Well, it is now several hours since I arrived in Argentina. All items that I packed are still with me, although there were a few (mis-) adventures along the way…
Find a Wife by Sending Team
Having created over half a dozen websites throughout the year, I have always tried to present them in a very formal and yet accessible way. Each site is carefully written, normally in Spanish first and then translated to English, and much care goes into what is said and the way that it is said.
All of this just emphasises even more just how great an error it was that I had made only recently which continued undiscovered until today. You see, it all started when I was building a website during my last week in Argentina for a YWAM base there.
During the early part of the week, as I was writing the basic pages of the website, it seemed ok to have a little fun with some of the content. The base here consists mainly of women, and most of them are single at that. None are very young. So while writing about how the base accommodates foreign teams, I ignored the niggling feeling that perhaps I would forget to edit out this bit and continued writing. What I wrote, roughly translated was:
“If you would like a wife, then we recommend that you only send male teams here. Ages from 25 up please, because we are not looking for those who are too young… Be aware that we have already had significant success using this method.”
This was found amongst other paragraphs of serious content explaining how teams could get to the base, what the base would do for each team, and more. It looked like it belonged there.
It ended up on the live website. For two weeks.
I received no emails about it so hopefully nobody noticed. As soon as I realised it was removed from the site, but by this time Google and other search engines would have already sucked down the site.
So now I’m wondering how many people who are searching for “find a wife in buenos aires” are being sent to the YWAM base’s new website?
Doh!
For being professional, I certainly let my guard down that time. No more games or attempts at being funny on other people’s websites for me… or at least no more rushes to get websites up before long flights.
Now, talking about a wife…
A Week in Buenos Aires
Before leaving Argentina I headed to Buenos Aires for a week. There was still one YWAM base in Argentina that did not have a website yet. My goal was to give them one by the end of the week. It worked.
Through a lot of hard work and some very late nights, it was possible to piece together a website for YWAM Capital Base by the end of the week. This was not without its problems, but with a lot of work and the effortless work of Silvana by my side, we finally did it (now replaced by a newer version done by another).
More after the jump…
Life in the Aires
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.
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.
The Effects of a Volcano
The ashes of the Chaiten volcano in Chile have now reached Buenos Aires.
As a result all flights to the south have been cancelled, as well as
flights to the United States. If more ashes arrive all flights will be
cancelled.
In Bariloche the ashes continue to fall. Schools are closed or
closing, people are remaining inside, dust masks have been sold out
around the city, and most places are closed. All road traffic is
virtually non-existent, and drinkable water is becoming scarce.
Currently located in Buenos Aires, it is hard to see any ashes here,
but it is a very large city, and the airport is on the western edge,
toward the volcano. Should the ashes continue to fall my return to
Bariloche may be delayed. Just as well that with the jobs remaining to
repair this house where I’m working it’ll keep me busy. I’d love to
get back there though to see how things have been affected.
One of my concerns is how this will affect the snow this season, but
this is minor compared to the difficulties that the ashes have wrought
in every affected area. One volcano, a little ash, and how
significantly we are affected.
Volcano Next Door and Other Activities
I imagine that You are probably already informed of the volcano in
Chaiten, Chile that is currently in eruption. Well this smoking
mountain is only a few hundred kilometres from me on the other side of
the Andes Mountains. We have been fine in Bariloche, escaping the
ashes until today.
Today they have arrived. Instead of snow, ashes are floating down over
the city and environs, covering everything in sight. This ash affects
everything it touches, destroying some things, polluting others, and
clogging up the rest. It affects breathing, hinders road transport (my
current concern), stops flights, and closes down the city.
Right now I’m in Buenos Aires, with the hope that I’ll be able to
return Sunday night. Buses to our neighbouring city of Esquel were
cancelled while the ashes were falling. The situation is very
changeable so it will be the day before when this becomes clear.
Not only is it the ashes that may cause travel hiccups but for the
next 9 days farmers are blocking the mayor traffic routes around the
country. They are striking against government control over what they
can grow and export, and also to ask for higher meat prices.
During their talks with the government, when communication breaks
down, they take to the main routes and block traffic. Their main
target is the trucks, but as a result there can be large delays,
exceeding 6 hours.
