How Many Passport Stamps Can I Get In Two Weeks??

I have so much to tell you about from the last two weeks since I wrote! I went to Mendoza, Buenos Aires, Colonia (Uruguay), and back to Santiago and met incredible people along the way. The best place to begin this story is the beginning.

February 22^nd began my adventure to yet another country: Argentina! I hopped on an 8 hour night bus through the Andes on route to Mendoza, Argentina with two of my friends from my program. Of course I didn’t acquire the best night sleep as we wound up the switchbacks in the mountains, but the whole experience was definitely one I won’t forget. We arrived in Mendoza at 5:30 in the morning and had the whole day for exploration. After finding our way to the center, we did quite a bit of walking to see what this beautiful city had to offer for the three of us. Shortly after the city woke up, we booked our much anticipated adventure of taking a horseback riding trip into the mountains. To kill time, we walked around the city and found some hidden treasures. Unfortunately, as we spent our last 30 minutes enjoying coffee and ice cream in McDonald’s (the only place where we could get coffee in cups larger than a shot glass) a hail storm began pelting everyone and everything not hidden inside. We waited it out as long as we could before we had to brave the torrential flooded streets to get back to the meeting place for the horseback ride. However, upon arriving, we were told that it was no longer safe for the horses to go up and received our money back. Well, we no longer had a plan for the afternoon so we decided to buy dulce de leche and bread and sit on a bench and people watch. Not the experience we had hoped for in Mendoza, but not the worst day at all.

The 13 hour night bus to Buenos Aires proved to be much smoother and relaxing. I was a bit nervous coming in because I had not ever met the couple that was picking me up nor did we exchange phone numbers and the bus got in a half hour late. My nerves were alleviated as I turned to see my name printed largely on a piece of paper carried by a kind looking gentleman. What a blessing to have missionaries like Gary and Linda greet me in Buenos Aires. After arriving at Melanie’s apartment, I enjoyed a bit of time to sit and relax before she came home from work. Yet another blessing to have such an incredible young Christian woman willing to share not only her home but also her friends, her life, and her culture with someone she’s never met before. We enjoyed the evening of playing “get to know you” and asking lots of questions. I could instantly tell that she was awesome and we’d get along great for the week I was there!

Friday, I stuck around the house and walked around the little mall next to her house and enjoyed some people watching in the park. That night, she took me to San Telmo which is the Tango capital of Buenos Aires and to Puerto Madero for ice cream. It was definitely interesting to compare this new culture to the one I had been enjoying for the past month and a half in Chile. There were many moments in which I felt like I was back in Europe with the architecture and the physical appearance of the people.

Saturday, I finally took the leap and got a haircut…I loved it!!! The salon we went to had us sitting for a while waiting, but I had the opportunity to read a lot of different Spanish magazine articles/look at the pictures, and they served us tea or coffee if we wanted. It was REAL espresso!!! Magnificent! After getting the haircut, we sauntered through some shops and found a few small treasures. We then moseyed on over to La Boca to see the beautifully colorful buildings and shops. There were several restaurants with dancers out front performing the Tango for the audiences eating and drinking. Mel and I took a seat and enjoyed a great show. Then, I was pulled out of the audience to attempt my own version of the Tango with one of the male dancers…what an experience! This is definitely a dance of passion and romance. It was then time to head home and get ready to go out dancing! In my one pair of heels and my one dress, I felt so excited to actually get dressed up for the first time since leaving the States! I regretted those heels later, but beauty is pain. We went to dinner with a few of Mel’s friends from school, and the opportunity to listen to and speak Spanish was wonderful. The girls were from Peru, so their Spanish was much easier to understand then that of Argentines. After our Columbian extravaganza, we headed to another restaurant with a rooftop dance club where we spent the rest of our evening into the wee hours of the morning dancing the night away!

Sunday morning was very difficult to wake up, but we did and prepared to go to the graduation party of one of Mel’s good friends. I felt like I had found paradise as we laid by the pool and played with their puppy, Mina. Her name means “chick” as in “hey I saw this chick crossing the street”. Playful and teething, I just fell in love with her sweet face. When it came time to eat, I was quickly briefed on the process that was about to begin. There was a constant procession of different slices of meat set on my plate to be enjoyed. Knowing that I had never been to an Argentine asado (barbeque) before, the father (host) made sure I tried a bit of everything and got to experience the glorious options available to me. It is an understatement to say that I was stuffed at the end of that meal. This day was also the day that back home, my family was throwing my Grandpa Bohn a major 80^th birthday party and also my sister’s birthday. When we arrived home, I went through everything I possibly could to attempt calling my family to wish happy birthdays, but unfortunately, I was unable to make it work. It was everything I could do to keep from having an emotional breakdown, but I reminded myself that God was in control of everything, even something small like this and I gave my sadness over to Him.

