I arrived home yesterday afternoon after 2 flights and a car ride. I haven't had a lot of time to process everything yet but I am so happy to be home with friends and family.
We had a wonderful last two weeks that God blessed tremendously. Thank you for all your prayers. I hope to have more pictures up before I am off to Tucson in two weeks. Hope you enjoyed the updates...sorry that they weren't more frequent.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July
Sorry that I haven't posted any updates in awhile. It is hard sometimes to remember to get in touch when things are pretty busy here and when the internet comes and goes...but enough excuses :)
July has been a good month thus far and it is crazy for me to think that it is half way over, which means only a little over 2 weeks left her in Argentina. Since the start of the month I feel that each of us are forming close relationships with families and individuals. It is exciting to see them growing as we spend time talking, going shopping, eating, and watching movies together. We had a fourth of July party with one family and it was so wonderful to treat them to dinner and spend time helping each other with english and spanish.
Yesterday we got back from our week vacation in the province of Cordoba. We spent some time relaxing in the beautiful Villa Carlos Paz. It was great to get away from the big city and climb a mountain. I didn't realize how much I missed Flagstaff and Tucson until I was hiking up the mountains in Carlos Paz. Since we are only here for two months at first it seemed silly to take a week off, but in reality it was absolutely necessary. The trip really allowed for reflection and relaxation. It is definitely going to help me focus on the last two weeks here.
One of our friends from Argentina was able to join us in Carlos Paz. His name is Elias. I felt that it was great to have at least one friend with us and I think that he was able to see God's love working through us as we interacted with each other and with him.
God has been teaching me a lot during this trip as well and working to improve my character. While in Carlos Paz I was challenged to deal with conflict with a teammate and I was making this a huge deal in my mind that I was sure for the rest of the trip we would not get along and I would be constantly feeling upset about it. But God allowed for me to approach that person and talk out our issues in a loving way. It is really easy to count people out when you feel like you don't have to love them, but it is even worse to try and resolve differences when you know you have to love them. I think my perspective on conflict is changing through this experience.
Now we only have 16 days left and this is exciting and scary to me. Part of me wants to just rush through it so I can be home, but the other part of me realizes that doing this would be selfish. I want to strengthen my friendships with the people here in Argentina. Our goal in being here is to get people thinking about God and helping them to know who He is, and if that is to have any impact in their lives we have to build trust and friendship. And we still have time for that. Hopefully I can focus on right now and not think about the next school year too much while I still have time here in Argentina.
July has been a good month thus far and it is crazy for me to think that it is half way over, which means only a little over 2 weeks left her in Argentina. Since the start of the month I feel that each of us are forming close relationships with families and individuals. It is exciting to see them growing as we spend time talking, going shopping, eating, and watching movies together. We had a fourth of July party with one family and it was so wonderful to treat them to dinner and spend time helping each other with english and spanish.
Yesterday we got back from our week vacation in the province of Cordoba. We spent some time relaxing in the beautiful Villa Carlos Paz. It was great to get away from the big city and climb a mountain. I didn't realize how much I missed Flagstaff and Tucson until I was hiking up the mountains in Carlos Paz. Since we are only here for two months at first it seemed silly to take a week off, but in reality it was absolutely necessary. The trip really allowed for reflection and relaxation. It is definitely going to help me focus on the last two weeks here.
One of our friends from Argentina was able to join us in Carlos Paz. His name is Elias. I felt that it was great to have at least one friend with us and I think that he was able to see God's love working through us as we interacted with each other and with him.
God has been teaching me a lot during this trip as well and working to improve my character. While in Carlos Paz I was challenged to deal with conflict with a teammate and I was making this a huge deal in my mind that I was sure for the rest of the trip we would not get along and I would be constantly feeling upset about it. But God allowed for me to approach that person and talk out our issues in a loving way. It is really easy to count people out when you feel like you don't have to love them, but it is even worse to try and resolve differences when you know you have to love them. I think my perspective on conflict is changing through this experience.
Now we only have 16 days left and this is exciting and scary to me. Part of me wants to just rush through it so I can be home, but the other part of me realizes that doing this would be selfish. I want to strengthen my friendships with the people here in Argentina. Our goal in being here is to get people thinking about God and helping them to know who He is, and if that is to have any impact in their lives we have to build trust and friendship. And we still have time for that. Hopefully I can focus on right now and not think about the next school year too much while I still have time here in Argentina.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Making Friends
This week has been a blessing and a great pick me up at the midpoint of our trip.
On Monday we went to two nursing homes. We met a woman named Maria who is 101 years old! She kept telling us how she can still do everything on her own, she can even go to the bathroom on her own! She also just told us how blessed she was and how content she was with her life. She never married and the nurse tried to get her to tell us a story about her one love but she replied "no, that story is for me." I wish we could have heard it, but still it was wonderful hearing about how content she is with where she is and her gratitude to God for her life. We met some others and heard them sing some old Tango songs. It was really great speaking with them in Spanish and just realizing how similar they are to people in the US. We are all people right :) We sang some songs for them in English- Lord I lift your name on high and Marvelous Light.
At the second place we went I met one man from Italy who moved here in 1948. He kept asking me if I understood better in Italian or Spanish (after he told me a story completely in Italian ;) ) The story of moving here brought him to tears- me emociona. He missed his home country and I think that his family was split up due to the move. There were multiple boats leaving Italy after WWII and they went all over the Americas. So one brother may end up in Canada and the other in Argentina. After talking with him I spoke with a blind man who has lived in BA all his life. He recently went blind and it cost him a lot, I think he said due to him losing his job he couldn't afford to take care of his sick wife and she ended up dying- I held his hand while we sang a few songs. There is a lot of sadness with many of the people there, but I think they truly enjoyed us coming. When we were about to leave one woman asked to talk to me. I didn't understand her at first but I had Marisol come over and help me with the translation. She asked me if I liked the new president of the US but then told me it was a stupid question and not to answer it. She then proceeded to tell me that she was delighted to know a North American girl :) She also asked me if I had ever been in love and asked me if there was anything I would like to ask her. I didn't have much time to ask her but I asked her when she was married. I think we are going to be going back so hopefully I will have a chance to ask her some more questions about her life. It was a wonderful day and I think that they were so grateful to have us come and visit them.
