Happy
New Year!! This has been a different week, closing out a very different year!
Fair
warning… this one’s long! Out of the office, and on the go, it’s
much more fun to describe our outings than talk about wrestling with
some equipment, software or spreadsheet in the office…
It’s
been some time since we both had time off between Christmas and the
New Year! And with offices closed this week, everyone except us and
Thea have “flown the coop!” Monday the 26th
was the first day of the small job I’ve been asked to do each
morning this week – feeding the 2 goldfish in the tank in the CILP
building where I work in the afternoons. After doing that, we filled
our time relaxing around the house but, since we had been graciously
granted permission to use a vehicle, we just had to use it! So we
decided to explore Derqui, the town past where we live. It’s small
and, I think, a typical Argentine town; nothing too memorable, but at
least we’ve seen it!
On
Tuesday, December 27, we decided to take a longer drive to see the
Basilica of the Virgin of Lujan, less than an hour away. First,
though, we spent the morning taking down our borrowed-from-Cindy
Christmas tree and stowing the ornaments and the few decorations we’d
put on our living room shelves and walls. We had an early lunch, asked Thea to go along, and
headed out. This was in a different direction than we’d seen before and
a different countryside – horse farms, polo clubs, small towns on
the way. Dan checked Google Earth and brought our GPS with the location already entered, so we
had no problem finding the church, even with some roadwork going on
in Lujan.
What did happen though, as Dan gathered up his camera, GPS and water bottle, he locked the keys in the truck! Wanting to
solve the problem sooner rather than later, Dan poked around the
truck to see if there was any other way to get in. To help, I walked
a few steps to a nearby restaurant with workers outside by their
patio tables. Dan needed a piece of wire so, after I looked up that
word in my trusty diccionario,
I asked a man for a piece of wire and actually explained that our
llaves
(keys, say “SHA-vehs” in Argentina!) were inside our vehicle. He
went into the restaurant, called La
Bendicion (The
Blessing!) and came back out in a few minutes with some wire. It
wasn’t real heavy wire, but Dan folded it a few times to make
something strong enough to shove inside the truck door. But it didn’t
work. The man who supplied the wire
suggested that there was a locksmith around the corner! As Thea and I
headed in that direction, he said it was 5
blocks around the
corner… We started walking and saw nothing for blocks! Almost
ready to give up, I ask for a cerrajeria
(locksmith shop, a word I was pleased that I already knew) and was told that it was a half-block to the left from
the corner! 
It was funny as we tried to explain our problem
(especially since I did know the make and model but not the year of
the truck) and where the truck was. But the men understood and told
us to get into the car across the street with one younger fellow who put his tools in the trunk. They’d already
told us it would be 200 pesos (almost $50 US) to help us and I
explained that mi esposo
tiene los pesos (my
husband has the money)! I called Dan by cell phone to make sure he
still needed help and to make sure he understood how much it would
cost. The fellow had no trouble prying the door a little and popping
the lock – success! We thanked him and paid him and got those keys
out of the truck! Then we were finally ready to tour the Basilica!
It’s
a beautiful old cathedral, large and very ornate. Gorgeous
stained-glass windows were all around, high up, but lots of work was
going on, with sections sealed off and scaffolding. We took photos
and walked around quietly, as quite a few other people were. I
think, though, that this was a small crowd, since many people are
visiting family for this week and not sight-seeing. Of course, when
we were finished, we had to eat at La
Bendicion before we went
back home! Thea had a meal, while Dan and I had helado
(ice cream, a slice of one of the favorites here, Neopolitan). No
one can say we don’t have adventures! (and God heard and answered each of our prayers.)
Wednesday, we took it easy in the morning, then decided to explore
Tortuga Open Mall, a shopping area toward Buenos Aires, but farther
than known bus routes. It is definitely great to “have wheels.”
It’s a very nice, upscale mall with an impressive variety of stores
– department stores, luggage, computers, children’s wear,
kitchen, clothing, sports equipment, movie theaters, food court, and
nice restaurants. After a couple of hours of walking around, we
decided we’ll have to go back for a movie one day soon!
