Fuzz in Argentina

New Blog

2008-07-04T14:50:00.002-03:00

Too many thoughts in my head, and I'm no longer in Argentina, so this blog isn't quite appropriate anymore. There's a new place where these thoughts slip out:

http://god1stculture2nd.blogspot.com/

in SA

2008-06-09T17:09:00.002-03:00

I made it to SA. This past weekend in Dallas was awesome. Michelle and Charlie's wedding was right on. The focus of it was very much Christ-centered, and the joy and celebration flowed out from that, it was great.

On top of that, I was able to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a while, around two years time, which was cool, and meet some new ones, once again, cool. Smash made my ear's burn like she's good at, Liz and Meredith were hoppin on the dance floor, Alan was just cool vanilla like Alan always is, and Lonnie was taking a deep breath amidst 3rd year med school.

We went to church on Sunday (a fairly large church) and I was deeply impressed by the amount of people coming to worship God and uniting to do so. That was really cool to see, and I felt very encouraged by that. It was a change from where I've been, where the churches I attended in Argentina did not have many members and you wouldn't meet that many Christians randomly out on the street. I do need to remember I'm back in the Bible belt.

airline tickets

2008-06-05T12:41:00.001-03:00

I forgot how complicated and hard it is to find a simple way to obtain a relatively low-cost airline ticket for a domestic flight in the US. There are so many websites and prices and this and that.

I think I'll start taking amtrak.

the ways of goodbyes

2008-06-02T12:45:00.002-03:00

This past weekend many goodbyes were said. Really though, I saw them as "hasta próximo"s. Until next time. That next time might be a year, two years, or sixty. The most common question I was asked was "are you ever coming back?" and "did you like Argentina?" I thought the 2nd question was kinda funny.

I'm not really one for long drawn out tearful goodbyes. It's good to celebrate with people regarding the time you have shared together, but I don't see sobbing and weeping as a part of that. There's joy for what lies ahead for each person involved, and it's not like we won't ever communicate again. Email was invented a while back.

The "until next time" goodbyes with believers are even more confident goodbyes that we'll see each other again. They have been a good reminder for me that, even when I go back to the US, I'm not going to feel at home. Not here in Argentina nor back in the states. From one foreign land to another.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
Philipians 3:19-21

Ñoquis

2008-05-29T10:06:00.003-03:00

Today is Ñoquis day. The 29th of every month is reserved for eating Ñoquis, the Italian pasta/dumpling food made from potatoes and flour. Ñoquis day is known for two things:

1. Poorer people had no more money at the end of the month (the 29th) waiting for their salary so they had to scrap out food from whatever they could. Throwing together some potatoes and flour is a pretty cheap combination, hence your ñoquis. There´s an even cheaper combination: ñoqui de pobre. That's just flour and eggs, or maybe just flour and water (when the money is really thin at the end of the month).

2. Ñoquis is a term given to government employees who are on the payroll, receive a check, but do no work and often don´t show up for their jobs. Apparently, there are a large number of these ñoquis here in Argentina. They normally get their checks on the 29th of the month.

Brazilian Ironman

2008-05-27T17:13:00.007-03:00

Brazil is an impressive country.

This past weekend I traveled to Brazil with Geordon, my Canadian friend, who lives and works here in BA with his family (who I did the Villa La Angostura marathon with). I went as his "crew" as he participated and COMPLETED the 2008 Brazil Ironman race. That's right. 3.8 km swim. 180 km bike. 42 km run. In miles, that's 2.4 miles, 112 miles, and 26.2 miles. There are 22 feeder Ironmans for the big Kahuna Hawaii Ironman, which is where the best of the best compete.

I was very impressed by the athletes who were competing (and I met some from Austin, TX, go figure). Training for an Ironman takes dedication, and finishing the race is no walk in the park. These are the top 1/2% of the world's fittest people I figure, and they showed it. Geordon finished in about 13 hours

Brazil in a lot of ways reminded me of Texas. Big open spaces, friendly people...an inherent beauty in the landscape. Camilla and Priscilla, our hostesses were awesome and helped us out so much. It was funny though, I played language tribond the whole weekend. To Camilla, I spoke English and received English, to Priscilla I spoke Spanish and received English and Spanish back, and then myself could catch every 7th word of Portuguese. It all worked out.

Here are some photos from the weekend and the race:
(click on the picture to get to the album)

Brazil Ironman

Geordon kept telling me throughout the entire weekend that I really need to do one of these. No thanks. I'll stick to marathons and trail races. It's mainly because of my frugal nature. Ironman is an expensive sport with lots of gear involved. A new $80 or $90 pair of good running shoes is tough enough!

best trails in the USA

2008-05-22T15:25:00.002-03:00

So it appears that California was blessed with many of the best trails for running in the United States. I hope I get to run on some of these in the future:

USA's best trails

I can't wait to be back in the states to have more access to trails to run on, I miss it!!

2008-05-19T13:18:00.002-03:00

I took some pictures this past weekend of what Fall looks like in Buenos Aires this year...enjoy!!

Fall trees

el tiempo se va, se va

2008-05-16T14:02:00.004-03:00

It seems like the time accelerator is getting pushed down. Time is going really fast and before I know it, I'll no longer be in Argentina. I have 3 weeks left, and one of those weekends is a trip to a triathlon (I'm not a participant, just a supporter).

On one hand it's weird; something that has been fully my life for the past two years will suddenly be different. On the other, we go through noticeable changes like this in life quite often. Change can be hard, but I think there's a deeper plan in God's ordained changes. If it were all the same all the time, we'd get complacent, bored of our lives, bored of the beautiful world we've been given in which to live. I think we're also able to recognize more the variety and benefit of what God has given us in life by seeing that throughout many different "jobs" or "seasons" of our life, there is an unbending and undying constant - the full richness of Christ. So overall it's good that we go through significant changes in life - marriage, children, graduating high school, college, senior citizen discount age

Think about it this way - would you want to eat just one food for your whole life? Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 76 years. Sunday through Saturday. Cereal could be an example because it's well balanced in many of the vitamins and nutrients one needs. So Raisin Bran Crunch, that's it, for life. Boring huh? So no, we like variety in our foods. But there are constant elements. A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate and a protein is a protein, calcium...they're all found in a variety of foods but yet remain the same.

That example is not meant at all to diminish Christ's glory and the fullness of Him with a comparison of cereal, just to hopefully understand that variety and change in life of jobs and assignments and living locations and relationships is a thing that blesses us.

congratulations Sean & Emily

2008-05-12T11:50:00.003-03:00

I'm back from a very quick and whirlwind trip to Texas. Sean and Emily got hitched on Saturday. It was awesome. The wedding, the guys and girls in the wedding party, spending time with Sean, all of it was really great.

Congratulations Sean & Emily!!!

stateside for a bit...

2008-05-06T09:21:00.003-03:00

We had a BAICA fair this past Saturday to raise money for Senior graduation, and I was in charge of the baked goods table. Go figure. Me being semi-domestic. I made blueberry muffins. And I think this student sweater is a little small on me. Here are some pictures:
And I leave tonight for the good ole' US of A. Sean & Emily's wedding in Austin is this Saturday,so I'll be in SA and then Austin for a bit, and then back to BA. I'm looking forward to seeing Mable!!

fresh hot bread

2008-05-02T10:01:00.003-03:00

There is nothing better than fresh hot bread. Today, I got lucky. At the supermarket, they had just taken out some loaves. Of course I bought one. I used to wait at panaderias when I was in Chile for the hot bread to come out, then go to the next panaderia in search of more hot bread.

I consider fresh hot bread a delicacy. As weird as it sounds there's something comforting in the bread that's so warm it nearly burns your hand. It tastes so good!

believer's baptism

2008-04-27T17:30:00.005-03:00

Today at church, along with Gabriel and Clare, I was baptized. This was significant for me to do in front of brothers and sisters with whom I have shared the last two years here in Argentina. I was baptized as an infant, but it wasn't something I remembered or understood the signfigance of at the time. Hence, today was my "believer's baptism". Somewhat delayed, by 9 years or so, but it was done as a profession of my adherence to Christ. A reaffirmation that the purpose of my life is to live His example for His purpose. On top of that, Rick prayed for me (the Southern Baptist missionary I meet with weekly for discipleship), and Craig performed the baptism, which was something that was extra cool for me. Here are some pictures:

Fall in BA this year

2008-04-24T10:05:00.002-03:00

not as many reds in the trees so far. much more yellow this year. very beautiful:

we can live with a lot less than we think

2008-04-22T10:29:00.003-03:00

I think the word "need" has gotten out of it's proper use box and multiplied like streptococcus bacteria. Exponentially so. With the same effect as strep throat on our lives. We "need" a new ipod. We "need" a new cell phone. We "need" a well-paying job straight out of college. We "need" to start saving for retirement as soon as possible. A Roth IRA is the way to go.

None of these things are inherently bad in themselves, but they are bad when the become a priority in front of the Holy and Mighty Living God. I am know myself as more guilty than anyone when it comes to these things and this mentality. So many of my prior and even current motivations are based on a misconstrued notion that I need this or that. They consume my thoughts and time, which is time spent where I could be praying, serving someone else, or singing to the Lord as an offering of worship to Him.

