less than one month left

It has been awhile. After months and months of school, friends, vocab words, touristy adventures, and hundreds of good meals, suddenly I only have 26 short days left in this hemisphere. 26 days packed with class, projects, finals, studying, squeezing in the last touristy places, and some hard goodbyes, along with one final weekend in Uruguay.

a few little updates:

My beloved father came to visit in the middle of May and we enjoyed a few days of walking, good meals (plenty of beef), hours of English and wine shopping in the unusual heat. It was great to get to see him, and know that in a few short months I would see him, and the rest of my family, again in Indiana.  Sunday we made it to a beautifully historical Presbyterian church in the downtown area that had plenty of plaques written in English honoring the ancient Scottish missionaries. Dad loved sharing that experience and it felt good to be in a familiar church environment.

This week our own Spanish professor from Grace came to visit family and do some business. I was super nervous at first, as if it were the ultimate test, asking: how much have you actually learned in all of these months? His relaxed argentine personality smoothed things over quickly and I have been enjoying seeing him in his home country, talking and joking with friends, and still teaching us along the way.



Also in the last month we have celebrated the birthdays of two very important people in my life: Mari and Jose. They have been here all along, taking care of me every step of the way, and it was an honor to have been part of the celebrations!

I couldn't leave this post without mentioning the 3 other Gracies with whom I have been spending a lot of time. Carissa, Olivia and Jonah we are always up to shenanigans, walking block after block in the city, exploring a new area or just sitting around drinking mate and watching movies correcting each other's grammar. Its been interesting getting to know a new set of personalities.

New Semester, New Friends and New Sense of Independence

When I think back to the last August and the beginning of this journey, or the first couple weeks of school, I see a girl who was afraid to leave the apartment without some sort of direction or company. A girl who made it the goal every day just to arrive to school and back in time for the merienda. A girl who was too timid to start relationships with classmates or people at the church or wherever there were large groups of people.

It has been one month since the beginning of the second semester and I think I have accomplished more than I did in my first three months in Argentina. I know how to get around without writing the directions step by step on a piece of paper the night before, I started attending the youth group that a friend is leading, I went on my first big trip out of the city (other than going to Montevideo), and while I still am not so good at talking to classmates (what can I say - I'm an introvert) I am really enjoying classes and actually understanding what the professors are saying!

This section of classes is more like real life. It is a whole semester instead of only 14 weeks of intensive courses and I am in 5 classes instead of one. Thankfully, we have Friday's off which allows for more opportunities to explore the city and the country. Somehow I ended up in two economics classes, an oral productions class, Argentine literature, and Socio-linguistics. I must say, I am enjoying the majority and even considering doing some extra research on Latin American history on my own. We will see what wins out, research or exploring more of the city. 

A few weeks ago I was able to make it out to Cordoba, Argentina with a friend from back at Grace (Carissa and I had not actually met until we got here). Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina with a population of about one million people in the hills of northern center of the country. It could be called a University town, full of students and life and also quite a lot of old Jesuit church history, and a high population of German descendants. In the decades of the military dictatorship of Argentina this is where the most "desaparecidos" or disappeared persons came from. It is also said that the "cordobes" doesn't need to carry an ID because their accent tells the world where they are from... It really is almost like a little song to hear them talk.

(to read more about Cordoba wikipedia always knows a lot and here is a link to a blog on the museo de la memoria that tells a little bit about the history of the desaparecidos - http://gottakeepmovin.com/museo-de-la-memoria-cordoba-argentina/ )

In memory of the disappeared

This felt like a trip of firsts for me. My first vacation in which I had to budget and organize everything and my first time staying in a youth hostel full of other international travelers. I also learned that God often ¨ruins¨ our plans to give us something better, just when one idea did not seem like it was going to work out, something better arose!

Carissa and I spent the first day of the long weekend exploring a little bit of the historical downtown center which was, of course, beautiful. Saturday and Sunday we hung out in a very small town called Cuesta Blanca about an hour and a half away to soak in some sun, rocks, trails and river after spending months in the big city. 

