Greetings from the USA. Iguazú for debriefing was the most amazing experence ever!
First, we finished off the week amazingly. At the last minute, when we were saying good-byes, one of our team actually brought someone to Christ! That was such an amazing testament to God's will and God's time!
During our last week in La Plata, we had many different activities. First, on Monday night after our last English Club, we had an Asado, which is a big feast in Argentina where they cook 13kg of meat (all from the cow). It was SO crazy. Being as picky as I am and still sick, I decided not to eat but nothing beats seeing my friends try Blood Sausage (which, a few people seemed to like but others hated). It was a really cool experience.
Tuesday night was a Despedida for us at the Sede de Vida Estudiantil. Basically, a despedida is a big goodbye party where everyone we had met came to say their goodbyes. It was so crazy to see so many people in one place.... to think it was all the seeds we spread! I really hope the fruit grows from those people.
The best/saddest was seeing/saying goodbye to Rocio! She told me how she was glad I shared with her and she had accepted Christ. It was really a sad moment to say goodbye and I hope someday I can visit her or she can come to the USA and visit us!
Wednesday was our last day in La Plata and we had a team dinner at this reallllly fancy steakhouse. Which was cool, except I still wasn't feeling up to par so it wasn't as fun as it could've been. But, thats life and I still enjoyed our last day together as a team. Afterwards we went down to the center of town, to the cathedral where we went our first day in La Plata and took some team pictures of the cathedral in the dark and us jumping off the giant platform in the center.
Thursday morning, at the ripe 'ol time of 5:45AM we met to leave La Plata. We took a bus to Buenos Aires,where we dropped off our luggage and met the BA team. Then, we all headed to the airport to fly to Iguazú Falls.
Iguazú was probably the most beautiful place I have EVER seen. They are the largest natural waterfalls in the world. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel inside the national park, which was amazing. From our balcony in the lobby we had a view of the falls, which was breathtaking.
The first day we took a short hike to Garganta del Diablo, or the devil's throat as they are known. Those were probably the biggest, most powerful falls I have EVER SEEN. Niagra Falls seems like a stream compared to these. Breathtaking.
The next day we did 2 hikes through the rainforrest - the first was called the upper circuit, which took us to the higher up points on the falls deep within the rainforrest. Then, we did the lower circuit which takes you up-close-and-personal with the falls.
The coolest was on the lower circuit you can go over to San Martin Island and hike there as well, or sit on the beach on these huge rocks and marvel at the waterfalls. While my group hiked on up, I just sat on the rocks and looked at the falls. Then, I got adventurous and walked a bit out into the water, which was cool.
Finally, the best was the boat ride under the waterfalls. Unlike Maid of the Mist in Niagra Falls, you actually go underneath two different waterfalls. Its insane! Of course I was a tourist and bought the DVD of the park which included us on the boat ride underneath ;) Thats America's Funniest Home Videos material right there.
The temperature in Iguazú was amazing as well. Being closer to the equator (which I didn't think about when I ran around in my swim suit all day without sunscreen!), it was really nice there.. probably about 75 or 80 degrees. Wearing my swim suit, when I had been wearing my jacket and sweatpants for 6 weeks was a breath of fresh air. However, the only day I got to fully enjoy that was the day of our hikes and boat tour, but at least it was warm those days when we were freezing cold and wet!!
The wildlife at Iguazú is also amazing. There are many different types of birds, caterpillars, and butterflies. There are also things called coaties, which are a mix it seems between a racoon and anteater in appearance. They also had a habit of jumping on the table and stealing people's sandwiches, which happened to a few people in our group.
The coolest experience with wildlife was our last day there. The whole trip we had seen this sign on our balcony window warning up to keep it locked because Monkeys could enter. We thought, yea right, we haven't seen any monkeys. Well, the last day half our group when ziplining and repelling while others of us decided to go shopping in the park. Needless to say, as we were walking back from shopping all the sudden we heard something in the jungle beside us. As we looked up, we saw about 15 to 20 monkeys swinging through the trees. It was SO AWESOME! I was like 10 feet from real-live-monkeys in their natural habitat. So awesome. We got to see them for probably about 30 minutes, as well as running and getting the other people in our group at the hotel to come look at them!
Sadly though, we only got 2 1/2 days in Iguazú before we had to fly back to BA. We spent a night and a day in BA and got to see some more of the city. Our hotel there grossedme out and I swear there was something biting me, although I could not find any evidence of bed bugs. DISGUSTING! We on the La Plata team don't know how the BA team survived in that hotel! haha We missed our Hotel del Sol!
