If you'll pardon my ADD, I'm basically going to post this as a list of thoughts, rather than using cogent rhetoric. It's summer. :-D

1. I'll remember every abrazo (hug) and every beso I received. Really, names and faces to many of them. I sigh I little when I shake hands now, and lament when people ask me on the bus to move away from them. If only ( Read more... )

Hey folks, I have posted all of my journal entries from Argentina. Here's the master list:

• Day 1 - Santiago de Chile
• Day 2 - Mendoza
• Day 2 (later) - Mendoza
• Day 3 - Mendoza
• Day 4/5 - Uspallata, Mendoza

Buenos Aires is a city of masks. In the past few days we have ad a number of concerts, but most interesting to me have been our city tours. We have been guided by our coordinator, Santiago Tur, who is young and eager. Our city tours have been narrated mostly by Alejandra, a cosmopolitan and multilingual history buff ( Read more... )

Quick recap: Saturday, we had an asado at Tomás Prat Gay's family's finca. Great food and people, and some wine tasting.

( Read more... )

Yesterday we got to sleep in (yay!) and then embarked on the road trip to Uspallata, west of Mendoza city. We had lunch in Mendoza. Right before loading the bus, James Neese caught me and said the equipment driver Rolando ("Rolo" for short) wanted company, and asked for the guy who gave a testimony in Spanish - that is, me. So I met up with him and ( Read more... )

Note: I originally wrote this post for the BUMC Argentina trip blog. You can see the original post with additional photos from other choir members here.Last night was our first concert here in Argentina. We performed at a local Baptist church for members of their congregation. They treated us to tea and churros before the concert. Then we went and ( Read more... )

We went to the children's home today. We had a few main tasks: to paint the upper balcony and install new shelves in the pantry. I started off organizing one of the side rooms used as a storehouse for donated clothes and toys. This included about an hour of beating dust out of rugs with Alex and Stephen. I felt a little useless with the carpentry ( Read more... )

First impression: Mendoza feels like home. It looks a lot like Belen in the fall - mountains to the west, tall yellow trees, lots of farms and vineyards. It's dry and cool. The people, however, are warm and friendly. At our reception last night, we were greeted with tango and milonga dances as well as música folklórica - samba, salsa, and chamamé. ( Read more... )

So our flight almost didn't leave Dallas at all. We have a ~7 hour layover in Santiago due to a missed flight. Chile proves fairly inhospitable so far - everyone thinks we have swine flue, and if we want to tour the city or leave the airport, we have to pay a $140 fee. Luckily, it would seem our bags made it. Expect more later.

- Jacob G.