Winding Down

This past weekend I went to Tigre and Rosario. On Saturday, I went with Jim, Zeida, the girls and Elena to Tigre. I love the city. There are rivers flowing through it everywhere because it is on a delta. We took a boat ride to see some of the houses. Then, I shopped at all the shops there. The prices are pretty reasonable and there were a lot of things to look at! On Sunday, I went to Rosario with four other people. The drive is about three hours, but it took us about four. We had some car problems on the way back, which delayed our return, but everything turned out fine. Rosario is a beautiful city. There is a river that runs through it and the parks are wonderful. It was a quick trip and I was glad to get back.

Oh, I got a cell phone for this weekend. Zeida wanted me to have one while I was in Rosario, since it is pretty far away. One of the missionary families here just left, so I got to use one of theirs. It is fun having a cell phone for only a couple days...and a lot easier to contact people as well.

Now that the trip to Rosario is over, I have realized how close I am to going home. I have two more days left. The reality of that is hard to imagine. I hope I will be able to return someday, but right now I don't know if I will. Then, there is the fact that if I do indeed return one day not everyone will be here still. I have definitely enjoyed Argentina and the people, and if I get the chance to return one day, I will come willingly.

Al Capital...and a little about Argentina

I leave for the states in a week. It seems pretty imposible to believe that I have been here for 5 weeks already. I wish I could stay longer. The idea of starting up school again and having homework doesn't look very appealing to me. I will also miss Argentina and everyone here. The people have been very open to me and it has been fun getting to know them. Now, I feel more comfortable around everyone. Sure, I don't always know what they are saying and I can't always say what I want to, but I take it in stride. People have told me lately that my Spanish is improving--a statement that I was very happy to hear!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to the capital--Buenos Aires--with a group of girls. There were five of us and the objective of the day was to see all of the capital. This coming Saturday I am going to Tigre, so I did not have any other opportunities to see the Capital.
We started the day really early to catch the train to the city. I met Andrea and Karina (the Argentines of the group) in front of the Tiger Market, which is the gas station next to the seminary. We caught the bus to the train station and waited there for the rest of our group. While we were waiting, the train we wanted past. This was not a good thing because the trains usually are an hour apart in coming. Well, we finally found the other two girls. After they bought their tickets, we headed over to the platform to wait on the train. We were surprised to find a train arriving right before we got to the platform, so we ended up starting right away. The train ride over there was about an hour long, maybe a little longer, but it went fast.
Andrea and Karina had the entire day mapped out. We started off right away and went from one place to another. I don't even know how many places we went to but to name a few: Palermo, 9 de Julio Av., Recoleta, La Boca, Casa Rosada, Catedral Metropolitana, Plaza de Mayo, Cabildo, Puerto Madero, and el Obelisco.
The day was great. I saw so many places and had a lot of fun, but I was exhausted! We took the Pilar Express back to Pilar. This is a bus and has comfortable seats. I, of course, fell asleep. That evening there was a surprise birthday party for one of the girls here, Aline. I went for a while, but decided not to stay extremely late. It was definitely a full day.

...ARGENTINA...
What I have discovered.

• The Spanish here in Argentina is unique. There is a totally different pronunciation for some consonants and they call things by different names.
• They talk really fast, in my opinion.
• The people greet each other by touching check. Some people do this to both checks, other only the right side. I kind of like this greeting, because it makes a person feel like they belong more. Instead of a simple hello to everyone, each person is greeted individually.
• If you don't know what Mate is, you will learn in a heartbeat. Mate is everywhere and pretty much everyone drinks it from the same straw/cup. It is tradition. There are even mate stations in public places. Pretty much, if there is more than one person meeting, mate is not far behind. Mate is for sharing. Personally, I think it is too strong without sugar and not very good with too much sugar. Just like Goldie Locks, I like my mate right in between.

• Gracias does not mean thank you when you are drinking Mate. It instead signifies that you have had your share of mate and don’t want anymore. However, if you have the mate in your hand, it is yours. I learned this just this week.
• They eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, merienda, and dinner. At the seminary, we dine at 8 PM for dinner; however, this is early for Argentines. They can dine anytime up to 11 PM.
• Here they eat a lot of pasta and beef. You will find a lot of Italians, which is where the pasta originates from. The beef is incredible. There are Carnearías everywhere and the steak is huge. It is also very delicious.
• Dulce de leche is native to Argentina as well. I heard that Argentines will take personal offense if you say you don’t like it. I don’t know if that is true or not, though. I like it more than caramel, which it is most similar to.
• Here people marry young, like 17-20 years old. If you are much older than that, they try and pair you with someone.
• Monedas, or coins, are hard to come by, but you need them to ride the buses. This creates a difficult problem when you take the bus every day, twice a day. That is when tarejas, cards, come in handy.
• Buenos Aires is actually a providence as well as a city, but they don’t call it Buenos Aires here. Instead, they call it capital. I am technically in Buenos Aires right now. So when I told some people I went to Buenos Aires, they just laughed at me and then explained why.
• Tango is big…especially in La Boca.

