Formosa trip March 3-15

Formosa is a province in the north on the border of Argentina and Paraguay. We were working with the Toba people. They are indigenous Indians that still live in colonies and big family groups. They were forced off their good land and were continually forced to move north until they reached the area that is now Formosa. The government gave them that land to live on, but it happens to be some of the worst land in Argentina, ironic, huh? There are several Nazarene churches in the area.

A small group of us from Buenos Aires packed the bus and trailer and started our long 20 hour drive north to Formosa at 6AM Wed., March 3. The group from the U.S. was arriving on Friday night and we needed to get the facilities ready for 20-25 people to live for a week. When we arrived, there was no running water, which means, no running toilets, no running sinks, and no showers. We cleaned for two days, trying to scare off the spiders, mosquitoes, and one mouse. Thankfully, we were able to get water running to all the bathrooms and the kitchen! Although it's not okay to drink, it was nice for showers, toilets, and cleaning.

The group consisted of 15 people total, 14 from Olivet, 2 nursing profesors, an engineering professor (my dad), and 6 nursing students. Besides my dad, I knew four other people in the group and it was great to see some familiar faces from home! The group from Buenos Aires consisted of Carlos, the trip coordinator, Stefanie, Elaine, and Edguardo who all came to help cook, clean, translate and to have the experience, and me. Drs. Alberto and Rosita Ainscoff along with Jesica, all from Buenos Aires, joined us as well. Also, Delfin, a Toba pastor joined us for the week.

Each day the doctors and nurses had clinics, I led Vacation Bible School, a group painted the clinic, and we had at least one church service. One day we also handed out clothes and another day we fed the people that were coming to the clinic because it was raining and they couldn't return to their homes to eat.

This was my third trip to Formosa, but I had a lot of "firsts". It was the first time I had helped plan a mission trip, the first time I had led VBS by myself, the first time I had spoken in Spanish to a large group of people, the first time I had explained the evangecube (besides for practice) and in Spanish, and the first time I have really had to conserve water.


I was greatly impacted by the Toba people. They live very simply and while we were there, we lived simply too. We were without many of our possessions and conveniences like computers, internet, cell phones, ipods, hot showers, air conditioning, etc. I've learned that I like these times and I think it is very beneficial. It strips you down to the basics of living, it takes away the distractions, and it keeps you focused on your purpose.

One thing that I've learned while being here in Argentina and even more on this trip to Formosa is the importance of spending time together. People spend several hours a day just sitting around talking to one another, spending time together, getting to know one another, sharing life together! On this trip we brought free medical attention, gifts for the children, clothes, and food to the Tobas, but what they liked most was just that we came to visit! It means so much to them that we came to sit and talk with them, to share what God is doing in our lives, to worship together! Before we even arrived, they were preparing for us to come. One of the churches put in a concrete floor so the church would be nicer and cleaner for us to have the clinic in. One lady in the church made typical Toba necklaces for each person in our group.

I was very touched by the way that they have their church services. They ask anyone who wants to to say something, to give a greeting, or to give a testimony. They want as many people as possible to share something. They want to hear from you. I loved that during that time, people would stand up and speak about what God was doing in their life, a miracle that had happened that week, a prayer answered, a prayer request, a word of wisdom, a blessing, etc. That is the true body of Christ! They sing songs a capella passed down orally from one generation to another. They don't have slides or books. We learned and sang songs in Toba and in Spanish and then we taught them a song in English, "How Great is Our God". It was awesome to have people from different countries, of different colors, speaking three different languages, but serving the same God as brothers and sisters in Christ! It gives me a bigger picture of the body of Christ and what heaven must be like!

Since I've grown so much in my Spanish, I was able to communicate so much better than when I could only speak some broken sentences. It was so great to be able to build those relationships even stronger!

One day we went to visit my friend Michal at her mission/seminary in Asuncion, Paraguay. We went to Olivet together. She was a nursing major, so she knew the nursing profesors and some of the group members. She also knows my dad because they went on a mission trip together last year. We helped her with taking general health information for the students at the school there as well as helped out with class devotions.

We also went to Iguazu Falls!!!! This time to the Brazil side! It was gorgeous!!

We had a wonderful trip full of fun, service, fellowship and much more! God was at work and continues to be at work in each one of our lives!

