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.