Other Perspectives

For lots more information about Buenos Aires and Argentine news and culture, check out this website, "Good Airs" . It's written by two American reporters who moved to Buenos Aires in 2005. They have several interesting new links, including a YouTube video recently put together by the mayor of Buenos Aires which shows very negative aspects of the city. I tend to only post positive images on this website, and therefore although I've seen much of what that video shows (except for the violence) you won't see those pictures here.

There is a link to a great article on food in Argentina called "Argentina On Two Steaks a Day" which made me laugh, especially the parts about the sugar/sweeteners and the coffee. They also write about the drug "paco," which several of you have asked me about after hearing about it in the news in the U.S. On their blog they point out several interesting aspects to this "news" including plagiarism from older articles.

Pop-culture

Pop culture happenings in Argentina in 2009:

The Dakar Rally, previously known as the Paris-Dakar, will move to Argentina and Chile in January 2009, starting and ending in Buenos Aires. Sadly, the reason it is moving here is due to Al Qaeda-linked killings of tourists in Mauritania.

Sandra Bullock to film Kiss and Tango in Buenos Aires in 2009.

Fun fact: both my street and the street my apartment faces are cobblestone, which makes for a lovely sound as the cars pass over it. A little trickier to walk on, but very cool.

Transportation

Above are two boats that are similar to the one I'm on that will take me to the islands in the Delta.
You can see above that the boats are used to transport quite a bit of luggage along with the passengers. The group I go with brings food for the children and water for cooking and drinking.

The captain's chair -- he moves it forward once we start going, of course!

I am really glad not to have a car right now, for a lot of reasons. Most of you know that I love public transportation in general, and it has been really nice to be in a city again (the biggest one I've ever lived in!). Without a car I don't have to worry about parking, insurance, etc. Also, people here are talking a lot about the latest statistics on January 2008 car fatalities, and there's talk of the police getting more serious about enforcing traffic laws. The US State Department's website notes that:

Traffic accidents are the primary threat to life and limb in Argentina. Pedestrians and drivers should exercise caution. Drivers frequently ignore traffic laws and vehicles often travel at excessive speeds. The rate and toll of traffic accidents has been a topic of much media attention over the past year....[D]rivers in Argentina tend to be very aggressive, especially in the capital city of Buenos Aires, and frequently ignore traffic regulations.

The Clarin (an Argentine paper) agrees -- there are double the traffic fatalities (percentage-wise) in Argentina compared to the U.S., and 2007 surpassed 2006. Most of the Argentines I know here are really frustrated by the situation. The upside of the death-talk is that compared to other South American countries the homicide rate here is much lower: 1/4 that of Venezuela and Columbia, 1/3 of Brazil, and 1/2 that of Ecuador.

So with that and many other reasons I am glad to use public transportation! One just has to be careful crossing the street, since despite the large numbers of pedestrians I see here, cars always have the right-of-way (de facto, at least).

A snapshot of my day, or how I got to a meeting: I walked five blocks to the bus stop, then waited for my bus until a woman came along and told us that the line was on strike today. (She'd waited 1 1/2 hours!) So, since I had no idea how else to get to my destination, I went to a telephone center and called the church. Thankfully, the woman who answered the phone lives near me and knew of three other bus lines. So, I walked 1/2 a block to another bus stop (stops in busy areas are for one or two bus lines only, and so each line's stop can be 30 feet apart or so from the previous one -- this works well since the buses run so frequently and several arrive at once). Then it was a quick 20-minute ride and a four block walk to the church office. And I was still 15 minutes early!

El Delta

A flower growing in the mud

Yesterday I went to an island called Las Rosas, which is in the delta of the Rio de la Plata. To get there I hopped on the train (six blocks from my house) to the opposite end of the line from downtown, then I took a boat about 45 minutes, then walked through mud barefoot to my destination. Why barefoot? Well, this area gets flooded frequently, sometimes every few days, and therefore the houses are all on stilts. Two days before my arrival the water was up to the level of the third step of the houses, and so the day I went the ground was still muddy. Okay, but still, why barefoot? Well, I didn't have rubber boots like my companions, and my flip-flops kept getting stuck in the mud. So barefoot was the method suggested to me, and it turned out to be much easier and rather fun! (And yes, I know that in some parts of the world this is the perfect way to get some fun parasites, but I was assured it is not so in this area.)
Besides, for the most part the kids we met there go barefoot. Here's some proof -- my feet and a boy's foot and an adorable kitten:


