movie + warm + food = happy jenny!

I sit here all alone in the apartment, watching New in Town (with Renee Zellweger) for probably the fourth time this week. Oh, I am so content! Today was the big day - we decided to splurge and pay big bucks for tickets to the big futbol game - something AA's always wanted to do since he loves the game so much. We arranged tickets with our school, and somebody was to pick us up at 4:30pm for the game starting at 6:10pm. It's an organized thing - with other students and a local guide. Apparently the games can get somewhat violent and rowdy, so it's smart not to bring ANYTHING with you and to be with a local. Today's the day!!

Let's back up and start at the beginning. We wake up this morning and it's a miserable day - cold (in the upper 40's/lower 50's), raining, and windy. The day doesn't start off awesome - we have procrastinated in finding a church to attend, so I wake up early (OK, 9:45 is not THAT early, but if it requires an alarm clock then it's early for us). I get on the net and start surfing. It's pretty difficult to find a church that one you don't know the name of, two you don't know the location of, and three you speak very little of the language. So I'm googling generic searches like "iglesias buenos aires". A list of about 25 comes up, lists the name of the church, address, and some have a phone number. It's a good start. So I start going down the list and looking for a street that I recognize. If I find one, then I google map it to find out if it's within walking distance. If it passes that test then I call the number and try to communicate and ask what time the church starts (usually 11). OK, sounds much easier than it actually is. Bottom line - I find ONE church (out of the 25) that I'm pretty sure is somewhat close and I'm pretty sure it starts at noon. It was hard to hear and understand the guy on the phone because AA was "helping" from the other room, correcting my spanish, as the guy was telling me the times. Anyways, as soon as I get off the phone the internet crashes before I write down the name or exact location of church. This is how the morning starts. Anyways, we leave, somewhat late, and walk in the pouring down rain about 11 blocks to the church. Good news - I had my story right and it was a real church that started at noon. This church was very different from any other church we have been to yet. First of all, most noticably, it was packed! The other churches never had even 20 people, and this one had about 200 - people standing all along the back due to the pews being full. Service was fine - once again we understand next to nothing. I did get extremely excited to understand my first SENTENCE in church: "We need to be reading the word of God daily" - go me!!!! Anyways, church ends and we walk across town in the freezing and pouring rain to check out an apartment we might possibly rent starting Wed., as our lease ends the end of this month. We arrive at 1:30 and wake up the owner (must have been a late night!), but the place won't work cause she has a cat and I'm allergic. So we walk back, again in the pouring rain, to our apartment...home sweet home!!!

YES, I think to myself. I can not wait to get to the futbol game and sit outside for hours in the freezing cold rain and be packed really tightly into the jammed packed and violent stadium and watch my favorite - a soccer game, yippee!! After debating for about 2 - 3 seconds, I made the executive decision to stay home and let AA enjoy the game solo, no female nagging and whining to slow him down. So now, here I am. I am so happy to be sitting in my warm, cozy, and comfy apartment all by myself. AA I'm sure is having a great time at the game, and I'm sad for him that the weather didn't cooperate with his dreams of finally attending a futbol game in South America. But I'm totally OK with missing out. I'm sipping on some coke zero, just finished eating some pizza, and this movie gets better every time!
J

Hustle and Bustle

After my first trip to NYC I decided that at some point in my life I wanted to live the city life, even if only temporarily. It seemed so cool to be in the heart of everything, with so much to do all around you. Well, I guess this month or so in Buenos Aires will allow me to check that off of my list of to-do's. Our apartment in Congresso qualifies us as living in downtown Buenos Aires. Over 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires and about 14 million people in the grander Buenos Aires. I can leave the apartment and walk two or three blocks in ANY direction and be sure to find a number of stores selling speakers, radios, sinks, outdoor equipment, bags, purses, suitcases, clothing, glasses, office supplies, movies, blenders, magazines, newspapers, books, flowers, cell phones/accesories, lamps, light bulbs, antiques, TV's, furniture, sporting goods, guitars, artwork, and pretty much anything else you can think of. On top of that there will be many restaurantes, a few food stands selling fresh fruit, veggies, and empanadas (so good... basically dough wrapped around meat and/or cheese and fried), laundry mats, travel agencies, internet cafes, banks, drug stores, pastry shops with freshly baked medialunas (another big YUM... a croissant brushed in sweetness), and the list just keeps on going. It's amazing. Everything anybody could possibly need can be found by walking a few blocks. Except, and this is a big except, the one thing that I am craving so much lately.... Pretzels. Where are the pretzels? Mmmm, what I wouldn't give now for some....

