Argentina Team Update #12
Day Eleven
One final trip across the Argentina countryside. We loaded up the van at 9 o’clock and set out for the city of Buenos Aires after picking up one of Tom’s friends as an extra passenger to help drive the van back to San Nicolas. We pulled into the bustling city around noon and quickly stowed our gear in the hotel rooms before setting out to find some food.
After lunch, several of us spent the afternoon walking along the streets lined with stores, looking for just the right gift or souvenir that would remind us of our time in Argentina. I saw items like matte cups and even a cowboy hat made from Capibara hide. We’ll have time tomorrow to do some more exploring, so today was mostly just to get acquainted with all the streets and buildings of the surrounding area. The architecture was impressive and as the sun set, the lighting on many of the buildings added some great depth and character to the cityscape.
We had dinner at a German restaurant and had a good laugh at the thought of trying to order German food in Spanish. Something so normal for the locals seemed complex when most of us spoke little to no Spanish, much less German. Lots of Schnitzels and Wursts were brought to our table, and we walked it off for an hour or so before coming back to the hotel.
I am grateful to have gotten to know the members of this team better. Every person played an important role and was crucial to our mission. As fire fighters, we are used to being able to control what we can because there are so many things we have no control over. Today was a day that we could decompress and just enjoy being together after such an aggressive pace with the training and other social commitments. A group of us found ourselves sitting together this afternoon just talking about the trip and getting excited about future possibilities with this mission in particular. Being a first-time leader for a mission team, I breathed a sigh of relief and gratitude toward God that my team had pushed through the difficult times and saw the trip as a valuable use of their time and energy. I am so happy to have been a part of this work, and I know that we represented God and our church body well.
