Week 35, Project 365

Can you believe August is almost over?! Soon all the fun-in-the-sun photos will give way to school related shots and autumn scenery.

And here in Argentina we are gearing up for an early spring, with scorching temperatures this week. After a brief hiatus from flower photos, y'all are about to be subjected to more of them again. What can I say? This is my life and I love flowers.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else closes out their final week of August in Project 365. As for me, they're almost all outdoor photos. Beginning with this one of Andrea taken on Monday. Rather a windy day as you can tell! It was still windy on Tuesday and we saw half a dozen out on the lake taking advantage of perfect kite surfing conditions. The new toilet paper has this little puppy every fifth block, sitting next to the stop sign. Which just cracks us up... is this a not-so-subtle way of saying "take this much toilet paper and no more"? We have honest-to-goodness, real live peas! They blend in so well with the leaves we didn't even notice them until the other day. This is a photo of my computer screen on Wednesday. It was 88°. AT 6:00 IN THE EVENING. It was in the 90s earlier on Wednesday. You think maybe winter is over?

[By the way, took that while sitting on our back patio so technically it qualifies as an outdoor shot.]

Blossoms on our peach tree -- gorgeous! I'm so excited because the tree is ABSOLUTELY COVERED with them. NOTE: I had the previous photos ready to auto post before our trip to Sta. Rosa because I didn't think I'd have a chance to post while there. The weekend didn't go quite as planned and I've added the following photos...

On the way to Sta. Rosa we did a quick drive around Alta Gracia where we stopped to take this photo. Che Guevara lived here as a boy and they've turned the house into a small museum. This photo is for the family, who will recognize Alberto and Delia. We ran into them Friday evening when we went to Tio Rico's for a quick supper. Saturday morning we went into Sta. Rosa to a cyber cafe and then to Belgrano to a carnicería but while returning to the house we encountered heavy smoke. We knew there were wildfires but didn't know exactly where or how bad, but the smoke indicated they were pretty close. When we got home we closed all the windows to keep the heat and smoke out. It was oppressively hot at 99° and combined with high winds, conditions were ideal for wildfires. It doesn't help that it's been at least a month since we had any rain so things are dry as tinder.

It wasn't long after that the power went out and, despite closed windows, we could still smell the smoke. The sky was also a very weird color, an orange tinged gray. Without t.v., radio or internet we had no way of knowing what was going on so headed out to see what we could learn. What we learned was that there were roadblocks in every direction. Working our way along back roads we made it to Belgrano, seeing fires all along the way. We weren't able to learn anything from anyone, including the fire fighters. It didn't sound hopeful that they were going to be able to get the fires under control any time soon though, so we made the decision to go back to the house, pack up and head back to Carlos Paz.

Easier said than done. We had to take dirt roads to the house to avoid roadblocks, the power was still out so we used a flashlight to pack up, and closing up the house always takes a while. And, of course, we had to work our way around roadblocks again as we headed home to Carlos Paz.

The house is on the south side of Sta. Rosa. This is the scene that greeted us on the north side of town. The fire had worked its way almost to the highway here. I know this is a terrible photo, but it was the best of the bunch. I just wanted you to have an idea of what it was like. As we turned off Route 5 a few miles past Belgrano, Andrea said "Wow! Look back!" We turned around and this is what we saw, fires all along the mountain ridge as far as we could see in either direction. Like the whole Calamuchita Valley was on fire. Obviously praying for rain, for the safety of those fighting the fires, and all who live in its path. Very thankful to be home in Carlos Paz with lights, internet, and most especially air you can breathe.

Off to Sta. Rosa for the weekend

We've decided to take off Friday morning and get a couple days of R&R in Sta. Rosa. Of course that means we'll probably be incomunicado since the internet rarely works well out there. I'm taking a couple of books and the West Wing DVDs, Ivan's packing the hammock and Andrea has a few books as well. You have no idea how thankful we are for a place where we can get away!

Especially this weekend when the temperatures are supposed to sky rocket. It was in the 90s yesterday and today and they expect it to get even hotter. It's usually a little cooler in Sta. Rosa because the elevation is higher.