Yesterday (Thursday), I went to my friend Jimena's house. Her best friend Alexandra was there too. Jimena is a photographer and was going to do a photo shoot of her friend Alexandra. She asked me to be a model for her as well. So Alexandra and I dressed up and went up to Jimena's studio and we posed for a few photos. Since my sister is also a photographer I am used to having to be a model :) It was fun to be a part of it.
After the photo shoot I went to the kitchen and talked with Jimena's mom, also named Alexandra. She gave me a spanish lesson on how to use the vos form. The vos is the tu form in Argentina. We had mate and talked for a good while and the rest of her family joined us, her dad and two brothers. I really enjoy being with their family. We are going to have them over tomorrow night for dinner which I am especially excited for! The Dad, Pepe, always jokes with me in Spanish but most of the time I don't understand. However, last night I was able to joke with him in Spanish so I am improving :) When I left her dad told me to remember that their home is mine as well. It is so nice to be so warmly invited into someone's home that I have only met 3 times or so. I hope that we can show them the same love to them tomorrow night when they come over. Please pray for their family :) God has definitely given me a heart for them.
Well it was great to have these two experiences this week. We are now half way through our time here and it is wonderful to see deeper relationships form. I have had lower energy lately but with the time in the nursing home and with Jimena's family I feel rejuvinated.
On Monday we went to two nursing homes. We met a woman named Maria who is 101 years old! She kept telling us how she can still do everything on her own, she can even go to the bathroom on her own! She also just told us how blessed she was and how content she was with her life. She never married and the nurse tried to get her to tell us a story about her one love but she replied "no, that story is for me." I wish we could have heard it, but still it was wonderful hearing about how content she is with where she is and her gratitude to God for her life. We met some others and heard them sing some old Tango songs. It was really great speaking with them in Spanish and just realizing how similar they are to people in the US. We are all people right :) We sang some songs for them in English- Lord I lift your name on high and Marvelous Light.
At the second place we went I met one man from Italy who moved here in 1948. He kept asking me if I understood better in Italian or Spanish (after he told me a story completely in Italian ;) ) The story of moving here brought him to tears- me emociona. He missed his home country and I think that his family was split up due to the move. There were multiple boats leaving Italy after WWII and they went all over the Americas. So one brother may end up in Canada and the other in Argentina. After talking with him I spoke with a blind man who has lived in BA all his life. He recently went blind and it cost him a lot, I think he said due to him losing his job he couldn't afford to take care of his sick wife and she ended up dying- I held his hand while we sang a few songs. There is a lot of sadness with many of the people there, but I think they truly enjoyed us coming. When we were about to leave one woman asked to talk to me. I didn't understand her at first but I had Marisol come over and help me with the translation. She asked me if I liked the new president of the US but then told me it was a stupid question and not to answer it. She then proceeded to tell me that she was delighted to know a North American girl :) She also asked me if I had ever been in love and asked me if there was anything I would like to ask her. I didn't have much time to ask her but I asked her when she was married. I think we are going to be going back so hopefully I will have a chance to ask her some more questions about her life. It was a wonderful day and I think that they were so grateful to have us come and visit them.
Yesterday (Thursday), I went to my friend Jimena's house. Her best friend Alexandra was there too. Jimena is a photographer and was going to do a photo shoot of her friend Alexandra. She asked me to be a model for her as well. So Alexandra and I dressed up and went up to Jimena's studio and we posed for a few photos. Since my sister is also a photographer I am used to having to be a model :) It was fun to be a part of it.
After the photo shoot I went to the kitchen and talked with Jimena's mom, also named Alexandra. She gave me a spanish lesson on how to use the vos form. The vos is the tu form in Argentina. We had mate and talked for a good while and the rest of her family joined us, her dad and two brothers. I really enjoy being with their family. We are going to have them over tomorrow night for dinner which I am especially excited for! The Dad, Pepe, always jokes with me in Spanish but most of the time I don't understand. However, last night I was able to joke with him in Spanish so I am improving :) When I left her dad told me to remember that their home is mine as well. It is so nice to be so warmly invited into someone's home that I have only met 3 times or so. I hope that we can show them the same love to them tomorrow night when they come over. Please pray for their family :) God has definitely given me a heart for them.
Well it was great to have these two experiences this week. We are now half way through our time here and it is wonderful to see deeper relationships form. I have had lower energy lately but with the time in the nursing home and with Jimena's family I feel rejuvinated.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Prayer Requests
Some prayer requests
- Jon's health-he has had a fever the past 3 nights! Please pray that we all don't get sick and that he feels better
- Strengthening of friendships with the people we have met here. For me specifically for Jimena, Silvana, and Mikaela.
- Dependence upon Jesus for our strength and energy :) I have been reading about Paul and just amazed at his persistence in his outreach and just the love that he has for everyone.
- This weekend I am going to be giving a talk at the youth meeting at one of the churches here. So pray for my nerves and that God would be able to speak to them in that time.
A busy weekend etc...
So this past weekend we had our first English class here at the house and a hang out night at our house on Saturday night. Both events brought a lot of people here to the house about 15 people showed up both nights. It was definitely great to see so many people here :)
For the English class we split up into several different groups based on ability. Jon and I had a group of 5 students all around 18 years old. They were really proficient in speaking and writing so we played some more advanced games. One of the games we played is called telephone pictionary. Each person gets a stack of papers with as many papers as there are people. Everyone then writes a sentence on the first sheet, i.e. The cow jumps over the moon. Then everyone passes their entire stack to the person next to them and now everyone draws to their best ability what is said in the sentence. Every other time you write or draw until your stack is returned to you. It is really funny what some of the outcomes are. After this game we made them split into two groups and do skits in English. They did really well but made us make up one on the spot as well. There's was definitely bettter-but I blame it on the fact that they had five minutes preparation and we didn't have any time to prepare :)
The class ended around 10 o'clock and no one stuck around afterward. But we ended up playing soccer with a bunch of guys from the seminary that is right behind our house. It was a blast. The first game it was the Americans vs. all of them. We actually tied and had to go do penalty kicks, and lost during that. But after that first game we switched the teams up. By the end I felt like I improved a bunch, making 2 goals and 2 assists. We played till around 1:30.