As soon as you step foot out of the apartment building you are sure to notice the chaos of the city. Busy, busy, busy! Cars everywhere, horns tooting like crazy, lots of chatter, people everywhere, and not an open space in site.


We are lucky to have one of the few parks in downtown not too far from our apartment, just a few blocks away. One lap around Congresso park is about 1/2 mile, but even there people are everwhere and venders are selling food, corn to feed the birds, handheld windmills, and lots of other random things.






It can be difficult to find a place to sit in the park, and while running or walking around the perimeter you must be careful and watch for cars on the roads cutting through the park. It is quite amusing while at the park to admire the dog walkers. Because housing is all found on top of the stores, apartments do not have yards. Therefore, dogs must be walked in order for them to do their business. Aparently what you do is hire a dog walker who comes to your home in the middle of the day and walks your dog, along with about 14 others, to the park. It's quite the site to see. One person walking 15 (big, Kahlua size) dogs.


Then they get to the park and tie up all the dog leashes onto one fence post. Another dog walker is 25 feet away with their 15 dogs tied to another post. All of the dogs are confined to the foot they have on their leashes, and they are all just barking at each other. So as AA and I run laps around the park (being careful to avoid the doggie do-do everywhere), the barking/tied up dogs amuse us and keep us giggling. At least the dogs get to be outside, right?

The ironic thing is that this commotion exists mainly during the weekdays, Monday - Friday. On Saturday or Sunday almost all the shops are closed and people are not out. There are many people at the parks, but not many people out on the streets going about. It's somewhat backwards from the states in that regard. We find comfort on a Saturday morning leaving our apartment and actually walking IN THE street (gasp) without being run over by a car or being yelled at by a person or honked at by a taxi driver. That would be impossible during the week. I have to say that I have enjoyed living here in the hustle and bustle. It's been new, fun, convenient, eye-opening, and exciting. I'm not sure that I'm ready to make the move to a big city yet - for one I could do without the constant inhalation of fumes - however I am happy to be experiencing it.
Jen



9 de julio - the world's widest street!

Hooot Hoot

This is "Dbl A - Ron" postin' up at 1:30 am Monday. Amazing how much of a night owl I've become in the short time we've been abroad. I'm not sure if it's the culture I find myself swinging into or the lack of a holding a professional job anymore. Probably both!

It's refreshing opening my eyes for the first time each morning due to the warmth my body feels as it marinates in the sunlight for an hour or more. I've discovered the sun is becoming my natural and peaceful wake up call and usually wakes me gently between 9:00 and 10:00 am. It rises to the perfect position at this time and pierces a few rays through the small gap I leave in the curtain from covering the entire window. Jenny likes it as dark as possible in the room for no interruptions from sleep. I on the other hand enjoy peaking out at night and gazing into the stars, moonlight or any suspenseful object floating across the sky while drifting away in hope as sleep overtakes me. The "small gap" is a new compromise we've come to discover between us. It helps me sleep and is not large enough to ruin her beauty sleep. It has now become God's alarm clock for me and perhaps - the both of us.

We have 10 days left in our current apartment in Buenos Aires. It is a great little spot and has welcomed us nicely to the city and culture. A couple things yet to do are see the "Boca Juniors" professional futbol team here and see some true Tango at some Tango clubs in San Telmo. We also have about 5 Spanish classes left before we embark on a new journey via the whole coast of Uruguay.

We need to get our Visas for Brazil validated or "stamped" within 90 days of issue or they will expire. They were issued on the 25th of August. The only way to do this is to step foot in Brazil. We have decided to take the route from Buenos Aires by ferry to Uruguay and then follow the coast with a few stops along the way up into Brazil. It will be a short trip in Brazil this time around as we only want to ensure our Visas will be valid for our return in the summer months which are December thru February.

Once in Brazil we plan to head north visiting a few cities (Porto Alegre, Taquara, Gramado, Canela and possibly Maringa)along the way to Iguazu Falls which borders Brazil and Argentina (part of Paraguay too I believe). There we will spend a few days observing the rainforest and the 275 waterfalls I hear are a site not to miss in S. America. We will enter back into Argentina through Iguazu and travel along the northern part of the country on our way to Chili. Mendoza and "wine country" is another place I'm looking forward to exploring before leaving Argentina.

Shout OUT!!

Here's a shout out to our newest nephew - Cayden Lee Conroy, born on 9/16/09 at 1:55pm, 8lbs., 3oz. We are pumped, but sad we will have to wait until next summer to meet him.
We love you guys!