Our flight back was, well, interesting to say the least. As we go to check in, we find out our flight has been delayed 5 hours. So, instead of leaving at 9 something, we left after 2am. So United fed us a free dinner in the airport restaurant (way better than plane food!) and was very accomodating about rescheduling connecting flights (including one girl who wasn't even flying United and they moved all her flights to theirs). We ended up all missing our flights - theirs to Greensboro and mine to Charleston. In fact, we didn't get into Washington, DC until 11:15AM, when we were all supposedto be at our final destinations by 9:30AM. OH and they failed to notify our parents about that too... luckily I had a calling card with a few minutes left to call my parents and tell them I would be in Charleston around 1:30PM, hopefully. When they put me on the 12:30 flight to Charleston, there was only a 50% chance I was going to make the flight. Well, somehow, totally a God thing, they decided to let me go on through customs and not scan my bag, so I made my flight within 5 minutes. Talk about God watching out for me! Had I missed my flight, I was stuck in the DC airport until 530PM when the next flight left! When I arrived in Charleston I was greeted by my parents and my sister and then we went to baggage claim to discover only 1 of my bags made that flight, so we had to file a lost bag report and finally around 8PM that bag made it to my house. So crazy!
But, now I am home and beginning "real life" again with my internship and going to the Delta Omicron convention on the 16th in Cincinnati, which should be amazing!
If anyone would like to view my photos from the trip, you can check them out at:
My Photos on SnapFish
Also, if anyone would like to see the letter I sent my supporters about the things I learned, please view it at:
My Website
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Only One Week Left!
Happy First Day of Winter everyone!!!
My how time flies! In one week I will be getting on a plane going back to the US... crazy!
This week has been interesting. I am still battling illness. On Wednesday I went back to the doctor and found out I had pneomitis (i think thats how its spelled) which is basically an inflamation of the lungs. I am still dealing with lung pain, which sucks. The doctor also thinks (as well as I do) that last week I didnt have pharyngitis like the doctor said but the flu. Who knows whether it was swine or not, but I definitely had something that resembled it. Scary. I´m thankful to only have an inflamed lung now from it though and a cough, which, could last for weeks! But my mom already scheduled me a doctors appointment for the Tuesday I get back to make sure everything is taken care of.
Despite sickness I did manage to go to campus two days this week, which was very fruitful. While no one accepted Christ, I was able to share with a few girls who had once been Christian but have since turned away. One of them said that she was thankful we shared with her and didn´t try to shove our religion down her throat, which some people had and had turned her off to God.
Another girl we had shared with blamed God for the death of her cousin, which is interesting because I was able to share my testimony with her and relate it. While she didnt want to accept Christ and was still in the process of figuring things out, she did say that maybe one day she would that she wasn´t closed off to the idea, which is really great to hear.
This week was tough because one of our groups pretty much spoke to Satan. Some girl told them off (in Spanish of course) telling us Yankees to go back to our colony we weren´t some project and to stop telling people about God. That shook the girls up but at the same time its a reminder of just how lost these people are. It is also a good reminder of how Satan is trying to tear us down because we are doing good.
On an amazing front, they continue to do follow ups with Rocía and she is amazingly receptive and really gets what it is like to know God! She even came to Vida on Friday which was really encouraging. She is such a joy and blessing to have around!
Another guy we had accept Christ, Rod, is really awesome to talk to... He really seems to understand what it is like to be a Christian as well which is really encouraging.
This week for Vida Estudiantil was really fun as well. We did a Navidad en Junio party for the Argentines! During English Club we had them make Christmas ornaments to hang on our Christmas tree. We also made a like fireplace and hung stockings. I also helped baked Chocolate Chip and Sugar Cookies and Apple Crisp which was really cool! I think all the Argentines really enjoyed celebrating Christmas American Style.
This week is our last week here in La Plata. Tomorrow we are having an Asado, which is a big feast here in Argentina where they basically cook/barbeque an entire Cow!!!! Then on Tuesday they are having a Despido which is a going away party here in Argentina. I made a really cool slideshow of the trip with music to show. I hope its good!
Thursday morning at like 630am we leave for Buenos Aires to catch a flight to Igauzú for debriefing. Those are waterfalls which are bigger than Niagra Falls. That should be really exciting!
Then, Sunday night we get on a plane to return to the US.
That means, this will probably be my last Argentina post. I will make sure to do a post arrival update when I get back to the US.
For now, take care! Please be praying for our team´s travel over the next week as we fly to Igauzú and home!!
My how time flies! In one week I will be getting on a plane going back to the US... crazy!
This week has been interesting. I am still battling illness. On Wednesday I went back to the doctor and found out I had pneomitis (i think thats how its spelled) which is basically an inflamation of the lungs. I am still dealing with lung pain, which sucks. The doctor also thinks (as well as I do) that last week I didnt have pharyngitis like the doctor said but the flu. Who knows whether it was swine or not, but I definitely had something that resembled it. Scary. I´m thankful to only have an inflamed lung now from it though and a cough, which, could last for weeks! But my mom already scheduled me a doctors appointment for the Tuesday I get back to make sure everything is taken care of.
Despite sickness I did manage to go to campus two days this week, which was very fruitful. While no one accepted Christ, I was able to share with a few girls who had once been Christian but have since turned away. One of them said that she was thankful we shared with her and didn´t try to shove our religion down her throat, which some people had and had turned her off to God.
Another girl we had shared with blamed God for the death of her cousin, which is interesting because I was able to share my testimony with her and relate it. While she didnt want to accept Christ and was still in the process of figuring things out, she did say that maybe one day she would that she wasn´t closed off to the idea, which is really great to hear.
