Countries – Page 9

May 9, 2008

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.

May 8, 2008

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.

May 5, 2008November 19, 2016

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.

April 11, 2008

Life in Bariloche

In early March I returned from Peru to arrive back in my home base of Puerto Madryn. Late to mid March I was on the move again, to spend two months in Bariloche, a beautiful city nestled right in amongst the Andes mountain ranges and alongside a huge blue lake. It is also home to a LOT of chocolate. It is here that a new YWAM base has started its first Discipleship Training School, and I am here to help them in the school and to also help build, buy, fix, or sort out whatever they need in the base building area. Of course, it seems that wherever I go, there is something also related to websites involved. But that is par for the course these days.

It has been almost one month here now. So how has it been?

I am enjoying Bariloche, and although I was supposed to be here for only 2 months I am now here for 3 months, until the DTS school ends, which is actually great in a lot of ways because now I will get to finish my first DTS school as staff since being in YWAM. It always worked out that somewhere along the way my other activities would pull me out of the school early. So this is a good thing.

Bariloche is now getting cold. We had our first snow fall on the mountain tops two nights ago and most of it has now melted away. It is truly magnificent to see this amazing sights, things that I have never seen in my life before and I am really truly enjoying it, even if I have to sleep with a jumper and socks so early before winter. It has been a really windy month here and the wind blows so strongly through the night that it rattles our roof and wakes me up. Every time that I wake up I wonder if the roof is going to get blown off. It hasn’t yet, and the wind has now died down so that has to be a good thing.

Us guys are now living upstairs in the room above the kitchen. It has a wooden floor and by nature of being above everything one would think that it would be really warm. But all of the windows are wooden and really bent out of shape. I have had to get the grinder out to get some of them to actually shut. Even closed, the wind whistles through the gaps and so our room ends up being the coldest place in the house. Just today I was up there at the balcony doors putting foam sealing strips and pumping silicone into all of the gaps in the frames. There is still a slight breeze coming from somewhere but now the curtains do not move around in the breeze. Hopefully tonight will be a little warmer now.

The DTS school is going really well. My role has been translating during all of the classes. I am also brushing up on my guitar skills and leading the worship times which has been a challenge yet worked out really well every time. There are three ladies and two guys in the school, so I am discipling the guys and because one of the girls is from Canada and only speaks English I also help the others communicate with her, and her with the others. She shared with everyone today about some of her frustrations of not being able to communicate and took advantage of the moment to also share some of the things that she had been wanting to say. The others had felt her frustration and sympathised with her, also sharing with her their frustrations of not being able to chat with her too.

Although the prices of everything here are much higher there are many more things here too. The city here is a little bigger than Puerto Madryn, with about 130,000 people here and about 50,000 people in Madryn. The best part of it all (for now) would have to be all of the different chocolate factories and being able to stop in their coffee shops and enjoy a rich hot pure chocolate drink every visit to town. A little indulgent I know, but ooooh so wonderful, and besides I hardly head into town, only once or twice a week.

So that is life here in Bariloche. All of my stuff is still over in Puerto Madryn, and even though I brought over two really loaded suitcases it seems as though I hardly have enough stuff for the cold. It is really really cold even now, probably because of the high levels of humidity, and some of my warmest stuff is not feeling so warm any more. Will have to start layering up the clothes soon. But I am really enjoying this place.

It has been great to come here for this time.

March 17, 2008

Back in Madryn – But Going Again

I guess it has been a while since writing something here. Life in missions seems to get really hectic at times. Even when I was travelling there seemed to be more time to write than now-a-days. At the end of every day, when I normally write something, I am exhausted and just want to sleep. Yet it is right at this moment that the people in whose house I am staying want to talk with me. So another hour or so of chatting and finally I collapse into bed, exhausted. The next day it starts all over again.

With each day like this, time for getting to the internet is limited and when I do get there, it is normally only enough to read my emails and answer just a few. The time available to write something more involved is just not there, and although a laptop would make things easier, I am yet to enjoy that luxury. So for now there will remain a 2 month gap. The events of Peru will have to remain written only in ink in my daily journal.