Shower, please

One purpose of leaving life as we know it for a year and exploring South America is to discover more about ourselves, about each other, and about us. It's only been one week, but I can already see that this goal will surely be met! When you put yourself into an uncomfortable, or I should say unfamiliar, setting, your old traits that seemed to just blend in now stand out and shout at you! An example is something that I learned about myself this morning. I was standing in the shower, the water turned as hot is it could possibly go - scalding me, the way I like it, and I realized that I've been in that same spot in the shower at least twice a day, everyday. Back home running to me was as natural as breathing. If a few days went by without getting a run in then those around me could tell - I was irritable and moody and just out of sorts. Well, it's now been a week and there is no running in site anytime soon. Buenos Aires (downtown at least) is severely dense. You literally can not step outside without bumping into another person, or nearly being hit by a passing car. Every square inch of the city has been put to use with tons of stores and apartments filling the streets. Running is out of the question. We have been walking a fair amount each day, but walking is not even the same breed as running. Anyways, standing in the shower this morning I realized that taking a shower has become my temporary "runners high". I'll pass on the alcohol, shopping, gambling, or other ways people get their high, mine is either a run or a shower. I like to take a shower when I'm cold, and want to be warmed. When I'm happy and want to sing. When I'm bored and need something to do. When I'm anxious and want to relax. When I'm sad and want to cry. When I'm excited and want to let my mind run free. When I'm annoyed and want to vent. When I'm congested and want to be cleared. When I'm overwhelmed and want to dis-engage. When I'm frustrated and want to contemplate. When I'm thrilled beyond belief and want to chant cheers as loud as possible. Oh, the reasons are endless. I'm just glad that the utilities are included in rent. That's probably why I stick to running in Denver.
Paz (peace), J

El fin de semana

Hola - Como te va?

Today Jen and I will end the first week of our Castellano / Spanish classes. In Argentina they speak Castellano which is slightly different than regular Spanish. For instance, the double "ll" sound such as "pollo" (poh yo) would be pronounced "poh sho." All the double "ll" have an "sh" sound. Kind of throws me (us) off a bit from the regular Spanish throughout the rest of S. America. Our teacher (Silvynia) seems to be pretty good. She only speaks to us in Spanish the whole time (as she doesn't speak much English) which I believe is helpful. She works out of her house in San Telmo (barrio in Buenos Aires - neighborhood that is). It's nice as it's just Jen and I. Great price too. We are heading to Brazil in October for a bit as well where they speak Portuguese and that will throw us off a bit more... :). I do speak a little Portuguese so it will be fun to use it. Gui - onde voce esta??

It's Friday around 2pm and we have class in 2 hours. Been catching up with a couple different missionaries today as it is cold and rainy outside. We have a contact in Curitiba, Brazil and Santiago, Chile. We're currently trying to set up some missions work with our contact in Chile for December/January time frame. I will keep you posted as plans progress.

Time for some Mate (Mah teh)...

Pan y vino

First mass today, didn't understand a word that was said! Hopefully in a few months I'll have a different experience. Basically this experience was about 360 degrees different than our warm welcome in Charleston. For some unknown reason we were chosen, in the middle of the service to bring the wine (vino) and bread (pan) represeting the blood and body of Christ up to the priest for communion. We were confused, but I (Jen) carried the two bottles of what I assumed to be wine, and Aaron beside me carried the bread wafers. Phewww, survived that, well then actual communion began and so we went up to recieve. As you Catholics know there is a proper ettiquite to communion - left hand over right to receive, etc. Well, Aaron and I were unsure of the formalities, and consequently got some muy (very) mal (bad) looks from the priest. He definitely did a stare down twice, once for each of us, during communion. Oh well. Later, we spoke with Ana, who spoke un poco (a little) English, and she informed us that you have to eat the wafer immediately, in the presence of the priest. So now we know :-).

We had fun this afternoon exploring San Telmo and the miles and miles of market - people selling what appeared to me to be some very, very random objects. I went to the (super) market tonight and bought some groceries - dinner was steak, chorizo, and rice/vege stir-fry - muy bien!! Tomorrow we start Spanish classes - 2 hours a day for the week - thank goodness!
PAZ (peace)

178 Parana

Check out our pad for the rest of the month. We are located in the Congresso district - downtown Buenos Aires.

Great day today and a bit of suerte (luck). Last night we stayed in an apartment we found online while in Orlando. When we met up with the owner ayer (yesterday) we asked to try it out for a night to see if we liked the area and if the apartment was really what we wanted. It was late and we had been up all night on the overnight flight so we were exhausted and just wanted to rest and start fresh the next day. She agreed to let us use it for $40 US. It was quite comical as the owner spoke no English and Jen and I hablamos un pequito espanol. We got through though.

