the strange dichotomy in which we live

I thought these two videos were interesting enough to share. They contrast the Argentina we used to live in, and the one we find ourselves in now. Unrest and chaos, peace and order, past and present.


BUENOS AIRES: December 20, 2001 - right after we moved back to the US from Argentina
                                (worth watching just for the images alone)

(changing government, collapse of the economy, insuing riots)

PATAGONIA, 2012: after returning to Argentina from the US

(a Friday night's drive through the neighborhood)*

*Don't let the peace transmitted by the last video fool you. It's not always so. In the last two weeks I've been attacked by three different dogs in this same neighborhood. Thankfully, they didn't bite. I screamed, yelled, threw rocks. Tony said I should carry a chain. One wack over the head and they'll never attack me again. I might give up exercizing all together instead.

We're not crazy

THESE guys are!

Wetsuits? Winds of up to 100km/hour? Temps of 55 degrees? Oh, okay, yeah... and WE'RE the crazy ones. Riiiiiight.
 
When we were in Bariloche, after dropping off some supplies and visiting with local missionaries, we popped on down to the lake. Our objective was to pacify the troops, who, after our run-in with The Shower, were finding missions somewhat distressful and not in the least bit fun. They're kids. When in ministry or missions, it is VERY important to pay attention to your kids (well, it's always important to pay attention to your kids, but you know what I mean). If it's always about everyone else, they will end up hating you, others, and even the God you say you serve.

So we left our friends up on the hill and headed out looking for something fun to do, that they wanted to do.

So there we found ourselves, standing on a deserted lake shore, throwing some rocks and sticks into the water, just minding our own business, when across the volcanic pumice...

Pumice (the white hill of smaller rocks running down the center of this picture)

... walk three guys in wetsuits.


Are you kidding me?!?

Now, I know it's summer and all, but summer in Bariloche is not like summer in Florida. And certainly not on this day. I love the cold, but even I was shivering in the blustery wind, wishing I were somewhere (as in indoors) sipping something warm and cozy, enjoying the view from there. But, because I love my kids, I was standing on this chilly lake shore, being whipped to shreds by some serious wind, throwing rocks into this wild mountain lake, trying to act like I was having fun. Because I'm a good mommy.

But, I must be officially old or something, because I don't do dangerous anymore. Except when God asks me to (which lately seems to be kind of often). And going for a swim in this lake on this day, summer or not, was not on my "Must Obey God" list.

But in these young whipper-snappers went. Young people these days. *shaking head*

And then they disappeared. Lost in the waves. I couldn't help thinking these were probably someone's kids. One cramp out there and no one's gonna hear your cries for help. You're toast. I hope my kids don't do stuff like this. But, considering their parents, they probably will.

:)

*Fortunately, and to my relief, they later emerged from the crashing waves.

the spider pictures you've all been waiting for

...or not.

Scroll down only if you want to see what an Argentinian Black Widow (Red Back) Spider looks like.

















Here are a few of the TEN Red Back Black Widows that were infesting a house just three blocks away.

you can see the red dot on the back of the one in the middle



the one they found behind the washer

Thanks, Dori, for sharing the pics. I think. At least now I know what to look for. Tony and the kids actually saw them live, well, mostly dead, twitching in the glass jars they had them in on top of their fridge. Ick.

So far we've found none here at our casita. Hope we never do. The good news is that Tony grabbed the fumigation guy when he came and talked him in to coming over and dousing our house, too.

Now, every night when I lay my little head down on my pillow, I think of black widows under my bed and flies that might crawl into... well, never mind. It's all just too gross to go on about.

I'll try not to post any more yucky spider pics. Promise.

:)

how to indentify volcanic ash in the sky

The volcanic ash has been pretty good lately - meaning there hasn't been much for weeks.

But yesterday it blew in rather quickly. The skies here are bright blue, so when it gets hazy, it's usually ash. I could tell it was blowing in because there are a few telltale signs.

ONE: Gray, Hazy Skies

This is what the sky looked like when I went out to hang up some clothes...

sky still mostly blue, but telltale hazy gray circle around the sun (some ash)

This was the sky a half hour later when I went back out to take them off the line (yes, sometimes they dry that fast here in the blustery desert)...

obviously hazy gray sky (ashy)

TWO: Blustery Winds

When the clothes go horizontal on the line, this may be an indicator that ash is blowing in...

