Exhausted

I've spent a good portion of the last few days trying to hold myself together and not fall apart.  It's been a rough week actually.  Nights have been very late as Jonathan doesn't get in from the field until after 8:00 or sometimes 9:00, and with finding food, talking through the day with Justin, making plans for the next day, contacting Precision about the day's challenges, answering emails, having skype meetings...it gets late.  Very late.  I don't do late well.  Especially if the mornings are early ones.  All that's been adding up, and on top of that the stress of making plans--managing flights, trying to nail down our schedule...it's been nonstop and we're just about exhausted.

That said.  It has also been a good week.  It was productive on the work side of things, and it was a study in relying on God, which is why we're here, right?  I told Jonathan, it's my own fault I find myself in this situation: I'm the one studying James.  You see, spending my devotional time immersed in things like, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  Well, that just begs some real life experience so it can be lived, not just studied!

We moved from the decently-sized farm town (think Washington, IL) to a podunk-actually-in-the-middle-of-nowhere farm town (think Roanoke).  In the move, we lost some of the luxury we'd had in the bigger town, which was to be expected.  It was still nice, although the water for the shower wasn't more than a trickle, and the wood floors in the hallway squeaked and creaked, and the espresso served with breakfast tasted like instant coffee with milk.

The view out the window of the farm-town hotel.

I debated whether to post this picture (didn't want the moms to worry), but it really gives you a good idea of the town.  Very much what you'd expect in Latin America.

The nice thing about the town is that it was located 40 minutes closer drive to the field we were working in.  And this is one mammoth field!

 Corn as far as the eye can see.

New fact I learned: Argentina is the only country in the world where corn is harvested as early as February!

 Two by two.

They actually had all 3 combines going at once in this field and literally dozens of grain trucks carting it all back to town.  The roads to get out to the field are, of course, dirt so by the end of the day, there was a thick layer of what looked like fog, but was actually dust.  Made for some interesting driving!  

 One of the combines.

 Camp Harvest.

The team literally camps out in the field during harvest.  They have everything from trailers to live in, to a portable shop with all the necessary tools and a generator.  All that gear along with their many auger carts and combines makes for quite the set-up!

Jonathan spent the days out in the field troubleshooting problems and testing the monitor.  Justin was in the field sometimes, other times he was off with José talking business strategy or meeting with Monsanto people helping them understand the ins and outs of Precision Planting.  We had several lunch meetings in town at this quaint little hotel restaurant.

 Hotel Colón.

Yesterday, the day Justin flew out, we knew we had to leave for the airport by 4:00, so it made for a rather busy morning!  We split up to be able to get as much done as possible, and that's why I ended up getting in on the dirty work too.  Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to announce the successful replacement of chain paddles in the clean grain elevator of combine number 2.  I handled that torque wrench like a pro!

Actually, I didn't even do the whole thing.

Some of the operators had pity on me and took over after a while.

That done, Justin said goodbye and we were headed back to Buenos Aires.  It was a good 4 hour drive, but Justin made his flight in time, despite a late departure (always got to keep things interesting)!  Last night we crashed at hotel near the airport for a few hours before flying out early this morning.  

To where? 

Well, that's the great part.  God (and Justin) had mercy and we're taking a weekend off.  Well, sort of, we have some work stuff to do to, but we're doing a little constructive exploration these next few days. But, I'll save that for another post.

Here's a hint: you might have seen my facebook post as we checked into Ezeiza airport.  I said I was flying domestically in a foreign country for the first time.  And I will tell you we headed north to where Argentina borders Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.  Any idea what's there?  Stay tuned!

And please pray for the needed rest and recuperation this weekend before hitting the ground running next week.  

Love to all!