Let's Talk Argentina

So, about 3 weeks ago, Willian and I went to Salta, Argentina to visit the Timothy Institute, a Christian school run my missionaries that I met at home, Doug & Martha Beargen. Willian is the Vice Principal of our school, and will probably be the Principal in the very near future, so we went to get some new ideas for our school, Esperanza de Bastion.

It was Willian's first time on a plane, so that was exciting! And it wasn't just 1 little flight. First we flew to Santiago, Chile, then toBuenos Aires, and then to Salta. The trip there took 18 hours, which was quick in comparison to the return trip!

Our connection in Buenos

Aires gave us enough time to explore the city. We wandered around, drank coffee, saw the Obelisk, took the subte (subway-also a first for Willian!) and ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant that featured Tango dancers! That evening, Doug picked us up at the airport in Salta and we went to his house.

We spent a full week learning about the mission of the Timothy Institute and how it is run. I've never really thought too much about administration, so at times I thought my head was going to explode. Everyone was incredibly helpful, and we learned a LOT. We also wrote everything down so we won't forget, and we're hoping to implement some new ideas soon.

Besides work, we also learned a lot about the Argentine culture. Even though we were still in a South American country that spoke Spanish, Willian found a lot of

cultural differences. Besides the COLD (oh i wore lots of layers and drank lots of tea!!), we learned that lunch time is at 2 and dinner is at 10! Also, while Ecuadorians usually can't survive a mean without rice, Willian had to do without for a week!

But the food was delicious. Argentinians are famous for their meet, and we went to a meat-seller's house for lunch twice. There, I ate blood sausage (AHHH! it actually didn't taste too bad, but I unfortunately knew what I was putting into my mouth and the thought was worse than the taste).

Other highlights of the trip....

• Willian gave a presentation about our school at the Salta assembly.
• We experienced a church conference and Willian saw how more traditional assemblies are run. He also met up with some Ecuadorian friends from his days at the Bible Institute in Quito.
• We were careful not to use the Spanish word "to take" because in Argentina it's a strong swear-word. yikes!
• Willian came back talking like an Argentinian with "vos" instead of "tu". It's taking him a while to break the habit that he picked up in a week!