction from a friend in New Zealand and a coffee in Argentina for us to cross paths.  We look forward to seeing them all again, some time soon, back home in Boston.