Blog – Page 15

November 19, 2007

Indecision and Thornbushes

It was quite an unstable situation to have a huge bag of washing on my back and my backpack hung around my neck as I tried to ride down a narrow track hedged in on both sides by gnarly thorn bushes. I had been down this track many times and by experience knew that just one wrong move would land a huge thorn in the middle of my tyre and leave it as flat as three day old road-kill.

Thornbush
The thorn bush (now broken) and my path through the middle.

So above all I was trying to be careful. It was this foolish notion of being careful that led me into this problem in the first place. Somewhere along the track it branches into two as it passes a particularly nasty thorn bush. On one side the track has a small sudden drop-off, while on the other side it is a smooth track down to the next level. The drop-off is always fun on the bike when all is good. Today not all was good.

In addition to carrying the heavy load of washing on my back, the seat pole had been bent seriously out of shape and was threatening to collapse underneath me. The drop-off could be just the thing to bring it to that point. Of course none of this information was actually thought about until the drop-off came into sight. At that point a decision had to be made, and fast. The drop-off was direct and easy but the seat pole situation was threatening serious discomfort if it broke. The other pathway was preferable but involved a quick duck to the side. I forgot about the washing on my back.

Bent bike seat pole
The bent seat pole (that bent even more the same day).

The weight of the washing caused everything to slow down. Right down. So much so that my quick dash off to the side ended up instead as a slight deviation to straight. Too fast to stop, too slow to turn, and now completely without option. The thorn bush loomed menacingly ahead. Then suddenly, “crash, scrape, bang, bump!” I had just ridden directly through the middle.

The worst case scenario had just happened. Doh! Now what?

Big thorns and little tyres
One of the thorns that threatened my tyre.

After climbing off and checking over the bike, I was both astonished and relieved to discover that there had been no punctures. Somehow, although stuck in various parts of the treads, the nasty thorns had missed their mark and left my tyres inflated and intact. Climbing onto the bike again I continued my journey, but this time with more care and less speed. I had learned my lesson…

Indecision or a late decision is worse than a bad decision.

November 18, 2007

Fiambre Man

Fiambre is the Spanish name for everything to do with sandwiches such as salamis and cheeses. One of the more favoured snacks here in Argentina is salami and cheese on bread and it is one that I too have grown to really enjoy.

The fiambre man and his shop.

I was on my way home when I realised that I had not yet purchased these essential ingredients from the supermarket. Just at that moment I noticed a Fiambreria – or salami and meats shop. This is different from a butcher shop which has raw meat, the Fiambreria carries meats that are ready to eat just as they are: ham, salami, corned meats, etc. They often carry cheeses too.

The owner was not very busy at that moment. His was a new shop that had only recently opened, and clients were not yet aware that he existed. I found him outside in a chair enjoying the warmth of the sun, watching the cars and people pass by. As soon as I approached he got up and welcomed me warmly.

A talkative type of fellow, once we got inside the shop he began to tell me all about the different meats and suggest a number of different ones. Not having any experience in the different types of meat, he also offered free tastings of each type. Before long I had ordered the salami that I needed. The same applied to the cheese.

Somewhere in the conversation he asked me about where I was from. Upon hearing Australia he proceeded to tell me all about one of his friends that now lives in Australia. It constantly amazes me just how many people I have met who have a friend or family living in Australia. This friend had described Australia to him in such a way as to help him feel as though he had actually been there, and he pumped me for more information still.

Not being in any hurry and happy to chat with such a friendly guy, I hung around and told him a little more about Australia and life here in Argentina, comparing the two at times, and showing the similarities and differences. He was delighted, and as I left he came out and waved me off, returning to his chair in the sun.

This photo was taken a little later when I passed by on foot. He was very enthusiastic and happy to have the photo taken, recognising me immediately. It seems that I now have a friend. The only thing is that I never actually caught his name… nor he mine.

So for now I refer to him as, “The Fiambre man.”

November 17, 2007

Niko Camp

The Niko camp is something that remains mostly a secret within the YWAM ranks. Only those who have participated in a camp are able to talk freely about it between themselves. This tends to cause some frustration for those who have not yet been able to be a part of the camp, but once they have participated the reasons become clear.

