additions

Hey guys,
So we will be leaving argentina in less than five days to fly back home to the states. It is wierd to think it is so close to being done and that I´ve been away from home for two months now. It has gone by incredibly fast.
Well, the past couple of days in Salta have been wonderful. A man named David, who we met at the beginning of our trip has been taking us around the city and the province to different places that are famous and special to this area. Three of the students from the church have accompanied us on these outings, which made it a lot more fun. He took us to see the foothills of the Andes yesterday where there are a lot of famous vineyards. They are some of the best vineyards in all of Argentina. We went to a winery, took a tour, tried some wine and wine flavored ice cream, and enjoyed the beautiful veiw fo the moutains. The drive to this village was about four hours, but it passed much faster than I expected. The terrain changed drastically throughout the drive from a valley surrounded by mountains to being within and winding through the mountains, to being in a desert again surrounded by mountains. THe landscape reminded me of a combination of Glenwood Springs canyon in Colorado, northern New Mexcio, and Wyoming. The mountains were all different colors of red rock and some were covered with vegetation while others were bare. We stopped in several different spots along the drive to go rock climbing.
Today we went to were the Amazon rainforest begins in northern argentina or to where it ends, depending on your perspective. We hiked in the forest for a little while, winding from one side of a river to the other. We also drove to a lake on a road that was the old Incan highway. The Incans used it to capture and conquer the indigenous people of Argentina and later the Spanish conquistadors used it to transport goods and armies.
So I can know say that I´ve seen the Andes, the Amazon, and an Incan highway. All of which I did not expect to see and think is very neat and special to have had the privilege of seeing.
I hope you all are well. We leave tomorrow to begin our two day drive back to Buenos Aires. I will then see my host family again on Saturday and prepare to fly home Sunday. I look forward to talking with you all soon. Lots of love.

I just don´t know

Hey friends who read this!!!!!! Hello!!!! We miss you all!!!!!! It´s crazy to think this fun adventure might be ending soon. With all the traveling we´ve been doing for a month now it seems like we just got here and don´t know anything at all. It´s strange to know that all I own or need is in a duffel bag and I still overpacked but desperately miss my black puffy best. This time here will surely go quickly and it´s bittersweet. I miss my family a lot, especially Anna and I now have a lot of really good advice for her when she goes to Costa Rica in a month, but I am exploring South America with good friends and my favorite boy in the world and for that I don´t want to leave. My way of living and appreciation of comfort have been interestingly challenged. At this point I value a working toilet so much more than a car and sanitation is more precious than nice clothes. Oh the things you never knew you never knew you always had. Can´t wait for all of you to come to my room and lay on my memory foam with mea nd drink from my whale mug and listen to tango music and look at my pictures and hear about this place, this crazy, scary, amazing, beautiful, haunting, and fabulous place.

Salta

The past two and a half days in Salta have been more challenging than many of us expected it would be, but now that the camp is over i am very glad that i am here and that we had the opportunity to come. in essence the camp was a wonderful way to see the ways that other believers view the church and their role in the world. it was definitely a cross-cultural experience and i enjoyed being forced to interact with many different cultures. we talked a lot about the difference between a leader and a facilitator. it was really interesting because their definition of facilitator is our definition of a good leader. but in their cultural context, leader has only negative conotations. their past with incredibly abusive and power hungry leaders along with the tight hand of the catholic church has shaped their conception of leader. in their minds leaders are power hungry people who are oppressive, abusive, and do not listen to the intersts or the needs of the people in the community. therefore , they used the word facilitator to describe the way that people should be interacting with those around them and using their abilities to give a voice and power to others. the camp was also really interesting because it reminded me of the emphasis that many other cultures place on the hope we have in christ. almost all of their songs and messages came back in the end to the hope. we took communion this morning and several of the students and leaders said we do not need to be said or to feel really down and melancholy when we take communion. we need to refelct on our own sins and christ´s work for us, but then to move on and remember that he is alive and gives hope to a dark world. i thought that was so beautiful because often i focus too much on the suffering piece of the gospel that i forget the hope and the celebration we have because of what christ did for his children.

tonight we are going to watch argentina play brasil in the final american cup soccer game. tomorrow we are going to an art market and later to explore more of salta. on tuesday we will be going to a pueblo that is famous for their wine and we will stop to see harry potter. then on wednesday we begin our drive back to buenos aires. it is wierd that i am on the last week. the trip has been fun, but i am also looking forward to coming home. i love you all.

adventures continue

hey guys,
i dont have much time to write, so i will try to fill you in on what i can. we got to rosario on monday and guess what? it snowed in argentina for the first time since WWII. it did not snow in rosario, but it was still really cold and none of us have the proper clothing for super cold weather. we toured around the city for two days and had great discussions with dr. toly about everything and anything including urban studies. we had an interestidng time getting to the bus station to catch our bus to salta. well, it began when the city does not believe in being able to call taxis or in reserving them. we did not find this out until we saw the bellhop of the hotel attempting to flag down taxis for us. so we left the hotel and walked to a major street corner. please picture twelve gringos with their lugage standing on a corner attempting to hail a taxi for 20 minutes. rather hilarious. then the bus was late arriving to the station. when it did arrive they told us the luggage carrier was full and we would have to ride for 17 hours with our luggage on our lap. luckily they managed to squeeze almost all of our luggage in so we rode a little more comfortably. the ride was easy and relatively relaxing, except for the crying babies and the cold temperature.
we arrived in salta thinking we would be going to a camp for college students about how to do mission work and about tough issues the church is dealing with. well, we were wrong. it tyurns out it is a camp for college students who are interested in working with children in the church and in the community to bring them to Christ. it is a cool idea overall and the students are from all over latin america. however, since many of us are not interested in working with children, the camp is only two days, and we did not know what we were doing until we arrived the past two days have been slightly stretching and challenging for us. dr. scott put me in charge of the group after we left brasil. i did not exactly know why except that i am organized. i am beginning to suspect that he knew the salta part would be hard and that the group would need an encourager. needless to say amy and i have been the encouragers of the group. it is also hard for many of us because we are so close to going home and the homesickness has definitely hit. but salta is really pretty and next week will be better when we are traveling around the city with a little more freedom. all in all it is rather entertaining if you chose to see it that way.
i love you and miss you all.

