Blog – Page 11

November 23, 2008

The Difference that Goals Make

Finally painting the Prayer House

Sunday was my first free day for the weekend, which normally occurs on Sunday and Monday. There was nothing planned and nothing really essential for the day. Somewhere in my head I had considered that it would be good to do a number of different things, but thought that I would leave it to the chance of the day rather than plan anything. After all, it was my day off.

That chance never came. All of the things rolling around in my head that seemed to be a great idea to do never actually got done. Not one of them. Instead, a whole bunch of unimportant or even unnecessary things took up the entire day. Watching movies, organising files, organising the room, and reading bits and pieces from a variety of books. All in all a wasted day, and it felt that way too.

Continue reading “The Difference that Goals Make”

November 21, 2008

When Stopping is Wiser than Going

I crashed my bike today.

Looking down the trail, over the new road
The bike path that I take from our YWAM base to the township of Madryn, and the new road.

Riding to town I always take the small trail that leads through the big open spaces and weaves amongst the Calafate thorn bushes to get to the edge of the city. Recently the city started coming closer to us, with a new street freshly cut through the open land. It also cut directly across my trail.

Each day there is machinery working on this new road. The other day they dug a deep trench beside the road to lay water pipes, leaving large mounds of dirt beside the trench and the trail impassable. The next day it was filled in, but mounds of dirt were still there, and it was these mounds of dirt that caught me out today.

The new road cutting through my bike trail with the mound of dirt that “got me.”

I carried the bike over the first time. I should have carried it over today too.

Maybe it was the super soft dirt that kept filling my shoes when I carried the bike over. Or perhaps it came from one of those fond memories of my mountain-bike-racing days when I could make it over anything without getting off the bike. In any case today, instead of slowing down to get off, I sped up intent on getting over that dirt mound without stopping.

But I stopped. Suddenly.

I had not considered my made-of-every-cheap-part-you-can-find bike that was propelling me, nor had I considered that the loosely dumped dirt may be full of Calafate thorn bushes with their strong sharp spines. It also came as a surprise to discover that once I reached the other side of the dirt pile it gave way quickly to a hard surface that had not been there the last time I came past.

My bike went down, and hard. I followed quickly after it.

I was falling, with my feet clamped to the pedals – a great system except for moments like these. Somehow though I managed to escape the clutches of those pedals and the certain doom they spelled. With difficulty I lunged forward, over the rapidly sinking handlebars. My feet clumsily searched for a landing, hitting hard with the weight of a falling body behind them. Suddenly my knees give way, and I am on way way down into the Patagonian powder dust that rises to meet me in an impenetrable cloud as first my knees and then my hands thud heavily into it.

I had survived.

I turn around and pick up the bike to move on. It doesn’t move. A second attempt does nothing to convince it.

The buckled wheel, now partly fixed but needing much more.

Looking down, the wild buckle in the front wheel reveals the problem. It is bent wildly out of shape. The buckled wheel refused to even move through the front forks. Reaching a clearing I turn the bike upside down to work on it and hear the unmistakable hiss of escaping air. There was more than just a buckled wheel that would need to be fixed.

Wherever I go with the bike, under my seat are most of the tools necessary to fix it. Today I would need most of them.

Two large thorns protruded from the front tyre. Pulling the first one released a stronger escape of air. Pulling the next one allowed the now partially deflated tyre to deflate completely. It was like watching a balloon poked with a needle.

The buckled wheel proved a problem. Even after pulling every trick in the book to try and coax it back into shape, after an hour of work it remained a wildly wobbling mess with no front brakes. It was the best I could do. At least it now spun. After fixing the holes in my tube and pulling yet another deeply embedded thorn from my tyre I am ready to go. Climbing on to ride the bike reveals yet another problem. The forks have been bent back so much that the front wheel hits my feet as I pedal.

Fixing the mess that I had made of the bike.

Walking out of the local bike shop, I now have new forks and a new front wheel in my hands. This crash just cost me almost $100 pesos. The next time I will carry the bike over and put up with the dirt in my shoes. It will save me both time and money.

In this case, stopping was wiser than going.

November 13, 2008

Where Has the Help Gone?

Loaded with a huge pile of books balanced precariously on top of each other, I turn the corner for the umpteenth time and pass through the crowd of young people gathered outside after dinner. One jumps up from his conversation and walks beside me asking if I needed help. It quite surprised me. This was the first offer for help that I had heard since starting to move all of my gear from one room to another on the other side of the YWAM base. The only thing that the crowd had done before this was to withdraw their extended legs from my pathway.

It caused me to ask, “Where has the help gone?”

Some of the books I was carrying

Living in community, one generates friendships and comradeship. When an event such as that which happened today occurs, you would expect others to take notice and want to help out, especially if they have free time. Yet amongst a crowd of young people there was not more than one offer for help and that only for a moment. So where were the offers for help, the inquiries as to if help was needed, the interest in what was happening? It didn’t come, there was no response to get involved. This quite surprises me.

