Adventures In Argentina: Trip to Libertador San Martin

This contraption was sitting on the piano at church today. Have you seen anything like this before in your life?

See if you can guess what it is by the end of the blog.

We had two days of school this week. The kids are quite enthused with Tom Sawyer as you see.

Well, maybe Gregg is a little bored.

We were asked to take the Espinosa's to a clinic in Libertador San Martin for testing so that Omar, a gaucho, can get needed surgery at a later date. Libertador is about 3 hours from here not far from Parana. However, the appointment was on Thursday and rain was predicted Thursday morning. So, we left Wednesday afternoon and took Omar and his wife Maria to Feliciano.

In Feliciano, we stayed in a five star hotel, okay, maybe a one star, while the Espinosa's stayed in their second home. Leaving at six in the morning, we arrived in Libertador without incidence. About half way, we even figured out the defrost system on the truck so that we could have heat instead of air conditioning. (Apparently, one of the kids had changed one of the gadgets so that the defrost only worked when cold.) It was rather unbearable until we figured out that problem.

Libertador is primarily inhabited by Seventh Day Adventists who own a private hospital in their town. People who have insurance often find private hospitals for better care. We understood completely when comparing the clinic in Parana with the one in Libertador. There was a huge difference in the condition of the building and service provided.

However, the wait was just as bad. Omar's appointment was at 10 AM. We arrived at 9 AM remembering our experience in Parana. Omar was seen at 10:30 and the test was completed. Not too bad...right? Except, it wasn't until 3 PM that Omar could talk to the doctor about the results of the test and it wasn't until after 5 that we were ready to leave.

When calling the ranch in El Quebracho, we learned that the roads were "terrible" so we spent the night in Libertador. (Compared to Hotel Lopez in Feliciano, this would be rated three star.)

We loved Libertador. They have "real" houses and sidewalks! Check out the photos below.

The hospital was big, clean, and modern. However, the medical system here is quite different than we are accustomed to. Apparently, radiation exposure is not considered a problem unless one is pregnant. The sign below is a reminder for expectant mothers to notify the radiation technicians of their condition in order to take precautions.

Many pictures of Christ were throughout the building. It was a VERY nice touch.

Friday morning we left for home and arrived soon enough to pick up the teachers on the Calandria road about nine miles from home. The roads were impassible for vehicles without 4-wheel drive which made it impossible for the maestras.

Humor: Some of you may know that Gregg likes to joke around. Well, when we picked up the school teachers, he told them that we really liked Libertador and that we wanted to move there. The joke soon went far and wide, and Yuca brought it up the next day suggesting that we would not be happy there since there was not an LDS church in Libertador. (It is almost exclusively Seventh Day Adventists.) Gregg's reply was, "Well, we'll just have to convert." Yuca delighted at the thought. He replied that he could just see the reaction in Salt Lake when he told them that he'd lost his missionaries to another church. Yuca is not a member of our church remember, but is well acquainted with Salt Lake and missionary service.

We traveled to Feliciano on Saturday for Ixie's piano lesson. She is progressing wonderfully. On the way out, we ran into the sister missionaries who caught a ride with us to their teaching appointment.

Amy added a row to our throw rug in the bathroom. It wasn't quite big enough. Crazy, that in the last few months, prices of some goods have sky rocketed. A few months ago, we paid $5 a metro for the terry cloth. This time is was $10 a metro for the same bolt of fabric.