Argentina

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

One week down...31 to go? I must say, this has been one of the longest weeks of my life. It feels like I´ve been in Choele for over a month. So much has happened, so much learning, so many new, amazing experiences.
I am surprised that I haven´t felt homesick at all--(sorry folks, that doesn´t mean I don´t love you all!). God has just been so present in everything that is happening here. I think I´ve been placed in the perfect family here--we are able to communicate pretty much everything, Clara is a great cook and makes lots of vegetable dishes which makes me happy, Marcos is more quiet but loving dad, and Prisi my hermanita is the joy of my life here, always copying whatever I do, and making me laugh. This past week, us RADers haven´t had much work, per se, but it has been a good time to get aquainted with the town, our families, the culture.
Everyone in the church seems to play the guitar here (I hope to learn in these 8 months...if I can), and Clara spent about 1 1/2 hours for 4 days teaching us some of the church songs. It is wonderful to know at least a few of the worship songs during the services.
I have greatly appreciated the church ¨reunions¨ here--different ones seem to take place every other day. Their dedication to their church is amazing. On Saturday the youth in my zone held a service(the church is divided into 4 geographic zones in the city). About 20 of us gathered in benches in a circle, and two of the young men began playing the guitar, and we began singing. Starting out with louder, faster songs, and then moving into more reflective songs, they intersperse prayers between each song. I´ve never prayer quite like this. Everyone prays at the same time--repeating words of thanks--¨gracias, Senor¨--and taking turns leading longer prayers of petition or praise. Even though I don´t understand all that is said, those prayer and singing times are moments when I am able to let down my guard, not focus on espanol as much, and just come before God. There is so much of God´s presence here in this church, and I thank God for that everyday.
Being able to worship with fellow believers has been one of the most important things that is sustaining me here. I feel strong in Christ right now--with the love of my family here, the welcome of the church and new friends, and the prayers of my family and Prairie Street back home. I can already foresee how hard it will be to leave this place in June.
Please pray for the rest of my team, as some of them are struggling more with the language barrier (I know the most out of my group, so that is probably one reason it isn´t phasing me as much). We just started language classes yesterday, so that should help them. I´m going to have to ask for a bit harder work, seeing that we started our class practicing the days of the week, and I´m quite a bit past that.

Dios les bendiga!

Con amor, Andrea