Last few days of school before summer break!

School is almost out:

Instead of school ending next week like we were originally told, this is our last week of school here at the ranch. Schedules seem to change as regularly as the weather. 

We had a pretty good week though it's raining today, and we had to miss church again. Tomorrow is a holiday and it is suppose to rain again so we are hoping for school on Wednesday. Friday of this week will be the last day of school.

Summer plans: We have been talking to the mothers here at El Quebracho and several want to learn to sew. We sent letters to all the moms on Friday making sure that everyone got word of our offer and hope that no one will feel left out.

Yuca hinted that he would like us to paint all the gates on the ranch or at least the ones we use all the time. There's a bunch! With warm weather, we aren't sure it's a good plan for us, but we'll see.

Los Perales again:

Teaching in Los Perales went great! The women have all finished their bags though Gregg and Amy both forgot their phones so you’ll have to wait for pictures. 

The kids are doing great with piano lessons. They are both so motivated that even though it will be a slow process, there is hope of eventual success. The family are recent converts to the church (about 9 months ago) and already hope to be able to play the piano for church. There is currently a piano in their church but no one knows how to play it so it sits unused.

Teaching English is also a slow process because of the irregularity of classes and age of most of the class, but we just do the best we can. 

Mosquito dilemma: We have a few more tips to help ward of mosquitoes for any who may eventually struggle as we have. First, we found mosquitoes harboring a free ride in our truck. Now we fumigate the truck each day. We skipped one day and both got bites. Second, the repellent here only lasts about an hour. It claims it will last four, but now Gregg sprays several times each day and is getting fewer bites.

Happy Thanksgiving!
We didn't actually have a traditional day, but we did celebrate. It may have been on Saturday not Thursday, and we couldn't find a turkey, but here is what we had:


Mashed potatoes, green olives masquerading as black olives, chicken breasts in place of turkey, (don't worry, we had four chicken breasts instead of two in case we wanted to "stuff" ourselves) and we ate in the formal dining room

carrot salad is made of peeled strips of carrots, cucumbers, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper



Apple Crumb pie is a favorite at our house so the apple crisp was close. We made lemon bars since we couldn't find any corn starch for lemon meringue pie. Pumpkin was nowhere to be found.


We even splurged on ice cream. (Cost was about $5 for 2 1/2 cups of product and this is an off brand. Name brands are 2-3 times more. Flavors are Dulce De Leche, Banana, and Vanilla)

We are no longer making almond milk, and arstill trying to find our favorite brand of regular milk. We had several batches of almond milk turn bad after only a few days and the supply of almonds that we splurged on is gone. So far, we like the 1 ½ % milk. There is a 1 1/3 % that is like water and a 3% that tastes the most like canned milk. All milk is sold in a small cardboard box that doesn't require refrigeration until after opening.

Gregg is an expert with making popcorn now. We don’t have a popper, but a pan works just fine. Once again, Google came through for us.

Policia:

We learned this week that if we are ever stopped by the police again for not having on our lights, we should ask for the ticket and then wait for it to be sent to the ranch for payment. Apparently, any money collected by the police is pocketed and the hope is that drivers will just pay since tickets are not actually sent out. That is why the police claim the fine doubles if not paid on the spot. What a dilemma. We plan to never forget our lights again so we don’t have to decide what to do.

Speaking of police, we were stopped this week on the way to pick up the high school kids in Feliciano. (A police check where everyone is pulled over is common.) Anyway, we were asked where we were headed and Gregg started to explain our destination. One of the mothers was hitching a ride with us and she whispered from the back seat, tell them El Quebracho, the name of our ranch. Gregg heard and responded as he was directed. Immediately, both young policemen smiled knowingly and waved us on. We were then instructed that out in the country, El Quebracho is a magic word and nothing else needs to be said. So, whether we are headed for town, or back to the ranch, the rules are: lights on, seat belts fastened, and smile when you give the password, El Quebracho.

                                               

Animal update:

Our friendly dog, Romeo, died this week. Apparently, he was taking a siesta under one of the tractors and didn’t get out from underneath it in time. He was a good friend to us. Now we only have the chickens and rooster to keep unwanted pests away. Other vermin will most likely be less intimidated without man's best friend watching out for us.