The people about whom I am writing are not bad people. They are friendly, kind and courteous, and if asked they all would have stopped what they were doing and come to help. Yet I did not ask, as I had passed by them quite a number of times by then and decided to wait to see what response they would give on their own. Yet they did not give any response beyond a few comments as to having a lot of stuff, or feigning that I had stepped on one of their feet, and a couple of jokes. It appeared as though they simply did not see any need to get involved, which left me carrying load after load on my own, cutting through their conversations and groups, and walking past them over twenty times until everything had been moved from one room to the other.

What caused this lack of initiative? This lack of involvement? I cannot say, but it certainly left me surprised.

Where did the help go? It appears that unless you ask for it, it does not exist.

November 10, 2008

Movies and Music

I have just finished watching a movie where the guy gets the girl amidst formidable odds and everybody lives happily ever after.

It was a great movie, but inevitably, at the end of the film we must return to reality. I do not know about you, but my reality is normally far from what I have just seen and experienced on that big screen. To compare myself with the (contrived) reality that is in the movie, there is little in common. The beauty, the excitement, the lifestyle, all so very different. Then there is that amazing ability to skip through all of the boring parts of life and only live the interesting bits.

movies

Something that struck me recently is how the lives of the actors are always immersed in music. Music for when they are sad. Music for when they are happy. Music for when they are in love. Even for when they are scared. It was this that got me thinking about music, mp3 players, and the pervasiveness of music.

Everywhere I go people have music plugged into their ears. Huge ear muffs to tiny earbuds, from the car to the train station, while working or playing, studying or sleeping, even during conversations. Music has pervaded our society in every area. Piped music, personal music, radio stations, mtv, concerts. Music is everywhere these days.

This is where I started to see it. Is it any wonder, if we have all been feeding on these movies now for years, where there is music that suits every situation that the actor goes through, that there would be an increased number of people wandering around the streets with headphones stuck on or in their ears? Walking about while listening to music creates a feeling of energy, of motivation, of everything turning out well in the end. It creates your own movie where you are the main actor.

November 3, 2008

Internet for a Coffee

Where we live in the outskirts of town there is no internet available. A dial-up connection with a modem gives us some basic internet access but it is so slow and troublesome that we tend to only use it for emergency situations. Most times we head to town instead. In the center of town the internet is fast and (mostly) reliable.

Bonafide is the best place that I have found in Madryn for wireless internet access.

For a long time I would visit the cyber-cafes as they were called to be able to access internet, hiring a computer for somewhere from $3 to $5 pesos per hour ($0.90 – $1.50 USD). While it was great to be able to get access to the internet using this method, the computers were often slow and filled with viruses and you never really knew if there was some sort of program recording your passwords or other personal information.

Now that I have a laptop, the days of the cyber-cafes are gone. Now, instead of paying per hour for an unknown machine, I have the pleasure of paying for a coffee to access internet. From my comfortable lounge-style seat with a window looking out over the water I get all-you-can-use internet for as long as I want. These days I am becoming part of the furniture here and most of the staff now know me.

Some days there is nobody here, just me and my Mac, and some delicious foods.

Of course the ideal would be to get internet out where we are. But that is a long-term project that requires putting in long-range antennas from us to town. Maybe next year. For now I am happy enough with paying for my internet with a coffee or two… or a cheesecake… or a milkshake… or some hot food. It’s a pretty good trade in my books.

Rob.

Brad and me enjoying a delicious early morning breakfast before using internet.

Brad and Heather on a video conference with their friends in The States.

September 13, 2008

Three Days in Miami

“They were three intense days in Miami,” I thought to myself as my plane taxied to the runway at Miami airport. Recapping over the events I realise that in retrospect it would have been wiser to have arranged more days here in the United States. But then my thinking was, “how much time does it take to buy a computer?” Apparently a lot more than I first thought.

Upon arrival in Miami, after settling into the YWAM base and getting to know the people, I had headed out in the afternoon and bought the laptop that I had waited two years to get. A MacBook Pro and various accessories were now in my possession, and I was very happy about it too. Everything seemed to be going really well.

The Apple Shop in The Falls Shopping Centre

The problem came not with these items but rather with all of the requests of others back in Argentina. Not only this, but every item that I purchased needed to be tested and proved to be good before I took them out of the country or else any warranty would be lost and the item would be an expensive anchor. So after each purchase, I removed the item from its packaging and proceded to use it until satisfied that it was fully functional. That took quite a lot of time as some items required learning how to use them first before I could actually test them or know if they were working as they should.