One thing the Lord has taught me from my time in Argentina, which I knew intellectually before, but have had more actual "on the ground" living experience to back it up, is that I don't need that much to live a life that is richly joyful in Christ. Less things, more of Christ. Financially, I'm not raking them in here. I make 1600 pesos a month, or 503 dollars, and my expenses are in pesos. That would be equivalent to earning 1600 dollars a month, or 19,200 a year if I were working in the US (considering expenses are roughly equivalent here in pesos, the 3 to 1 exchange makes buying plane tickets a challenge). That would be on the low end of things in the US. I'm confident I'd thrive just as well as here. With all that said, I'll say again that my life has been very rich here. It's not coincidence that there's not a big salary in the picture. Once again, not a bad thing if it is there. I think the Lord encourages one to be a good financial steward of the resources that are entrusted to him, but at the end of the day, all of it is His and for His Kingdom. It could be summed up in these three steps: 1. Work as hard as you can. 2. Make as much as you can. 3. Give as much as you can away.

It made me think. When we budget, for those of us who do budget, we normally do it like this: we start with our income, then figure out how much to tithe, how much rent/car/gas/savings/food will cost us a month, and then detail our budget accordingly. What if we turned that around?

What if we started with how much we can live with per month with a somewhat minimalist mentality? I'm not advocating not paying for health insurance and eating Raman noodles every meal. Go out to eat once or twice a week. Budget in a movie or movie rental per week. I believe God also created those things for our enjoyment. If we are sure to accurately budget our expenses first and not plan in opulent and excessive living, but a style of living that is more focused on living out a faith-filled life rather than making the almighty dollar...then how much would we be left with per month to give to worthwhile earthly Kingdom building projects? I think we'd be surprised, and I'm fairly certain that it would pass the "10%" figure that most people have in their minds.

Where is our treasure truly found? Remember, our actions speak much louder than words. What do we really spend our time doing?

Taking air for granted

2008-04-21T14:13:00.003-03:00

Yesterday and today are much better from the thick smoke that's been covering the city this past week. I am really thankful for clean air. I no longer have a constant headache, watering eyes, runny nose, and a chest that feels like it's 200 pounds.

To celebrate normal air, I went running last night and just tried to breathe as deep as possible multiple times. The people I ran past probably understood all the noise I was making sucking in large amounts of air not contaminated with smoke.

It felt so glorious to run last night. And with normal air that buried in deep into my lungs. My appreciation for the EPA is much greater after this.

really smoky in BA

2008-04-18T09:49:00.003-03:00

So I don't write this complaining, just sharing what's going on here in BA. It's ridiculously smoky. Visibility is limited to less than 1/2 a city block. Your eyes constantly water, your nose and throat burns, and there is an ongoing headache from smoke inhalation. But you can't get away from it. It's all over BA. The smoke creeps into houses, it's in our school, when you blow your nose you taste smoke in your nostrils. I don't think this can be healthy for anyone, even regular smokers who might be more accustomed to smoke.

Some farmers wanted to clear some more land, and the fires got out of control and are still raging out of control. The wind isn't blowing it away, but rather helping the smoke cover the city. There have been more deaths than normal on the provinces highways and freeways due to reduced visibility. This is on the heels of the recent farmer's strike, which won't help either side in their push and shove grudge match. The government is pointing fingers and calling all farmers in Argentina greedy extortionists. It doesn't seem to be a resolving, uniting type of talk/negotiation style. I think things are going to get worse from here. Hopefully not though.

read the news article

why is "organic" more expensive?

2008-04-16T16:27:00.002-03:00

Why, really, is organic food more expensive? It seems that high processed food, with added chemicals, processes to put those chemicals into food, would be a costlier process than not doing all that stuff and letting food grow at a normal speed on its own. I don't know the technical rules for "organic" crop raising as set out by the USDA, but I would imagine that technological uses such as machines and even some herbicides and pesticides are allowed, as long as they comply. And so the process out in the field of raising the food seems more or less the same costs. As well as the transportation costs of getting it to the store. 1 pound of organic tomatoes seems like it would be the same cost to ship as 1 pound of not-organic tomatoes. But maybe not. I know nothing about farming and admit that. So more or less, to me it makes logical sense, in our technologically advanced day and age, that the inputs to produce organic food and conventional food are much the same.

Most likely, quantity supplied is not meeting demand for organic food as well as it is for conventional food, and so prices are higher. But is demand for organic foods that much greater than the amount supplied? Part of it, I'm thinking that organic food is conventionally more expensive because of food companies' marketing departments who have really helped to raise the level of demand. They've added enough hype and scientific studies or word of mouth buzz to merit a raise in price. Organic crop acreage has been rising substantially over the past 7 years, and so maybe supply will catch up to the demand for organic foods, and organic foods will come down in price. But maybe not. If more people continue to desire organic food, and there aren't leaps in supply, then the general higher prices for organic food will stick around.

Has anyone ever noticed that the produce at local farmers' markets tends to be cheaper than even mass cultivated "conventional" food sold in the supermarket? And has anybody thought this is all backwards? We call food that is special "organic" because it is cultivated more according to how nature intended it to be. And people pay a higher price for something that is more natural. Huh?

either way, that´s old!

2008-04-15T18:18:00.003-03:00

101 or 94, that´s still old to run a marathon:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7346616.stm

and is he smoking in that picture?

Psalm 33

2008-04-12T15:03:00.001-03:00

Let this be a prayer for the nation of Argentina...

Psalm 33

direct correlation

2008-04-08T15:19:00.003-03:00

It's not some difficult formula or hard chemistry inverse equation to understand. I've noticed that the more time I spend in the Word, there is greater joy in my life, I feel closer to God and have a better sense that I'm living (or not living) as He would have me live, and that problems or difficulties that come up in life are handled in a less anxious manner and with a better perspective. Not that I am holy myself per say, but that I am closer to holiness, which I guess makes me more holy by nature of my close proximity to it, if that makes sense? Here is an off-shoot mathematical representation for you, because I'm a dork:

Joy = Scripture(t), where t = time spent

more time spent in Scripture, greater the joy, more holy living; less time spent in Scripture, less joy, less holy the living

It makes total sense. When we get a new cell phone or new electronic device, we take it straight out of the box, and we skip over the instruction manual. In doing so, we miss learning about fundamental operational features of the device, or we might skip over learning how to use extra features/added gizmos of the phone. Try it. Start navigating through various menus of your phone. You'll get to some feature you never knew was there.

We do that all too often in our lives too with God's Word. It's the best guide we have going for us. Better than any book by any pastor or any book that might come off of Oprah's book club list. The Bible is true. It's complete. It's full, and it's very rich. I hope you, dear reader, have already realized this a long time ago.

weddathon 2008

2008-04-07T11:48:00.004-03:00

So it appears 2008 is the year of weddings. I have scheduled, as of now, assuming no more engagements, six weddings to attend this year. None of them are mine, sorry mom. This is both in Argentina and the US, so it can't be that something is in the water one place or another.

It's probably global warming.

Weddings are great things. They are great celebrations of life and joyous occasions. I'm looking forward to all of them. They serve as mini-reunions as well, which will be nice having been out of the loop for two years or so. I'm mostly oblivious to people's lives and what's happening in them back in the US, but that's a part of being 5000 miles away. I'm really looking forward to getting back and knowing friends on a more regular basis.

next...

2008-04-03T10:52:00.002-03:00

This doesn't have anything to do with the point of this post, but I played 5 hours of soccer yesterday. It was a national holiday to commemorate the Falklands War. I went to a "pik-nik" with the Spanish church youth group. 5 hours of soccer was awesome.

Anyways, I made my decision for grad school. I'll be in Nashville for the next two years getting a M.Ed at Vanderbilt. I'm excited, but nervously apprehensive about it. Part of that is going back to the good ole USA, which I'm also excited about, but it'll be a significant change.

and then there were three

2008-03-31T12:14:00.003-03:00

Congratulations Michelle and Marcelo!!!
(BAICA teachers)

They welcomed their first child, Aurelia Diane, into the world last night. Good thing Michelle went to the hospital, even though unsure if why she was feeling bad was labor or not.

Now there are 3 Qs!!

protests getting worse

2008-03-28T10:01:00.003-03:00

This protest is different. Most protests, when I interact with Argentines, their response is "well, it's just Argentina, that's normal here." This one people are mad, ordinary people are coming out in the street, some are crying, experssing fear of another military dictatorship. Either way, most recognize that the current government is short-changing the nation in a lot of ways.

The President seems to keep shooting herself in the foot with her speeches. She came out yesterday and demanded for the farmers to stop protesting, that the government would not accept this kind of treatment with a "gun pointed at their heads." I understand the machismo element here in Argentina, but something this serious, I feel like calling the others names or raising the threats is not a wise strategy.

By the way, isn't government there to serve the people? not act like it's this big independent force of us vs. you. The government here in Argentina needs to realize that most of Argentina is with the farmers. They can admit they made a mistake and withdraw or rework their tax framework. The farmers could strengthen their support of the Argentine populace by allowing a limited amount of domestic supply out so that people can eat their meat and drink their milk again. And not export anything. Don't export anything, government can't get the heavy export taxes. They self-implode on a lack of revenue.

We'll see how this one plays out...

see an informative Q&A done by BBC News

farm protests

2008-03-26T10:11:00.003-03:00

There are a lot of protests in Argentina, and they happen often, so I guess I only blog about the more important ones. The farm sector is on strike, refusing to send any more food to market. This happened last year too. It's always one crisis after another it seems here. So Argentines are starting to do without beef in their supermarkets, that's when everyone is now really ticked off.

