Week two: getting aclimated

An old adage shared with us by the prior LDS missionaries goes as follows: Any misfortune viewed with the right light can be considered an adventure. So our response with each misfortune we encounter will be, “Un Adventura!” or in English— “It’s an adventure!”.

Let me explain one of our adventuras so far. Many of the tiendas (stores) do not take any sort of credit card so it is important to carry cash with you. Also, if you don’t drive with your lights on and receive a ticket, you have to pay $800 pesos (about $53). If you can’t pay on the spot, the fine doubles. So obviously, it is important to carry cash with you. Our first stop at the bank with our debit card was in Concordia which is about 2 ½ hours away on terrible dirt roads for much of the ride. We first shopped at the Carrefour (which we call the Walmart-want-to-be) and paid with a credit card. We were starving and went to a restaurant for lunch which of course did not accept credit cards.

Our adventura began at the banco when we inserted our card. Instead of money, we got a slip of paper saying that our card would remain at the bank. What! Why?

We only have one debit card which we realize now is not smart, but there we were hours from home with no way of getting cash. Fortunately, the Martinsen’s had extra so we had lunch and got home without our debit card. We tried to call the bank’s phone number which was on the slip of paper but only got an answering machine.

The next morning, we talked to Yuka, the ranch manager, and he said, “Go back to Concordia right now—all four of you and we will take care of your responsibilities here. Do not call the bank—just go!” So off we went wasting our precious training time in the truck rather than getting acquainted with the kids.

When we finally got back to Concordia, the bank jefe was called to help with our problem. He told us (after some waiting) that we would have to come back the next day because the safe could not be opened until 2 pm. By the way, everything closes in the afternoon during siesta. After explaining how far away we lived, the jefe finally agreed to meet us at the front door after 2 pm that day, and he would open the bank just for us.

Whew! We got it! We thought our adventura was over. Oh no! On our way home we stopped about half way in a town called Federal and tried once again to get money. To our horror, the machine ate our card again. Now we have two adventuras!

Long story short, it rained the next day so we were stuck at home. When we finally got back to Federal after leaving at 7 in the morning to get there by 8 when it opened, the bank worker graciously said she would look for it. Then the gal pulled out a stack of debit cards so thick it looked like she could deal them out for a card game. So strange. We got the card and were home in time to pick up the kids for class.

Obviously, we didn’t try using our debit card until we called our bank. Yes, they knew we were in Argentina. That part we got right, but we had been sent a new card with a chip and this one was no longer valid. It’s nearly impossible to get mail here, but we are having two cards sent to Yuka’s mother’s house in Feliciano. Yuka is known by everyone including the mailmen. We are told this is our best chance of getting mail.

Even young lambs have the right away 8/22/16 Can you see them in the middle of the road?

August 24, 2016

These are our new friends. The dog, Romeo, eats our scraps, follows us whenever we walk away from the house, and barks at strangers who don’t work at the ranch. He is the best watch dog ever and I don’t have to touch him to stay friends (since I am allergic to dogs).

The roosters eat our scraps as well as bugs. I like seeing them around our house knowing that there are fewer bugs because of them. Whatever trash we don’t give to the chickens or dog must be burned by the gauchos. We take paper trash to a big burn barrel away from the house.

This is how the gauchos heat their rooms and cook their food.

Pack rat? Believe it or not, some of the above is sold to the highest bidder.

We went for a walk and Romeo found a bathing pool.

August 25, 2016

We try to walk everyday which has amounted to only about 4 times with all the rain and work we needed to do. When it rains, we stay put. With a heavy rain, it takes 3-4 days to dry out enough for the roads to be passable. When the roads are too muddy to pass they are not called bad but “feo” or ugly. 

Yuka thought he was having a bad day until he saw this cat having an adventura even worse than him.
Somehow this cat got his leg caught and tangled in a rope hanging by the house. Yuka cut the rope and you should have seen the cat run. August 26, 2016

Even dogs honor seista time.  August 26, 2016

Yuka wanted us to experience the best car wash in Entre Rios. Three men spent over an hour hand washing our truck for $200 pesos or $13 dollars.

We keep a bag of clothes and essentials in the back of the truck in case of a surprise rain storm and we need to spend some time in a hotel in Feliciano or Federal the closest towns. Our address is really just coordinates and our GPS doesn’t have all the dirt roads in it so we have to know our way around. 

Yesterday on our way to Federal, we made a wrong turn and ended up having to back track about 30 minutes. Miraculously, we found where we had gone wrong because we were completely on our own.

We had one week of training though most of it was spent traveling around to get our debit card back, and one week on our own. So much has happened since then. Yuka Brest is the boss around here and you’ll probably hear much about him. He told us first thing to clean and organize the home. Wow, for any of you who know me (Amy), that’s sort of my passion. However, what a project! 

August 28, 2016



The whole house has been gone through and cleaned and reorganized (4 bedrooms about 2500 sq feet maybe more). Most furniture has been moved and cleaned. Everything has been sorted through and organized. We now have one room as the office, one room as the sewing room, one as a music room, and we put two twin beds together to create a king size bed in our room.

 The laundry room and kitchen have been reorganized so that at least I know what we have and where it is. We put the exercise room in a wide hallway and made a matt out of something I found. (An exercise matt at the Correfour cost $35 American dollars.) We made weights out of old heavy batteries in bags made out of Tang containers that a previous missionary must have made. (8 lb weights cost $50 American dollars) We strapped the twin mattress together and filled in the gap between them with items we found in the house. It was not a coincidence that what I needed seemed to be available.

August 28, 2016

Yuka said yesterday that it looked like a different place and he danced around happily. We're off to a good start with Yuka.