Rio de Janeiro

Well it finally feels like summer here in sunny and 85 degrees Rio, and its probably one of the prettiest cities i have ever seen! Its on the ocean and there are mountains surrounding it... just beautiful!

Two days ago we hiked up to see the Jesus statue that over looks the city, and it was quite an adventure! we didnt know that we would be hiking it that day, so i was wearing flip flops and a skirt. it was definately the hardest hike ive ever done! and by the time we got to the top, clouds came in and it was freeezing and we couldnt see the statue or the magnificent view of the city! oh well! we might take the train up another day so we can actually see the stuff.

Rio is a really interesting city. For those of you who dont know much about it, it is one of the largest cities in the world and the second largest in brazil with about 15 million people. It is one of the weathiest cities in brazil, but also has some of the worst slums. they say that the greatest gap between rich and poor is here. This makes for an interesting dynamic of tourism and rich living, with poverty and danger. If you have seen the movie city of Gods, you have an idea of what its really like here, although we dont really see that stuff because we stay in the touristy areas where its relatively safe.

Fabulous Food!

For those of you who know me well I love food and I remember places by where I eat. Well last night we ate at a restaurant that was incredible and will be fondly remembered by me for many years. Jen, this would be one that I would write up in my travel guide book that you and are going to write one day. It came close to competing with that shrimp shack. Anyway, it was our last night all together as a group and most importantly with one of our beloved professors. He will be leaving Wheaton to go to Whitworth College in Washington. In order to honor him we all went to a Brazilian steakhouse. It was amazing. The salad bar had a wide variety of vegetables, cheeses, and fruits, which was a joy. As Amy wrote, we have been deeply missing our greenery in our meals. I could easily have only eaten the salad bar and still thought it was a great restaurant. But then the even better part came around. Each waiter carried skewers with different cuts of beef, chicken, and pork. The continually came around to your table and if you wanted it you nodded and then indicated how much. If you did not want it, you just politely waved them away. You need to know that I like meat, but it would not be my choice meal. Well, this restaurant changed my opinion of meat. It was probably some of the best meat I have ever eaten and all of it was very tender, flavorful, and melted in your mouth. In addition to the fabulous meat, we also had fresh squeeezed passion fruit juice, which was also incredible. We sat there laughing, eating, talking, and enjoying one anothers company for about three hours. It was a lot of fun and maybe one of my favorite memories so far on the trip, besides the waterfalls.

We are seperating tonight, as Amy said. So whatever you hear from Hillary applies to her and three other students. Amy and I along with 11 other students head back to the Brazilian side of the falls tonight in another bus ride. Then we cross back into Argentina to explore Rosario and Salta. I hope you are all doing well. I am sure we will have more funny bus ride stories to tell you soon!

pretty

Hello there,
Brazil has been so so so beautiful with the Iguazu Falls and Curitiba. It is sad that Hillary will be leaving us but she is very good at reminding us all as we head back into winter that she only brought summer clothes. poo. Several things here are just down right better than Argentina like the traffic, the scenery(which means that the houses are prettier and bigger but more on that later and theres not as much garbage and we saw really amazing waterfalls), and to all of our delight and health the food actually comes in varieties of greens, fruits, and quality meats here not baked or flavored with vegetable oil. Oh the joy of the open buffet!!! We have learned so much about this one city because it is so called a model city but as the good college investigative christians we are we have tried our very hardest to find fault with this place in the many informative talks we have had with government organizations and are trying to understand the gray area between the ministries we visited, the famous amount of parks here, information from the government, and then our observationa and interaction with poverty in Buenos Aires. Its very interesting is all I will say right now. Very interesting indeed. The bumer part is that we are on the road so much now with the longest stay being 5 days somewhere in some country but we are getting very good at buying snacks. Oh the great Adventure!!! We will miss you Hillary, try not to get too burnt and stay away from Drew, dont want to prime the engine or anything. hehehehehehehe.

Hurray for me!

So I want you all to cheer for me and to be incredibly excited for what I did today. I rode a bike! Okay so everyone should be rejoicing with me. For those of you who do not know I had a bad bike accident a year ago and have not been back on a bike since then. But this afternoon a bunch of us wanted to go for a bike ride to better see the city of Curitiba and to see the condition of their bike and pedestrain path that runs throughout the city. It was a lot of fun and the bike path is in wonderful condition.

We have spent the past two days getting aquainted with this city and seeing the ways the governmental leaders are addressing problems and issues of urbanization. Curitiba is world reknown for its environmental sustainability and friendliness. It has over 55 square meters of parks per resident. Consequently, the city is beautiful and is covered in parks and greenery. I will admit the parks and green spaces were very refreshing to see after living for a month in Buenos Aires. The city is also very wealthy. The government claims there are no poor people in the city and that there are no beggars or homeless people. In one sense this is true. You do not see beggars or even many people attempting to sell things on the streets. You also do not see stray dogs. However, when you talk with nongovernmental people, you quickly realize that the story the governmental leaders tell is not exactly true. They end up giving huge incentives to the poor within the city so that they leave the city and go to the rural areas. They are told they will receive land and a house. They do receive both of these, but it is in a squatter settlement or shanty town. A further problem with this solution is that once people live in shanty towns they cannot get out. No one will want to give them credit or to hire them in high paying jobs even if they possess the needed skills. In some ways the city feels like it is too good to be true. It kind of reminds me of the Truman Show. It is a beautiful place and all of the residents love to live here, but I am wondering if they have really addressed issues of urbanization. I am also beginning to wonder if you can address all of the issues, or if you begin to address one do the others fall behind.