The government passed a law a two weeks ago to raise taxes on already heavily taxed farm exports. The farmers get to sell their products internationally away from the heavily price controlled domestic market, and then the government sees it fit to take a large share of their profits.

see Bloomberg article here

The president has come out and called the farmers "extortionists", which is pretty strong language. Most farmers I have known in life, that is not a word I would associate with them. As I've said before, I think it's fine that Argentina has socialism. It's their choice to set up their political and economic framework as such, but there is clearly a problem in the way it is done. And yes, there are a lot of corrupt, greedy, and selfish parties involved. Argentina would do good to look at the Scandinavian countries of Europe as examples of countries who do socialism well, and take lessons from them.

I don't believe in the common Argentine saying "así es la Argentina" saying that basically, nothing will ever change in Argentina, so why fight, why be ethical, why try? I think there's a greater hope. It'll take an upright, courageous leader, but it can be done. (Psalm 33)

NCAA tourney

2008-03-20T14:14:00.003-03:00

So the Deacs were denied from both the NCAA tournament and the NIT tournament. It's a sad day. I know.

Some redemption comes in the fact that I have been able to stream the tournament games live here in Argentina, so I get to be a part of March Madness!!

the Easter story

2008-03-18T13:41:00.005-03:00

The entire video is the Gospel of John where all the script is the actual narrated Scripture, word for word. This part is leading up to, and Good Friday.

Fall has arrived!

2008-03-16T16:55:00.002-03:00

The days are characterized by long shadows, cool evenings, cool breezes, and trees just barely starting to change color. It's Fall in BA! I'm liking the weather...I'm going to have to go ahead and reveal that Fall is my favorite season.

funny poster

2008-03-13T11:40:00.001-02:00

this was a poster made advertising the BAICA camp talent show...

mate grande

2008-03-10T11:29:00.004-02:00

my mate:

a normal sized mate:
(that's not really a mate I'm holding, it's an old fashioned milling cup)

BAICA camp 2008

2008-03-07T17:19:00.002-02:00

I'm tired. Muddy. And smelly. BAICA camp 2008 ended today. It's where we take our high school students out to a retreat center out in the countryside and have games and competitions and talks. All relationship, fun time rather than academic, class time. Baseball, mud fights, a mud soaked soccer game in the pouring rain (my favorite), worship time, little sleep, a banana treasure hunt...all were part of it. Of course, the question, "meester, do we must do this?" was asked many times by various students. Some students it was like pulling their teeth the whole time. Others really enjoyed it.

It's an extremely exhausting time, both emotionally and physically, for the teachers. Our efforts and responsibilities during a normal school day are a lot less taxing on us. But, we do it because it's an encouraging time for the students to grow in their relationships with each other, with us teachers, and with all of it ultimately pointed with the end goal that they would claim Christ as their own. And hopefully some of them let God move in their hearts. With that hope, BAICA camp is well worth it.

strikes...again

2008-03-03T15:04:00.003-02:00

Schools for Argentine students across the country are starting this week, some today. In seven provinces, teachers are on strike over salary and job benefits. This happened last year too. The teachers want between a 20 and 25% pay increase. I don't blame them. They already get paid breadcrumbs and inflation was 25% last year. Striking only makes matters worse though.

See the article:
Herald article

The more time I've spent in Argentina, the more I've become disillusioned with the entire system of education in this country. It is an extremely restrictive system to come through and to work in, for both students and teachers. At many public schools, teachers are nothing more than glorified baby-sitters. They try and police unruly and disrespectful students who are in cramped buildings in a class of average size 30 students. No wonder teachers are on strike. If they have to put up with that. At private schools, there is also a lack of investment in buildings, curriculum, teacher development and training. I get a strong sense that private schools are monopolistic structures and are there to earn lots of money. This results in a lesser quality product (the education) to their clients (students and their families).

It's sad really, Argentina seems to be shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to education, and this is going to come and bite them in the rear end hard in 15-20 years when these students will be of age to be the workers and professionals of this country.

vulnerability

2008-02-29T09:57:00.010-02:00

Well, happy leap year to everyone! I had some thoughts about vulnerability, and wanted to share them. These thoughts have been largely shaped and reformed during my time thus far in Argentina. So...

In weakness, there can be much strength.

Vulnerability is not an easy thing to practice. However, it seems it is easier to practice as the relationship gets more personal. It seems it would be easier being more fully vulnerable with a wife than with a neighbor you exchange pleasantries with, or being more vulnerable with your parents than with office co-workers. Or maybe altogether no. It is true that anonymity and distance can offer a comfort where vulnerability would be easier to practice.

So why all this talk about vulnerability? I think its something that should be practiced and done more often, because it is an avenue or a means to a great end. Vulnerability allows individuals in relationships to arrive to a stronger, more united relationship. Relationships where there is greater love. Unity through love gels strong bonds. We all were created to be in community with others, and vulnerability is a way to usher in a stronger sense of the identity of community and the strength that comes in community. But vulnerability for vulnerabilities' sake is vanity -- it should be practiced with an intentional purpose for a greater end. There is of course, vulnerability that leads to destruction. But vulnerability practiced correctly leads to a more solid, less anxious, purpose filled sense of the relationship.

I think Jesus lived the greatest example of vulnerability throughout His life. He was perfectly vulnerable, in each situation or relationship He faced. In public, before hostilities and with many eyes on Him, Jesus did not respond to accusations and threats with the same. I think that's a lesson for us. You are more vulnerable, the destructive vulnerability, when you play the vengeance, threat throw down, respond-with-a-bigger, greater threat game. It's a more likely tendency in a world filled with selfish desires and ambitions, hate, and a focus on self-validation.

With His disciples, His intimate friends, it was a different story. Jesus was often vulnerable, although He was hurt by His friends in various ways, many times. Jesus knew they were trying hard to love Him, despite their sinful natures being a stumbling block. Jesus saw their intent was in a good place, and wasn't hesitant to continue His vulnerability with them. We see this vulnerability, this constructive vulnerability, especially when He washes the disciples feet. To begin, the Scripture says that Christ put himself into a physically vulnerable position (John 13:4). Then He proceeded to become vulnerable in relationship with His closest friends. Foot washing was the reserved task for the most menial servant of the household. The lowest ranking member on the hierarchy gets to wash the dirt and filth. This event is Master who becomes most humble servant. The hierarchy is flipped upside down.

Christ was so secure in His relationship with His father and the knowledge of the glory of the Kingdom, that He could "lower" himself to a "filthy" task. The world sees things " " in a limited manner. Is it any wonder the disciples were humbled in Christ's humility? How could this act not grow greater love in all of their relationships? Not only directly with Christ, as a servant, on an individual level directly to them, but to each other as well. Each disciple could share with each other in the fact that the Lord of the universe had washed their feet. That is a very unique something-in-common to share with someone.

Jesus sets THE example. If we desire to strengthen our communities, our individual relationships that collectively make up the entire body of saints, Christ has given us an excellent example to follow. In marriages, friendships, within the church, we can practice, and practice often, the constructive vulnerability that is not easy to do, done through pride-diminishing and a reliance on a greater source of strength than our own selves. It's weak to the world, but strength in the Kingdom.

In weakness, there can be much strength.

Korean Bible excitement

2008-02-25T14:00:00.002-02:00

Today, Samuel, one of my first graders, brought a Korean/English NIV Bible to class. He said, "Mr. Schimpff, now I can understand more."

It was really cool. I showed him our memorization verse of the week, where it was at least, and he read it in Korean. So he now gets to memorize it in Korean and can tell it to our older high school Korean students. I was pumped because Samuel had a new dimension of excitement to him for reading the Bible.

Samuel made very clear a good point I had realized with Spanish. Scriptural understanding is much more clear and meaningful in one's native language.

worship

2008-02-20T16:07:00.002-02:00

A good answer to the question: "why do we worship and for whom?"

86-73

2008-02-18T11:46:00.003-02:00

It not only makes me happy when we beat a top-ranked (#2 in the country) opponent, but it's triple excitement time when it's Duke. If Duke were ranked 2,3049 million thousand in the country and we still beat them, I would be as pleased as I am this morning. You see, Duke and Mike Krzyzewski's team are so antagonistic and annoying that it's just plain vanilla great to beat them on the basketball court. They play like dirty mafia hitmen but are thought of by most people in the country as saints. Just go and sit near the Duke bench one game and listen to how Mike K. (I don't want to write out his last name again) cusses worse than a sailor.

Way to go DEACS!!!

HDR from my trip

2008-02-17T20:55:00.005-02:00

As I get these HDR photos processed I'll be posting them. I'm still a complete amateur at this HDR photo stuff, but I'm trying. Here are 2:

umm, not ok

2008-02-13T13:20:00.002-02:00

As BAICA's webmaster, I receive a lot of emails for the school to forward to the correct people. 96% of the emails I receive are spam. I felt this one was horrible. It's written by a non-native English speaker, obviously, and is a fishing scam email. This person must have no conscience. I would be fearful if I wrote an email like this:

Dearest,
I am Mrs. Jennifer Walter, a widow to Late Richard Walter from U.S.A . I am 59 years old; I am now a new Christian convert, suffering from long time cancer of the breast. From all indications, my condition is really deteriorating and is quite obvious that I may not live more than 2 months, because the cancer stage has gotten to a very severe stage.

