Finals, Goodbyes, and Free Fall

This week has been jam-packed with papers, studying, finalizing travel plans, packing, doing errands, and taking finals. Last night we had our final banquet complete with sushi, diplomas, teacher/staff presents, superlatives, and Kev's video (sooo sick).  Later that night almost everybody in the program went to Kika for one last clubbing experience of the semester and it was a blast. Somehow I got in way before the guys I came with and to top it off, i didn't have to pay...don't know how that happened.

All that craziness is dwarfed by the journey I'm about to embark on. I think im more nervous for this than I was for finals. Its not a bad kind of nervous, just an excited and anticipatory nervousness. Gaaaaah so pumped for this. Movies, books, pictures, and stories that have been accumulated over the years are now reeling through my head like a highlight reel. I'm about to go to places that i thought were merely wild dreams a couple years ago. When i applied to Pepperdine, i knew next to nothing about studying abroad, let alone Argentina. I had read books and seen movies on the adventures to be had on this continent, but as i said before, i thought id always only be a dreamer, not a doer of those things. Now those dreams are being realized.

BA has been great, but the main reason I came down to South America was for this next 6 weeks of crazy travels. I still can't believe the semester went by in the blink of an eye and now I'm approaching the cliff, working up the butterflies, and jumping into a free fall of unknown adventures. God is too good. This isn't real life. Prayers will be appreciated so that I can hopefully continue to be live this life 6 weeks from now.

Here's my rough itinerery (in case you wanted to follow me in your head throughout these next 6 weeks):
dec 15:fly to santiago (with mark travis)
dec 16:fly to easter
spend 9 days on easter island
dec 25:fly back to santiago
immediately start busing up to Cuzco- alone (over 50 hours on connecting buses; i am thankful for my ipod and kindle)
dec 28-31: get to machu picchu through a back door route and then do machu
jan1-4:bus down to lake titicaca and explore what it has in store
jan 5: get to La Paz
jan 5-9:fly into an amazon village and do an amazon adventure
jan 10-12:bus down thru the salt flats of bolivia to get to jujuy,argentina
jan 12:fly back to back
jan 14:fly down to calafate and meet mark and kevin
jan 15-22: roadtrip through torres del paine
jan 22: fly to ushuaia from calafate
jan 22-?: EFT with all of Pepperdine

It'll be funny looking back at this and seeing how it all plays out...no promises. I'll try to update my blog or fb every so often so that people will know that im still alive.

john 10:10

Ice Cream, Dinner, and Clubs

Yesterday we went to the #5 ice cream parlor in the world and it truely was the best scoop of ice cream i've ever had. Later that night we went out to a super bomb restaurant for matt's last night and i got patagonian lamb. Then at 1am we went out to Crobar and got in free because of christina's connection with nacho menendez (usually it'd be 100 pesos!). It was my first club experience and it was a blast! I walked out as the sun was rising.

Last Night

Last night I was at the dinner table for 5 hours. We ate for 2 hours and then most everybody left and got ready for bed, but my padre and I stayed at the table for the next 3 hours (til 2am). It definitely wasn't the most fluid of conversations but we were able to get our points across. It was one of the deeper conversations I've ever had, and to think that it was in Spanish is unbelievable. While everyone else was out at clubs, bars, and who knows where else, I was at my dinner table and there wasn't a place in the world I would have rather been.

Uruguay

So I set this night apart to be productive, but its 12:06AM and i have not done an once of schoolwork so ima make these recap simple. In a lot of ways it was a simple vacation so this recap should be fitting. As with previous travels God showed up big and everything went picture perfect. It was one of the most chill, relaxing, fun weekends I have ever had. Getting out the the urban jungle was great as well.

Tuesday
 went to ferry, met american girls studying abroad in uruguay, chilled on the top deck and watched the BA skyline float by like a blackness light up by a million-jillion little lightning bugs, took a short nap, arrived in Colonia, took a bus to Montevideo, and arrived at 7am- yes we pulled a red-eye.

Wednesday
  waited for the info center to open, took a bus to our hostel, walked around Montevideo and went the the famed fisherman's market that was a converted train depot, ate at a parilla that mark saw featured on the travel channel, walked along the ACH (the equivalent of our PCH), took a much needed nap, watched sunset form the highest point in the city, randomly met another group of Pepperdine kids at our hostel, hung out with them on the balcony of our hostel, climbed the jungle gym of buildings that Montevideo offered (unlike BA, they didn't have security guards EVERYWHERE), and chilled on top of the highest building while overlooking the bay and dazzling display of lights all around

Thursday
  woke up, had breakfast at the hostel, rented a car, roadtripped up the coast to Casa Pueblo -a San Torini-esque array out white buildings built on a cliff on the edge of the ocean, went cliff jumping below Casa Pueblo, continued on to Punta Del Este, went and saw the famed fingers, chilled on the beach while waiting for the other Pepp group to get to their beach apartment, went for a walk on the beach, went out to eat with eaverybody at Pizza Mundo, hungout in the apartment for the night

Friday
  woke up before everybody and read+swam+walked on the beach, left apartment and got groceries, got out at jose ignacio and walked a beach, took a sketch ferry across a delta thing, continued on all the way to Punta Del Diablo, walked around town, cooked dinner, kicked it with the guys at Cero Stress- a cabana restaurant right on the shore, super chill atmosphere, picturesque beach hangout, set up camp in the dunes 100 feet away from the ocean, and fell asleep to the sound of waves and blanket of burning bright stars

Saturday
   woke up early and walked to the lighthouse (we were trying to find a flag to take back with us), packed up camp and went into town, bought a mango for supes cheap, read books and chilled at cero stress, hung out on the beach for a couple hours while watching surfers, got some empanadas made with fresh fish from the cove we were chilling on, hung out under a tiki hut, kicked it with the guys, swam in the lagoon, splurged on a super nice fish dinner (also caught that day in the cove), kicked it at cero stress again, and then set up camp in the dunes again

Sunday
   woke up early, listened to my ipod on the beach, drove down to cabo polonio, took some rad truck/jeep things over some gnarly territory to get the the national park/small town of cabbo polonio (during the ride our dinner and sunscreen fell off the side of the truck and theres nothing we could do about it except watch it fade into the distance), walked through town, had an amazing nature poop on the coast, had lunch on the point, attempted to slap a sea lions butt but almost got killed by the ones hiding in the cracks around it, watched kite surfers, drove back down towards Punta Del Este and stopped at Rex's in La Barra, watched wind surfers, camped in dunes at Atlantilda

Monday
  woke up early and read+swam, returned rental car, cooked lunch in the central plaza, took bus to the bus terminal, caught bus to Colonia, took ferry back to BA and watched the sunset on the top deck, got home around 11:30pm

super. solid. epic. trip.

