Pichi: Part 3

Our last excursion. One I will never forget. It was a mountain hike. But not just any mountain hike, it was the hike up Mt. Faulkner! (Don’t worry I never heard of it either before I went). We started the hike around mid-day, the weather was nice. It had rained the day before but there was not that much humidity. There was a group of around forty or so that began as one, and, of course, the group separated as we embarked upward. The guides stated that at the beginning we were going to climb for around ten minutes and then rest for a little while, and repeat the process for about 45 minutes, which is when we should be at the first opening in the mountain (most of the hike was through a small “path” up the steep mountain surrounded by woods and enormous trees). At first, me, being the expert hiker and always in the group leading the front, (that’s sarcasm, though I have done my fair share of mountain climbs and hikes) thought this crazy and claimed that I would not stop and rest till I was standing at the peak. However, once we began that climb, and oh what a climb it was, I was thankful for those rests every ten minutes. It was difficult. Several people did not make it. Seriously. Your legs and calves and thighs and pretty much everywhere below your abs begin to ache not too long after you start. We climbed for about 50 minutes and reached the first opening. It was a small field without trees in which you could see down to the road at the bottom. We sat and rested for a while, I drank a good amount of water and was running dangerously low, sadly. And after a good rest we started again. I was in the front with group of six or seven. We started up into what they said is the hardest part. We hiked a for a while it seemed like, going in and out of woods in the still very narrow path. But then we reached a certain place in the hike. Before we were just surrounded by a clutter of trees and bark and branches and leaves and a dense jungle-like atmosphere. But here the trees spread out and the path widened and we entered a more open area. This was a really cool and unique place. It’s hard to explain, but there was a peace lingering in that certain part of the wood that is hard to find down below where we live everyday.

It was almost, and without being too supernatural or strange, a more spiritual place. As if it wasn’t a part of this world. Forgive me if I seem a little cheesy but being it this small break between the arduous climb made leaving everything behind and focusing on nothing but what was ahead that much easier. I could go on longer, but we must continue; there is still much to talk about. We climbed for about another hour till we reached the “first” top of the mountain. It was almost like an enormous hill, except we were a few thousand feet up and surrounded by similar “hills” while gorgeous, snow-capped mountains rested in the far distance. I was among the first few that reached the top and explored a little while small groups slowly came over time. Five of us went off to the distance and found a rocky part that overlooked a view in which I can’t even begin to describe (I am not that good of a writer, to write about God’s creation in the words that give it its proper credit). We stopped here for while and ate lunch. After a short rest we continued up even further. We hiked now to a creek in which we followed it upwards to another section that seemed to be a valley. It was massive and you could see for miles when looking over. The backside of this valley, if it had a side per se, was walled in by mountains and the opposite side overlooked miles and miles (and miles) of mountains and valleys and woods and trees and fields. Again, another indescribable view, first-hand, of God’s powerful and artistic hand. Here we were at a high enough point where snow patches, some small but some fairly big, were scattered along the landscape. Now it wasn’t cold. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I had a Jacket but I chose not to wear it. We were here for a while taking pictures, enjoying the atmosphere, and even having snowball fights. Then slowly one by one people began heading for the mountains in the distance to venture further upward. A group of us wanted to go as far as we could; so we climbed, literally climbed, up a rocky hill and entered into another valley. This valley had a running creek that weaved through its fields in which I used to fill my water bottle. Crystal clear and cold as it was pure, mountain water is the best there is. And how it was refreshing.We hiked through this vast valley and up towards the mountain in the distance for about another 45 minutes. I know this is probably hard to make out in your mind but just know it is a sight that people who have the pleasure to see it will never forget.

Now we reached THE top, or at least as high is we could go. We saw the view. I stepped back with my head on a swivel because you could not take it all in with just on look. Miles beyond miles of absolutely indescribable, gorgeous, snow-capped mountains surrounded us. The previous sights, the ones I also said blew my mind (and still do), seemed so much less.