Hello all! I hope this finds you well! I'm doing well here in Argentina. We're getting ready to go on another mission trip to Formosa. My dad is bringing a group from the US and we are bringing a small group of people from where I live. We're going to have two doctors and several nurses attend to about 500 patients per day for about 4 days! Some of the team will be doing some painting and I am in charge of evangelism for children. This is a big task and I am a little nervous because I will have to give directions, lead games, and talk to them about God all in Spanish. I'm doing well with Spanish, but I've never talked to a big group like this before and I just don't want to mess up the message or have them not understand me. There could be 100-500 children there each day, so I have my work cut out for me. My dad will be doing maintenance on a water purification system that he installed a couple years ago there. The system primarily runs on solar panels but has back up batteries. A couple weeks ago someone stole the solar panels, so to my understanding the system does not work, unless the batteries can be charged. So we're bringing a charger, but I pray that we can get that working again because that provides clean water to so many people. The group from here is leaving on Wednesday, March 4 to travel the 20 hours north to Formosa. We'll be cleaning, getting food, and getting the facilities ready for the group. My dad's group comes on Friday night. We will be going to Iguazu Falls again, which will be awesome because they're gorgeous! I'm really excited about seeing my dad and some friends and familiar faces from home! We'll be returning on Saturday the 14th.

Last weekend, my friends Stefanie and Elaine and I went to Cordoba to see some friends. Our friends are Nelson and Claudia and they're expecting a baby in five months! Nelson is an accountant and Claudia is a physical therapist/kinesiologist. Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina, next to Buenos Aires and is about a 10 hour bus ride away. We left on Friday and came back on Monday, so it was a short trip, but we had a great time! Saturday we walked around the city and they showed us some old churches and cathedrals that were being restored as well as government buildings and some places for shopping. Sunday we took a bus about 30 minutes west to where the mountains start! It was really pretty! I was so glad to finally see the mountains, because Argentina's are really pretty, but I had never seen them before. We walked around the touristy parts and bought some souvenirs and then we took a ski lift up on a hill that overlooked the whole city. So we saw the city and the mountains surrounding it! It was beautiful! Our friends are really great people and fun to be with, so we had a great weekend! One thing that was really funny to me is that on the ride there we passed through a section that looked exactly like the Midwest. I felt like I was driving through Illinois, Missouri or Kansas. It was flat and there were a lot of corn fields and farm land.

I'm planning on coming home at the end of April and I'm really looking forward to it! I've really learned a lot here and I've grown in many ways. It has been a really great experience, but I'm ready to move to the next step of my life and see how what I've learned here will impact my life at home. I'm applying to graduate schools for a masters in counseling and planning to move to Colorado, but that depends on a few things. When I get home I need to find a job, and with our economy the way it is, I'm not sure how that will go, but I have hope.

I want to share some verses that I read today:
John 12:42-50
⁴²Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. ⁴⁹For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. ⁵⁰I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Jesus came to save, not to judge. He came to be light and point to the Father. I want to be like Jesus in that the Father commands me what to say and how to say it! I want others to see Him through me. I want to recognize his voice more and more and for him to continue to guide my steps. Without him I can do nothing, he is the strength in my weakness and the love that I live for!

I would really appreciate your prayers for the mission trip and for what I will be doing when I return home! Thank you for your support!

Sending love and hugs:)

PS. You can see more pics of Cordoba here:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047851&id=69600827&l=af75e

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047857&id=69600827&l=8b587

Thanksgiving in the heat

The seasons are opposite here, so we're in spring now and it's soon becoming summer. The days are hot and humid, but normally sunny and beautiful! The temperature has been in the 90's, but hasn't reached 100 yet, although I'm sure it's right around the corner. I don't mind the heat that much, but it's hard to cool off and sometimes it takes it's tole on my body, making me really exhausted. The girls, Stefanie and Elaine, that live down the street from me, and I bought a small pool to cool off in! It's nice and refreshing, but sometimes the water gets heated by the sun and it's like bathwater, haha! That's not so refreshing! Our offices are air conditioned, but my apartment and the girl's house is not. Other missionaries' houses are, but ours aren't.

