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.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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.
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