Stoplights and good food.

Above: Evening in Colonia, Uruguay on Wednesday.

The parents have arrived!

What does this mean?

The two of them have way more energy than I do, and on Wednesday went to dinner at midnight, when I had to curl up and retreat to my bed.

Stuart has found many uses for his Spanish. I was particularly impressed by the fact that he knew the word ''semáforo'' (stoplight) which is a word I'm not sure I'd be able to recall on the spot. He has not won over any nuns with his Spanish skills (the rumor is that this happened in Spain), but they still have two more days in Buenos Aires . . .

Molly has made it her goal to go to every craft fair, big and small, in the city. This is quite lofty in a city where every corner is a great place for a ''fair,'' but I would say she's doing quite well.

The two of them have figured out the subway system (after only a tiny bit of instruction) and today they even switched lines!

Also, we have embarked on ''Julie's unofficial international food tour of Buenos Aires.'' After almost six months in Argentina, I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to eat at some places that don't serve pizza or empanadas. So far we've hit up a falafel place and a Vietnamese restaurant. Tonight might be Mexican or Indian. It looks like for ''real'' Argentine food they're going to have to break off on their own.

Above is a shot I took when we visited Uruguay on Tuesday.