The Great South American Adventure (Part 3)

Figured I better finish up writing about our trip down south...

The last few days of our trip were just as busy as the rest. 

After visiting the people of Jon's mission in the areas around the capital... it was time to take our road trip to the more rural places Jon served. 

1st of those was Coronel Oviedo (about 3hrs from the capital)-- We stopped and visited the Martinez Family. This was the very first area Jonathan served in and the Martinez's little boy Pedro was only 4yrs old at the time. Jon was surprised how much he had grown, and Pedro was excited to see him as well. Hermano Martinez was a special guy-- he had been the Branch President in the area for 15yrs, and had just been released 2 months prior. They had pictures of Jon and his companion from the mission, and Jon had taught Pedro to make a funny face by blowing up his cheeks and pulling on his ears.

Next we continued our journey 3 more hours to reach Hernandaries, but before we got their we were pulled over by the police. We learned pretty quickly that officials in Paraguay were very different from the states. They are very corrupt and target the people... aka Tourists... who don't know any better. So we ended up giving the cop $200,000 guarani for not having our lights on... during the day! (We would end up paying off 2 more officials before getting back home...)

Finally we made it to our destination... we had planned to stay with members that owned a small hotel. We got checked in, and they invited us to their home to visit. This was the Cano Family... Their oldest son Rodrigo just had gotten home from his mission two weeks earlier... and from Argentina! He and Jordan really got along! And their youngest son Julian was born when Jon was in the area, he is four now! They were such a neat family, and very gracious!! We never had to worry about being hungry around them:) 

The next day we made our way to Iguazu Falls which is one of the 7 Wonders of South America!

It was definitely worth every headache trying to get there. It sits along the border of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina so crossing all the borders was a hassle, but we made it! The pictures don't do it justice at all, but here they are--

The last thing we did in Paraguay was go to the temple... we didn't have time for a full session so we did sealings which was still very special. They let us see the different rooms of the temple, and I think it is by far my favorite temple I have been too. It was very small!! I thought the BC temple was small, but this one is really tiny, but it's perfect for them:)

After getting back to Argentina... we had a day before we flew home, so we did all the tourist sites we didn't have time to earlier. We saw the bridge they call the "Tango Bridge" ... their version of the "Obelisk"...  and the "Pink House" which serves as their White House... 

The last little adventure was on our way home...

I hit my ankle as I was getting into the taxi taking us to the airport. It hurt more than it should have... so I looked down and I saw what looked like a small bite of some kind. By the time we arrived in Dallas it hurt really bad, and had swollen up. When we got back home I could barely walk on it. Of course it was Memorial Day... So off to the ER we went. The doctor said that it looked like I developed an infection from the bite, and it had turned into a Cellulitis... which is very painful. We left with what I need to fight the infection, a wrap to help with the swelling, and strict orders to keep it elevated and stay of it the next 48hrs. Then on our way home Jon's car broke down and we had to be towed...

"Welcome Home!!" Haha.. 

Swollen Leg...

The Tiny Bite

24hrs later.. Ankle still swollen... but looking better!

Bug bite or not... I still had a great time visiting Jon and Jordan's missions. We have David and Dianne to thank for the opportunity and we couldn't be more grateful!

Hopefully we will be back to visit soon!! 

The Great South American Adventure! (Part 2)

May 21st & 22nd of 2013

  The next morning we packed everything up and made our way to the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple. We planned to do a session, and then check in our new hotel which was closer to the airport in preparation for our early flight to Paraguay the next morning. We rented clothing at the temple and got into the 11:00 session. They offered me headphones so I could listen to it in english, but I mostly listened in Spanish. I know the wording well enough now that I could catch onto what was being said. It was so fun to hear the session in another language! They also had a couple workers that spoke english to help us too. It was a very neat experience:)

  When we were done at the temple we asked to call a "Remise" like a Taxi to get to our hotel. They said they knew a member who drove the missionaries around when they transfered to new areas. So we called him and he had a van that could fit all of us. His names was Charles, and he was from Ghana. He was such a nice guy! His story was quite interesting. He and his wife had lived in Germany most their lives, then moved to Argentina which was her home land. Now he had his driving service and did a lot of work within the church and with the missionaries.

  He took us to our hotel, and then drove us to the Capital-- We wanted to shop on the famous "Florida" street. He came with us to help us change some money to Paso's. Anyone on the side of the street yelling "Cambio" will change your money. He got the attention of a young man and we went around the corner out of the view of people and he changed our small bills, but he didn't have the cash on him to change larger bills. So he took us into a building, up an elevator, and to a small room where they had all kinds of money. I felt as if we were in some high danger drug deal or something by the way everyone acted!! Just to change some money-- Crazy!!

  After we got some Paso's we were ready to shop!! I got really good at picking something up and asking "Cuanto Cuesta?"...but they spoke so fast I had a hard time understanding their reply.. Sometimes I would think I heard "Cinco" or "Siete"and think its got to be 50 or 70 paso's?? Most of the time I would just look at Jon and he would do the talking... We got a lot of fun souvenirs for the family-- and for quite the deal!

After shopping Charles took us back to the hotel, and they made us dinner. We had one of Jordan's favorites called "Milanesa" which was a thin cut beef breaded and then fried. It was very good. My favorite part about this hotel was the owner's dog. His name was Dillan, and was very friendly. When I was playing with him I would say "Ball, Ball" and he would ignore me, but as soon as Jon would say "Pelota" he would perk up and look for his ball. It was funny to realize, not even the dog could understand me!!

We got to bed early because Charles would be picking us up at 4am to catch our flight to Paraguay!
After landing we paid for our visa's, changed some money, and then got our rental car. We made our way to the hotel and got checked in... and by this time it was only 1030am!! and starving!! So we went to Jon's favorite fast food place called "Pancholo's" Jon said the "Lomito" was the best and it was definitely big enough to share!

Finally it was time to visit the members. We went to three different areas, and met some of the most humble nicest people I have ever met. It was so fun to see Jonathan interact with them. He was in his element! They all had the sweetest things to say about Jon and the work he did there. Before our trip I wasn't sure if I would enjoy meeting people with whom I couldn't communicate, but I found myself loving each and everyone of them. Just goes to show the spirit speaks in all languages...

Next up... The Cano Family and Iguazu Falls!!