My late husband was killed during the Gulf war, and during the period of our marriage we had a son who was also killed in a cold blood during the Gulf war. My late husband was very wealthy when he was alive, my personal physician told me that I may not live for more than 2 months and I am so scared about this. So, I now decided to divide part of this wealth, by contributing to the development of charity homes like to the motherless baby homes, needy, poor, charity homes and widows through your name?.

I selected you after visiting the website for this purpose and prayed over it, I am willing to donate the sum of USD$5Million, Five Million United States dollars to the motherless baby homes, needy, poor, charity homes and widows too. Please note that, this fund is lying with the First City Monumental Bank ( F.C.M.B.) all I need from you is your trust, sincerity, love, peace and your contact information's?.

Lastly, I want you to be praying for me as regards my entire life and my health because I have come to find out since my spiritual birth lately that wealth acquisition without Jesus Christ in one's life is vanity upon vanity I also found out that a day with peace in the lord is like thousand years in paradise. If you have to die says the Lord, keep fit and I will give you the crown of life. May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you as I wait for your kind hearted reply, .
Thanks and God bless
Mrs. Jennifer Walter

fanny-pack proud

2008-02-11T16:17:00.000-02:00

I'm proud of the fanny pack I wear. It's not that common for our generation. It was cool during the 80s (so I fit in clearly here in Argentina), and then it seems like some kind of fanny-pack phobia developed in the 90s that effectively did away with the fanny pack. Well, maybe my fanny pack usage will help bring it back. I like it because:
1. It hides your wallet and phone better in at-risk crime places like Buenos Aires.
2. It's not as big and as bulky as a backpack, so I sweat much less when I'm riding with my fanny pack on my bike.
3. Running with one is great, I can carry keys and one fanny pack I have has water bottle slots (yes I have more than 1, I have 3).
4. You don't have to take a backpack or purse off to reach inside and get something, it's already right there!

I was curious to see if there were other fanny pack afficionados out there. There are. I wish I could join these guys, singing about fanny packs. I'll let you enjoy:

blueberries!

2008-02-07T14:07:00.000-02:00

So BAICA's PTF mom, Lori, is really awesome. She provides food (including wonderful poundcakes) to BAICA teachers, and in general is all about helping our school. She really does a lot and doesn't get enough credit for all she does. One really cool thing is that she likes blueberries. A LOT. Just like me. It is my favorite fruit. Probably 4th favorite food. Just kidding. I don't rank my foods in order of best-liked. I'm not that big of a dork.

Anyways, Lori and I figured out we share this common interest in blueberries. The ironic thing about Argentina, well one of them at least, is that they grow tons and tons of blueberries, but you can never find them in stores here. They export nearly their entire crop. So after I did some google searching, it is a powerful tool that really benefited in this case, I found a local phone number of a blueberry exporter, and their warehouse happened to be really close to where we live. I called, got in touch with a friendly Argentine (which can be rare around BA), explained my situation of how we really liked blueberries, but could never find any, and could we try and buy some directly from her. After she checked into the matter, and us trading a few phone calls, she said she had a box of blueberries for us that had just been harvested in Tucuman. They were on their way out of the country, but she pulled a box off the shipment for us. Lori went to pick the box up.

And get this, in the box, 15 kilos of blueberries, for $0 pesos! I'll translate. 33 pounds of blueberries, and the lady would not take anything for all of these blueberries. Zilch! Incredible! Being the first free thing I've received in this country, it was a great first! And Lori continued to be really cool. She made her famous pound cake, this time adding blueberries, I mean after all, we've got 33 pounds to go around, and then gave me half of it!

Así que estoy re-contento con los arándanos tan ricos que tengo!!

A lot of rocks to choose from...

2008-02-04T12:35:00.000-02:00

I thought of this devotion when I was out traveling around Argentina recently:

(Isaiah 28:16)
Do you know how many rocks are on earth? I have on idea. I even think it's a number beyond a good or accurate mathematical estimate. But there are a lot. Just look outside. Or go out to a mountaneous or hilly area and look at all the rocks thrown about. Big and small alike.

Out of all those rocks to choose from, God chose a unique favorite. His own son, Jesus, to be the rock on which to build His church. The church being the community of saints dedicated towards honoring the Lord and doing His work. The end of verse 28:16 (NIV): "The one who trusts will never be dismayed..." Later on, Jesus' own words sound quite similar: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on THE rock." (Matt 7:24). Not a "big" rock, not a "shiny" rock, not a "rare, you're-going-to-be-a-diamond bling-bling" rock, but THE rock.

There's only one choice. There are a lot of rocks out there, but God chose the only one worthy to build our lives upon, His most precious stone: Jesus.

my pictures...

2008-01-26T17:11:00.001-02:00

you can click on this picture to take you to my photo album, and then click "slideshow" (right above 1st picture) to see the pictures play automatically...enjoy!

Argentina national parks & more...

I'm back!

2008-01-26T15:55:00.000-02:00

After shaving off my Jewish neck beard, taking a shower (daily showers are overrated...weekly seems to do just fine at removing films of sweat and dirt), doing a serious load of laundry, I am back from my 3 week tour of Argentine national parks.

I made it to 9 national parks. The basis for my vacation was a goal I set about to accomplish: running at least 10 km in every national park in Argentina. So I camped, ran a lot, climbed mountains, and never got tired of the intense and majestic beauty of Creation. It's so varied and wonderful! The mountains, rivers, lakes, and stars that I saw I hope to never forget. I'm sad that I'm back in this big city, but it's time to start back at school on Monday. So here are the parks I made it to (with various awards given)

pictures (not all of them) are coming soon...

park with the most penguins...

the most remote park (with lots of Europeans with tripped out Land Rovers)...

my favorite park to run in...

the park most near the end of the world...

the largest park and coincidentally, the highest per capita pot smoker/hectacre park...

easiest park where you can run to the Chilean border and slip into the country illegally...

most awe inspiring park...

most remote park out in the middle of nowhere...

foggiest park (by far)

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:54:00.000-02:00

May you be blessed in 2008! I'm out of here for a while to go hiking and running in Argentina's national parks. Hasta proximo.

competition is good

2007-12-28T16:57:00.000-03:00

In a socialistic country like Argentina, the idea of competition takes on a different meaning. Businesses are always going to compete. As long as profit is there, there will be an entity competing for it. Often times, the playing field or the rules of the game are majorly stacked against everyone else. This often happens in Argentina, where it is very common to encounter an industry dominated by a monopolistic company or a few oligarchies. It hurts consumers. That has become apparently clear to me since living in Argentina. Consumers pay more of their income for products that aren´t reliable or services that are often faulty. By the way, most everyday consumers´ income isn´t increasing that much.

Socialism is fine. If that´s a country´s choice, there are some advantages to it. But what often happens is like what happens here in Argentina. The masses lose out to a smaller corrupt elite, and so no, not everything ends up being equal like it was originally intended. These disparities are worse in places likes Brazil and Russia. Socialism can be done well, but it still involves competition. Look at the Scandinavian countries. I think they have good examples of socialistic systems. The rules are clear for everyone, they´re enforced, and competition is encouraged. So a business or individual goes at it for a year in these countries, making the most they can, then when the whistle blows at the end of the game for the year, the businesses and individuals pay really large amounts of tax. Like 70%. But that goes to pay for all sorts of things, health care, education, municipal services, etc. But they have competition. And encourage it.

So whether it be a capitalistic or socialistic or monkeyistic society, competition is a necessary element to produce a more efficient outcome of what people are looking for. I know this is a random post, but just wanted to share these thoughts from my experiences here.

importance of Christian community

2007-12-22T19:27:00.000-03:00

I've been reminded of late the importance of Christian community by being in a secular place and in secular surroundings. Some more thoughts:

-In my opinion, any human, Christian or agnostic or Chinese or Italian, has a fundamental need for community, to be a part of and regularly interact with a community.

-Within communities, it is a two-way street. Receiving and giving. Both aspects benefit the community but are fundamental for the individual. If an individual has one of those elements cut off or doesn't have a good balance of the two, that individual will suffer because he/she is not meeting a fundamental need.

-I've made the decision to live for Christ. This implies a lifestyle and decisions that look different from other alternatives that are out there, both as an individual and being part of a greater community. Christian community is distinct, like every other community that's out there, but I still haven't experienced anything better than Christian community (and my definition of Christian community is the genuine type that I've been fortunate to have in my life...they've been different having different faces and interactions, but overridingly awesome each one). I will say I'm only 24 and haven't experienced the world over, but I'd be willing to hedge my bets that my decision to stick with Christ is a very long-term thing.

-Following Christ's example, He was very much into community while on earth. Peter, James, and John were very close companions. The other disciples of the 12 were good personal friends. He interacted socially with people like Martha and Nicodemus. He interacted on a public level with the masses and those such as the Pharisees. The point is, Christ didn't completely bubblize himself into nothing but Christian community. That was His core, but He was intentional about relating with others in a different community setting than the one He was most familiar with.

-The importance of Christian community helps me recognize that I can't be rambo-independent Christ follower (not like I could anyway). Most of all I need Christ. Right behind that, surrounding myself with a core Christian community while still being intentional about interacting in 'other than Christian' communities is seemingly how it should be.

more HDR pictures

2007-12-20T09:01:00.000-03:00

I think the last two are still a little dark. oh well.