So with the first day going so well I expected everything to be over by the next morning, but it was not to be. The store that should have had the camera did not have it, and everything else was a long way away. My memory of where things were was very compressed based on previous experiences only being in vehicles, so when I decided to “wander” up to the store “nearby” little did I realise that it was about 6 kilometres away (4 miles).

Distances are a lot further than they seem in Miami (the bus lane)

After over an hour of walking in sandals that caused blisters on my feet, I finally and tenderly arrived at my destination. It did not have the camera that I needed. The thought of returning by foot was too much, so I took the bus and travelled right past my stop until finally reaching a centre that sold the camera I had been asked to purchase. Returning triumphantly to the YWAM base I was pleased to have finally purchased everything on the list and was happy to now be able to rest.

On the last day there is a sudden last request. Somebody wants a laptop and there is a couple who can take it with them down to Argentina in the next couple of days… so I race out in the morning to buy the laptop. Thinking that it would be a quick process, I am stunned to discover that the Apple Store has some sort of technical failure of their equipment and had to use the old imprint system for the purchase, using a pen to rub over the paper and produce the numbers because even the old imprinter did not work. Of course I then need to check that it works properly.

Apple Store: The only way we were able to complete the purchase... old technology

Mobile Hands is a service that I have started to provide to those who need it. Loosely termed a ministry, it is basically just me wandering around the place helping people out in any way I can. YWAM Miami needed a new website. The rest of my time with them I spent working on their website, creating something that would work for them using the system that they currently have. Unfortunately, after so much hard work, we discover that there is no way of being able to publish this new design. It remains saved but unseen to this day.

Just then the engines roar into life and I am pushed back into my seat. We are taking off. My time in Miami has come to an end. Although there were plans for some time at the beach and to hang out with the YWAMers here the time slipped away too fast. That is why the next time I stop somewhere I will be sure to make it somewhat longer than just three days. Three days seems a lot on paper, but I discovered during this visit that it really is a very short time.

Now I am on my way. El Salvador is only a few more hours away.

September 11, 2008

Now in Miami

After a long flight and a few hours sleep I finally arrive here in Miami. It is warm and humid, a far cry from the brisk late winter of Chile.

August 25, 2008

Life in the Aires

Buenos Aires and the Obelisk, one of the icons of the city

Today I was supposed to be on a bus heading back to Puerto Madryn. But today I remain here in Buenos Aires. My visit of 10 days has just been extended for another week. The reason? Too much to do in just 10 days.

The purpose of my visit here to Buenos Aires is that of helping out one of the YWAM bases here in the city. There are three bases in Buenos Aires: the Ituzaingo base, the first and largest base in Buenos Aires where most training schools are run; the Prayer Center, which focuses on working with the government, media, and educational institutions throughout Argentina; and the Counselling Center with counselling and counselling schools, social and youth assistance, and inner-city based ministries.

My work is with the Counselling Center. Ironically all of the staff here are women, yet this place suffers from the greatest need for construction and other heavy physical work. The girls here have not sat back and waited for others to rescue them, but have indeed got in and built, plastered, cleaned, painted, and done anything and everything that they can. Some things however are still beyond them. Plumbing, electrical wiring, building brick walls, adding mezzanine floors, and partitioning rooms all fall in that category. Fortunately there are people who are helping them out in these areas. I am one of them.

Inesse and Rocio preparing the front doors to be sanded

Somewhere along the way somebody got the idea in their head that I was a good builder. So they called me to help out in May to build some mezzanine floors for them. Now I am back again to partition the huge rooms and make them smaller to provide more room for the students that are about to arrive for the September schools. We started with just two basic partitions, and things have grown from there. A hallway to isolate one room from another, dividing one room into two which led to dividing another room in two, which has led to putting another mezzanine floor and stairs in, and some brickwork and the strengthening of brick walls, plus plastering the walls already built, adding extra lights to the divided rooms, and cabling everything. There was just not enough time in 10 days.

As a result the verdict was that I should stay until the work is finished. From what I can see that will be another week at least or perhaps more, although only two weeks remain before I fly to El Salvador for my friends’ wedding.

But for now, it is back to work. 🙂
Rob.

Silvana sanding back the walls in preparation to paint

The first division behind me, and the beginning of the hallway

August 10, 2008November 19, 2016

Travels and More Travels

This year has been an unsettled year, with one journey following another. Since the beginning of this year the time I have spent in my home base between travels has been less than 8 weeks, and it does not look like slowing down for the rest of the year.

Mobile Hands in Buenos Aires
What have all of these travels been about? Each one seems to have a different reason and focus. Ushuaia was to renew my visa and get in touch with Rix, the man in charge of raising up the new YWAM base down there. Now in a few days I will be heading to Buenos Aires once again to help build some walls and fit some doors for the YWAM Counselling ministry in preparation for their soon-to-start school. This is a part of the (unofficial) Mobile Hands ministry.