A church in the La Lucila neighborhood of Buenos Aires has been coming to this area for years. One of the church members came to our training (TOT1) last September, and since has become one of the pastors of the church. The entire church is now talking about changing to their work in the Delta from relief and "betterment" to development. They currently do mostly relief work, providing lunch for the children of the surrounding area:
They provide milk and an afternoon snack:
They also do some betterment work, such as tutoring. Yesterday there was no tutoring since the kids are still on summer break, but a youth group had come out and taught a Bible story (Joseph, his dreams, and his family difficulties) and had the kids do a project.
They tell me that the children are promoted from grade to grade regardless of performance, and many of them cannot read well. Similar to Baradero, this area has a lot of family violence (I got to hear some) and alcoholism. Below you can see the building that the church constructed four years ago to be the church on Thursday nights and the tutoring and feeding center on Saturdays. In the front you can see the creek, or canal, which is what floods. It is so skinny that you are seeing the width of it in that photo. Nonetheless, boats use the canal when there is adequate water and so all bridges built must be very tall. There are significant problems with people getting around in the area as there are very few bridges.
I can't remember the name of the boy below since we only talked briefly. I do remember two of his sisters, Laura and Mariela (just to prove that I do remember some!) quite well since we worked on an alphabet project together. He brought these two puppies out to show me. His neighbor's dog had six puppies in all, three dark and three light.
Below is the family I went with, Pastor Daniel, his wife Monica, and their youngest son Mateo. Monica is a kindergarten teacher and is thus very skilled to lead the tutoring. They go out to El Delta every week, and Daniel often goes on Thursdays to lead the church service. They are also responsible for organizing the other volunteers who come once or twice a month, and every-other-month special events like the youth group that came yesterday. Amazing.

La Celula

I haven't been blogging much because too much has been happening! I have lots of great things to say, though, but I won't do so tonight since it's already almost 1 am. You'll see why at the bottom.

Today I got together with Sara, a woman that I met here in September. I met her because decades ago she worked in Kenya and got to know Stan, the founder of the CHE program, who was also working in Kenya at the time. She's been interested in CHE ever since. Stan came down here in September to teach the urban version of CHE, she connected with him, and so she and I met. Confused yet?

Anyway, Sara's husband works with the US Embassy, and she is the first non-Argentine I've hung out with here. I find I have to make that clear not only because a lot of missionaries seem to work with Americans or other non-nationals a lot, but also because a lot of people here have American-sounding names! She showed me how the local train system works, and it turns out that it is perfect for my neighborhood -- there is a station six blocks from my apartment, and the end of the line is downtown Buenos Aires. It was pretty hot so we went to the end of the line, she pointed me in the direction of some famous sites, walked through a park, and essentially just got back on the train.

Guess where we ate lunch? Chinatown! I didn't know there was such a thing here. Excellent.

Tonight I went to my friends' (Bill and Annie) cell group, which is what they call the community groups or house groups at the Libertador church. I will be affiliated with the Libertador church as this is the church sending the couple full-time to the slum of Baradero, where the church has been working for years. This group knows my supervisor, and when she is in town they pray over her. Guess what? They said they will do the same for me.

They had me speak a little about why I am here and my journey, then they laid hands on me and prayed for me. They all offered to help me with anything that I should need. I am just amazed at this path that is laid out for me.

So, why is it 1 am? The celula finished at 11:00, and tonight they met at a location much further away. So, I got home after midnight. They didn't seem to shocked at the time -- have I mentioned that things are later here? :-)

Lists

My friend Teri with her beautiful new daughter Hazel. I'm so glad I got to meet her in person! We got to see each other on and off while I was up in Minnesota.

