miracle flight, el fin

the miracle flight! seriously it was a miracle my parents got on the plane!!! their flight was scheduled to take off at 10pm and  planned to leave our place around 6:45. i had a gut feeling to check their flight to see if there were any changes…good thing i did! their flight changed to one hour earlier, 9pm!! by this time it was around 6pm, last wednesday. i screamed “we gotta go!” then the boys had to say goodbye super fast, i hate that! dave stayed home with the boys and i took them to the airport…but first we had to get gas! that took about 15min, even though the gas station is just down the street…but in the city there is traffic almost all the time! it took us 40min to get out of the city to the freeway. it was running smoothly until 2 min later it was bumper to bumper. my poor dad, i looked at him and his eyes were practically popping out of his head. for the next 30min were trying not to stress out! i finally said, “there’s no way were going to make it, just take the flight out tomorrow.” no problem, they were on standby. so dad calls dave to call united and make some changes, and i start to get off the freeway to head back home. then dad said we should stay the course to the airport to see if we can make it. about an hour later, we are still on the freeway, and we had not heard back from dave. 8PM…we make it to the airport!!! no one was in line to check bags, because they were all boarding the plane!!! the lady behind the counter said, you have to wait until all the people board the plane to check the weight, or something strange. just before they rush up the elevator, we said goodbye.

well…that’s the end to my parents trip to Buenos Aires. it surprisingly went by fast! we were not sure at first if a month would have been too long, but it was perfect. we (the men: dad & dave) thought 2 weeks was long enough. not only was it great for us to have them here, but all you blog readers had something to read on the Sinclair blog!!! i never thought i would be so motivated to write.

the past week has been hard, for me especially, to get use to not having them around. they helped us out A LOT around the apartment, and that’s not why i truly miss them already. i miss them for the boys sake. it hurts that they can’t be dropped off at nonna & grandpas house. that we can’t have a family camping trip in CO together. they not know the fun of having family close by like i did growing up.

thank God for Skype, i guess.

 

taking advantage of a family photo at home

our venture out to Cafe Tortoni’s. can you see the glowing baby to the left?

another family photo opp.

my dad looks so proud

later on that same day my mom wanted to go to a high-tea at one of the most fancy hotels! this is the front of the hotel

inside the restaurant on the 10th floor

the yummy food!! too many sweets, i think i’ve gained 10lbs since my parents came.

the awesome view from the 10th floor of the hotel. it’s hard to find a good panoramic view in BA…they need a space needle here or something!

so this is the reward, mexican food, that Berta promised my dad if he were to paint me something…she would have cooked for them anyway, she’s the sweetest! here we are enjoying REAL mexican food in BA.

plus home-made flan!!!

here it is!!!!! my first painting from my Dad!!! i LOVE it!!

our trip to Tigre. a cute town 30min north of us

we took this hour boat tour of the Delta. funny story: my mom went to the ladies room as they were docking. my dad, ezra and i got off the boat to wait for her, and then the boat started to move…with  my mom still on board!! they had to go to another dock not too far away and came right back…guess you had to be there!

part V

enjoying our second date-night w/mom & dad. we found a cute restaurant (there are thousands) and thought we would give it a try…good salmon, we were tired of meat

our NEW living room!!!

with the curtains up…we now have privacy!!!

this is such a nice covering from before…

that’s enough photos for tonight…WP won’t let me post more and I’m tired

part IV

tango night! we had a yummy dinner and then watched amazing dancers for a couple hours and that’s when  mom got sick.

starting to get cabin fever!!!

watching Walee for the first time…ezra was belly laughing

time to get out of the house and walk around the park. stopping to smell the roses!

the sickies were feeling better…time to cook some meat!

mmmmmm

our venture out to the zoo

freak-show animal!

the other animal makes the monkey look cute

the cutest animal of them all!

my mountain scene in the city ) thank you Dad!

parents visit part III

the past four days we’ve been hibernating at the apartment taking care of Mom, Noah & Dave. Mom came down with bronchitis, she was prescribed meds and a nebulizer! OK…apparently it’s very common here to treat bronchitis with a nebulizer, which basically is a loud little machine that blows out steam through a mask. poor mom and Noah really have been sick with serious sniffles, deep cough and an occasional fever. so needless to say, we’ve been at home treating those two. dave has been down  lately because of some tragic news he had received last week. one of the university students that was part of his discussion group committed suicide.  his body shut down. please lift up the family & friends that new Andres and wisdom for Dave on how to handle things from here. dave might be writing more about this later…

leaving off from part II

the auto show

our dear friends took my parents and ezie to an antique auto show

the beginning of my dad’s painting. this picture might not last long on the blog, a pet peeve of my dad’s (showing an unfinished painting)…i couldn’t help it, i had to show it!

having lunch on our patio, “my place of refuge” in the sun.

our visit to the famous Recoleta cemetary

just to clarify, this is not Eva’s grave and no it’s not a chapel, it too is a grave. HUGE!