Monday, Melanie had to go back to work and I ventured on my own into the Capital. My first assignment was to purchase a map so that no matter how lost I got, I could find my way back. Through my explorations, I saw places like the Pink House (Argentine version of the White House), Avenida Florida (best walking street for shopping), the obelisk (mini version of the Washington Monument), Hard Rock Café, beautiful parks, and so much more. I stopped into a few cafés during the day for lunch, dinner, and coffee. Beautiful day, but it was difficult to not have anyone to turn to when I discovered new places to share in the amazement. One of those moments was when I ended up at Plaza Francia’s park and there were several young men performing tricks on homemade tightropes tied to the trees. Instead, I just sat and marveled on a lonely park bench. You’ll be able to see a little bit of this in the pictures I’ll be putting up.

Tuesday was my day to travel to yet another country…Uruguay!! I took a boat over and explored the city of Colonia for the day and had such a wonderful experience. First, I was quietly prompted to remember my passport (thank the Lord, seriously!) After finding a table on the boat, I overheard a few other Gringos talking about Spanish words for something they were looking for. Remembering how frustrating it is when you can’t finding something as simple as sunglasses in the translation dictionary, I turned around and offered my services from what I had learned. After spending the rest of the hour long boat ride getting to know this group of people, they asked if I’d like to walk around with them. After several days of traveling alone, it was a welcome invitation. We found a great little hole in the wall restaurant with the nicest people working. My new Canadian friends surprised me by paying for my part of the meal saying that they remembered being the one with a small supply of cash to support themselves while traveling. At that moment, I resolved that when I have an income, I will definitely be blessing the younger generation as they travel the globe. We spent the rest of the time walking through the quaint town’s cobble stone streets and climbing up the lighthouse. I can officially say that I’ve put my hand in the Atlantic Ocean! The water was purely brown though, so I promptly cleaned it off afterwards.

Wednesday, I enjoyed the ability to relax and sleep in and walk around some little shops near Mel’s apartment. I purchased a Capresse Calzone for dinner, and yes, it was as delicious as it sounds! We then enjoyed our dessert of ice cream and popcorn while watching “Social Network”.

Thursday, I barely made it in time to the travel agency to book my adventure for the day and hop in a van that took me to a Fiesta Goucha out in the campo (countryside). Our tour guide, Marcelo was one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met and I loved hearing about his many adventures as we wound our way out of the city. After about an hour, we found ourselves in Capilla del Señor (the Lord’s Chapel). We were promptly greeted with empanada’s and small glasses of wine. I quickly found my way to the horse stable and enjoyed a short walk around the grounds. I was hoping for a bit more of a galloping adventure, but that wasn’t allowed with the amount of people. Next, I went on a little carriage ride to see the other side of the property. I met a man named Johnny Walker from England. He was about 80 years old and had been in Argentina for several months and had missed speaking fluent English. You really can learn so much from someone who has been around for such a long time and been to so many places. We were then ushered to the asado where I found one food that I just can’t get myself to try: the blood sausage. The rest of the meet was exquisitely prepared and tasted incredible. We were entertained by a man who not only spoke at least 3 languages, but also incredibly sang songs from each region of Argentina and from the several countries represented in the audience. He was accompanied by two dancers who were nothing less than elegant and talented. The next item on the ballet was being wowed by two young gauchos (cowboys) who did tricks on their horses. Back in the van, I had the incredible opportunity to share mate (a typical Argentine tea) with the van driver, Marcelo, and the male dancer. They found it so strange to see a Gringa take part in the mate traditions because most foreigners find it gross to share the metal straw and often don’t like the taste. Once again, I was told that I am not like most people from the US…guess that’s a good thing!

Friday, I spent the morning repacking my luggage and cleaning up the apartment before heading out to meet Mel for lunch. I made it to the bus on time and settled in for the 24 hour ride. I was fortunate to have children around to entertain and play with and even had a mother ask to take a picture of me with her daughter. So precious!

Now, I am back at Hostelling International and enjoying the time spent with those of my group I haven’t seen for a month and also meeting the new people who just arrived. Today was the first day of orientation and we mostly just covered the basics of expectations and what we will be doing as teachers. I know that I will be in Region X: Los Lagos, but I have yet to find out about which city I will be teaching in. As of late, I do have a friend who has good friends that own a resort like hotel down in my region in the city of Puerto Varas, and after seeing pictures of it and the surrounding city, I’m very much hoping that I end up there. The waiting is killing me, but I’ll be finding out on Wednesday afternoon and likely taking off Thursday or Friday to go to my new home for the next 5 months! I’m so excited and I know that wherever I end up will be where I’m needed and exactly where God has prepared for me to be.