Now that I am back again in Puerto Madryn, there is more time to be able to write. However, in a couple of days I am on the move again. Bariloche is my destination, where a new YWAM base was opened one year ago. In Bariloche they are starting their first Discipleship Training School, which I will be helping in, and we will also be building a new room onto the house to help out with their need for more accomodation.

So here I am in Puerto Madryn, and three weeks later I’m off again. No wonder I love this life so much.

January 1, 2008

New Years Day in Miraflores, Lima

The first part of our new year was spent sleeping to recover from the night. Then we headed out in the afternoon with the girls to visit Miraflores, a richer part of Lima. Walking along the coastline gave us fantastic views of the beaches below and of almost a dozen paragliders that were soaring above.

Our hosts in Lima
Our wonderful hosts in Lima who made us feel completely welcome in their home… the Ausejos.

Our walk took us through the park of love, where a Peruvian Chinese couple that had just been married were getting their photos taken. All along the walls of the park were love hearts and love messages from unknown people to their beloveds, and couples talking, embracing and kissing were littered all around the grounds.

The cliffs of Miraflores in Lima and many paragliders.

We ended up at a food mall, below some very expensive shops in a complex that sat on top of the edges of the cliffs and offered some spectacular views. It was extremely busy and loaded with security guards, but smelled strongly of money. After a quick bite we emerged from the lower floors and caught a cab back to the house. Tonight we were heading out to the airport to pick up Darlene. Tomorrow we leave Lima.

A paraglider overhead soars past using the winds of the cliffs to give him more height.

Landing pad for paragliders
All of the paragliders were taking off and landing on this patch of grass on top of the cliffs, and giving people rides. The guy with the camera took photos of the people while the paraglider hung there in the same spot only metres above the ground.

The Park of Love, with a huge statue of a couple kissing. It is said that you are allowed to kiss anybody if you drag them under the shadow of this statue. While we were there I never saw anybody trying to drag someone down there, so maybe this is just a tale.

Coastline
Looking back over to the lighthouse, the point where we had come from.

Rich food area
This section of Miraflores was the richest part that I have seen in Lima. Filled with security guards and very expensive shops, it also sported many of the typical America fast-food joints (Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, Starbucks, etc).

The Marriot Hotel
On the other side of the road to this rich complex was the very elaborate Marriott Hotel. We were in an upper-class area of Lima, although Paul informs me that there are richer areas in Lima than this.

December 31, 2007

New Years Eve in Lima, Peru

After arriving in Lima, we finally decided that Paul and I would remain behind and wait for Darlene to arrive at the airport. It was a perfect day on the last day of the year for a walk, so we wandered out to visit another uncle of Paul’s and then returned home along the coastal cliffs, affording a beautiful view of the ocean and beaches below.

When the night comes around we hang out chatting until midnight, climbing the stairs to the roof of the house to watch the fireworks all over the city. Our neighbours provided the most interesting fireworks displays however, probably because they were so close to us and exploding directly over our heads.

All over the city as far as we could see there were not only fireworks but also life-sized dolls being burned in the street. Paul had told me of this unusual practice on the last bus ride, so I was not surprised to see life-sized people being burned in the street even though it was still a little weird to see it actually happening.

After taking in the fireworks and the burning of the dolls we all sit down to a delicious pork and salad meal together and then continue to chat into the night. Sleep finally comes at around 3am. New year had been a good night.

The coastal cliffs of Lima, from the Magdalena looking towards Miraflores.

security doors
Lima has a reputation for being dangerous in places, and these doors do nothing to persuade you otherwise. Every house has grills and grates and doors and gates and fences and electric or razor wires around them.

moto-taxis
A moto-taxi stop. These little 3 wheeled motorbike cars have a limited range in which they can take you, but are very cheap if your destination is within this range.

Fireworks1
One of many fireworks going off all over the city during New Years Eve celebrations.

Buring doll
The person on fire in the street is a life-sized doll that is covered with old clothes that are no longer wanted or needed and then burned at midnight on New Years Eve. The belief is that if you do this you are getting rid of the old and therefore making room for the new that will now come in the new year. From what I understand it is only practised in Peru.

Neighborhood fireworks
Our local neighbours let off dozens of amazing fireworks directly above our heads as we were standing on the roof of the house where we were staying.