There was a valley with a lake at the bottom, or at least one of the bottoms, that was so clear and vast that you could see the reflections of the adjacent mountains. It looked as if it was only a mile or two away when in reality it could have been so much further. A few of us pulled out our cameras but nothing man-made could capture the gloriouspainting of this priceless picture that lay before us. We could see so far that mountains and a volcano, which towered above everything in sight, that were known to be in the country of Chile were within our view. I praise God for His creation and his almighty hand. It was an amazing experience. If God placed this breath-taking sight on this wicked earth for us to enjoy, I cannot imagine what He has reserved for our enjoyment in Heaven!

Pichi: Part 2

Pichi Part 2

Our first main excursion was the cinco caídas or the five waterfalls. We took a bus to a certain spot where they dropped us off. We hiked for about, well, I don’t really know how long. It was a while. We finally reached the bone-freezing water in which we had to climb up. Not really climb, but walk in an upward motion. But it was cold and the water was rushing the opposite way we were walking. I could go into the adventure up to the first waterfall and describe the battles and the troubles; and the times when people slipped and fell which made me chuckled inside, sometimes out loud; but I need to get to the good stuff. We reached the first waterfall, which was a powerful sight. This was the initiation. Everyone that was anyone jumped in the neck deep, lethal, hypothermia-threatening water and swim under the unwelcoming pounding where the fall met the creek. It was quite exciting. After this I was numb from head to toe so the water didn’t really effect me that much (Ha! Yeah right, but I really was numb… but still somehow cold.). That was the first waterfall. We then hiked higher up and reached the next two, which were next to each other. This was pretty insane. You had to be there though. I am not really going to try and explain it. It was like one of those things that was crazy when you thought about it after the matter, or for people at home thinking about it, but you had to get over the freezing, now-you-actually-will-get-hypothermia water, and do things you weren’t normally do like venture behind the waterfall, or jump in the deep water hole, or swim against the current to reach this really cool spot perfect for a picture. Because you would regret not doing it later. So that was our first excursion. It actually was a really cool and amazing experience.

A lot of things happened during the week that aren’t quite exciting enough for you for me to write about, but they were well needed things for me and the whole group. Like an afternoon to sit by the fire (because it was cold down there) and just read a book. Or to have a nice bed, or at least nicer than at the institute, where you weren’t sweating. AND… Breakfast was at 9:30!!! I slept till like 9!! It was very nice. I did two other big excursions. I went to San Martin, which is the town that we first arrived in before we went to the campground (its about an hour from the hotel) and the hike up the mountain, which was one of the most intense activities I have ever done. San Martin is a really neat place, I might actually move there one day. Its like a little village (but much nicer than just a village, there is some money in that place) that settles in a valley between the mts. So there is a wonderful view wherever you are. The weather is great, in the winter time it gets really really cold I’ve heard, well considering we were there in the summer and it was pretty chilly; and the mountains were snowcapped. But it had a really unique style to it, really mountainy but not like hillbilly bluegrass mountainy. And snowboarding is really popular. And there is a huge, gorgeous lake near it. And its just a pretty cool place. So that is a quick look at most of my week. Trust me, it was a pretty cool week, even compared to American vacations J. I will talke about my intense Mountain hike next.

Pichi: Part 1

Okay so this bus ride. Around 24 hours was our trip, including stops for dinner and breakfast. The bus was semi-comfortable however. It was a two-story bus, enough to hold our group of 40 or so Americans plus other travelers. I ended up on the bottom, which was quite a lovely place. It was smaller, only five rows filled its space, with two seats on each side. The seat could almost turn into a bed… almost… at least it was more comfortable than my night on the plane ride over here. I was in the back, we watched a few movies, ate some snacks, and slept a lot. We arrived around 1:30 in the afternoon, lunch time, after leaving around 12:30 p.m. the day before. We were served pasta, a delicious meal it was, a foreshadow to the rest of the meals, for they all were very tasty. We had all free time that day to get unpacked and settled in. The rooms were nice but it’s not worth talking about now. A group of us, 6 or 7 of us guys, left right away to find the nearby river, more like a creek but it’s a bigger than a small creek (we weren’t exactly allowed to leave the hotel campground without a “tour guide” but, well, that’s unimportant). We found the creek, took our clothes off (not all the way of course), like we used to do as boys when we would go exploring in the woods and find a small creek after a lot of rain, and went for a swim. The water, wow, was cold. A different kind of cold I have ever experienced. It hurt all the way to the bones as first touch. But we were in the Andes, we had to get in. So after a few hours there we returned for dinner (again, like lunch, was amazing. Every night had a different theme, for example we had Italian night and even Argentina night) and went back to our cabin. We stayed, as I said, in a cabin, which was pretty sweet and tranquilo. And, to our surprise, the girls and guys were in the same cabin, same hallway, which, if you know Word of Life Argentina, you know that’s crazy talk. But we were like a family. It was a great first day and we still had more to come.