This week was tough because one of our groups pretty much spoke to Satan. Some girl told them off (in Spanish of course) telling us Yankees to go back to our colony we weren´t some project and to stop telling people about God. That shook the girls up but at the same time its a reminder of just how lost these people are. It is also a good reminder of how Satan is trying to tear us down because we are doing good.
On an amazing front, they continue to do follow ups with Rocía and she is amazingly receptive and really gets what it is like to know God! She even came to Vida on Friday which was really encouraging. She is such a joy and blessing to have around!
Another guy we had accept Christ, Rod, is really awesome to talk to... He really seems to understand what it is like to be a Christian as well which is really encouraging.
This week for Vida Estudiantil was really fun as well. We did a Navidad en Junio party for the Argentines! During English Club we had them make Christmas ornaments to hang on our Christmas tree. We also made a like fireplace and hung stockings. I also helped baked Chocolate Chip and Sugar Cookies and Apple Crisp which was really cool! I think all the Argentines really enjoyed celebrating Christmas American Style.
This week is our last week here in La Plata. Tomorrow we are having an Asado, which is a big feast here in Argentina where they basically cook/barbeque an entire Cow!!!! Then on Tuesday they are having a Despido which is a going away party here in Argentina. I made a really cool slideshow of the trip with music to show. I hope its good!
Thursday morning at like 630am we leave for Buenos Aires to catch a flight to Igauzú for debriefing. Those are waterfalls which are bigger than Niagra Falls. That should be really exciting!
Then, Sunday night we get on a plane to return to the US.
That means, this will probably be my last Argentina post. I will make sure to do a post arrival update when I get back to the US.
For now, take care! Please be praying for our team´s travel over the next week as we fly to Igauzú and home!!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Rough week
This week has been rough for everyone. I didn't find a single English speaker all week which was frustrating but I luckily was with a fluent speaker everyday so the language barrier was not an issue.
In addition to that, I was dealing with a sprained ankle from the train adventure last week, so that was fun since we walk everywhere here
Then, to add icing to the cake I woke up Friday morning with my lungs really hurting and coughing. Thinking it was broncitis I got a z pack at the pharmacy...which I might add is no name or prescription required and it helped a little. However, Saturday I woke up with a fever of 100 and with Tylenol it just kept rising. That afternoon I was up to 102 so I went to an Argentine doctor....that was an interesting experience! The guy diagnosed me with pharyngitis which is weird because my throat didn't even hurt! He was just guessing on what I had...makes me nervous!
Good news is my fever broke yesterday and I'm beginning to feel better but still pretty worn down.
Good news from the week is a few people ran into Rocía again and she prayed to receive Christ! God is so wonderful!!!
One week left on campus then a few days before we go to Igazú for debriefing then flying home the night of the 28th. Pray for our team as we go into this last week as strong as we did the first. Also pray for health as we are all started to get colds as the weather changes.
In addition to that, I was dealing with a sprained ankle from the train adventure last week, so that was fun since we walk everywhere here
Then, to add icing to the cake I woke up Friday morning with my lungs really hurting and coughing. Thinking it was broncitis I got a z pack at the pharmacy...which I might add is no name or prescription required and it helped a little. However, Saturday I woke up with a fever of 100 and with Tylenol it just kept rising. That afternoon I was up to 102 so I went to an Argentine doctor....that was an interesting experience! The guy diagnosed me with pharyngitis which is weird because my throat didn't even hurt! He was just guessing on what I had...makes me nervous!
Good news is my fever broke yesterday and I'm beginning to feel better but still pretty worn down.
Good news from the week is a few people ran into Rocía again and she prayed to receive Christ! God is so wonderful!!!
One week left on campus then a few days before we go to Igazú for debriefing then flying home the night of the 28th. Pray for our team as we go into this last week as strong as we did the first. Also pray for health as we are all started to get colds as the weather changes.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
A week of fun and evangelism
¡Hola chicos! ¿que tal? My spanish is improving more and more and I've had several great opportunities to use it this week!
First, some stats. As a group we have had spiritual conversations with 106 people and presented the gospel (testimony, 4 spritiual laws, leading someone to a point of decision) 66 times, and had 2 people pray to receive Christ, as well as countless others wishing to think about it and pray the prayer themseleve! So many seeds have been planted these last 2 weeks. God is truly doing amazing things here in La Plata.
Now for my week....
Sunday
Sunday was our day trip to colonia, Uruguay. That was so much fun! I ended up not renting a moped but a golf cart instead with my friend Samantha...that was a blast! We drove along the road by the beach and all throughtout town. At lunch we met a missionaryfrom Alabama and then found 2 people from Minnesota. That was so funny...it's weird to hear English speakers here.
There was a BEAUTIFUL sunset behind the lighthouse in colonia. Words cannot even describe it!!!
On the ferry ride back ( and let me just say their ferry looks like a cruise liner inside with the arcade and all) we got in trouble! Haha. First we went to the roof and did a mock hurricane cast but that led to the idea of playing tag on the roof. Well, apparently the running sounded like a herd of elephants below and caused the lights to flicker...people were looking around scared and panicing
like Jesus was coming!