Street fires
Our local street was filled with burning dolls as far as the eye could see. Somewhere this burning got out of control and a firetruck raced down our street with lights blazing, dodging the existing little fires all the way down the street.

Girls playing with sparklers
We bought the girls of the house some sparklers which they enjoyed playing with.

December 30, 2007

Arriving in Lima, Peru

The bus ride from Tacna to Lima took 22 hours, leaving at 2pm one day and arriving at 12pm the next day. Once again we were on a long journey. Passing through customs was without any problems and we took advantage of the small shop there and the delay in getting the bus through to grab ourselves some better food than the sandwiches that are offered on-board. This was the last sign of civilization for a long time.

Boarding the bus in Tacna.

The desert area here is completely barren and very hot and dry. There seems to be no plant that grows in this landscape and yet as we drive along the road, the only sign that this inhospitable land has been invaded by people, suddenly great concrete jungles of cities loom up and we are engulfed by their myriads of buildings. Within these cities there are sections of grass, trees, and other signs of life, distracting the inhabitants from the grim reality of the desert that encircles them.

The international terminal in Tacna, Peru, filled with international taxis.

Before long the night comes, and sleep along with it. By the time we wake up, we have passed through Pisco and the earthquake zone and are getting very close to Lima. Some heavy traffic greets us as we move into the capital city of Peru and our bus labours to move through it. Finally we are done, we reach the bus terminal and grab our bags. What happens next is still uncertain. Six days of travel so far, with four of them on buses.

Going through customs
Passing through the customs search building. We make it through easily but the bus delays in getting through the gate.

We should be moving onward, finishing the journey. But we cannot. A visa problem left one of the students stranded in Buenos Aires, and we need to wait for her to arrive at the airport here. The question now is who waits and who goes. So it is time for lunch, and some decisions. We take refuge in Paul’s uncles place, using it to store our bags so we can go out for a meal and stop at internet for a moment.

Green next to desert
When the green ends, the desert begins immediately.

Sandy and few rocks
Finding rocks in this desert was very unusual.

Green and brown
The difference that a little water can make in such a dry place is amazing.

Selling to the bus passengers
Every time the bus stopped we were swamped with people trying to sell things to those on the bus.

Passing through a local village, supported by a nearby river.

River in desert
Streams of living water in dry places… a strong flowing river for such a desert area.

One of many local beach resorts as we near Lima – the next day.

Rich beach community
A rich beachside community on the outskirts of Lima.

Main street in Lima
Finally we reach the busy streets of Lima, Peru.

Stopping in Taxi
Stopping outside the house of Pauls Uncle to find a refuge in the middle of Lima.

December 29, 2007

Heading Northward – Arica and Tacna

Arriving in Arica was a welcome relief to our tired bodies, tired of the travel and hungry for some decent food. So the first thing we did was store our backpacks and head to town for a hearty meal. Arica has some lovely beaches which are very tempting, although we only ever got to see them from a distance. Lunch was our priority.

The beach at Arica
The beaches of Arica, Chile.

Lunch was a hearty meal in some small restaurant in front of the local train station. Only two trains leave per day so our restaurant was not even remotely busy when we stopped by. A huge plate of rice, meat, salad, and fried potato chips combined with Peru’s unique Inka Cola softdrink went a long way to appease the hunger that we all had. Some icecreams afterwards helped fill up any remaining holes.

Paul ready to eat
Paul salivating over our delicious lunch… after days of bus food.

After lunch we wandered through the city centre and looked around for some tax-free shopping. Iquique is the city with tax-free everything and after looking around we could not find anything that was truly tax-free other than stoves and fridges. Wandering through the back streets we find our way back to the bus terminal, grab our bags and then head off to the other, international terminal, to take a taxi to Peru.

The main mall of Arica, Chile.

Wandering through the streets trying to find our way back to the bus terminal.

Crossing the border to Tacna was without any problems at all. I had expected it to involve a thorough search of our bags and other checks for duty-free items, but since Tacna is also part of the tax-free zone, we only needed to get our passports stamped and were through.

In the international taxi to Tacna
Riding in the taxi on the way from Chile to Peru.

