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Argentina : Villa Lugano

Holá!!!!
Well.....I´m here, crazy! I don´t even know where to begin! Probably just start with the plane ride...first plane ride, so that was pretty eventful. Unfortunately I couldn´t sleep on the plane, and it was a super long ride, but it was cool to look out the window. Most people on the plane were spanish speakers, and I didn´t even understand half the instructions that were given, but we´re here in safety! I was feeling pretty nauseous the last part of the plane ride because of the meals they gave us...some of the worst things I´ve had!

As we were landing, Argentina looked sooooooooo green and beautiful! There were SO many trees and I could see the city far out there. I could see only dirt roads and trees, so that´s kind of what I expected my area to be like. I was SO wrong haha. When we got into the airport, the employees didn´t speak english, so getting through the whole process was difficult...they kept asking for my address, and I´m like I DON´T KNOW WHERE I LIVE! I had know clue what was going on. The mission president, his wife, and the APs picked us up and we got on a bus to take a tour of Congreso (super super busy city, they said it looks like a European style New York City...I´d say that´s about true). I was so hot and humid I felt like I couldn´t breathe, but I´m use to it now (not saying I like the heat!) We saw some cool sites and saw the beautiful Buenos Aires temple! We went to the Argentina MTC to pick of 16 spanish speaking missionaries. After that we went to the mission President´s house. The streets in that area are like pebble/stone roads, with tons of trees, so I was thinking that maybe that would be like the area I´ll be in. I was wrong again. We had empanadas at his house.....dinner with the spanish speaking missionaries was...interesting. All of their accents were different because of the different origins. So between me and the 3 other hermanas from the U.S., we probably seemed super wierd because of how tired we were (hadn´t slept in days), looked gross, and our spanish was terrible! The spanish speaking hermanas were nice of course, but it was interesting trying to converse. We had some time to chill while missionaries were being interviewsed, and me and the 3 U.S. hermanas FELL ASLEEP SITTING UP! haha......i think the pres wife said she was going to send you a pic of it or something haha. I didn´t meet my new companion until like 10pm and we had an hour long ride to get to our area. Her name is Hermana Carrasco, she´s from Cali! The taxi driver was lost when he was taking us back and we didn´t know how to get anywhere of course....police wanted to talk to him...I still have no idea what was going on. They were shining flashlights in my window and I was so confused, but too tired to ask about it. But, we made it safely! Our pension (apartment) was extremely hot, but I fell asleep once I hit the bed. Funny thing....our bed is a children´s bunk bed, it looks like the model beds at the stores that aren´t full size just because they´´re for models. It´s made out of thin wood panels and I sure hope my companion doesn´t fall on me! At first I thought our pension was super ghetto, but my companion said it´s actually one of the nicer ones she´s stayed in, and I´m use to it now.

The spanish here is SO different than back at the MTC. Not use to all the sh sounds. Castellano is different. I feel confident to walk up and talk to people on the streets, but I can only get so far in the conversation until I get lost and my companion has to finish it off for me. Learning a language definitely takes a lot of patience...that´s something I´ll have to deal with! I can definitely say...I can´t wait until I´m fluent in spanish....that would help a bunch haha. The area we´re in is.........WAY different than anywhere in Utah lol. It´s called Villa Lugano. It´s not provincia (farm land) and it´s not in capital, it´s about in between. My companion says it´s a lot like the outskirts of L.A. but with differentt style houses and eveything´s in spanish. I´ve never been to the outskirts of L.A., but if it´s mega ghetto, than I´d say it´s pretty accurate.

We´ve been working a lot with a man named Jorge. Not going to give all the details but he´s 40, lost a baby, his daughter was murdered, his wife took the other kids, and he lives with his bros right now in a concrete/metal house. Rough life :/ He doesn´t want us to go in the house because it´s not safe, and honestly, I didn´t want to go in anyway. He wants to get baptized, but there´s some things that need to be fixed first. We told him we would pick him up for church, and when we went to get him he wasn´t there. We went back again, he wasn´t there. So in church, one of the speakers wasn´t there, so they asked my companion and I to speak. She wanted to go get a talk, and on the way back we decided to go try to get Jorge again....and he was in the streets....ever so surprised to see us. Not really. We ended up dragging him there anyway, he was smoking the whole walk there, but he came! When I spoke in sacrament (if you could even call it a talk haha) he was just sitting in the back smiling. After church, he said ¨Thank you so much for coming back for me, when can you come teach again¨. He feels really good about the church and that´s where he´s finding happiness right now. Super cool. There´s a lot missing, but that´s the general idea :)

I found out I have really bad gag reflexes....but I try to play it cool. I feel like I can´t swallow certain foods because they´re so nasty, but my companion says my taste buds will change...I hope not. They do have some great food though!! I think it´s the pasties that aren´t too great for me. Ah well! The members are really really really great, I love going to their houses. And the kids LOVE missionaries.

I better end the email now...we´re sweating because I swear we´re sitting in a sauna! There´s already been some cool experiences here, I´m still adjusting though. I miss you all, but all is well! I´m having a good time. Hope you all are doing great! I love you! Have a fantastic week!! :D

Also..I have some pictures, there´s a few that aren´t from my area, but heré´s some I want to share! LOVE YOU!