There is nothing untoward about the camp, and most people who go camping would have participated in most if not all of the sorts of activities that we get up to during this camp. The way the camp is designed and run however, creates learning experiences that are better left until camp time.

Here are some photos that I took during the camp…

Discovering a waterfall before the camp begins.

Talking with a local property owner.

Meeting around a campfire.

Boys resting
The boys having a rest.

A beautiful sunset
Watching the beautiful sunset.

The end of Niko
The end of the Niko – our final group meeting.

Niko leaders
The leaders of this Niko (Me, Patricia, Trudy, Lorena).

November 10, 2007

Praying in the Prayer House

The main motive that I had for building this prayer house was so that it would be a place available for people to come and pray. This goal has been more than realised with the place used by both individuals and groups for times of prayer, and when not occupied it is also used as a place for various types of meetings.

Praying group
A group using the prayer house for prayer.

November 10, 2007

Mendoza National YWAM Retreat

Every year everyone from all of the different YWAM locations around Argentina get together for a week. The leaders use this time to plan and prepare for the next year and for any important announcements that may be at the time… such as opening a new YWAM base or new directions in the ministry. The staff and students that come get the privilege of hearing teachings from those leaders and teachers located far from them who they do not often get to see.

(Almost) all of us – about 300 or so people (click for bigger version).

For me it was a great opportunity to catch up with some of my good friends from Corrientes base whom I have not see for ages. After being here in Argentina for more than three years it seems that I now know many people from all over the place. The weirdest thing however is when people seem to know me but I have not got a clue about who they are.

The teaching shed.

We lived in tents and although it was hot during the day, the nights cooled off nicely owing to the snow-capped Andes mountains right beside us. Mendoza is located in a desert zone and rain is very rare all year long, which is why the rain that gushed down over two days of our 5 day conference was more than remarkable and had everyone astounded… and wet.

Tent city in Mendoza.

Worship times in the shed.

Long food lines provide great opportunities to meet new people.

Long shop lines
A little shop on the base was also very popular.

The teaching shed at night
Night time in the teaching shed.

Midnight baptism in the pool
At 1am we all met around the pool to baptise some present.

The baptism
Jorge baptising Fabian from our base in Madryn.

Lots of hard rain fell during the conference.

Saving tents
Saving the tents from flooding during the rain.

Celebrating Argentina Day in the main city park.

A YWAM value
One of many signs showing the values of YWAM around the Mendoza base.

Everyone returning home from Mendoza on the bus.

November 4, 2007

Ricky and Rosy Married

Well here I am in Santiago again. It seems that in the last few months I have been here a lot… if you count three times as a lot.

Ricky and Rosy with family
Ricky and Rosy with their parents on their respective sides.

This time I am here for a wedding that happened yesterday. Ricky, a young lad from the United States, was married to Rosy, a young Chilean girl, on Saturday at 6pm. It was a very typical ceremony with all of the typical wedding ceremony type of things. A wedding party, a short sermon, wedding vows, and the rings. There was also a time for the new couple to take communion together.

Rosy saying her vows.

The most different part of the ceremony was the candle ceremony where two candles are lit by the respective family heads andÂ pased to their bride or groom. Together Ricky and Rosy then joined their candle flames to light a much larger candle on the table, and put out their individual candles. This is a visual act of showing how the two families that were once separate have now come to join together as one.

The candle ceremony.

With the wedding ceremony over we headed to the reception hall for a lovely meal and speaches. My part was mainly in helping Ricky’s parents understand what was happening through translation from the Spanish to English, but also organising a powerpoint presentation and helping Ricky during the nerves just before the ceremony started. Amongst it all I still managed to be able to take a few photos.

Rosy coming with her dad
Rosy coming up the ailse with her dad.

The wedded hands
Wedded hands now adorned with wedding rings.

You may kiss the bride.

November 2, 2007

Travelling again

Today I left Puerto Madryn on another journey. This time it was to Mendoza and then to Chile.

My bus to Mendoza. I sat just above the side door on this side.

This is the same route that I took just a little over two months ago when returning to Australia. This time however the snow was not a concern when crossing over the Andes mountains and aÂ three hour wait in Mendoza was all it took before I was on the bus to Chile.

Santiago mall in the middle of the city.

