Brief recap of trip to Rio Cuarto

I'm currently in that happy state of tiredness after returning from a good but exhausting trip. This may not be the most coherent post but I wanted to share a few things. Noticia para la familia: vamos a poner fotos en flickr este noche (esperamos).

We arrived home around 11 o'clock last night. Returning home after a long weekend in Argentina is very much like returning home after a long weekend in the U.S. TRAFFIC IS INSANE. The 3-1/2 hour trip took an extra hour. We kept trying to leave Rio Cuarto earlier but there were just so many people to see...

Let me start at the beginning.

The purpose of our trip to Rio Cuarto was to attend the 100th anniversary celebration of the Grace Brethren Church in Argentina.

This is the mission Ivan's parents were with for well over 40 years so it was like Old Home Week for him. There were MANY old friends :-)

One of the most moving moments of the celebration came at the end when they "passed the baton" (I know I'm jumping around but bear with me). Eduardo Coria, one of the "senior" pastors from the Fellowship, spoke first; after which Eduardo Pizzi shared briefly. He's one of the current generation of pastors. Then Federico Gamba had a few words for the group. As a teenager, he's part of the next crop of leaders. And finally 10-year-old "Pablito" closed the session with prayer. How encouraging to see the generations standing together -- I thought the picture and comment on the screen so appropriate!

One of the most fun, and certainly emotional parts for my husband, was the video that chronicled the 100 year history. Some seriously OLD photos, including this one of an adolescent Ivan, his younger brother and his parents. Ignore the fact that this is a photo of a photo on a big screen taken from WAY back of the auditorium and just look at all that hair! :-)

A few photos specifically for my kids...

Tina, remember when we stayed with Edith and her daughter Laura in Rio Cuarto during our visit in 1997? You and Laura are the same age and despite the language difference, you had such a fun time! Here she is all grown up; she's in her last year of university too, studying to work with learning disabled children.

And Jon, here's one of Ana Julia, Marcelo and his wife Tatiana. Marcelo and Ana send their greetings! They have fond memories of your visit in 2001.

[I know this seems almost like a Project 365 post but sometimes a photo or nine is called for, to better "tell" the story.]

Let's go off point here for a moment...In my quest to bring you the most hideous examples of haute couture, I offer you what I'm calling "Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin". At least that's what I'd look like if I put it on :-)

We saw the dress after leaving our car in the parking garage a block over from our hotel. The whole area is a mixture of hotels, stores and restaurants. We stayed right in the center of downtown Rio Cuarto. Here's the view from our 6th floor room at night.

Monday morning we were up bright and early...much earlier than we needed to be...this city never sleeps but suddenly around 5 a.m. it got really noisy. Not sure what was up, unless maybe it was all the taxi drivers on the street right below us. But boy was it ever LOUD.

Anniversary festivities continued through the morning on Monday. Then we were invited to lunch by Becky Ducuron, a name the family will recognize. After following her up, down and around all the one-way streets downtown, we arrived at a rather unprepossessing house. Like the majority of homes it starts right at the edge of the sidewalk with little ornamentation or indication that anything like this could be beyond the large doors facing the street...

Isn't that gorgeous?! Just to the right is a small grassy area that's absolutely lush with vegetation. Then Julio showed us his studio upstairs. What a wonderful space! This photo is from the end near his desk.

But as an artist, the majority of space is taken up with art paraphernalia. Would love to own one of his pieces but definitely out of our price range :-) Though we did enjoy seeing his work throughout their lovely home. Julio told us that the house is 130 years old and while his family hasn't owned it the whole time, he is the 4th generation of Ducarons to live there.

Lunch was amazing. Don't know the names of things but hope to find out AND get the recipes! Becky made one main dish and Mildret (who sends special greetings to Rita) made another. Oh. My. Word. Muy deliciosa!

From there we drove a short distance to see other friends, Daniel & Dora. While we were there, several missionaries and a pastor from the states stopped by (Lynn, your former pastor from Georgia!). Obviously, the entire time in Rio Cuarto was spent visiting with friends but there were so many -- well over 1,000 I believe! -- it wasn't possible to spend much time during the celebrations talking to any one person. So the times in homes made for more in-depth conversations and catching up.

My mind and heart are so full I can't begin to share it all. But this was a brief glimpse into how our time went, and I'll have a few more photos and stories to share later in the week.

Week 41, Project 365

We're heading to Rio Cuarto for the 100th anniversary of the Grace Brethren Church in Argentina! So this post for Project 365 will be (blessedly?) brief...

Last Sunday we went to a birthday party. I took tons of photos but they didn't turn out that great. This one of Ivan and Angel isn't half bad though.

Monday through Wednesday Ivan helped our co-worker with a project at their house. First they made a mess :-)

 

A city in Argentina seems an odd place to find a log cabin style house, but that's just what we came across on a walk this week.

