Scenes indigenous to Argentina

09/09/2016 We are on our way to Concordia to a want-to-be Walmart after applying for our Argentine ID card. This was how deliveries were made when I, Gregg, was on my kid mission. Still using the horse and cart...saves on gas anyway.

Here we have a lomo (veal) sandwich purchased from a want-to-be hamburger stand. Pretty amazing tasting beef.

Funny--The first day we used a projector for a PowerPoint, we covered the devices with a sheet in hopes the kids would leave it alone until we were ready to use them. When the kids arrived, one of them asked in all seriousness, “Quien, murio?” meaning “Who died?” Remember the list we had of things to carry in the truck at all times? One was a sheet in case we die on the road. Well, there you go. Even the kids know the rules. Die and get covered with a sheet.


Just driving out of our driveway and entering the road. We take this route each day to pickup the kids for a one hour English Learning Class then they go to school. The cows at the end of the road are being herded. Listen carefully and you'll hear the gauchos "hootin and hollerin" to get the cows on the move.

Here are the gauchos again herding the vacas (cow) to wherever.
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Spotting of our first large frog...

...the size of Amy's foot.

Examples of large anthills located in the middle of the road or something like a road.



Argentine ants don't just build any old hill. The homes are tough as cement and the road goes around them until the ants can be sprayed and home dozed over. Otherwise, it's so bumpy the taller kids and/or little kids on a lap bump their heads. The middle sized kids think it is the funniest thing ever.


We were able to get to church today and the roads to Feliciano look the best we've ever seen them. I think they are getting ready for the new school to open here at the ranch. Why have a new school if you can't get to it? Now all we need is gravel to keep them in good shape or the next rain storm will do them in.

Gregg gave his first talk in sacrament today about the importance of reading scriptures. I, Amy, answered my first question in Relief Society. The sisters seemed surprised that I could talk. I was surprised to finally understand a little. Their Spanish here is different than what I've been studying. The "y" and the "ll" say "zshja" instead of "ya". It has thrown me for a curve. I still have a long way to go, but we've only been here for 5 weeks.

Una Adventura:

I almost don’t want to call this an adventura because we had so many tender mercies closely attached to the experience that it didn’t end up very serious after all, but it sure could have been. Here’s what happened.

We were finally headed to Los Perales on Tuesday. It had been a month since we last visited and this is one of the most important things we can do according to Yuca. Since it didn’t rain on Monday as first predicted, the roads were dry and we could make the two-hour trip. We prepared for several hours and then left a little early in case we got lost. It’s a little like the route between Zarahemla and the City of Nephi-Lehi in the Book of Mormon meaning that there are many un-named dirt roads and you simply have to know the way or you’ll be lost and could wander for years. Well, maybe not years but for hours anyway, and since we’ve only been there once, we planned extra time.

So off we went feeling under control. We found the short route to Federal just fine and were just headed out of town when we felt the strange sensation that something was wrong with the truck. Sure enough, we had a flat tire. Great. Where’s the jack, needed tools, and how do we lower the spare tire. We found the tools and even got the lugs loosened before we were stumped. How do we lower the spare tire?

After searching and exhausting all avenues of thought, we used our local cell phone and called Walter who is the fix-it-man in Federal. We told him our situation and we were close enough that he could come to us. Awesome! Yuka has an account with him and we don’t even have to pay.

Doesn’t sound too bad-right? Well we hung up and next tried to call our contact person in Los Perales to explain our predicament and what did we find? Our phone was dead. There is no car charger for it and without a phone we were certainly stranded. We prayed that Walter could find us because there was no other way to reach him. How did we get just one call to Walter before the phone died? We don’t think it was a coincidence.

Walter found us just fine and showed us how to lower the spare tire. You stick this rod about a foot into a tiny hole on the back end of the truck. Then you add an extension to the rod and twirl it around lowering the tire. Wow! We would have never figured that out. Not sure if we can even find the tiny hole again.

Well, then with no spare tire and another back tire that was bald, Gregg felt that we should postpone our meeting once again until we had four good tires and a spare. When Yuka heard that we hadn’t made it to Los Perales again, he was a bit disappointed. However, when he saw the condition of our other bad tire, he told us to absolutely stay close to home and only use the truck locally until he could get if fixed.

The truck was taken Thursday to Concordia to get new tires. Walter is not able to sell big Toyota tires like we needed and Concordia where they are sold is 2 ½ hours away. (Sometimes you feel like you’re in slow motion taking one step forward and two back.) But realizing how much worse it could have been, we were very appreciative that the flat happened so close to help in Federal and our phone worked long enough to make the phone call.

Thanks for your prayers!

Things to be grateful for in the US of A:

                             1.     Showers that work each time you turn them on because they don’t get an air                        lock (Anyone know what that means?)

2.      Toilets that allow you to flush toilet paper and have p-traps

3.     Banks that serve you within a few minutes or at least that day and that don’t eat your debit card

4.     Paved roads with no ant hills 

5.     More than one or two brands of products sold in fact lots of variety in almost every store

6.      Clean streets, sidewalks, flower gardens in abundance, and manicured landscape

7.       Food with preservatives. Never thought I’d say that but it’s nice to have bread lasts more than a few days.

Things we are grateful for here in Argentina:

1. Children who love being with their families more than anything else.
2. Nandoos which are Argentina’s Ostridge’s. These long legged wingless birds are fast and we see them every week streaking around. They are probably 4 feet tall and crazy fast. Hope to get a picture of one before we come home but don’t hold your breath.
3. Happy waving passer-byers. One time I thought a driver flipped us off, but no, he was just waving.
4. Being part of a team where we’re all working together to support family life while raising cattle to feed the hungry.
5. Watching gauchos hoot and holler as they round up cattle for a move. Men, horses, and trained dogs work in mystical unity as they orchestrate migration from one field to another.
6. Chickens who forage for much of their food eating bugs and spilled grain. They taste so good! Now we know what to do with bugs--feed them to the chickens.
7. The tranquility that comes with ranch life. Can’t explain it, but there is a sweetness and innocence working with those who are working with nature.