Happy Birthday Neil Diamond!!

Hope you guys are celebrating this joyous day. Is Neil big is Argentina?? ;)

We miss you, your trip sounds amazing.

-Kristi & Justin

The narrative on San Rafael is lovely and the pictures of your journey are wonderful! Fun to see the Washington pics - my grandmother, Patricia French, was a niece of the sculptor Daniel Chester French - sculptor of the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial - I also carry his last name/her maiden name as my middle name. Happiness and Good Health in the New Year! Thanks again.

Nat and Matt,

Reading Michael Juris' Christmas Story, I need to add the detail of the phone call that came in at 11:30PM on a
Sunday Night (I believe) from some guy in Cleveland who claims he was in a Homeless shelter and had this purse with this phone and lo and behold he was dialng all the people in the "contacts" list, and I was one of them. Normally a father would jump up and down, terrified that his daugher was killed or something like that, but I only had a fleeting moment of fear, when the whole thing hit me as completely normal....NATALIE LOST HER PHONE....AGAIN! WHAT'S NEW? No big deal. I just did what anyone who was Natialie's Father would have done. I asked the caller to dial any recent calls made to the Cleveland area code until he found Kaitlin or Miachael, which he did!

And while all this was going on, Natalie was praying to St. Anthony, who she keeps on her speed dial! And as always, St. Anthony anwered her prayers!

Dad C.

Dad

Funny Christmas story!!!

I was fortunate to have Matt and Nat stop to catch one of my shows at the Comedy Theatre in Cleveland a few days before Christmas. It was great to see both of them after the show...unfortunately we soon realized when the lights came on in the club that Nat's purse had disappeared or been 'borrowed' by a local thief who thought it match his outfit...luckily her husband had taken her license and money out of it prior to the show-premenition-who knows?? Phone(with all contact #'s) and credit cards lost -- the people at the club searched with Matt, I canvassed the garbage cans and alleys hoping to find the reminents of the purse(gotta think like them-character acting training paid off), while Nat prayed to St. Anthony...whom must have been close by (you'll understand later) ...I think he was at the Martini lounge after catching the early show...

After the frustration set in that it was gone, we cancelled all the credit cards and went to chat over a brew. Now the following actually happened which made it a true Christmas story...
My phone rang and it was Nat's friend Kaitlin who also lives in Cleveland. She said Nat's dad received a call (in Indiana) from a Homeless shelter in Cleveland saying that they had Nat's phone and just went thru the phone book and called a number. I'm sure that is comforting for a father to receive a call from a homeless shelter in another state about his daughter...although I'm sure Katie's summer trip and experiences with random people in bars and bus rides around mountains rivals this one but back to the story...
Nat then called her dad who got us in touch with a Homeless shelter director in downtown Cleveland who then told us he had her phone and we should meet him down by the Lake at MIdnight to do the exchange....
...well since that's how all bad B movies are scripted usually with the cast not making it...I suggested he meet me in the lobby of my hotel around midnight thinking this isn't going to happen. Well as Matt, Nat and I wait in the lobby who shows up but two men from the Homeless shelter not only with the phone but the whole purse and nothing missing. St Anthony wins again!
Story's not over and is now just getting funny. The homeless man who said he found the purse in an alley and was dressed better than me complimented me on my show after apparently seeing the show early in the evening...all I can say is that I perform for diverse crowds and the marketing director at the club has really done his job.
While it could have been snatched by him I choose to think he did find it in an alley and somehow thru 4-5 phone connections Nat got her purse back and Santa is real...and probably managed by St. Anthony.
As a thank you Matt compensated the men accordingly and I offered to volunteer some time over the holiday weekend to the shelter. Funny story done, not yet..
That Sunday I drove to the shelter with 7 bags of clothes, jackets, blankets etc.. that my family got together(gotta pay it forward) for me to drop off. The shelter was in a...well skechy area and I drove in the alley behind it to drop the stuff off. As I unloaded the bags out of my dad's Buick to some-one who worked there ......................I think...
all the police saw was a guy in running pants and a hoody at the back of a Buick with
the trunk open shaking some guys hand....apparently they had driven up at the end of the apparent drugdeal which looked like a random guy in a stolen Buick trying to buy crack...merry christmas to me! So this is the second time I've had to tell this Christmas tale.... I'm still searching for a Saint to pray to in that situation.......