Wedding in El Salvador
Upon returning from Buenos Aires I will have two weeks in the base before heading to Chile to take a flight through to El Salvador. Two very good friends that work in our YWAM base in Puerto Madryn are getting married; Paul is from Peru, and Maricruz is from El Salvador. It was one of my desires to be able to be present during their wedding, as Paul is probably my best friend on the base, and I am very excited to be able to be there, made possible only because I had accumulated sufficient air-points from my travels before reaching Argentina in 2004.

Miami, The States, and Computers
An unexpected bonus from this flight is a 3 day stopover in Miami. It has been almost two years now since I felt God ask me to give my laptop computer away. During these two years the work that I have been doing on computers has actually increased until during this year alone I have built over 8 websites for different YWAM bases and ministries here in Argentina. Working without a computer has been difficult, often involving using anything available at the time with a portable USB drive that has all of the programs I use installed on it, and paying for time on internet and computers where a local computer is not available. The prices of computers in the USA are much lower than South America, so my stopover will allow me to once again get another laptop.

Meeting Friends in Chile
Returning to Chile at the beginning of October after the wedding in El Salvador, I will be catching up with someone I met in China who happens to be flying in to Santiago on the same day, before heading back to Puerto Madryn for my longest stay this year. If no other travels arise during this time I am looking forward to enjoying almost two full months back in Puerto Madryn.

Land by the Beach (well, 5kms near)
This extended time will actually be very useful too. Some other amazing news is that I have just placed a deposit down on a 1 hectare (100m x 104m) block of land just outside the city of Puerto Madryn. This is something that seems almost too much to believe, and if you had asked me only one month ago if I thought it was possible that I would be the owner of some land here in Argentina I would have simply laughed and walked away. Of course, there are still ongoing monthly payments before I actually own the land outright, but there it is in my name. An amazing event that still has me reeling.

So the two months that I hope to spend back in Madryn will be helpful to begin the process of clearing, fencing, and starting to build on this new land. Naturally all of this takes money, and right now I have no idea where this will come from but the one thing that I do know is that what only a month ago seemed impossible is now a reality today. One of the most exciting things about this for me is that I have always wanted to be able to bring people that I have found on the streets home to offer them a place to stay while they need it. Having my own land and home will give me this opportunity, and I am very excited about it too.

Visiting Australia
Finally, for those of you living in Australia and nearby, I am heading back there early December and will be in that area of the world for three months, traveling a little to visit you guys.

And thus ends a year full of travels.
Regards, Rob.

Earlier Travels
PS: The travels during the early part of the year?

Well, there was 2 months in Peru with the project, “With Peru in the Heart” where we were working with different churches all over the two northern cities of Chiclayo and Trujillo.

Then 3 months were spent in Bariloche helping to translate for their first Discipleship Training School and build and improve the house where they were living. During this time was also one week in Buenos Aires building mezzanine floors for the YWAM Counselling ministry.

Then the two weeks down in Ushuaia.

July 11, 2008November 19, 2016

Heading South to Ushuaia

Every time that I enter Argentina my passport is stamped with a stamp that gives me 3 months to live in the country and move around freely. At the end of this time I may renew my visa by leaving the country and returning again, even on the same day, or I may also extend my visa for another three months at a local immigration office which would make it a total of 6 months before having to leave the country.

This three months has now come and gone and I am still in the country. That makes me illegal. Gulp!

Due to a cash crisis I was unable to sort out my visa while in Bariloche, and with a trip with Jorge planed for Chile within a week it seemed the best way to renew the visa. That trip was then postponed, and later cancelled when Jorge was involved in a car crash with his wife Isa (they escaped unharmed although the car was totalled). I was then going to go alone, but this also has been delayed due to the purchase of land for our base (in the Doradillo Urbanisation) and other unforseen circumstances.

With my visa in this over-stay situation, I must leave the country as soon as possible to renew it and return my status to that of being legal. For overstaying my visa there will be a fine charged when I pass through the border (some say $50 pesos, others $100), but from that point on there will be no other negative consequences (according to a chat with an immigration officer last year). All the same, my desire is to always ensure that I remain legal within the country, so it will be a relief to finally sort this all out.

Living in Puerto Madryn we are a long way from all of the borders of Argentina. Bariloche (16 hrs in bus) to the west is one option, Uruguay via Buenos Aires to the north is another (18 hrs in bus and 4 hrs in boat). But as we had already planned a trip south, it seemed more appropriate to head that way.

So tomorrow I am heading to Ushuaia (16hrs to Rio Gallegos and then another 12 hrs to Ushuaia via several border crossings). While there I will be able to meet up with some friends and to finally get to know this part of Argentina. Ushuaia has been a place for which I have felt a strong desire to get to know for the last two years. The time that I will be there and what I will get up to while there are still very open questions.

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world, the tip of the American continent, and home to some dear friends of mine.

So I am leaving… for a while.