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!