A Pool Party, a Downtown Adventure, and a...FINAL

Well folks, it's been a while since my last update, but I thought I should get another one in before I leave for the beach tomorrow - yes, the beach! We're going to the beach with the church here for the next five days! But more on that...well, more on that when I've actually gone to the beach.

But let's pick up where I left off...last week ended well with Thursday and Friday being a couple of chill days with not too much to do other than class and homework. Saturday, the youth group had an event that was kind of like a scavenger hunt/Amazing Race except we weren't hunting for anything and it wasn't a race. Let me explain. Basically, we walked several blocks from the church then on our way back we had to do something ridiculous every couple of blocks: do 100 crunches on the sidewalk, pick up and carry two ants, sing a song to a storeowner, have bat races (spin around a bat 5 times then try to run), take pictures with five strangers, wrap group members in toilet paper and carry them down the street, and climb a tree and scream like Tarzan (which Krystal and I did with glee). Let me just say, it was absolutely hilarious and Elisabeth Balasa definitely got some good blackmail material with her pictures and videos.

That night, we had a short youth group time with a message, then we went over to one of the guys' houses to swim and grill out some hamburgers. Once again I experienced the high context culture when the leaders just said, "Oh, lets meet at Marcos's house at ten, see you there," assuming everyone automatically knew where his house was and how to get there. Once we asked for directions, they were very helpful, but responded with statements that conveyed "Oh yeah, I guess that does make sense that you need help getting there." When we arrived, I almost felt like I was back in the States - burgers on the grill, bottles of CocaCola on the table, people splashing and yelling in the pool - the only difference was that little thing people like to call a "language".

Overall, we had an absolute blast that night!! With some of the girls, we played the "Ha, haha, hahaha" game which involves laying our heads on each others' stomachs, making a laughing noise, and trying not to laugh for real. We never once made it through without laughing but it was absolutely hilarious and a fun way to connect with the girls. Then, the guys took it upon themselves to make sure everyone enjoyed the pool - a.k.a. they tossed in everyone standing outside, even if those people were in their streetclothes - like I was. Yup, no matter what hemisphere you're in, guys will still be guys.

Sunday, Vic came to church with me in the morning, and after the service we encountered another humorous point of the culture. Miguel, a friend of Ana and Cacho's, was talking to us for a bit saying we could come over for dinner if we wanted and that he would love to help if we ever needed anything. But, about two minutes into the conversation, he asked, "So, do you have boyfriends?" I said yes but Vic said nope, so about a minute later he unashamedly left and brought back his oldest son, Federico. Let me just say, people here aren't well know for their subtlety. I thought he would be happy, but he had seemed a little disappointed when I said I had a boyfriend...then he came back with his second son, Nicolas, and I understood - two sons, two American girls - it had seemed like a perfect equation to him! Guess I spoiled that one. As it turns out, though, the brothers seemed extremely nice and sincere, and we chatted with them and one of their friends for several minutes. It's fun to be getting to know more people at that church in addition to the people I know from the other youth group.

Sunday night, the five girls returned to the Bachini's to watch the second River and Boca game (this time accompanied by pizza). Boca lost again, but the good news was that I'm definitely learning how to scream like an Argentine and get offended when people talk smack about my team! I suppose I'm not really Argentine yet, though: I was still happy even after Boca lost because I had learned that the Colts are going to the Superbowl. I guess some things won't ever change!

The past week of classes was fairly routine, with one humorous interruption: one day, a group of Koreans toured the university and burst into our class using all two of their Spanish phrases and all three of their English sentences. We were almost over our surprise at this when, as they were leaving, one said, "Can we take picture of the beautiful face?" referring to the whole class. Laughing, we posed as two or three of them whipped out huge cameras and started snapping so many pictures they could have rivaled any member of the poparrazzi stalking Michael Jackson! In that moment, I thanked God that I am not famous.

Other than Korean comedic relief, class time and afternoons this week were consumed with studying for the final exam which we took Thursday. I am pleased to report that I fared well in my first foreign final and ended up with a good final grade! After we came today to receive our grades, several of the students and two professors went out to a little restaurant/bakery and shared all kinds of delectable sandwiches, cakes, and candies. It was a lot of fun to just chat with our prof about Argentina and the U.S. and get to know her a little more as a person. Once we finished there, Anne, Krystal, and I took a train downtown to walk around and see some sights. We saw the Torre Inglesa (a gift from Great Britain that looks a lot like Big Ben), the Obelisko (which looks a lot like the Washington Monument), and the Casa Rosada (which is the presidential palace). Despite the heat, it was a nice relaxing day just strolling around, snapping pictures of historic sites, and hearing random men profess their love to us or tell us of our exquisite beauty (awkward). My favorite line was a guy who said in rapid succession, "Hello, how are you, I'm fine, I love you," then burst out laughing. Maybe one day we'll get used to the attention that comes from just having slightly lighter skin and hair, but it's still a little strange to Anne and I.

Well, before I sign off and head off to the beach, I want to share a couple things God is teaching me through the culture and that were particularly evident during youth group time Saturday. First, when we were doing the scavenger hunt, it wasn't for time and we still haven't found out which team one. To me, that's crazy because I know I would have been sprinting around the city and waiting with bated breath to hear the winner announced. But not them. To them, the time spent chatting with their friends along the way was much more important than time or a prize, and there was no need to hurry. The second situation is similar: even though most everyone knows we won't start youth groups events on time (we started an hour and a half late on Saturday) a lot of people still come on time. Why? Because their friends are there and the hour spent talking with their friends before youth group or in between the events at youth group is a big reason why they come - not necessarily the event.

Now for me, this has been both enlightening and difficult. I am very much a schedule-oriented person, and I am almost always trying to get stuff done as fast as possible. As a result, there have been times I have been very impatient with the youth group because I'm feeling like I need to be doing something productive with my time while they are content to sit and talk. But, it's been so good experience this because God is showing me that the relationships within the body of Christ are immensely more important than any certain event or task we set out to accomplish. Instead of living a life of haste and always being ruled by a clock, I can now start to organize my life based more on spending quality time with others and enjoying being able to share life with them. Now my prayer is that I could find a way to bring that changed attitude back with me and that it wouldn't get overwhelmed by a schedule- and time-oriented culture.