Deacs National Champs!!

2007-12-18T08:40:00.000-03:00

Men's soccer team wins the national championship, 2-1 over Ohio State!!

more HDR fun

2007-12-16T12:51:00.000-03:00

ps...Deacs men's soccer is in the national title game today!

a busy time...

2007-12-12T08:05:00.000-03:00

I haven't posted in a while because it's been that end-times busy season around here. I'm happy to say my finals are graded, and my grades are in. What you might have missed:

-Argentina inaugurated its first elected female president...they're calling it "sequel K" because she is the wife of the former president. I think this is really her second term, but just first officially.

-my first graders are still really weirded out when anyone mentions the word "kissing" (see video below)

-I decided what I'm going to do for summer break...run (after visiting g-pa in England). My plan is to try and visit national parks in the south of Argentina, run on some trails, camp, and enjoy Mighty Creation. If anyone wants to join me, you are more than welcome to come down. That would be excellent actually.

I'm going to point out, I can do this going off and running through grand Creation because I'm a teacher and I have summer break. I'm not an investment banker. Meaning, not like I could be an investment banker because that requires smart people, but I've made the decision in my life, as cliche as it is, that I am going to work so that I can live, but I will not live to work. There are other priorities than making the bling. I get criticized for this attitude and decisions that are made as a result of it: "oh, you're lazy, or you've really lost your motivation in life or you are just pissing around in South America". Whatever would be said, it's fine with me.

I wouldn't be here in Argentina, away from the friendships I value a great deal, where I'm always on guard not to be taken advantage of, run over in the street, void of numerous comforts (cereal aisles, Wake Forest basketball..), earning $6,000 a year (which is comfortable without hesitation here) if I wasn't strongly convicted to be here.

The point is, I desire to live intentionally in such a way that my energies and abilities are put towards serving God and serving others as a result of adherence to Him...which means making decisions that will rub against my native cultural ideals and expectations. Why? Because I have recognized my authority to be the Lord and His approval, not culture and its expectations and its awarding of "success". I recognize that this is often easily said, but often hard to do. I would say that only by God's grace and His comfort am I able.

so sorry for that rambling, it just popped in my mind, so I thought I'd share.

home video from marathon

2007-12-06T10:25:00.000-03:00

So y'all might get tired of marathon this, marathon that, this promises to most likely be the last post on the subject. This is the home video of my pictures and video. I finally got it finished. Enjoy!

mega financial accountability

2007-12-04T21:43:00.000-03:00

A high-ranking Senator is investigating some finances of mega-churches. He's a 5th term Senator whose seat expires in 2010, so one might think this is "relatively" un-politically motivated. I think it's interesting that a Senator is doing this. It needs to come from somewhere. People are interested. This was the "most emailed story" on NPR this afternoon when I read it, so people are obviously paying attention to this:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611

We as a body of believers have enough things to fight against outside the body -- that being satan and the fallen world. Mega church pastors that abuse finances and take Truth and twist it, not that those two always happen together, but I would guess more often than not...can do a lot more harm than good to the kingdom.

If I were searching for something to fill me and I was materialistic, and I saw this pastor guy with a Bentley and a multi-million dollar home...I'd want that. Forget Jesus of the Bible, just tell me how to get the bling.
If I was of the mindset that Christianity (and Jesus being a part of that) was all something made up meant to boondoggle people, I'd have a lot more fuel for my fire and a lot more reason to never investigate who Jesus is.

Ugh!

my 1st graders reaction to Sean and Emily

2007-12-03T13:00:00.000-03:00

Sean and Emily's "SAVE THE DATE" card made it to Argentina last week, and so I showed my 1st graders the card today. Their reaction was very funny. Apparently they're shy about kissing.

oops, an accident

2007-11-30T22:09:00.000-03:00

This is one of those things that I think is a rite of passage of elementary school. Yes, peeing in your pants.

yesterday in Science class, we had a lesson on lungs. I had the boys run in place furiously to demonstrate that you breathe more times when you are running versus when you are sitting. After they finished running in place, the boys sat down. 30 seconds later, Samuel, sitting right in front of me, looks at me with a surprised, somewhat, what the heck is going on look and says "bathroom, bathroom, can I..."
"yes Samuel, you can go to the bathroom" myself somewhat dismayed by his own look of urgency.

He jumped out of his chair, grabbed the hall pass, got to the door, looks at me and says "uh-oh"...
"what uh-oh Samuel" as I look at him and then down at his feet and see a stream of yellow arriving on the floor. "Quick, quick Samuel, get to the bathroom..."

I guess he had a lot of water. And running in place for Science didn't help. After he changed, he was fine. I went and got him a change of pants, and told the other boys to be really nice to him when he came back, which they were, because well, that's not fun and it could happen to any of us I told them.

I was laughing a lot privately though, because, well, in the grand scheme of things, this is one of those things that's just part of life.

sometimes frustrated...

2007-11-28T13:29:00.000-03:00

It's frustrating sometimes trying to share Christ with high schoolers who often times seem, at least on the surface, to have it all figured out pretty well. Nothing seems like it can go into that fortified wall of set being. It seems like time after time, our effort as teachers or as chapel speakers seems to be all for naught. No matter how cool or great or awesome our presentation or message or production might be, we might as well be talking to a wall of bricks. I guess in comparison, 3rd culture kid high schoolers most likely don't even compare to some others who are much more hardened of heart -- some of you may be able to relate.

I was reflecting on that and came to the realization that part of that line of thinking is my own lack of faith. It's not my place, nor any other teacher or speaker here to do the saving. This I already believe, we are called to plant and water, but it is the Lord who will grow. The Lord is going to move in the hearts of those that will be saved, and it is only He who will see and know the real results of any heart movements. Clearly, He is entitled to know and see someone's status with Christ before me.

This makes sense, but is still challenging. We live in a culture and world that involves experiencing some sort of tangible result. If we study hard in school, we see a result of that in good grades earned or colleges admitted to...even if we do something poorly, I don't know, like washing clothes, mixing whites and colors and putting it on the hot water setting -- we see a result. We end up with something. And so our work in trying to share the glory of Christ with others takes on a unique dimension.

We may never know if someone in their heart comes to know and lives for Christ. I don't even think we should expect to see those types of results -- it is something that is priviledged between the Father and that person. We can sure hope for tangible results and "real-time" changes. If they come, that is better of course, an added bonus. But we could work for 50 years in preaching the Word of Christ everyday, we could live overseas all our lives, we could give everything we own to advance the gospel. In doing all of that - we still aren't entitled to see a result.

This is something that is still hard to come to grips with. The problem is that my first understanding was a cultural/worldly one, and I am trying to understand something that is Heavenly and not of this world through those worldly glasses. I want to see results!! Show me the money!! That's not how God works though, and I need to trust more of that.

ya Meesh and Charlie!

2007-11-22T23:09:00.000-03:00

Congratulations Meesh and Charlie!! (they were recently engaged) This clearly means that y'all earn the fuzzinargentina.blogspot.com's mvp of the week...shoot (as Meesh would say in a Meesh fashion) y'all get the mvp of the month for this!

Texas for Thanksgiving

2007-11-19T23:54:00.000-03:00

I'm in Texas now for Thanksgiving week. My g-rents were very kind and gave me some of their airline miles to make it back for some turkey and hunting. I feel like the trip has already been a success, and it's not even halfway over. I've been able to hang out with friends -- playing tennis, throwing the bee, watching movies, going to church...it's all really good stuff.

So my thoughts of the importance of community have not changed, they've only been reinforced over these last couple of days. Time with friends serves to renew me in a lot of ways, I'm not sure exactly how. Although I don't have to know how to appreciate the end result. I will say that living in another hemisphere helps me to appreciate the time when I can be with friends.

Where would I be?

2007-11-13T20:31:00.000-03:00

You do know... if "ifs" and "buts" were candies and nuts, then you'd have a lot of snack.

It is interesting to think for a second -- where would I be, who would I be, what would I be doing, for whom would I be doing it, if it were not for Jesus? Whatever it could be, it is irrelevant and does not take on any meaning for me. In fact, they would be thoughts leading to despair...so I'll go ahead and not. This song by Hillsong has some great lyrics about this:

video by the group who put on the marathon

2007-11-10T14:48:00.000-03:00

please excuse the soundtrack on this video, I think it's a little awkward, but awkward funny...

and YES, runners ARE crazy!

renovation generation?

2007-11-08T17:01:00.000-03:00

This may be random rambling, but I think it's worth mentioning.

I think that the Church today, as it exists around the world is not united. I think that's a deviation from what Scripture and the early apostles originally intended for the Church to be. Over time, satan has had his hand in splitting things up, over "big" stuff or "little" stuff, either way it doesn't matter. The Church was divided, many times over for different reasons, and I don't think that's the ideal. So now we find ourselves a Catholic or a Protestant or a Methodist or a Reformed Presbyterian...or ______________.... there are a lot out there.

I think the youth around the world who are passionate about Christ are really onto something. It's not just something for kicks. Maybe it's because I'm part of the same generation and so I am with bias, but I really feel like there is a wellspring rising up in the "young" generation. I see it and hear about not only in the US and Argentina, but in places all around the world.

