Saying Adios

This last month has flown by. For the past two weeks I have been traveling with a group of young people from the IELU´s companion synod in Pennsylvania. The youth from Pennsylvania were accompanied by young people from different congregations here in Argentina. We visited several congregations in Buenos Aires and participated in the Lutheran church´s youth camp here. In the preparation for the group I offered to help with translation….little did I know that meant translating 24/7! All in all it was very fun and it was a great group of young people.

Below is a photo of the group visiting the San Timoteo congregation here in La Plata.

Yesterday I had my last church service here in La Plata. It was a good time to say goodbye to the people in the congregation I have seen every Sunday for the past year. They all said prayers for my safe travel home and I felt very thankful and cared for.

Now I am in the process of packing up and saying goodbye. I am leaving on a jet plane tomorrow evening and will be in Phoenix on August 3rd.

My mind has been in ten thousand directions these past few weeks with the youths visit and getting ready to leave. When I get back I hope to have time to process a bit and write something to close this blog.

A final “Adios” from La Plata, Argentina. Que Dios les bendiga. (God bless)

Clothes and Cold

Today I went to the barrio. I know what you are thinking…Is it Saturday? No but today we had a special event for the kids and their parents. Throughout these last couple months, the kids have been getting play money for participating in the club on Saturdays. Today, the kids got to spend their money at a clothing fair. There were all kinds of clothes for children and adults too. The parents could pay a few pesos to buy clothing for themselves and the money will be used to buy the milk and snack and other materials for the kids on Saturdays.

Today was probably one of the coldest days we have had all year. Even though we were inside the club, it was freezing since there is no heating. When I was trying to refold the clothes I could barely do it since my hands were almost numb. Despite the cold, the kids had a good time spending their hard-earned “cash” and the students in La Calle had a good time pretending to be shopkeepers and personal shoppers to help the kids choose their clothes.

Here are a few photos from this afternoon.

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On Meetings

A major part of my work here involves meetings. Congregational meetings, meetings for La Calle, planning meetings…

People here often ask me about differences between US and Argentine culture. My expert opinion (in very technical terms) is that Argentines really really like to talk. This is not to say that people from the US are particularly taciturn; however, living here, I have learned that conversation and wordplay are cultural values.  A meeting that is supposed to start at 10am might not really get going until 10:30am or later both because of people arriving a tad late and of course small talk. They also tend to end a little later than usual since agendas (at least in the non-business settings I have been in) are not strictly enforced.

Here are a couple photos from my meetings this past week. Not super action-packed, but lots of talk

Meeting on Monday to discuss the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod youth encounter in Argentina, winter camp, and youth leadership training.

Meeting on Tuesday. Before the meeting we organized clothing for an event this Sunday in Berisso with La Calle.