Peru border crossing
Arriving at the Peruvian border crossing.

Upon reaching Peru, the prices of everything dropped considerably. We were all exhausted so we bought bus tickets for the next day and then found ourselves a $10 soles per night room in a residential setting.Â Our night involved a wander around the markets and the town centre and then going out for a big meal of wood-fire cooked pizza. It was delicious.

Everything closed at night
During the night most of the shops were closed.

Breakfast at the markets
Eating breakfast the next day at the markets.

The next day we returned to the markets and picked up some very cheap bits and pieces. I grabbed some stuff for computers, while the girls were more focused on the clothes and leg-hair-pullers and stuff like that. It was tough trying to find each other in the labrynth of small shops within the markets, and by the time we all got together again our bus was about to leave. So with packaging and bags flying everywhere, we all jam our newly acquired stuff into our bags and race out to the bus terminal ready to start the next leg of our journey… to Lima.

Paul happy with his purchases
Paul returning from the markets, very happy with his purchases.

The city centre
The only part we got to see during the day of the city, because of our rush to catch the bus.

December 28, 2007

Heading Northward – Chile

Here are a few photos and some descriptions about our journey northward. The most significant part of the journey was what we saw along the way, so it makes sense to let you see the photos rather than write much about it this time.

One of the things you do while bored at midnight on the bus to Chile… play with water bottles and headlamps and then take photos of it.

Making the next bus
Arriving in Santiago, we did not even get our bags off the first bus before they were calling us over to this next bus as it was ready for departure and waiting for us.

Some of the first beaches north of Santiago in Chile were beautiful and very inviting too. If ever there comes an opportunity, I can see a return to the old sport of spear-fishing again.

wind power
Wind turbines indicate that this place sees a lot more wind than we experienced during our trip.

Sleeping beauties
It’s probably a bit mean to put this photo up, but the reality was that Yamila and Lorena slept through virtually the entire journey. So it seemed appropriate to share it as part of our experience on the journey northward. Of course they missed out on all of the wonderful sights because they were sleeping.

Note how much grass and vegetation exists here. This is still relatively close to Santiago. It changes quickly however.

An (almost) island seaside resort. It does look very inviting. No idea where it is, as we only found our map of Chile once we had reached Peru. So it has not helped us at all.

Local fishing villiage
A local fishing village, and the place where the bus almost left without us. I had visited the local loo, and when I returned to the bus, it had already pulled out from the platform and was about to take off. Fortunately the door was still open, so I dived inside before it closed. Somehow I suspect (hope) they were waiting for me in their own, rather rushed, way.

Barren household
Suddenly the landscape changes to mostly desert. This is one lonely house in the middle of a long drive to nowhere. It surprised me just how many people chose to live in the middle of nowhere… and I still wonder where they get the water they need to survive out there.

The landscape was not only barren, but also rocky and barren in some places.

Desertscape
The desert-scape was quite amazing in places as we looked out over the amazing mountains that surrounded us. Climbing up and over them caused our ears to pop frequently.

Greenery where there is water
Not everywhere was desert. In some places there were rivers that sustained enough water to reach the sea. Sometimes this water was a mere trickle, but the people built farms around it and dug holes to capture it. As a result there were a couple of places with really green farmland that stood out in sharp contrast with the desert lands surrounding it.

sunset
Sunset on our first day. There was still the entire night and half a day left before we would reach Arica, our destination city at the top end of Chile.

Climbing mountains
The next day was more of the same, until we started climbing up and down many mountains and valleys such as this one.

Houses in a river-bed
Houses and properties built along the riverbed of a large valley. We had almost reach Arica by now, and came over the last hill to see hundreds of these houses stretching out along the dry riverbed. I guess it never floods in a place like this.

Houses along the riverbed
Looking out along the riverbed scattered with houses everywhere. They extended for a long way to the left also.

Coca-cola mountain
Coca-cola gets to etch its advertising slogan even into the mountains here.

Finally arrived in Arica
Finally we have arrived in Arica, the northernmost city of Chile, and right next to the border of Peru. It had been a long journey and we were all exhausted, so it was wonderful to know that we had made it this far.

Our journey northward in Chile was now over, well, apart from crossing the border that was.