The other cool thing for me over the past two days relates to some discussions that Michael and I have had with two of our professors about the HNGR program. These two professors have been previous or current HNGR advisors so they know more then I do about how the internship plays out. We have to design a project for the internship. But they said in many ways you only have a vague idea of the project and you dont really begin to design your project and make it more concrete until about half way through your six month stay in a developing nation. Your project comes out of your interests and most importantly from listening to the organization to see what their interests are and what their needs are. For example, one of the ministries we saw yesterday did not know how their work was changing the feelings and impressions between the poor and rich. So a HNGR intern could use their skills in anthropology or sociology to research the effects of the program and to see if they are having the results they want. Also we met a girl from Germany who has been here for about 5 months. She came here not knowing any Portuguese and she now can speak profficient Portuguese and even translate from it into English. It was very encouraging.

I hope you are all well. Happy forth of July. Please set off some fireworks for me!

Oy Brazil!

Well we are finally in Brazil as our adventure continues. It has been two crazy days and i honestly don´t know if i´ve ever been this dazed!!! Yesterday began very early, I got to go see the Brazilian side of the falls because I wasn´t going to be going back that way with the rest of the group (whish has now changed... but i´ll explain that later) and they were incredible, again like sheryl said, it´s just almost impossible to put into words what an incredible and amazing place it is. Then the whole group crossed to boarder and we were supposed to get on a bus to take us to Curitiba around 6. Being the efficient and smart travelers we are, we arrived an hour and a half early just in case. However, around 5:35 we were told that the bus we wanted wouldn´t stop at that station, so we went to this ¨VIP¨ lounge/bus stop where it would pick us up. I think the only reason they called it VIP is because you didn´t have to pay to use the bathrooms!!! While we were there, we started talking with a guy about places we should go and see and we were telling him our itinerary and he kinda gave us a funny look. Turns out, the route we were planning on taking to get back from Rio to BuenosAIres would take just under three days by bus!!!! we´ve begun the process of looking for other options! Oh and in case you´re wondering, only three other students and myself are going to Rio. Sadly, our bus didn´t show up till about 815. The last time we had eated was about 1pm, so we were all hungry by that point, and they told us we´d stop in two hours. WE did stop in about 2 and a half hours, but not for food. The police got on the bus and started checking through our stuff, pretty much touching all our bags, and shining flashlightsin our eyes. Later Dr. Scott explained that they were searching for riffles. Apparently the government is affraid of revolutionary actions occuring, and this is their way to deter it.

We finally stopped for dinner around 1, however we all found it quite difficult to order food in portugues under the influence of heavy sleeping pills! Most ofus wandered around for a while untill someone else would get up the courage to point at something through glass and then we´d all follow, even if you didn´t really want that item! WE finally arrivedin Curitiba around 6:45am after pretty much no sleep!

Once we got to the place at which we´ll be staying for the week, the lutheran theological seminary, the adventure got much better! Turns out this is a beautiful city! WE walked to a park that used to be a quary that they fixed into an incredible ecological reserve! Then we went to a delicious restaurant where I had ranch dressing for the first time im 5 weeks... God is good! Afterward we walked to another park that also used to be aquary and we played ultimate frisbee, the first realy exercise i´ve had in 5 weeks. It was a beautiful day... probably about 73 degrees-ish. Tomorrow we´ll be taking a tour of the city and attending some classed in portuguese... we´ll see how that goes!

Gran Aventura

so we are now at the Falls of Iguazu and they are incredible. We got here yesterday afternoon and spent the day eating, relaxing, and wandering around the small city. Today we went on an all day excursion into the national park to explore the falls. They were so beautiful and it seemed impossible that so many falls could be in such a small area. We hiked through part of the rain forest and then on several bridges to different overlooks. The first place we went was called the Devils Throat. It is were several different rivers from both Brazil and Argentina come together and fall down into a tiny bowl shaped area. The mist that rises from this area can be seen several miles away. If you did not know it was from a waterfall, you would think there was a forest fire. Later we went to overlooks of different falls at various levels so that we got a good idea of the size and beauty of the falls. One of the girls with us described it as being in Neverland and Hillary said it was like the Garden of Eden with rainbows, waterfalls, lushious trees, and birds everywhere.

In the afternoon some of us went for a boat ride into the falls. For those of you who have done Maiden in the Mist at Niagra, please erase this idea from you mind. First they gave us waterproof bags and said anything that you do not want to get wet, you should put into the bag. Next we put on life jackets and then climbed into a large motor boat that sat about 25 people. They took us to the base of one of the falls where we were able to take some pictures. Then we turned to go back to the dock. We thought that was it and so we were trying to be optimistic. But the camera man was only switching cameras to one that was completely waterproof. We then went to another section of the falls and got a little closer to the base of the falls each time. We continued to yell closer, closer. Our driver took us closer each time until we were directly under the falls with water and mist pouring onto us. We did this about three times. It was incredible!! We were under one of the largest waterfalls in the world. It was so beautiful and exhilarating, kind of like white water rafting, only with waterfalls. Then we went down river a ways before unloading and riding back in a truck. I dont think it was until towards the end of the boat ride that any of us really felt like we were in South America.

Today was pretty much the perfect day and exactly what we needed. Hillary, Amy, and I were growing tired of the city and in much need of some refreshment and peace from nature. I didnt realize how much I missed being in nature until today when I could stand and simply gaze at a beautiful part of creation, breath clean air, and simply enjoy the peace of nature. I know Ive said this several times, but it was really beautiful. I could imagine the Jesuit missionaries coming over three hundred years ago and interacting with the Guarani close to these falls. It would have been incredible to see it then without the national park bridges or the motor boats.

Tomorrow we break off with the other group. THey will go to Chile for the next three weeks, while we head to Brazil for a while and then back to other cities in Argentina. I hope you are all doing well.

que paso?

