Late Summer days...

What a busy couple of weeks this has been! Two families have returned from deputation tours in the U.S. and it feels more like a neighborhood already! Carlos and Robin Radi arrived the first Monday evening, back from a 3-month deputation tour in the U.S. They spoke over 80 times in 60 days! That evening, we had quite a tormenta (storm), not much of a “welcome home!”

Tuesday, we Skyped with Thea, keeping in touch and coordinating our team efforts. Regional Director Christian Sarmiento (our boss) was in Argentina for a few days. We met with him and Liliana Radi and Carlos Fernandez about our ongoing relationship with them and the SAM Region, how things can work as we continue to work remotely, via the internet. Christian was joined here by General Superintendent David Graves and his wife Sharon, although we didn’t get to see them this time before they headed off to more district assemblies and ordination services in other South American countries.

Thursday was International Women’s Day and it was celebrated by having ALL the women on campus (everyone from the bosses to the kitchen/cleaning crew) gather for a special thank-you speech from Christian about the importance of women! We all got a red rose – and some of us in the office also got a box of BonBons, which I am going to try to resist for now!

By Saturday morning, Wilmar and Jessica Rojas had also returned with their 2 boys and, on Sunday, we were all in the pool! It was a perfect day with warm sun and cool water and we took lots of photos of Israel and Caleb playing in the water. They usually attend another Nazarene church but, since they had slept in, they decided to attend Altos de Pilar and gave us a ride to the evening service. The guest preacher was our friend, German, who preached on the first half of the Ten Commandments and, being Director of Communications for SAM Region, he spoke clearly (and not too fast, which is the hardest thing for us) and we easily understood his message. I was sure to thank him a couple of days later at work!

Thursday, Dan and Pablo, the lead maintenance guy here, spent most of the morning at Campo Dos (#2), another property south of our compound and owned by the Region, that has had some security problems. Dan has been “MacGyver-ing” with a satellite dish, a kitchen sieve and metals cans to create a device to boost the Internet signal for security cameras over there.

Thursday night, Carlos & Noemi came over for dinner. I had made a chicken shepherd’s pie and a salad, and a lemon pie for dessert (fixed the night before). We had such a nice time! We enjoy them as leaders and co-workers, so it was great to have some fellowship outside the office!

Friday morning, we heard a “boom” and the electricity was out! Dan guessed that it was a local transformer that blew. Without electricity, we were still able to get ready for work (hot water heater and stove are both gas!), but no one could get much work done in the offices without electricity or Internet. Our Friday had already been planned, though, as a day in Buenos Aires, searching out computer parts in the area on Florida Street called Galeria Jardin. We took Johanna with us, for company and for translation help in the stores. We also did a little souvenir shopping, for ourselves and for the friends who have particularly been supportive while we’ve been in South America. We enjoyed lunch at Florida Street Café and, after more shopping, located the right store for those parts! It was late enough in the afternoon, though, that we got caught in Friday afternoon traffic and missed our Spanish classes! We heard later that the electricity was restored about 1:30 that afternoon.

Saturday, Dan wanted to go back to get a few more cable end-things (oh, Dan says those are adaptors), so we headed back to Buenos Aires! He sent me into the store and I was able (with a good printed list of parts) to get just what he needed! The rest of the day, we spent at Tortugas Open Mall! In the food court, we shared a Chinese take-out order and some Freddo ice cream (3 heavenly flavors to share!) and a little more shopping. We stopped at Jumbo for groceries, then arrived home to let Neo back in and have some dinner! Reflecting on the last two days, it was fun to get out and feel the busyness of such a large city.

I’m feeling SO grateful - it’s such a privilege to be allowed to serve in another country and another culture!

Sunday, I did a little cooking and we listened to Pastor Rich’s sermon from last week. We enjoyed more pool-time (maybe the last time, with the weather changing to fall here) with the Rojas family. Back home, we cleaned up before going to Altos de Pilar, again riding with Wilmar and Jessica, for the evening church service. Next Sunday, Escuela Domenical (Sunday School) will begin again in the mornings.

We’ve really been blessed with good health and positive experiences here! The South American summer is starting to slip away as fall approaches. These last weeks are just flying by, as we continue to pray for our friends Ron and Dawn, Thea, Cindy, Kelly and Dan.