Beginning 2013 with a Bang



New Years Eve in Buenos Aires is a sight to behold. There were fireworks all over the city all night long. They are all done by individuals in almost every block. We could see at least a dozen displays from our balcony. I love fireworks so this was a grand beginning to 2013.

We enjoyed a fine finishing of 2012. We were well fed at the going away barbeque for Area President Arnold. As you can see, Argentines cook up a fine asado.

We missionaries celebrated with a Christmas

 party which included a potluck dinner,

a white elephant gift exchange, the newly formed

Switzer Singers – our Spanish class, and Christmas carols.

All the senior missionaries were welcome to take vacations the days surrounding Christmas. Sure doesn't seem like what missionaries would do but seniors have all sorts of differences. We chose Uruguay as our destination traveling by hydrofoil ferry and buses. The contrasts between Buenos Aires and Montevideo include size and speed. Buenos Aires has about 14 million people, Montevideo has about 1½  million which is 1/3 of the population of the country. Fewer people mean less traffic, congestion, hustle and bustle. We were pleased to be able to relax. We did our normal huge amounts of walking in the heat and humidity of Christmas season in the summer. Christmas in the summer is very weird. Yes, they do have the tree and Santa, but quite low key. No snow in any photo or artificial snow on trees. And sadly, no mention of Christ. They do sell a nativity scene or two but that's it in Buenos Aires. We have a simple one of the Holy Family. Our hotel was in Old Town Montevideo which put us close to many tree filled parks and beautiful colonial buildings with intricate wrought iron balconies. Interesting fact we learned on our City tour (one version of the naming): When the area was discovered, I think by Zabala, he was, of course, traveling east to west when he came to this area which had the 6th mountain he had seen and wrote the location on his map. Thus 6th Mountain: monte VI –vi- from east to west: de este a oeste, giving us Montevideo. Cool!

main Government Building, Parthanon on top

Among the sites were many statues of Gaucho wagons, a smaller version of Notre Dame Cathedral, and a full sized Parthenon on top of their Government Building (Congress). Montevideo decorated the main street for Christmas with lights across it, Christmas trees in the parks, and gift wrap sold on every corner. Prices in Buenos Aires are high, in Montevideo they’re higher.

The scenery on the bus ride from Montevideo to the beach resort of Punta del Este reminded us of our Midwest, flat with farms and cows and fields. Punta del Este is on a peninsula with La Plata River beaches on one side and Atlantic Ocean beaches on the other. We stayed a couple of blocks from the end of the point and could see beaches one way and the yacht basin the other way. In the photo our hotel was about 1/3 of the way up the middle street. From a corner about a block away we could see the same bodies of water in all four directions. Go figure how that can happens. Uruguayans (and Argentines) welcome Christmas with fireworks at and following midnight, hundreds of them at dozens of individual displays along the beaches. Great for me – more fireworks! The fireworks show was followed by a grand display of lightning and thunder which heralded rain and the breaking of the heat wave, a welcome relief. The heat not only broke but was trampled on by the cold air brought in from Antarctica. Shivering vs sweating? I pick shivering. You can always put on more clothes, there are only so many you can take off. We had three of the hottest days I have ever felt except in Alcapulco in the summer. Nuf said.

It has stayed cool for the next 4 days. In keeping with a fine Helmandollar tradition, we ate shrimp for Christmas dinner. Our hotel was just a block from the port where fishing boats bring their catch each morning. That catch, of course, includes large, cocktail type shrimp. Yum, yum, yum.

  Anchor from HMS Ajax                                                                            El Canto de las Sirenas

John, always the military man, found pieces of the salvaged anchor of the ‘HMS Ajax’, sunk off this coast by the German pocket battleship ‘Admiral Graf Spee’ during The Battle of the River Plate. This battle was the first naval battle in the Second World War and the only episode of the war to take place in South America. Always learning. We loved our walks in the ocean, walks on the beach and lots of the rest time. We slept a lot there, catching up, I suppose.

My birthday was fun. We had the opportunity to be escorts for the day for a young journalist from New York on her way to Antarctica. She was enjoyable to be with. We went out to lunch in Boca where we watched Tango and Gaucho dancers, then went to San Martin Plaza which my favorite tree dominates, a huge ombú tree. Very nice day.

We´ve spent a lot of our office time this month organizing for our job as assistant coordinators for the Visitors Center in the Chapel program. Our first presentation is this Sunday. This program, just like everything else here, has required us to learn how to use more electronic equipment. We conquered the MP3 player, and projector with a slide point presentation from our computer much more quickly than Microsoft Word or our cell phone. I do believe we are ready.

 

Ombú tree in San Martin Plaza

The new Director of Public Affairs has been announced, President Salas, who will continue his service as President of the Córdoba Mission until June when he will come here. However, our new Area President (over Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile), Elder Walter Gonzalez from Uruguay, arrive this week. He comes to us from being one of the Presidents of the Quorums of the Seventy at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. The Area runs better with its leader in the office. He, his wife, and 17 year old son have strong testimonies of the Church and of the Piñarol soccer team. John immediately invited them to join us at a game in a few weeks. Ah the joys a mission and of soccer.

“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

                                                                                                            1 John 3:23