And so before the middle years of life where a more or less set routine gets settled down, I think it's extremely important for the "young" generation to really rise up and to sow unity among each other and for the Church as a whole. Doing this is a matter of acting out our convictions, not merely talking, dreaming or wishing for them. It is seeking Christ with all abandon for His glory and His alone.

And so spread the Word. Let's unite. For Jesus. For His glory.

marathon report

2007-11-05T21:14:00.000-03:00

I finished! That was my goal for this race, even overcoming a grand theft to do so. It was somewhat funny, I ran the marathon in borrowed green soccer shorts and 3 year old shoes that already had another marathon and lots of miles on them. Geordon finished as well, meeting his goal of finishing sub 5 hours.

This was the hardest, prettiest, and most enjoyable marathon I´ve done thus far. This was the first off-road mountain marathon I've done, and I really need to do more of these, they're much better. We ran on pristine mountain trails, even through snow a few times, and had some amazing snow capped mountains and deep blue mountain lakes to look at while running. The race was well-organized and the other runners were all very encouraging throughout the race with many shouts of "vamos!!". The two monstrous hills that we had to run straight up killed me, but I knew that was going to be a problem, having trained in flat Buenos Aires.

The winner was an insane jackrabbit who finished in 2:59. He must've sprinted up the hills, which I'm still trying to comprehend how that was done. I finished 26th out of 412 people total, and was a little disappointed at that, mainly because I started cramping a lot at km 25 (once again, the hills) and had 12 or 13 people pass me. My time and place would have been better if not for the cramps, but if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, then I'd have a lot of snacks. It's something that'll keep me coming back for more marathons. But overall, this was a really enjoyable race, and a unique trip. And yes, I would do it again even if it meant being robbed again, although next time, hopefully that won't happen.

Here are the results:

http://www.patagoniaeventos.com/K42-Adventure-Marathon/resultados-2007-completos.html

the backdrop of where we started the race:

video coming soon...

we got robbed

2007-11-02T17:58:00.000-03:00

Having spent a year and a half in Argentina, mostly in high crime Buenos Aires of all places, I have not been robbed. Well, not until yesterday. The thieves made off extremely well.

Myself, along with Geordon (whom I´m running the marathon with) and Mark arrived in Bariloche yesterday, rented our car and were going to get a few things in Bariloche, look at a nice hotel, hike up a little trail, and then head on to Villa La Angostura, where the marathon is. We´re out in the middle of beautiful scenery, hardly anyone around, far away from Bariloche town, and we park the car on the side of the road. This is like out in a forest next to a lake with a tall mountain in the background, there´s really nobody around. We hike up the trail, can´t find what we´re looking for, and come back to the car. We get in, and go up a little further on the road, stop again, still not seeing anyone, then hike up another trail and find what we were looking for. Both times we left the car, locking the car with our 6 bags total out of sight under the rear canopy.

We continue on after going up the trail, jump in the car, and leave the area, not checking the bags, because we are in a really peaceful area and had seen, by this time, 4 other day hikers. Our next stop was a supermarket to get some food for dinner before heading on to Villa La Angostura. Geordon goes to get something out of his bag, opens the bag, gets a look on his face of surprise, and exclaims nos robaron todo! I thought he was messing with me. Then I looked seriously at his face, and he was not kidding. Everything robbed, all our bags gone.

And so, for the two 15 minute periods where we left the car and had hiked off the road a bit, someone or someones had come by, broken in, and made off with all our stuff. They took all our running stuff, my passport, and all our personal effects. That made today and last night a challenge getting gear to run our marathon with tomorrow. But I think we´re back to manageable status. We´ve got shoes and clothes. It could have been much worse. We´re going to finish this marathon.

I´m at Peace with it now, but I mean, come on, stealing a prayer journal and a Bible??? I guess I should be disappointed that it wasn´t a Bible in Spanish. Then I could have maybe considered it a much better event to have happened. As it was, it was mostly horrible. Sad more than anything. It´s interesting when everything you ¨have¨ in a moment gets taken from you, you really answer the question, well, what is of most value to you?

After the robbery happened last night, Geordon knew some people at the Argentine military school in Bariloche. All I can say is wow. The hospitality they showed us was incredible. These Argentine military men gave us lodging, invited us into their homes to have dinner, gave us more clothes to use than we would need in a week, and really just loved on us. That was a really cool experience.

It was weird, yesterday, within the span of two hours, I experienced some of the best and some of the worse things people can do to each other. But yes, the marathon still remains to be run and this has only made us more stubborn to finish.

Happy Birthday David!

2007-11-01T07:39:00.000-03:00

David Germer - you clearly are the fuzzinargentina.blogspot.com's mvp of the week. Why might you ask? Well, it's your birthday.

Feliz Cumpleaños David!!

not believing

2007-10-30T23:13:00.000-03:00

A number of students at BAICA don't believe in Christ. We exist mainly to change that. In reflecting on some of the reasons to not believe from their perspective, I think a lot of it has to do with the "intelligence" factor. Most adolescents have a sense that they know nearly everything in the world. I sure thought that way at that age. It is obviously false. I have a feeling that most agnostics, and even atheists would go along the same track in their indifference or objections to Christ -- they've got it mostly all figured out upstairs.

But wait. Backup. Before getting into an intelligence debate back and forth about the possible/impossible existence of Christ, His sacrifice and what it means, I "think", or should I say I feel strongly convicted that Christ is a matter of the heart, not the head. And so when we focus on sharing Christ with adolescents, agnostics, atheists...any unbeliever...I think it would be wise (ironically so) to stop so much with the mind part of it all and really focus in on individuals' hearts.

Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...(Matt 22:37)

Is it random chance that "heart" appears first?

End of week update

2007-10-26T17:45:00.000-03:00

It's been a busy week. Some things of note:

1. First graders continue to impress and humor me. We were coloring the different types of teeth today in science, and one boy exclaimed correcting another "NO! Those aren't incisors, those are cuspids." You take that out of context in the grander scheme of things, and it's quite funny.

2. Argentina's presidential election is this Sunday. After weeks of sleazy, backwards, openly idiotic campaigning, someone will be elected on Sunday. Most Argentines are hoping for the "menos mal" candidate to win. The least bad. That tells you something about this country's politicians.

3. Training is about done for the mountain marathon. The race is next Saturday. I'm not sure what to expect, but I am still pushing towards my goal of finishing.

4. I got to meet the US Ambassador to Argentina this week. He struck me as a very intelligent guy.

BAICA video

2007-10-22T17:45:00.000-03:00

Feel free to share it!

Making fun of consumerism

2007-10-20T09:01:00.000-03:00

This is well done. But I wonder how many people watch it, laugh at it, and then go on unchanged. How many take time to sit down and think about their lifestyles and why they live a particular way?

my learning in 1st

2007-10-18T22:13:00.000-03:00

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matt 18:3-6)

Having taught 3 1st grade boys for almost two weeks now, I can say that I am humbled at what I am learning:

1. They model pure hearts and innocence - How we should be before Jesus (even one of the boys who, when he is thinking hard about something, he puts out only his middle finger on his head, is innocent at heart - he is not flicking anyone else off)
2. They are genuinely sorry and anguished when they have done something that is a "serious" bad - A reminder to me how serious the sin in my own life is. It's real.
3. They are incredibly passionate about being at school and learning. They ask lots of questions and admit that they need help. Often. - I am a dead nothing without Jesus. I can't do it on my own.

pasión de fútbol...

2007-10-17T21:25:00.000-03:00

I listened to some of Argentina's world cup qualifier against Venezuela on the radio last night. Whereas before, I knew very little of the soccer world before Argentina (playing until 9th grade didn't educate me very much), I would say I'm catching on to the passion that surrounds soccer in Latin America. So last night on the radio was followed up by this morning talking with some of the other Argentine guys who work at the school about how well/poorly Argentina played. They thought very poorly, although they won 2-0. I recorded some of it, here it is:
http://www.mediamax.com/mathbaica/Hosted/soccer.wav

more HDR

2007-10-14T19:20:00.001-03:00

you can click on the photo to view it in a different window. i hope it looks real enough...

playing with HDR photography

2007-10-13T17:40:00.000-03:00

same shot...

green trees are good...red things bad (but green trees still good)...

my biggest fears for teaching 1st grade..

2007-10-11T18:27:00.000-03:00

1. getting lice
2. not singing the fonicks (please appreciate that) song correctly
3. not knowing the material. 1st grade was a long time ago.

I'm enjoying it so far. I've of course received many playfully mocking comments from high school students and teachers alike for moving to first grade like "Hey Mr. H, could you please teach me 1+1"...or of course the many quotes from kindergarten cop "it's not a TOOOMAAR!!!" But really, they're just jealous that they're not learning cool stuff that 1st graders learn. Heck, I'm learning (or re-learning). Like today, when I was reading the George Washington book, I had no idea that when he married Martha, she was already a 26 year old widow with 2 children and that Mount Vernon is only 12 miles from Washington DC. 1st graders are sponges, they soak up so much, the tricky part is getting them to pay attention for more than 5 minutes at a time.

I'm going to teach 1st grade

2007-10-06T11:37:00.000-03:00

Yes, you read correctly. I'm BAICA's new 1st grade teacher. So go ahead:
1. laugh out loud and think how funny that is
2. squinch your forehead and exclaim out loud "what in the world??"
3. try and ponder any understanding in this...