Great day overall...so exhausting though! Not to mention more swine flu screening! Especially where buenos aires has an outbreak.
Monday
Today was team time and English club. It was also a girl on our teams birthday so we went to dinner then bought a cake at a local bakery to celebrate.
Tuesday
Tuesday was our first day on the hummanities campus. This campus is the biggest at UNLP but is housed in a single building. The building also has a terrible history, seeing as it was a prision during the dirty wars. The building itself just cried our for the lord.
The first conversation I and one of our leaders got in was o
Interesting....the girls claimed to speak English but...they didn't. So, I found myself in a translating position because mitch spoke no spanish. It was cool though to just talk to these girls and how patient they were with my bad grammar. Also, that was totally God speaking through me because my Spanish is not that great.
The next girl we talked to just showed the eagerness of these people to hear the gospel. After one solarium question she told us how last week her friend was murdered. She was just so receptive as we shares the word with her and she was really close to accepting Christ. Please pray for her. Her name is rocìa.
Tuesday night for girls night we went to a salsa dancing class that was entertaining. At the end we got to dance with some more experienced argentine guys and the one I danced with said I was good for my first day! Haha
Wednesday
Wednesday morning cindy and I had discipleship where we talked about my testimony and then right after got the chance to use it
When I got to campus I was originally just going to stay at the table and help out the STiNT team but I saw these 4 girls just sitting there so I felt really called to go share with them. None of my team was around so I went with tamara, one of the girls from vida who translated for me on friday. Well to make a long story short I am terrified of sharing on my own but I did it anyways and how fruitful it was! The girls spoke no English so tamara had to translate everything I said but it was cool because I got to share my testimony. And I Totally accidently said Jesus forgives us of our fish instead of sins, which was entertaining (pescado vs pecado) one of the girls, Sophía, wanted to think about it and pray that night to receieve Christ...her enthusaism for wanting to know more about the Lord was just such a testament to Him.
Dinner that night was fun and interesting...Samantha, Abby, and I went to a place called pizza libre which is like all you can eat pizza but they bring it to your table buffet style. Some of the pizza is crazy too! First, argentine pizza has a creamy mozerrella sort of topping with little sauce. Then some of their pizza was like cheese with ketchup and French fry topping. That was really interesting tasting to say the least!
Thursday
Thursday was pretty quiet on campus... Matt, Christen, and I shared with these two girls who I guessed assumed I spoke Spanish because I ask them to take a survey in Spanish so they asked me everytime they needed a translation. Then matt and I attempted to do solarium completely in Spansih, which didn't work out so well. Haha. The rest of the day was free...we did a little praise and worship over at the sede which was cool
Friday
Friday morning I sent out postcards to all my supporters and a few other friends and family who had requested them. I used an online service since mail here is really expensive, takes 2 or 3 weeks, and may or may not ever get there. Plus I got to upload some pictures of myself here for everyone to see. People should get those sometime next week
Friday night was English club which my ministry team led. We did music and I made a cool wordsearch for it. The argentines seemed to really enjoy the lessons.
Then we did prayer during vida because the first Friday of every month they do 24 hours of prayer. We got to hear prayer requests from students in humanities for how to reach the students there. We ended up leaving early though because we were going to buenos aires in the morning.
Saturday
Saturday we took a day trip to Buenos Aires. That started off verry interesting. First of all, we were supposed to be going to a fútbol game in BA but the game was actually Argentina vs Columbia, so it was impossible to get tickets. So, we ended up just exploring the city.
First, we took the train in since we had traveled by plane, bus, car, and boat. Well.... Outside of BA the train broke down so we had to walk the track back to the closest station and climb the platform before another train that was coming down the tracks hit us. There were literally hundreds of people walking. It looked like something out of a movie!
Once we made it to BA went ate at burger king where we got Mitch a pink panther crown for his birthday. Well some dude at the table beside us randomly pulls out a trumpet and plays happy birthday for us...that made me laugh hysterically!
In BA after cramming 10 people in the entryway of a bus several times and shoving in in the matter of seconds before the bus pulled off, we visited places like Boca (the colorful place you see on most postcards) and Ritornello ( where Evitas grave is _which we didn't see_ and a huggge hippie fair). In boca I definitely got my picture taken with a tango dancer! For dinner, we went to a pub to watch the game (Argentina won)
I can't believe this trip is half over! Only 2 1/2 weeks left in la plata, the we travel to igazú (the waterfalls in the north) foe debriefing! Time sure flies when you are having fun! I hope all is well in the US!
¡chao!
First, some stats. As a group we have had spiritual conversations with 106 people and presented the gospel (testimony, 4 spritiual laws, leading someone to a point of decision) 66 times, and had 2 people pray to receive Christ, as well as countless others wishing to think about it and pray the prayer themseleve! So many seeds have been planted these last 2 weeks. God is truly doing amazing things here in La Plata.
Now for my week....
Sunday
Sunday was our day trip to colonia, Uruguay. That was so much fun! I ended up not renting a moped but a golf cart instead with my friend Samantha...that was a blast! We drove along the road by the beach and all throughtout town. At lunch we met a missionaryfrom Alabama and then found 2 people from Minnesota. That was so funny...it's weird to hear English speakers here.