Arriving in Santiago early in the morning from my overnight bus, a strong black coffee is needed to get me through the day. There are a number of electronic errands that are only possible here in Chile. The little township of Puerto Madryn has none of these servicesÂ and Buenos Aires hasÂ exhorbitant prices that are truly unreasonable.

“Abrazos Gratis” = “Free Hugs”

During my wandering through the mall, I came across a couple of unusual types amongst the throngs of people. They were just standing there with big smiles on their faces holding large signs in the air that read “FREE HUGS.” Most people walked right on past, some smiling at the thought, others commenting on such an unusual sight. Every now and then somebody would come up to getÂ a hug, and the sign would be lowered for a moment. Each person that was hugged walked away with a big smile on their face. What a cool idea.

Road to YWAM Chile
Walking down the road to the YWAM Chile base.

At the end ofÂ the errands, a short bus trip took me to the YWAM base where I find Ricky and Rosy practicing for their wedding tomorrow. 36 hours of continuous travel, a day in the city withouth rest, and then suddenly I was roped in to help out with wedding preparations.

Wedding Preparations
Ruth and Louisa making candle stands. My job was finding the green stuff.

I didn’t mind. It was for this very reason that I had come.

October 29, 2007August 8, 2017

My Dad is the Ex-President and my mum is the New President

Well, this was one of the articles in the local paper after Cristina Kirchner won a clear victory as the new president of Argentina yesterday. The article spoke from the perspective of her daughter, as Cristina has just taken the presidency from her husband, Nestor Kirchner who was president for the last four years.

Voting day, Sunday, was filled with lines of people everywhere, waiting to vote. From 7am in the morning until 9pm at night, the lines remained long and slow. Some people decided not to vote because of the wait, while others could not vote because they were not in their designated area. These people could go to the police and fill out a form stating their inability to vote due to location.

Everything was shut on Sunday. More than the usual. Even the churches were not allowed to hold their services, although a few of them did anyway. It seemed like a great day to stay home and enjoy a day of rest, reading and sleeping the entire day. As a result, there are no photos this time, but here are some photos (the people with lots of cameras around them and lots of photos of them are all presidential candidates).

More details (in Spanish but don’t let that stop you).

October 22, 2007

Lazy Day at the Beach

Today was a lazy day at the beach. Nothing much to do except watch the little sailing boats in their regatta and find dead soccerballs in the sand.

Regatta

It’s a hard life here some days.

Old soccerball in the sand

October 21, 2007

Soccer Tournament

In the YWAM base we have a need for new musical instruments in the worship ministry team. The gear that they have is mostly broken and repaired and broken again and repaired again. It has gotten to the point that they cannot depend upon the microphones. Worse, the only electric-acoustic guitar that they had was destroyed in a fall.

Fixing the goals
Welding up the broken goals.

So to help fund the purchase of some basic gear they decided to organise a soccer tournament between the churches of Port Madryn. Although not all participated… the church that I was sent to had only three people turn up and all of them were women… we ended up with six teams playing including two teams from us.

Adding the missing bits
Some parts had been completely missing.

We had our staff team (Tito as captain, Rene, Gaby, Fabian, Daniel, and me) and a Discipleship school team (Jorge as captain, Gabriel, Juan Pablo, Ernesto, Dawelky, Stephanie, and Heather). The two girls were happy to go it with the boys as they loved playing soccer and there was no girls team.

Hard play

We were ready after lots of repairs on our old goals, changing our soccer field from up-down to cross-wise and making it larger, putting up big nets to catch stray balls before they left the property, and leveling out the ground somewhat. A quick game between ourselves the day before to make sure all was good, some last minute work on the day, and then we just needed to wait for the teams to turn up.

Jorge going hard

By the end of the first series of rounds, our staff team was set to move into the play-offs. The Discipleship school team also moved into the playoffs as the losing team with the highest points score. We beat them and moved into the final.

Discipleship school team playing hard

The final took place immediately after our semi-final play-off, leaving us all tired as we competed against a team that had been able to rest up. This is not an excuse for the fact that we lost this game. They were better players and deserved to win. It is just that I believe we would have made them work harder for their prize if we had been given a short rest between the games.

A dirt field

As it turned out, the winning team took home a lovely big trophy to remember the day by. We too ended up with a trophy that said we were “Sub-Campeones”, which brought a smile to all of our faces.

Raising dust

That night we all slept solidly. We were stuffed.