Our first couple of days

11-29-08 Day 1
We are here and hae unpacked our things and feel somewhat settled. The last day and a half has been a whirlwind of activity. After our 12 hr flight from Miami to Buenos Aires we finally arrived in Buenos Aires airport. There we waited 6 hours and Heriberto and Mary Bueno picked us up and took us to thier house to eat, shower, and take a siesta before our 12 hour bus ride south to Choele Choel. Today we ate breakfast at Delbert and Frieda Erb´s house and then went to our apartment to unpack. At 1pm we ate lunch with Delbert and Frieda, rice with meat and veggies, and a salad. In the afternoon we took a siesta adn then went to Rio Negro with Juan and Amaris to swim. The weather is beautiful and warm, we got in the river and floated down stream. Elizabeth, Jacob, Nathan and myself walked home from the river and we ate supper with the Erb´s. We´ve learned a lot in only a short time, each day is LOTS of learning.
11-30-08 Day 2
We ate breakfast at Delbert and Frieda´s house and then went to a small church that is just getting started. There we sang, ate breakfast (cake and hot tea), listened to a sermon on David by way of t.v. and we learned a new song on the t.v. After church we went to Juan and Ami´s house for lunch and then spent the rest of the day there. We played volleyball and Uno with the youth. In the evening we went to the West Zone church. Juan was telling us that their evening service is a fairly new thing. We sang praise songs for a long time, had a time of introducing ourselves to the people there, Juan preached and we had supper together. Afterwards Nathan drew quite a crowd of children from the church. He would make an animal sound and they woudl tell him how to say that animal in spanish. Quite commical. This church feels more like a large family than anything else. Our frustration today was not being able to fully communicate with the people. We have to be patient with ourselves as we learn. Saturday and Sunday, I was also tired when I should´t have been and hungry when I shouldn´t have been, but my body will adjust with time, I´m sure.
12-1-08 Day 3
We ate breakfast at Delbert and Frieda´s house and then we walked to the grocery store with Frieda to learn about how to buy groceries. It was kind of overwhelming for me to say the least. I didn´t know what I needed or what anything was. I made lunch today for the first time in our apartment. In the afternoon we took a siesta, and then about 3¨30pm we walked 40 minutues to Juan´s house to help him with the pool he is constructing. It was really great to do some physical labor. We made the 40 min. walk home at about 710pm and then went to a prayer meeting at 830pm. The prayer meeting consisted of about 14 young people pouring thier hearts out to God until 1030pm. It was really great. We came home had supper (it´s very normal to eat supper between 10 and 11pm) and then went to bed. Buenos Noches!!!!
12-2-08 Day 4
This morning we met Juan in the church building to pray and worship and talk about SIMP vision. I think we will do this at least once a week in the month of December. We came back home had spaghetti for lunch and then attempted to go to the grocery store for the first time by ourselves. It was 130pm and it was closed. Elizabeth later told us that most stores close in the afternoon time for lunch and a siesta and then reopen at about 5pm til 9 or 10pm. It´s a much different pace of living here. At 4pm Nathan and Jacob went to the Rio Negro (black river) to swim and I went with Elizabeth to meet with a lady from the church who recently moved here from Buenos Aires. Her and her husband are looking for work and are having some difficulty finding any. They live in the upstairs apartment of the West zone church building. We talked with her from 430-630pm. She sells perfumes and other things on the side to make some money. It´s kind of like Avon, we looked in a catalog adn could choose from a variety of things. She let us try many samples of perfumes. Elizabeth ended up buying some perfume and I bought some hand soap. She was very appreciative of our business. As three sisters in Christ we were also able to talk about the Lord and pray together. It was really great. She was telling us that she has been with the Lord for 10 yrs. and has been married 9 years. She thought I was very young to be married already. I guess at my age it is young for most people to be married in this culture. After I got home Nathan and I went to the supermarket ourselves for the first time and got a few more groceries. I got quite a bit of food for 106,87 pesos. We then ate supper quick and at 8pm went with Veronica(a lady from church) to the town of Darwin (10 kilometers from Choele Choel) for their prayer meeting. No heated building, no comfy chairs, no fancy church building, like I´m so familiar with in the states. Just four brick walls and Jesus. It was really great to see their passion for the Lord. I was even able to share a bible verse. Romans 12¨1-2 with them as Elizabeth so graciously translated. These verses have been speaking to my heart lately, about not being conformed to the world.