Montevideo sunset

Casa Pueblo

sketch ferry

Punta Del Diablo fishermen

Cero Stress

thanksgiving

short recap of the week so far: got back on monday from our long weekend in Uruguay (more on that to come in another post), had school all day tuesday and cooked for you thanksgiving feast (made banana-nut-chocolate chip bread because they didn't have pumpkin stuff down here to make pumpkin bread), wednesday was our thanksgiving feast- so so great, just as good or even better than any thanksgiving meal ive ever had and it was even more special because it was all made by us; my banana bread went quickly and was a huge hit! afterwards we veged like any other post-thanksgivng meal, and then had the last worship sesh of the semester. today was our last asado, i don't know how i could eat more after the night before but i did and i ate a lot. tonight i went on a man-date with jeff.

the ocean has its shores

Some live their whole lives in the safety of the shallow end. Some experience the deep and never live in shallows again for the shallows are the much lesser of the two. Neither of these is how we are called to live.

When I say shallows I am referring to the shallow, simple, everyday concerns of life -- eating, drinking, socializing, walking, working. When I say the deep I am referring to the insightful, relational, intimacy with Christ. Sometimes we can be so pompous to think that the everyday concerns of life are of no importance and cannot bring about any fruit for Christ; this is not true. The shallow aspects are just as much of God as the profound aspects. God designed us to be dependent on food, water, human interaction, sleep, and work, and therefore he gave us the ability to bring glory to him in those. So many times I find myself alienating these concerns and thinking of them as lesser and thinking I should not waste any excess time, work, or emotion into them. These aspects of life are essential, in fact they take up a majority of our time so why should they not be used as tools for Christ?

Oswald Chambers put it this way: "It is not your devotion to God that makes you refuse to be shallow, but your wish to impress other people with the fact that you are not shallow, which is a sure sign that you are a spiritual prig....To be shallow is no sign of being wicked, nor is shallowness a sign that there are no deeps: the ocean has a shore.

Jesus walked, talked, ate, slept, and conversed with people of this earth. He used those simple everyday interactions to help build the relationships and prepare people for the depths to come. Now he also did not solely swim in the shallows; many, many times he would go off and swim in the deep in intimacy with his father. Chambers says we are to "never show the deeps to anyone but God." Only God cares about your depths, and if you are to reveal those to anyone else, you are probably doing it out of pride and searching for recognition from people and things of this world. The depths are meant for you and God alone.

Chambers closes with "Determinedly take no one seriously but God, and the first person you find you have to leave severely alone as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself."

Swim in the shallows. Swim in the deeps.

spiritual retreat

before we leave for uruguay tomorrow i figured it'd be good to splurge everything that has happened in the past few days. this weekend was the spiritual retreat. we did lots of group bonding games (toxic river, blanket folding, crazy relay, panty hose/banana/pudding, group sit, human knot), had lots of food, had some great student speakers, had small groups, had free time (pool party), had church and communion, hardly slept bc it was so hot out, everything skit, encouragement notes, found a puppy in the trash, and then some.

i got to skype with shannon today. super stoked for her to get here. we had convo tonight and went to benny hana's (sp?) which is one of those hibachi grill places. studying tonight for our econ test which is essentially a final bc we havent had a test or quiz all semester. tomorrow night we leave for uruguay! oh and alycia decided to stay for the second semester, super great news!

the sweet cup.

The other day I was reading the daily devotional out of Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest  and came across a couple sentences that really stuck out at me (there's great ideas/truths/nuggets of wisdom everyday but this one really resonated with me.) It goes:

Always guard against self-chosen service for God; self-sacrifice may be a disease. If od has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential order of God for you is a hard time of difficulty, go through with it, but never choose the scene of your martyrdom.

It's been very obvious to me that this time in life is that of a sweet cup -- life feels too good to be true. I'm surrounded by so many studly and amazing people, I get to go to an amazing school with a super sick campus here in BA, classes are interesting and relatively easy (compared to last year), we get so much good food, i get to travel the world, I'm relatively healthy, and so much more. In the past when I've been in times with a lack of struggle, I have struggled. I like challenges, I like having something to fight against. It's in struggles where I find myself growing and coming closer to God, and so I have turned away the sweet times and prayed for more hard times. This passage made me realize that my desire to struggle is a self-chosen service, a selfish sacrifice and that that is unholy. There is a season for everything, and that includes times for the sweet cup. I need to know that struggles are sure to come my way, but for now in this time of joy, bliss, happiness, easiness, and sweetness I need to be so, so thankful  and need to learn how to see, feel, and grow in God outside of a struggling context. 

catch-up

this week has involved a lot of time spent trying to get an Bolivian visa and after 5 days of work, many hours spent on subtes and buses, many lines, and a buncha money later i finally got it. ive also had a couple awesome skype dates with jack, and brandon and ben. we went to a tango show on wednesday (it was pretty much sex on the dance floor and the girls were hardly wearing anything so it was pretty awkward for some of us) and i had the best meal ive had yet- some kind of meat salad with sauteed vegetables, a sirloin steak with potato fries, and pistachio creme brulee. ive also been doing some planning/research for our long weekend and christmas break.

Zarate

This past weekend we went camping with a fairly large group(15) in a town about an hour and a half northwest of BA. We went by train, which was pretty sketch- they had police officers patrolling up and down the aisles. We went in two waves, one had to stay behind for tango. The first groups train had some mechanical issues so we had to get off and wait for an hour and a half for the next one. We got to talking with some interesting recovering drug addicts who wanted to swap dates with our American girls for dates with Argentinian girls. Eventually the next train came, with the other group on it and we took it all the way up to Zarate.