Ah, lists, lists, lists! Today, among other things, I did the following:

• Went to the notary a third time for corrections on documents for my visa.
• Worked some more on my expense reports for reimbursements for work expenses. Tricky, very tricky!
• Opened the four weeks of mail that had accumulated at Nadia's. That drastically increased my to-do pile!
• Paid the last gas and water bills for my house which sold last month.
• Discovered that I actually haven't ever received the yellow fever vaccine (suggested for some parts of Argentina that I will go to). Also discovered it will be a $75 office visit plus an $85 vaccine -- I'm checking to see if this will be cheaper to get in Argentina!
  
• Prescribed myself antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection I've now had for over four weeks. Balked at the $69 price tag and called a friend to see if she's got samples.
• Registered with the American Embassy in Argentina.
  

Some exciting things that I've accomplished lately:

• Got the address and telephone number for the fully furnished apartment I will sublet for the first few months in Buenos Aires. This apartment is owned by the brother-in-law of a woman I worked with at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1994! Serendipity! There are even sheets and towels in this apartment. I am so blessed to have this opportunity, since apartments for rent in Argentina do not usually come with any appliances -- that would have been tricky to figure out after just arriving in the country.
• I'm mostly done transferring my car to my father. I'm still waiting for the paperwork from the bank so that I can get the title.

Tomorrow I plan to:

• Go back to the Secretary of State for Arizona to get an "apostille" on my visa documents. I've been there once before, and also mailed documents there before. Let's see if the third time works!
• Last contact lens exam -- I've got the el-cheapo America's Best plan, and figure I might as well get one last free exam.
• Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.
  

This is my friend Jenny and her daughter Grace. Grace was trying to smile for the camera in this one!


Here's Grace with her little sister Kate, playing at the Black Sheep coffee shop in St. Paul. They came up from Michigan my last weekend in Minnesota. I'm so grateful Jenny has a brother in Minneapolis, which was the perfect excuse (my perspective) to come up to see me!


Here's Kate in the car with me on the way to the airport. We are being silly while her Mom is out of the car buying supper for the flight home.

O Holy Night

Buenos Aires
(image from Lonely Planet)

I was thinking of taking today off, but decided instead to take tomorrow off since this is the last weekday I'll be in a stable place for over a week, and I needed to get some "weekday" things done: I had questions for LifeWind and I also wanted the Arizona Secretary of State's office to place an apostille on some documents for my visa application. Turns out one of the notaries stamped several of my documents incorrectly, so I only was able to get the apostille on one of them. Plans for a hike were scrapped since the weather was scary (40-mile an hour winds) and I wanted to get to the bank before closing to see if the notary I'd used was still at work to correct the documents.

Driving through downtown Phoenix today I started getting excited about living in a city again. And what a city: the population of Buenos Aires is over 12 million! For some reason, cities feel more real to me than suburbs. I don't know exactly why that is, since obviously real people with real problems and real joys live in the suburbs, too. As an adult, the only time I've lived in suburbs has been these past three years, and maybe I just haven't gotten rid of the stereotyping. Maybe I'm just dramatic. In Phoenix today I saw billboards of people whose faces and teeth were ravaged by meth addictions. But statistics show that there are people addicted to meth living in rural areas and suburbs, too.

This Sunday I will be giving the communion meditation. I just found out that communion comes after singing "O Holy Night:"

O holy night,
the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of
our dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world
in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared
and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O night,
O night divine!

Led by the light of Faith
serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts
by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star
sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men
from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus
in lowly manger,
In all our trials
born to be our Friend!
He knows our need,
To our weakness no stranger;
Behold your King!
Before the lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King!
before Him bend.

Truly He taught us
to love one another;
His law is love and
His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break
for the slave is our brother
And in His name
all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in
grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us
praise His holy name!
Christ is the Lord,
Oh praise His name forever,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim
His pow'r and glory
evermore proclaim.

I love so much about this song, and when not done in a cheesy way it's my favorite Christmas song. Today I noticed for the first time the line, "Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth." Wow. All of us, suburbanites, urbanites, meth addicts, government employees -- our souls are amazingly valuable. So valuable that "the King of kings lay thus in a lowly manger" in the Middle East, lived in a tumultuous time, was misunderstood by his friends, suffered, and died for our souls.