The next day, saturday, we planned to have people over at 4 o'clock in the afternoon to play some games and watch a movie. Only a few people showed up at the beginning but by 8 or so we had about 15 people here. We played signs and talked for a long time. Some of us watched transformers in Spanish as well. It was really a good time of getting to know people better. Oh and I almost forgot... we introduced Argentina to the pizza cookie-pizzookie. They loved it! Though most of them thought I was crazy putting the ice cream on top right after it came out of the oven. But it was fun sharing this treat with all of the people we have met thus far. Such a Blessing! About three of our contacts ended up staying really late. Martin had told us that it is not very nice to kick people out of your homes so..... the last people left at 5:30 am! It was a long night but so worth it :) Thankfully we were able to sleep in till 2:30 on Sunday. I am so grateful that the church we were going to didn't start till 7:00 pm.
We are still going to english institutes about 3 times a week which has been so much fun. Each institute has its own personality. Last night we were at one where there were a few people who had lived in the U.S for 13 years. It basically was just a get together with them, talking and answering questions. The Argentines were so talkative and are always interested in how the U.S really is. They watch a lot of American movies and a lot of Simpsons. One of the questions they had was do people really go around swearing all the time and they started asking about which words were offensive. We tried to steer out of that conversation so we didn't have to explain much. During the class we actually talked a little bit about religion. Weston actually explained the Gospel to the class and no one wanted to fight back or debate. Everyone simply listened and took it for what it was. It was really nice to discuss faith in a classroom setting and not experience anyone being defensive. The director of the institute chimed in with an interesting observation. She said that she could really tell that the protestant churches here worked in community and helped each one another while She felt it was missing in the Catholic churches. It is nice to know that these churches have an impact. :)
Thus far it has been a great learning experience. I feel like even after a week I could have returned home having learned a lot. The people here are a lot more blunt then at home which is challenging at times but enjoyable as well. Martin is a wonderful leader and I love his honesty with the team. He has shared with us some amazing experiences he has had with God and his laugh just takes over an entire room. It is so hearty and sudden that it just makes me want to join right in!
Yesterday him and Marisol made us do a team exercise. We had to make a living statue that represented the team and what role we feel we play in the team. It was very interesting. At first we just thought of generic ideas for the whole team to do that represented us needing each others support, but others on the team didn't agree. Me being a very task oriented person wanted each person to share how they were feeling about the team so that we could then work together to create the statue. I asked a lot of questions of each person and I think they thought I was overanalyzing the task. In the end we just kind of settled that each person would do what they wanted. After creating the statue we sat together for about 30 minutes and talked about the statue, but mostly about the process. Much of the team did not really care about the actual statue making cuz they knew they would just end up explaining how they felt afterward. Me on the other hand focused only on the task and wanted us to discuss how we were feeling during the actual making of the statue. Two very different takes on the process-guess that's why I'm the engineering major and not psychology. But it was a good chance for our team to understand each other better.
For the English class we split up into several different groups based on ability. Jon and I had a group of 5 students all around 18 years old. They were really proficient in speaking and writing so we played some more advanced games. One of the games we played is called telephone pictionary. Each person gets a stack of papers with as many papers as there are people. Everyone then writes a sentence on the first sheet, i.e. The cow jumps over the moon. Then everyone passes their entire stack to the person next to them and now everyone draws to their best ability what is said in the sentence. Every other time you write or draw until your stack is returned to you. It is really funny what some of the outcomes are. After this game we made them split into two groups and do skits in English. They did really well but made us make up one on the spot as well. There's was definitely bettter-but I blame it on the fact that they had five minutes preparation and we didn't have any time to prepare :)
The class ended around 10 o'clock and no one stuck around afterward. But we ended up playing soccer with a bunch of guys from the seminary that is right behind our house. It was a blast. The first game it was the Americans vs. all of them. We actually tied and had to go do penalty kicks, and lost during that. But after that first game we switched the teams up. By the end I felt like I improved a bunch, making 2 goals and 2 assists. We played till around 1:30.
The next day, saturday, we planned to have people over at 4 o'clock in the afternoon to play some games and watch a movie. Only a few people showed up at the beginning but by 8 or so we had about 15 people here. We played signs and talked for a long time. Some of us watched transformers in Spanish as well. It was really a good time of getting to know people better. Oh and I almost forgot... we introduced Argentina to the pizza cookie-pizzookie. They loved it! Though most of them thought I was crazy putting the ice cream on top right after it came out of the oven. But it was fun sharing this treat with all of the people we have met thus far. Such a Blessing! About three of our contacts ended up staying really late. Martin had told us that it is not very nice to kick people out of your homes so..... the last people left at 5:30 am! It was a long night but so worth it :) Thankfully we were able to sleep in till 2:30 on Sunday. I am so grateful that the church we were going to didn't start till 7:00 pm.