THREE: Gray Horizon

sky may be blue, but gets noticably grayer towards the horizon

FOUR: Completely Gray Skies

Within hours, the sky can turn almost completely gray - no blue left to be seen. This is ash.

And when the sun becomes one big, hazy gray orb....

...it's time to bring the kids in, shut the windows, and have some mate while remarking to one other, "Wow, did you see the ash today?"

Spiders, Chickenpox, plus other icky stuff

***DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE ICKED OUT BY SPIDERS OR FLIES OR CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES, OR ANY PICTURES THEREOF. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.***

It's been an icky week of spiders, flies, and chickenpox. It all started when Tony went to help build that bathroom for a rural church plant.

He was told a really icky, horrible story about a member of our new church who died last year. While he was sleeping, a green fly crawled into his nose and laid eggs. The eggs hatched and the um, you know, babies... ick. I can't even say it. I'll spare you. The person was dead in a few days.

So Tony comes home, drops that bomb of a story, and begins to freak out over the few flies in the house, wildly swinging a towel at any and every one he could see in an attempt to kill them all. My girlie, who overhead the fly bomb story, sat quivering and shaking in the corner crying, "I don't want to die!".

Great, thanks, Tony.

I have to admit, I was a little freaked out, too. Now, I grew up on a farm, so flies don't bother me. At all. We had fly paper hanging above our dinner table in the summer. No big deal. But I was pretty freaked out by this true, and local story.... noting that this will be a long summer, because we have no screens on our windows. No one here does.

In other news, my baby is just getting over the chickenpox. So I guess we can add that to our ever growing list of health challenges here.

Fortunately it wasn't bad, though - and I'd take chickenpox over croup or even the common cold anyday! The oldest two didn't get it (unfortunately - I actually wish they had), because they were vaccinated before I knew what "Varicella" was.

Varicella is NO. BIG. DEAL here. People still kissed her hello and touched her and sent their kids over to play, knowing we had it. Upon finding out, they would just nod understandingly and say, "Oh, it's better they get it now, when young," or, "Oh, yeah, we've had that. It's better they get it. Stronger defenses!"

After a week of quarenteening her (so as not to spread it, not because she was feeling sick or even had a fever), we eventually started going out here and there. No one stopped, wide-eyed, pointing and screaming,

"AHHHH! Disinfect!!!

Juancito, come here! Stay away from that girl, she has (gasp) chickenpox!"

You know, it really was no big deal a generation ago. Chickenpox is not fatal. We got it and lived to tell about it.

In other news, it's been a week of spiders.

After our big spider friend popping in for dinner last week, my boy got to hold a tarantula. (I earned serious Mommy brownie points with that one.)

Don't worry, it's dead. The pet shop owner, a guy from church, wouldn't let him hold the live one. He was afraid it would get scared, fall, and die. I was actually okay with him holding the live one, though. He is old enough and knows all about spiders. And the bites from these are no worse than bee stings. At least, that's what they say. Well, good thing, because they live here up in the dry cliffs surrounding the city, and all over the Patagonian Desert. Tony has remarked that we never would have come here had we visited first and found all this out.

Our friends and neighbors three blocks away found two mature adult Black Widows in their house last night! (I will not insert a photo for all you arachnaphobes. They are actually Red Back spiders, cousin to the black widow and just as deadly, having a red stripe on their back instead of a red hour-glass on their bellies.)

We actually stayed at their house for 10 days, not ever-so long ago, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, until we were able to find our house here. I was on the lookout for spiders, mostly because we are a homeschooling family and, thanks to my son, I now know way too much about all things venemous than I ever cared to know. I killed whatever ones I found huddling in corners by our mattresses just in case, but, fortunately, didn't see any black widows.

Anyway, they caught and killed one, the other got away. Now they will take it, safe in a glass jar, to the local Police Station. If you can show them proof that you found one, they will come and fumigate your house for free. Nice.

Now, excuse my while I finish cleaning my whole house, top to bottom! So far this morning I haven't found anything, and hopefully I won't!

I will sweep and sweep and pray as I sweep, and check every corner and under everything. More I can not do but trust in God.