There was a BEAUTIFUL sunset behind the lighthouse in colonia. Words cannot even describe it!!!
On the ferry ride back ( and let me just say their ferry looks like a cruise liner inside with the arcade and all) we got in trouble! Haha. First we went to the roof and did a mock hurricane cast but that led to the idea of playing tag on the roof. Well, apparently the running sounded like a herd of elephants below and caused the lights to flicker...people were looking around scared and panicing
like Jesus was coming!
Great day overall...so exhausting though! Not to mention more swine flu screening! Especially where buenos aires has an outbreak.
Monday
Today was team time and English club. It was also a girl on our teams birthday so we went to dinner then bought a cake at a local bakery to celebrate.
Tuesday
Tuesday was our first day on the hummanities campus. This campus is the biggest at UNLP but is housed in a single building. The building also has a terrible history, seeing as it was a prision during the dirty wars. The building itself just cried our for the lord.
The first conversation I and one of our leaders got in was o
Interesting....the girls claimed to speak English but...they didn't. So, I found myself in a translating position because mitch spoke no spanish. It was cool though to just talk to these girls and how patient they were with my bad grammar. Also, that was totally God speaking through me because my Spanish is not that great.
The next girl we talked to just showed the eagerness of these people to hear the gospel. After one solarium question she told us how last week her friend was murdered. She was just so receptive as we shares the word with her and she was really close to accepting Christ. Please pray for her. Her name is rocìa.
Tuesday night for girls night we went to a salsa dancing class that was entertaining. At the end we got to dance with some more experienced argentine guys and the one I danced with said I was good for my first day! Haha
Wednesday
Wednesday morning cindy and I had discipleship where we talked about my testimony and then right after got the chance to use it
When I got to campus I was originally just going to stay at the table and help out the STiNT team but I saw these 4 girls just sitting there so I felt really called to go share with them. None of my team was around so I went with tamara, one of the girls from vida who translated for me on friday. Well to make a long story short I am terrified of sharing on my own but I did it anyways and how fruitful it was! The girls spoke no English so tamara had to translate everything I said but it was cool because I got to share my testimony. And I Totally accidently said Jesus forgives us of our fish instead of sins, which was entertaining (pescado vs pecado) one of the girls, Sophía, wanted to think about it and pray that night to receieve Christ...her enthusaism for wanting to know more about the Lord was just such a testament to Him.
Dinner that night was fun and interesting...Samantha, Abby, and I went to a place called pizza libre which is like all you can eat pizza but they bring it to your table buffet style. Some of the pizza is crazy too! First, argentine pizza has a creamy mozerrella sort of topping with little sauce. Then some of their pizza was like cheese with ketchup and French fry topping. That was really interesting tasting to say the least!
Thursday
Thursday was pretty quiet on campus... Matt, Christen, and I shared with these two girls who I guessed assumed I spoke Spanish because I ask them to take a survey in Spanish so they asked me everytime they needed a translation. Then matt and I attempted to do solarium completely in Spansih, which didn't work out so well. Haha. The rest of the day was free...we did a little praise and worship over at the sede which was cool
Friday
Friday morning I sent out postcards to all my supporters and a few other friends and family who had requested them. I used an online service since mail here is really expensive, takes 2 or 3 weeks, and may or may not ever get there. Plus I got to upload some pictures of myself here for everyone to see. People should get those sometime next week
Friday night was English club which my ministry team led. We did music and I made a cool wordsearch for it. The argentines seemed to really enjoy the lessons.
Then we did prayer during vida because the first Friday of every month they do 24 hours of prayer. We got to hear prayer requests from students in humanities for how to reach the students there. We ended up leaving early though because we were going to buenos aires in the morning.
Saturday
Saturday we took a day trip to Buenos Aires. That started off verry interesting. First of all, we were supposed to be going to a fútbol game in BA but the game was actually Argentina vs Columbia, so it was impossible to get tickets. So, we ended up just exploring the city.
First, we took the train in since we had traveled by plane, bus, car, and boat. Well.... Outside of BA the train broke down so we had to walk the track back to the closest station and climb the platform before another train that was coming down the tracks hit us. There were literally hundreds of people walking. It looked like something out of a movie!
Once we made it to BA went ate at burger king where we got Mitch a pink panther crown for his birthday. Well some dude at the table beside us randomly pulls out a trumpet and plays happy birthday for us...that made me laugh hysterically!
In BA after cramming 10 people in the entryway of a bus several times and shoving in in the matter of seconds before the bus pulled off, we visited places like Boca (the colorful place you see on most postcards) and Ritornello ( where Evitas grave is _which we didn't see_ and a huggge hippie fair). In boca I definitely got my picture taken with a tango dancer! For dinner, we went to a pub to watch the game (Argentina won)
I can't believe this trip is half over! Only 2 1/2 weeks left in la plata, the we travel to igazú (the waterfalls in the north) foe debriefing! Time sure flies when you are having fun! I hope all is well in the US!
¡chao!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
2 weeks down, 4 to go
¡hola chicos! Where has the time gone? It seems like so much has happened since my last post!