Thursday,
we checked with Thea about her plans for the day. She needed to do
some laundry and the washer for the apartments was busy, so we
offered to let her use our washer and dryer. Since she’s going
back to the States for a few days for a medical consultation and
leaving for the airport about 6:00 pm, we invited her to join us for
dinner later. In the meantime, we planned to find another shopping
area we’d been told about, west of Pilar. It’s really quite
close and we found it with no trouble. It’s called Paseo
Champagnat and, although
it’s smaller than Tortugas, it’s quite new and very nice! It has
a medical center and a health club, among other things, on its upper
floor. There’s a good variety of stores on the ground level –
bookstore, artisanal pasta, appliances, designer shoes, along with
the usual upscale clothing stores, pretty classy. Two stores even
carry yarn, so I’ll have to get back there someday soon, when I
finish the summer sweater I’m working on. One of the “anchor”
stores is another Carrefour (and we were going to get groceries on
our way back anyway), so I dug out my grocery list and we shopped. I
really liked this store, as it seems to be set up more like stores in
the States (or maybe I’m just getting used to the stores here!) so
we’ll shop here again! We made it back home just in time to heat
up some leftovers to enjoy with Thea before her ride to the airport.
Now we’re really alone here in the compound!
For
our Friday outing, we’d chosen a museum to visit in Buenos Aires (all by ourselves),
out of many that look very interesting. We noted the hours, put the
address in the GPS, and headed down the PanAmerican Highway, about 50 Kilometers, after
lunch. With the trusty GPS, we arrived at the Museo
Nacional de Belles Artes
and found a parking place on the street, only 2 blocks away and
walked through 2 parks to arrive at our destination. We couldn’t
get in the first door we tried, so we went around the building and
went into an office area. I searched my brain and asked, “Museo
es abierto?” (is the
museum open) and the gentleman behind the reception desk said, “The
museum is closed” – in English! So we found out that all the
museums are closed this week between Christmas and New Year’s –
nuts!!
Not
to worry, we have a GPS! We did (at least Dan did) some more driving in BA city as we admired the European architecture and how large the
city is (the metro area is home to 13 million people, thats
one-third the entire population of the country of Argentina).
Pretty soon, we came upon a 4-story mall called Alto
Palermo, with a
Starbuck’s!! The coffee
and medialunes
(croissants) were just what we needed to give us the energy to hit
every floor of the mall and not buy anything!
We're
really excited about Saturday night. One of my afternoon
coworkers, Graciela, and her husband Juan Carlos (who is a pastor and
works as a guard here too) have invited us to their home for
an asado
(meat cook-out) and the midnight fireworks that everyone says will
make the Christmas Eve ones look small!! Graciela doesn't speak
a lot of English, but she corrects my attempts at Spanish (which I
really do appreciate) and we tease each other all the time! I'm
not sure how we do it, but it’s fun and it's great to have her
friendship. (Since we didn't get invited anywhere for Christmas Eve,
I was thrilled when she asked if we had plans for the 31st and then
declared that we were coming to their house!) They have 3 kids (ages
10-16). Her husband Juan Carlos has a little more English, but we will try to use as much Spanish as possible. The learning curve has been
steep and difficult but, compared to a few weeks ago, I’ve gained
lots in understanding and
speaking!
When the dishes were cleared, a game of
dominoes was perfect – just numbers and colors to match! Their 2
sons were much more interested in PlayStation, so off they went,
leaving the 4 adults and 10-year-old Antonela to play. We played 2
games and soon it was midnight!! The noisy fireworks started in
their barrio
(neighborhood); that was
the cue for a New Year’s kiss, then we headed outside to watch what
the neighbors were doing and set some off too! An hour or so later,
we landed back in the kitchen to talk. My brain wore out about 2
a.m., trying to cope with 2 languages and we got home around 2:30.
What a great evening of Christian fellowship!
Sunday,
1 January 2012, the first day of the new
year, the weather was beautiful, so we walked around the compound (6
times around gets us just over a mile)
after a breakfast of pancakes. We didn’t want more than a salad
for lunch, after that big meal the previous night! We had planned ahead to
talk with our children by computer using Google-Plus so we could all video call together. With 5 locations, 2 East coast, 2 mid-west and Argentina, it worked well and was quite an
experience!
Then it was time for church. The service took on a different tone as the first of the new year. We were lead by song and scripture to Remember what God has done, Look forward to the new year under His leading and be ready to Do what He leads us into. It was beautiful as the spontaneous testimonies of remembering didn't seem to want to end as more and more people were reminded of what they wanted to thank God for.
It has been a different year, but with God's loving guidance the differences are opportunities for blessings and growth. We praise HIM for all He has done and look forward to all the new year will bring!
No comments:
Post a Comment