But winter isn't totally over; it's supposed to drop all the way down to 69° by Tuesday.

I guess it's unusually warm even by Carlos Paz standards. The warmer temps have totally faked out the foliage. Suddenly this week we see trees and bushes in all hues of red, yellow, pink, white, lavender... Our peach tree has loads of blossoms and it's just so pretty! I'll have a photo to share with you on Sunday.

Definitely the shortest winter I've ever been through, except the five years we lived in South Florida. But since they don't have seasons in Florida I don't think we should really count that. We do have seasons here in Carlos Paz, it's just that winter barely registers on the calendar.

Speaking of calendars... What are your plans for the weekend? Any end-of-the-summer trips or special events?

Suddenly it feels like summer

We turned our heaters completely off yesterday. We'd had just the pilot lit on both for a few weeks but decided it was time to turn 'em off. While we may get cooler weather again, not sure it would warrant having the heaters on. And if it does, they're easy enough to light again.

Yesterday was downright hot. The sun has already reached that feels-like-it's-burning-your-skin-if-you're-out-in-it-for-more-than-5-minutes stage. Great for drying clothes. Not so much for a fair-skinned person who doesn't tan, but simply burns/peels/turns white again. Time to dig out the sunscreen.

Because of an ongoing bus strike, my crown has not made it's way back from the lab in Cordoba city so my dentist appointment yesterday was postponed. Thus freeing us for a dash into the city ourselves for a little shopping marathon after Spanish class and lunch. Discovered that is THE BEST TIME EVER to go shopping. The stores were practically empty and we whipped through faster than ever before. Who knew?!

We were pretty excited because the warehouse type store where we used to buy all our cleaning, laundry, and personal care products plus paper and plastics has re-opened. They had a fire in February and others told us it usually takes at least a year to rebuild because insurance typically drags their heels, and the construction process is just slower here. But lo and behold, six months later they are back in business. Bigger and better than ever. I was especially pleased that the foul smell that used to emanate from aisle 3 is gone, eradicated -- hopefully forever.

That particular store, while definitely having the best prices, was always a pain because the lines were ridiculously long and the wait never less than an hour and usually closer to two (and that's after battling the crowds up and down the aisles to do the actual shopping). Yesterday? NO LINES. Not sure if it was just the time of day, or if maybe everyone hasn't heard that they're open again. Whatever the reason, we were thrilled to be in and out of there in less than an hour.

In fact, although we went to two large stores we were home in just over 3 hours and that includes the travel time back and forth (35 minutes each way). Amazing. Seriously amazing. We decided we'll always try to do our shopping then.

Ivan, man of the hour, then went over to the our co-workers' house and fixed BOTH their washer and dryer. These are older, American made models and you cannot get parts for them here. The dryer had broken down a while back and Ivan ordered parts online and then our friend brought the parts when she came last week (I wonder what customs would have thought of the odd assortment of things in her suitcase if they had opened everything?). But the washer broke down early last week, and we were so busy with the big group from PdeV that Ivan didn't have time to mess with it. We knew if it needed parts, we were out of luck. But he was able to jury-rig (that is the correct spelling; I looked it up) the part that was acting up on the washer and we're hoping it does the trick for the coming 10 months until they go on furlough.

My husband is very good at jury-rigging things. It comes from growing up on the mission field when parts were often not available so they had to make do; didn't have a choice. But early on in our marriage he was offended when he overheard me tell someone, "Ivan doesn't fix things so much as rigs them." It took me a while to make him understand: I MEANT IT AS A COMPLIMENT. Of course there were times when he spent more time and money rigging something than it would have taken if he'd just bought the part. But years of making do had left its mark and it took a few years before he saw that sometimes it really is best to use the part originally meant for the job.

IF YOU CAN GET IT.

Which once again, he's finding isn't always possible. Who would have thought that being a missionary also meant becoming an expert jury-rigger?

