Brandon and I spent the summer of 2006 in Tucuman, Argentina. We loved it, hated it, wrestled, and grew during our time there. We also brought home with us a new member of the family. It was a great trip. Since I am exhausted today from too many nights of short sleep as we attempt to get Henry transitioned into Patrick's room, I thought I would take an exerpt from our Argentina blog (If you have interest you can read about our time there by clicking HERE). This post was written on Sunday, June 18, 2006. The hardest thing for me to believe is that it's been almost five years. WOW!
So, it´s about that time again for another update from your very favorite short-term missionaries. We have had a good week, despite the fact that I only had two days in which I was not sick as a dog. I started last week with a cold, that didn´t last too long, and ended this week with a horrible stomach thing. It must have been something I ate and now I am successfully keeping it at bay with a nice round of Immodium daily. We´ll see how long I have gut-wrenching stomach cramps. I might have to resort to taking a true drug, Cipro, to truly fix the problem. Anyway...here is some fun info for all of you that get excited to see you have an email from us...
We have curbed our eating out successfully, we now only do it occasionally, but have noticed one very fun fact. In almost every menu item, on almost every menu, in every restaurant in Tucuman you will find an ingredient, jamon (ha-mone), that apparently the Argentines just love. What is jamon, you ask... It so happens to be my very favorite food in the world, HAM. Ham, I tell you, and if you didn´t catch the sarcasm, I have real issues with ham. Oh-well, we have been lucky to find a few menu items with jamon and I have been a happy girl.
Another piece of very important news, short though it may be, is that I ordered my own meal for the first time today. I am starting to feel like the independent woman that I am. The waiter later came to the table while Brandon was indisposed and rattled off something to me, I proceeded to mumble, with my very good Spanish accent, "No habla Espanol." and with that he said something else and wandered off. I am still proud of myself, even though I opened a door I then had a hard time closing. At this same restaurant we were charged a fee of over $1 for silverware. Some restaurants charge that, how funny.
In case you were wondering, people still stare at us. I figure at some point we will become a fixture in the little suburb we live in, but until then we still have gawkers everywhere. While I deal with it pretty well, occassionally I just want to yell, "STOP staring." I am working on my Christian response to that.
The biggest news yet is that Argentina won their second World Cup Game. It was played Friday while I was flat on my back in bed, but we did manage to watch it. The beat Serbia-Montenegro 6-0. The celebration lasted hours and hours. What excitement.
Today we were invited to the Greenman´s for our first official asado. It was very exciting and we will post a picture soon. Dick grilled (with real charcoal made out of wood) two different types of beef, a sausage, and a blood sausage. I tried it all, even the tiniest bite of blood sausage. Brandon says the blood sausage tastes like braunsweiger. Yummy, yummy (sarcasm). What young man even knows what braunsweiger tastes like? Andrea and Dick then went and picked up ice cream. It was Father´s Day after all.
Some home luxuries we have decided we really enjoy having here are books, music on the MP3 player, an occasional movie (especially nice when you are sick in bed, thanks for that gift Mom and Dad), popcorn popped in oil in a pan (no microwave), and games. We played a rousing game of SkipBo the other night. We are really missing the bean game though and wish we would have brought it. One more amazing luxury I am enjoying is my super expensive shampoo and conditioner that was given to me as a gift by my hairdresser friend. There really is something to expensive shampoo. I tend to be a Wal-mart cheapy shampoo girl.
Better than that though are the Argentine luxuries we are enjoying. Those things include meat, meat, meat, late nights, and in return sleeping in, families (Claudio, thanks for lending us yours, according to Brandon they are wonderful), and ice cream. The ice cream here is indescribable. Yum, yum, yum...
On a bit of a more serious note we want to share with you someone´s story that we have met along the way in these updates. I will tell you about some girls we have gotten to know at the Foundation. There are four sisters that come to the foundation. They all come from a very poor area near the Foundation. The sisters range in age from ten to eighteen. The ten and twelve year olds are fun, love music and love to dance. The slightly older one is disabled, but extremely bright. Because she is disabled she is not in school, but should be. One of the women at the Foundation wants to talk with their mother about enrolling this girl in school. She is so wonderful, full of love, and happy. Apparently when she first started coming she was very angry and wanted nothing to do with it. Christ´s love has really filled this child. Their older sister is 18. She has a son who is around a year old and is expecting her second child. All these sisters have touched our lives, but they really need prayer. Last night I wondered what will keep these younger sisters out of the same kind of trouble their older sister is in. You can be in prayer that God will really protect these girls. You can pray that these women who work at the foundation can instill in all the girls of sense of self-worth and they will continue to be powerful witnesses of Christ. You can also pray that their mother will be receptive to enrolling the disabled child in school.