We had Thanksgiving together with all the missionaries! It was nice! We had most of the normal Thanksgiving food and it was all really good! Although there were about 50 people there, it didn't fully feel like Thanksgiving because I wasn't with my family. We had tables set up outside our Director's house and after dinner the kids all went swimming in their pool! It's also hard getting into the Christmas mode! It's weird listening to Christmas music when I'm sweating or sitting in the pool, it just doesn't seem right! They don't have Thanksgiving in Argentina, so stores have had Christmas decorations up since October it seems. It's funny how some of the decorations have snow, but that's not what Christmas is like here. I guess America has influenced what "Christmas" looks like.

I'm really excited to come home for Christmas! I get to be home for about 3 weeks! It'll be so nice to be with my family and friends again! I've been in kind of a little slump recently. I'm in need of a change. I'm tired of my days and weeks being so much the same. I need to start doing different things and having a variety in my life. Also, some aspects of Argentine culture have started to really bother me. I feel like I'm in need of a break, a retreat, a time to get away from the normal activities and reflect and renew. I've started reading Dr. Bowling's book "Making the Climb" and I'm really enjoying that! I'm not much of a reader, I don't usually read for fun, but I started reading it when I was in the airport on my way here and I've begun to read it again. It's been great to follow him on his journey to the "roof of Africa" and read about his thoughts, reflections, and experiences there!

My flight leaves Dec 12 and I'll be home until Jan 6. I'm looking forward to this time at home! And then I'll start the second leg of my journey in Argentina and continue learning what God has for me! As always, thanks for your love and support!

3 months!

I have been here three months now, which is hard to believe. Time passes differently here for me because I know that I only plan on being here for 10 months. On the one hand, I feel like I've just begun, but on the other hand, I feel like I've done a lot already. I feel like I finally have my feet on the ground. I know my way around. I know how things work, well, most of the time. I can have general expectations of what things will be like. Because these things are settled for the most part, and I don't have to worry about them, it allows me to focus on the more important things, like relationships. I have several Argentine friends that I've become very close to and there is a small group of us that hang out together at least three times a week. My core group of friends includes Edy from Mexico, Sergio from Bolivia, and Aline from Brazil (and she's also lived in Argentina, Venezuela, and the US). It's funny because none of us are actually from Argentina. Sometimes there are others that join us as well and then sometimes there are a ton of us that get together for birthday parties and special occasions.

There are two girls from the US that have come in the last month. Stefanie is from Idaho and Elaine is from Kansas. They are volunteers as well and they live right down the street from me in one of the missionary houses! They are both in their twenties and both went to Nazarene colleges as well, so we have a lot in common. It's been so awesome to have them here! I go over to their house all the time! I kind of feel like we're a little family sometimes. It's so nice to be able to share our culture, language, and way of life! It's also nice to have them to talk to about living here in a different culture, the challenges we face, and share in our adjustments to life here. We have dinner together every Tuesday and we switch off who cooks. Then we usually watch episodes of "The Office" because they have season three and four on DVD. We have Bible Study on Wednesday nights with our friend Cindy, so we usually end up eating dinner together and hanging out after that too. Stefanie brought her dog with her. His name is Tucker and he's a minature Schnauzer! He's really sweet and fun to play with! Stefanie calls me Tucker's Tia Angie, which means aunt. It's nice to have a dog in our little family, since I am away from mine.

My visa to be in Argentina is only good for 90 days and then I have to leave and renew it again. My 90 days was up Sept. 20, so Stefanie, Elaine, and I went to Uruguay to "check out" of Argentina so we could renew our visas. The girls would have had to renew theirs sometime in November, so they just decided to come with me and renew theirs too because then all of ours will last until Christmas, when we all plan to go home to the US. We took an hour-long boat ride from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay. Colonia is a really cute town. I think we were in the older part of the city, which was very quiet and quaint. One of the things that I loved was that all the buildings were different colors! We found a spot right on the coast where the water met the land and their were tons of rocks. We walked on the rocks for a while and looked at the different rock formations that the water had formed. It was very peaceful and relaxing! We walked around the city, visited several souvenir shops, ate lunch, and rested a few times on park benches in the plazas. It was really nice to get away from the in's and out's of our every day lives and step into a peaceful, carefree day of exploring a new place. We took the boat back that night and returned home with 90 more days, a couple souvenirs, a few photos, and the enjoyment of spending time in this charming little city! September 21st was the official first day of Spring here and it's beginning to warm up! The afternoons warm up to about 70 degrees, but then it cools down at night to about 45. Today, Sunday, it has rained all day and been a little chilly. We went to Sunday School this morning, ate lunch, and have just been hanging out at Stefanie and Elaine's house. The main church service is at 6pm, which is right now, but we're not going because we don't want to be out in the rain. I've been sick with a cold for the past week and am trying to rest and recuperate.