You finally left America -- We are going to be in Panama for Carnival at the end of Feb - can you find jump on a quick flight?

Glad to see you guys are having fun --- email if you need us to send you more pesos!

Hi guys!
Wow, you are really doing it! I love all the pictures, can't wait to see Argentina. Thanks for sharing your adventure. Miss you guys!

Matt and Nat, I am checking out your Web site today for the first time at Bob & Kathy's. Looks like your having a great time. Hope you continue to enjoy your trip. Love, Aunt Jean.

Saturday, January 14th, San Rafael, Argentina -- We´ve arrived in San Rafael, our home away from home for 6 weeks, where we´ll be studying espanol while living in a working finca (farm/vineyard) 9 miles out of town. Yes, like those legendary stories from our grandparents, we´ll be biking 9 miles to and from school in 100 degree heat -- the equivalent of walking to school uphill, both ways, with no shoes -- AND LOVING IT! Trust me, my gut and high cholestorol will thank me for it later.

With only 20 hours in here in San Rafael, we´ll have to discuss more about Buenos Aires. And what a fun story we have to share . . .

Buenos Aires is an amazing city -- from the cobble-stoned streets and crumbling facades of historic San Telmo -- home of the Tango -- to La Boca, a working class barrio that lives life through Boca Juniors, their beloved futbol squad (these guys make Red Sox nation look like amateurs -- each house is painted in Boca colors). We walked and walked, sat in ubiquitous 150-year-old cafes -- our last day we visited no fewer than 6 -- visited Evita in the famous Recalota Cemetery, made stops at the Posada Rosada (White House equivalent) and Congresio -- clearly, we had ravaged Buenos Aires like a Spanish conquistador, and to celebrate our spoils, we planned an adios cena at one of the top steakhouse in the world, La Cabana de los Lillas. This place is the real deal, as outlined in our book, "1,000 Places to Visit Before You Die" and the meal did not disappoint. After dinner, we opted to head back to the Hotel as our flight left early the next morning. We hailed a cab and hopped in for the ride of our life. Our driver, a 400 lb porteno, filled the front seat -- both of them. His driving was reckless at best, weaving through traffic, often on opposite sides of the street. Pedestrians, coches, perros and anything else in his way be damned -- he was getting us back as quickly as humanly possible. Brakes smoking, tires squeeling, we slowed to a speed where jumping out would not result in injury or death. He actually never did completely stop. I jumped first, as Natalie held the last of our cash, a 50 peso note. The cab costs 7.40 pesos, and after grabbing the 50, he handed Nat back a crisp 2 pesos note. So, here we were, in a moving cab driven by a crazed 400 lb con-man, who just took us for 42 pesos. Nat wanted to jump him but we figured he was hungry and needed to get home for dinner. We walked mile after mile -- at all hours of the day -- in nearly every corner of Buenos Aires, and we get robbed by an overweight cabbie. I´ll pay 42 pesos for that story anytime.

Pictures to follow, although not of the cabbie.

M & N

NATALIE! Remember - your parents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, aunts and uncles are looking at this!...... How come I didn't get to go to that bachelorette party?

Hey Matt and Nat,

We're here with Mike and Christy and talking about you guys, wondering where you are, so we thought we'd hit your website.. Looks like you're having a blast.. We're so jealous! Be safe:)

Miss you guys!

Hey Matt, just checking in. Looks like you two are having a great time. You and Nat look great. Happy Holidays. How's the wine?

Matt and Nat - Great pictures and commentary. Have enjoyed following your adventures. Thanks for sharing with all of us. Have fun.