:)

the trip and life on the other side

The journey from our old home in the States to our new home in Argentina started on Tuesday night and didn't end until early Thursday morning. It's now Friday, and we are feeling a bit more rested up and settled in. Well, as much as you can be settled in when you're homeless, and living out of suitcases, and other people's houses, in a foreign country... you know.

Tuesday night some friends  - who have a van big enough to fit us, them, and our 10 suitcases + 5 carry ons - drove us to JFK Airport, about a 3 hour drive.

We grabbed a few hours of sleep at a hotel near the airport (also compliments of friends!), only to get up at 5am for a long 24-hour day of travel.

We traveled TAM, a Brazilian airline (one way tickets, by the way:)). It was kind of nice to be waited on, with nothing to do but watch movies and TV - something I, um, let's see... never do. The kids were in their glory, each with their very own TV on the seat in front of them; they were glued to it the entire time, and we hardly heard a peep from them. It was also neat to practice my Portuguese, be able to understand everything the flight attendants said, and watch some Brazilian TV shows - I forgot how good (in a wordly way) they are.

Keeping the toddler busy and out of trouble was not easy - and we were praising Jesus when she finally passed out while eating lunch, after having been up since 5am.

Our connecting flight from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires was on a smaller plane, this time full of Argentinians instead of Brazilians. The plane was so much noisier than the big airbus we had been on - that, plus the stress of travelling that far with kids - gave me a migraine, so I was not a happy camper the last leg of our journey.

Finally, after 13 hours flying time, and almost 24 hours awake, we made it to Argentina. We woke the kids up at 2am to shuffle them through Immigration and Customs. It went well - except for the $420 they took from us: the "Entry Fee" for North American, British and Australian citizens. Fortunately, when the cashier saw on our son´s passport that he was born in Buenos Aires (which makes him an Argentine citizen), she didn't charge him the $120 Entry Fee - even though he was entering with a US passport. God saved us some money again - sweet!

Tony's brother-in-law and family were waiting to pick us up. Everybody was tired, one was bawling and just wanting a bed - but, of course, some of Tony's family was still up and waiting for us when we pulled in at 3:30 in the morning.

They had been cooking all night for the following day's festivities.

I struggle with having to be nice and smiley and chatty at that hour - but we survived and were finally able to hit the hay at 5am.

The next morning family started pouring in early to say hi and stay for a huge meal. It worked out that several people had off work, and the kids didn't have school because all the teachers in the country are on strike. Apparently a mom and a student beat a teacher up somewhere, so all the teachers in the country went on strike... or, at least, that's what I understood. lol Welcome to Argentina.

homemade ñoquis [gnocchis] with tomato sauce, all made from scratch

beef stuffed with garlic and parsley... so tender

bife con relleno... mmmmm

juicy, moist, beef empanadas

Since I woke up with a mild migraine the first day, all the noise and commotion was a little challenging. To make matters quickly and exponentially worse, the 2 year-old almost immediately fell from the 2nd story of the not-baby proofed stairs... see how wide those slats are??

I was a nervous, sleep-deprived wreck that first morning. I still can´t take my eyes off her here. We're doing better now - she knows she's not allowed on those stairs alone. I don't know how my sister-in-law raised two boys with those stairs!

My boy also electrocuted himself trying to plug one of these 220-120 converters in...

and I offended my brother-in-law because I yelled at him (I'm good at that here - offending people. I don't mean to, I just always end up doing it.). I couldn't help yelling at him, though. He was showing the girls the patio on the second floor, and he picked my baby up to stand on the ledge so "she could see better". But he was holding her... so that was silly of me to yell Noooooooooooo!

Which I did.

Loudly.

(sigh)

Not a great way to start our first day.

Things did improve by dinner, though. The Aleve kicked in and many more warm and lively family members descended on the premises with hugs and kisses and laughs and cameras.

Some good news: the kids have already started speaking  Spanish:

What is wrong with this picture?
Why, absolutely nothing.
I always keep my eggs on top of the fridge,
don't you?

Hola, tia. [Hi, aunt.] 

Hola, tio. [Hi, uncle.]

Bien. [Good.]

Si, por favor. [Yes, please.] 

Gracias. [Thank you.] 

Un poquito de puré de zapallo, por favor. [A little more mashed butternut squash, please.]