Wow, I can´t believe we leave in just a few hours. I feel like I have a final exam I haven´t studied for or something. I´m just not ready yet. The nice part is I finally figured out how to write on this blog again, brilliant!!! Now I can comment about how loco I feel. I think I´ve learned a lot but then again, I forget what I knew before I came and what I´ve just confirmed by my experience here. I think I´ve changed, but I don´t remember how I was when life was ¨normal¨. There´s things I would change, yes, but can I really have preferences on how I would live here just because things weren´t to my very best advantage? The questions. There are a few things I do know though or wish I did:

1. The children here are beautiful and I hope some day I can adopt from here.
2. I´m changing my concentration again to business-psychology and spanish minor. good luck to me.
3. My heart aches and burns when I see children selling things on subtes, women begging holding children, and mentally or physically handicapped people on the streets.
4. The city makes my mind race and I find little peace here. I understand how people can become apathetic or isolated in the rush to all squish together.
5. I wish I could be more to so many people, people I love deeply, people I´ll never meet, people I look with pity in my eyes but not enough to reach into my pocket, myself mostly.
6. Dignity is quickly replaced by hunger. Need outweighs etiquette, and compassion can feel overwhelmed by desperation.
7. Who do I represent when no one knows who I am? A student, an american, a christian?
8. I have no idea how to suffer well.

I´m sure I could add but right now I just want to sleep and pray.

Learning to Love

As I was riding back to my Buenos Aires home today, for the last time on the train, I realized how much I enjoy this city. THere are parts of it that bothered me from the beginning or during the middle, but now I enjoy them in a wierd way. I enjoy hearing the music of the beggars on the trains and hearing the vendors walk through selling odd things from chocolate to tape measures to nail clippers. I enjoy hearing people talk in Spanish while listening to music from the United States. I enjoy walking down teh streets with the stray dogs following me for a while as children pass me on the way to school. I am going to miss it. But I realized on the train that I am not only going to miss the good more pleasant parts of the city. I am also going to miss the harder more uncomfortable and at times ugly parts that forced me to question aspects of my life and the life we are to lead as Christians. I thin in missing both the more pleasant, fun aspects of the city along with the uglier, more uncomfortable parts I will truly be missing Buenos Aires and not the Buenos Aires of the rich or the tourist.

Hillarys host father asked us what we thought about Argentina and Buenos Aires. One of us said it is really pretty. His response surprised me and I dont think I will forget it. He said then you have not really seen Buenos Aires. At first I thought, what are you saying. Dont you want us to think your country and city are pretty. But then as I thought more about this over the past couple of days I began to realize his meaning and the importance of what he said. If you want to really know a place then you will have to see all of its aspects, including the good and bad aspects of it. It is only then that you see it for what it is. This does not mean you will like all of it or that you will appreciate seeing it for what it is, but you will truly know what it is like. Also, true beauty comes from seeing a place for what it is and still appreciating and enjoying it. This is what has happened to me over the past months. Ive seen the economic inequality and the problems with the distruibution of the income. Ive felt uncomfortable every day when a beggar approaches me and asks for money. Ive felt saddened when I pass by the villas or slums that are right next to really rich houses or shopping centers. Ive been disgusted by teh advertisements for high tech goods that very few can afford while others go hungry. But in spite of all of these feelings and uncomfortable moments, in spite of the ugly aspects of this city, Ive grown to appreciate and enjoy it for what it is and for what it has to offer. It is a city where people live and that has similar needs to many urban areas throughout the world, only they are more blatant here because the gaps between the rich and poor are sharper and because it is less familiar to me.

Tomorrow we leave for the falls of Iguazu in the norther part of the country where we are happy to hear it is a wonderful 80 degreees.

Phrases I will miss hearing - mi mujer, mi amor, mi señora, chae which is similar to our dude but is used by more people than only teenagers

I hope you are all well.

Uruguay

Well as I told you earlier, some of the group spent the last four days in Uruguay. It was a wonderful break and provided the relaxation and rest that we all needed. We spent two days in the capital city of Montevideo and the other day exploring the coast of the country. Montevideo is a charming and wonderful city. In many ways it is a lot like BUenos Aires, although a fraction of the size. Therefore, it has a lot of the big city things to do like the theater and art fairs without the city noise and commotion. The peacefulness and tranquility of the city was really nice. The two days we spent in Montevideo were used to go to museums, art fairs, theater productions, and to talk with the people about their country. We were given the task of comparing this city to Buenos Aires economically, politically, and religiously. It was fascinating to do and I found the people very open to talking about their country. It made me wonder why I dont ask people more questions about their country when I travel. During the night we went to their opera house to see two different theater productions. THeir opera house was beautiful and reminded me of some of the ones in Europe. It had four levels that formed a semi-circle instead of the straight rows we have in the states. Also the entire theater was decorated in red and gold which gave it a very elegant look and feel. The first production was a ballet. It included pieceds of many different ballets, some of which were uniquely coreographed for this production. It included classical and modern dances. All of them were fabulous, but I especially enjoyed the modern dances. One of the coreographers is world-reknown for his creativity. The second show was a Spanish play called La vida es sueno or Life is a dream. It is the equivalent of Hamlet in the Spanish speaking world. It was good to see because it is so important to the Spanish culture and I enjoyed it for the most part. Although it had some strange parts were the dancers and actors appeared to be on drugs because of the way they moved, the costums, and the lighting. Also there was some on stage nudety we did not expect.

The other day we spent traveling along the coast to Punto de Este. THis is the place where the Rio de la Plata meets the sea. It forms the widest river in the world at this location. It was a beautiful drive and the land was so pretty. It was very peaceful and relaxing. It was also rainy that day, which could have been a downside for some people, but I really enjoyed it.

We are now back in Buenos Aires, and the Patagonia group gets back tomorrow. We have four more days with our families before we head north for the traveling phase of the trip. I cant believe the first month is almost over and that I am getting ready to leave my host family. THe have been wonderful and I am going to miss them. Ive appreciated all theyve taught me, not only in regards to speaking better Spanish, but also about life in Buenos Aires and the way we should be engaging and acting to help the poor and needy around us.

Another randome fact- At the toll booths, if the cars wait more than a minute or so to pass through they begin to honk continually in hopes of getting through without paying. If they wait more than three minutets all the cars get through for free becasue there should not be any stops or delays on the highway.