Sunday
Sunday we went to a hippie fair at one of the plazas, which was a really cool experience. I ended up buying a traverso flute (which the lady offerred me free lessons on over mystay in la plata) and a scarf.
For dinner Sunday we went to mcdonalds. It is so expensive here!!! For 15 pesos (5 bucks) I only got a plain cheeseburger, kids meal sized fry, and water!! It was crazy!
Monday
Monday was argentina's fake independence day so for English club we went to the bosque for a sports day. The funniest moment in that had to be the fact that while I was filming I totally got nailed with a soccer ball which knocked the camera to the ground. America's funniest home videos anyone?
Tuesday
Tuesday was our first day on campus. However we got there really late thanks to the banks here. It was our first chance to exchange money and being the culture that it is, it took about 2 hours for 5 people to change money. You had to wait in line to register, then wait to be called, then fill out paperwork, then go upstairs and wait in line to acutually change money. It was crazy!!!
This week we were at the physical and exact sciences campus, meaning few English speakers. Luckily, Sarah and I found juan and bélen, whom we talked to for 2 hours about god and American life...anything you can think of. From talking to them we learned a lot about argentine life
After campus, since I finally had money I went and purchased 20liters of water. I also got some frutilla tang mix, which is realllly good!
Tuesday night was also our first bible study night. I'm in Cindys which is so amazingly fun! Then we all went to a cool reatuarant to fellowship as women.
Wednesday
Wednesday on campus I ran into juan and bélen again and we had a great conversation about catholism and Methodism which gave meal chance to share the gospel some more. That was a lot of fun and well worth it! I also talked to a girl completely in Spanish today. Granted it was simple thing with bad grammar but I got a lot of practice.
I also went with abby and matt to the post office. Like the bank, this was a very long process. It's set up a lot like the DMV in the states. You go in, take a number, sit there until they decide to call you, then mail your letter. Problem is, this culture is very relational so in between and during helping people, they sit around talk, drink maté, anything you can think of!
Speaking of maté, I forgot to talk about it in my last post. Maté is like tea only it looks like weed in a cup. Argentines drink this all the time! The server pours water and passes it to the first person, then that person drink it all, then it's refilled and goes to the next person, etc around the circle. Oh, and it's rude to touch or wipe off the straw! So, partially because I don't like it, partially because it has cafeine, and also because it's a great way to spread germs, I have not been participating. Not to mention the ever growing rise of swine flu, which has now hit Argentina (but mainly in Buenos Aires).
Thursday
Thursday campus was kinda quiet so I just had discipleship with Cindy, did a prayer walk Around campus, then went to help pass our English club flyers. Thursday night we went over to the STiNtgirls apartments with some Argentine to watch a movie.
Friday
Friday was...interesting. After a quick lunch on campus, matt and I (one of the 2 guys on project) set out to talk to this guy and girl. Well, as we finished Solarium and they told us they didn't believe in God, one of their friends came over and wanted to do Solarium so matt took him and I asked the guy, gáston, why he didn't believe. Well, needles to say, I ended up sharing the gospel and my testimony for 2 1/2 hours with a crowd of 9 people. That was frustrating when they decided they didn't want to speak English anymore! 9 people talking fast in Spanish isn't what I meant when I asked God to give me practice speaking! What a sense of humor He has! Luckily, 3 of the girls from vida showed up and translated for me and helped me share with these 9 atheists. While none of them came to know the Lord, the seed was planted. Even the most "stubborn" guy agreed with me on some things and I could tell it was starting to work in his heart. God calls us to plant seeds so only He will see what will grow from that. It was a great experience but just solo overwhelming!
That night after English club, there was a fiesta during la vida to welcome us to "the tina". There was lots of dancing - everywhere from salsa to tango to cha cha slide to boot scoot boogy.
Saturday
Today was supposed to be a social project outside of la plata. However, it was an outdoors thing kind of like bible shook but due to rain it was cancelled. However, since we were going to do some songs for the kids (matt on guitar, I on trumpet, candice, michelle and elizabeth singing) we ended up sitting around and singing praise and worship songs all day. The coolest part is we were with argentines, obviously but we were in a Brazilian missionaries home, so we prayed and sang in 3 languages, sometimes at the same time. That was just so refreshing to know all nations praise God and music was the one time we could all communicate without a need for translation. Music is truly a gift from God
Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Uruguay which should be super fun. We have to leave La Plata around 730am to catch the ferry in buenos aires around 930. We are going to rent mopeds which will be fun. Hahaha. Pray I don't wreck one of those things!
I would love to hear from you all! Feel free to comment on here and let me know how your life is going!!!
Sunday
Sunday we went to a hippie fair at one of the plazas, which was a really cool experience. I ended up buying a traverso flute (which the lady offerred me free lessons on over mystay in la plata) and a scarf.
For dinner Sunday we went to mcdonalds. It is so expensive here!!! For 15 pesos (5 bucks) I only got a plain cheeseburger, kids meal sized fry, and water!! It was crazy!
Monday
Monday was argentina's fake independence day so for English club we went to the bosque for a sports day. The funniest moment in that had to be the fact that while I was filming I totally got nailed with a soccer ball which knocked the camera to the ground. America's funniest home videos anyone?
