Long time and now I am a year older

I abandoned the blog for a good while...not intentionally.

My days are winding down in Buenos Aires, trying to take advantage of the last days and ignore the sadness that is making its way to the surface.

Beautiful day today, relaxing birthday, blue skies, nice breezes, hot, played frisbee, bought new pair of alpargatas, ate some cake. God has blessed me with good health and 23 years of age.

He has also blessed me with a wonderfull family that loves me, friends that care for me, and opportunities that are only given to me by Him.  

ABOVE: is from canoeing outside San Rafael in Presa El Tigre.  Beautiful water, and very interesting rock formations.  I was able to go visit the province of Mendoza and it was beautiful, a great trip to get away and relax.

 Now pertaining to the ridiculous picture below.  I am thinking wether to dread my head or not.  there is no way I would ever let them grow out as long as the dude in this picture.

Friends in South America

It has been way long since I have posted.  My life became very busy with the end of the semester, getting visas to travel, and visitors!  Above here you are going to see 2 people that have been constant spiritual leaders throughout my life thus far.  Their travel plans landed them in Buenos Aires for one day together. Kate (The sis) and Dan Urban (friend, old sunday school teacher, life teacher) and I got to spend lunch at Cafe Tortoni, some bone old Cafe in Buenos Aires, tango history and what not.  Anyways, It was great to have them here...I had not seen family in like 5 months so it was refreshing.  God Has blessed me with amazing people in my life.  Wasnt really expecting anybody past immediate family to jump down a hemisphere to come visit me...just leave it to Urb the world traveler.

I am currently in Brazil.  Needless to say I am in Love and plan on learning Portuguese next, maybe teaching English and/or Spanish in Brazil while learning Portuguese?  I will have to talk that over with my brain to see if he can handle it.  Above here we have some awesome friends I met while working at a YMCA camp in Trinity, TX 2 years ago.   Finally I have made it to their country to see them and I feel like I am visiting family, it has been so great.  Tica, Felipe, Christina and I are chewing on sugar cane in this pic.  I need to start planting that stuff in my back yard when I get back to the states.  It would be a great substitute for dip Kate ;)  One thing I noticed while being here is How distance can never ruin a friendship or bond between people, if it is real.  My family and I showed them hospitality 2 years ago, and Their families have been just as amazing to me!  It has been so nice to have this after 5 months of weird, awkward, and different routine in Buenos Aires (although I love it).  Anyways, I thank God for putting these people in my life.  I believe He has been glorified in our relationships from 2 years ago and still today, which is the most important thing of all, God´s glory.

Oh, the food is amazing here...They wont stop feeding me, I love it, but Im sure I will regret it, not.  Once I get my pics on my computer I will put up a picture of the ultimate game day food, moreso for fútbol(soccer) but I could knock out about 3 at a Razorback game.  

Get Lost in Patagonia

This past week has been amazing.  I've had the great opportunity of traveling through southern Argentina with my sis, Kate.  I cannot get enough of la naturaleza that one can find in Patagonia.  Although our plans have not gone as planned, it has been perfect so far and I am sure we will continue to be amazed by God's wonderful earth.

We have met amazing people, seen amazing views, had amazing conversations, and have had many great laughs.  I am so blessed.  I don't deserve any of it, but I am very grateful for it all.  

It was also really exciting and fun to show kate around Buenos Aires and what my life has been like for the past 5 months.  The night she came over to have dinner with my host family, protests broke out in the streets towards the conflict between "el campo y el gobierno" (the farmers vs. the government).  This "cacerolazo" or pot banging form of protest has been used a lot since i have been here, and my señora Georgi and her son Joaquín took us to go check it out before dinner, quite an experience.  I wish i could post a video but im stupid and cant figure it out.  so if you really want to see it just go to youtube.com and search "cacerolazo 2008 callao."  Callao and Sante Fe are two main streets in Buenos Aires really close to my house.  

