On the street where we live

We live on Directorio street, the block between Fasola and America streets. The street is lined with trees and fairly decent sidewalks. Each homeowner is responsible for the sidewalk in front of his house so there different styles. Directorio is a one-way street going east. It is on two bus lines so there are lots of buses that pass by our second floor apartment. There are also lots of cars. The train station is about six blocks away so we can hear the train at times. The people who live on our street are mainly older people who have owned their homes for several years. When we moved in five years ago, word spread quickly that North Americans were moving in. Those who live in our building had spread the word about how we were remodeling the apartment, the colors of our walls and other things that may have appeared quite different. Our neighbors are friendly. People are seen in their yards talking to other neighbors. There is a grocery store, children's clothing store, laundromat, barber, notions store, a taxi service, a gift shop, a hardware store and a car wash all within a block of our apartment. We enjoy living here and hopefully are demonstrating a proper lifestyle for our neighbors.

BBQ Korean Style

The weather was perfect as several of us got together for Young and Mihwa to introduce us to Korean BBQ. The food was great overall. We tried to pronounce the various foods in Korean but that was so hard! We tried beef marinated in different sauces and then grilled. There were also different sauces, some hot and some mild, pancakes made with crab meat and vegetables,

roasted corn. The meat was eaten wrapped in lettuce and sesame leaves. That was so unique! It was fun to try out the different flavors. I liked it all. These are pictures of Young and Mihwa preparing and eating the food. The fellowship around the tables was superb. As we were preparing to leave someone said "and a good time was had by all!"

Friday

It is rainy, windy and 65°F in Buenos Aires today. One would hardly believe that it is still summer here. Needless to say, I enjoy the cooler weather and am happy. The sun is scheduled to make an appearance some time in the afternoon but temperatures are to be in the 70's at most the next few days. Sounds good to me.
Clayton went downtown to the Baptist convention building to take some papers and was gone a couple of hours. He got home around noon all happy that he had taken care of business at the convention offices and had gotten the tires on the car rotated plus bought new windshield wipers. That was a lot to get done in two hours around here. The interstate that goes downtown is very close to our house so that helps to make some trip take less time.
Laura's noon class cancelled so she came by to visit us before her 1:30 class. It was fun to have her to talk with. We discussed child rearing and education. Marcos is already "reading"! He looks at a page and "talks" and then turns the page! We laugh at his little antics and are happy to see him mimic the "good" behavior. We have to watch the other really close!
There isn't a lot of new news this Friday. We keep up with world happenings via CNN and the local channels. It seems that no matter the day something terrible happened somewhere in the world that is newsworthy!

Is this sweet or what!?

Marcos taking a nap at home on the sofa! He is getting so big! His daddy (Javier) took the picture.

My "baby" is 32 today!

It was cold that morning 32 years ago when we headed to Louisville's Kentucky Baptist Hospital from Irvington. We had left Kimberly and Laura with friends there. It was an uneventful labor and delivery. We were taken care of by several of my former students from the nursing school. Jonathan weighed a little over 8 lbs. and thrived despite his sisters' attempting to take care of him. The birth announcement read "Daddy's pride and Mother's joy!"
Now it is 32 years later and we are separated by thousands of miles. He works in security at a call-in center and is completing studies for a degree in accounting. He takes two courses a term, each of which meets for four hours one night a week. He has his accounting final on Thursday night so has two nights of study group. His other class meets on Monday nights.
He said that some of the women at work always fix something to help him celebrate. Last year one of the women made him a peanut butter pie which he had talked about. I believe it was her first attempt at that recipe. Jonathan had mentioned eating some at the Whistle Stop in Glendale.
Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Sunday Night Supper

We invited Javier, Laura, Marcos, Carlos (Charles) and Debra over for supper. I made Laura's favorite chicken pot pie per her request. For dessert I made the chocolate pudding cake that is also one of Laura's favorites. It was a nice evening. Marcos was very good as he sat in his booster seat with tray and charmed all of us. Carlos and Debra got married in December. They met while she was here serving two years as a missionary in Rosario. Debra found a job at a small business in downtown Buenos Aires and has worked there for a couple of weeks.