Speaking of vermin, we saw rodents of unusual size one evening. They were the size of a small pig but looked somewhat like a rat. We were told they are the largest rodents in the world. Yikes! Good thing we are missionaries and have a few added blessings of protection.

On the lighter side, the fireflies are out. They are just bugs, I know, but they make us smile.

Humor: Our daughter, Chelsea, told us that in church a few weeks ago, the discussion was on taking the sacrament worthily and striving each week to reflect on your behavior and strive to improve before taking the bread and water. Their four-year-old daughter who was in the adult class raised her hand before the whole group and declared, “I have a question!”  She was urged on. She then asked, “What about my mommy?…. She ran over our baby kitty!” J

Here is a tip for all Fitbit wearers. If you are having trouble finding a way to get all your steps each day, just come to Argentina and take a ride to Los Perales. I watched my step counter go crazy on the bumpy roads this week. Just think, thousands of steps, increased heart rate, with none of the stress. Okay, maybe stress, but at least a different kind of stress.

America, you really have it pretty good:

We had an experience last week that gave rise to some deep reflection. During our cooking class, one of the older children scolded his sister for touching the outside of the microwave exclaiming to the 4-year-old that it was hot. Realizing that a microwave must be a rare possession, I asked the concerned brother if he would like to see how the microwave worked. After filling a cup with cool water, the curious young man used the buttons to heat the water. Of course, in less than a minute, the water was hot but surprisingly to the kids nothing inside or surrounding the microwave was in the least bit warm. By then, we had several more youngsters curious. None of the gathered children had ever used a microwave let alone possessed one in their home. They all claimed it was too expensive. Americans take a lot of things for granted don’t you think?

Being the week of Thanksgiving, I thought how grateful I was for our country where many things are affordable for even financially struggling families. The families on the ranch here are probably considered middle class. They have a home with doors, windows, and a cement not dirt floor. They have access to food, education for their children, and a relatively pleasant tranquil life.

I would describe the government here as relatively socialistic. Prices are most often the same whether you are at Carrefour or a local market. We are told that prices are dictated. The government also dictates what jobs receive what wages. Nurses make about ½ what a school teacher makes. Gauchos make less than a teacher but receives lots of benefits like free housing, meat, and rides from missionaries like us. If you are a business owner you are told what to charge and, you pay taxes. You might ask as we did, “Doesn’t everyone pay taxes?” Well yes, but government workers have no consequences if they don’t pay their taxes. In other words, taxes are only enforced for some earners.

Items that are made in Argentina are relatively cheap and not usually the quality we are accustomed to. Items made outside of Argentina are often double and triple the cost charged in the states or more often simply not available. For example, electronic equipment that is not made in Argentina is available in limited quantities and at exorbitant prices. Or if you want to buy a soft drink with an American name, it is more than double the Argentine brand. The only place to find a wide selection of goods is at a Carrefour in a larger town or a big city like Buenos Aires. Otherwise, the stores offer the same items just arranged differently on the shelves. Items for sale are typically only what local families purchas all the time. Occasionally, we’ll find something different. For example, we found one local store that sells peanut butter from time to time.

Health and dental care is all free, but most people 35 and older are missing teeth and a hospital stay is not welcomed by anyone. Only the seriously sick go to the hospital for help, and we are told that if we as missionaries need medical attention, not to go to a local hospital. We would go to a larger town about 3 hours away. 

Siesta time and national holidays are law in small towns. I would even go so far as to say they are somewhat sacred. No one is expected to work during a siesta or leave the house on a holiday. There is probably a holiday every other week.

On an ordinary day, the world is up early sweeping the cobblestones in front of their store or business getting ready for 8 AM opening. It there isn't cobblestone or cement at your front door, then they sweep the dirt. Many places close at noon and don’t reopen until 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. Closing time is usually 7:30 or 8 PM. However, banks remain closed after noon leaving only their ATM’s open for business.

As a whole, people seem happy and content with their way of life. When we visit people in the branch who are not as financially sound as those on the ranch, we talk outside on their patio that is usually under a homemade shade cloth, on dirt, with outdoor plastic chairs that are often held together with wire for repair. Only the middle-class families have a wooden front door. Otherwise, fabric hung across the door affords privacy and I think the floors are only dirt. We’ve never been inside their homes so I’m guessing from what glimpses we got. Now that summer is approaching, people are digging up around their houses and planting vegetables in any available corner. Children are seen outside all over town playing, laughing, and as happy as anywhere in the world.