Conjuntivitis...

...has another name in the United States: pink eye and yes, I have it. I am 99.99% sure that I got it from Hannah. She had it this past week. I thought I had washed my hands enough but I guess that is not the case. It wouldn't be so bad except I was wearing my last pair of contacts in my left eye. I did not bring enough with me, so I am going to have to get some more while I am here. Well, I do have to agree with Jeanne, though. The hospital here is very nice.

Random bits of my life...

Lately, I feel like I have been really busy going from one thing to the next, which is partly the reason why I haven't really written anything in a while. So I am going to try and catch up on a few things that have recently happened here. This week and the following week are vacation for the students here at the seminary. For me that means it is quieter around here and I can't get any of my meals from the comedor. Don't worry though, I haven't gone hungry yet. :) I have actually had the opportunity to try different types of food and eat out more. On Monday, a friend of mine here at the semi made me soup, rice and beef. Then, on Tuesday, I got to try some Bolivian food made by someone else here at the seminary and some authentic Argentine food from someone at church. All of which were wonderful. On Thursday night, my friend Elena and I went to Jumbo to buy some ingredients for Parmesan Chicken, because I had decided that I should cook something for her as well. Well, Jumbo is a big store...and we ended up being in there for more than an hour. The problem with that was that I was starving (more or less) at the time, so we ended up buying more than we needed. By the time everything was prepared and we sat down to a feast, it was 9 pm. Just on time for dinner here in Argentina…well, maybe a little early. ;) We had rice, chicken, guacamole, papas fritas, bread, juice, ice cream and brownies. ¡Estuvo riquísimo! Translation: Excellent! Anyone who has heard stories about my cooking skills should know that I am not as bad of a cook as my sister makes me out to be. There have only been times where I had a lapse in thinking. Oh, I don’t believe I have ever picked out a box of brownies faster—there was only one type.


I ate lunch with Zeida and Jimmy on Thursday where the food is always delicious and another day with another volunteer at the Regional Offices. Angie just graduated from Olivet this past year and is going to be volunteering here in Argentina for about 10 months. It is nice to have her here, especially since we have some things in common. For the rest of the meals (not counting breakfast), I had empanadas. Yummy, yummy, yummy.


Along with the seminary being on vacation, most of the schools in the area were on break this past week. To celebrate this and have some fun, there have been something every night for the youth and young adults. I like going even though I don't really know what is going on the whole entire time. Some of the guys in the group have started to call me Hannah. I wasn't really sure why in the beginning, but I think it has to do with a combination of the fact that someone else named Hannah came from the United States before and Hannah Montana. It is pretty funny, though. I wish I had time to write more right now, but I don't. I am going to the zoo tomorrow and I need to go to bed right now. I will try and write more soon.

Goodbye Daniel Max Walker...

Today, there was a funeral for one of my friends. It is hard to believe that he is gone...that he could actually be gone. Dan Walker was a wonderful guy and lived life to the fullest. His death came as a shock for everyone, except God, of course. And at 22 years, he wasn't supposed to die. His death, however, has brought change in my life. I have started to realize how wonderful heaven is. Dan is with Jesus. He may be dead in our worldly sense, but he has never been more alive than he is right now. It is also hard for me to imagine God's reasoning behind taking Dan. He had so much going on right now, so many plans, but they weren't meant to be. On Wednesday, when I found out he had passed away, I kept asking myself "why? I don't understand". I know I will never fully understand why God decided to take him when he did, but I know that I don't have to either. God is awesome, and he is looking out for us. There was a reason why Dan died that night, just like there is a reason why I am in Argentina right now. However, shock still resides within me. I can't believe that he is gone, but I know he is.

It will be a very hard couple of years for everyone who was close to Dan. I wish that today I could have shared in the celebration of his life and said goodbye. In times like these, community is needed and appreciated. It saddens me that I wasn't able to attend the funeral, and share the pain of losing Dan with all the other people that loved and cared for him. I wish I could have gone.

With that said, however, I do have to say that everything here in Argentina is good. The people here are wonderful and they have listened openly and shared my pain. One girl, Maely, told me that even though I could not be home with my family, I was with my family here at the seminary. That was very comforting.

