!Bienvenidos a Argentina!

JD and I have arrived! It was a long, but uneventful trip here, so thank you for your prayers of safe travel. When we got to the airport, two OM missionaries, Ezequiel and Javier, picked us up and very quickly introduced us to the rapid pace of Spanish. For the first 30 minutes JD and I looked at each other like "what on Earth are they saying?" but it is getting better now.
(the picture on the left is one I took of the Andres while on the plane)

First impressions: Cordoba reminds me somewhat of Guatemala, except it is much cleaner and less noisy. No herds of stray dogs here. That is not to say that the rooster and dogs in our neighbors backyard don't drive me crazy when they choose to make themselv es heard at all hours of the night, but it is something I will get used to. We might be eating rooster for supper on Saturday when it is our night to cook ;)

We live in a house with 5 other OM missionaries, and JD and I get a separate apartment upstairs. There are 4 American girls downstairs, and one Argentinian woman, but more on them in another post. We have a very spacious bedroom and a bathroom, and the room overlooks the backyard area. The bathroom is interesting; the toilet is located in the shower, and there is this thing called a bidet next to it. Yesterday, we bought a plastic place setting meant for a table and put it over the covering so we could make a shelf out of it. I don't know if we'll actually use that shelf, but at least the hole is covered!

The people here keep very late hours. There is usually no breakfast (this is one thing I can't give up, so I set cultural adjustments aside and eat my cornflakes anyway), lunch is very big but doesn't start until 1 p.m., and then supper is not until 9 p.m. or later. The key to this lateness, you might ask? One word: siesta. The siesta is something I have been advocating for ever since my college days, and as it turns out there is an entire culture that believes in naps, too! I have found kindred spirits here, indeed.

For food, we have been eating a lot of pizza, and yesterday for our alfresco lunch (pictured left) we ate "choripan," which is chorizo sausage that the men (other missionaries who came for lunch) cooked over a fire pit, on bread, or "pan," and fresh pico de gallo/salsa. It was delectable.

Tea and mate are a very big deal here. Mate is an herbal sort of tea (for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_maté) that I've likened to a peace pipe. It is usually drunk with a group of people and there are all sorts of rules that go along with it. What you have is a cup with herbs in it that the host pours hot water into. Then they pass it to someone to drink. Once the water is gone, you give it back to the host, and they refill it for someone else. When you are finished and don't want anymore, you say "Gracias" when you give it back and only then they will stop offering it. I am beginning to like it, but only if there is sugar in it, otherwise it is quite bitter.

Over the next week we will learn more about our ministry sites so when we find out more info, we'll post it. We do have some prayer requests, though! Please pray that we would become more familiar with the Spanish language, and fast. That is the thing that is most difficult for us right now (esp. me, Heather). JD is much quicker than I am, but we still have a long way to go. Also, please pray that God would give us His eyes and heart for the people here in Cordoba, and that our family and friends at home would be safe and healthy while we're gone. We miss and love everyone!!!

Muchas gracias! Much love,

-heather

p.s. the picture on the left is of my clothes for 9 months!