We are still going to english institutes about 3 times a week which has been so much fun. Each institute has its own personality. Last night we were at one where there were a few people who had lived in the U.S for 13 years. It basically was just a get together with them, talking and answering questions. The Argentines were so talkative and are always interested in how the U.S really is. They watch a lot of American movies and a lot of Simpsons. One of the questions they had was do people really go around swearing all the time and they started asking about which words were offensive. We tried to steer out of that conversation so we didn't have to explain much. During the class we actually talked a little bit about religion. Weston actually explained the Gospel to the class and no one wanted to fight back or debate. Everyone simply listened and took it for what it was. It was really nice to discuss faith in a classroom setting and not experience anyone being defensive. The director of the institute chimed in with an interesting observation. She said that she could really tell that the protestant churches here worked in community and helped each one another while She felt it was missing in the Catholic churches. It is nice to know that these churches have an impact. :)
Thus far it has been a great learning experience. I feel like even after a week I could have returned home having learned a lot. The people here are a lot more blunt then at home which is challenging at times but enjoyable as well. Martin is a wonderful leader and I love his honesty with the team. He has shared with us some amazing experiences he has had with God and his laugh just takes over an entire room. It is so hearty and sudden that it just makes me want to join right in!
Yesterday him and Marisol made us do a team exercise. We had to make a living statue that represented the team and what role we feel we play in the team. It was very interesting. At first we just thought of generic ideas for the whole team to do that represented us needing each others support, but others on the team didn't agree. Me being a very task oriented person wanted each person to share how they were feeling about the team so that we could then work together to create the statue. I asked a lot of questions of each person and I think they thought I was overanalyzing the task. In the end we just kind of settled that each person would do what they wanted. After creating the statue we sat together for about 30 minutes and talked about the statue, but mostly about the process. Much of the team did not really care about the actual statue making cuz they knew they would just end up explaining how they felt afterward. Me on the other hand focused only on the task and wanted us to discuss how we were feeling during the actual making of the statue. Two very different takes on the process-guess that's why I'm the engineering major and not psychology. But it was a good chance for our team to understand each other better.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
All the things we have been doing
So I just wrote a huge long post and then it got erased cuz the internet cut out :( :(
Let's see if I can sum it up in a shorter message :)
So this past Saturday was Faith Day. We split into two teams each with a couple locals with us as well. The goal of the day was to go to The Capital (ie the city) with nothing but a bunch of out dated Christian literature and the clothes on our backs and sell enough books to be able to eat and return home by 6 o'clock. We weren't allowed to bring any of our own money and we had to save 30 percent of the money we made. It was an interesting day but God provided immensely. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing and thought we would be desperately begging people to buy these old books and not have any luck doing so. But it was quite the opposite. The entire day was really relaxed and we were able to eat (and eat enough) and we got back home at 5:45. My team consisted of two locals and my teammate Tim. I partnered up with a guy named Pipi :) and when we were selling he was extremely calm and did not feel rushed. It was a great time to practice patience and also my spanish since he didn't speak a word of english. My brain was fried though by the end of the day, and my spanish was not very good that day for some reason. But all in all we had a great day talking and getting to know each other and we sold 39 pesos worth of books. We were able to spend 22 of that on food and 5 for the trip back. Plus God provided an extra treat from a guy selling Pan Rellenas (bread filled with ham/cheese and also ones filled with Chicken). He didn't have enough to pay for the books he wanted so he gave us some bread instead!! It was a gift from Heaven :) :) He was such a great man with so much joy and love in his heart. After chatting with him we got some Panchos (hot dogs) and a 7 Up to share and headed home. We were exhausted but i feel like my faith was definitely strengthened through the experience. I think it was a lesson in trusting God to provide. "You will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You" Psalm 26:3 :) Exactly what happened that day.
Well that night after the faith day Jon, Mary Clare, and I met up with one of the girls we met in an English institute last week. It was fun to hang out with her, her boyfriend, her best friend, and her best friend's boyfriend. We stayed out pretty late, but that is normal for the young people here- a lot of them go dancing till 8 in the morning. Not sure if we'll do that while we are here but maybe :)
Sunday we went to church and then to a concert downtown. One of the directors of an English Institute here has a son who was in the band. We went with a bunch of the teacher's from the English institutes and had a blast listening to the Inmaduras (inmatures). They were a really good band.
Monday was a holiday here in Argentina. I think it was their flag day. So we had an Asado-Argentine BBQ. I ate more meat than I think I have ever eaten in my entire life! And I tried Cow Intestines :) chewy and not very appetizing. After the Asado we played soccer with about 30 young guys who we invited to come. I played for about 10 minutes and then quit to hang out with some of the other people who came. I was the only girl playing for a little while :) The rest of the day we tried to learn a card game called truco but it has a ton of rules! It's a blast though and I hope to get better at it while here. We met some more people which was fun. We definitely are making a lot of contacts! The other week when we went out for pizza about 30 people showed up :) We definitely have been blessed in meeting people.
Tuesday was our day off but Mary Clare and I met up with the same girl from saturday night. Her name is Jimena. We went shopping and then went over to her house. I ended up staying most of the evening. Mary Clare left to go see another friend, so I sat and chatted with her family. They had a lot of questions about Americans-politics, movies, family, etc. We talked forever but it was great. They invited me to eat dinner with them and so I didn't get home till about 11:30 pm. They were a very welcoming family and I think I helped change their opinion about Americans a little bit- I realy should say United States since this is technically America too. They had a wonderful dog named Tommy that I got to play with as well :) I hope to go over to their house again to converse and work on my spanish some more.
Yesterday was Weston's Birthday and the poor guy was sick, he stayed home most of the day. But I don't think he minded to much. We bought him a cake and celebrated a little bit with him. In the middle of the day I went to lunch with a girl name Mikaela. Her mom owns a restaurant in San Martin (another neighborhood). We had pasta filled with cheese and ham in a tomato cream sauce and Tiramisu for dessert. Oh my goodness was it delicious!!!! Plus I spoke with her in Spanish for 2.5 hours and it was really easy for me to understand her. She is a really great girl and she's going to come to our spanish class that we will be having tomorrow night at the house! I am excited to get to know her better :) We also taught an english class during the evening. This time it was just Jon and I teaching but we had a great time talking about Halloween and New Years in the States. They think it's so funny that we dress up and go to peoples houses asking for candy. Plus Jon and I had a great time talking on the way there and back. I'm really enjoying to get to know my team better.
