October 11 - Tigre & San Fernando

We had to wake up early to shower, pack, and get ready to leave the hotel by 7:00. Would it really take us two hours to get to church?? Well, yes!! We were at the opposite end of the train line. One end is the Capital and the other end is Tigre. And when we get to Tigre, we still had to take a bus the rest of the way. Plus, we had to walk from the hotel to the train station. Saying it sounds worse than doing it. It is do-able!

We had two nights of restful sleep in our comfortable bed. It was hard to be humble living in such luxury. Some of the people we know, and in whose homes we have visited, would not be able to comprehend what we were experiencing this weekend. There is such a vast difference in the economic status of the people in Buenos Aires. We usually see the lower end of the scale. I guess it is that way everywhere.

We met the Paul Kroff family on time and they were eager to see more of Buenos Aires than the Capital area. As Paul said, "Now we are going to experience a day in the life of Rich and Julie in Argentina." It does not include major sightseeing, eating steak, and sleeping on pillow tops, but we enjoy what we are doing and feel blessed to be here.

Getting on the train at the beginning of the line would help in finding a seat. And it did! We wouldn't have wanted to stand up all the way to Tigre. We pointed out various things along the way and enjoyed chatting in a not so crowded train. The ride was about 40-45 minutes long, stopping at about 14 pick-up points along the way.

When we arrived at Tigre, we waited in the train station, where it was warm, for a short period of time until we decided it was time to go to the bus stop. The bus would take us either right to a stop in front of the church, or, if it was a bus that turned before the church, we would get off and walk the rest of the way. We took the first bus that came along, and it was one that would not be going in front of the church. So we got off the bus and had to walk about three blocks to the church, pulling the suit case behind us. We got there at 9:10. Not bad!!

While I was at the piano, Elder Kroff introduced our family to some of the members. It was testimony meeting today, and hearing from several different people in the branch gave them a good sampling of the Spanish language. Denise especially enjoyed hearing them speak to see if she could understand anything, and pick out words that were familiar to her. She did well.

After the meetings, we decided to walk to the train station, and stopped for a photo shoot at the gazebo located in a park along the way. The sun was warm and the day beautiful!

The train station area is a beautiful spot. The canals are in the same area, and it is from this point that people take ferries across the bay to Uruguay. Souvenir shops line the canals and it is a popular place to come on Sundays. Tigre also has a casino and an amusement park.

One drawback is that there are not as many buses in operation on Sunday, so our experience in getting to our apartment in San Fernando was frustrating. Buses came by, but they were not the #60 ones that we needed to take us home. We waited a good 45 minutes, then finally the bus came that would drop us off right at our apartment. How grateful we were!

We planned to have dinner at our place, and we decided to have typical Argentine food -- things that the locals eat and enjoy. We ordered a variety of Empanadas from a local shop in our neighborhood, then froze them and heated them in the oven. We ate Milanesa (breaded meat) which is fried, plus a tossed salad. Salad here consists of lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. Mine was "sin" onions. Alfahores (Dulce de Leche filled cookies) and strawberry shortcake ended the meal.

Next, we wanted them to "walk the walk" to our office. They needed to experience the 4 1/2 block trek we take every day to get to work. Along the way they could get close up views of where people live, and experience the bumpy, broken up sidewalks. Not too much doggie do-do today, however. The dogs must be on vacation.

Since the luggage didn't arrive with Paul and Denise, a call was made to the airport to confirm that it was there, and we called a remise to take them to claim it. Rich spoke to the driver and established the cost of the trip so that on the other end there would be no surprises when they paid. All went well and they were back safe and sound in the hotel at days end.

It was fun to introduce them to our part of the world.