Kairos

Why am I going to Argentina right now? There are definitely poorer countries, and countries with more obvious spiritual issues. So why Argentina? My stepsister Karina described this time as a “kairotic moment” for Argentina, which in rhetoric (her area of study) means a passing instant when an opening appears. According to the New Testament Greek lexicon, kairos is the time when things are brought to crisis, the opportune or seasonable time. What is going on in Argentina that makes me characterize it this way?

Several key provinces are excited and active in working for change in their communities. We have been invited to work in four key provinces: Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fe, and Salta. The first three are key because they are home to Argentina’s three largest cities. Salta is key because it is a land rich in natural resources that also has a significant indigenous population (Wichi).

In Buenos Aires the denominational barriers have fallen and churches are working together. The Libertador Church has been doing relief work in Baradero, a nearby slum, for many years, and recently began incorporating development techniques in the area. This past month, a couple from that church (Horacio and Silvia, who have prayed for 20 years to be released full-time to missions) received the go-ahead to move to Baradero to work full-time. In Cordoba a large evangelical church recently woke up to the idea of missions and is being trained to train others in transformational development. In Salta the villagers have responded to recent trainings with action: building a new form of oven, planning a village-wide event to deal with alcoholism, and requests for more training from both Christian and secular groups.

Horacio and Silvia

Fun serendipitous fact: the location for the training we did near Buenos Aires was called Centro Kairos! Here we are at the urban TOT1:

Urban Training of Trainers 1

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror or a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

C.S. Lewis, “Weight of Glory”

Urban Training of Trainers 1, September 24 – 28, 2007

Gathering to learn about how to effectively work in inner city settings, we represented Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, and the three largest cities of Argentina: Buenos Aires, Cordoba, and Rosario.

We learned how to ask questions to help those in our target communities see what they have to offer: asset-based community development. We looked for the values and beliefs that led to negative behaviors and outcomes in our communities, seeking to identify the underlying worldviews.

We looked at the various “players” in our communities, ranking them in terms of power and influence.

We sang songs together about hope (a Venezuelan couple, Marcelo, and Bibiana).

We sang crazy songs and laughed together (Gaby, Silvia, and Nora, wonderfully dedicated women from Buenos Aires).

“And we all…are being transformed…from one degree of glory to another.” 2 Corinthians 3:18a

The Liberator

On Sunday, September 23, I went to the Libertador Church in Buenos Aires. This church has been working for some time in a slum 150 km away, and for the past year has been starting to incorporate CHE principles in their work. My friend Annie goes to this church, and it is also my supervisor Bibiana’s home church.

A month ago something terrible happened within the church. Bibiana and I spoke with the pastor after the service and he said that they were receiving help and support from many other churches in town. The combination of the open and humble attitude of the leadership of the Libertador church and the current church climate in Argentina, where denominational differences have ceased to be divisive, has led to great unity.

During the church service the pastor encouraged the church members to use all means of communication to bless other people, not to spread gossip. He even went so far as to give time in the service to pray over cell phones and use them to encourage others. What an amazing story of God's grace moving when we are humble and prepared to give over all of ourselves to God. How exciting to begin working in Argentina at such a time as this!

After church we went for asado at a nearby restaurant. Here are some of us:

Several servings of appetizer (melted cheese with ham and empanadas), different salads, and four courses of meat were available. In the photo below you can see tripe and kidneys.

Trip to Buenos Aires

Image from www.argentina.gov.ar

Cultural fact: buses are apparently a very comfortable way to travel, and the seats even fold back like beds! I will have the opportunity to check this out on my way to Buenos Aires Friday night. I will arrive in Buenos Aires on Saturday morning and will meet Annie, a woman that I first met when I worked with her husband at the Billy Graham Evanglistic Association in 1993. It was through them that I first started receiving correspondence from the mission field, from Bibiana who is now my supervisor! They knew that I was interested both in medicine (that was before I had even taken the pre-requisite courses for medical school) and missions, and showed me her letters from Haiti.

Great opportunity: Bibiana arrives in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning, and has a meeting that morning with the Asociación Cristiana Uruguaya de Profesionales de Salud (ACUPS). I get to join in on the meeting, which is great since there may be opportunities in the future for work in both Uruguay and Chile. Uruguay borders Argentina to the northeast, and Chile extends along Argentina´s western border, separated by the Andes.