12 Days

We had a great time with my Mom and Dick. They left on Tuesday, too soon. Here are some photos of our 12 days together.

The boys spent lots of time in our outdoor pool - thanks to Melinda.

It is such a great gift!

Everyone clamoring for Grammy's attention.

Andrew wrote a welcome message to my mom and Dick.

~

It says, "Dear Grammy and Dicky, Welcome! I am so excited to see you guys. We have been waiting so long for this moment. Can we show you guys around the house? Tonight maybe we could set off some fireworks. Today I saw a bird's wing and I thought 'Oh I guess Dicky has already been hunting.' I love you guys. Love, Andrew"

Christmas celebration in January with fun gifts from the States... lots of Legos aka Love.

Chris's birthday asado celebration.

We acted like tourists on the Double Decker Bus.

It was fun to see the city this way and my mom took lots of great photos.

Here is one of those photos - of Dick, though.

He didn't want to be a tourist and opted to go to Mass instead.

This is him outside the cathedral on his way in.

(Isn't it cool the way the bricks in the background show the shadow of the cathedral?)

It was funny to see him - it is so rare to see someone you know downtown since this city has more than 1.5 million people! He's thrilled to have his picture taken by a bunch of tourists.

We have driven past this restaurant and each time we do, Johnny asks if we can go there.

It's his restaurant, you know. We call it, "Johnny IS Good".

It was worth the wait.

My mom and I had a few dinner dates. Very special - and necessary - times together.

This was at Viejo Lobo and was delicious!

Victory! (Bowling is much harder without guard rails.)

On our way into La Gracia de Cristo. My mom was a good sport sitting through the 2.5 hour service all in Spanish. Germán preached a great sermon.

We're standing on the San Roque Dam while Dick is on the other side of the road eating handmade chorizo.

(We also each paid a peso to use a nasty toilet.)

We went to Cosquín and met Diego, a glass blower.

We came home with a glass dolphin, octupus, and frog.

It was fascinating to watch him work even though an errant piece of hot glass landed on and burned Andrew's arm.

One of many delicious lunches together. This was in Cosquín and Dick loved exploring the parrilla with the pieces of meat smoking. I think these are (were?) goats.

Notice Johnny's fearless behavior straight from the beginning.

Los Cocos (in honor of Marlene)

This was such a fun place - with a huge labyrinth that took a long time to go through. There were lots of museums. The boys' favorite was the one about Martin Fierro, a true gaucho who had lots of cowboy weapons.

Swimming in Rio San Esteban.

It was a good, refreshing swim, even if the water was a little brown.

(My mom, Dick and I stayed on the shore and shooed away a little dog with a big dog complex.)


My mom loves Buddy!

She really wanted to rescue all the street dogs, but learned to resist.

~

Dick is a phenomenal cook and I asked him to teach me some of his secrets.

This is us in Mercado Norte where they sell the best priced and biggest variety of meat.

According to him, food is his religion and Mercado Norte is a temple.

He is on a mission and did not appreciate being interrupted by the numerous photo shoots.

(Neither did I, but I'm a better sport.)


Here are Johnny and David posing and Andrew gagging.

He happens to be having this heaving reaction based on the lenguas de vaca (um, cow tongues) hanging behind him. The boys actually enjoy going to the carnicerias to try to locate the most disgusting pieces of meat and love to point out things to me like cow brains, pig heads, and blood sausage to watch me try to conceal my true thoughts.

This was SO fun. It is the local artesian market that my mom and I explored. We loved it and enjoyed talking with the artists about their crafts. This guy and his girlfriend are very talented and I really wanted to buy the brown beaded cross for my sweet mother-in-law but the artist told me it was a decoration and not for sale. It's the thought that counts, right?

Merienda with Hugo and Susana. As you know, Hugo is our language professor (and historian, cultural trainer, therapist, tour guide... he wears many hats with us!) and we love him and his adorable wife.

A visit to Córdoba would not be complete without time with them.

Johnny loves to chase the pigeons. When he gets close, he tries to kick them.

Is it bad that I don't care?

Familia Frohling outside Buen Pastor. They have a great light show with the fountains at night but it's under construction right now.

Here are some of our other favorite people: Bethany, Roman, Abigail, & Eliana.

Bethany has been in Argentina for 10 years and Roman is Argentine.

They just finished 2 years learning sign language (their 3rd language) in order to work with the deaf community.

They graduated top of their class with honors.

(Bethany's mom told me this fact and I'm so glad to share it with you!)

We hope to be able to work alongside them using our still-to-be-developed job training workshops as a way to also demonstrate the profound love of Jesus to the sordos.

We love them and now my mom and Dick do too!

Paddle boating in the lago at Parque Sarmiento.

Our final lunch together at Alcorta.

(Try to look closely at Dick's annoyed face - I cried laughing when I zoomed in at it. He is too much!)

We had so much fun and the time went too quickly. I am one of those lucky daughters who has a great mom. She is one of my closest friends and I love her so much. It was terrible to say chau.

Melinda and Frank are coming out in March and we are already counting the days to their visit. Until then, we will keep up the studies, begin working on our job-training tallers (workshops), and continue to make new friends and keep the old.

You are GOLD.