I really have nothing more to say at the moment. It is late and I need to sleep. I have to leave the rest for another day and another time. I just want to leave with this: Goodbye, Dan. I hope you are having a great time in the streets of gold. You are definitely missed.

Under the Night's Watch

It is almost 7:00 a.m. here right now, and I just wanted to write a little about tonight. Tonight they had a gathering for jovenes (or teens/young people). I could not get anyone to go with me, but I really wanted to go. On the way over there, I was very scared/nervous that I would not know anyone and be very lost. However, I gathered enough courage to step in the door and right by it were some people from the seminary that I know. I stayed with them and one of them started introducing me to others. As the night went on, I saw more and more people that I knew or had seen before and met more. Everyone was really loving and kind. I felt a little of a barrier between me and everyone that starts with a C...Castano, or Spanish. I wasn't always sure what was going on but I would ask someone and they would explain it. There was a girl from Indiana there that I had not met yet and she hardly knows any spanish at all. She was having a very difficult being there and not really knowing anything that was happening (worst than I). She had someone with her that was telling her what was happening, which helped a little. I also met someone at the church I am attending that knows both Spanish and English. As the night grew on, we started to play games and Yael was there to tell me the purpose of the game. It is hard being with so many people that don't speak the same language, but I enjoyed the night. On the way there, I was singing to comfort myself a song that talks about how God is the only one I need when I am alone or in a crowd. It is true: he took care of me.

Argentina...

Estoy aquí en Argentina. I am sitting in my kitchen at the moment with three other people. They are chatting in Spanish about what they only know. I can only catch some words here and there, but I like listening to them and watching them break into laughter every once in a while. This experience is similar to my last four days in Argentina.

I arrived after a very long flight, a layover in Houston, Texas, and a shorter flight to Texas from Denver. When I got Argentina, I was definitely ready. I walked off the plane with no idea what to do except follow the rest of the passengers. First, I stood in line to get my passport and customs form checked. After that, I went down and waited for my luggage. During that time, I was not really sure what to think. The airport is small compared to DIA and Houston's, and it looks older as well. I probably looked like a lost puppy to everyone around me. I noticed after a while that everyone seemed to have carts, so I asked someone where they were. By the time I got the cart, the crowd around the belt had dispersed a great deal and I was able to get close. Not much later, I spotted my baggage. I have to say that those two suit cases at 48.5 lbs each are pretty heavy and awkward. Due to that fact, I ended up hitting my knee (that I had previously fallen on the week before) and making it bleed. I started toward customs; however, after feeling something on my leg, I stopped and looked at my knee and noticed that there was blood running down my leg--a very difficult situation to be in when you have no band-aids. Well, I stopped the blood this some Kleenex (thanks, mom) and continued to customs. The lady waved me through after only my backpack and one of my bags went through the x-ray. I was happy about that!

The next pressing task was to find Ricardo--the person picking me up. I stood behind the glass wall like I was supposed to and waited, and waited, and waited. I stood there for over 30 minutes and then finally decided to put my contacts in and then call someone. That was some task by itself...because, in order to do that, I had to exchange some money. Well, after all that was done, I headed toward the phones. On the way, however, I got intersected by someone. He grabbed my arm and said Katy in Spanish. Within the next few moments, I noticed a small sign that said Nazareno...something and found out that Marcelo, not Ricardo was there to pick me up. I also learned about how Argentines greet each other -- a kiss on the cheek, more or less.

My first taste of the driving in Argentina was quite interesting, but I only got really scared once or twice. I really don't understand the way they think when they drive. There are very few left turn lanes--instead on the right side of the road there are lanes for turning left. Also, if there does happen to be a left turn lane and they cannot turn (too much traffic), the driver will pull over to the right side of the road. Then, they have to wait until both sides of the road are clear. Drivers don't really follow any of the other rules either. At times, they like to drive in the middle of two lanes or sometimes they just make a lane where there is none. It is like a contest to see who can be first. At a light the other day, a car just pulled up to the car I was in and made a new lane. It wanted to get in front of us, but had no such luck.

The first day seemed like four because was so tired and I took so many naps during that time. I also met a lot of people during the day, too many to remember! My room at the seminary is very nice. I have my own apartment pretty much, which can be a little lonely at times. I have been learning more and more words every day. The problem with coming to Argentina, however, is that the Spanish they speak here is very different than the Spanish I learned. Here they pronounce certain letters differently than any other Spanish-speaking country besides Uruguay. So many times someone has said a word I know but it sounded so different that I was very confused. I believe that no one in the States will understand me when I talk Spanish because I will probably talk with a Argentine accent. Lol.

Well, I have been writing this from many days so I think it is time to post. Ciao.