Yellow is my favorite color. I love flowers. How could I not adore these?

They've started work on the empty lot next door. They're putting up two narrow, two-story homes attached in townhome fashion. All the work has been done by hand so far, including digging all the trenches for the footings. The only machinery we've seen have been the trucks that deliver materials.  This photo only shows half the lot.

Friday brought Sweet Success at last! Edible no bake cookies that didn't have to be eaten with a spoon. It only took SIX tries!

October 12 is a BIG holiday here. Dia de la Raza celebrates the arrival of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) in the New World.  There are festivities going on all weekend all over the country. We heard a racket on the costanera and Ivan walked down to find a rodeo going on. So we hauled our folding chairs down and watched for a while. The little guys were competing and they were just TOO CUTE.

The next competition was a new one for me. One rider pulled another gaucho on a large leather rug through a path lined with barrels...

 

When they reached the end of the path they had to whip around the last barrel, switch places and then race to the finish line.

Is it just me or does that look rather painful?!

We'll be gone Sunday and Monday, busy with the festivities. Ivan's folks served here with Grace Brethren Foreign Missions for many, many years so we expect to see lots of old friends. Not planning to be online until we return so it'll be later in the week before I catch up with all the other 365 participants.

Have a great week!

SCORE! -- Success with the No Bakes At Last!

Yes, it's true. On the SIXTH try I finally succeeded with the No Bake Cookies. Woot!

I'd just like to thank all those who stood by me in these previous difficult weeks. My success is due to you, faithful friends. Without your support I wouldn't be standing here today.

[holds up large silver award and waves it at the audience]

I want to thank the public library system for all the cookbooks that taught me to feed my family edible food, sometimes even really good food.

I also want to thank my family for eating the many a few less than spectacular meals.

But most of all, I want to thank the internet. It was you that provided the final recipe that spelled success in the form of AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS No Bake Cookies.

It is you that I can always count on, to come through with just the recipe I'm looking for.

Internet, you ROCK!

[pumps award high in the air]

[snaps back to reality]

I think ultimately success was due to using really good quality ingredients. Ivan made a trip into Cordoba Friday morning and was kind enough to do a Walmart run for me and he brought home Quaker oats. (Thanks honey!) That, plus replacing the cocoa with a dark chocolate bar cut into chunks, did the trick.

So for all those other No Bake Challenged Interwebbies out there, I bring to you a recipe that is almost sure to succeed. (Hey, if it worked for me after FIVE FAILS, it just may work for you too!) I've altered the name a little to reflect the product more accurately.

No Bake Chocolatey Goodness Cookies

4 oz. butter

1/2 cup milk

2 cups sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

(I used a large dark chocolate bar cut into chunks instead)

3 cups oats

Mix the butter, milk and sugar in a medium size pan over low-to-medium heat and stir frequently until it comes to a boil and boil exactly 1-1/2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, add chocolate chips and stir until melted, then add oatmeal. Mix until all the oatmeal is well incorporated. Use a large spoon to scoop cookie mixture onto wax paper or tin foil. Allow to cool and store in airtight container. Resist the temptation to hide the airtight container in your lingerie drawer so nobody else can have any. That's not kind and God will smite you for it. Of course you'd die happy and in a state of chocolate bliss.

Note: Sugar is in the container with the blue lid, in case you haven't surmised that. And you don't see any milk with the other ingredients because we drank it all while eating cookies last night. I didn't have the bright idea to include photos until this morning :-)

Note #2: I did not use either vanilla nor peanut butter which seems to appear in 99.2% of the recipes for No Bakes. While I do believe chocolate and peanut butter are an excellent flavor combination, I didn't want any peanut butter fighting with the chocolate in this instance. I just wanted that pure, rich deep dark chocolate. *sigh* These are, in my humble opinion, the best No Bakes I've ever had. Seriously.

Random Dozen Meme

Catchy title, don't you think? I'm so glad Lid thought of it! I'm very happy that Lid is hosting this fun meme where we get to answer truly random questions because it satisfies that need in me to harness my randomness at times for the good of all. Participating in this meme is sort of like performing a public service, isn't it? ISN'T IT?!

Well then...



1. On an average, how often do you splurge and buy something for yourself?
Do chocolate and Cheetos count? Other than that, the last time I bought something was in July. We knew our friend was coming in August and could bring things from the U.S. for us. I bought fabric, GLORIOUS fabric, and used books on eBay. 

2. Are you more like Hall or Oates? Just kidding. Real question: What is the last creative project you began/finished? Feel free to post a pic of it. 
 The last one I finished I forgot to take a photo of before I put it in an envelope and sent it to Skoots1Mom after she won a little giveaway on my blog. My current projects are for Christmas. Not sure if I'll get them done in time or not, and they're only tiny little wall quilts. TINY. But I'm doing a number of different techniques that are time consuming. I don't really want to show much until it's finished but here's a close-up so you can see the fun I've been having, trying out the different embroidery stitches on my Pfaff.