Take care. I love and miss you.

patagonia

So about seven of us decided to get out of the city for the weekend and head down to the southern region of the country called Patagonia, and it´s incredible! First of all, the bus ride was super long but it was like flying first class. They have these double decker buses and they have huge cozy chairs that recline completely to make a bed and they serve meals and show movies!! It was quite relaxing. Only wierd point was waking up to an armed gaurd checking through our bus, just another reminder that we´re not in the US.

One crazy thing here, the sun doesn´t rise till about 9 am!!! how crazy is that, but it´s really nice because then i can actually see it! And it is probably the most beautiful sunrise i have ever seen, God really likes to start the day out with a bang.

Today we went on an excursion into the Peninsula Valdez which is a wildlife preserve and it is amazing. WE went out into the gulf and saw whales!!! they were only a few yards away from our little boat. God´s creation is so incredible, and amusing. WE also saw these things calles Mara, which are in the guinea pig family but they look like a deer, rabbit, kangaroo, they´re so strange but really amazing. They also have this animal called the guanaco which is in the llama family, they´re really fast and beautiful. Well i´ll fill you all in more, but my time is about to run out at this internet cafe, i miss you all so much! This time next week we´ll be in the falls at Iguazu, next to Victoria falls in Africa they´re considered the best. (although the argintinians would beg to differ)

The campo

My family and I went to a rural area about an hour away from our house a couple of days ago. My father does ministry work there with really poor people. The people living in this rural area are city dwellers who left Buenos Aires because the economic conditions were too horrible to find work. They now live on farms, but they do not know how to make a good living or to meet their needs because they´ve never lived in the rural areas before. My father and some of his friends have a program to help teach the men the needed skills and knowledge so that they can earn more money and provide for their needs. It was really neat to see his work and the ways that he and his friends are seeking to use their knowledge to provide for the needs of those around them. It was also neat because their work focuses on teaching so that these men can provide for their own needs instead of simply giving them money. going to the rural area was also interesting because it helped me to get a better perspective on life in Argentina outside of the large city of buenos Aires. The people in the rural areas live very differently and lack many of the resources and luxuries of the city. The rural area and my time there reminded me that this country is standing between two worlds, with the rich being basically in the world of the developed countries while the rest of the country struggles to provide for their needs.

Random fact about argentina - when it is really cold they do not sell gas to private cars so that there is more gas for the houses. it makes public transportation a little bit interesting as the taxis are more expensive and the trains and buses have different schedules on the weekend.

I am currently in Uruguay for a weekend vacation and also to see another city of Latin America. I will be here until Saturday. It is a really fun city and very different from Buenos Aires as it is much smaller and more peaceful. also we are really close to the sea, which is beautiful and I love it. we are going to theather productions every night, which is fabulous because we have not had the opportunity to go to theater productions in Buenos aires. It is a nice break from Buenos Aires and the group needed the break. we´ve grown a little tired of all of the historical sight seeing every day.

Amy and Hillary went to Patagonia for the weekend trip along with others from our group. I will let them fill you on their adventures.

I hope you are all well. I miss you.

and so it goes....

Well it´s been just under three weeks since arriving in argentina and things are finally settling in. It still is very strange being here. I´m now realizing what a creature of habit i am, and how my days feel off simply because i don´t have a routine down! Every day is a little bit different, even though we do a lot of kind of the same stuff. Even though i´m totally moved in to my room, yup clothes in a dresser and everything, i just feel like i´m in a constant state of transition or just always a little on edge. Maybe that´s common for any non permanent resident, but it´s just a really strange feeling.

i´m definately enjoying my time a lot more now. My family here is great. they are so politically charged, it´s quite interesting. We got into an interesting discussion the other night about Bush, the war in Iraq, the church in the US and the church as a whole. To put it lightly, my dad here is not the biggest fan of Bush, that pretty much goes for the majority of the population in Argentina, maybe even the world. He said something though that really resinated with what i´ve been processing, this year and this summer, about how as Christians it is so easy to allow our patriotism to overshadow our christian responsibility. Many latin americans are on the passivist side of the scale. They fight for life in every battle, whether it´s abotiion or a war, they believe that as christians it is our duty to protect and fight for all forms of life on this earth. HE asked me if i had ever prayed for our soldiers in war, or had prayed for them in church. I said yes, of course. He then asked if I had ever prayed for Osama bin ladin, or saddam hussein, or the iraquies that were being killed because they had attacked out troops? i couldn´t honestly remeber a time that i had.

I suppose that is the difficult thing about war. Can Christians truly take the side of a country? Does that then mean that we support the death of others because the flag on a soldiers arm determines his worth? There´s a lot of implications to supporting any cause, is war ever one we should?

on a lighter note... smooth transition... i saw shrek tercero last night,,, yeah in spanish and it was incredible!!! Definately my favorite out of all of them! i think i understood most of the jokes but i´ll probably see it again in english just to make sure!

Likes and Dislikes

Things I like about Argentina
1. The passion and openness of the people especially when it comes to anything political
2. Drinking mate and coffee
3. Eating delicious pastries and ice cream
4. Seeing professional dog walkers with at least 10 dogs
5. The jokes my father makes
6. Riding public transportation - especially the crowded train and subte
7. Talking in Spanish
8. The music
9. My grandmother
10. The greeting and goodbye with kisses on the cheek and saying chao - little more personal than simply a wave
11. My little brother who constantly babbles with much animation as if what he was saying was very critical
12. Fruit and Vegetable stores every several blocks

Things I dont like
1. The food - it is very bland and lacks spice
2. Intestines and blood sausage - tried both and I will pass next time
3. Having to avoid dog poop on the side walks
4. The lack of diversity in the people
5. Being cold almost all day long
6. Sleeping without a pillow

A typical day

So Ive had some of you write and ask what a typical day is like in my Buenos Aires life. So for those of you who are curious, here you go. I wake up around 7 45 to take a shower and then I eat breakfast with my family around 8 before leaving to catch the public bus, which is called a colectivo. I need to allow about thirty minutes for breakfast because quick meals do not exist here.