So for now I continue working on fixing up this old house. My work
involves covering doorways with plaster board, building a mezzanine
floor with stairs and handrail, and helping calculate the materials
needed to finish the work here.
The work is extensive, with rendering, painting, repairs, and many
ceilings yet to be done. With only one week here, my work will be
focused on the most urgent things, that need to be done before people
can occupy this place. Already the bathrooms and kitchen are mostly
finished and usable, with hot and cold water. The rest of the work
will be finished once they are living here.
That’s my lot. Take care and have a great day.
Heading to Buenos Aires
Well, I should really be moving right now, but thought it was worthwhile sending off a quick message to you to let you know that within an hour I will be hurtling along in a double-decker luxury bus on the way north to Buenos Aires. The purpose? To fix up an old house that will be used by the Counselling ministry arm of YWAM Argentina. This house needs ceilings, floors, and divisions. Although the work appears to be much more than we can do in just one week, that is all the time that I have available to give them. This is part of the Mobile Hands ministry that I have mentioned before.
So with a nail-gun in hand, and lots of energy, we will be knocking over as much as we can possibly do during this time. There are others coming from other parts also for this time. And when the week is over, we all head back to where we have come from. So I get to return to Bariloche, a town that is very easy to fall in love with for its beauty.
Well, enough said, I need to make sure that I am on that bus. Have to go right now.
Wedge and Shirley Alman
Our second week in Buenos Aires was a week of teaching by the two people who founded YWAM in Latin America. Wedge and Shirley Alman are a couple who came to Latin America and told them that they could be involved in missions during a time when all of the traditional mission agencies were saying that they never would be.
At almost 80 years of age, this couple had many stories to share with us, but the most important thing that they shared was something called the Open View of God. More information on this can be found in the book by Gregory A. Boyd called “God of the Possible.” This challenges the traditional view of many churches that God controls all evil and uses it for His purposes.
The week was run as is any other normal week on a YWAM base, with our students involved in the daily running and maintenance of the grounds, cooking of meals and the rest. The weather was very hot and muggy with gadzillions of mosquitoes out to suck our blood at night. Sleeping was very difficult during this week especially.
During the week I had the privilege of driving down the largest avenue in the world, the Avenida 9 de Julio in the middle of Buenos Aires, where the Obelisk is located. The best part of this however was the motorway interchange that brought me down onto this avenue. The motorway is elevated from the ground and the interchange brought us commanding views over the entire city and avenue. It was worth returning for a second view. Of course the heavy traffic that is typical of such a mega-city was ever present during our time there too.
Overall the week was great, and we were thankful to have remained for this extra time in Buenos Aires, even though it meant we were away from our home in Puerto Madryn for one month.
International YWAM Conference
After two weeks in Colombia, we are now back in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This week there is a conference involving all of the YWAM bases in what they call the “Southern Cone” which includes the countries of Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and of course, Argentina. Staff and students who were able to travel the distance are now gathered here in the muggy warmth of a Buenos Aires summer day.
Looking down the crowd to the stage from the back of the tent.
Under the large temporary tent, we squeeze in the 600 or so attendents as we all listen to speakers, musicians, artists, and others throughout the day. Everything is translated into both Spanish, and English, as many are here who can only speak English.
One of the only things that was not translated was the worship times.
One of the highlights of the week is when Wedge Alman spoke. He was the man who brought YWAM down to the Americas in the 1970’s. Before this there was no YWAM bases anywhere south of the United States. An older man these days, he still has the fire of life in his eyes and this can be felt in every one of his messages too.
Wedge Alman (on the right) with Steve Bishop (left) translating him into English.
Enroute to Colombia
Yesterday I was in Puerto Madryn.
Today I am in Buenos Aires.
Tomorrow I will be in Colombia.
Two weeks in Colombia actually. To get to know Carol’s parents and family and to see a little of her country. Our flight stops in Peru and Ecuador on the way, so we get to see the main cities from the air.
Looking out as we fly over Ecuador
Ayer estuve en Puerto Madryn.
Hoy estoy en Buenos Aires.
Mañana estaré en Colombia.
Dos semanas en Colombia de verdad. Para conocer los padres de Carolina y su familia y para conocer un poquito de su paÃs también. Nuestro vuelo parará en Perú y Ecuador antes de llegar en Colombia entonces podemos ver estas ciudades del aire.