Once we got there, we didn't really know where we were going but we were lucky enough to have met one of the nicest guys ever and he helped get us to the central plaza to take taxis. When we were told the fare to our campground would be 80 pesos i was fine with it but some people balked at the offer and let their pride get in the way. 3.5 hours of walking later, they were regretting that. It was one of the toughest walks i have ever been on. We were carrying tons of food, 5 gallon bottles of water, and our heavy packs. Not enjoyable. We eventually got there, set up, and went right to sleep.

The next day we got to actually check out the campground and found it to be SUPER cool. It was a mix between a New Orleans bayou, Texas forest, and a Carribean cabana. What looked like 1960s cruise liners had been driven up on land and converted into sketchy hotel rooms, bars, and restaurants. When we were exploring it felt like we were on the Gooneys. We spent a lot of time chilling at the beach, playing in the river, throwing mud at each other, cooking back at the campground, and simply taking it easy.

That night we had a bomb dinner and had a big ole fire. The Argentines around us were so nice, theyd just come up and give us some of their meat that they had cooked. Later in the night, one of the groups came over and asked if they could hang and talk with us. We ended up talking with them for like 4 hours (in spanish) about almost every topic you could think of. It was my first long conversation with an Argentine. After much time spent around the fire, we all eventually went to bed. The next morning we had to get up somewhat early and pack up. When we left we decided to take taxis back- smart decision. It was a great, chill weekend spent with some solid people in a solid place.

Colonia, Uruguay

Today the whole program went to Uruguay. The main purpose was to get our 90-day Argentine tourist visas renewed but it also acted as a mini-EFT. We got up at the crack of dawn and had to be at the casa at 6:45. From there we took buses to Puerto Madero and took the ferry across the river (which really looks like an ocean) for an hour an arrived in Colonia. We all took naps on the ferry.

We had a city tour for the first half of the day, and then lunch. We free time for 2 hours after lunch so Wes, Jake, Paul, Luke, Austin and I rented a mule (6-person ATV) and went to town on it. We were zooming down the tiny, ancient streets of Uruguay, getting passed (in very friendly ways) on their equivalent of PCH,  went off-roading through beachy-woods and onto the beaches (which we weren't supposed to do), parked on the outskirts of the Sheraton Hotel (a 5-star, tropically decorated hotel), snuck in and acted like regular patrons, swam in their pool, drove around a new private neighbohood development, drove around the golf course, more beach runs, hit speed bumps too fast, and topped it off with a little trinket shopping. The entire time we never saw one security guard, police officer, or questioning local. Uruguay is super chill, nice, sunny, and laid back. I'm super excited to go there for our long weekend coming up.

mykonos

been feeling pretty crappy lately so i havent been too good at keeping this up.

on sunday i went to the ecological preserve that ive been meaning to go to for quite a while. its a lot more impressive than i thought itd be. in some ways, it reminded me of the walk on the way to the points in malibu- wide open gravel trail, bodies of water filled with cat-tails, weeds, and seaweed of sorts. gettin out in the wild on our EFT was a tease so getting back into the urban jungle of BA was hard for me. this afternoon back out in nature was a great relief. God showed up.

i spent a lot of time this week cranking out papers so that i can go camping this weekend. also had lots of doc appts and pharmacy visits. hope this isn't a polyp. i also got to skype shelbs this week which was great.   wrote a few letters. got a letter from grandma and grandpa.

tonight we went to mykonos- a greek restaurant. the pita bread was so bomb. im swear im gunna come out of this year being a fatty. at multiple points during the dinner the lights would dim and a guy and girl would come out doing some kind of greek dance. at one point they invited all us to come dance and it turned into one big fat greek dance party. we also got to throw plates on the ground as they danced for us. such a fun night. tomorrow is uruguay.

EFT Recap

I don't know if I've ever done so much in one week as I did on the EFT...YL camp probably beats it out but still, no other week compares.

On Friday morning we had medialunas for breakfast at the casa, and then we rolled out to the airport. On the flight I sat next to a girl from Oregon and we talked quite a bit. She had studied abroad more than she has studied at her own university. Crazy! We landed at a super sketch airport way down south of our destination due to the ashes coming from the Chilean volcano. When we got off there was nothing but the shanty airport building and quintessential Patagonia- wide open nothingness with mountains in the background. After waiting for an hour or so we took a 5 hour bus ride up to Bariloche. That drive was one of the prettiest drives I have ever taken. It gave me a great glimpse of Patagonia and it was everything I thought it would be and more. So much open space, rando rivers here and there, small mountain towns placed sporadically through the valleys and passes, raging rivers running through valley floors covered by forests, and more nothingness. Words don't do it justice, obviously. We pulled into our hotel to find it resting on the banks of a lake that was overshadowed by a range of mountains, i had never had a room with such an amazing view. That night we had dinner at a huge log resort looking thing called Family Weiss. We had typical Patagonian snackage- cheeses, sausages, olives, dried meats -- Patagonian lamb,  and Patagonian pasta. After dinner kev and i explored the town a bit, found a awesome square that made us feel like we were in switzerland, and saw many cool leather goods. That night we all crashed kinda early.

Saturday
The breakfasts at our hotels were the best we had had in months. They're not usually too big on breakfasts in Argentina so the buffet feast we had was quite the treat. The day was dominated by a bus tour that took us to some amazing panorama views and beautiful bays. There was the option to do a hike, but kev, taylor and I stayed back and chilled and took sweet pics. Later we had a boat tour that took us to a couple cool islands and forests.  Patagonian skinny-dipping did occur (there were no girls mom). Night was filled with dinner at the hotel, sushi tag, and leg wrestling.

