A Busy Couple Of Days

Renting a house here is different. Our co-workers had to serve as our “guarantors” and provide a copy of the deed for their house as collateral. They built two years ago but before that they rented. I asked them how in the world they were able to rent when they first came because they didn’t know anyone at all. They were required to pay six months up front! Glad we don’t have to do that. And before we can officially rent the house, the realtor will go into Cordoba (the provincial capital) and verify the deed.

It was an interesting mix of people squished into the tiny realtor’s office: the realtor is originally from Rosario, our co-workers from Corrientes, the owner of the home from Mendoza and we came from the U.S. NONE of us are from Carlos Paz :-) Just goes to show ya, this is a happenin’ place!

Yesterday was a long day. We left at 9 a.m. and didn’t get home until 10 p.m. Besides starting the paperwork on the house, I caught up on laundry (at the co-workers'), we had both lunch and dinner at their house, and ran errands with them.

One of the stops was an appliance store where they picked up a blow dryer. Before letting them leave the store, a clerk took the dryer out of the box and made sure it worked. This is common practice because it’s NOT easy to return something once you’ve bought it. Our co-workers said if they don’t automatically check to see if something works, ask them to do it.

Last evening we had a wonderful time of fellowship with another missionary from Cordoba and a national pastor and his wife. The pastor, Hugo, has the same sense of humor as my hubby and we had to threaten more than once to separate them. They’d get rolling with word plays and puns, the two of them laughing hysterically. The dinner was a typical Argentine meal with milanesas de carne (chicken fried steak for those in the south) and milanesas de pollo (thin chicken fillets breaded and fried), mashed potatoes, and a salad of lettuce, tomato, chopped cooked potatoes and hard boiled eggs with an oil and vinegar dressing. Everything was yummy!

And then we went to an Italian gelato place for dessert. The hubby was quick to notice it’s within walking distance of our house. Uh oh! But I figure we lived next door to The Coney Hut Drive-In Restaurant in Jonesville, Michigan, for over ten years and managed to avoid the seasoned fries and rootbeer floats except on rare occasions. We just have to be strong!

We’ve been eating quite well the past few days because most meals were at the co-workers’. Sunday we had asado with an assortment of grilled meat: chicken, chorizos (sausage), ribs, tapa and vacio (cuts of beef commonly used for asado), and morsilla (blood sausage). Not being a big fan of the morsilla, I still took one wee bite to be polite. A missionary has to be willing to eat anything so I’d better get used to it now ‘cause I’m sure there are many more asados in my future! It doesn’t taste awful, it’s just not my favorite; most of it’s simply an aversion to anything with “blood” in the name.

Here’s another photo of our barrio. Our co-workers live within walking distance (about 15 blocks) and this is one of the views on the way to their house, taken on Rosario Street.

One of the hard things about being so far from loved ones is that when someone is going through a hard time, you'd really like to give them a hug and you can't. Some dear friends are dealing with a difficult situation as Wally's mom, who came to visit for a few weeks is now in the hospital and only expected to live a short time. Wally shares some of his thoughts on his blog. Through it all they are determined to praise God for His faithfulness.

We're praying for them. AND sending virtual hugs.