Anyways, Buenos Aires was last week and we just arrived to Puerto Madryn which is a city next to the Valdes Peninsula.  We were going to see penguins we thought, but they have left for brazil.  So i guess penguins migrate too, and they migrate north, and they swim, weird to think about.  But it is whale season, so we will get to see some huge southern right whales, hopefully.  Got to go and hope to post some more pics from Puero Madryn or whatever else happens on the rest of our trip!

 

Small talk = blah

"If we are so impoverished that we have have nothing to reveal but `small talk`whenever we meet, then we need to struggle for more richness of the soul."
-Frank C. Laubach-

In my time here in Argentina I have met a large amount of people from all different areas of the world, with different lifestyles, and very different ways of percieving the world. I have spent anywhere from 5 minutes with these people to a handfull of months.

I have realized that I have never really understood the majority of these people fully. Conversations always seem to be full of this thing we call "small talk." Sometimes because of time restraints this is all we can to talk about.
i.e. whats your name? where are you from? what do you do? the weather, current events, common interests etc. etc.

I find myself constantly repeating these conversations, or really just elaborating on these subjects the next time I spend time with the people I come in contact with again. Why is it that we are afraid to talk about things that matter. Granted I have met people that are open about talking about their beliefs, religion, world views, and inner thoughts, but it is hard to come by. Sometimes it is hard to do this also with my difficulties with the language, or theirs.

One thing I intend to start doing is initiating conversations that are directed to things that matter more. I understand that my belief in God and Jesus Christ does not interest a lot of the world, but this is my life and who I am. Should I not share this just because I do not want to "bore" the other party? Am I denying my faith in Jesus Christ by keeping it to myself, or am I detaining an opportunity for someone else to experience the Glory of God as I have in my life?
Just something that I have been thinking on recently.

"It is not the fashion to tell your inner-most thoughts, but there are many wrong fashions, and concealment of the best in us is wrong. I disaprove of the usual practice of `small talk` whenever we meet, and holding a veil over our souls."
-Frank C. Laubach-

el desierto negro?

Just saw this movie. Not too sure what I think of it yet. Not too much dialogue which was what I wanted in order to practice my castellano. It was in black and white, so the movie poster serves its purpose.

Been workin on my 2 final papers that I have due next week, one on La pasión de Argentina and El populismo: Getulio Vargas y Juan Domingo Perón. I always seem to procrastinate and kill myself with work for a good week. I guess that is just how I am.

I will be attending my first foriegn concert. The artist is Jorge Drexler. Check him out, he is pretty good. I dig the guitar in his songs, or the songs I have heard thus far. Im sure my next post will be about the concert, hopefully with some fotos.

ooooo...and mi familia got a router so I have some legit wireless connection now!!!

Días difíciles

I have added 2 new things to my way of life, juggling and running.
Juggling is really self entertaining for me. I enjoy it...a lot.
There is a real legit plaza, or 2, close to my house here in BA that I run around now, and the last time I went i realized that it is marked with distances. I know, really convenient.

God has been working in my life. I feel like sometimes people believe that everything will be perfect and easier once your relationship with Christ is flourishing. Atleast I used to think of it that way. I have been learning that I am privileged to be able to have a relationship with God, I do not pursue a relationship with God to benefit myself. I strive to love Him and follow Him in my life so that He is glorified. The Glory of God is the only thing that matters to Him. This is so much easier to type. Living to help spread the Glory of God is crazy hard sometimes. These difficult days cannot defeat me though.

La semana de parciales.

This week I have had a majority of my midterms. I had one Monday, one in 2 and a half hours, then one thursday.
Hopefully friday I will begin my visa processes for Bolivia and Brasil. Such a pain in the butt, but I guess it is not easy for them to get one for the United States.
A good movie for you all to watch pertaining to the previous sentence would be
AMERICAN VISA. It is a Bolivian movie and I think it may have won an Academy Award for foreign film or something like that.
Not too much to blog on today, hopefully the next one will be more exciting.