So today we (Jen) decided to look on Craigslist Argentina for apartments and we found an AWESOME deal! That’s my hunny bunny for ya – always knows how to get the deals. We set a time to meet the owner a las 14:30. We walked over a mile to check out the place and in our route we came to the widest street in the world – Ave 9 de Julio – my goodness is this street and traffic massive. Super cool though and quite pretty. It consists of 3 different one-ways with each consisting of about 7 lanes (pretty awakening crossing the street). In-between each one way is a wide median of grassy areas and places for pedestrians to sit and view the impressive traffic event and city.

Upon arrival at the prospective apartment we met Francisco, the owner and “Porteno” artist (Buenos Aires artist). He spoke no English as well other than a few words such as hello and numbers 1-10. We made it through again with quite a few laughs and short games of charades. Bottom line is we scored a really nice furnished apartment with 3 rooms, a kitchen, and bedroom for only $340 US. We have it through the end of September. This is a nice relief as it breaks down to $19 per day (which is much cheaper than booking private rooms in hostels for two where you only get a queen bed). Now we have our shelter set in Buenos areas and roughly 3 weeks to explore the city of 13 million. The apartment is located in the Congresso district which is part of the national historic district and houses the majority of the key government buildings. Tomorrow will be day one of exploration in Buenos Aires.

I’m pretty surprised and rather happy at the same time that hardly anyone here speaks English. My goal (and Jen's) is to learn as much Spanish as possible if not become fluent. This will definitely aid in the process and speed in which to pick up the language.

09/09/09

Well our roadtrip of 5 stops (Omaha, Cedar Rapids, Atlanta, Charleston and Orlando) to U.S. departure has come to an end on this ironic date of 09/09/09. Jen and I are heading for Buenos Aires, Argentina today. We are ready to be there and see what plans God has for us. The anticipation of the trip has been exhausting from all the mixed emotions and has definitely encouraged us to do some thorough research. The cell phones are shut off and we each have one backpack and are splitting a small carry-on for the next 8-9 months. Hmmm... I wonder if we'll be able to predict each other's outfits? :)

We plan to be in Buenos Aires for around a month and hope to find and set up some missions and/or volunteer work throughout various cities in Argentina. We'll then tour through northern Argentina (wine country) for a few weeks and then head south to Patagonia. Soon to come will be Chili, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru and maybe Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Thanks to all of our friends and family we had a chance to spend some time with before our departure and the love and hospitality you showed. We created some awesome memories with you all over the last couple weeks. Please pray for our safety, guidance, and ability to make a positive impact to those we encounter. Onward and upward my friends...

Road Trip photos

How 'bout that surf in Cocoa Beach

At a distance I came remotely close to looking like a surfer while walking to the beach with a long board tucked under my arm, sporting some cool board shorts, and even a half sleeve tattoo. I felt cool and kept telling myself how much fun I was about to have riding my first waves. Yep, I was proud walking towards the water among a few other surfers that were definitely locals and knew what they were doing. I could tell they were good just by how tan they were. I figured I had about 2 more minutes to look like I knew what I was doing.

I reached the depth of water to where the other surfers were hopping on their boards to begin paddling out to catch the next set of waves. I took a few quick glances to see exactly how to go about it and then plopped up on my stomach in the correct paddle position. I couldn’t wait – I was about to catch my first wave.

Within seconds it was painfully obvious it was my first time EVER attempting to surf let alone even touching a surfboard. I do mean painfully too as I was completely exhausting myself just trying to stay on the board while paddling out as my body continually slipped off from one side to the next. I repeated this process enough times that the layers of wax on the board for feet grip began turning into a weapon as the board had decided I was no longer worthy to ride it. My stomach endured several scratches and scrapes to the point of becoming raw from the numerous attempts to hang on without sliding off.

Finally, after huffing and puffing for close to an hour and unable to catch a wave (as easy as it looks) I decided at least I will sit on the board and float out passed where everyone catches the waves to regain my energy. I figured I would use this time to view some more surfers for strategy. After all, this always seemed enjoyable and peaceful when you look out to the ocean and see all these surfers just chillin’ on their boards floating around chatting. I paddled out a little more to my own space and then propped myself up on the board in the sitting position. “Nice,” I thought to myself as I looked around. Not even one minute went by and I got a huge cramp in my left groin and had to bail from the board immediately… that’s when I decided I was done with my first day of surfing and headed to shore.

We leave for S. America in four days. Buenos Aires is our first stop. I've spent several hours in research and finding places to stay as well as familiarizing myself with the better neighborhoods to call home for a bit. Think I may have found some decent apartments to check out. We will soon find out.