Sunday
The next morning we were bused to the base of a mountain close to our next stop. We had lunch in a green grove, surrounded by trees, with a little creek running through it. We proceeded to climb the mountain for the next 2 hours or so. They told us that it would be easy, but it was HARD! There were times when I, one of the most fit of the group, wanted to turn around. I was suuuper impressed by how many people made it to the top. The view from up above was amazing, but i quickly looked towards the huge snow slope a couple hundred feet down on the other side. it was just asking to be slid on. After some unsuccessful tries we eventually got the technique down and found ourselves hurling down the side of a mountain for hundreds of yards at a pretty considerable pace. Its moments like those that make me feel most alive and fully feel God's "life to the fullest". Eventually, we came back down and had "tea time" back in the same grove we had lunch. That night we had pizza and empanadas.

Monday
The next day we went to Spring Creek- some kind of plantation/camp - and there we ziplined, went horseback riding through many rivers, kev and i went fishing with a professional guide, had an asado for lunch, and went white water rafting. The water in that river/creek was more clear than any water i have ever seen. No matter how deep it got, i could see clear down to the bottom. We could see fish chasing our lures from 30 yards out! During the rafting our guides were so fun and chill, they let us have wars with each other and stop at turnoffs and jump from rocks into the river. The water was 39 degrees farenheit! Such a fun day. That night Alycia and I put on the Halloween Murder Mystery while we had dinner at the parilla.

Tuesday
We took a short bus ride to another camp-ish thing where we had another full day of activities. We hiked to a waterfall, saw some cave paintings, took some bomb naps in the field beside the lake, went rappelling, went mountain bike riding, had hot coco and doughnuts beside a bonfire while being serenaded by a professional argentine guitar player. The mountain bike riding was one of the most fun things i have ever done. The non-fun part of biking uphill was taken out as we and our bikes were bused to the top of the mountain. We got out and I started to test out my bike by riding it through the fields of flowers, mazes of bushes, and pastures of horses. So cool. So alive. 95% of the ride was downhill, and steep downhill at that. The bikes we had were worth at least a grand and they proved it. We were hitting 40mph at some points, whipping around curves, going over rivers, navigating ruts in the road, and if it weren't for our guides speed restrictions, we could have definitely gone much faster. It was definitely dangerous and borderline scary. That night we went to a restaurant where we were allowed to order whatever we wanted. Kev and i split some venison and a calzone as big as a large pizza. So bomb.

Wednesday
On our last morning i went our exploring around town, found some gaucho stores, and bought a couple sweet knives. The next 24 hours were spent on a bus heading back to BA. All the flights were cancelled because of the volcanoes' ashes. I sat next to Dan Lander and we had some great conversations. I doubt any other program could have gone through that bus ride.

Our EFT Was one of the greatest weeks of my life. I couldn't even imagine having to spend my EFT going to museums and looking at old buildings like other programs. I got closer with several people and met some awesome people- Diego (our guide-friend for the week) and Silvina (our travel agent and Rafa's good friend). I could say so much more but my fingers are tired of typing.

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tik.toc.

so im too stoked for our EFT(educational field trip) and can't sleep, so i might as well do a entry.

life is going by too fast, as is always the case it seems. midterms are over and the EFT is here. i think about time often. why does it "go too fast"? what would make time slow down? doing less, journaling more, taking pictures,  less obligations? i feel like if there ever were a formula it would have been figured out by now. time is time. there is no fast forward or slowing down. we need to accept it for what it is and not complain how the "time flies" through and away from our mortal grasps. every second we waste talking about time, is one second of time that we could have been living.

we were put on this earth with a set amount of seconds to live. whether i have 10 seconds or 10 billion seconds to live, i dont know, but the only thing i can do is make the most of the second that im living in right....now. making the most of each second doesn't mean that every second needs to be filled with activity. some of the most cherish seconds in my life have been spent doing absolutely nothing but simply...being.  it feels like our world is running on a rat wheel, getting the most activity and productivity out of every second, only to feel less productive and active at the end of every passing day.

its time to slow down. its time to realize your clock is ticking down, and that thats ok. time doesn't change pace, it doesn't really operate on our schedule, we've just been able to but a numerical gauge on it  based on the position of planets, but that doesn't mean we have harnessed it. stop fighting the clock, it will always win, time will always win.

stop doing, stop becoming, and simply start being.

midterms

never have i valued sleep more than i do now. i thought the abroad life would be a lot more chill and that id get more sleep this year; not the case. things always seem to pile up and take up the precious late hours of the night. hopefully i can act on my realizations.

anyways, more catch up. saturday was soccer, and blowdart gun shopping. sunday was super lazy, reading, podcast, essays, bike ride, skype with elle, and house church. monday was spanish composition, exploration with kev and jake to skatepark to get some schweet footage, studying for religion midterm, working out, and then going out with the guys to for jeff's birthday, inauguration of the pipe, and giant jenga. tuesday was cancelled HUM class, religion midterm, much needed nap, and more essays and studying.

the last full week

its crazy to think that this school week was our last complete week. the rest of the weeks will have at least one weekday off. not sure if this is gunna make things easier or just intensify our class loads. anyways, this tuesday, after small groups us dudes went to a cafe to hangout and celebrate ryan swains birthday. this wednesday we went to azzurra for convo dinner, i sat next to rafa and it was quite an entertaining dinner. (prison story). on thursday alycia, kelsey, liz, jeff, peter and i went to get waffles and planned the spiritual retreat. on friday we went to a synagogue  and had a movie night where we watched extreme days.

yuh...

so on saturday we had our first soccer game of our pepperdine league that i set up. everyone had a blast, the soles of my shoes fell off in the first two minutes so i played barefoot- ouch. after that i was totally wiped, took a dip in the pool, and then went grocery shoppin with kevin to make some bomb guacamole. that night i took it easy, got some hw donw, got some reading in, wrote some letters, and got good sleep. on sunday i woke up and listened to a podcast, prepared for my talk at house church, did some work on a religion paper, had dinner with the fam, went to house church and brought david (i talked on calling people out),  then we went to cafe forest gump to mini-celebrate ryan swains birthday. today i woke up early, worked out, went to spanish class, ran some errands with ryan and jeff, and cranked on my religion paper. tonight we had speed dating at calcio and it went really well. a lot better than i thought it would. people definitely want to do it again.

