A Tour of Tigre -27 de junio

We woke up to our Saturday chores of cleaning our apartment, and taking the sheets and towels over to the lavadero. The elders got wind that Sister Kroff cuts Elder Kroff's hair and thought it would be a good idea if she cut their hair. It is 20 pesos (about $6.50) to go to a barber, but with the strict budget the President has all the missionaries on, that's a lot of money to them. Gee Whiz, they have gel and all kinds of goop on their hair and the fronts are a little spiked, and I thought I might ruin their look. But they are willing to take the risk. So the plan was that they would come over about 1:00-1:30. They had to take part of their "P" day and run some errands in the morning for the mission.

We finished all our duties which also included Rich walking up Constitution to get a toner cartridge which was left at a computer store to get refurbished. He also went looking for a barber supply place which he heard about in order to see if we could buy a good pair of hair cutting scissors, since mine ended up in the hands of the robbers. His attempt failed, but from questions he asked along the way, he thinks he knows where the place is now. But the quest for the scissors took him 20 blocks up and then back 20. So he had a good workout and it was only 1:00.

Just as he arrived home, the elders called and said they got tied up and won't be back for the hair cuts today. No problem, let's get on the train and go to Tigre (pronounced Tee-gday) and check things out. That is where we will be going to church from now on. The sun was out and it was quite a pleasant warmish day. Our fleece jackets were all we needed. So we are taking you on a tour of Tigre.

Tigre is the end of the line going North for the train system. It actually has a nice terminal and a pretty plaza out front with statues and flowers, and lots of grass. We are across the street from the station looking back towards it. One of the two high rise apartment buildings on the right of the picture is where the sister missionaries live. A large flag of Argentina is very visable in this area.

Across the street from the train station is the Avenue of the United Nations. Lining the street is a long row of all the flags of the nations that belong to the United Nations.

Right next to the street with the flags is a river that leads to the ocean. It is called Rio Tigre. It goes right through the province of Tigre.

This river has a lot of sightseeing excursion that leave from Tigre. There are large ferries that go across the bay to Uruguay to coastal cities that tourists like to visit. It is, of course, out of our mission, but we would really like to do that someday. We doubt that permission would be given, however.

Other sightseeing boats take tourists down the coast to the Capital area. They told us the trip takes about 1 1/2 hours. We walked along this "boardwalk" area by the river for quite a ways and stopped at some of the shops to take a peek at what they had to offer.

A store with handbags caught my eye. . . . particularly some small purses that were made of patchwork leather pieces and had a shoulder strap. Just perfect for day trips where I need my lipstick, kleenex, and hand sanitizer. I carry no cards, or money, so why do I drag my heavier handbag around all the time. No more! I have found a lightweight replacement and my hands can be free. Love it! Just 38 pesos - about $10.

We continued walking and followed some signs which led us past a casino. . . . that was a surprise. Then we came to this amusement park. It looked really big with lots of rides. So our outing at Tigre was very interesting and fun as we came across things that we had no idea were there. We need to return and go exploring again.

I had to find a seat on the train ride back. My feet were killing me because of all the walking. We arrived home at around 4:00 p.m. and relaxed a bit before we headed to the church for two baptisms that our office elders were having.

Elder Valente baptized Joel Acosta, an 11 year old boy, and Elder Nelson baptized Jorge Sabala, an unmarried man in his 40's or early 50's. Elder Kroff could take some credit with Jorge, as he was in several teaching appointments with him. The faithful families in the ward showed up to support these two baptisms, and brought the treats as well.

We snapped a picture of Robert, Leslie and baby Paloma Saenze. A while back Rich ordained Robert to the office of an Elder in the priesthood. They are a really cute couple and are extremely good dancers. They were on a program the ward had, and we were impressed with their talent.