The young adults and often the teenagers have devices that are a great treasure to them. Just like in the States we see youth entrapped in reading or listening to what’s on their devices and not engaged in much adult conversation. They often have cell phones but don't have "credito" so they only use them when absolutely necessary.

It’s not uncommon for adults to have smart phones. They Facebook and text more often than call. I think all the kids on the ranch have televisions, and many have computers, though I don’t think any but the ranch managers’ families have internet.

The home we live in would probably be condemned in the States. In Argentina, it is a mansion, but many life struggles are the same. Parents love their children and want what is best for them. Education and good manners are important. Cleanliness is a big deal despite the obstacles. Parents wish for a higher moral standard for their children and grandchildren, and they don't like the evil in the world. For this reason, they often prefer poverty and tranquility rather than financial stability that comes with the worldliness found in the cities.

So there you have it.... life outside of the US. Do your struggles now seem a little smaller in perspective?

                                                                                                              

Regular school classes at last!

The exercise bike impostor is actually pretty cool. There were no instructions with it so we had to go on line to learn how to use it, but we're happy to have it. It is especially good since we haven't heard any news of the bike we ordered on line. Maybe we'll get it by Christmas.

It's an abdominal workout pulling your knees toward your chest.


Renovating:
There were a couple of small paint projects left. One was painting the outside of the screen door.

The pictures may not tell the full story, so trust us... it is much better.

We also painted the window trim where rust was forming.


Here's a strange phenomena. When using water based paint, we picked clothes and designated them as our "paint" clothes so we didn't panic when we got paint on them. However, when we washed the clothes, the paint came out. Maybe not the first washing, but a couple of washes has taken out all the paint. Pretty cool, Argentina, even if paint doesn't come in different sheen's, and we have to mix our own colors since there is limited color choices.

School:

School kept us busy the rest of the week. We had only a small amount of rain that slowed us down when picking up the kids, but it didn't keep us home.

We are refining our teaching a little more all the time. This week was the best yet.

One of the ladies at Los Perales finished her bag. She was thrilled. The other two will probably finish this week. No rain is in the forecast so our last three weeks before school closes for the summer months should be good. That's right we only have three weeks left of school this year.

We started the two older kids at Los Perales with piano lessons. We have a big learning curve ahead. Teaching piano is already pretty tricky...now do it in Spanish. 


Who can help us with this puzzle. We had Meesa, our son's wife, send us a digital clock from home with the Hynes since we hadn't been able to find a clock here that could be seen in the dark. We were so excited to be able to know the time at night. Well, each evening we would set the clock to the correct time and by morning it was 2-3 hours slow. It is not adaptable to the 240 amps we have in Argentina so we had plugged it into a transformer, but what would cause a clock not to keep time? Baffling! 


We plugged it into a regular plug to see if that would help and blew it out. It's no longer any use but we're sure curious what would cause the irregularity.

We took a picture of this clock at the hotel in Buenos Aires and took the picture with us to about 8 different shops in Concordia hoping to find a similar one. We had given up trying to find it until on our circle back to the truck we were impressed to try one more place. They had it! It was $32 for a simple $9 US clock but who cares....they had one so we bought it.

Ahhh. We're sleeping better. 

We have more stuff from home coming by mule as we call it. Employees travel between Salt Lake and Buenos Aires from time to time and have room for extra luggage. We hear Mauro has three of our five boxes of stuff. Hopefully, he'll visit us before Christmas. Mailing them is not an option.

Another question for our readers:
Gregg keeps getting bit. Most are mosquito bites we think, but we wonder if some are flies. He does everything we can think of to protect himself: bug spray with deet twice a day, long sleeves, long pants, avoids being out at dusk and dawn, openings in the home are now sealed off, we fumigated places where we've seen mosquitoes, kept sheets washed, wet areas are kept as dry as possible using buckets to collect water instead of letting water run everywhere. We can't figure how he is still getting bit under his clothes and on most of his body. Tips anyone?

Trip to Buenos Aires

We're just floored with the beauty around us. Don't know the name of this tree, but they are everywhere and so gorgeous.