Ocupado

so the longer i continue this, the more i realize this will become more of a list of things i do, rather than a blog. so since last time...tuesday was my crazy class day but i got to skype jack for the first time since ive been here so that was great (also got to see cameron, giff and shearer), gave my first spanish oral on wednesday- teacher said it was great, had convo dinner at calcio, followed by worship, followed by hanging out with jeffrey (ended up having to sleep over at his house because i left my keys in the casa), thursday we went to havanna for our hum295 class and had alfajores (chad and mark discussed original since and sinful nature), thursday night i went out to ice cream with liz, friday i had my first real testish thing in that of our in-class essay over the bhagavad gita, and friday night daniel and i went to siga la vaca (all you can eat parilla), went looking in the casino for the dudes, but eventually got around to simply climbing the dock cranes and getting home at 4am

Chill

More catch up work: sunday i took it super easy, slept in, played with my parents' grandkids, napped, listened to a podcast, hung at the casa, read, skyped my grandparents who were visiting my family, and then went out for ice cream with the gang, Monday i read some, went geocaching, read some more, had a big dinner/asado with the fam, and then went exploring/climbing statues/climbing trees with kevin and mark down in recoleta.

Week In Review

     This week i was really busy and blogging went to the wayside. So to catch up, im just gunna type out some of the highlights of the week: lunch with Rafa, Rafa and the faculty being concerned about bro-mance, austin and I playing soccer with some locals in a stekch part of town, going to the casino with the guys, Argentina-Chile game,  Liz and Wil's marathon, skyping with Elle for a couple hours, biking through recoletta, snooping around the Hyatt and messing around during our first Hum 295 class, the hot sauce guys coming for our asado and more I'll probably think of later...

MenBROza

    This weekend was our first long weekend which meant our first adventure outside of the city. It was a daunting choice on where to go, but after much research the winner was Mendoza. Mendoza is a city known as being one of the wine capitals of the world. It's proximity to the Andes also provides many opportunities for adventurous activities. We (me, kevin, taylor, mark, jeffery, and chad) had nothing planned except our bus ticket there and back, the 4 days in between were completely plan-free.
    When we got to Mendoza we started asking around for advice and eventually got directed to the main tourist information center in town. We were wanting a good place to camp, fish, and somewhere that was somewhat isolated from the relatively big city of Mendoza. We got directed to a town in the mountains called Potrerillos. Only one bus company made trips there so we had to wait for a few hours. We killed some time in Subway and Plaza Independencia (where we got offered weed several times each time we passed through).
      We eventually got on the bus and and hour and a half later were dropped off in what felt like the middle of no where. It was almost pitch black at he time, the only visible sight was the moon glittering of some body of water in the distance. We followed a road that ran parallel to this river of sorts and eventually decided to settle on a flat piece of land in a grove of trees. Setting up camp for the first time posed enough problems, but when combined with the fact that it was pitch black outside it was even more difficult. We eventually got everything up and started cooking dinner. I was able to figure out how to use my new cooking stove pretty easily, and man did it work like a dandy. I was so proud of it. We had a bomb pasta and wine dinner that night. Camp dinners don't get much better than that. After dinner we all chilled by the fire, had some great conversations, and smoked cigars together. Doesn't get much manlier than that.
     The next day i woke up early and went fishing with our new best friend- Queso, a random dog. He ran up to us in the middle of the night and ended up sticking with us the entire duration of our time spent in the mountains (over 40 hours). To get to the river i had to wade thru mid-thigh deep mud, only to be told by a friendly local that if i had any chance at catching fish, itd be in the lake which was a ten minute walk down the road. Fishing didn't prove too successful because we were fishing in the wrong part of the lake. Where we were was super muddy (we thought the whole lake would be like that) but later we found out and saw that the other end of the lake was crystal blue. When we tried fishing there a wildlife lady came up and told us we couldn't because it was the time of the year when the fish were breeding. I guess our title of fishermen with have to be earned later.
    After making breakfast, taking naps, bouldering, and messing around camp we packed up and headed up the road several kilometers to another mountain town. "Town" is a very loose term. It was more like a      stretch of road with a couple shops here and there. Literally one road. it was hard finding a spot to camp in the narrow valley we were in but we eventually worked out way out on to a plateau that rested at the base of the Andes. The sunset was amazing. God painted with every color he had and the result was breathtaking. That night involved more campfire talk and dinner. There's nothing like a campfire to get guys to open up and have some real talk.
     The next day we caught a bus back into Mendoza, walked quite a ways to the nightlife part of town and found a sweet hostel. After getting settled in a bit, we were quickly picked up by a guide i had been in contact with to do some kind of hang-gliding, paragliding, or skydiving. Due to the language barrier we weren't really sure what we were signing up for. It ended up being paragliding at it was seriously one of the most fun and crazier things I've ever done. To take off, you basically run off the side of a cliff and hope that the wind takes you. Some failed launch attempts were halted mere feet from the edge of the cliff. My guide and i got up on our third try and from then on it was smooth sailing-relatively. We climbed the thermals thousands of feet into the air almost effortlessly. God's creation is simply amazing. I'm daily amazed by his creation. To think that a piece of cloth could hold us up at thousands of feet in the air is beyond my comprehension. The way back down was the highlight of the flight. I told my guide to give me the most extreme thing we had. he lived up to it by giving me the most thrilling roller coaster-like ride I've ever had. We were doing all sorts of crazy turns and corkscrews and how we stayed up, i don't know. After we landed us dudes we able to chill for quite some time in their cabana setting, listening to marley, hanging in hammocks, enjoying free drinks.
     After a late night out (and a bar fight that i missed out on b/c i was a hard sleeper) we got up a little late the next day and moved out of the hostel. If all the things we had done weren't sketchy, adventurous, or dangerous enough, we decided to rent motorcycles to drive through the city and wine country. The hurdles included guys who had never driven a motorcycle before and not meeting the 21 year old age requirement (I guess they thought we looked old enough). After a couple close calls and scares on the way out of the city, we eventually got on the open road and were cruising through wine country. It was a pretty surreal/comical/stupid thing to be doing, but I totally loved it. God showed up in so many ways and kept us safe when i was almost certain one of us would end up needing medical care by the end of our trip. We came to a bodega (winery) a lady recommended to find that it required reservations and it was closing as we pulled up. They we kind enough to let us in and give us our own personal tour. The building was ridiculous; it was easily one of the nicest buildings i had ever been in. I think maybe 2 or 3 people were working at the time so we essentially had the palace to ourselves. We felt like kings.  On the way back, i broke off from the group for a bit and went on my own lil adventure to another gorgeous part of wine country only to find myself getting lost, ending up on a super highway, and eventually finding my way back to downtown Mendoza. I actually ended up beating the rest of the gang back.
      The trip was capped off with a feast at a local parilla and a hurried rush to catch our bus. All worked out great and God was so good to us. The weekend couldn't have gone any better or been more fun.

