A Busy Saturday

Sleeping in today was not a good idea. It was only until 8:00, and it felt so good for a change. Rich was already up and getting ready for the day. I showered and washed my hair and did some trimming on it, then stripped the bed and got the sheets and towels ready for Rich to take to the lavadero across the street. I wasn't in any hurry because I thought I would have plenty of time to do all on my list by 11:30 because then we planned to take the train to Acasusso and San Isidro to our favorite markets where we buy meat and vegetables and fruit.

What I didn't anticipate was getting interrupted with phone calls from sick missionaries. Oh my! To me it was my "P" day and the weekend, so no worries. But I forget that they can call me any day between 9 and 11 in the morning. And call me they did. I, in turn, had to call Dr. Petersen about a matter, and then it involves calling missionaries back. Then I had to call Sister Argyle about a health issue, and then President Argyle called me about a missionary. Needless to say, when 11:00 came, I was no where near ready to leave the house in one half hour. My hair was not done, makeup barely on, bed not made, and the house was a mess. Will it be this way every Saturday morning? Hope not. But I decided I need to be up and have myself ready by 9:00 in the morning, if nothing else. Then I can deal with the phone calls should they come. No wonder Sister Argyle needed a break.

I quickly threw some clothes on, did my hair and made my list, and we were out of the house by 12:00. One place we like to go is only open on Saturdays until 1:00, so we needed to go there first. It is the health food store that sells grains, baking supplies, nuts, good peanut butter etc. The train was especially crowded today. . . . standing room only for four stops. And even though the sun was shining, there was a cold breeze and it was really cold walking the streets.

A block away from the health food store is the meat market that we like. It is always a crowded place and we are served by taking a number. However, today only one man was leaving as we entered. Hurry, lets take a picture. All the workers are so cute and enjoyed the attention of having their picture taken.

As you can see, eggs are sold here. We've wondered how many eggs survive the trip home when carried in a plastic bag. Interesting! And the cuts of meat displayed here or anywhere (WalMart included) look so different from what we see in the U.S. One has to be careful in purchasing meat because they use all parts of the animals, and in Spanish we don't know what it is. Rich doesn't even know some of the names.

Across the street from the meat market is a really good fruit/vegetable place. The produce looks fresh and wonderful. We much prefer to buy from these places rather than the grocery stores. So we stocked up. We are hooked on mandarin oranges. They are a little larger than tangerines, but smaller than oranges. The skins practically fall off when starting to peel them, (Rich likes that) and they are sweet and delicious. We eat them everyday. In fact, we eat more fruit here than we have ever done. This is one thing we really enjoy about being here in Argentina. And this is winter! Some fruit, like pears, are actually better in the winter than the summer.

It is a good thing that the train stop is only a block from these shopping places. We each had a couple bags, and they were quite heavy ones today. But, we still wanted to stop in San Isidro on the way back. We were told of a store close to that train stop too, that sells only items for the kitchen. Really?? So we got off the train and went in the direction we were told about. We found the store and it is worthy of an inside picture, but we were so loaded down that we couldn't take a picture today. It has super narrow isles, only room for one person walking down them, and "things" are jam packed into every corner and square inch. We found what we were looking for which is a dispenser for tin foil and plastic wrap that is attached to the wall allowing the wraps to be pulled down and torn off. Silvio said he would put it up for us. Can't wait! We are going to return to the store someday to look it over when we aren't carrying bags of groceries.

I was exhausted upon arriving home, so I had to lay down for a while to recooperate from the walk. Then I proceeded to clean up the house.

We had a baptism at 7:00 tonight. An older man and a teenager were baptized. We weren't involved with any of the discussions with these two people, but it is always fun to go. The familia de Argyle were there too, which was a pleasant surprise.