Now it's thursday :) I'm feeling sick now so please lift prayers for our whole team and health. It seems like everyone here is getting sick! Everyone on the trains and busses are coughing and Martin's daughters are both sick :( :( It's not very helpful for us cuz it drains our energy so much. And please lift up all the people we are meeting up to God as well. I truly feel blessed with all the friendships we are making and I'm having a great time learning about their lives and the differences between their culture and ours.
Well I think I'm going to get going. Hopefully I can give more updates soon. Maybe less words and more pictures :) :) Be looking foward to a picture of me in these awesome pants that I bought. They are really popular here but they are pretty ugly-but sooooooo comfortable :) :)
Well anyway love you all talk to you soon
Let's see if I can sum it up in a shorter message :)
So this past Saturday was Faith Day. We split into two teams each with a couple locals with us as well. The goal of the day was to go to The Capital (ie the city) with nothing but a bunch of out dated Christian literature and the clothes on our backs and sell enough books to be able to eat and return home by 6 o'clock. We weren't allowed to bring any of our own money and we had to save 30 percent of the money we made. It was an interesting day but God provided immensely. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing and thought we would be desperately begging people to buy these old books and not have any luck doing so. But it was quite the opposite. The entire day was really relaxed and we were able to eat (and eat enough) and we got back home at 5:45. My team consisted of two locals and my teammate Tim. I partnered up with a guy named Pipi :) and when we were selling he was extremely calm and did not feel rushed. It was a great time to practice patience and also my spanish since he didn't speak a word of english. My brain was fried though by the end of the day, and my spanish was not very good that day for some reason. But all in all we had a great day talking and getting to know each other and we sold 39 pesos worth of books. We were able to spend 22 of that on food and 5 for the trip back. Plus God provided an extra treat from a guy selling Pan Rellenas (bread filled with ham/cheese and also ones filled with Chicken). He didn't have enough to pay for the books he wanted so he gave us some bread instead!! It was a gift from Heaven :) :) He was such a great man with so much joy and love in his heart. After chatting with him we got some Panchos (hot dogs) and a 7 Up to share and headed home. We were exhausted but i feel like my faith was definitely strengthened through the experience. I think it was a lesson in trusting God to provide. "You will keep in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You" Psalm 26:3 :) Exactly what happened that day.
Well that night after the faith day Jon, Mary Clare, and I met up with one of the girls we met in an English institute last week. It was fun to hang out with her, her boyfriend, her best friend, and her best friend's boyfriend. We stayed out pretty late, but that is normal for the young people here- a lot of them go dancing till 8 in the morning. Not sure if we'll do that while we are here but maybe :)
Sunday we went to church and then to a concert downtown. One of the directors of an English Institute here has a son who was in the band. We went with a bunch of the teacher's from the English institutes and had a blast listening to the Inmaduras (inmatures). They were a really good band.
Monday was a holiday here in Argentina. I think it was their flag day. So we had an Asado-Argentine BBQ. I ate more meat than I think I have ever eaten in my entire life! And I tried Cow Intestines :) chewy and not very appetizing. After the Asado we played soccer with about 30 young guys who we invited to come. I played for about 10 minutes and then quit to hang out with some of the other people who came. I was the only girl playing for a little while :) The rest of the day we tried to learn a card game called truco but it has a ton of rules! It's a blast though and I hope to get better at it while here. We met some more people which was fun. We definitely are making a lot of contacts! The other week when we went out for pizza about 30 people showed up :) We definitely have been blessed in meeting people.
Tuesday was our day off but Mary Clare and I met up with the same girl from saturday night. Her name is Jimena. We went shopping and then went over to her house. I ended up staying most of the evening. Mary Clare left to go see another friend, so I sat and chatted with her family. They had a lot of questions about Americans-politics, movies, family, etc. We talked forever but it was great. They invited me to eat dinner with them and so I didn't get home till about 11:30 pm. They were a very welcoming family and I think I helped change their opinion about Americans a little bit- I realy should say United States since this is technically America too. They had a wonderful dog named Tommy that I got to play with as well :) I hope to go over to their house again to converse and work on my spanish some more.
Yesterday was Weston's Birthday and the poor guy was sick, he stayed home most of the day. But I don't think he minded to much. We bought him a cake and celebrated a little bit with him. In the middle of the day I went to lunch with a girl name Mikaela. Her mom owns a restaurant in San Martin (another neighborhood). We had pasta filled with cheese and ham in a tomato cream sauce and Tiramisu for dessert. Oh my goodness was it delicious!!!! Plus I spoke with her in Spanish for 2.5 hours and it was really easy for me to understand her. She is a really great girl and she's going to come to our spanish class that we will be having tomorrow night at the house! I am excited to get to know her better :) We also taught an english class during the evening. This time it was just Jon and I teaching but we had a great time talking about Halloween and New Years in the States. They think it's so funny that we dress up and go to peoples houses asking for candy. Plus Jon and I had a great time talking on the way there and back. I'm really enjoying to get to know my team better.
Now it's thursday :) I'm feeling sick now so please lift prayers for our whole team and health. It seems like everyone here is getting sick! Everyone on the trains and busses are coughing and Martin's daughters are both sick :( :( It's not very helpful for us cuz it drains our energy so much. And please lift up all the people we are meeting up to God as well. I truly feel blessed with all the friendships we are making and I'm having a great time learning about their lives and the differences between their culture and ours.
Well I think I'm going to get going. Hopefully I can give more updates soon. Maybe less words and more pictures :) :) Be looking foward to a picture of me in these awesome pants that I bought. They are really popular here but they are pretty ugly-but sooooooo comfortable :) :)
Well anyway love you all talk to you soon
An email I sent a few days back
Most of this is from an email I sent a few days back but I thought it'd be good to post here as well...
Things are still going well here in Argentina. Something I have realized while being here is that it's not like a mission trip where you go and work on a project or build something for someone and put all your time and energy into that (which is all I have done in the past). It is a lot less structured and basically we are just living life among the Argentines for 2 months. We do go to the schools and teach English but in our time not at the institutes we are expected to call people and go hang out with them and show them Jesus in our actions. We are making friends right now and it has been good, but it is a lot more socializing then I am used to :) so I definitely would appreciate prayers for the energy to reach out to people.