  
  

Adulam

     On saturday we got to go to Adulam. Its an orphanage/community/safe house for kids and families that were previously living on the streets, in dangerous neighborhoods, and in precarious and dangerous situations. There were a bunch of houses, some shops, a soccer field, some gardens, a field or two with horses and ponies, a large dining and kitchen structure, and a central courtyard. As we pulled in, kids were yelling in joy and hopping up and down as the buses began to pull in. You woulda thought we were Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny to them. We were quickly divided up and put on different projects throughout the complex. Some of the jobs included: digging out a foundation for a house, digging latrines, organizing/cleaning out buildings, weeding gardens, making mulch, busting up old tvs/computers/typewriters/monitors and salvaging their precious metals, and playing with kids.
    These people live such simple lives, and are also some of the most gracious and happy and loving people I've ever met. There seems to be a correlation with that. The less you have, the happier you are. Hmmm, maybe us Americans should adopt that way of thinking.
   They lavished us with a feast at lunch. The food literally would not stop coming. With the little the had, they kept on and kept on giving. Even when we were about to leave, they made us get off the buses so they could give us one more precious treat- chocolate milk. We also got to see Pepperdine's Microfinance Club's hard work in effect. A year or two ago, the microfinance club was able to provide a man at Adulam with a Microfinance Loan to open up a leather goods shop. In there he sold mate gourds, monedo pouches, belts, little purses, and more. I got a monedo pouch.  We also got to play soccer with the kids, but with so many people it was kind of dysfunctional. It was still a ton of fun though. I would love to go back for a whole weekend sometime.
    On sunday i did my own lil church deal, went to the casa to eat Pizza Bum with everybody, went to San Telermo by myself and bought a mate gourde, studied and did hw at McDonalds, did one of my fields trips at Catedral-the catholic church, and then did more hw. Monday I had my first test here-spanish, sent a letter, exchanged fishing gear, worked out, had convo dinner at La Stampa, and packed for menBROza.
  I'm so stoked for our long weekend. BA is awesome, but i know i was meant to live more in nature rather than in urban sprawl. In nature is where i get renewed, refreshed, fulfilled, and in-tune with God. It'll also be a great time to get closer with the guys and have some real man-talk.
  Tomorrow, I venture forth.

Fishing, kissing, exploring

Today I had some class, convinced the staff here to buy us fishing poles for mendoza, bought butane for my stove, wrote a letter, explored a mate(mah-te) and pipe shop, had a bomb dinner and actual conversation with mi familia and then went to our game night. We played mafia 3.0 but had waayyy too many people, but kissing rugby afterwards was a blast.

My Backyard

    With every passing day I'm growing to love this place and these people more and more. It's funny to see to where I was on the first couple days-wanting to be leave and go back to malibu- and where I am now.  The conversations, the dinners, the shared laughs, the adventures are all starting to weave together a beautiful, resilient, strong bond. We came as individuals, but we're starting to make it a family.
    Today I slept in a lil, everyone's een going too hard and is on the verge of getting sick so sleep is needed. It's nice not having any 8ams and only one 9am. I don't have class til 2pm tomorrow! Anyways, that all leaves some good time to hang with Jesus everyday and that's been great. Classes are pretty good. I think I'll enjoy them. It's still weird getting used to not having a science or math class, i feel very unstructured and disorganized without them. I guess figuring out how to hw and study in this new environment will come in time too.  
   Between classes i went to workout, but as i was walking out the door i thoguht to myself "I should go on a bike ride and get lost." So i did, and i did get lost. I've felt somewhat gringo in multiple situations everyday, but this was gringo to the extreme. From hopping curbs, cutting through traffic, zooming through crowds on the sidewalk, getting chased down by a cop, going the wrong direction on roads, racing cars, and getting stared at constantly, i felt i earned the gringo label. It was fun. I found some useful places and learned a new part of the city. Slowly but surely its beginning to feel like my backyard, never thought I'd say that in this spraaaaawling urban jungle. I'm also getting all sorts of connections from NYU hot sauce-making students to Hawaii PhD students to travel agents to government agencies and some locals.
    Today was Rafa's birthday so we had California Burrito at the casa for convo dinner, followed by the ice cream from the super dope place Persiccio (or something like that) again. We had worship afterwards that included Liz's and Chad's awesome testimonies. After worship i walked Liz home and then went and had "cigars and settlers" with the guys. I was too lazy and tired and cheap to actually smoke with them but it was a great time just hanging with the guys and playing settlers of catan.
   This is the good life.
  

Getting Lazy

So i'm getting lazier, and the hw is piling up so some of these will be more like bulleted occurrences throughout the days.  Monday-it was Liz's bday so we got some super dope gelatto/ice cream/heavenly goodness at some place called something like Persiccio (BA is a very italian place). Today was my marathon class day- 9 hours of class followed by small groups. When i came home we ate and my padre asked if i wanted to go with him to take his son home, so David and i (the other homestay kid) went with him. After dropping his son off he decided to show us an interesting"tourist attraction." We proceeded to drive through the local park i run through and nothing seemed very special, then all the prostituting transvestites started showing up on the sides of the roads. I saw some things i could have lived my whole life not seeing. I'll leave it at that.