Eva Peron’s grave

grave jumping

parents visit part II

we went on a really cool bus tour of the city. the bus did not have a roof! it was a great way to see the beautiful architeture in this city…the down side: not prepared for a chilly afternoon.

here is my mom and dad with ezra in front of the bus

mom and me waiting for the bus in front of pretty buildings

the topless bus

mom giving away kisses in La Boca for lunch

along with our yummy lunch we had this to watch

BEEF!

my dad getting into the spirit of tango

the next couple of days we rested, but had to get the boy out to burn some energy!

more to come…

parents visit part I

re-united…i don’t think they’re happy to see each other

it didn’t take long before dad started painting…NOT! it was like pulling teeth, my friends guilting him in to it and dragging him to the art store to motivate him…not exagerating…artists!

the first outing, to the Pink House

the “heart” of the city, Plaza de Mayo

trust

Building friendships and trust does not happen overnight.  It takes place gradually over a long period of time. It will take lots of time for the university students I am meeting with to grow to trust me as a Christian because their perception of my worldview is a negative one.  All I can do is just be authentic, warm, accepting, and real with them.  It’s so cool that I have been able to hang out with a few more Argentine students this past month. This has been such an honor because they didn’t have to let me into their lives.  It seems that the more I hang out with them the more I realize how much I have to learn about their language and culture.  I think they see the desperation on my face and pity me sometimes.  Nevertheless, making myself completely vulnerable is hard but necessary as I attempt to build a bridge into their lives.  God has led me to be more transparent with how I struggle as a human being but also to highlight how Jesus has healed and saved me.  We live and work in a very cynical, skeptical world.  Trust has to be earned!

the women i’ve met

i’ve been spending most of my time with our kids at home and have not been getting out much…but lately i’ve been trying harder to get out more often, other than our weekly prayer meetings.

so lately, i’ve set up a bi-weekly play-date with another missionary friend of ours, Laura, she has 2 kids about the same age as Ezra and Noah…it’s been wonderful! it’s a two part play-date thing. obviously, so the kids can play and get some fresh air, but more importantly for Laura to introduce me to some of her mom friends she has met, before they leave on state-side in a few months. we had a play date with Keli and her son at Laura’s place, it was great! Keli is from Peru, married, has 2 kids and is taking classes at the U. of Palermo. i hope to get to know her better. there is another friend Laura is trying to introduce me to, but we have not met, yet! pray for Keli, Laura’s other friend i have not met, i think her name is Olga, as they are not-yet believers. Praise God, Laura was able to share with her the wonderful news!

and yesterday we had one of ezra’s best buddies over for a play-date, Bruno. they play amazingly well together…they have their 3-year-old moments, but for the most part they get along very well. it was nice to sit out on the patio, talking with Bruno’s Mom, Claudia. and talking i mean by spurts of conversation interrupted by the boys or the babies…she has a 3 month old. Claudia knows english, so we were able to work on my spanish, it was very helpful! if only we can get together more often and have less interrupted conversations! Claudia is Argentine, has two kids, married to Guido, pray for her as she is not-yet a believer.

we have a wonderful house-helper, Amelia! she cleans and does about anything i need help with, but we love her mostly because she is amazing with our boys! the other day i had her watch the boys and i clean! i know, sounds crazy! but noah is not used to her and needs to be! last week was the first time i handed him to her and she handed me the vaccum…i’ve also found cleaning to be quit therapeutic! Amelia is from Paraguay, married and has no children, but is hoping for another, she has one in heaven, and she is not-yet a believer, pray for her.

and Margarita, she is the lady i buy our produce from…i just met her and hoping to get to know her better.

last week all the ladies from our mission team decided to get-together to pray, without kids and husbands. as you can imagine, it was much needed!!! i know for me, it was like coming to the well! we all shared our frustration and our joys regarding the work here. i was so encouraged to hear their hearts, even if it was only for a couple hours.

we have been praying for Argentine friends and it’s looking like we are making some! God is also showing me how He wants to use me here in BA. please pray with me in seeing where he is guiding me. more importantly, that my walk with Him is daily and more intimate, it starts with Jesus one person at a time…that others WILL see HIM through me.

9/11 campus interviews

I spent some time today at the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Philosophy & Literature interviewing students and professors on their perspective of the 9/11 tragedy in the United States 8 years ago.  This Faculty in my experience has been the most vocal in expressing their opinions here lately.  Even though most of the individuals I interviewed would have been 12 years old or younger in 2001 they did articulate their views in a very clear way.  I think they could see my heart and the fact that I was not there to start an argument but rather to just understand their perspective on the situation.  For the most part I was told by students that the American people have been seriously misled about the origins of the Al Qaeda movement blamed for the 9/11 attacks, just as they have been seriously misled about the reasons for America’s invasion of Iraq.   I asked all of them where they got their information.  They said from articles they had read and the media.  In a gentle way I was able to let them know what I thought of their ideas but was hesitant to really get into the politics of the situation.  I invited those that expressed interest in answering my 9/11 interview questions to a nearby coffee shop to continue our conversation but also to discuss the radical social ethics of Jesus.  God surprised my cynical heart.  For anyone that has worked here in Buenos Aires you know how hard it is to get a spiritual conversation started.  Eleven students and two professors showed up.  This was very encouraging for me because usually no one expresses any interest in anything spiritual, especially concerning Jesus Christ.  The first thirty minutes was spent continuing our 9/11 discussion. Then for the next hour they allowed me to ask them questions about Jesus specifically from the Gospel of Luke. For the most part I had a very good vibe about what happened today.  It’s so awesome that I do not have to have a fluent knowledge of Spanish to get my points across.  Between what I was able to express and the English that they knew we were able to have a decent discussion.

God is taking Paula and I to a deeper level in our personal discipleship here lately. We have gone back to the basics of our faith. We realize that it starts with the Disciple, and the “church plants” will follow as disciples are made.  I invited the group to meet with me next week at the same time and place. Let’s see what God does!