Mmm yummy yoghurt smoothie with banana, strawberry and orange.
Approaching storm taken from the rooftop. It was HOT that day, then this mighty wind came up…then it bucketed down. The streets of Paraná near our bach turn into rushing rivers when it rains, the terrain goes down to the river, and obviously not much of a storm-water system underground.
Is this the tip??? No…but it could well be. It’s a street in an area by the river that we go to every Monday for a study with Cindy and her mum.
Arriving at the house and clapping hands as the bell doesn’t work.
Cindy and her mother Carmen
Waiting for the bus after the study, it smells like a pig-sty or a sewer when there’s a south-wind!
These are the low-class people who go around with their horse and cart and rummage through the rubbish looking for treasures. They also collect up cardboard boxes from businesses, and sell them for recycling.
After Cindy we go to Juana’s for a study. She lives two blocks away. Got to know her as her husband fixes bikes…but we didn’t know it would take him (so far)…three years!!! He talks the hind leg off a donkey, and has the craziest ideas. Whenever he is unwell, he blames it on the lady next door, that she’s a witch and casts spells on him. However, Juana is a nice lady, and loves to learn about the Bible, even if Jose thinks he knows it all!
Ruben Holzer and his wife Sonia. We go to Ruben every Tuesday. The sisters got to know him through placing an ad in the paper about 4 years ago. Unfortunately, while Sonia is friendly she’s a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic and not slightly interested in what we have to offer. Ruben tells that as a child he had a deep curiosity about the Bible and wished there were someone who would explain it to him. The priest used to read the same portions of scripture which would bore him, and he wondered why he read always the same when the Bible is so big! He nursed his parents when they both died of cancer, and says that really made him think of death and what there is afterwards. He doesn’t have a revelation yet, something’s holding him back.
Wrapped up for Christmas.
Isn’t she a beauty? Is this a flame tree?? Outside the terminal, Paraná
Taken out the bus window in the country, love the sky.
Soy crops
Soy, one of Argentina’s main exports.
Entre Rios is one of the main poultry and egg-suppliers to the rest of the country…nothing free-range I’m afraid!!
The road en-route to Crespo where we have a study every Wednesday.
The entrance to the town of Crespo, the chicken capital. The town was founded by immigrants from the Russian Volga area.
When we are out at the studies in Ramirez and Crespo, we eat at a service station which has a buffet-style restaurant. You load your plate up and they weigh it, and charge accordingly, per kilo. Yummy food.
The cathedral in the main plaza in Parana. The plaza is always built in front of the church, and features a statue of General San Martin, the highly revered leader of the army that freed many of the latin countries from the Spanish. He was Argentinian of course! Every main street of every town in the country is called San Martin street…the statue is of him astride his trusty steed, arm high in the air pointing. His finger points to the Andes, which is where he came riding through in triumph with his army after having fought for the independence of Chile I think it was. So wherever you are in the country, he will be pointing to the west! Here he is…
(Sorry, you can’t see him pointing from this angle!)
Fancy a pair of stilettos anyone? Check out the prices! It’s in pesos, so cut it in 3 to get NZ dollars..but for the people here, it’s equivalent to paying $NZ880, or $NZ1200 for a pair of shoes! They are top of range, the shop is the most expensive shoe shop in town. You’d wonder where on earth the ladies would wear these shoes, but they teeter around in them in the street, I reckon Argentina has the highest high-heel wearing percentage in the world, women don’t just reserve them for special occasions, it’s every-day wear here!And then they go out dancing every weekend too…
The gypsies are a plague, they accost you in the street, high-pressure saleswomen, selling sewing-needles and suchlike. They then engage you in conversation and want to tell your fortune. They are REALLY pushy, and get nasty if you say no. The young girls are really good-looking, slim things, but boy, when they get older, they are real hags!! The fatter the better seems to be the rule!!
View from the rooftop of our building of the river Paraná
These are ant-trails!
Waiting for the taxi to take us and our bags the terminal, leaving for preps and cons. One box has 13 jars of strawberry jam, and weighs a ton at least! The suitcase doesn’t weigh much less…and doesn’t have 13 jars of jam!! Just some of my posessions! oops don’t know how to spell that word anymore.
River Paraná
The writing on the boat says Coastguard…the coastguard was in fact clearing weed out of the river. The other sign says ‘deep waters, do not swim’. This is one of the beaches alongside the river where the people flock to when it gets hot. They rope off a section of the river close to the shore where it’s safe, the river goes real deep.
Here are the fish commonly found in the Paraná
Wow those trees look spectacular Roxy's gone now so having a catch up on computer:-)See you in a while:-)
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