Me gustó mucho la pizza. [I liked the pizza a lot. My boy really said that! All by himself!]

...and so on and so forth. It's ador-a-ble. Here they were so worried about not being able to speak Spanish, but I can tell they will be just fine.

Today, our second day here in Buenos Aires, we woke up to birdies chirping (spring has sprung here), the sound of a horse trotting down the street, several dogs barking, and somebody yelling over a loudspeaker advertising something. Welcome to South America. lol

volcano update

Since my highly caffeinated post the other day on exploding volcanos, I've chillaxed on the coffee, and we have been gathering some specifics on what has happened, and how it has effected the area we will, I'm assuming, still be moving to in three months. So, as is our way, I jumped on the Web, and Tony jumped on the phone.


Puyehue volcano, Lakes District of southern Chile

Chile's Puyehue volcano recently erupted beginning June 3, 2011, and by June 4th, the ash cloud had reached a height of almost 40,000 feet. By 4:30pm the same day, the ash cloud had shut down the airport in our soon-to-be new home, Neuquén, Argentina. The east-travelling ash plume quickly reached the Atlantic Ocean, and has now made it's first trip all the way around the world arriving once again in Chile. As of June 15, ash is still billowing 9km into the atmosphere, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Here's a map showing the trajectory of the ash plume and relative amounts of ash fall.


Red = most affected; Black = frequent ashfall; Grey/Blue = some ash fall
[photo courtsey of Clarin.com]



[satellite view: Reuters]

 We were finally able to get a hold of our friends in Neuquén, and they said they have received quite a bit of ash. "Bastante" (a lot). It's enough to be "quite bothersome". They have family in Bariloche (in the red zone), and recently made the 5 hour trip to help shovel the 2 feet (70 cm) of ash off the roofs of the houses, just so they don't collapse under the weight. What used to be one of the most beautiful and verdant landscapes Argentina has to offer, is now covered in a blanket of grey.


[ash in the neighboring village of Villa La Angostura, red zone.  Photo credit: Clarin.com]

Volcanic ash is not soft and powdery like baby powder. It actually has the chemical composition of glass. Because it is glass. When inhaled it can lodge in the lungs and cause respiratory infections, hacking coughs, discomfort, and difficulty breathing. And, as you can imagine, getting little tiny flecks of glass in your eyes is quite irritating, as well, and can cause ocular abrasions. The toxic gas emitted from volcanos can also make you feel sick. Those in areas affected by the ash have been told to stay inside; but, for the less fortunate, there is little escape from the ash.

[Imagine not being able to shut your door... because you don't have one.]

Sources say it's hard to tell just yet the affect this will have on tourism and livelihood to the area. I don't know about you, but I'm not so sure I would be running to vacation here and swim in this lake...


[ash along the shore of one of the many lakes in the region]


So, there's an brief little update on the volcano situation. I guess we'll just see how it unfolds.

[photos courtsey of Reuters and Clarín.com]

What is it with us and volcanos? and why I'm a freak freaky



Check out that ash plume... I'm trying really hard not to put an exclamation mark here as if this is a good thing - but I AM a rock and geology geek, so this is somewhat awesome and fascinating to me. Fortunately no lives lost here, just incredible inconvenience and hardship for some or maybe a lot, which is a bummer. But it could be worse, right? Just read Revelation. It could.  Photo Credit: National Geographic]


As many of the well-informed (those that actually follow global news) may already know, a volcano exploded in Patagonia recently. I know, I just lost all of you that said you were coming down to visit, didn't I? I know, it's okay. You weren't coming anyway, just admit it. You were thinking of coming, but you didn't really mean it.

As Nat'l Geographic reports on their site,

"...the volcano's five-day eruption has sent a thick column of ash into the stratosphere, streaming across Patagonia to the Atlantic."

Yay.

I mean, what is it with us and volcanoes? I would like to know.

Mt. Tungurahua in Ecuador, see it right there? And the kids with their gas masks, aw.

It seems every time we want to go somewhere and do missions, a volcano explodes near said destination right before we leave.  What's the deal, Lord? (and yes, sometimes I talk to God like that. I think He can handle it. I do.)

