Bessie, Heat, and Electrical Problems

So, as you know, we spend a lot of time in our car. Her name is Bessie. Yes, it's true, I've finally succumbed to naming an auto. This habit of my close girlfriends has always, um, bothered me, but Bessie needed a name. She's a good, old girl and has already seen us through a lot in the one month that she's been a Frohling.

Today, however, she got too hot and bothered and decided to stop. In a dangerous neighborhood, in 100 degree heat, and in the middle of the day (where everything is closed because people are siesta-ing because they were up too late eating dinner).

What do you do when this happens in a foreign country, where the language escapes you in times of stress, and when you have 3 boys sweating in the back seat?

Here's what we did:

• Prayed that God would miraculously fix our car. We're very close to Him, but today was not the day for Bessie miracles.
• Found a mechanic who could diagnose, but unfortunately not fix, the problem. It's electrical. She just won't start.
• Called our seguro (insurance) and asked them to send a tow truck.
• Looked for a kiosko to find something cold to drink (none were open because of the siesta). Instead we found helado at an air conditioned Grido.
• Waited for an hour for the tow truck to arrive.
• Communicated with the tow-truck driver where we live and all pile in the truck and get a ride home with Bessie on the back. We were under the impression that he would drop us off and then take Bessie to his taller to fix her problem.
• Sweat until we're dripping. Johnny was on my lap, David on Chris's and Andrew was straddling the gear shift. I looked over at Andrew and just started laughing uncontrollably when I saw the brown streaks all over his face - a precious Andrew mixture of dirt and sweat - and the dots of perspiration on his upper lip. What. Are. We. Doing???
• Arrive home and the tow-truck driver begins asking us where we want him to put the car. "Is it safe on the street?" he asks. "Um, What?" responds Chris. Needless to say, something got seriously lost in the translation.
• I got out of the truck, shook off my sweat - in a very ladylike way, I must add - and calmly offered him something cold to drink. Turns out, the tow-truck driver can only make one stop, and our house was it.
• Figure out what-the-heck-to-do-now with our car that won't start. Oh, yeah, Bessie is her name.
• Be very, very thankful for our 3 boys, who never, not one-single-time, uttered one word of complaint. They continue to amaze and teach me. I had to catch myself several times, during this 2.5 hour excursion, when I wanted to "comment" on the heat and my thirst and the ridiculous situation we were in. Instead we talked about the grand Argentina adventure. (Did you know that Chris and I are NOT adventurists? Seriously. This is a very true statement and therefore these "adventures" do not always sit well with us.)
• Bottom line? She got towed to another mechanic who we have confianza in and they're going to get her back to tip-top shape. However you say THAT in Spanish.

Now, I'm enjoying some Argentine wine, cleaning out the the boys' backpacks (we found out today that today was their last day - clearly it was a bad Spanish language day), and figuring out what to make for dinner. Ice cream won't cut it. We did that yesterday.

Have a fabulous weekend.

PS These pictures were obviously not taken today. You can use your imagination of the dirt and sweat that actually occured today.