I have part 2 already written, ill post it later.

Closing a Chapter

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” –Psalm 138:8 (ESV)

Closing a chapter, only so we can open a new one. We are winding down to the last week of camp. There are actually 2 weeks left but my group of gringos have ourselves a summer retreat next week. We are leaving this Saturday and traveling 30 hours por bus to reach a hotel in a place more south called Pichi Traful. There we are going to be hiking, cliff diving, swimming, rock climbing, visiting the Andes Mts., zip lining, horseback riding, and more activities (there was quading (4-wheelers) but they took it out after last year; I was pretty upset about that). It is going to be nice to get away for a week and enjoy ourselves. These past weeks have not been easy, I’m not going to lie, but what has kept me going even to the very end was the sight of the power of Jesus Christ transforming the lives of individuals whose background and home life is full of things I have probably never experienced. Every week hundreds of kids and young teens pass through here and not only except Christ but spark a fire that could even lead to their own home making that same decision. It is such a beautiful picture. Where I work is a behind the scenes kind of job but God has given me everything my heart can desire by seeing his signs in the front. I am looking forward to my next five or so months here. Another really cool thing happened. I received an email from a 4^th grade class at Hickory Grove just encouraging me and stating their interest in everything God is doing through me while down here. I can’t tell you how happy that made me. It is so great how God can use you to effect, even if it is just a small one, those 9000 miles away. I also have several other folks who keep reminding me that I am in their prayers (and its cool how those emails and messages always seem to come at the right time). God is good. His Word is powerful. And His works are life changing. I will never forget what He has done as He has never forgotten me, nor will He ever. More stories later. I will talk about Pichi when I return. God bless.

“Then the lion said, ‘You will have to let me undress you.’… And when he began pulling it off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt… he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just like I’d done it myself the first three times, only they hadn’t hurt… and there I was smooth and soft…”

–C. S. Lewis, from his book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader of the Chronicles of Narnia

Jesus and Spiders

“They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.” - Isaiah 59:5

Ok so update. I haven’t been feeling that great the last week but it’s about the same thing I got the first time I came here last year. It’s probably just from the radical weather changes—hot to cold and cold to hot. I only get sick like this down here, not at home or in other countries. There is just something about Argentina. I didn’t really see the need to go to the medical center here though. However, I received a bug bite on my face, my cheek to be exact, which at first I believed was from a mosquito considering the fact that there are more mosquitoes here then there are black people in west Philly (I love black people by the way). But Sat morning, a few days after I first noticed the bite, I woke up to find that my whole right side of my face was swollen; and it hurt, and everyone laughed at me. So I was like whoa I don’t think this is from a mosquito, most likely from a spider—an Argentine spider for that matter. So I went to centro medico (conveniently during my work hours) and they gave me a shot of penicillin in the butt (It hurt) and a few dozen horse-pills to take… it was lovely. Also while I was there I asked if they could check me because I still wasn’t feeling well. They told me I had a huge amount of mucous built up in my chest, or lungs, or somewhere in me, and they gave me a shot in the butt and another few dozen slightly smaller pills (just kidding about that second shot in the butt). So now, a day later, my swelling has gone down and everything is good. That shot of penicillin did me a lot of good, I might want to get them regularly. I got two days off of work so ill take a spider bite and everyone calling me spider-man over washing dishes any day; and I am going to Sunday and Monday. But everything is good we are entering our 4^th week of summer camp. Only like 3 more weeks until our big vacation week to a place more south in Argentina, which I have heard is sooo much fun. But ill update later more stuff I just thought that was kinda cool. THANKS

“Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.”