I leave my house through the little gate that opens onto the street and then walk four blocks to the main road where I catch the bus. After waving down the correct bus, I get on, tell the driver my destination pay for my ticket, and then either sit if there is room or stand in the aisle. My ride is about an hour long, but it seems to pass quickly as I am either reading for my courses or watching the people. After getting off of the colectivo, I walk about 15 blocks to the building where we hold classes. Our class lasts from 10 to 12, with a twenty minute break in the middle. It is a really relaxed classs, which is nice, since many of us cannot exactly control when we arrive. We usually talk about our families, read the newspaper, and discuss part of Argentinas history.

After class, we break up into groups to explore the city. Each of us are assigned the same partner for the entire time. I will either just go with her or one or two other pairs. The purpose in this is to keep our groups small. The places we go vary depending on the day. Sometimes we go to a museum, the park, a governmental building, cafes, shopping, or the public monuments. In these different locations we talk with some fo the Argentines to learn more about the location and their opinions about what happens in these locations. It is common that during the afternoon outings we will encounter a protest of between 20 and 40 people. The Argentines always seem to be protesting something. Before returning to our homes, we will stop for coffee and pasteries. The pasteries here are incredible and a wonderful way to wind down our afternoons.

I usually take the train back to my house. It is similar to any of the commuter trains, except that it is only one story. The train is always jammed with people because I am returning with all of the days work commuters. The people stand in many different lines waiting for the train to arrive. There is approximately one line per train door. The lines are always really long. When the train arrives, as many people as possible cram into the cars so that it becomes difficult to move and incredibly hot. This is when I am glad that I am not closterfobic. While on the train, which is about a thirty minute ride, I will do more reading or people watch. The venders are incredibly amusing to watch. They walk through the train cars selling anything from nail clippers, to muscial instruments, to food. Also it is common to see beggars in the trains who stop in each car to play a musical instrument in hopes of receiving pay.

When the train gets to my stop in San Isidro, I get off with a bunch of other people, and then walk about 15 blocks back to my house. It is a nice walk through residential neighborhoods where the house change from being in the upper middle class with garages and multiple stories to being in the lower middle class. Dogs are always prowling the streets and barking at one another. I also see people returning from work and stopping in the meat shop to buy the nights food. In this one block I have to be a little careful because there is always the same german shephard lying in the middle of the side walk. He has not tried to do anything to me, but he makes me nervous, so I give him plenty of room.

At my house for the night, I spend time talking with my parents about anything. Usually we get onto some politically controversial subject where I have to defend my opinion. We eat dinner anytime between 8 and 10 30 depending on the night. Also after dinner, later in the night, we drink coffee or mate. For those of you who dont know mate is a kind of tea that is very popular here and people drink it from the same cup that is passed around the circle. It is a great tradition and becoming one of my favorite parts of the day. To finish off the day I do some of my homework and play with my little brother. Usually we all go to bed around midnight or a little after. I am always the first to go to bed.

So there you go. I hope you are all doing well. I miss you all.

the high life

ok so it´s 845ish argentina time, i´m still in my pajama´s and all i´ve done today is as follows-

1130 get up after laying in bed for a half hour
1135 drink coffee and eat some kind of delicious muffin pastry thingy
1150 check and send emails
1230 my sister started watching lord of the rings- in spanish, no subtitles- i joined her and was able to follow everything cause i´ve seen it so many flippin times
330 two towers came on right after it... why not, i had nothing better to do
630 ate some kind of cheese and craker cookie thing, it wasn´t awful
630 my little nephew and the other sister wanted to watch inside man... so we did

three movies, that´s pretty pathetic, especially since two of them were lord of the rings, but these argintinians sure know what a day of rest is supposed to be like!

we´re about to eat dinner, then we´re going out for a ´a night on the town´ which technically won´t even start till tomorrow morning! Don´t cry for me wheaton!

el extranjero

I suppose my previous posts have not been as fair in showing what my real experiances have been like, while I am having a good time and learning a lot, it has been difficult. I´ve been sick for this past week which just plain sucks and living in a foreign country is very different than traveling through it. There´s kind of just a constant stress of language barriers and the uncomfortable-ness of being in an unknown city. I´m constantly stressed about making sure I know where I am so I can find my way home at night, which is difficult considering I just don´t plain see as well, and stuff just looks different in and out of the light. As many of you know, part of latin american culture involves the cat calling. It is somewhat different here, they don´t whistle as much or say derogatory things, but they will say stuff that can put me a litte on edge sometimes, espeically when i´m alone at night! Don´t worry though, i´m safe! Being blonde just doesn´t help! I just stand out, like i´m wearing a sign that says ´turista´and they´ll try to rip me off in stores or think i don´t understand when they use fowl language, not to mention just constantly being stared at!

There´s the obvious language barrier, but I think it´s amost harder sometimes that I do understand some of it and can speak it. It requires so much energy to listen and understand each word, then to plan out everything you want to say and use correct grammar, pronounciation, and the correct colloquialisms for that particular area or even age group. There´s just a lot of stress involoved in living in a foreign country.

But what í´m beginning to understand is that I suppose this is not only what thousands of immigrants experiance every day but in much more difficult situations like work and school, but that this is kinda what life should feel like to us as Christians. We are all strangers in this world and how different it is to actually feel like one. When i´m at home, or in Wheaton I feel like I belong and that is where I should be, but like what Peter talks about in 1 Peter 1 vs 17 we are to live like strangers in this world. As Christians we should always feel a little out of place, the world shouldn´t be a all in all comfortable place. Not to say that it´s wrong to feel at home or comfortable in a caring and loving environment. But at home I too easily become apart of this world in every way that It´s easy to fall into complacentcy in my faith and how it plays out in my words and actions.