A normal week in the life of Angie

Well, things have settled down now that we're done with our two trips. We don't have any that I know of until at least the beginning of next year. I have been here two months now and am starting to get into somewhat of a routine. I thought I would take you on a tour of what a typical week looks like for me...if there is such a thing...

I start work at 8:30AM, which means I leave my apartment around 8:30. It takes about 2 minutes to walk to the office. Everyone at the office meets in the entry way and we pray together! This is a wonderful time for me because out of all the Spanish that I hear, I usually understand these prayers the most! I work at the Regional Office for South America! This office oversees all of South America, from Venezuela all the way down to Argentina! The people that work here are wonderful and I admire them greatly! After prayer, we greet one another. This means that I make my way around the room and touch cheek to cheek with each person while making the kissing sound. This is the greeting here and it's considered rude and unfriendly if you don't greet someone when you see them. After greeting everyone, I go upstairs to our office. It's Robin's office, but I'm sharing it with her while I'm here. I have my own desk and a bulletin board. Robin and I usually start the morning off by chatting for a while and then we start working. So far I have made two brochures for the trips that we've gone on, two power points, a Work and Witness blog, and a brochure for Sunday School ministries. I'm currently working on making Sunday School books to sell to churches and different groups. So I've made 100 copies of three different books and then correlated them together. Now I'm binding them with covers and a spiral spine. I almost finished 100 today! 200 more to go! (P.S. You can check out the Work and Witness blog at www.wwargentina.blogspot.com)

Lunch is from 12:3o-2. I usually go back to my apartment and eat, do dishes, or sometimes sleep! Then I go back to work from 2-5. Robin only works mornings because she needs to be home in the afternoons to take care of her girls. So I usually work alone in the afternoons. After work I, well, I don't really have a usual thing that I do. Sometimes I go to downtown Pilar with a friend and walk around, shop, window shop, and maybe get empanadas! Sometimes I go to Robin's house and play with her girls or talk to Robin for a little bit. Sometimes I go back to my apartment and check email, get on facebook, or watch a movie. During the evenings I make and eat dinner between 7 and 8. Then I talk to my parents, to family, to friends, play guitar, email, get on facebook, and then go to bed around 10:30 or 11. Or I go out with friends to a restaurant, to a movie, to play pool, or to someone's house or church. If I go out with friends, I usually don't get back to my apartment until between 11:30 and 1:30! Argentines stay out usually 'till 1 or 2 in the morning. It's hard for me to be on that schedule because I need a lot of sleep and when I don't get it, I barely function in English, let alone in Spanish! But, we usually have fun whatever it is we're doing until the wee hours of the morning, so I guess it's worth it! Usually it's just sitting around talking, which is one thing I really enjoy about this culture. Relationships and spending time together is the most important thing here!

On Wednesday mornings instead of meeting for prayer in the foyer, we meet upstairs in the board room for devotions. We pray first, like every other day, and then the pastor from church gives a little devotion. This Thursday I did something new; I went to a class at the Seminary! It's a class on writing and communication in Spanish. Carlos and Robin both go to it and Carlos suggested I go to practice and learn more about Spanish. The professor is Elena, who I went to the zoo with a couple weekends ago. She's from Peru and we've become pretty good friends! It was cool having her as a professor, and seeing her in that role! She's good! I learned a lot and I plan to continue going every week. It's from 8:30-12 every Thursday. I think I enjoyed it so much because I'm a visual learner and actually seeing what she was saying made a huge difference in my ability to understand and remember words and such. I took notes and participated in some exercises where we had to apply what we'd been learning. I did pretty well I think! I wasn't sure how I'd feel about being back in a class room now that I've graduated. I've really been enjoying life without school, so I didnt really want to go back just yet. But, I really like this class and I think I'm going to participate a little more than I thought. I don't want to take tests and study, but I'm not sure I'll mind that much with this class. Some words I still don't understand, which hinders me a little on assignments and quizzes and stuff, but I hope to work that out.