So, here's the explanation. The Berends, who are acting as the current interim principal, are leaving next week. The Berends are really awesome and great, but they are "retired" and have grandkids back in the states. They have been extremely faithful and kind to come and serve at BAICA and sit in for Dana, our principal who left at the beginning of the year when her mom became sick with cancer. So to replace the Berends' spot, Stacy, the 1st grade teacher (who is the most qualified out of all of us) who has experience in a lot of different schools and managing teachers, will be taking over the principal role. So they needed someone to teach the 3 boys in 1st grade.

They thought I was the best fit. Hah. So they asked me, and while I feel like I have no idea what I'll be doing, I did commit to teaching for sure until the end of the semester. I'll still be teaching 1 of my 4 high school math classes and my computer class, because I really don't want to lose relationship time with the high schoolers. My biggest goal for the 1st graders is to get them to read. I'm looking forward to it but somewhat nervous...1st graders really want to and like to learn. It'll be a change from the too often apathetic and too cool for school high schoolers, although I still like them a lot.

telemarketers are rude

2007-10-02T20:41:00.001-03:00

October 2. The first day a telemarketer from the US has reached me since arriving to Argentina in July of 2006. I answered "unknown number" on my Skype connection, and a young lady with a kind voice identified herself as being with my "Bank of America credit card. We'll send you a free credit report yada yada yada as a way to protect your Bank of America card...it's free for you for the first 30 days..." as she explains more about the program dah dah dah...I'm really thinking this is Bank of America calling me. Then she goes through my name and address to make sure it's correct. It is.

"So after we send you the credit history the 30 day period will begin, and then after that it will be $12.99 a month...." Wait. I didn't connect something. When did I ever elect to have this service? I didn't responds my brain. My brain also told me Bank of America can't make me pay for something if I don't want it on my card. I ask the lady kindly, "m'am, wait, if this is going to switch to 12.99 a month, I'd just like for you not to even send me the materials and I can do without the fraud protection program.."

I didn't even finish the sentence. Her kind voice quickly changed to a rude "gosh, can't you just get the materials and call a stupid 1-800 number..." click, she hung up. Carson, I know you can sing this melody..."Here's to you Miss Rude Telemarketing Lady..."

Two main things struck me:
1. That someone would become that rude that fast over trying to sell something for 12.99 a month. Maybe if it was a luxury yacht and I didn't want it. That's understandable. I hope she's not on commission pay.
2. I'm perturbed that Bank of America would sell my information.

facebook, or lack thereof

2007-10-01T18:35:00.000-03:00

So I've been told that I'm really missing out by not being on facebook. Apparently there are walls and photos and friends. I'm not exactly sure what I'm missing, but I feel if someone wants to keep updated with me, we could call or write an email to each other. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm open to convincing arguments of why it's better than sliced bread...although I have my doubts.

politicians...

2007-09-29T10:04:00.000-03:00

The Presidential election here is at the end of October, so campaigning is in full swing. That corresponds with some mayoral elections as well. All of this resembles men dressed in business suits in a boxing ring, trading blows, many of them below the belt. It's interesting to note that in the US, the Presidential election campaigning starts extremely early (like stores starting to sell Christmas gifts like at the beginning of November). Here they just go for a 60 day push or so.

You see lots of cars and vans driving around for Presidents and mayors alike with a big image of so and so candidate, blasting through some huge stereo atop the car "vote for so and so..." I would have to say that for a lot of the voters here in Argentina, they'll be casting their vote in an image contest, that's all the Presidential election here seems to be. While it is that too in the US, not to the extent it is here I don't think, there's slightly more thought and information known about candidates in the US. That's why here, you see a million posters of the candidates around, posted on walls and telephone poles. Many of the images are quite comedic, the way the candidates are posing.

One of the cabinet ministers of the current President came out this week and said "what, there's no inflation in this country...it's a political plot from the opposition that that is being said." Right. Inflation is 15-20% here. Without a grasp of reality. I think that's a good way to describe it. Kirchener, the President, also wants wealthy nations to pay Argentina reparations for Argentina having saved, and taken such great care of the environment. What? What are you talking about? Are you trying to forget about your multi-billion dollar debt?

Politicians everywhere are ridiculous. Just publicly more ridiculous here in Argentina.

Disciplined & distractions

2007-09-26T18:00:00.000-03:00

So obviously distractions are a major something that keep us from being closer to Jesus, at least I think. It's the little things that don't seem that important. I'll just go ahead and check my email again for the 43rd time today. Any new news going on in the world? Probably not, just checked 5 minutes ago. For me, one of my distractions is the computer, spending way too much time not really doing anything purposeful on a small electronic machine. I also get distracted by things that are new...I want to spend a lot of time figuring out whatever that new things is and how it works. Rather, I could be sitting down and getting into the Word. I could be praying. I could be serving someone.

One thing that I think really makes a difference is realizing that humans are creatures of habit. If that's so, ok, then it's time to implement discipline so that my habits and time spent is doing more fruitful things. Maybe I need to make a new rule, I can only check my email twice per day, at a certain time of the day, and if I go over that quota, I lose my bowl of cereal for the following morning. What's hard about that is enforcement, I'm not likely to enforce that on to myself. So ya, I feel somewhat distracted these days and am wishing for more discipline.

international week

2007-09-22T17:37:00.000-03:00

This past week was international week at school. Its purpose is to learn about different cultures and countries around the world, and to recognize and share our own diversity. The high schoolers each did a specific project on a particular theme, while the elementary classes each focused on one country and learned about that country. On Friday, there was a program, and then a parent-student-teacher lunch. Here are some pictures from the week:

this song's stuck in my head!

2007-09-18T21:18:00.000-03:00

The lyrics of this song are right on. If you listen to it, forget the video, forget the subtitles, forget the singer. Please just listen to the words.

It's awesome!!

I reaffirm that K-gartners rock

2007-09-17T19:28:00.000-03:00

So this week is international week at BAICA. Each lower level class elects one country, studies it, and then does a presentation on that country. Kinder is doing Brazil, and one big theme is the soccer fanatacism that runs through that country. Here are some pictures of the kindergartners at lunch:

Why can't high schoolers be cute and have a desire to learn? K-gartners do!!

The growth of the cereal wall

2007-09-15T11:02:00.000-03:00

Here's an update on our wall:

You can see the difference from a previous picture.

My roommate Craig is a big fan, lemme tell ya. When asked about the cereal wall, you can expect an extensive roll of the eyes from him.

good article on Master's degrees

2007-09-14T16:37:00.000-03:00

An interesting article about Master's degrees.

I'm a fan of teacher's day

2007-09-12T21:25:00.000-03:00

In Argentina, they have a school holiday in honor of teachers. It's really to honor Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a former President of Argentina, and one of the first to place an important emphasis on education in this country. You can read more about him here if you wish.

Anyways, teachers day is great. We had the day off from school yesterday, and today 2 of my students brought me gifts! Gifts!! We're not talking a measly apple or anything (even that would have been great). From one of my students, who said it was from his mom, I was given a collared casual shirt, and one of my Korean students gave me a tea set, complete with two cups, a little tray, and two serving spoons. I just teach math. I don't deserve this. It was really nice of them, and I very much appreciated it. You could definitely say that I am a big fan of teacher's day.

great message today...

2007-09-09T18:59:00.001-03:00

We had a guest speaker at church today and He said some very insightful things and gave a great message. Robin spoke on a passage from the Old Testament:
Read Haggai 1:2-11

Robin pointed that we as followers of Jesus we tend to focus primarily on the New Testament. However, God's word in the Old Testament, while yes different in presentation, still has much applicable meaning to our lives today. God wouldn't speak or take action just for the heck of it, He tells us things in His Word, Old or New, for a specific reason and purpose. That was a great reminder.

The background for this passage in Haggai is important to understand. The brief summary: under King Solomon, the nation of Israel was prosperous and doing very well. The Temple that was constructed during Solomon's rule contained the actual living Spirit of God, and the nation of Israel made that their primary focus and found their identity in that, thus the prosperous and joyous times together as a nation.

After the nation's downfall and subsequent exile in which the people had become too complacent and lost their focus on what was primarily most important, the time had come back around to build the Temple again. This is what this passage in Haggai refers to. There is an emphasis on building the temple for God anew, and making Him the center of all. Verse 1:6 is particularly applicable to today's life and society. It is extremely similar to Matthew 6:25. As the verse in Haggai, there is a similar answer to what we should be doing: Matthew 6:33.

Today, we, even as believers, are more focused on building things for ourselves, whether it be fame, money, possesions, rather than building things for God. And this passage in Haggai encourages us to think about our current state as a result...verse 7 says "Consider how you have fared." Robin pointed out that we all too often don't really stop. Stop completely and examine.

For our life's primary focus, are we building a Temple for God in our lives, which will result in true prosperity, joy and wealth, or are we building temples for ourselves?

been a busy week

2007-09-08T12:24:00.000-03:00

It's been a busy week around these parts. Tests in most of my classes and I'm running a lot more. These are some of the photos from this week: It's mostly Spring now, and the weather is great... Guys even get out and trailer their golf-club push carts around... and BAICA students get to go out and play more...I even got one of the BAICA students to put on this goofy helmet and pose for this shot, which is something Martín normally wouldn´t do... I´m looking forward to Spring. I signed up to do a mountain marathon in November, so that´s why I´m running more...I figured Spring would be a good time to train for it.