From church last Sunday we headed to Buenos Aires to pick up our directors, Elder and Sister Hynes, (equivolent to mission president and his wife) at the airport. Just before leaving church, we asked around for the fastest way to Buenos Aires and was told of another route. It is about 32 miles longer than our usual trip but on much better roads. We made it in 5 hours! Remember it took 10 hours to get home from the airport the first time. Of course we made a number of planned stops but still....this route is so much better. The next time it took 6 1/2 hours.

Here are a few shots of Buenos Aires.

We even found Walmart to purchase some exercise equipment. However, we were in such a hurry that the stationary bike we purchased was actually something else. It was yellow and exactly the same price as the picture we had from the on-line store. Yikes! Where is our brain sometimes?

There wasn't time to return to Walmart so we ordered a bike on-line. It should arrive at Yuca's mother's house in Feliciano on Tuesday of this week so keep your finger's crossed. (We saw two baby alligators less than a mile from our ranch home. We didn't think long about stopping for a picture because momma had to have been close by.)

We'll put the stationary bike impostor together and maybe it will be even better than it looks. They don't sell this contraption in the US so we'll send you a picture next week.

However, good thing we hurried out of Walmart because it took us 40 minutes to go less than 2 miles to pick up the Hynes. They were staying at their daughter's home in downtown Buenos Aires. The road we took to her apartment had eleven lanes all going our direction and we crawled so slow that we could have strolled by foot faster.

All is well that ends well. We found them and got out of the city in one piece.

Big news is that we were able to go to Los Perales. Finally!

We had a pretty good week with the Hynes. We hit rain on the way back from Buenos Aires but Yuca said to continue because it wasn't raining at the ranch. It was raining cats and dogs in Feliciano but by the time we hit dirt roads, everything was dry.

Tuesday we were rained in as we call it. So we spent the day talking with the Hynes solving all the problems of the world and had zone conference together. The topic of zone conference was the attributes of Christ. Gregg and I picked virtue as our goal to work on this year. Controlling even our thoughts keeping them happy and elevated will be a life-long pursuit.

Wednesday was dry enough to pick-up the kids here at the ranch and take them home after school. We had computer time for the few that don't need a ride home. After that we made it to Los Perales, one of the moms has a sewing machine and she almost had her purse sewn. The other two use our machines and I was glad sister Hynes could work with one while I worked with the other. Two hours goes by too quickly when you have so much to do.

Waldo is the older student above. This was our first meeting with him because he was at futbal (soccer) practice the other two times we went. He and his sister want to take piano lessons, but at this rate (only 3 lessons in 3 months) we don't have much hope, but we're going to try.

English class went well with the kids.

Nando....wait.....we want to take your picture!

There were actually three of them but one was faster than the others.

We'll keep trying. One day we might get one close enough and slow to be able to view clearly.




Thursday was a regular day with the kids here. We taught English to everyone and then had computer time with the kids who didn't get it Wednesday. The Hynes liked our style of teaching and relationship with the kids.

Elder Hynes admitted later that he was not worried about us anymore. Our mission is apparently the hardest one of the ranch missions. They were blown away with what we have done to the house as well as our teaching. We admitted that we had been "clobbered by the Spirit" when deciding to accept the call. Elder Hynes agreed that we are a good fit. Obviously, the Lord has a hand in all of this.

Friday morning we were set to take the Hynes back to the airport. The plan was to leave at 7 AM and go to the temple together before their flight left at 9:20 PM, but we had a surprise down pour Thursday night. Yuca said  to wait two hours giving the roads a chance to drain. Two hours later he said to wait another hour. At 9:45 we headed out. It was treacherous!

We have over 5 1/2 miles of mud before we hit gravel roads. The whole time Gregg was white knuckled and pale faced. Many times we felt the truck slide out of control. One time we were sliding sideways almost backwards and nothing but divine help got us out of trouble. We made it to the gravel with great relief, but the roads were still ugly. We weren't out of trouble for another 6 1/2 long miles.




Once on pavement, great clods of mud began falling from the truck. There was about two inches of mud clinging to the bottom of the rear view mirrors. We called them our mud stalagmites. When we stopped for gas the first time, Amy and Sister Hynes used the only tools we had, spoons, to clear out mud from around the tires. We could hear them rubbing with every turn.