I have done something really fun and exciting every weekend I've been here! I've gone to many places. I've been to downtown Buenos Aires three times. I've been to Tigre, which is a part of the city that is like an island and everyone gets around on boats. I've been to the zoo and to a farm show. This past weekend I went to Rosario, which is a city about 3 hours north of Pilar. It's a pretty big city and they have a monument there for the flag of Argentina! We walked around the city, walked along the beach (although it's winter here and a little cold, it was still beautiful!), went up in the monument, shopped at the sidewalk markets (like hippie markets), and took lots of pictures!

I've gone to two different churches here so far. Carlos and Robin go to one that's about 30 min. away and I've gone with them a few times. I've also gone to the one that's down the street from where I live. A lot of the regional office people and seminary people go there. They have a class of young adults that I've gone to once and I really like it! I've only been to the class once, but I've hung out with that group several times for birthdays and stuff! Every Saturday night they get together for a devotion, worship, and just to spend time together.

That's kind of a glimpse at what my week looks like! Some weeks are busier than others. Sometimes there's something going on all the time and sometimes I have quiet evenings at home in my apartment. It's good to have a balance, especially with the Argentine schedule:)

Formosa Ark Shelter Team/ Iguazu Falls cont...

I forgot to mention that Formosa is home to the Toba Indians. They are a tribe that has been oppressed and have to live on something like a reservation. They have their own communities and churches. They live in huts made out of sticks and mud with banana leaf thatched roofs. They live pretty simply and don't have much, but they are very welcoming and want to share what they do have! There are several growing churches with lots of leaders rising up among them!

I have several albums on facebook, check out my pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039340&l=f8f02&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039343&l=ae7fd&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039368&l=f7d22&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039371&l=7427e&id=69600827

Formosa Ark Shelter Team/ Iguazu Falls

Well, this past week as been tiring, but has been absolutely amazing! The group was from all over the US, from Washington and California all the way to South Carolina and Florida! It was a great mix! They were an Ark Shelter/Jesus Film team, which means they brought and donated an Ark Shelter and brought equipment for the Jesus Film. An Ark Shelter is a big tent held up by a steel frame, that is relatively easy and fast to assemble and disassemble. It can be used for many things, so it is extremely useful on the mission field. The group arrived on Saturday. This trip was very unique because we also had a group of Argentines go with us! There is a group that always goes to Formosa with two doctors from Carlos and Robin's church. So we combined our trips! There were about 23 Americans and 17 Argentines. Since we had so many people, we rented a Coche Cama, which is a sleeper bus. The seats recline, so it's actually semi-comfortable to sleep. We left Saturday night for the 18 hour bus ride to Formosa. Surprisingly it went by pretty fast. I didn't sleep very well that first night, but every other night that we were on the bus I slept pretty well! When we got to Formosa, we checked into the hotel, ate lunch, and then went to the Nainek church. This is where we installed the water purification system last year! It was nice to be back! I was able to see the system again and get news on how it's doing! The system is doing great! It works and people are using it! This is so encouraging because we hoped that God would make it a blessing and use it to help change lives and he has! There is a clinic there, so the doctors set up their stations and started seeing patients. We had a VBS and games for the children and then we showed the Felix Vargas Film, which is a video about a man that was involved in drug trafficking and violence, but then he came to know God and his life changed. He has impacted many lives with his incredible story and we hope to pass on the message that no matter who you are or what you've done, God can change your life and give you hope and a purpose! We stayed in a hotel in Laguna Blanca, which is the same hotel that we stayed in when we came two Marches ago. The owners of the hotel remembered me! I roomed with two Argentine women. They helped me practice Spanish!