Podcasts, craft fairs, and football

    I'm not sure what my actual "church" experience will look like here over this next year, but today i decided to go with a podcast.  I've been in a  group of people for a solid 2 weeks now and I just needed some alone time (with God). I listen to Tim Chaddick's podcast about the realness of spiritual warfare and the armor of God. It really reminded me that in every aspect of life, especially in my weak points, Satan is constantly working to bring me down There'll be a lot of temptations, and a lot of darkness (amongst all the light) that I need to be aware of and ready for even if it isn't hitting me hard right now.
    After my podcast and hangout time with Jesus, i met up with Alycia and we went to a craft fair down near Plaza de Mayo. It was the biggest fair i have ever seen! It went on longer than we could see. They had a bajillion different trinkets, lots of matte gourds, patagonian alpaca/llama/sheep stuff, leather goods, incenses, food, bracelets/jewelry/headwear. I bought an alpaca hat, leather key chain, and a matte present for a friend. We also got some keesh and roasted peanuts. it was a really fun and neat afternoon. We got to practice our spanish bartering but that usually didn't go too well...
    This was followed by a night spent at the American sports bar in town- Shoeless Joe's Alamo - with a buncha dudes- including Dr. Daugherty. We went to watch the cowboys game, but also ended up watching several other game at the same time. The Dallas game was painful to watch but we pulled it through in the end with a kick as time expired to send the game to overtime and then another field goal to win it. The hours we were there were filled with great conversation from fantasy league players to life stories. I'm really loving getting to know everybody more and more everyday.

Futbol

pretty tired tonight. had a full day that revolved around soccer activities. it was a blast getting everybody together and going down to an indoor facility.

Classes, Bars, and Tacos

   Friday was our official first day of classes. We have been having intensive spanish classes for a week now but, everything technically started on friday. So that included another spanish class, and my religions of the world class. im really excited for religions of the world, it seems like its going to be really interesting, somewhat easy, and we get to go on field trips! so fun.  in between and after classes i got to skype a couple of my favorite girls- shelby and elle. that alone could make my day any day.
   Later that night a handful of us dudes went down to Plaza Cerrano- the bar district - and kicked it for a few hours. it was great to see that there are men mature enough out there that can go to a bar and still have super intentional and deep conversations. Those moments are so much more enjoyable than the drunken binges and dishonoring dancing that most of the world subscribes too. I' really looking forward to more nights like the one we enjoyed. After we left the bar we went to a super bomb taco stand. For the first time in a couple weeks now i finally felt flavor! The food here is great, but theres not much spice or flavor to it. My mouth was on fire for a good amount of time after that.
   Many people expect that studying abroad means crazy adventures and crazy stories EVERY night. Thats not the case. If anyone tells you it is, they're lying. Theres a lot more to it than that. Theres a lot of down time in which you can get real and get to know the people around you more intimately than you ever would have if you were back in the states. Thats what this is about.

First Convo Night

    Tonight was epic. We had our first convo which was cool- it was more like a bunch of announcements, but it was good getting everybody together for that. I also found out that i got the "service, cultural, and sport activities planner" job with my good friend alycia harrah- its gunna be a blast planning stuff with her (and getting paid to do it?! what??)
    This was followed by our convo dinner, at the fabled restaurant of Kansas. Apparently its the nicest in town, my homestay family was drooling when they found out we were going there. It's funny that the nicest restaurant in town would be an Amercian(ish) one. At convo dinners we're allowed to have ANYTHING we want (except any alcoholic drinks b/c pepperdine is paying for it all). At our table we3 appetizers  (Kansas rolls, smoked salmon, chips and artichoke/spinach dip), then i got a frozen lemonade, a full rack of ribs with grilled vegetables, and then our table got 4 desserts to share (chocolate cheesecake, brownie with ice cream, and banana bread covered in chocolate and ice cream with dulche de leche and bananas as toppings). Twas one of the most BOMB dinners ive ever had, and to think i'll get something like that every wednesday night blows my mind!
    After dinner some of us dudes went and got some cigars and posted up outside at a local cafe and kicked it for 3ish hours. I am honored to say that i lost my smoking virginity to a cuban cigar. It was a great time of fellowship, laughter, stories, and learning how to smoke. I'm looking forward to more epic nights like this.

Small Groups

Today we had our first small group sesh. I'm really excited to see where this goes, what relationships are formed (and to what depth they grow), to share life with a solid group of men, to be open and vulnerable to one another, and to grow alongside each other in our stages of brokenness.

God, exploration, and friends

It's late so I'll keep this one short.

    Yesterday we went to a Church of Christ in the area. They loved having us. They made us some kind of bread and coffee stuff for breakfast, we went to the service (which was heavy tailored to accommodate us) and then they made a huge Columbian-style lunch for us. There were also a couple birthdays so we had cake afterwards. We got back from that at 4, and as tired as i was, i just wanted to get away and go explore. So i hopped on the subway for the first time, not knowing exactly where it went. When i got out i found myself in the midst of a huge Brazilian festival- it was pretty bumpin. Then i went to Puerto Medero, found an American sports bar -bulldog-, met some guys from NYU who live here selling hot sauce, and then went home. I got to skype with Sarah and that was great, exactly what i needed at the time.
    Today i was very efficient: i swapped out my American money for Argentine money, bought a cell phone and loaded it with minutes, went to the correo and mailed my letters and got a sube card, did my hw, worked out, and went to Cafe Tornitino with some friends. We also had our first student-led worship  service, i'm really looking forward to the future ones. It's so cool that i'm praising the same God that I praised back at home-- half a world away.

Exploration

   After a great first night of sleep (after a sleepless 30 hours of travel) i was not looking froward to breakfast. From what i had heard, breakfast essentially didn't exist in Argentina. This was no bueno. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Much to my surprise though, it was more of a feast. Mi madre literally put all she could on the table and then some. It was great.
    Once breakfast was over, we all met up at the casa and went on a city tour. We saw a bunch of neighborhoods, and stopped at a couple different places. Boca was my favorite. The tour was followed by our first asado at the casa, so bomb. After our asado and some chill time we had our academic orientation, then started our intensive spanish week. When class was over, i went to Megetlon (or something like that) which is our gym. Its really more like a club. At dinner i gave my homestay family the present my mom gave me to give to them and they totally loved it. Can't wait to use the Texas cookbook with them. That night we went out, but the whole group tried to go together and it didnt quite work out as planned. It was still a lot of fun just walking and talking with people though.
 Today we started working on our scavenger hunt assignment by going to the zoo, the japanese garden,  the planetarium, and some museum. LOTS of walking but again it was great simply exploring and being with people.