I´m glad that I can be learning this, but that doesn´t make it easy. It has been difficult, but I´m happy to be here and very blessed to have this time. Keep posting, It´s really nice to hear from home!

spanglish

well i´ve been living with my argentinian family for several days now, and it´s pretty sweet! My parents are liliana and Jorge (that´s George for all you gringos) i have an older sister named Mari, she has a son named Rami, another sister that i´ve only met once and don´t actually remember her name... oops, then a brother named leandro. I have my own room with a tv, cable, computer with internet, and phone, and my favorite thing.... a space heater! The only bad part about my room is the staircase-ladder i must conquer in order to get to and from it. I´ve only fallen down it once!

we live in a great neighborhood that´s really close to the bus and train and subway, i guess you could say i´m living the highlife argentina style.

I´ll be honest though... classes straight up suck. I am remebering why I enjoy summer so much, it means no homework, however that is not the case! oh well, it´s still worth it.

Thankfully my older sister Mari understands english fluently, so whenever i can´t think of a word I can just say it is english and she´ll tell me it is spanish. Sadly I think her seven year old son knows more english than i do spanish! whatever!

All in all i´m enjoying my time and i love the people. they greet eachother with such affection, always a kiss on the cheek, everyone, even guys to guys! It´s a beautiful thing! OH i also really want one of these spanish keyboards, they have all the crazy accent stuff on them, spanish papers would be much easier to type!

One dissappointing thing, and i´m sure you´ve all been wondering about this, is that contrary to what the Simpsons taught me, the toilets do not flush the opposite direction, they simply go straight down... I know... major bummer.

the family

Hey friends, I hope you are all doing well. We arrived with our families on Saturday and so have now been living with them for four days. All in all, we all love our families. THey have very different lives and live in different parts of the city, but they are very open and warm people who desire to help us learn more Spanish and more about Argentina. I will tell you about mine and let the others fill in on theirs.

I live with my host parents and a little brother who will be two in July. My brother has down syndrome and is a little late in his development. But he is very cute and the family loves him a lot. Next to our house, but in the same fenced area lives my fathers grandmother. She is a very funny lady who continues to lives in the days of Evita and Juan Peron. The hosue is small, but nice. I share my brothers room with him and I have two drawers in which to put my clothes. The house is nice, but it is of the lower middle class. Therefore, the only heat we have is wall heaters that we mainly turn on only at night. Also there are some small cockroaches in the kitchen. I say small because they are if youve seen the ones that are in Africa.

My father does some type of ministry work with the poorer people of the city to try and help them take advantage of the oppotunities available to them. Both of my parents seem to have a heart for the poor and to help those around them. It also seems to me that they are choosing to live in a lower class house because of the work that my host father does. But, I also know they do not have to live in this house. It is a choice theyve made or a sacrifice really. I discovered this when we went to his uncles house that is over the middle or upper part of the middle class. His house reminded me more of our houses in the States. It was then that I realized the passion my host parents have for the poor and for those society chooses to ignore. Their lives challenge me and make me question the way that I will choose to live when I am older. I dont know if I would have the courage or the willingness to sacrifice the comforts of a richer lifestyle in order to be able to help my brothers and sisters more. It is a question I continue to ask myself, but I still dont know the answer.

During the day we have class for two hours and after divide into smaller groups to explore the city. It makes for exciting days. I am glad that I have a good sense of direction, though, otherwise I would have gotten lost several times. Im finding that I enjoy the city life, especially taking the bus and the train everywhere that I go.

All in all things are great. My family is wonderful and every time we have a lengthy discussion about politics, urbanization, poverty, or christianity I feel completely blessed to be living with them for a month. I can already tell that the month will pass too quickly and leave me sad to part with them.

"Ay!!" "Que Linda", "no me entiendo", "okay", "me dar lo mismo" These are the phrases of my life right now. How nice, beautiful; I don´t understand; okay-pretend like I understand; and I don´t care or whatever. At least I´m learning. Me encanta mucha mi familia, they are so wonderful and extremely patient with me and my funny faces when I don´t understand something. Bianca is a beautiful, really really beautiful 16 year old student who is a lot of fun and then there´s Sandra, mi madre. The first hour I was at home we were playing the electric guitar together and I can already(in two days) play Let it Be by the Beatles. I got skills, baby. Tough the language barrier is great it is not difficult to understand the care that people have for each other here and they have been incredibly kind to me. We greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek and it´s an attitude of openness and intimacy that´s new and very beautiful to me. So far I have worked at an orphanage of children who have nothing but the biggest and most beautiful smiles you´ve ever seen, with a kindergarten class who couldn´t speak to us but we danced and sang to High School Musical together and it was almost the best 20 minutes of my life and then we learned how the children are dying because of the awful contaminated water that has seeped through and stays in the streets, and then there´s dancing the tango, using public transportation and trying not to get eaten by the crazy dogs. All is beautiful, wonderful, and eye-opening. ¡¡¡¡Adventuras!!!!!! ¡¡¡Que linda!!

Things I´ve learned...

1. the busses don´t stop completely to let you on or off... move quickly and carefully!
2. pedestarians do not under any circumstance have the right of way... crossing the street is probably one of the most dangerous parts of the day.
3. just because it´s latin America does not mean that it is warm... it´s winter and it´s cold.
4. even though i´ve studied spanish for 7 years, i really have no idea what anyone else is saying... the smile and nod, however, is universal.
5. being a picky eater means going hungry at almost every meal, and everything can be made into quisch, we had tuna quisch a few nights ago... ew
6. apparently, Argentinians don´t sleep, the night is still young even when it´s 12am... café (coffee) is my new best friend

Sheryl just gave all the important info... so i thought i´d keep my first post short. it´s taken several days to figure out how to log on as a user... apparently the internet comes in Spanish down here... who knew?

a different perspective

The past two days we have been seeing the world from a slightly different perspective and realizing more about the problems and parts of the city. We went to an orphanage one day and then yesterday we split up into different groups to participate in different ministries in the poorer areas of the city. It was neat for each of us to see the ways that some of the Argentines love and care for their own people I went to an after school program run by a church in a poor area of the city. THey lack sufficient money to pay for the needs of their church, yet they still try to do everything that they can to help the people within their community. They have after school tutoring programs, drug rehabilitation programs, and services for the adults who cannot find jobs. The director and pastor of the church began to cry when he described the ministry to us, which was really special to see. It showed me that he is doing this because he loves his fellow countrymen and desires to see their lives improve.