Monday was definitely the climax for me. WE RODE HORSES! The ride, led by our awesome gaucho guide, Salvador (www.facebook.com/SalvadorGimenezTurismoEcuestre),

started off in a huge estate way up in the hills about an hour from the city. Along the ride to the half way point we enjoyed a rich view of the countryside and hills way up high. We could even see parts of the city from up there. After a couple hours we crossed a creek and ended up in a little clearing of the woods where there was a cute little house and grill and friendly folk ready to make us an asado - the famous Argentine BBQ (without the sauce - who needs sauce when the meat is so good?) We rested a few hours, eating, chatting, drinking mate and making friends with our fellow french travelers, Julie and Melanie, Salvador, and his German volunteer assistant, Anika. The trail ride back was a little more rugged, crossing more rivers and squeezing through brush while climbing and lowering along the hillside. At the end of the day I got an offer to come back and volunteer for the business while gaining experience with these marvelously behaved horses. It was definitely one of the best days I have had yet, a dream come true and worth every sent. I hope, one day, who knows when, to return and say hello to the friends I made and ride my beautiful white horse, Palomo, in the quiet hills of Cordoba. 

Cuesta Blanca 

Me and Palomo

The expansive ¨sierras¨or hills of Cordoba

Back in Buenos Aires

Well people, it has been a crazy couple of weeks.

I survived VBS, a couple church work days, wrapping up tutoring, doing computer work, filming for a project, and a couple (or quite a few) beach and volleyball days thrown in there.  (Favorite city so far? Piriápolis, Uruguay) All that is left of my tasks in Uruguay is writing a debriefing report and continuing working and editing the video.

I can't believe its over. I woke up this morning in my room here in the apartment in Buenos Aires and thought, what am I doing here? I'm not supposed to be back yet!

Sunday at church was a day of tears and love. The people of the church prayed for me and made some cake as is their tradition with visitors and gave me an adorable little mug to remember them by! I hope to be able to go back to Montevideo and IPUY before leaving South America.

I will never forget this experience and how much I learned from the Richline and Call families and from the members of the church. I am so thankful for their patience with my spanish and how they welcomed me like a true sister. 

God has been teaching me a lot about his love. How it really all about him. How I fail so much, but its not about my failure, its about his grace. It´s about his SON who he sent to save. 

Only 4 months left in this adventure.

words

i miss my family and friends a lot.

but at the same time, i have a family here and friends here. how is this all going to work out when it is time to go?

The people at this church have been such a testimony of patience and love and i want to be even more a part of it. I came here on such a temporary assignment, and kind of expected just to pass by. The thing is it is starting to feel like home, and i am starting to make friends, and this makes me want to stay longer to establish myself more in this church and have a real place in it, and grow these little baby blossoming relationships. i want to be able to talk about daily life and the changing of the seasons and get the inside jokes and work to understand when they start talking normal instead of slowing down for me.  i have been shown so much patience!

we went to go watch Super Bowl XLIX in the home of an American family this past weekend. There was a mix of things going on in my brain. Driving through the more wealthy neighborhood, the houses actually had large yards and a few golden retrievers. I felt that there was unfinished business when we walked in the door and didn't do the traditional kiss on the cheek to every member of the family. The floor in the living room had mostly carpet. It all felt so foreign. These things I have known all my life felt so weird... Later we were tossing around a football and a little waveling of appreciation for US culture came back. It felt homey doing that as well.

I guess if you really think about it, as Christians we are all brothers and sisters, all over the world. we have our savior Jesus in common and that changes relationships. it allows for vulnerability and honesty and kindness and love and patience in cultural misunderstandings or mis-communication.
I don't really know much, and the more I talk to people and see different things the more I realize I have to learn about life. Even things that are not cultural or about other people, but way deep inside myself, such as how to get through those moments of depression or homesickness or doubt knowing that everything is going to be okay in the end. That whatever happens there is hope and assurance in Jesus. That is what I want to really master, then all the other stuff will just fall into place.

i guess I can't leave this post without mentioning some of the goings on:
-VBS is this week! Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
-Paola and Diego's wedding on Thursday
-Random hang out dates with my growing group of girl friends here from IPUY, I know, its crazy, I actually have friends !
-being a human being, that's a hard one some times

chau amigos

Recent happenings

so, whats been happening lately in this side of the hemisphere?

