Exploring Tigre

We always look forward to not setting the alarm on Saturday mornings. Just an hour or two of more sleep is a refreshing change from the norm, but it was interrupted today with a phone call at 6:40 a.m. -- and it was the "doctors" phone. We were surprised that we heard it through our earplugs. Who would be calling me at this hour? Must be an emergency! It was an elder who had had a bad night. He said he was having trouble breathing, and had a pain in his stomach, thought he was coming down with a cold, had a little diarrhea, and was slightly dizzy. I felt like saying, "Take an aspirin and go back to bed." But I didn't. They are suppose to call me between 9:00 and 11:00 in the mornings, and between 9:00 and 10:00 at night.

I tried to clear my mind enough to think what to tell him, but assured him I would speak with Dr. Petersen later in the morning (only because of the breathing issue) and call him back.

I didn't want to be up at 6:40 a.m. No way!! So I went back to bed in now our sunlit bedroom and hoped for a few more winks. It didn't work for Rich, however. He was too wide awake so he just got up and checked out the news on the computer and took his shower. I did doze for another hour.

After the rain last night, it was a beautiful morning -- so clear and fresh! We were deciding what to do and how far to go today when the phone rang again and it was the hermanas. They asked if we could accompany them on a discussion they have this evening at 7:00. Of course we can! We will meet them in front of the Carrefour where we shopped for groceries last night.

That helped us make a decision where to go today. We had to stay fairly close around so we would be here for our 7:00 appointment. We decided we would head to Tigre and explore around the canal area, and find a big outdoor shopping area called Puerto de Frutos. So, after giving Elder Kroff a hair cut and cleaning up our apartment we headed for the bus stop.

Tigre is the place to be on weekends. It is bustling with people going and coming in all directions. The sightseeing boats on the canal were filling up, canoe type boats were taking off, the Tigre Rowing Club had training going on, and there were even some small motor boats going up and down. Quite the scene!

We always learn something new when we go exploring. We saw these smaller passenger boats with tons of people on them. They were lined up one after the other. Rich asked a security guard standing by where those boats were going and he told him that they were colectivos on water (water buses). There are lots of canals that wind around the area down around Tigre, and form islands. There is a big park on one island, a museum on another etc. These colectivos make stops at the various places picking up and letting people off, just like regular buses do. Interesting!! This is something we need to investigate.

We kept walking along the touristy canal area following the signs to Puerto de Frutos. We had heard about this outdoor shopping mall, but had no idea what we were to behold. It went for ever!! It was like Recoleta up at the Capital, but these shops had more stationary walls separating each place, but all had open fronts. It was massive, with rows and rows of shops. The problem here is that if you saw something and didn't buy it, you might not find the place again.

Birds were in their glory bathing in this water fountain surrounded by beautiful shrubs and flowers. We just scratched the surface in the brief time we wandered around. We will definitely return.

There is a casino here called Trilineum. We passed it on the way to Puerto de Frutos.

Since we were hungry, we decided to venture out and not go to McDonalds. We passed several places that had miniature barbeque grills sitting on the tables with an assortment of meats on them. It is call a Parilla. We stopped at one and decided to order this miniature asado. Our meal consisted of the meats, ensalada simple (just lettuce and tomatoes with oil and vinegar for dressing) and bread. We ate everything but the blood sausage. It is big with Argentines, but gross to Americans. The meal was very yummy and satisfying. We enjoyed it.

To top off the meal and our day, we treated ourselves to an ice cream cone at a place back up at the canals. It was interesting how the clerk swirled the ice cream around with a spatula to form the peak.

We arrived home about 3:30 and had time to relax and take a nap before leaving again for Tigre to go out with the sister missionaries. We met them as planned and walked a short distance to the home of a cute little family. They had four children that were just beautiful and so excited to have visitors in their home. A lesson on the restoration was given and the story of Joseph Smith's first vision was shown from a DVD. No matter how humble a home we enter, there is always a TV and DVD player.

We parted ways with the sisters each taking different buses to get to our homes. We had a fun Saturday.