It's Friday

It's Friday and it's hot again! The morning has started out rather warm here so we are grateful for the air conditioners that we have in the apartment. The one we have in the living room cools the apartment really well with the two bedroom doors shut and fan placed strategically on the floor. Our summer has really been rather mild in comparison to some in the past. It is nice to think that our last summer here is not too bad.
Speaking of good things happening yesterday afternoon we picked up Marcos and drove across the city to the clinic to pick up some test results. Traffic was unbelievably light and then when we exited onto the street where the clinic is all the lights were green as we drove down the street. What can be more than an hour-long trip to go and get home turned into a lot less than an hour. Clayton just marvelled at how well things went. He is storing up all the good memories of trips that go well. Of course, once we exited off the interstate to the street to our apartment we were reminded again of where we are since that street is full of pot holes!
We did get to baby-sit Marcos yesterday. At 20 months he is getting more and more into the explorer and moves from room to room opening drawers, getting into places he doesn't need to be and pulling out the books on the lowest book shelf. It is fun! He loves to watch "Dora the Explorer" on the DVD especially likes the songs. That show uses both English and Spanish which he is learning simultaneously. Javier is learning the English from Dora and knows the songs! He said that he found himself singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while he was walking their dog, Max!
Life is pretty normal for us right now. Whatever that is! We are glad that traveling is not a part of our life right now and that we are getting to stay at home.
We received word that Dad's "lung mass" was a residual of his pneumonia and would take 2 - 3 months to resolve. That scare has been lifted.

Valentine's Day 2006

Forty-one years ago today Clayton and I got engaged. He got down on his knee and proposed as we sat on a bench on the campus at UK! I got thrown in the shower once I got back to the dorm showing off my diamond!
Today we received several e-cards from family and friends. I used some Valentine's Day napkins, had heart shaped balloons. We got to baby-sit Marcos (Mark) this afternoon. He played on the floor and watched his favorite DVD Dora the Explorer, ate crackers and drank juice and was so good. He has begun saying "uh oh" when he drops something or anything happens. It is so cute. We invited Dave & Barbara Vick for supper. I fixed Valentines for them and decorated the cake. It was festive. We played Mexican train after supper and I lost so bad! Marcos also gave me a Valentine and had one for his "Poppy" as well. He made his "mark" on them.

Church & Sunday School

Yesterday was a typical Argentine Sunday for us. We went to Sunday School and church at Nueva Vida (New Life) Baptist Church. Olga, the SS teacher, did a good job leading us to study Romans 9. Everyone was around the table with Bibles open and listening and interjecting points or asking questions, etc. It was a good Bible study time. That's a picture of us around the table (actually I'm taking the picture so my spot is vacant!).

I'm also including a picture of the church building to give an idea of what one of the churches here looks like. The church is more than 25 years old and has a turbulent history after becoming a church. None of the charter members are still alive. Right now they are looking for a pastor and Clayton is serving on the pastor search committee. The former pastor was really an interim and he resigned at the end of last year. He has a full-time job working with drug addicts so didn't have the time to devote to the membership and do all that he thought needed to be done. He and his wife still attend there. Another former pastor is also a member and preaches from time to time but he is retired and isn't able to devote much time to the work there. Please pray that a pastor can soon be found.

Yard Sale

Today we had our first yard sale in preparation for our leaving in July. We had spent considerable time the last few days pulling out boxes, going through closets, shelves, etc., making decisions about what to put in the sale. Then there was all the pricing and marking our things so they wouldn't be confused with others since we were participating with two other families. We were up at 5:30 and finished loading the car. We had so much stuff that I took the bus while Clayton drove the car filled in all spaces with lots of our "priceless" stuff! The yard sale was held in a big part of the yard of some property where there are three houses where missionaries live. The area had a roof where cars are generally parked. As we busily set up tables and put things out, the people began to arrive a good fifteen minutes or so before the appointed time of 8 a.m. Of course, there is a gate so no one could enter until the time. Even with waiting until eight, I wasn't fully ready and initially felt overwhelmed as people rushed in to see what kinds of bargains there were. Yard sales are not typically a part of the culture here so generally the only people who have them are North Americans! Sheets and towels are some of the most popular items since they are extremely expensive otherwise. I sold lots of candles, lamps, scarves, household items, etc. We were busy for three straight hours with no break in the number of people holding steady at a crowd! We were able to sell quite a bit of our stuff. Laura put some baby clothes and other things so she sold a lot as well. The picture shows Laura, Clayton and Marcos talking to Carlos and Debra in front of some of our tables of stuff. We didn't have any more customers after 1:30 so around three we packed up what was left and headed home. We plan to have at least one more yard sale before our date to leave in July. We also have a list of the big items of furniture that we hope to sell as well so are handing that out.