Because (and bear with me as I ramble, I am going somewhere with this), as I said, I'm a freak freaky kind of mommy. Just ask my friend, I'll call her uh, Alba. Her cackles always ring in my head when the topic of the beach comes up around our house - usually in the form of the kids asking when we're going next. Alba makes fun of me. She doesn't understand. No one does. Least of all myself. So, I just duck and dodge the dreaded beach plea whenever possible. 'Cause there are sharks there. And I don't like the beach. But then we end up going. Because I'm not that selfish, after all. And no I'm not getting in! What are you crazy? It's yucky, and dangerous, and the water is murky. And jellyfish. Blech. They sting your eyes when you go under, you know. And NO, kids, you can't swim in there! Do you really want to swim in THERE?!? Too many sharks. And you can't see your feet, for goodness sake! Why would you go IN that?? I then proceed to absolutely grit my married teeth and pray like the freak freaky mommy that I am as my husband gives them permission (totally vetoing me, can you believe it?!) to go in there. UGH.

I have strange fears. I'm okay with it. Most are not.

So why does the Lord send freak freaky people like me to the mission field? (see, I told you I was going somewhere with this). Least likely candidate in more ways than one, I tell you.

Yes, I can do this missionary thing no problemo ("Wow, Chris is so brave, isn't she?" Uh, no.), but don't ask me to go to the beach. Or climb a tall ladder. Or fly. I HATE flying and I can't believe I have to actually get on another one of those flying tins cans in the sky in a few months! I think my brother, who would never go anywhere for years because of a paralyzing fear of flying (I just laughed and laughed at him back in those days) finally got over his fear and got on a plane (with the help of some little tiny pills) and now wants to travel everywhere - he transferred all those flying demons to me. I'm sure of it. I used to love turbulence. It was FUN. Uh, not so much anymore.

But explode a volcano before we're supposed to go somewhere, and I'm okay with that.

Yep, freak. Freak freaky mommy. I do not understand myself. I've just learned to accept it. Jesus accepts me, doesn't He? My friends don't understand me, neither does my husband. S'alright. I am beyond understanding. I am a woman. I have my redeeming points, I do. Not sure what they are, but at least my husband still loves me and tolerates me. He thinks I'm adorable. I actually cause him great amusement. But he finds amusement in everything. He's shallow like that.

So, back to the volcano exploding.

My dad calls me last night and says, "Christina! Have you heard about that volcano that exploded in Patagonia???"

Uhm, yeah...? Ton-loc watches the Argentine news almost every night, I try to say in my best, loving, patient daughter kind of way. We're pretty up to date on the whole thing, actually. And throw in the expat blogosphere, and we've got live reports and first hand accounts streaming in. Prit-tay cool. We tried to call our friends down there in NoMan'sLand to get the scoop, but they didn't answer. Probably buried under ash somewhere.

"Well, youbetterlookintothisbecausetheysaythiscouldgoonformonths! Like three or four! That thing's spewing ash all over the place down there - it's even reached New Zealand!"

My dad knows everything. He is on top of it. He is. Got a question about something? Ask my dad. Want to know how to do something? Ask my dad. He's really smart, well-informed, and prepared for any natural disaster or economic collapse you can think of. Just ask him about his back up generators and gallons of water and extra gas and stock of canned food and the dry goods in his garage. He is the man. Somewhat high-strung, perhaps, but the man nonetheless. And none of us are perfect, you know. We've already established that I'm not.

So, yeah, we're still going to Patagonia. Exploding volcano or not. And I never did get to the root of WHY I'm actually a freak freaky in this post, did I? - maybe I'll try to unpack that ugly can of worms, or maybe not, when we're down in Argentina, and I'm feeling lonely, with no one to speak English to, and one reminiscent night at the computer I'll air all my dirty laundry share - something I'm exceptionally good at in my own TMI, socially-inept kind of way (my husband cringes when I open my mouth, he told me so once.) It's a family curse, what can I say?

Anyhoo, flights have started up again in and out of Buenos Aires, and good thing we're driving from BA to Patagonialand, because Tony told me last night that things are still pretty shut down in them there parts.

Oh, well, too late now. We got our tickets. September 28th. YAY!

:)

(Can you tell I started drinking coffee again? Huh, huh, can you, can you??

Life IS better with coffee. It is.)