Zacch(aeus) comes to town!

We had a wonderful weekend!  I hope you all had a egg-cellent Easter.  I saw lots of pictures of spectacular sunrise services, read lots of thoughts shared by friends about the glorious resurrection of the Victorious One, and heard about people coming together to celebrate how it's because of this weekend that everything is different!  What a special time!  This Easter for me stands out from all other years for some very unique reasons.  For one thing, it's fall here, not spring, which is just kind of strange.  Also, and probably more keenly felt, we were far away from family, friends, and church family.  Except...we had a wonderful Easter surprise!  My brother Zach came to visit us for the weekend!  Precision had some supplies they needed to get to us, and Zach made himself available.  We picked him up in Buenos Aires on Friday morning and "met the adventures that came to us" all weekend long (I throw that little Narnia quote in there because we kept saying it throughout the weekend!).

First off, let me show you where we called home the majority of the time spent with Zach.  Don't freak out or anything, but we were invited by our friend and coworker José to stay with his family at the Martindale Country Club in Pilar, a suburb of Buenos Aires.  Driving in was like entering a dream world.  The stately houses in the subdivision surrounding the polo fields and golf course could have been cut and pasted from the British countryside.  We're talking Pride and Prejudice style.

The "Club House", where we stayed. 

Zach was quite dumbfounded.  Not quite what he expected of Argentina, I think.  The grounds were extensive and perfectly manicured.  As we wandered around, "admiring the general splendor," we stumbled upon a perfectly gorgeous slice of paradise!

A sparkling pool surrounded by gigantic old trees and a carpet of grass!

We put it to good use!  

The water was frigid, but that didn't stop Zach, of course.  And we enjoyed soaking up the sun, poolside and surrounded by the gorgeous scenery!

When we weren't chilling by the pool, you could find us at the 18th Hole restaurant sipping cappuccino and thoroughly enjoying melt-in-your-mouth croissants.  

 Oh, and laughing a lot!

You can't help it with this clown around!

We dined at José's dad's house, where the whole family was gathered to spend Easter together.  They made us feel like part of the family and Zach filled up on great home-grilled Argentinian steak!  Entertainment was provided by José and Vanessa's only boy, 2-year-old Toni.  Bursting with energy and enthusiasm, this kid was a blast!

 Toni loved riding on Zach's shoulders, and carreras, racing!  The races went something like this.  Toni would say: Now run over there (pointing across the lawn)!  They would take off, Toni at almost a sprint, and Zach at more like a slow jog.  Toni would arrive at the other side and proclaim "Gané!" (I win!).  Then it would repeat.  Over and over and over.

Saturday we decided to go to El Tigre, a port town nearby which was a "must see" apparently.  

This is me, not very impressed 

by the very much talked-up riverfront El Tigre.

We did find a cool naval museum to visit.  It was full of model ships, real boats and canoes, cannons, guns, submarines, and even a yard full of retired airplanes.  

 Jonathan and Zach posing by a boat.

Is this the biggest one? 

(a comical debate throughout the museum adventure)

 Yes, he rang the bell.

It was loud.  The museum was pretty quiet.

DONG!!!!

 This is an early tide predicting computer.

Jonathan was intrigued and impressed at the gears and wires.

Actually, Jonathan was intrigued and impressed at pretty much all of it.  I guess he grew up on museums or something like that.  Zach and I...let's just say we have to work harder at enjoying a museum for all it's worth.  It was cool and all, we just moved through it a little faster than Jonathan.

So we found somewhere to sit and took goofy pictures,

while we were waiting.

 The arms room.  Full of all kinds of guns, cannons, bombs, etc.

The boys had fun trying to figure out how they all worked.

And Zach climbed into a submarine.  Literally.

Not sure that's allowed actually.

Outside in the airplane yard, we took our picture with a giant anchor.

Overall, El Tigre, wasn't a total fail.  Yes, it was overcrowded and dirty, but we were culture-ized by a museum visit and also enjoyed a nice meal at a riverside restaurant.  

Sunday afternoon we left the country club to spend some time in downtown Buenos Aires.  By the time we got to the city center and found parking, it was mid afternoon.  As we were walking out of the parking lot, the parking man asked us if we'd come for the race.  

*Flashback to last week when Jonathan and I were exploring Buenos Aires.  We saw a crew putting up concrete barricades with chain link fence along the road.  Jonathan commented that it looked like what they put up around a street race, like a grand prix sort of thing.*  

Back to the parking lot scene.  I said, "No, but where is this race?  Maybe we'll check it out."  Following his directions, a few blocks later we came up to the same barricades, or we could have if there wasn't a huge crowd of people already pressing their faces against the chain link.  We heard the unmistakable sound of engines revving.  Zach nearly jumped out of his skin.  My car-loving bro just happened to be in Buenos Aires that weekend, we just happened to finally find parking a few blocks from the race, and we all just happened to walk up right as the engines were revving.  Of course we couldn't see a thing.  But we could hear it!  Louder and louder!  Zach couldn't stand it!  So, like his namesake, he...

 Climbed a sycamore tree.  Really.

(Now you have the song stuck in your head, right?)

His vantage point was short-lived because he was told by a race official to get down, but not before getting a great video of the cars screeching and careening around the curve.

I wish this could convey the noise!

It was unbelievably LOUD!!!

I can't think of anything that could have made Zach's trip more special than a surprise car race!  We followed that up with a spectacular meal at a little bakery nearby.  Zach flew out that night, but it was a great weekend spent making lifelong memories!

Now, after all that, we're back in Venado Tuerto again.  Actually, today was full of adventure too!  After a missed turn, we ended up on a dirt road.  The problem was it had just rained.  A lot.  It was too much for our little rental car, and before we knew it we were stuck!  Praise God, with some maneuvering we got free and back on the paved roads again!  Our car, however, could use a good wash; I don't think it was meant for mudding!  

As we look ahead, things have the potential to get really busy, really fast!  We're waiting on systems making their way through the bureaucracy of customs in both Argentina and Brazil.  Most likely, they'll all come bursting out at once and we'll need to be in both places doing hour-long installs on more than a handful of combines!  Prayers appreciated!