besides 70 to 90 degree temperatures, a few rainstorms, going to church, starting Spanish tutoring with the Call kids 4 days a week, practicing music to play at church on a few Sundays, looking forward to VBS planning that starts this week, spending time with the Richlines on their recent return (giving back up all of the household and cooking responsibilities I spent a good month practicing), I have been getting to know the folks at IPUY a little bit better. I will copy my best friend's recent blog post by sharing a travel quote to kind of sum up what I have been learning about:

" A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles." - Tim Cahill

how true. This was something I had not actually expected. I was looking forward to the adventure and challenge of being in a different country that in my anticipation I seemed to have bypassed thinking about the people. I know, how selfish, but I am learning my lesson. The past couple weeks I have been spending a lot more time with the recently mentioned gem, Veronica, and we have many more outings planned for the next couple weeks. There are so many other jovenes (young people) at this church and I want to really get to know them all! I really crave and cherish the time spent at church now with these people. It is an amazing feeling to be able to communicate and laugh even a little bit in another language. That is something I am grateful for, the semester of language learning that God gave me before this experience to be able to get by enough to form relationships with Uruguayans, or Peruvians, or Argentines, or whoever happens to be visiting our church from some other south american country. I have such a long way to go in language learning, and forming these relationships at even such a basic level is inspiring me to want to learn more. 

Besides finally being able to have potential solid friendships with Spanish speakers, I have only been getting closer and closer to both the Richline and Call families since I have been here. Family dinners and car rides and talking through the culture and experiencing some of the same things and being so far away from my own parents and siblings has really attached me to these people in a way that makes me want to stay here with those whom I could now consider extended family (don't worry mom and dad, i haven't forgotten the past 20 years of my life, and I wouldn't be here or who I am if it weren't for you <3). 

Although I know it needs to happen eventually, I literally cannot imagine leaving this place and I hope not to treat the relationships as temporary even though there is only a little over a month left of this summer in Montevideo.  

   

         

the holidays

La Navidad, El cumple de Daniel, el año Nuevo, Día de los tres reyes magos

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a few more celebrations!

Much of the time spent here in the last few weeks has been preparing for one celebration after another. First we baked a lot of Christmas cookies, went shopping and decorated a small, fake, but precious tree in the Call's house. Christmas is not as big of an event here as it is in the US. Its more a family thing than a huge, commercial thing. To give an example, there was only half an aisle of Christmas decorations in one of the bigger supermercados close to our house. I really enjoy the attitude towards the holidays, it has been showing me how important time spent with family is here in Uruguay. This Christmas Rebekah and I went to her family's house overnight to have a pretty American Christmas, with their family's usual traditions in a Uruguayan setting. We found what ingredients we could for the food. Everything took a lot longer than it does back home, probably because it is a new place for all of us (the Call's just moved into their new house about two weeks ago). I missed my own family a lot, but it was time well spent and nice to be around the kiddos.  One of my favorite things about how they celebrate Christmas here is the fireworks at midnight on Christmas Eve. Everyone stayed up until midnight playing games and we all climbed up on the roof to see the spectacle. We were surrounded by fireworks on all sides, booming and flashes of light. Since you can see pretty far across the city from their rooftop, we could see a plethora of fireworks. the feeling is kind of indescribable.

 The next big event was Daniel's 8th birthday on December 30th. We had a party with the family to make it special. For this Rebekah and I attempted making a lego ninja looking cake to match the lego theme.

     

The most recent was the new year celebration. Again, they Uruguayans rang in the new year celebrating with fireworks at midnight. This time we watched them from the street (the big heavy blind on the balcony had broken and we couldn't get to the roof). This worked out fine though, because we popped some of our own fireworks and got to meet the neighbors for a brief moment. These encounters are incredibly important for the family. We have been learning that many people in their neighborhood have lived there their whole lives and their family members live nearby as well. Pray that these connections and encounters would keep developing for the Calls as well as the Richlines when they return. 

