Well folks, I return to you from the beach a bit tanner and with as many stories as the grains of sand in my suitcase – okay, not quite, but I do have a lot of stories! Our trip to the beach began early Saturday morning when we boarded a micro (bus) with the rest of the church members and headed out to La Lucila del Mar as the beach was called. The five days that followed fell into a bit of a routine: get up around 8:15 for breakfast (toast and coffee/tea); go to the group devotional time and have small group discussion; suit up and head out to the beach to swim/wave jump/body surf; come back for lunch at one; chill for a bit, read, or take a nap before heading back to the beach; intermittently play soccer with guys and swim; go back to shower and eat dinner; give and receive a small gift to/from your “Amigo Invisible” (invisible friend, kind of like secret Santa); go to the worship and teaching time; head out for helado or other random exploits; come back and get ready for bed but really stay up talking with the girls until I got too tired. It was a bit tiring but an absolute blast and a great opportunity to form much deeper relationships with the people from the church!
Once again, playing futbol turned out to be quite the humorous experience as every time we played, people stopped and stared because girls never play futbol here. It was also hilarious to see how the guys would not stop playing even when the tide grew and started carrying away the “goal posts” (flip flops). And just because the ball went in the sea did not mean it was out of bounds. Rather, players from opposing teams would splash into the water and try to chip the ball out and back into play. The best game was on the last day before we had to leave when we were the only ones on the beach because it was pouring rain. Even though the guys sometimes would take it easy on us, this game included full-out slide tackling, jumping for headers, sliding saves to prevent goals, and a back and forth score that ended with the guys barely beating us by one goal (10-9). It was pretty intense. Another futbol favorite was the game “afuera” that we taught them that goes like this: everyone gathers in a circle and group juggles until the ball has been struck 10 times. After the tenth time, whoever is closest can grab the ball out of the air then throw it at a person nearby to get them out. The best round was when Pablo and Diego were the only ones left and Pablo literally chased Diego a quarter mile down the beach and a quarter mile back before throwing the ball as both collapsed into the sand. They might be just a little competitive.Meal times were also a big favorite, but it was funny because we ate a ton of food that we would eat in the U.S. too – pizza, hotdogs, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, spaghetti with meat sauce, toast, watermelon, etc. We did have a couple of traditional meals the first being milanesa which is a very thin cut of beef breaded, seasoned and baked (similar to tenderloin in the U.S.). The other more traditional meal was steak on the grill that we put on French bread and topped with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and boiled eggs (apparently it’s fairly common here to top sandwiches, burgers, even pizza with boiled or fried eggs). The best part of meal time, though, was definitely the atmosphere. Before the meals, there was usually so much talking and laughter that they would have to drop a pot on the ground to get everyone’s attention to pray. When the food was brought out (we all were on teams that took turns serving and cleaning up), it was not unusual to hear shouts of “Bravo!” or chants of “our cooks are the best!” Chanting was rather common – when someone said or did something funny or unusual, another person would start clapping or pounding the table and chanting something and the rest would pick it up - for instance, Krystal was the recipient of the chant “Se puso colorada!” (She’s blushing, she’s blushing!) Also, when we exchanged gifts for “Amigos Invisibles”, some of the hilarious notes were read aloud and accompanied by shouts and chants. My favorite was when Adrian (the pastor) received a note from someone expressing their undying love for him, and Maria (his wife) jumped up feigning rage pounded the table while indignantly demanding to know who had written the note. Turns out the note was from one of his guy friends who was having a blast watching the chaos caused by his word choice.
The nighttimes also brought some of our favorite experiences. One night we were walking around with the whole group – adults, youth, and kids, and we saw the street corner that was closed off every night so people could dance in the street. We heard some oldies playing – everything from Elvis to Elvis’s Argentine counterpart Sandro – so we naturally followed the adults down the street to start our own little dance party. After whipping out our best old school moves (which weren’t very good) and making a train, we were surprised to see these little kids running at us with squirt bottles of foam – and we got blasted! (Mind you, it’s about one in the morning and these kids are maybe 8 years old – welcome to Argentina.) Overall, it was a hilarious night of goofy jumping, dancing, and singing in the street.
Although we thought that night couldn’t be topped, the night before we left is one I’ll remember for a long time. First, we headed to the beach and enjoyed seeing the reflection of the moon on the crashing waves. Then, like the mischievous youngsters we are, we played a game of “catch” – only with a tennis ball covered with Off! and set ablaze (don’t worry, Mom, it doesn’t actually burn you if you catch it). We got a little nervous when Adrian (the pastor) walked over, but much to our surprise, he just yelled, “Pass it over here!” and took part in our little pyro party! Next, we started teaching some of the guys the dance moves our soccer team had made up to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A”. Since they didn’t know what they were actually singing or dancing to, the guys gladly joined in. Then, when we wanted to film it, we were going to invite one of our host moms to jump in…and almost all of the adults followed! In the end, we had almost an entire Argentine church singing and doing a choreographed dance to “Party in the U.S.A”! It was seriously one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen in my life! Later, one of our friends commented to us, “You guys are just breaking all the stereotypes of this church.” “Why’s that?” we asked. “They’ve never done anything like this!!” But the night wasn’t done there. Apparently, the guys felt the need to do something manly, so they made up a ritual chant/dance that consisted of them grunted the words, “Qué como? Qué como? Un pancho. Un pancho. Con mostaza. Con mostaza. Un pancho en la playa. HUH!!” (What should I eat? A hot dog. With mustard. A hot dog on the beach. HUH!) After the locura (craziness) settled down, I ended the night sitting with a group of the adults who were sipping mate and singing praise songs on the beach. Like I said, I won’t be forgetting this night anytime soon.
The next day, the other girls went to the beach to film a few more scenes for our “Party in the U.S.A.” music video that we would be sending to “Grace Got Talent” (it’s on Facebook if you care to see it). Much to our surprise, the guys pulled out a guitar and started serenading us with a love song they had rewritten to talk about how they would miss playing soccer with us, so would we please forget about the bus home and just stay two more days? That was definitely a first. Then, when it came time for us to head to the micro (bus) station, we were surprised to find the entire youth group following us. They accompanied us all the way to the station, then waited until our bus came then stood on the corner and waved goodbye as we pulled away! This is definitely a special group of people and I really feel so blessed to be a part of it.
The thread that tied the whole week together was the theme we talked about during our daily devotional and worship times – the community, companionship, and communion of the church. It was great to be reminded again that our Christian life cannot be complete without fellowshipping and growing with other believers, rejoicing and suffering with them, sharing everything for the common good of God’s kingdom. The most amazing thing, though, was seeing how the church lived that out each and every day of our trip. I noticed it in simple things – everyone was assigned to a task so that we could share the work of cooking, cleaning, etc.; not just one person was in charge, but the leadership was shared based on who could best serve to lead a specific activity; when we went out for helado, everyone shared what they had and no one kept it all for themselves; when a few of us left for the bus station, the whole group left the beach to see us off. Simply put, it’s a family. I know that no church is perfect and I know that this church has its drama. But I also know that I am learning a lot about the community aspect of faith from this culture and from the awesome people we been blessed to spend time with. I pray that I may continue growing in this and may learn even more about what it means to truly be part of the body of Christ.