We are definitely not lacking any of the comforts of home which when I usually go on a mission trip I'm used to not showering for days in a row, etc. Here we have wifi in the house, lots of food, and way too many sweets! Every morning we have coffee and danishes.... but we exercise afterwards so that's good at least. So it's almost like i'm still in America but now everyone speaks spanish and greet each other with kisses on the cheek. There are definitely other cultural differences but it's still fairly similar.
We had a Bible study this morning on John 15 where Jesus is talking about him being the true vine. It was good to go over this because of its emphasis on where we get our strength every day of our lives. One thing that was mentioned by my teammate Weston was that we also need to take care of ourselves so that we can be effective in our time here. This includes eating well, getting time alone and with God to renew our energy, and exercising. One thing I am having a hard time doing is resisting all the delicious pastries they have here. I noticed this hindered me yesterday when we hung out with some kids at an orphanage. After all the sugar I had I did not feel very good and this didn't allow me to enjoy being with the kids as much. So as ridiculous as this may sound please pray that God will help me eating so much Dulce de leche (basically caramel) and cookies and pastries, etc :)
Yesterday we had a 3 hour time in a coffee shop by ourselves to spend time with God and we have been playing Dodgeball in the mornings. Martin, our leader, is so good at dodgeball it's as if he was 15 years old it's amazing. His rules are completely different, but it is a blast and a great way to get out frustrations.
I love you all back at home and please send me any questions you have about our time here in Argentina :) I would love to hear from you all and the encouragement would be greatly appreciated especially as we start going to the English institutes more often and are meeting people.
Things are still going well here in Argentina. Something I have realized while being here is that it's not like a mission trip where you go and work on a project or build something for someone and put all your time and energy into that (which is all I have done in the past). It is a lot less structured and basically we are just living life among the Argentines for 2 months. We do go to the schools and teach English but in our time not at the institutes we are expected to call people and go hang out with them and show them Jesus in our actions. We are making friends right now and it has been good, but it is a lot more socializing then I am used to :) so I definitely would appreciate prayers for the energy to reach out to people.
We are definitely not lacking any of the comforts of home which when I usually go on a mission trip I'm used to not showering for days in a row, etc. Here we have wifi in the house, lots of food, and way too many sweets! Every morning we have coffee and danishes.... but we exercise afterwards so that's good at least. So it's almost like i'm still in America but now everyone speaks spanish and greet each other with kisses on the cheek. There are definitely other cultural differences but it's still fairly similar.
We had a Bible study this morning on John 15 where Jesus is talking about him being the true vine. It was good to go over this because of its emphasis on where we get our strength every day of our lives. One thing that was mentioned by my teammate Weston was that we also need to take care of ourselves so that we can be effective in our time here. This includes eating well, getting time alone and with God to renew our energy, and exercising. One thing I am having a hard time doing is resisting all the delicious pastries they have here. I noticed this hindered me yesterday when we hung out with some kids at an orphanage. After all the sugar I had I did not feel very good and this didn't allow me to enjoy being with the kids as much. So as ridiculous as this may sound please pray that God will help me eating so much Dulce de leche (basically caramel) and cookies and pastries, etc :)
Yesterday we had a 3 hour time in a coffee shop by ourselves to spend time with God and we have been playing Dodgeball in the mornings. Martin, our leader, is so good at dodgeball it's as if he was 15 years old it's amazing. His rules are completely different, but it is a blast and a great way to get out frustrations.
I love you all back at home and please send me any questions you have about our time here in Argentina :) I would love to hear from you all and the encouragement would be greatly appreciated especially as we start going to the English institutes more often and are meeting people.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Some Updates
Since I last wrote we have been downtown twice, to an Argentine birthday party, riding the bus a lot, learned how to cook a pasta called ñoguis, and taught our first english classes.
On saturday we had a big scavenger hunt through downtown Buenos Aires which was a blast. We rode the subway and the buses and had some amazing pizza for lunch. It was a tiring day walking all around the capital but it was really neat to see some places that I had heard about in my Spanish class. I really enjoyed seeing the Plaza de Mayo. Every wednesday a group of mothers from the Guerra Sucia go to the Plaza to remember the victims (It was a time I think in the early 70s where a bunch of people "disappeared" but were actually killed by the government). Originally they came out as a protest to what had happened and for the government to admit to what it had done but now it is more of a thing of remembrance. We went on saturday so the women weren't there. It's exciting to get to know the city. We live about 40 minutes from the downtown area by train, the last stop out of town.
After the day downtown we went to the birthday party of a woman who is in the same classes as our leader Martin. He brought us to meet people and try to make friends that we can hang out with while here. Some of us were succesful at making contacts but it was hard with the music blaring. Interestingly enough when we walked in they were blasting Michael Buble :) They really love American music here-they play it everywhere. But it was a good night, but since a lot of people smoke here indoors it got a little bit overwhelming. It was nice to be among the people here.
Monday we had our first day teaching at an english institute. This was definitely a highlight because we are dying to make friends here. We did a few skits and talked about ourselves for a little while with everyone. We had three classes of three different levels. The second group really understood and it was fun interacting with them. One of the guys named Steven that we met was very blunt. He asked us if we thought the city was dirty and we said that it wasn't too bad and he just was so surprised. His reply was "YOU DON'T, I think it's filthy." It was a great time to interact with some Argintines. We invited them to come eat pizza with us this friday so I hope that they come and we can start making friends that we can hang out with on a regular basis. So definitely be praying for this friday night! We have another class tonight at an english institute so if you read this before then definitely pray that we can meet more people there.
One woman here that I love is a friend of our leader whose name is Fernanda. She's like a big sister or another mom here. She comes over and helps us learn how to cook Argentine dishes. She taught us to make Pasta on monday for lunch and we had a great time throwing flour around and chatting. She is a wonderful woman whose love for God shines brightly :) She is great to have around.