Also, for the New Year, a member of the church came over after her night nursing shift to spend the night with us. Veronica is originally from Peru, but came here to Uruguay for school awhile back. In her nursing classes she met Sandra, the wife of Mauricio, the pastor of IPU. In return for fixing her computer the family invited her to come to church one Sunday. She felt she owed them something, showed up, and there Christ started his work in her. She is a bubbly, happy personality and so fun to be around. Her joy for being a follower of Christ really does radiate through her. Veronica has been a huge help in understanding the "quirks" of Uruguayan culture. Living thousands of miles away from her family, I know she understands some of where I come from too. She faces many of the struggles that a Christian in a very secular country is bound to face, getting mocked and not understood by coworkers for example. Her attitude through all of this and desire to grow and ask questions has really affected me. I hope to call her a close friend by the end of the time here!

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 ESV

across the river/cruzar el río

well, about a week ago I arrived in the home of the lovely Richline family to begin what is officially called working as a Missionary Associate through the OPC church. Reflecting on how I ended up in this place at this time shows me God´s providence and planning. In this post I hope to give a little context on how I ended up here in Uruguay and what I hope to be doing here.

The Background: I had run into a scheduling conflict sometime last fall while planning my study abroad time and found a way to spend as much time in South America as possible following a suggestion from the lovely French professor at Grace to start looking for some sort of internship during the summer break. The subject came up at church and my pastor suggested applying to work as a missionary associate in Montevideo, Uruguay, right across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires.

map credits:
south america: http://espanol.vacationstogo.com/cruise_port/Isla_de_la_Plata__Ecuador.cfm
rio de la plata: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata



Soooo, I applied for the position and by the grace of God, the Richline family and the OPC Foreign Missions Committee, was accepted.

I had the opportunity to visit the family for a weekend around the end of October, and this just fed even more my excitement for living with them. You can read more about that in previous posts.

The Characters with whom I will be working: (pictures to come)
-The Richline's (American Missionaries - OPC): Mark and Jeni and their kids Sabrina, Josh, Julia and Isaiah
-The Call's (American Missionaries - PCA): Ray and Michelle and the kids Rebekah, Jeremiah, Ana Grace, John, Daniel, Christina, Peter
-The Rolim's (Brazilian Missionaries) : Mauricio and Sandra and the kids Calebe and Ana Tereza
-And finally, the members of La Iglesia Presbiteriana del Uruguay or, the Presbyterian Church of Uruguay.

The Job:
To give a broad idea... I will will be attending the church functions, possibly teaching a few Sunday school classes in Spanish, house and dog-sitting for the Richlines with Rebekah Call my awesome roomie while they are on vacation in the US for four weeks, celebrating Christmas with the Calls and helping them settle in as they just moved into a new house, tutoring the Call kids in Spanish, doing some basic cultural observation and processing that information, and helping plan VBS which is in February, among whatever other odd jobs my bosses give me. It will be a workload, but I am pumped to have the opportunity to be of use here in Montevideo. I'm really hoping for a few solid beach days thrown in there too, as the city is surrounded by playa (beach).

Prayer Requests:
- for safety in many travels, the Richlines in the US for a month and the Rolims going back to Brasil on furlough until March.
-for safety, wisdom, responsibility and trust in God for Rebekah and I as we learn how to clean, cook and shop for ourselves and basically take care of a house and dog, thankfully we have Flechita (the dog) to scare off any potential trespassers.
-for the growth of a sister church plant in Mercedes, about a 3 hour drive from Montevideo
-for the church members here in Montevideo, for their growth in the knowledge and grace of God, their kindness has already made a huge impression on me!
-for me, that I would learn dependence on God conducting a lot of stuff in a second language and in doing some things I have never done before, as well as continual perseverance in learning the language.
-for the Calls as they settle in, that they would quickly learn the culture and how to get around and how to speak the new accent
-for the future church plant in Montevideo that the Call's and Richline's will be starting, and trust that this is the plan of God.
-for two things that I am learning to be very important in the church and am excited to see taking place here: humility and unity. (John 17, Jesus prayed that the church may be one so that the world would recognize that Jesus was sent by God - vs. 20-23 and Philippians 2 putting others needs before ourselves following the humility of Christ)