3. OK, Goldie Locks, do you consider your house too big, too little or juuuust right?
No house will be big enough until I have a dedicated craft room. LOL  For years the crafting area was the living/dining area wherever we lived. In our current house I have a table in the study where my sewing machine resides and I can sew whenever I feel like it. Mostly. As long as we don't have a guest in that room. There's no place to store all my fabric and other quilting paraphernalia, so they remain in plastic bins of assorted sizes, stacked here and there. I still have to use the dining table if I need to spread out.

4. What is your favorite outdoor chore?
Taking photos of chores my husband has done?

5. If you knew that cigarette smoking was not bad for your health but would be a weight loss tool, would you use it? Why or why not?
NO! Icky smell, yellow teeth, stained fingers...need I say more? Aside from which, smoke of any kind is the major trigger for my asthma. NOT WORTH IT!

6. On a road trip, would you rather drive or ride?
Definitely ride. Not a fan of the driving.
Besides I make a much better back seat driver :-)

7. What do you consider a trivial pursuit?
Doing nothing but sitting around gossiping. That.Would.Drive.Me.Nuts.
Reading a book or watching a movie that doesn't hold my attention.

[Note the oh, so subtle segue into the next question...it would make my high school English teach SO proud.]

8. This weekend, we downloaded the movie "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Within 5 minutes, I was bored and annoyed, but I kept watching 5-10 minutes at a time hoping it would get better between small chores. I finally gave up and Jorge watched it alone, and then regretted wasting that time because he disliked it intensely, too. So ... how long do you watch a movie or read a book before giving up on it?
I used to HAVE to finish any book I started. No longer; if it doesn't grab me in the first 2-3 chapters, I have no qualms about putting it down. With a movie I might go half an hour, certainly no more and probably much less. Life's just too short for TRIVIAL PURSUITS.

[Bada-bing! Just tied that up with a pretty little yellow bow :-)]

9. Is there a song that you really love but are embarrassed to admit because it's not cool or it's racy or because it's by Hall and Oates?
I've long been a fan of cheesy country, where the guy loses his wife, his dog, his truck and *gasp* his guitar... Just love that bluegrass banjo and lyrics like bad poetry which can be so depressing but when sung with an uplifting twang makes you happy anyway. Such as this old Hank Williams song:

Your cheating heart will make you weep
You’ll cry and cry and try to sleep
But sleep won’t come the whole night through
Your cheating heart will tell on you


When tears come down like falling rain
You’ll toss around and call my name
You’re gonna walk that floor the way I do
Your cheating heart will tell on you


Your cheating heart will pine someday
And crave the love you threw away
The time will come when you’ll be blue
Your cheating heart will tell on you


When tears come down like falling rain
You’ll toss around and call my name
You’re gonna walk that floor the way I do
Your cheating heart will tell on you

The lyrics alone can't convey the twang, so I give you 15 seconds from one of the kings of bluegrass...

Now tell me that didn't make you smile.

10. On a scale of 1-10 (10 = extremely) how spontaneous are you?
Two.
On a good day. 

11. Are you a food and/or beverage snob?
Why yes, yes I am!
I determined long ago that if a calorie was going to pass by my lips it had better be good. This prejudice extends to all major food groups, but especially chocolate. I have been known to pass up mediocre chocolate without batting an eyelash. I'd rather not have coffee than drink bad coffee. On the other hand, I love me some junk food so obviously I'm not that big of a food snob.

Now step away from the Cheetos. They're mine!

12. Who/What are you trying to control in your life? (I hear people gulping and see them sweating in anticipation of how to answer this one.)
Only EVERYTHING.

~~~~~~~~~~

The whatever-you-call-it English thing I hosted last night went okay. Besides our co-workers' two youngest (one is in 6th grade, one in 9th), three ladies came. Their skill level runs the gamut from fairly fluent to middle-of-the-road to speaks-no-English-and-understands-only-a-little. My Spanish tutor said it would be best if the participants were somewhat at the same level.

It was never my intention to TEACH English. I simply want to do for them like Graciela has done for me with Spanish: provide a comfortable space and place to practice their English.

The other issue was figuring out a time when everyone can make it (one had to leave half-way through last evening). There isn't one.

Obviously a few kinks to be worked out.

Oh, and I forgot to take a single photo.

~~~~~~~~~~

There's a big folklore dance competition happening this week, right here in Carlos Paz, with participants from other Latin America countries as well as Argentina. Our friend Abraham and his group will be competing tonight. These things start around 9 p.m. and often go into the wee hours of the morning. I cannot last that long so hopefully his group will perform near the beginning. I hope I remember to take photos because Abraham looks quite spiffy in his traditional gaucho costume.