I do know how to count at least to five in espanol but I don´t feel like spanish today. So day 5 was very awesome for us but not as exciting as some of our days. The ride on the omnibus (overnight double decker bus) was way better than the airplane but not as good as I had read about on the travel blogs. The seats were pretty comfortable, especially for riding around. The food was okay but one one blog they acted like it was 5 stars. It is much, much better than airplane food but not even as good as takeout of anything. I had trouble sleeping. It seemed to me that on our bus (Urquiza line) it seats went a little beyond 180 degrees and felt odd to me. Plus I woke up almost every time we turned which was alot during the first night (not sure why we weren´t on a freeway-I think maybe the freeway ran out).
La Falda-As all the Argentines would say when we told them we were going here, ¨La Falda is muy, muy linda¨. Or La Falda is very, very pretty. It is similar to some of the towns outside the smokies (except Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge) as it is at the base of some fairly small mountains. It is a small town that is probably driven quite a bit by tourism. There are some small waterfalls called the 7 Cascades. Cascades are small waterfalls while Iquazu are cataracts. The falls were very pretty. It was right next to a dam they built in La Falda. Every time we would go outside though it would rain. It started to sprinke when we got out at the falls so we snapped a couple quick pics and went for cover. Then it stopped so we went to some of the vendor stalls at the market there and it started to really rain so we tried to stay covered and went back to where we were before. Then it stopped so we got some ice cream and walked a hiking trail around some of the park. We made it back to the falls and were starting to take pictures when it started raining again. This time we wised up and stayed under cover until it was time for our taxi to pick us up. On the way home we stopped to see the LDS church in La Falda so we stopped and took pics and walked around to the back side of they building. Guess what? I think you can figure it out. It started to sprinkle. Oh yeah and somehow black goo got all over Chad´s shorts. Stupid crappy Remis. Then we went to see the house our friend is trying to sell. Yep, as we took photos it started to sprinkle again. It was only doing this when the camera was out now that I think about it. Stupid camera´s fault.
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I won't pick on Julie's grammar today because I think she is really improving - her Spanish anyway. We are both a little tired, and I think I slept a little better on the bus than she did, which is strange because I normally sleep much lighter than her.
We had plenty of time to sit and talk with Guillermo and Estella Cano. They were my "golden" investigators who used to live in Quilmes, but have since moved to La Falda. I baptized them 1 year into my mission and at the end of the mission I got to stand as witness to their sealing in the Buenos Aires temple along with my family. Guillermo's parents had retired in the city of La Falda, and so Guillermo and his wife went to live with them. They are about 57 now.
Since they moved there, they have gotten most of their extended family together in the city as well, and Guillermo has baptized them all! His parents, brother, nephews, nieces all attend. His son, Dario, and Dario's wife have not been baptized yet because they have not been married yet. Another "juntado" (shacked up), family. Dario and his wife have cute kids though and they all attend. Dario is planning to marry her and prepare to go the temple.
Guillermo has been somewhat inactive the last couple months because he works many Sundays. He works in the tourism industry selling souveniers in a shop during the summer high season. During low season he shells nuts - walnuts? - that go on sale later during high season. Estella works 6 days a week making clothes, including wedding gowns, rain jackets, and heavy coats for Guillermo to sell, even though the shop does not belong to them. Together they make an "average" Argentine salary about 1400 pesos per month - $470 usd.
We spent a long time going over photos of how we are doing, where we live, etc. I brought my laptop and we showed them videos of my drive to work, and videos of Shelby's tricks. We miss her. Guillermo has two dogs - Barbie and Beebee. Argentines love their dogs, and in Capital we see professional dog walkers all the time. It is hilarious and hard to believe that they can walk about 12 dogs per person on the busy streets and sidewalks of the city. We have photos.
To mention the bright side of the rain - we had a full double rainbow as we were leaving La Falda and saying goodbye to Guillermo and Estella. Guillermo said it must have been a good sign because there was also a rainbow the day I came back at the end of the mission and met him at the temple when he and his wife got sealed for eternity. I love that guy. He is so strong dispite his trials.
How was the water at the dam? It had a nasty green layer of some kind of oily substance floating on top when I saw it 10 or 11 years ago. And to think that it is the main water supply for Cordoba (2.5 million people) When I was there, the lake was rumored to be the final resting place of hundreds of political disidents who the government dropped out of helicopters, cuffed with cinder blocks around their feet... or so we were told. The hike up the cascades is nice, but nothing too spectacular.. if you didn't make it up I'll show you pictures when you get home. Did you see the cross up at the top of the mountain? I'm not sure what it's all about, but I have a picture of myself at the top of it... the cross. I climbed up. Anyway, good to hear you're having fun despite the busy trip. Maybe Julie needs a translator? Wish I could be there, sounds like a blast. Maybe I'll pay for you to go with me later Chad.. Keep having fun... and get some sleep, remember you're on vacation!
PS Saw Shelby yesterday. She's doin great. She did a double take and looked at me like.. where's my mom and dad?!
The water was clean. I took pictures of the dam at Lago San Roque from the bus. The water was a little low though - I guess some things are the same everywhere huh. And Cordoba has about the same population as Atlanta I think. I didn't see the cross. We took a taxi to the siete cascadas. It was just a few blocks from Guillermo's house in La Falda. It was cute. It reminded us a lot of Amicalola falls in Georgia. We showed Guillermo and Estella pictures of our camping trip there. We did walk around the falls park though. I am at the Sheraton Iguazu Falls now. It is amazing here. I can't believe we are only staying a day and a half. I'll save the detials for Julie to tell though. I definately plan on going again. I bet after Julie gets done, Christina will be begging to go. Wait till she hears what we did today and what we are planning for tomorrow.
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