We needed to go the long hour (instead of the one half hour) route to church today. As we drove, this beautiful scene softened our inconvenience. If we had been able to stop and get out of the truck, it would have been a better picture, but as you see, the roads are still treacherous.
Check out the awe inspiring sky and tranquil fields. A little fog added mystic.
We tried to get a picture of the 3 1/2-4 foot cliff of mud, but without a point of reference, it's hard to tell how deep these trenches are. Sorry, neither of us were game to stand in the mud in our church clothes.
We felt blessed to make it to church without incidence because there were dozens of areas like you see here. The last rain was Wednesday. With 3 1/2 days of drying, can you image how bad the roads would have been earlier in the week?
While sitting in Sacrament Meeting today, Amy noticed mud on her leggings, and on the floor around her feet.
Feeling the need to take stewardship for her mess, Gregg went to the kitchen and found a broom and dustpan. It was cleaned up in no time.
However, when we went to the Relief Society room after another class had used the room for the Gospel Essentials class, we noticed big chunks of mud under almost every chair.
So, muddy shoes are the norm and no one is offended. That was good news.
Church was really cold today. The temperatures now are generally in the 40-60 degree F range which shouldn't be bad, but with high humidity and no central heat, it feels COLD!
Amy wore two shirts, a wool jacket and skirt, and leggings on top of thick tights. Gregg wore his wool suit. Even then, we were cold. As you see below, people( the district and mission presidency members) just layer up and don't complain.
When we went to the kitchen to find a broom, we saw someone had tried to warm themselves with a hot drink of mate. Drinking mate is a cultural thing here similar to American's drinking coffee. Members of the church in Argentina are not discouraged from drinking mate, (It does not contain caffeine like coffee) unless you are a missionary and then we're asked not to drink it. The biggest issue is probably that one cup is passed around for everyone to share. We don't need more bugs of any kind.
What to do with high humidity:
We thought Nauvoo was humid. It is nothing compared to climates with 100% humidity. The windows constantly drip water, paint all around the house is swelling with moisture and is growing "mold crystals" as we call them.
Tape didn't work that well!
(We tried to go to our favorite hardware store yesterday to get a solution for the paint problem, but they are closed on Saturdays in the winter. Who would have thought?) Once we get to the FerreterÃa (hardware store), we're confident that they will have a solution for us. They have every other time despite the problem.
The worst part about high humidity is, you feel the cold to the bones even though it's not that cold. Our jackets are hung and dry, but when we put them on, it feels like we've just pulled them out of a cold, wet, washer. At night, the sheets feel cold and wet, even though we're wearing long underwear, socks, and have multiple blankets, two of which are wool. So, our advice--keep layering up and be happy.
Towels take more than 24 hours to dry. Each day, we wash the bath towels or at least put them in the drier. If we don't, they feel like we just used them rather than a day after use.
One tip:
We told you about the salt shaker needing to be cleaned and dried every couple of days due to high humidity. Well, we got tired of the tedious process (slow drying the salt in the oven) and instead placed a paper towel over the shakers. The towel soaks up some of the moisture that collects every few hours, so with a quick wipe of the inside of the lid each time before using the salt, we can keep the shaker dry enough to let the salt through. Hallelujah!
Here is a trick I bet you never thought of.
The electronic piano keyboard was acting really weird. We'd be playing along when all of a sudden a note would sound so loud, we almost lost our seating. We looked and looked both in the owners manual and on line to decipher the problem, but it was all in vain.
Finally, we just turned down the volume and braced ourselves for the blast every 10-15 notes. Yesterday, in desperation, the thought came, "Maybe, there's moisture under the keys causing the jump in electricity." So we took a hair drier and while pushing one key down and pulling the two side notes up as far as they'd go, we attempted to dry underneath the keys. About ten minutes later, we had a functioning piano again without giving us the jitters.
Lastly, remember our broken cellular phone? Well, it started working again and we suspect the problem was humidity. We would turn the phone on and it would start inputting numbers without touching the keypad. Sounds a bit like the crazy electronic keyboard don't you think? Anyway, it stayed at Yuca's house for the last two weeks and he brought it over on Friday claiming that it worked again. (Yuca's place is a little warmer and thus drier.)
School Update:
As you probably guessed, we had no school last week. The teachers got in on Friday to teach, but we couldn't get out to get the kids so only two Carraya Ranch kids made it. The worst roads are right around our home this time.
We miss school greatly, but are now ready with some new tricks to try that we learned at Zone Conference in Buenos Aires a few weeks ago. We expect to have school at least part of this week.
If we're lucky, maybe more school days, but rain is predicted on Wednesday.
We are recommending that the missionaries who replace us work to get a second home in town. We could double or triple the service and provide assistance to the members if we could spend every weekend around people.
Good books:
Amy read The Undaunted by Gerald Lund this week. Wow! Check out this historical novel about the pioneers in the 1870's-80's settling parts of the wild and ferocious west. Have you heard of Hole in the Rock in Lake Powell?
We're also finding more time to practice Spanish. "Little by little, precept upon precept...never give up!" That is our motto.
Life is good in Argentina. Though we can't do all we'd like, we are not stagnating by any stretch of the imagination.
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