Tuesday
Tuesday was our first day on campus. However we got there really late thanks to the banks here. It was our first chance to exchange money and being the culture that it is, it took about 2 hours for 5 people to change money. You had to wait in line to register, then wait to be called, then fill out paperwork, then go upstairs and wait in line to acutually change money. It was crazy!!!
This week we were at the physical and exact sciences campus, meaning few English speakers. Luckily, Sarah and I found juan and bélen, whom we talked to for 2 hours about god and American life...anything you can think of. From talking to them we learned a lot about argentine life
After campus, since I finally had money I went and purchased 20liters of water. I also got some frutilla tang mix, which is realllly good!
Tuesday night was also our first bible study night. I'm in Cindys which is so amazingly fun! Then we all went to a cool reatuarant to fellowship as women.
Wednesday
Wednesday on campus I ran into juan and bélen again and we had a great conversation about catholism and Methodism which gave meal chance to share the gospel some more. That was a lot of fun and well worth it! I also talked to a girl completely in Spanish today. Granted it was simple thing with bad grammar but I got a lot of practice.
I also went with abby and matt to the post office. Like the bank, this was a very long process. It's set up a lot like the DMV in the states. You go in, take a number, sit there until they decide to call you, then mail your letter. Problem is, this culture is very relational so in between and during helping people, they sit around talk, drink maté, anything you can think of!
Speaking of maté, I forgot to talk about it in my last post. Maté is like tea only it looks like weed in a cup. Argentines drink this all the time! The server pours water and passes it to the first person, then that person drink it all, then it's refilled and goes to the next person, etc around the circle. Oh, and it's rude to touch or wipe off the straw! So, partially because I don't like it, partially because it has cafeine, and also because it's a great way to spread germs, I have not been participating. Not to mention the ever growing rise of swine flu, which has now hit Argentina (but mainly in Buenos Aires).
Thursday
Thursday campus was kinda quiet so I just had discipleship with Cindy, did a prayer walk Around campus, then went to help pass our English club flyers. Thursday night we went over to the STiNtgirls apartments with some Argentine to watch a movie.
Friday
Friday was...interesting. After a quick lunch on campus, matt and I (one of the 2 guys on project) set out to talk to this guy and girl. Well, as we finished Solarium and they told us they didn't believe in God, one of their friends came over and wanted to do Solarium so matt took him and I asked the guy, gáston, why he didn't believe. Well, needles to say, I ended up sharing the gospel and my testimony for 2 1/2 hours with a crowd of 9 people. That was frustrating when they decided they didn't want to speak English anymore! 9 people talking fast in Spanish isn't what I meant when I asked God to give me practice speaking! What a sense of humor He has! Luckily, 3 of the girls from vida showed up and translated for me and helped me share with these 9 atheists. While none of them came to know the Lord, the seed was planted. Even the most "stubborn" guy agreed with me on some things and I could tell it was starting to work in his heart. God calls us to plant seeds so only He will see what will grow from that. It was a great experience but just solo overwhelming!
That night after English club, there was a fiesta during la vida to welcome us to "the tina". There was lots of dancing - everywhere from salsa to tango to cha cha slide to boot scoot boogy.
Saturday
Today was supposed to be a social project outside of la plata. However, it was an outdoors thing kind of like bible shook but due to rain it was cancelled. However, since we were going to do some songs for the kids (matt on guitar, I on trumpet, candice, michelle and elizabeth singing) we ended up sitting around and singing praise and worship songs all day. The coolest part is we were with argentines, obviously but we were in a Brazilian missionaries home, so we prayed and sang in 3 languages, sometimes at the same time. That was just so refreshing to know all nations praise God and music was the one time we could all communicate without a need for translation. Music is truly a gift from God
Tomorrow we are taking a day trip to Uruguay which should be super fun. We have to leave La Plata around 730am to catch the ferry in buenos aires around 930. We are going to rent mopeds which will be fun. Hahaha. Pray I don't wreck one of those things!
I would love to hear from you all! Feel free to comment on here and let me know how your life is going!!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
First few days in La Plata, Argentina
Thursday morning around 930am we arrived in Buenos Aires. Our first experience of the country was quite interesting...because of the whole swine flu scare in the USA and Mexico, to deboard the plane we had to fill out health questionnaires and wear face masks until we were completely out of the terminal. We also had to go through a heat sensor that checked for a fever....as hot as it was it's a wonder we didn't all get detained! After we left that, we were greeted by both the STINT team for Buenos Aires and La Plata and we immediately boarded a bus for an hour ride to la plata.
After checking in at the Hotel del Sol, we went to Plaza Moreno where we had lunch and were greeted by several students involved on La Vida Estudiantil, the campus ministry here in Argentina. After eating we went to the cathedral located in the plaza which is supposedly one of the biggest in South America. The cathedral had two towers - one to represent Mary and the other to represent Jesus. For a few passos we got to go up on the Jesus tower which gave us a paneramic view of the city.
Later that evening we went to the sede which is the headquarters for la vida and also where the guys on the STINT team live. They Got us dinner early thtlat night, rather than asking us to wait til 10pm which is normal in Argentine culture.
