A few weeks ago I took a trip up to the northeastern province of Misiones. My friends Sara and Eva went to see the famous Iguazu Falls while I got together with a new contact, Ricardo. He is friends with a couple that I work with in Baradero (Buenos Aires Province) since they lived in Misiones for a time. The above picture was taken at a political meeting that I accompanied Ricardo to, a few miles from his home. Elections are coming up next week and a local politician gathered the people from the village seeking their votes.
This photo was obviously taken from inside the car. I love it when people appreciate where they're from, and this was certainly the case here. They said, "Take out your camera, as soon as we go over this hill you have to take a picture!" Pine trees aren't native to the area but in the past few decades have become a popular crop.
Above is the car we hitched a ride on to get to Ricardo's home. Isn't the red dirt beautiful?
A delicious meal with Emilia and Ricardo: chicken with manioc (cassava) and a salad. Emilia apologized that the chicken was so small. You see, it wasn't ready yet for the slaughter but it taunted one of their dogs and got into a fight with it. She tried to save it but it was too far gone, so it became our lunch.
Proof that I got some work done: a meeting isn't complete without sharing mate.
We discussed the local area and the possibilities of training Ricardo's contacts with the CHE materials. There is a lot of poverty in the area, although the trick with CHE is that the projects undertaken are the ones the villagers decide on, not the trainers. For example, Ricardo thinks it's bad that everyone has latrines, not flush toilets. He thinks that everyone is satisfied with the latrines, and that's a bad thing. Of course I say the issue isn't the type of toilet, but whether or not hand-washing is done afterwards!
Ricardo and Emilia's grandson showing me the beautiful eggs from their chickens. See the green ones?
Time to head back to the city. How to get there without a car? Wait on the side of the road and hitch. Thankfully a neighbor came along. Tricky thing is that the back of the truck was filled with cow parts, grapefruits, etc.
This is a picture of a chainsaw, grapefruit, and a covered-up cow's head with its horn sticking into my sandal. It was kind of crowded in that truck.
But I still enjoyed the view!
And the company!Fun facts:
- In Argentina, instead of saying, "every two weeks" one says, "every 15 days."
- A favorite verse for Argentines to quote is the first half of Psalm 92:12: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. I'd never noticed that one before, is it used here because they actually have palm trees? Why don't we use this one more in California and Arizona, then?
A few weeks ago I took a trip up to the northeastern province of Misiones. My friends Sara and Eva went to see the famous Iguazu Falls while I got together with a new contact, Ricardo. He is friends with a couple that I work with in Baradero (Buenos Aires Province) since they lived in Misiones for a time. The above picture was taken at a political meeting that I accompanied Ricardo to, a few miles from his home. Elections are coming up next week and a local politician gathered the people from the village seeking their votes.
This photo was obviously taken from inside the car. I love it when people appreciate where they're from, and this was certainly the case here. They said, "Take out your camera, as soon as we go over this hill you have to take a picture!" Pine trees aren't native to the area but in the past few decades have become a popular crop.
Above is the car we hitched a ride on to get to Ricardo's home. Isn't the red dirt beautiful?
A delicious meal with Emilia and Ricardo: chicken with manioc (cassava) and a salad. Emilia apologized that the chicken was so small. You see, it wasn't ready yet for the slaughter but it taunted one of their dogs and got into a fight with it. She tried to save it but it was too far gone, so it became our lunch.
Proof that I got some work done: a meeting isn't complete without sharing mate. We discussed the local area and the possibilities of training Ricardo's contacts with the CHE materials. There is a lot of poverty in the area, although the trick with CHE is that the projects undertaken are the ones the villagers decide on, not the trainers. For example, Ricardo thinks it's bad that everyone has latrines, not flush toilets. He thinks that everyone is satisfied with the latrines, and that's a bad thing. Of course I say the issue isn't the type of toilet, but whether or not hand-washing is done afterwards!
Ricardo and Emilia's grandson showing me the beautiful eggs from their chickens. See the green ones?
Time to head back to the city. How to get there without a car? Wait on the side of the road and hitch. Thankfully a neighbor came along. Tricky thing is that the back of the truck was filled with cow parts, grapefruits, etc.
This is a picture of a chainsaw, grapefruit, and a covered-up cow's head with its horn sticking into my sandal. It was kind of crowded in that truck.
But I still enjoyed the view!
And the company!