Last night I met a woman on the train who wants to learn English and invited her to the classes we will be teaching here at the house on Friday nights. We had a great conversation and hope that we will be able to talk again. She was telling me how so many people here are stressed out with working all day and then studying at school. Pabla (that's her name) said while she was in school all she wanted to do on the weekend was sleep. She said that this isn't how life should be. I definitely agree. I really hope that she will come to our classes and that we will be able to talk some more and that I can show her and share with her the hope that Jesus can give to our lives. I pray that Jesus will be able to come into the lives of those we meet and give them a full life :) One of joy, love, hope, and forgiveness.
All of us at the house are anxious to start making friends with the Argentines. It's been a week and a half and I think some of are frustrated that we are at the house a lot. But now that we are starting to teach opportunities are going to present themselves. Sometimes God requires us to be more patient then we desire to be. It's a strange place to be, feeling like we need to be really going out and meeting people and at the same needing to take time to get situated, pray, and reflect.
On saturday we had a big scavenger hunt through downtown Buenos Aires which was a blast. We rode the subway and the buses and had some amazing pizza for lunch. It was a tiring day walking all around the capital but it was really neat to see some places that I had heard about in my Spanish class. I really enjoyed seeing the Plaza de Mayo. Every wednesday a group of mothers from the Guerra Sucia go to the Plaza to remember the victims (It was a time I think in the early 70s where a bunch of people "disappeared" but were actually killed by the government). Originally they came out as a protest to what had happened and for the government to admit to what it had done but now it is more of a thing of remembrance. We went on saturday so the women weren't there. It's exciting to get to know the city. We live about 40 minutes from the downtown area by train, the last stop out of town.
After the day downtown we went to the birthday party of a woman who is in the same classes as our leader Martin. He brought us to meet people and try to make friends that we can hang out with while here. Some of us were succesful at making contacts but it was hard with the music blaring. Interestingly enough when we walked in they were blasting Michael Buble :) They really love American music here-they play it everywhere. But it was a good night, but since a lot of people smoke here indoors it got a little bit overwhelming. It was nice to be among the people here.
Monday we had our first day teaching at an english institute. This was definitely a highlight because we are dying to make friends here. We did a few skits and talked about ourselves for a little while with everyone. We had three classes of three different levels. The second group really understood and it was fun interacting with them. One of the guys named Steven that we met was very blunt. He asked us if we thought the city was dirty and we said that it wasn't too bad and he just was so surprised. His reply was "YOU DON'T, I think it's filthy." It was a great time to interact with some Argintines. We invited them to come eat pizza with us this friday so I hope that they come and we can start making friends that we can hang out with on a regular basis. So definitely be praying for this friday night! We have another class tonight at an english institute so if you read this before then definitely pray that we can meet more people there.
One woman here that I love is a friend of our leader whose name is Fernanda. She's like a big sister or another mom here. She comes over and helps us learn how to cook Argentine dishes. She taught us to make Pasta on monday for lunch and we had a great time throwing flour around and chatting. She is a wonderful woman whose love for God shines brightly :) She is great to have around.
Last night I met a woman on the train who wants to learn English and invited her to the classes we will be teaching here at the house on Friday nights. We had a great conversation and hope that we will be able to talk again. She was telling me how so many people here are stressed out with working all day and then studying at school. Pabla (that's her name) said while she was in school all she wanted to do on the weekend was sleep. She said that this isn't how life should be. I definitely agree. I really hope that she will come to our classes and that we will be able to talk some more and that I can show her and share with her the hope that Jesus can give to our lives. I pray that Jesus will be able to come into the lives of those we meet and give them a full life :) One of joy, love, hope, and forgiveness.
All of us at the house are anxious to start making friends with the Argentines. It's been a week and a half and I think some of are frustrated that we are at the house a lot. But now that we are starting to teach opportunities are going to present themselves. Sometimes God requires us to be more patient then we desire to be. It's a strange place to be, feeling like we need to be really going out and meeting people and at the same needing to take time to get situated, pray, and reflect.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Unas Cuentas
So it is our fourth day here and after a few days just hanging around the house we are finally out and about.
On tuesday we went to this large shopping center called Jumbo (u pronounced like 00). It was pretty big with tons of nice clothing stores and one big store like walmart and another similar to home depot. We went there for a cultural assignment. Our team had to observe the people and then ask three people three different questions about Argentina. At first it was nerve racking but I found that I can speak pretty well with the Argentines. But I asked them at what age they normally get married? If religion played a large role in their society? And just what they enjoy doing in their free time? Many said that religion played a role but none of the people I talked to considered themselves religious. The average age of getting married was around 20 (or they just move in together at this age). Sports, shopping (there are a ton of clothing stores), going to movies, and basically the same things that people do in the U.S. It was really fun and a great way to finally get out and learn about Argentina.
We have drank a lot of Mate, which is a very traditional tea here. When people have guests over they drink Mate together. However, you only have mate with people you care about. It is a sign of affection. There is a certain way that you serve mate and you pass it around the circle and drink from the same bombilla (straw, pronounced bombisha). We also learned how to make tortas fritas, which are similar to sopapillas or fry bread. There are a lot of people here and in general I would say that it is a modern city. Of course there are a lot of old buildings but the people are definitely eager for modern things.
The accent here is very distinct. They drop the "s" from most words so instead of mas o menos (which means more or less), it is said like ma o meno. All y's and ll's are pronounced with a sh sound. People said that also it is harder to understand people from buenos aires because they speak with a different accent. It is similar to the Boston accent in the U.S. Well the computer is about to die. Can't wait to share more stories :) :)
On tuesday we went to this large shopping center called Jumbo (u pronounced like 00). It was pretty big with tons of nice clothing stores and one big store like walmart and another similar to home depot. We went there for a cultural assignment. Our team had to observe the people and then ask three people three different questions about Argentina. At first it was nerve racking but I found that I can speak pretty well with the Argentines. But I asked them at what age they normally get married? If religion played a large role in their society? And just what they enjoy doing in their free time? Many said that religion played a role but none of the people I talked to considered themselves religious. The average age of getting married was around 20 (or they just move in together at this age). Sports, shopping (there are a ton of clothing stores), going to movies, and basically the same things that people do in the U.S. It was really fun and a great way to finally get out and learn about Argentina.