As we continue to struggle through the question of what God´s will for our lives is, we got some good advice. We are praying that God will use this time in any way he deems fit. You can also pray that instead of looking for the answers right here and right now, that he will give us a sense of peace for what he has in store for us. As we were told, sometimes the results of things aren´t revealed until months later. Keep us in your prayers. We love you all so much!
We have curbed our eating out successfully, we now only do it occasionally, but have noticed one very fun fact. In almost every menu item, on almost every menu, in every restaurant in Tucuman you will find an ingredient, jamon (ha-mone), that apparently the Argentines just love. What is jamon, you ask... It so happens to be my very favorite food in the world, HAM. Ham, I tell you, and if you didn´t catch the sarcasm, I have real issues with ham. Oh-well, we have been lucky to find a few menu items with jamon and I have been a happy girl.
Another piece of very important news, short though it may be, is that I ordered my own meal for the first time today. I am starting to feel like the independent woman that I am. The waiter later came to the table while Brandon was indisposed and rattled off something to me, I proceeded to mumble, with my very good Spanish accent, "No habla Espanol." and with that he said something else and wandered off. I am still proud of myself, even though I opened a door I then had a hard time closing. At this same restaurant we were charged a fee of over $1 for silverware. Some restaurants charge that, how funny.
In case you were wondering, people still stare at us. I figure at some point we will become a fixture in the little suburb we live in, but until then we still have gawkers everywhere. While I deal with it pretty well, occassionally I just want to yell, "STOP staring." I am working on my Christian response to that.
The biggest news yet is that Argentina won their second World Cup Game. It was played Friday while I was flat on my back in bed, but we did manage to watch it. The beat Serbia-Montenegro 6-0. The celebration lasted hours and hours. What excitement.
Today we were invited to the Greenman´s for our first official asado. It was very exciting and we will post a picture soon. Dick grilled (with real charcoal made out of wood) two different types of beef, a sausage, and a blood sausage. I tried it all, even the tiniest bite of blood sausage. Brandon says the blood sausage tastes like braunsweiger. Yummy, yummy (sarcasm). What young man even knows what braunsweiger tastes like? Andrea and Dick then went and picked up ice cream. It was Father´s Day after all.
Some home luxuries we have decided we really enjoy having here are books, music on the MP3 player, an occasional movie (especially nice when you are sick in bed, thanks for that gift Mom and Dad), popcorn popped in oil in a pan (no microwave), and games. We played a rousing game of SkipBo the other night. We are really missing the bean game though and wish we would have brought it. One more amazing luxury I am enjoying is my super expensive shampoo and conditioner that was given to me as a gift by my hairdresser friend. There really is something to expensive shampoo. I tend to be a Wal-mart cheapy shampoo girl.
Better than that though are the Argentine luxuries we are enjoying. Those things include meat, meat, meat, late nights, and in return sleeping in, families (Claudio, thanks for lending us yours, according to Brandon they are wonderful), and ice cream. The ice cream here is indescribable. Yum, yum, yum...
On a bit of a more serious note we want to share with you someone´s story that we have met along the way in these updates. I will tell you about some girls we have gotten to know at the Foundation. There are four sisters that come to the foundation. They all come from a very poor area near the Foundation. The sisters range in age from ten to eighteen. The ten and twelve year olds are fun, love music and love to dance. The slightly older one is disabled, but extremely bright. Because she is disabled she is not in school, but should be. One of the women at the Foundation wants to talk with their mother about enrolling this girl in school. She is so wonderful, full of love, and happy. Apparently when she first started coming she was very angry and wanted nothing to do with it. Christ´s love has really filled this child. Their older sister is 18. She has a son who is around a year old and is expecting her second child. All these sisters have touched our lives, but they really need prayer. Last night I wondered what will keep these younger sisters out of the same kind of trouble their older sister is in. You can be in prayer that God will really protect these girls. You can pray that these women who work at the foundation can instill in all the girls of sense of self-worth and they will continue to be powerful witnesses of Christ. You can also pray that their mother will be receptive to enrolling the disabled child in school.
As we continue to struggle through the question of what God´s will for our lives is, we got some good advice. We are praying that God will use this time in any way he deems fit. You can also pray that instead of looking for the answers right here and right now, that he will give us a sense of peace for what he has in store for us. As we were told, sometimes the results of things aren´t revealed until months later. Keep us in your prayers. We love you all so much!
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