The Joyful Journey

Hola, everyone! I'm in the little cyber-byte internet cafe right now with the rest of RAD, taking some time to try to describe life here. Today has been a gorgeous clear day, which is what most are like. I haven't figured out how to place photos on the net yet, so I will just paint you a mental image: Choele is a dusty town, surrounded on one side by a small platue that turns into desert-like wildnerness. On the south side of the city is "el rio" where apparently in the summer, all the youth are down there swimming. The buildings are mostly unpainted cement, with wood or tile roofs. The main street in the city is Avellaneda, where I have enjoyed strolling along during the afternoons. I have become readily acustomed to siestas, the time in the afternoon when every store closes, and it gets very hot. It is not summer yet, but already we have had some blistering hot days--dry, windy climate, with no humidity, and no rain.
The longer I've been here, I'm realizing how different Argentina is from the rest of Latin America, and all the stereotypes of Central and South America. No rice and beans, tortillas, and unfortunately, no coffee, or dark chocolate. But, the food is still wonderful. Much more European, with lots of beef stews, potatoes, rice, noodles, carrots, facturas (the sweet pasteries we eat for our light evening snack between 5-7pm). And, people here actually do follow clocks--while time isn't as regimented as in the States, you can't expect meetings to start 2 hours later than originally stated.
I am over the "honeymoon" phase of being here I think, and the reality of actually living here for 8 months is starting to sink in. I realize as I learn more Spanish and more about the culture, how little I know. We are having Spanish classes for about 2 1/2 hours each day, and are now teaching English to kids and young adults 2 times a week. I think Kevin has started helping with tiling the new kitchen in the church, but other than that, we don't have much responsibilities. I usually end up following my mother, Clara, around in the mornings: cleaning the house, shopping for the meal, cooking, attending church meetings.
The church worship times are becoming increasingly meaningful (and they are the times when I have more contact with youth here my age). However, when Marcos (my host father)put on a worship CD in English yesterday in our house, I started crying. I realized how much I love home--Prairie Street, my family, friends, even Elkhart And it just hit me how amazing it is that I am actually in South America. So far away, and yet I feel God close to me, and the Dios here is the same God all around the world. My faith, and the faith we share, is the bond that keeps us close, that lets us support one another, and share the joy of living in the knowledge of Christ.
I would ask for patience for myself right now, as I wait for the language to come more easily, as I wait to make more friends and be able to communicate with them; as we wait for more of a sense of purpose down here. I'm not sure how much serving we really are doing now--it is hard to see how we are helping be God's hands here when we are the helpless babies who need to be guided through much of the new culture and language. But I know God has a reason for all of this. Maybe just learning how to live here and practice language is all that we will be doing for a while. But, I'm sure God has bigger plans for me, and for us all too. Just got to be patient.

Sorry for writing such a long letter. I'll try to keep them short, and they probably will be as life becomes more natural to me here. I keep you all in my prayers. Love, hugs, smiles, and tears from Choele Choel...
Andi