Weeks 9 and 10: Project 365, the 2016 Edition

Saturday, February 27

I mentioned in the last post that we had someone come and finish the ceiling in the garage. The first picture is Ivan using the air compressure hose to clean out all the drywall dust --that's why it looks kind of fuzzy, all that drywall dust flying everywhere.

This may not excite anyone else, but I love looking at the beautiful white FINISHED ceiling :)

Monday, February 29

On our way to Gualeguaychu! Stopped for a picnic lunch in Leones at a little park next to the gas station. Leones is the wheat capital of Argentina, but we'd argue it's the fiercest mosquito capital, hence the name Leones (Lions). That caused us to rush through lunch (although it would be hard to say who ate more: us or the mosquitos), but we did stick around long enough to take this selfie.

Tuesday, March 1

Our annual missionary conference started at noon with lunch, then after siesta we launched right into the first session.

Wednesday, March 2

On Monday evening we'd gone out to dinner with the others who arrived early and Ivan ate some chimichurri that must have been floating around the un-air conditioned restaurant for days. He got the worst case of food poisoning he's ever had! He woke up early Tuesday feeling "off" and things went from bad to worse. By evening his blood pressure started dropping and he needed an IV. Thankfully there's a doctor on our mission team in Argentina, plus his daughter who just finished nurses training was there, and the two took such good care of him that he didn't have to go to the hospital. Throughout Tuesday night they kept coming to check up on him. I snapped this photo of him having toast and tea this morning, and you can see the IV hanging on the coat hook above him.

Wednesday afternoon we had our annual Ladies Tea. The set-up was completely different than we expected -- numerous small tables instead of two large ones -- so we improvised with the centerpieces. I'd made four stacks of covered books and three "vases" for flowers and that worked out perfectly as we used seven small tables altogether. Not the best photography; I was using my cell phone because I forgot my camera.

Interesting note: Flowers are pretty much only used for funerals, and most towns only have one florist. It was a very small shop and they had a minimal selection of flowers but the colors they had were perfect!

Thursday, March 3

With Ivan so sick I went several days without my morning walk, but I felt he was doing well enough that I could take off on a walk first thing this morning. The hotel was right along the river and I passed lots of interesting things. From top left, going clockwise: sunrise over the river, scrap metal sculpture of a man on a motorcycle, mural on the side of a building, a crane they would have used to offload ships once upon a time.

Friday, March 4

Took a different route on my walk so I saw different things. From top left, going clockwise: the wavy cobblestone sidewalk along the coastal road, a row of food trucks that I never saw open while we were there (but then I never walked out there in the evening), a colorful playground, the round thatch roofed buiding that serves as the tourist information center.

A collage of photos from our last full day of conference. From top left, going clockwise: Pastor Smith going over one of the team's artwork (we were challenged to come up with pictures to describe concepts we'd learned that week), the two team's easels side-by-side, and the last two show everyone working hard on their assignments.You can see Ivan in the photo on the lower left. He finally felt well enough on Friday and attended half the morning session as well as the one in the evening.

Saturday, March 5

We made the decision to spend an extra day at the hotel for Ivan to rest up. He took a short walk with me this morning and I snapped a photo of him with the sculpture "Nuestra Señora Gaucha Del Máte" (roughly translated "Our Amenable Lady of the Máte"). You can see the carnival rides in the background; I don't know if that's permanent, or if it was a temporary set-up for Carnival (which had just ended). Carnival is celebrated all over but, just as Rio de Janeiro is the place to go for Carnival in Brazil, Gualeguaychu is "Carnival of the Country" in Argentina.

Sunday, March 6

Longest day of the year! Maybe not technically, but it sure felt that way to us. Neither of us felt so great and, at one point, had to stop, find a shady spot and take a nap. So the trip stretched to 11-1/2 hours. I snapped this photo at our last stop for gas. We'd seen this truck at another stop, too. It's a souped up hotrod. I was too far away to get a good shot, but it's one of only two photos I took all day.

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Ivan began feeling sick again Monday, and by Tuesday I had to take him to the clinic where they gave him drugs intravenously to stop the vomiting. We think the long trip and too-soon return to normal food were just too much for his system. He's been on the BRAT diet all week, and is feeling much better. He sounds horrible, because he pretty much lost his voice from all the retching, but he's up and about again. Still taking it easy because he's not 100%, but way better than just a few days ago!

Friday, March 11

Charlie came over again to mow, and Joaquin came too and they worked together to spread dirt around the newly poured sidewalk/ramp in front of the garage. The grass should grow up quickly and it will be looking quite nice before too long. While Ivan was out getting the guys started, he noticed the window he'd put out in the trailer to sell was gone. He couldn't figure out how in the world they'd gotten it out because our fence is high and the window quite heavy. But then he found where they'd cut the fence along the side next to the empty lot. Again. *sigh*  It would really help if the owner of the vacant lot would cut down the brush; as it is, you could hide a herd of elephants in there (maybe a slight exaggeration), meaning nobody passing by would see the miscreants in the act, despite having five street lights on that corner. Ivan spent a couple of hours mending the fence. I remembered to grab the camera and take a couple of photos when he was almost done.

Between the herniated disks and food poisoning, my poor husband has had a rough six weeks. His back, praise the Lord, is doing much better. He's not even using the back brace any more. So thankful for healing!