Intro to Good Airs and the One-Eyed Deer

Catchy title, I know!  (I knew I could entice you to check out the latest update regarding our adventurings!)  And sorry that my first post from Argentina is so late!  I mean, we've been here for 2 days already!  But, sadly, the state of this fabulous thing called the internet is not so reliable here, so I've been building up for this one!

First of all, let me say we had a wonderful weekend at the beach cottage!  It was glorious!  Lots of relaxing, catching up on sleep and various "home" things, as well as catching up with our friends and family in LA!  

IT WAS SO WONDERFUL TO BE BACK IN ALTADENA FOR SUNDAY!!  

Yes, it was.  We had lovely weather, too, so that was great!  But, come Wednesday we were off again!

There's the lil' beach cottage down there, see it?  

Yeah, me either.

It's between the big factory-looking thing closer to the wing and the stick-like thing down the beach aways, which would be the pier.

Out over the ocean, we took a left and headed southeast meeting Justin in Dallas.  Things went smoothly--much more smoothly than last time, praise the Lord!  However, we learned very quickly that we have been spoiled with Air New Zealand as our first overseas flight experience.  Yup.  This time we were stuck in the middle of the plane, a very nice family on our left with some squirmy little munchkins who weren't too nice to be seated by come early morning.  Really, it wasn't that bad, I exaggerate.  Our bodies' clocks were thrown off a little more this time, and we had a hard time sleeping on the plane, but then felt like it was 3 in the morning when we landed (at almost 9am).  

 Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

First things first, we faced customs.  No big deal except that we had some very expensive equipment with us which would most likely be a problem.  As our turn approached Justin said, "This is a win-win!  Either we get through with no hassle, or we have a great story!"  Actually, I have to say I can fully agree!  As stressful as customs can be, God definitely has put me through that faith-builder plenty of times!  It was just like Mexico.  I explained, heard all about the fines they would have to charge, how they would confiscate the equipment...all of it.  Turns out we made it out about an hour later with the equipment and paid a minimal fine, all things considered.  Not bad.  Not the first time I would be very grateful for our friend and coworker, José.

Headed toward downtown.

José led us downtown to meet with the Monsanto group.  It was a rather stressful drive considering the rules of the road are similar to those in Mexico.  There are none.  Fend for yourself.  But we made it, alive and well, although rather groggy and slimy from our night on the plane.  

The meeting was held in English, but turned out giving me loads of confidence with my Spanish skills. Not because I learned anything new, but because I saw how they were willing to do their best with English and we didn't hold it against them that it wasn't perfect.  Hopefully, Argentinians will return the favor!

 Typical downtown street--treelined and rather quaint.

I would describe Argentina like this: a cross between Portland and Mexico.  Really, that may seem totally opposite, but it's kind of true.  There is lots of character in the buildings--greenery, brick, windows, but it's definitely got the south-of-the-border feel in places.

View from Monsanto's office building.  

Really, it doesn't capture how beautiful the view was!  We were overlooking a park surrounded by some of the most diverse architecture I've seen all in one place!  Also note that in the background of the top photo is the glimmering sea.  Well, it would be glimmering, but it's a nasty shade of brown.  Gross.  The city claims good air, but I guess it never claimed anything about good water!

On the freeway leaving the city.

Obviously, there aren't many combines in the concrete jungle.  We left Buenos Aires yesterday evening for the long car ride to the farms.  Traffic is quite the nuisance, especially when you're overtired and feeling gross.  We made it to the town where we're staying, a place called Venado Tuerto, or one-eyed deer, and finally, crashed.

Today we hit the ground running.  First stop.  Anybody have a guess?  Hint: where did we go first in New Zealand?  That's right, the Argentinian Home Depot!

 Our friend Leandro (in the stripes) introduced us to his friend 

(in the "Mecan" shirt) to help us with our supplies.

 I think we got it all!  

Then it was out to the first farm.  Three shiny combines awaited us as we pulled up.  We met the owner and his crew and settled down to explain the system. 

Gather 'round!

Jonathan and Justin pulled out the toys and with José and Leandro doing the translation, I just sat back and listened.  Which was a blast!  These guys made it sound like magic!  Which is true, sort of, sometimes technology seems like magic!  The rest of the day was taken up with our first harvest monitor installation in Argentina.  

There you have it!  Now, I really should go to bed.  This proves how off our internal clocks are: it's after midnight.  Those who know me know that I don't do well after about 10:00pm usually.  Ugh, that means tomorrow morning will feel like the middle of the night!  

Thank you for joining us in our sojourning with love and prayers and emails and comments!  Love to all!