Monday Meanderings

I fed the group lunch (keeping it simple with sandwiches and chips) and then everyone went on their merry way. Ivan took three of the guys and an overflowing trailer of things back to Sta. Rosa. I spent the afternoon sweeping, mopping, and doing laundry. Since one of the things our friend brought from the U.S. was a set of West Wing DVDs, I watched a few episodes this evening. It felt really good to kick back and relax and laugh through scenes from one of my favorite television shows of all time.

I'm still processing some of the events from the past week. Culturally we realized we haven't adapted as much as we thought. I'll share more about that once I've filtered through what I'm struggling with, and why. We're trying hard not to be "ugly Americans" who always think our way is the best way. From our year in Uganda we know that the reasoning behind things isn't always apparent and requires some searching and understanding.

One thing that wasn't difficult at all was talking with the couple who came from Cordoba to help. We had such fun sharing about a wide variety of things but especially ministry. While it may sound weird, it was actually encouraging to find that we're not alone in our frustration with discipleship. They have experienced some of the same frustrations -- it's a challenge finding men who are willing to truly commit their lives to God. Apparently men here view church as a "woman's thing".

But then we don't have to worry about doing the finding, do we? It's all up to God. He's the one who moves in lives and changes hearts.

We have the names and phone numbers of about a dozen teens to follow up on; young people who indicated an interest in spiritual things. We also made contact with people in the neighborhood. Most of the kids who came out for Mufa Pufa live close to Centro Esperanza. We're praying that connections made this past week will result in lives transformed by the love of Christ. In an area of relative prosperity, few seek God. One man rebuffed the Gospel message and told our co-worker, "I have everything I need. If I ever decide I need more I'll let you know."

Conversations at meal times were often lively and filled with laughter. Of course with everyone speaking quickly and using colloquialisms, most of it went right over my head. Speaking one-on-one, it wasn't so difficult to understand those from this province, but those from Buenos Aires and the north of the country were a lot harder for me.

It also made a difference as to the time of day. By the time it rolled around to midnight and we were just sitting down to supper I was mentally fried.

We'll be having leftovers for a couple days. Most meals there was little left, but we do have a surplus of meatloaf, baked beans and I never even made cole slaw so there's still a big head of cabbage in the fridge. Tonight I used leftover roasted chicken and homemade broth, added some carrots and fresh potato gnocchi for a very yummy soup. Light, refreshing and just the thing after all the big meals we've been having.

Now it's back to the normal routine tomorrow. Spanish, the dentist, art class, Bible study with our friends...

Being a creature of habit who thrives on the routine, I'm looking forward to that. This past week was great but I'm also thankful it's not that busy and crazy all the time!

Looking forward to getting back to some sewing projects. Have a new one to start as I'm participating in a Christmas quilt swap (finished size no bigger than 20"x20"). I've been tossing around ideas and haven't settled on one single thing yet, but have several possibilities. This week I'll do sketches and then decide which I want to go with; afterward it will be fun choosing fabrics and dimensional objects. *sigh* Sometimes I think my favorite part of the project is the planning :-)

Also tucked away in our friend's suitcase was a variety of fabric!!! I need to take some photos of it for Project 365. I might have to use some of it in this new project. If I can make myself cut into it. (Does anyone else have that problem?)

It was like Christmas morning, with books and fabric and underclothes... Having dropped a couple of sizes I really needed new things and I've long been a proponent of cotton EVERYTHING, but especially underclothes. Apparently nobody else in Argentina shares my views because I could not find a single pair of cotton undergarments ANYWHERE. No, there will be no photos of those items. Not on my blog anyway.

The glasses are a bit big for my face. Oh well. I need to get them adjusted; the nose pads just kill me right now. So meanwhile I'm still wearing my older, much weaker glasses. I hadn't realized how old the prescription must be until I put the new pair on and things jumped into focus. What a difference!

It's also WONDERFUL having our Vonage phone again! Thanks again Jon for taking care of that for us!!! Between the two packages we received in the mail and all the goodies our friend brought, I feel a little overwhelmed by the abundance of good things :-)