Week 42, Project 365

Now that we're in the home stretch it feels like the weeks are just flying by. In exactly two months my daughter will step off the plane! We didn't have a chance to talk much this week until yesterday. I've been worried about her because she has a bad head cold and Thursday was her presentation before ten professors and a class of communication students; this was a trial run for experience before the actual presentation at a conference in Chicago next month. I was happy to hear things went well but she was more excited to show me her find at Goodwill -- a complete set of like-new luggage for $13! She's looking forward to the trip south too :-) I know mostly it's because she'll get to see us, but there's the added bonus that by the time she comes, she will be FINISHED with college. At least until she decides to go on for her masters :-)

Of course I'm counting down the days, and one of the fun ways to count down is with photos. I'm lovin' the Project 365 and am trying to decide if I want to do a blurb book of just these posts? Or my whole bloggy year? Or even just the photos and edit the commentary way, way down. Hmmmm, something to think about.

I have a few more photos than usual this week, due to the 100th anniversary I wrote about on Tuesday (more photos on that post, including "high pumpkin fashion" as one commenter put it). Ivan's parents came to Argentina in 1946 when they were 25 years old. Aren't they a handsome couple? (This is a photo of the projection screen from way back of the auditorium so not the sharpest quality.)

Their approach to ministry was that it involved all of life, and so the family lived ministry together. I think that's the right, healthy approach, don't you? With that focus, it's easy to see why all the kids are in ministry today. Not necessarily what we'd call "full time" but every one of them views their work and life as ministry. Can I hear an AMEN?!

Anyway, when Ivan was in high school he and two amigas went up into the Sierras on horseback to visit some of the people living way back in isolated areas. During the trip one of the young ladies fell off her horse and broke her arm. Badly. It was a rough trip back out to 'civilization'. I've heard that story several times; I was able to meet Nilda this weekend and she and Ivan had a wonderful time catching up.

By the time things wound down el Domingo we were tired but happy, and VERY hungry! Near our hotel we found a great little place where I had a wonderful dish of fresh raviolis with a drizzle of cream, a dollop of homemade sauce and freshly grated cheese. Yum! Ivan had milanesa and salad.

In my post on Tuesday I talked about the meaningful ceremony of "passing the baton". This isn't the greatest photo, but here we see four generations from the GBC church: a retired pastor, a current pastor, a pastor-in-training, and a young man who might be a pastor down the road. How cool is that?!

We see a lot of old vehicles on the road here. Cars are very expensive and people keep them going a lot longer than we would in the U.S. We're seeing more and more restored autos as well. Isn't this Model A a beauty?

I mentioned our glorious roses on Thursday and just wanted to share a photo of the bushes by our front gate. Look at all those blooms!

I finally remembered to take photos in art class. I know! Shocking, isn't it? I am so impressed by the talent of these ladies. Their work just blows me away.

When our teacher, Marcela, stops to explain a technique or make a point to one of the students, the others at that table stop and listen too. We all want to learn as much as we can!

My current project is a flower; I played with a photo in the photo editing program and am trying to simulate the different effects with paint now. Slowly. I've been working on this for several weeks and figure I have a few more weeks before I'm done.

I've mentioned this cultural tidbit before, but here it is again: when someone is selling their car they put an empty bottle on top whenever they're parked to signify it's for sale. Here the enterprising seller wrapped his phone number around the bottle so a person can quickly see (1) the car is for sale and (2) what number to call.

The internet has been EXCESSIVELY slow lately. Ivan was trying to upload photos from last weekend to our flickr account to share with the family and it just wasn't working. So he took the computer to our favorite YPF with free wifi while I was in art class. Success! Photos are all up.

Our 78-year-old friend who was hit by an airplane propeller last Monday was sent home on Thursday, a day after surgery on one arm. He's doing okay but in a lot of pain. Apparently the first hospital he was taken to simply bandaged him up so when they did the surgery two days later at a different hospital, they had to clean out all the wounds properly. OUCH! Appreciate your continued prayers for him.