On Monday, we went to the Tacaagle Church. There we set up the Ark Shelter, the doctors saw patients, we did VBS and played games with the children, and showed the Mary Magdalen film. This film is the Jesus film, but told from Mary's point of view. At all the sights, we also handed out clothes, toys, and medicine. (the pic is of us painting faces)
(This pic is people waiting to see the doctors outside the church)


On Tuesday, we went to the Emmanuel church. The roads were very muddy because it had rained all night, so the bus could only take us so far, so we walked to the church. It was about a 10-15 minute walk. So everybody grabbed as much equipment as they could and started the trek! I had the privilege of carrying Tashi! It was kind of funny watching us all walk through the mud! I had on flip flops, so sometimes I sank down into the mud or got my shoe caught! haha! But, Tashi and I had a good time! We sang for about the last half of the trip! It helped lighten the mood:) The Emanuel church has a ton of banana and grapefruit trees! When we first got there, we were waiting for everything to get set up and I saw a bunch of grapefruits on the ground, so I started kicking it with a couple of the little boys standing around. Pretty soon we had a full circle of Americans and children kicking grapefruits around! Then, someone got the bright idea to get out the soccer balls. I didn't even think about getting the real thing because I was having fun using grapefruit! There were two sisters, 10 and 13, that I talked to for a while. I understood everything they said and they understood me! That was really encouraging! My Spanish is really improving and it's definitely an answer to prayer:) After we talked, they latched onto me and wouldn't let go. They wrapped their arms around my waist and followed me everywhere! I helped lead VBS and even when I was up front singing and doing motions to the songs, one of the sisters stood next to me! At this sight, we had a VBS, played games with the children, gave out clothes, toys, medicine, saw patients, and had a little service with singing and a message. They gave us bags and bags of grapefruit and tons of banana bunches! The grapefruit is really good! They are different from the Ruby Reds that I've had most often in the States. I ate one yesterday with no sugar! They're good! I think I even like them better! They seem to be really acidic though, so I could only stand to eat a half at one time.

On Tuesday night we left for Iguazu Falls. We drove overnight again, I think it was somewhere around 10 or 12 hours. We went to a mine first. We got a tour of the mine and they explained how the precious stones formed in the rock. I had never seen anything like that before, so it was neat to have that experience! Then we left for Iguazu Falls! We walked on the trails down to the bottom of one section of the falls. Some of us took a boat ride to get a closer look at the falls. I thought we were just going to look, but much to my surprise they actually stuck is in the falls. We got completely drenched!!! I wasn't expecting that, but oh well! That night, we stayed in a five-star hotel! It was really nice! I had my own room, which was nice because I could have some alone time and the best part about it was that I could take a 30 minute steaming hot shower!!! and not worry about sharing the bathroom! It was also nice to sleep in silence and by myself instead of with 39 other people on a bus!

On Thursday, we went back to the Falls! This time we went to the Devil's Throat! We took a train through the jungle and then hiked on bridge trails above the water for about 20-30 minutes. Then we saw it...the most amazing sight I've ever seen!!! It was incredible! It was like the earth opened up and all the water was flowing in! I can offer you pictures, but you can only truly experience it if you go yourself! I recommend that everyone put it on their "to-do" list! AMAZING:) After the Falls, we drove about 3 hours to the Jesuit Missions. We got there at sunset and got a tour in the dark. They had lights though, so we could still see. We looked around the museum, then saw the ruins. There's a movie called "The Mission" and that's about these Jesuit Missions. We watched the movie one night, but I fell asleep, so I still haven't seen it.

After that we spent another night on the bus. It was somewhere between 13 and 18 hours back to Pilar. We had to wait for about two hours in the morning because they closed the road due to fog. When we got back, we ate lunch and then I took two couples to Buenos Aires. It was only my second time to the city, but I was their tour guide! haha! I remembered enough that it seemed like I knew what I was talking about. We had a driver that took us around and then I went with them shopping and touring!

On Saturday, the rest of the group, Carlos, and I went Buenos Aires. Carlos gave an amazing tour of the city and one of the group members asked me if my tour the day before was like this one, and I told them mine was more detailed, that Carlos left a lot of stuff out! Haha!! I couldn't even tell them what buildings were what! But I think my group had a good time, and I think I gave a good tour for just being there once before! We then took most of the group to the airport. The group leader and his family weren't flying out until the next night.

On Sunday, the group leader and his family, the Radi's (Carlos, Robin, and the girls), and I went to the Radi's church and then went to El Tigre. Tigre is an island where everyone gets around by boat. There were tons of little shops everywhere! They had great stuff and I loved everything! They had a lot of great stuff to decorate with! If I had a more permanent place to decorate, I would buy stuff there. I really enjoyed looking at all their stuff! We ate lunch there and then took a boat tour of the island. I think it was about an hour! It was a relaxing ride and it was fun to see all the houses on the water! Then we took the family to the airport.