Rob's Rave and Silvina's Stories Living life at the end of the world
Argentina
Cruise Ship Season Starts Again
Puerto Madryn is one of the main stops on the Cruise Ship ports. Every summer we receive dozens of these huge ships, filled with tourists who then flood our town for the day before re-boarding and heading off to another destination. The Norwegian Sun is one of the first of the ships to arrive, marking [...]
Football Championship
Every year our YWAM base now hosts a football (soccer) championship between all of the churches of Puerto Madryn. Last year our YWAM team achieved third place. This year we did not even make a position, but it was a fun game and we all had a lot of fun. Here are some photos of [...]
Going Walkabout
One day I decided to go for a wander around the local area. What I found was a local dry creek with steep edges. It seems unusual that in a place where it hardly rains there would be a creek that looks like huge amounts of water had passed through it at some point. Heading [...]
Scorpion under my pillow
That is a rather unusual sounding exclamation, but it is exactly what happened to one of our workers here in YWAM Puerto Madryn. Actually, finding a scorpion at all is rather uncommon here, so when he found one underneath his pillow we were all quite concerned. However, in my four years of living here this [...]
Busted Bike
Today I tried to jump my bike over the gutter onto the footpath. I almost made it… but I didn’t. The back wheel landed on the sharp edge of the gutter and left me with a square rim. Some stomping on my wheel, removing the brakes, and careful riding ensured that I was able to [...]
Farewell to Palma Real
Today we said goodbye to a team of four workers from our YWAM base. They are heading into the jungle in the south of Peru for six months, to relieve a missionary couple there who have not had a rest for over five years. Our team will also be working towards starting new ministries and [...]
Pedro and Yanina’s Wedding
A couple from Puerto Madryn had become good friends of ours, and through us they became good friends of many in YWAM Puerto Madryn. As a result, when they decided to get married they wanted to get married here on our YWAM base. So we decorated everything and prepared it for the happy couple, and [...]
Flash Visit to Buenos Aires
For two days I visited Buenos Aires. The reason? To retrieve my permanent residency that I have been waiting almost 6 months for. The result? They told me it was not ready yet and I needed to come back in another two months. So after travelling the 18 hours to get to Buenos Aires, I [...]
It was Time
Yep. I had decided that wrestling with my hair was too much, so I did the best thing that anybody could do… cut it all off.
A Day of Duties
Every day everybody on the YWAM base heads out to do some work around the place to help maintain the place. What follows are some photos of some of the things that we have been up to lately… Brad and Jake fixing a crack in the roof with tar-strip
Staff Meeting
On the good days, this is the way that we all get together for our staff meetings.
Felling Trees
Over the years that we have been in Puerto Madryn, some of the trees have not been able to survive the harsh conditions. Not only is there little water, lots of wind, and harsh winters, but there are also a lot of nasty borer-type bugs that burrow into them and kill them off slowly. As [...]
Not Snow, Not Sleet, Not Hail
It was something in between all of these when it fell. A storm cloud came over and dropped something like soft hail, or firm snow, or dry sleet, or… well, something that wasn’t quite rain either. So here are the photos to explain it.
Sunrise and Sunset
Two photos of my two favourite moments of the day.
The People You Meet
While walking the streets of Puerto Madryn, we encountered this old man who tried to convince us that he was an international hero in the singing world. Apparently he had won some singing competition with his friends and made a fortune but his fortune was now tied up in Spain and he was still here. [...]
Sleepy Dog
Most houses have dogs to guard them. This dog seemed more concerned with sleep than guarding any house. Even when I stood in front of the house, taking photos of the dog, it raised one eye and returned to sleep.
A Journey to Golden Beach
I had decided to do something adventurous, something that I had always planned on doing, something that I had not done… it was time, so today I was heading out to: PLAYA DORADILLO (Golden Beach)
Crash, Bang, Down and Out!
It was almost 1.30am in the morning and I was still on my last processes of getting to bed and asleep when there was an almighty crash. At first I did not react to it as it was likely something falling out of a cupboard or something like that. The guys in my dorm, which [...]
Starving Yourself Can Be Healthy
It started from a feeling that God was asking me to fast… after all, fasting is talked about all through the Bible. Then it continued with a realisation that most of the food I was eating was not really good for me. Finally, it all came to a head when I received a book I [...]
Correcting Your Mistakes – on Camera
The successes, and failures, of trying to fix an expensive video camera with the wrong tools.
Old Mr. Rios
Only a few blocks from my destination, I notice an old man hobbling along the footpath. His slow speed and awkwardness creates an obstacle for the handful of people who are out today, and they all detour around him so as to continue on their way. As I approached him, he looked up at me [...]
Back to Base – Corrientes
It was a long-standing promise that I had made to my friends that one day I would return to my old original YWAM base in the north of Argentina. Even though it was my first contact with YWAM and a place where I still have many friends, Corrientes was not a place that I really [...]
Missing the Date
Heading to Buenos Aires, convinced that I was arriving only two days before my provisional visa expired, the first thing I did after dropping my bags off in the place I was staying was head back to the Migrations office in the city. The idea was that I would get my official documents and then [...]
Getting Higher on Internet
To get internet out where we are, we needed to set up a wifi connection between us and town that allowed us to access a broadband internet connection there. This was first done with a 6m pole that we mounted at both ends of the connection. Although this worked well at first, the connection at [...]