-unknown

Just.. more

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

-Jim Rohn

Ok so I have been down here for not even a week yet. Almost. But just a few updates: I got moved out of my old room (they are trying to move everyone out of that building eventually, I just got lucky and was picked first), I am now in a room made for seven with ten guys including myself, so that’s fun, and It is 93 degrees today. The weather though actually is not that bad. Yes it is hot but there is a building with AC and as long as you stay hydrated you will be fine. And you can always take a cold shower, which is what I just did. The mosquitoes though are horrible and although it feels really nice at night, and the morning, like really nice, the rooms are still really hot which is annoying. We are preached to every morning in Spanish and my group has to take notes, in Spanish, for a bible grade. Its not easy but I am coming along. We have class after the preaching for 2 hrs right before lunch, in which I have to clean up for afterwards. My job, lavado, or dish pit, is a lot of work. Really more work than any other job. It takes about two to two and a half hours after lunch and dinner to clean the kitchen and dishes (I don’t have to work breakfast because I have classes in the morning). But I have a little more free time than others, kinda. And I just found out that they are going to give us Sundays off and get people to fill in for us. I had to work today but this is the only time. Its kind of weird though, I work today (today is Sunday) and we do not have a church service. It’s a little heretic, or sacrilegious, or one of those anti-christian terms, working on Sunday without a service of any kind; but its cool. I went to town today. Fun stuff. It’s pretty hot and humid because it rained this morning. We have Mufa Pufa tonight, which is like a hodgepodge of dangerous games that push you to the limit, none of which would be approved in America. So I am looking forward to that. So far everything is good. Did I tell you about the movie I was in? Yeah I’m pretty much a movie star now. Maybe I will talk about it later. So there is probably more but that’s it for now. Thanks!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

-Joshua 1:9

Vuelvo (I Return)

“I am the nail in your wrist, I am Judas’ kiss. But, Lord, you love me anyway."

-Sidewalk Prophets

Ok so I finally arrived here in Argentina, getting ready for round 2 (and 3). And let me tell you how hot it is.. well I cant because I cant put it into words. Its not any hotter than at home, but its more humid, water is hard to come across at times unless you can settle for salty water, and there are only a few places with AC. Other than that it’s not bad; there was a breeze today and this morning was actually kind of chilly. I believe today is the coldest day of the week; the high is only like 84. But the low hangs all the way down to a small 78. Its lovely. I know that all of you back home say that you can use some of this heat. I will be happy to give you some there is plenty of it. But I love it 9down here. I actually kinda like working outside when its hot even though I was assigned to dish pit which is indoors. I was so excited to see all of my friends up here and to hear all about their break. It is so great to be back up here with them. Its funny though—once I got settled in, not too long after I arrived, I was sittin here at the comedor, where we eat, with a few people. We were talking and it felt like we never even left each other. Like us leaving for a month never happened and it was just another day. Like we were just there the day before. Strange.

I arrived late, because of my stupid flight, so I was placed in one of the left over buildings because there was no more room in the inn. I mean dorm. I am in there with three other gringos, who were also late, and a few Spanish students, well one is Portuguese, like from Portugal. This room is absolutely lovely if I do say so myself. Okay, first: the beds are barely stable while the mattresses are barely mattresses at all. Its hotter in the room than it is outside but at night you have to cover up completely with a blanket or something to protect yourself from the surplus of mosquitoes. How do the mosquitoes get in? The window is cracked with a good-sized hole in it and the screens, what’s left of them anyway, do no good. So yes its like a sauna under the blanket but its either that or lose all your blood.. no lie. And OFF Bug Spray? Yeah these mosquitoes laugh in the face of OFF. You wake up sweating and the shower before bed did no good. Okay enough of that

I had to catch myself though and I had to be careful not to complain. I lied in my bed last night and smiled up to God, because even in this place he has blessed me so much. At least I have a pillow, and a bed, and a school that teaches me practical living—Christian-style—and so much more. I am going to enjoy the next 7 weeks in this room (I will go back to the dorms after camp is over) and my experience here; or at least I will after its over. But that’s it for now. I love you guys!!

“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins."

—Hosea 3:1