We also experienced first hand highway robbery the Argentine way. Remember we told you that drivers must always have their lights on? Well, Gregg did very well most all the time. However, "most" is not good enough and after stopping for gas one time, he forgot and received a $1900,00 peso ticket which is about $125 dollars. Elder Hynes called it Highway Robbery. After the robbery, we noticed that all the police stops were strategically placed after a gas station hoping that you would forget to turn your lights back on. Remember that this takes place during the daylight.


Buenos Aires Temple! What a good way to unwind and get a grasp on life after a stressful day.

Above is an example of "pick your own speed". Speed limits depend on which lane you choose. Remember the number is in kilometers not miles.  :) The far right lane has a maximum of 90 Kil/hour and a minimum of 60 kil/hour. Looks like they mean business getting people where they want to go.

Below is government housing that was never completed in Concordia where we went to the Carrefour. Carrefour is actually the predecessor of Walmart not the want-to-be as we learned from my sister, Julie. Apparently, there are Carrefours all around the world. It is similar to American Walmarts.

Below is typical housing in small towns.

Dirt floors and cell phones are the norm.



Here's a good laugh for you! When buying paint thinner to use with some oil based paint, we asked if they had a smaller container since we won't need much. The man looked confused so we said, "mas pequeno" which means smaller. He took the container and returned with the same bottle but some of the thinner was missing. It was probably the same price.

We found the toad again. This time he made it out of the toilet and onto the floor of the music room. Amy couldn't help the startled scream. Looks like our guests left the toilet lid up before we left for Buenos Aires. Amy was glad it was a toad not a large mouse like she first thought. However, we have new appreciation for what the Egyptians went through with the plagues at the time of Moses and the toilet lid will never be left open again. In fact, that toilet should get a daily flush.

Is that a nandu?

We've been spotting a nandu again the past few weeks. We know where he hangs out and we were ready with our camera. However, it was so fast escaping our view that we barely got him before he reached cover. We'll try again another day because you can barely make out the big white bird below. But there it is! Enjoy, because we may not get another shot.


We weren't able to go to Los Perales again due to rain, but we did get two days of school in at the learning center. Mauro, the big boss over Yuca visited this week. He was impressed with all we've done to the house. Yuca is ecstatic.

Finally, we finished the last few projects just before Mauro showed up. They were last on the list because we weren't sure how we were going to fix them. When we learned that the soonest we could move out of the house would be the end of the year 2017, we continued to perform fix-up procedures.






In the end, we decided to mix cement patch really thick. We made mud balls and packed them in the needed spots. The green mold was partly scrubbed off before painting everything. This door is used exclusively by all so it was good to get it into shape.






Sometimes a home just needs a little repair...maybe even a big repair. However, in the case below, it's just plain scary. We didn't use the cupboard at all needless to say. We sprayed it for bugs and then ignored it not knowing of any solution.



However, in the night Amy had an idea. We bought 1/4 inch insulation, white Styrofoam on one side, aluminum on the other. We cut it big enough to fit the whole bottom of the cupboard and to go up all sides of the walls. Then we cut half way through where we wanted it to bend.

Then we simply set it into the cupboard and taped up all the sides sealing anything behind the wall from entrance.


Packaging tape has many uses.



The far right wall above is disintegrating and drooping away from the sink so we used a chunk of wood we found lying around to prop the sink up. With the insulation covering the bottom and sides, who knows that the there is a big gap at the bottom.

Doesn't that just make you smile knowing the prior condition? :)


This oven does not work at all, and I fear it is simply a haven for bugs.



So we painted some insulation black and taped it smartly over the opening.


This shelving unit can be seen from the front door.

So with extra insulation and paint, we gave it a face lift.





I don't think we'll be taking this project on. Good thing the pine tree came down at night when no one was anywhere close. Ouch!
I
It's huge!


There's not much left to do with the house. Maybe a little painting of the window trim and the screen door, but that will have to wait. The Hynes, our directors, are coming to Argentina tomorrow. We'll pick them up in Buenos Aires and bring them here for a few days. We're suppose to take them to the airport on Friday, but if it rains, we may have to take them back early.

We hope to have class again this week. We are tired of house repair.