Boca

Plantarium

  

First Day in BA

      after flying to miami from LA, it was a straight shot from miami to BA. i landed at 930, not knowing the girls flight info i was supposed to meet up with for a taxi cab ride (i gave her mine but wasnt able to check my fb in time to see her flight info). long story short i waited 3 hours and then took my own taxi to find her waiting there.
     once i got to the casa, i did a little bit of solo exploring and then kicked it for a while in a pizza parlor with our traveling faculty and a few other students who weren't on the group flight. this was followed by hanging out in the casa, waiting for the group to come in. they eventually did and seeing all the friendly faces and remember how solid of a group we have was really reassuring. we all had a little intro with rafa, followed by an empanada dinner.
     as dinner was winding down, the home stay families started showing up to pick us up. i was one of the last one left and i started to feel like an orphan.  i was hoping i was cute enough that one of these argentine families would come choose me, and eventually i was plucked out and brought onto the streets of BA, carrying around my 4 bags of luggage like a kook. my momma talked the whole way home and i maybe understood 5% of it, if that.
     i walked into a separate section of the house to find that it doubles as a veterinarian clinic for my father. he was operating on a cat i think. my room was a bit janky looking but after some re-organizing, cleaning up, and unpacking it has started to feel more home-y.

    this day has been in the making for literally nearly a year now. i've had all year to prepare myself, but today i realized theres really nothing i can do, question i can ask, advice i can receive, or experience to hear that could truly get me ready for this day. at times i was scared, nervous, and wanted to go back to the pepperdine i knew in malibu. at other times i was excited beyond belief and didn't want to be anywhere else in the world. its a weird balance and one i hope to get a better grasp of in the weeks to come. sometimes God takes a while to answer prayers and when he does, its not always clear how he does. not too long ago i prayed for discomfort, because i find that it is in discomfort where i grow most. discomfort hit me like a train today, and honest i hope it keeps running over me because i know God will have me come out only stronger.
  i can't stand stagnation, or simply being content with staying the way i am. being content with being and being content with staying are two different things. in the trials, discomforts, uncertainties, and experiences to come, i pray that i am content with being in discomfort.

my desk

  

my bed

my dresser

And so it begins...

I’m now on my flight to Miami, by myself-no group flight- and things are starting to settle in. During these past ten days, I honestly haven’t been thinking about Argentina all that much. Yeah it’s been on the horizon, but I’ve been so present in the moments I’ve been living in that I haven’t had the time of day to think, plan, or create expectations. There was a point where I had butterflies, but as uncomfortable as they can be, I know I’m in a good place when I have them. Nervousness isn’t a bad thing if its channeled in the right way. Nervousness keeps me on my feet, alert and ready to act. I’m still not sure what to feel. If I could describe it, it’d be curious adventurous anticipatory excitement.

My time back in the Bu was probably the greatest ten days I’ve had in a long time, if not ever. Not having any obligations, classes, homework, or meetings was one of the most freeing feelings I’ve ever had. Being able to simply be, and be completely present in every moment with whomever I was with, wherever I was, doing whatever we were doing was something really special. School has programmed me into thinking that there’s always something else to do, somewhere else to be, or someone else to see. This freeing experience in the Bu gave me a taste of what life is really meant to be like, and I intend to keep living the life of simply being from here on out.

I could write chapters on all the things I did while I was back in the Bu, but for your sake and mine I’ll just list some of them: got picked up 3 hours late by Elle who had obviously been crying in frustration (she pretty much took a tour of the entirety of SoCal in trying to get to the airport to pick me up) but I had a great time just chillin at the airport so it was all good, went for a run on the beach during high tide during the biggest swell Malibu has seen in years and got hit by some rogue waves which eventually caused my ipod to short out,  made sushi (with Trav’s and Colter’s catch from mexico) at the Gardner’s house and kicked it out their property, went to Grom after sushi for the greatest gelato in the world, spent some nights outside under the stars at The Eagles Nest (making more sushi, playing in the pool, killing rats with golf clubs), going for a walk down the beach with Elle at sunset(finding purple starfish),  spending the night on the beach and talking and playing til 4am with 15 super solid people, hanging in towers with the girls, going to The Gathering for an amazing time of worship and community (taking down the tent), having an epic family day with Jack, Elle and Sarah (westward beach, horseback riding, cranking country during the car ride, Woodranch BBQ, linedancing/two stepping at Borderline), going to Trader Joes with the girls and making a bomb dinner at their place (BBQ sliders, garlic fries, salad, grilled asparagus, and Graham’s super bomb chocolate chip pound cake with homemade chocolate syrup), baking goodies with Sarah up at her apartment, snuggling with Giff and Tom, playing N64 with Josh, Tyler, and the Flemmings, playing mafia 3.0 in miller, meeting up with the Ba alum in the caf, having quesadillas with the Flemmings in Shelby’s room, meeting up with a couple of my sports med professors, going to taco Tuesday with Trav and Jonathan and then hanging out with Jonathan down at Little Dume, hiking to the cross with Elle, having chapter at The Cabana, catching a seagull with Trav on Zuma beach, hearing about how Trav shot a deer off his back porch but couldn’t find it, walking on Zuma beach with Court,  walking to alumni park with Jack, bumming in the caf a lot, hanging with jack on my last night, going to celebration chapel and hearing bailey speak,  and going on another beach walk at night with Elle and hanging in the hammock.  To top it all off Sarah and Elle took me to the airport (kissing hand). That’s all I can remember for now, might be more to come later.

            I know not what God has in store for this year, all I can hope to do is hang on to him tight, listen., be guided, and do. Funny how simple it can be.

zuma

the cross hike

horseback riding

surrounded by angels

seagull!

jack and i at the horse ranch

the pose of the year