This coming week will start with wet roads. We couldn't make it to church today because of the rain so tomorrow will be the same with no school. I still have curtains to wash and they are so big I have to cut them in half before they'll fit in the washer. So tomorrow I'll start sewing the edges and putting the clean ones up and cut more for the washer. They are filthy! However, we're close to finished with cleaning and organizing and a few days stuck at the ranch will give us enough time to finish the project.

We're off!

We left as scheduled on August 12, 2016

From Atlanta, we headed to Buenos Aires. Unbelievable that we're finally here.



While in Denver, the Delta employee said that we should teach a class on packing. We didn't exceed the weight limit on any luggage though we came very close. We didn't even have to pay extra for luggage since two of the boxes were musical instruments (the piano keyboards).

However, it didn't seem so expert like once we got to Buenos Aires and had to lug all of our stuff to the waiting truck. We had so much that four items had to be strapped to the back of the truck. Good part was that we got through customs without a hitch.

08/14/2016 Our first Sunday in Feliciano for a 9:00 meeting. Met the young sister missionaries. The blonde one has been out 15 months and speaks very good Spanish. The dark haired one has been out 4 months and also speaks well.

The Martinsen's are going home after 16 months in the country. We are having a celebration for Betty and Garth who are sitting on Amy's left. Any occasion seems to be a good enough cause for a celebration which includes food.

08/16/2016 Waiting for the bank to open so that I can retrieve my debit card that was eaten by the machine. We are waiting for the bank to open after the afternoon siesta.

Here is an example of the cattle raised on the ranch.


08/17/2016 Map of the ranch.

New hen on the ranch. Just a little proud.

After the rain 4 days ago we can finally have school with the workers children. We are making sugar cookies.

Really good kids, polite, intelligent and eager to learn English and all the activities that come with it.

Can you see the built up dirt on the truck? The sisters in the ward call our truck a submarine. Since most of them walk, bike, or possibly have a moto (motorcycle that looks more like a bike with a motor), a 4 wheel drive truck must seem like a submarine to them. We do go through a great deal of mud and water on our trek every day.

08/19/2016 We took the Martinsens to the Buenos Aires Airport and stayed to visit the temple. could there be a prettier wife?

What an incredible temple. It's cool to have visited so many temples since our mission to Nauvoo. Awesome that they are all over the world and to think the temple building mostly started in Nauvoo.


Here's a tip you need to know when living in a ranch:
If you are walking along a road and see a herd of cows coming toward you, crouch down and hide in the shrubs or you'll startle them. However, if you see a cow or two in a field on your way to pick up a kid, honk your horn and slap the side of your truck in order to get them to move.
Hmmmmm...


08/21/2016 Going to church in Feliciano.



The 100 year old home that we live in.

More cows that we see from our front yard.

Old school where the kids currently attend. The Church is building the kids a new school and this will be turned into our home. The biggest problem with our current residence is that someone forgot to check with a structural engineer before putting a heavy cement roof on. The whole thing is crumbling on the inside.

This is where the butcher spends a lot of time. Surprise....ground beef does not originate in Costco. The meat is amazing and for us...free. We didn't take a picture of what we saw hanging in this building. We are still city folk.

One last tip for living in Argentina. Speeding is not really a problem. However, you will be ticketed if you don't drive with your lights on at any time of day. Oh, and you have certain items that you must have in your vehicle at all times...including but not limited to a fire extinguisher, a big orange florescent triangle, a first aide kit, (any size will do), and a white sheet or gunny sack in case you die and need to be put in something. So sensitive don't you think? Makes you want to speed every time. :)

Ready to Embark, What are Church Investment Farms Anyway

Ready or not, here we go!
We heard good news yesterday. Demetrius reports that our visas are complete except for one final signature and that should be completed by this morning August 10th. Therefore, our flight can will be this Friday August 12th leaving after lunch and arriving in Argentina Saturday morning. Yuck! Who can sleep on an airplane. Oh well, it beats weeks or months of traveling by boat or covered wagon. We should know better than to complain.

So, our bags are packed and we're ready to go other than the last minute toothbrush type items. We've had to be creative with the packing since we're bringing piano keyboards to help interested people learn to play the piano. We're also bringing our ukuleles since we should have time to finish what we started in Nauvoo. Thanks Aunt Mary for the ukulele lessons. Now we need lots of practice.

Check out how we've managed to get 18 months of supplies on an airplane:



Ukuleles and piano stands are in this box

 
Key boards are in these disguised boxes.


We spray painted the piano boxes so as not to draw too much attention.

Impressive????

(Well perhaps not... you try it and give us some tips. :)  )

Church Investment Farms
Remember I mentioned our training in our last post that was held in Salt Lake City the middle of July? Well, we learned a great deal about church investment farms during the training. We were blown away with the efficiency, magnitude, and potential for good that these farms can and are accomplishing. The primary purpose of these farms is for humanitarian aide. Literally hundreds of thousands of acres of prime farm land throughout the world are being used to provide food and money to send to struggling communities. Once again, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is doing it big.

Along with land of course, good equipment and capable employees are needed. Our responsibility, small as it may seem, is to support the workers and surrounding community, helping to provide a good environment for their families and enriching their lives in whatever ways we can.

Referring to the story posted last week--I'd like to say to Mr Consulate for Argentina, "No sir, we will not be working in Argentina but rather 'playing' to our hearts content. We will not be taking anyone's job away from them, not taking even a dime for our efforts, having nothing to proselyte whatsoever, but freely living and loving the Argentine people perhaps for a good portion of our retire life."

So excited!