Coastal Train - Saturday, Jan 9, 2010

It was a very warm night for sleeping last night, so we assumed today was going to be a hot one. There wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning and the temperature was predicted to be 83, but would feel like 92 because of the humidity which was at 75. And, this was a day we had planned to go exploring on a new train. Oh well, we would get to feel first hand how all the missionaries feel every day when they are out walking in this heat and suffocating humidity.

But, first things first!! We had to take time to change our sheets, and do our Saturday chores of cleaning up the apartment and mopping the floors. If we didn't do it before we left the house, it would never get done today. So Rich vacuumed around sucking up the dust on the tile floors while I damp mopped them. All three rooms were cleaned and de-cluttered, the sheets and towel laundry was dropped off to the lavadero across the street, white shirts were washed in our washer, and four small area rugs were also washed and hung to dry. Now we could play!

We have heard forever about the Tren de la Costa, and have seen it from time to time when we have been close to it's path. It is a smaller train that goes parallel to the coast from Tigre to Olivos. Olivos is four or five stops from the end of the line at Retiro which is in the Capital. It is nicknamed, "the rich man's train." It costs 12 pesos to ride this train as opposed to 2 pesos to ride the regular train that we take all the time.

To catch the train in San Fernando as it comes from Tigre, we had to walk farther than we do when we catch the other train. It is a little bit of a hike, but not bad. The last leg of the walk was next to a highway.

The station was very clean and well kept. There is a restaurant on the other side of the tracks from where Rich is standing, that has outside tables under some trees. Notice the well trimmed bushes in the middle. Pretty fancy compared to the stations we are used to.

There was no place to purchase a ticket, however. We thought it must be in the restaurant, but one day when Rich walk here to scout it out, they told him at the restaurant that we just paid when we got on the train. Well, that wasn't the case. There was no one taking money on the train. A man told Rich that he could probably pay at the other end of the line.

The train was quite crowded and that surprised us. Whenever we have seen the train go by, there haven't been very many people on it. But today there was a tour group on it that exited in San Isidro. We sat across from a couple from Brazil, who, of course, spoke Portuguese. He commented on Rich's placa because it said Elder Kroff. The man told Rich that his name was Elder too. He understood a little Spanish, but really didn't know much of what Rich said, so he couldn't explain why it said Elder. He just let the man think they had the same first names.

The Tren de la Costa only goes so far down the coast, and when it stopped, we got off and went through the station to find where to pay for the ride. The ticket gal didn't want our money, and said not to worry about it. So we rode for free. That was nice.

We found the train that continued on toward the Capital which wound around farther inland before it would eventually stop at Retiro which is the end of the line. The Tren de la Costa was a smooth ride. It was quiet and glided right along -- far different than the "cattle car" train as I sometimes call it. The train we transferred to was more like that one.

We got off the train one stop before the end of the line. Our plan was to go to Recoleta today and shop at the flea market outside of the cemetery. There were some things I wanted to look for there. So we hailed a taxi and enjoyed a welcomed air conditioned ride to Recoleta. Even though we hadn't been walking much (except for the walk to the train in San Fernando), the heat and humidity were drenching us. I was glad for kleenex in my purse because I had to mop my brow several times. The perspiration was just running down our faces.

This is a huge Catholic cathedral right next to the cemetery and the flea market. We thought it was the entrance to the cemetery because when we went there before, we had to go through a building to enter the grounds of the cemetery.

When we went to check it out, we found out that it was a church and took this picture of the ornate alter area.

Many food and beverage stands are located in the shopping area. Rich cannot pass up fresh squeezed orange juice. His glass was totally fresh juice. Last time we were there, Denise and I purchased some that was half tang and half real juice.

We walked up and down and around the rows of artists selling their creations. We found the stand where the "orange boxes" are sold. They are little containers made from real oranges. Smelling inside reveals the smell of the citrus fruit. They are so cute and authentic that I bought several to give as gifts when we go home. I picked over the ones I liked, and will return again to buy more when the selection is replenished.

As I was selecting my favorites, Elder Kroff got into a wonderful discussion about the church with the young man selling the boxes. He said his mother makes them and she was ill today, so he came in her place. He told Rich that he doesn't patronize any particular church because he doesn't know very much about any particular religion. He said he has books from a lot of churches, but none from the Mormon church. Gosh, we wished we had a copy of the Book of Mormon with us. He didn't want to make an appointment with the missionaries, so Rich told him that when he saw two of the missionaries (those in white shirts and ties) walking around that he should stop them and ask them for a copy of the Book of Mormon. Wouldn't the elders die of shock if someone actually did that? Rich gave him a brief explanation of the restauration and they were both so deep in conversation that I was ready to pay long before they were through talking. We missed the "photo op" on this experience and were so disgusted with ourselves. Where are our brains??

After spending a fare amount of time there, we got in a taxi for a ride to the Retiro train station to make our way back home. We sat across from a cute couple who had also been shopping somewhere in the Capital. Wearing the name tag has it benefits for sure, because the young man asked us how long we had been on our mission. We learned that he was baptized a member of the church at age eight (his mother is a member), but has now joined the Evangelist church. That is where he and his girlfriend met. They live together now, but are engaged and might marry in March. They were just darling and we talked the whole way home. Rich was again able to discuss the church and hopefully plant a seed that could bear fruit. He felt like a real missionary today.

We came home, cooled off, and rested a bit before we walked to McDonald's for a hamburger. It is close to the bus stop where we were going next. The sisters called this morning and asked if we could accompany them to teach a family they wanted us to meet. They told us to meet them at the train station in Tigre at 7:20. The appointment was at 7:30. We waited and waited and waited for an hour and they never came. We had all kinds of reasons why they didn't show up, but weren't upset. We know how unpredictable missionary work can be with unscheduled delays for one reason or the other. We enjoyed sitting on a bench watching people coming and going to the train station. My, that's a busy place. One family walking toward the station noticed us as missionaries and came up to greet us. They were from one of the stakes in our mission boundaries. We, of course, did not know them, but it was nice to be recognized.

After the hour wait, it was getting dark so we decided to leave and come home. When Rich called the sisters after 9:00 to see what happened, we found out that we were suppose to meet them at the train stop just before Tigre. We aren't familiar with the name of that one because we rarely take the train to Tigre. We always use the colectivo. If they said the name of the train stop, it didn't register with Rich. He just had the train station in Tigre in his brain. But, failing to meet them didn't pose a big problem, because the man of the house was working and other people that were at his home were all drunk, so it wasn't a good night for a discussion.

The evening didn't cool down, so the fan blowing in our bedroom would have to be on high all night.