When I first arrived in Buenos Aires and visited YWAM in the city, it happened to be a Friday. Every Friday evening the people in the city centre bases travelled out to the Ituzaingo base for a "Buenos Aires" meeting, and I was invited. This meeting involved a lot of fun activities, sharing the things that had happened during the week, and eating together afterwards. It was a lot of fun. Arriving at 5pm, I waited another hour before we were all ready to leave. Our transport... an old bus. This old bus has been a part of YWAM in Buenos Aires for quite some time now, and after reconditioning the motor it goes very smoothly. Unfortunately the bodywork of this beast is in great need of repair. The old bus as it looks today. Large sections of paint flaking off, rust holes showing up in the floor, broken indicators and windows, and other bits and pieces tell you that this bus has seen a lot of work. For Argentina it is old, but not down and out. When I first saw it however, it was quite a shock to the system. Sitting on the bus, there were more of us than the seats could manage, and we then jammed a whole bunch of bags and equipment in amongst us all. My seat, like all of the seats in this bus, was super tight on the knees. It was kind of like a top level basketball player trying to sit in the economy class section of an airplane. It didn't quite work. Parked under a tree to try and protect the remaining paint. So with knees up around the shoulders, I fit myself in and the journey began. Others, shorter than I was, managed to make themselves comfortable in this old bus. But not so for me. The discomfort and lack of room only served to etch this journey indelibly into my mind forever. That and the heat. In Buenos Aires in the summer it is very hot. Sitting cramped amongst dozens of other people equally cramped, while stuck inside a tin roof with the sun beating harshly upon it, using tiny window openings for ventilation while inching forward in traffic turns a bus into a sauna. Perspiration rolled down my face and back as I sat on my pre-heated vinyl seat. Enjoying the moments that a break in the traffic gave us opportunity to generate a breeze through the windows. It was never enough however, but it felt great. Arriving was a great experience, and after stumbling off the old bus and teaching my legs how to walk again, it was great to stretch and feel the blood in my feet once more. That old bus had done a wonderful job and gotten us here. How wonderful it is to have something like that to help us in our transporting of people all over the city and further. Looking at the old thing today, I can see that there is still a lot of life left in the beast, and was glad to hear that there is now a project underway to repair it. Removing and replacing rusted metal sections, repainting it, and fixing up the seating inside are all on the agenda. Already the original seats that I experienced have been removed and a handful of better seats have taken their place in the back section. The newer seats that have replaced the old ones. There is a lot of work to get it into good condition, but this is the goal. I look forward to seeing the finished job, once they get there, and just so I would not forget what it was like beforehand, I snapped off a few shots of the precious Mercedes Benz bus that created such a clear memory of my first moments in YWAM Argentina. The broken indicator. Driving position. The Argentine flag proudly displayed at the front.