We have drank a lot of Mate, which is a very traditional tea here. When people have guests over they drink Mate together. However, you only have mate with people you care about. It is a sign of affection. There is a certain way that you serve mate and you pass it around the circle and drink from the same bombilla (straw, pronounced bombisha). We also learned how to make tortas fritas, which are similar to sopapillas or fry bread. There are a lot of people here and in general I would say that it is a modern city. Of course there are a lot of old buildings but the people are definitely eager for modern things.
The accent here is very distinct. They drop the "s" from most words so instead of mas o menos (which means more or less), it is said like ma o meno. All y's and ll's are pronounced with a sh sound. People said that also it is harder to understand people from buenos aires because they speak with a different accent. It is similar to the Boston accent in the U.S. Well the computer is about to die. Can't wait to share more stories :) :)
Monday, June 1, 2009
Explanation
so I wanted to explain the pants thing again in case it didn't make much sense. It means opening up to people and being honest to who you are. It is like what you would do with a good friend who you trust to share things about yourself that not everyone knows. Hope that makes more sense :) :)
Aprendemos
It has only been one day but we are busy learning about the culture and what we will be doing while here. A phrase that I think is quite funny here is "pulling your pants down," it means opening up to people and being vulnerable :)
I am really excited about the ministry we will be doing here. We will be forming relationships first and meeting people through the English classes we are going to be teaching and then if the Lord opens the door to speak about him we will be able to do so. But first we must build up trust with the people we meet, which makes sense. I am learning a lot about the Argentine ways and I'm excited to start making friends.
And the food is fantastic! Delicious meats, empanadas, and pastries.
Can't wait to have more stories to share
I am really excited about the ministry we will be doing here. We will be forming relationships first and meeting people through the English classes we are going to be teaching and then if the Lord opens the door to speak about him we will be able to do so. But first we must build up trust with the people we meet, which makes sense. I am learning a lot about the Argentine ways and I'm excited to start making friends.
And the food is fantastic! Delicious meats, empanadas, and pastries.
Can't wait to have more stories to share
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Llegamos!
We have safely landed in Buenos Aires! The flight went really well, we got two meals and I watched shopaholic in spanish. When we arrived we had to all wear face masks when deplaning and they took our temperatures as well. There are a growing number of cases of swine flu so they are taking extra precausions I guess.
I am getting really excited about working with my team. There are three guys and two of us girls, and they are all really nice and I'm excited to spend the summer with them. Our team leads are really awesome as well, really loving people.
Mary Clare (the other girl) gave me a rough outline of what the weeks will look like. We will be going to the english institutes on monday, wednesdays, and thursdays. Fridays we will have english classes at the house we are staying at. Saturdays we will be with the youth group from a church here in town and Sundays we will be going to church. Tuesdays are our free days to see the sights :) We will also be going to some orphanages as well and playing with the kids!!!!!!!!
Well I'm very tired from the flight and think I'll go take a nap. Thanks for all your prayers for a safe flight.
P.S A big prayer request I have is for Martin's (our team leader) mom. She is sick and it is hard for him to be with us and be helping her at the same time.
I am getting really excited about working with my team. There are three guys and two of us girls, and they are all really nice and I'm excited to spend the summer with them. Our team leads are really awesome as well, really loving people.
Mary Clare (the other girl) gave me a rough outline of what the weeks will look like. We will be going to the english institutes on monday, wednesdays, and thursdays. Fridays we will have english classes at the house we are staying at. Saturdays we will be with the youth group from a church here in town and Sundays we will be going to church. Tuesdays are our free days to see the sights :) We will also be going to some orphanages as well and playing with the kids!!!!!!!!
Well I'm very tired from the flight and think I'll go take a nap. Thanks for all your prayers for a safe flight.
P.S A big prayer request I have is for Martin's (our team leader) mom. She is sick and it is hard for him to be with us and be helping her at the same time.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
How to see my pictures over the summer
http://picasaweb.google.com/LRcase12/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ6j-pGOj5nSvgE&feat=directlink
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Preparation
It is just 10 days till I head off to Argentina for two months and I am psyched. Lots of prayer, shopping, and packing fill my day as I get ready for this trip. Some verses that have been on my mind lately as I look forward to this trip are John 13:34-35 and Ephesians 6:19.
"A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" John 13:34-35
This verse I have been praying for our team this summer, that we would pour out love for one another and by that the people we meet would know that we are followers of Christ. Through this love we would be able to reach out to the people of Argentina.
"And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" Ephesians 6:19
I love this verse because it is exactly what I desire God to do, to give me the words to speak of the amazing love of Christ and what he did for us. I love that Paul calls the gospel a mystery because often times it seems just strange that God would work in this way but he did and I just desire for God to work through me in whatever way he desires this summer.
Well anyway I will try to write on this blog frequently this summer with updates of what is happening in my travels. I greatly appreciate your prayers and hope to include you as part of this trip through this blog.... :)
"A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" John 13:34-35
This verse I have been praying for our team this summer, that we would pour out love for one another and by that the people we meet would know that we are followers of Christ. Through this love we would be able to reach out to the people of Argentina.
"And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" Ephesians 6:19
I love this verse because it is exactly what I desire God to do, to give me the words to speak of the amazing love of Christ and what he did for us. I love that Paul calls the gospel a mystery because often times it seems just strange that God would work in this way but he did and I just desire for God to work through me in whatever way he desires this summer.
Well anyway I will try to write on this blog frequently this summer with updates of what is happening in my travels. I greatly appreciate your prayers and hope to include you as part of this trip through this blog.... :)
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