We also had a mother of the plaza de mayo come and speak to us yesterday. Her 20 year old son was protesting some of the injustices in the country in 1975 and one night the government soldiers came and took him. He has now been missing for over thirty years. She, thus has been marching in the plaza every thursday since 1978. Her desire to see justice done to the people who commited the atrocities was evident, but yet she also had compassion and love for her own people and for the people of other countries who have experienced similar atrocities. We asked her about the shame she and other Argentines might feel about their country´s past. Her response was that it is not Argentines as a whole who should feel guilty, just like it is not the Germans as a whole who should feel guilty. Instead it is the Nazis and the corrupt government and the soldiers who are guilty. The rest were victims of atrocities. We are probably going to join them one thursday for one of their marches in the plaza.

It has been neat for me to see the ways that the people of Argentina are very anti-violence. They keep talking about justice, but also the need to preserve and fight for life. They indicate that the position of the church should be to fight for life and to always oppose those that seek to hurt or deprive people of their lives. Through this desire to fight for life I´ve been challenged by the way that many of them are choosing to identify themselves with the poor and marginalized of their country, to put aside their fears of the poorer neighborhoods, to become friends with them and to join them in their struggles. I look forward to seeing more of the ways they are involved in helping the poorer areas. Yet, it is also challenging to me because it reminds me of the ways that in the States we need to be doing more to help those in our communities even if we are afraid of them because they are different.

Our families come today and by this afternoon we will be living in their homes. I can´t wait, although i am a little nervous too. I hope all is well with you all and I miss you!

La ciudad

Our professors decided to give us a taste of the city yesterday, that ended up being a lot of fun. THey made eight of us leaders, including AMy, Hillary, and me. The leaders had a map and basic instructions on what bus and train to take into the city as well as the time that we needed to return to the place we are staying. They then told us to have fun and that they would see us in time for dinner. At first, I was a little nervous, but I quickly became accustomed to the transportation of the city and to the ways that people move about the city.

The city is not what I expected. Instead of being like the cities in the US, the poor areas are on the outskirts and then the city becomes much richer as you travel into the downtown area. It was wierd and stange to first see the poverty of the city in the outlying areas before seeing the wealth of the downtown area. The place we are currently staying is in one of the outlying areas. In many ways it resembles the cities that I´ve been to in AFrica. There are dogs, cats, and trash everywhere. Even some of the construction of the buildings reminded me of AFrica. THe only main difference was that there were fewer paved roads. So since the outlying areas was my first taste of Argentina and Buenos Aires, the city was not as spectacular as I assumed it would be. It is a great city and there are lots of neat parks, stores, cafes, and museums, but in many ways it seemed to me to be a mask hiding the poverty and the reality of the country. If you only saw the downtown of the city, you would assume that the country is doing well and that it doesn´t have problems with poverty and inequalities. But since I saw the outlying areas first, I had the impression of the countries inequalities in my mind when I also saw the richer areas. ç

Seeing the strong economic gaps in the city makes me excited to get to know my host family on Saturday and to see what they think about these inequalities and more importantly what the church here is doing about these issues. A man came to talk to us this morning about the situation of the Latin American church. He said that Latin America is the continent with the greatest disparity between the rich and the poor. Before yesterday I may would have doubted him, but I don´t anymore. The gaps are very evident and sad to see in many ways.

The group of students from Wheaton is a lot of fun. We spend a lot of time laughing in our attempt to speak Spanish and are becoming good at mixing Spanish and English together in one sentence for a rather comical effect.

Tomorrow we are going to an orphanage to the south of the city and then we will be taking more tango lessons tomorrow night. I can´t wait.

Arrived

So the adventure began when our flight was an hour and a half late due to needing to add fuel since we were chanaging our flying route. Therefore we also got into Buenos Aires about an hour or so later. THis meant that our flight was 11 hours instead of the 9 it was suppose to be. But once we all got on board and settle, it was a pretty typical flight. The realization that we were actually going to aRgentina began to hit when I (sheryl) woke up around five in the morning to see the sun rising over the South American continent. It was then that I thought wow so we are actually going to Latin America. Before that it just felt like a fun weekend trip with a bunch of our good college friends. The other part of the adventure occured when Amy´s luggage did not show up. It should get here tomorrow, though.

We got to the Kairos Center where we will be staying for the next week for our orientation to the city. After eating and slightly cleaning up we took off to ride our first Argentine bus. We took the bus to a different neighborhood where we received tango lessons from a guy and his sister who were fabulous dancers. We all looked very humourous as many of us cannot dance, but it made for a nice introduction into Argentina.

Preparing to Leave

So in less than 48 hours the three of us (Amy, Hillary, and me) will begin our journey to Argentina where we will be living and traveling with a group from Wheaton College for the next two months. It has come up much faster than I anticipated, but I am anxious for the trip to begin and to arrive in Buenos Aires. I can't wait to be speaking Spanish constantly and to meet the people of Argentina whom I know we will grow to be fond of and to love. I'm excited to meet my host family and to have an opportunity to learn on a more personal level about Argentine culture and especially their perspective on the world, politics, and the Church. I know it will be an enjoyable, challenging, exciting, and at times exhausting two months. But I think that is part of what will make the trip so memorable. I'm also looking forward to getting to know more Wheaton students and becoming closer friends with them during the next two months.

The three of us will be updating this blog on a periodic basis while we are in Argentina, so I hope that you enjoy reading what is happening to us. I also ask for your prayers for the group. Pray for saftey, good host homes, courage to speak Spanish, and the ability to enter into another culture with humility so we can learn from them not only about Argentina, but also about ourselves, humanity, and God's work among His people.