Siempre...

2007-09-03T21:43:00.001-03:00

Siempre reinarás, siempre reinarás Jesús...
Siempre reinarás, siempre reinarás Jesús...

It´s true. Jesus will always reign. I´m convicted of this fact and have a great desire to share Him with others...but ah, that´s the tricky part. Jesus is too good for just me. At the very least, I´ve got to share Him with others. He did save me, you know. I so often think it´s up to me and my crafty ways and intelligence to figure out how to be successful in this. That´s my mistake. Complete abandon to Him is where it´ll happen. After all, He is the one who reigns forever.

Wal Mart Argentina

2007-09-01T17:21:00.000-03:00

I ran to the Wal Mart today, they have a new store relatively close (4-5 miles away) as a test the water experience. I had seen all these ads up around for "precios más bajos"...would they really have the lowest prices?

So I went, and my verdict: probably not going back. They don't have the lowest prices by far, and I found the same customer service as in the states. Meaning not good. I asked at the counter how you could find a particular CD, if they had it in stock or not, because the CDs weren't organized alphabetically. The counter lady referred me to the aisle guy. So I went and asked the aisle guy. He referred me to the counter lady. OK, we're getting nowhere fast, no CD purchase. Aside from high prices, there were a lot of items missing on shelves...makes things hard to buy. So the only things I bought that were more economical than other stores: sweet potatoes, spaghetti and sugar. I spent 10 pesos. About 3 dollars.

So I was a little disappointed, yes. The redeeming part came when I was walking out of the store, and an older Argentine man (60s) approached me on his bike, and asked me a question out of the blue (which normally isn't par for the course for Argentines) "hey kid, they got low prices?" he asked. "No" I responded, "they sure don't."

Mr. H's poster

2007-08-29T12:23:00.000-03:00

For parent-teacher night, which was last night, each family and teacher puts together a poster with pictures and info to tell something about themselves. For my poster, I offered my 10th grade students pizza if they came up with something creative, like me on the cover of a magazine or something. I think they did a great job, here are the individual masterpieces that ended up composing my poster:

last night's sunset

2007-08-28T09:20:00.000-03:00

Math Rap

2007-08-24T19:48:00.000-03:00

I have fun doing what I do. Today in Algebra 2 class, as my students started doing their homework in class, they asked me what sort of music I liked. Tomás, who you will see in the video, likes rap. I explained to him I didn't like rap that much because I couldn't ever really understand the lyrics. I do like math rap though (thanks to our 2nd grade teacher for loaning me the math rap CD). Today I just affirmed to my students that I'm a big dork. Enjoy the video...

Link to the video

Jasmine tea

2007-08-20T14:57:00.000-03:00

I bought some jasmine tea in Chinatown yesterday. It's good stuff. I was curious to see what it really is and how it's made. I learned that it's really regular tea or green tea leaves, and they put the tea leaves next to jasmine flowers. In the evening time, the cultivated jasmine flowers open up to release oils and scents, which mixes with and sets onto the tea leaves to produce "jasmine" tea. This process can be done a couple of times, and the quality of jasmine tea depends on the tea leaves, the jasmine flowers, and how many times the process is done. The tea more aptly named might be "tea leaves scented with jasmine"...but that would never happen. Regardless, it's still a very enjoyable cup of tea. You learn something new everyday.

Bill Gates knows a thing or two...

2007-08-18T15:54:00.001-03:00

Bill Gates gave a speech to high school students, you may have already seen it or heard about it, in which he outlined some things that I think are quite true. He talks about the non-reality of the feel good teachings that exist in life. I feel like Bill Gates gets some credibility in my book, and I agree with most of what he says:

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school and you won't be a vice-president with a car phone, not until you earn both. Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Bearded sayings

2007-08-16T15:47:00.000-03:00

As of late, I've let my beard grow fuzzy. Makes sense. I'm Fuzz. In addition, all of the other high school teachers are sporting a beard. Craig, James, Paul and I. In essence, it is a symbol of teamwork and camraderie. Something that unites us, yes...our beards.

Not withstanding, I've received various comments about my beard, not many of them positive. I like it though, it keeps me warmer, and it's less work not having to do all that shaving. I will share some comments with you from different people -- their names will remain anonymous to protect their identities. Some of the sayings:

"What's with the Amish thing you've got going there?" -fellow teacher

"You look like a monkey" - student

"I don't like it. I think it was a stupid thing to do." -student

"No, you don't look like a Jewish rabbi, you look Amish." -fellow teacher

How much longer the beard will last, that is to be determined.

BABEL tabs

2007-08-13T18:52:00.000-03:00

In an effort to stymie the student's usage of Spanish, we now give out BABEL tabs. Many of the students come to our school to get a solid English-language education. Last year, they frequently would speak Spanish in class or to each other, and so they did not really improve their English that much. If you're going to improve in any language, you have to be immersed in it, and go through those uncomfortable times. The students would get full tabs for speaking in the "incorrect" language sometimes, but that punishment was a little harsh. So for this year, we came up with BABEL tabs. Thank Jenn for the great name.

If they get 3 BABEL tabs, they have to miss their fun social lunch time and write an English composition in a classroom amidst silence while lunching. We've only had 3 days of school, and there are already a lot of students who have accumulated three BABEL tabs. It's a hard habit for them to change, but I think they're catching on. They're getting there. And with it their English will improve.

running blind

2007-08-10T17:00:00.001-03:00

At my last eye appointment, my eye doctor said that he was beginning to see blood vessels growing towards my pupil. It means I wear my contacts too much and I need to let my eyes "breathe" more. So I asked myself when is it not extremely necessary to see? (I'm legally blind without my contacts, in case you didn't know or have forgotten).

Running is one instance. So now, I sometimes run without my contacts in. I can tell what large objects are, like cars, people, and dogs, they're just really fuzzy. It's kind of fun actually, it adds an added challenge to running, and I feel like I am much more aware and with it when I am running now. Now that I sort of need to pay attention. And best of all, my eyes get to breathe and get more oxygen.

I've only had a few hickups so far. I've run into some branches and nearly collided with a few people and one dog, but there was never any contact, they just suddenly appeared (distance judgement is also a bit impaired)...and once again, near misses, so everything is fine. So that's my new thing, running blind. It's fun.

ode to first day

2007-08-08T16:01:00.000-03:00

Tomorrow, we start the first day of school.
Wow, how cool!
Any kid who decides to snooze
has o' so much to lose!
I'll teach about all sorts of things and of course math,
I sure hope the kids over the break took a bath.
I've enjoyed this time being on break,
but some parts of it were boring like a rake.
You know, like a rake just sitting there in the garage,
not getting to rake up any leaves.
So I'm quite enthused,
but not bruised,
which is a good thing to be able to say,
for the first day!

Sólo Cristo

2007-08-04T11:46:00.000-03:00

Last night, I went to the Hillsong United concert here in Buenos Aires. It was awesome. In case you don´t know, Hillsong United is a "youth" praise and worship band that is a ministry of Hillsong Church in Australia. The band has traveled to different countries around the world. They have some really great music, but I'm more excited about the focus of their ministry. They desire to encourage a new generation of believers to live for Jesus. Yep, Jesus. The Jesus who sometimes when you mention His name it is considered radical and can make people uncomfortable. That's sort of funny because it was the same way in Jesus' time with the religious leaders as it is today in 2007. But really, Jesus is wonderful. Everything.

The soccer stadium had lots of people, most of them young, fending off cold and rain to sing and praise God. In both Spanish and English. The band sung in both languages, and the crowd followed in both. The language barrier didn't matter that much at all. There was so much joy in that place last night. I didn't want it to end.

Last night I realized that I very possibly was experiencing a small glimpse of what Heaven is going to be like, at least I hope. There we were, a bunch of believers united to sing praises to God Most High. We were doing what we were created for...worshipping the Lord, and I got to see that here on earth, for real, en vivo, on a large scale. Can you imagine how cool Heaven will be? That many more brothers and sisters, singing unending, beautiful praises to the Lord of the Universe, and there won't be any language barrier. We'll either speak a bunch of different languages and understand them all, or we'll all know one celestial language.

Seeing that last night encourages me greatly, it's like getting to see who wins before the championship game is over. And so now, it's time to go out into the streets, offices, and classrooms to recruit other brothers and sisters to come and join the Heaven praise party. I want as many voices singing with me as possible. All for Jesus. Sólo Cristo.

Ahora son trece

2007-08-03T11:42:00.000-03:00

Last night, I went to go see Ocean's Thirteen. In Spanish, the title is "Ahora son trece" which would literally translate to Now there are thirteen, which is kinda funny. The movie was good, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was different from 12 and 11 in that it was quite funny, a departure from the "cool plot twist of things happening at the end" type movie...you basically know what's going to happen the whole time. The way it's done is what makes it good.

Craig & rice

2007-07-31T21:52:00.000-03:00

Craig, my roommate, has been eating a lot of rice lately. Nearly every other meal involves rice. The reason, you ask? Well, he bought a microwave rice maker, and was absolutely giddy about it. I think he gets more pleasure in getting to use his new contraption and that the rice is just a poor left over party favor from the deal. Although, I think he still likes facebook more than he likes his rice maker, but I would say they're pretty close. That's saying something.