On Friday we had our first full day of Argentine life. We learned a lot about the history and culture of the country and met a lot of other students involved here. That night was also English Club, where we played games to help students learn English better. Right after that was a talk in their la vida meeting, debating the existence of God. There was probably a dozen non believers present. The debate ended up lasting 4 hours! Needless to say after eating empanadas (which are very cheap and popular here) we left around 11pm.
Friday we also learned out to dance a Folklore dance known as el gato which was really cool to learn!
Saturday was long but so awesome...probably one of the coolest days for me thus far. We went on a scavenger hunt of the city, taking silly photos at some places like the bosque ( forest), zoo (which had cats in it!), and creation museum. We also bought churros and learned a soccer chant!
Saturday I also met some awesome Argentines involved in the ministry here. I met Andrea who actually went to keynote summer project last year on bass guitar. She was a comp sci major in college and loves speaking English. We decided we were probably twins separated at birth. Then there was Andres who plays bass and is a music major here studying orchestral conducting. And then there is Fabiano who is from chile and has a band he is going to bring me a CD of to listen to! they play a mixture of jazz, funk, African, rock, etc.
The coolest is Graciella, who said I was an answer to her prayers because in a year she is planning to come to WV to study, probably at Liberty college. If not, I convinced her Marshall was a good second choice ;). She had been praying someone from WV would come to Argentina so she could know someone when she came to the US. It was just so cool to know that that right there was one of the reasons God brought me to Argentina this summer. I talked to her for an hour and then gave get a WV tshirt I had brought. I can't wait to see her an my friendship develop over this summer.
Yesterday evening we also went out to eat for the first time. The menu was all in Spanish of course but I figured it out really easily. However, ice cream was a different story. Being the Americans that we ate we orders the 1/2 kg size. Needless to say each of us ended up with a pound of ice cream. Hahaha
Well today we are just going to relax and spend time as a group which is fun. Can't wait to hear from everyone about how their week has been!
¡Beso!
After checking in at the Hotel del Sol, we went to Plaza Moreno where we had lunch and were greeted by several students involved on La Vida Estudiantil, the campus ministry here in Argentina. After eating we went to the cathedral located in the plaza which is supposedly one of the biggest in South America. The cathedral had two towers - one to represent Mary and the other to represent Jesus. For a few passos we got to go up on the Jesus tower which gave us a paneramic view of the city.
Later that evening we went to the sede which is the headquarters for la vida and also where the guys on the STINT team live. They Got us dinner early thtlat night, rather than asking us to wait til 10pm which is normal in Argentine culture.
On Friday we had our first full day of Argentine life. We learned a lot about the history and culture of the country and met a lot of other students involved here. That night was also English Club, where we played games to help students learn English better. Right after that was a talk in their la vida meeting, debating the existence of God. There was probably a dozen non believers present. The debate ended up lasting 4 hours! Needless to say after eating empanadas (which are very cheap and popular here) we left around 11pm.
Friday we also learned out to dance a Folklore dance known as el gato which was really cool to learn!
Saturday was long but so awesome...probably one of the coolest days for me thus far. We went on a scavenger hunt of the city, taking silly photos at some places like the bosque ( forest), zoo (which had cats in it!), and creation museum. We also bought churros and learned a soccer chant!
Saturday I also met some awesome Argentines involved in the ministry here. I met Andrea who actually went to keynote summer project last year on bass guitar. She was a comp sci major in college and loves speaking English. We decided we were probably twins separated at birth. Then there was Andres who plays bass and is a music major here studying orchestral conducting. And then there is Fabiano who is from chile and has a band he is going to bring me a CD of to listen to! they play a mixture of jazz, funk, African, rock, etc.
The coolest is Graciella, who said I was an answer to her prayers because in a year she is planning to come to WV to study, probably at Liberty college. If not, I convinced her Marshall was a good second choice ;). She had been praying someone from WV would come to Argentina so she could know someone when she came to the US. It was just so cool to know that that right there was one of the reasons God brought me to Argentina this summer. I talked to her for an hour and then gave get a WV tshirt I had brought. I can't wait to see her an my friendship develop over this summer.
Yesterday evening we also went out to eat for the first time. The menu was all in Spanish of course but I figured it out really easily. However, ice cream was a different story. Being the Americans that we ate we orders the 1/2 kg size. Needless to say each of us ended up with a pound of ice cream. Hahaha
Well today we are just going to relax and spend time as a group which is fun. Can't wait to hear from everyone about how their week has been!
¡Beso!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Argentina in T minus 3 hours
Right now I am sitting in the dullas airport on Washington D.C. awaiting my flight to Buenos Aires. The last few days we have been in Greensboro N.C. For training and team building. I found out I will be in La Plata, Argentina with a team of 12 girls and 2 guys from nc state, central Michigan, clemson, Vanderbilt, western Kentucky, and Carolina. We will arrive in Argentina about 9:30am tomorrow. I am so excited to work in the lives of the argentine students there. Please pray for me and my team as we travel all night and begin working there
God bless,
Mary
God bless,
Mary
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