When in Rome ...

Funny moments which have taught us about life in Argentina, in no particular order ...

On Sunday afternoon, we went to a local mall with the DeWeeses to let the kids run out their energy and to escape the humidity a little ... on the way home, Jaden & Megan really wanted some ice cream, so we got a couple of cups to share between the families. When Megan was done with hers, she tossed her cup and spoon down a very steep driveway as her stroller rode by it (not unlike a "drive-by"). I ran down the driveway and came back up telling her that it was no appropriate to throw our trash onto the streets and she looked up at me with a strange expression. A few minutes later, she pointed to a trash-covered area on the sidewalk and said, "See, Mommy, there's some over THERE!" Oh, we had a good laugh about it and it gave Laile a chance to tell me that, unfortunately, it IS common here for even high-class, well-dressed women to drop trash on the ground as they're walking around town. We did end up finding a trash can, but it did show us that Megan is a LOT more observant and impressionable than even I had thought. =)

This morning (Friday), we were on our way to Laile's women's Bible study at church and unfortunately, we got on the wrong bus ... which led to us walking a ways, then taking a taxi to get to the train station ... after a few stops on the train, we had to disembark because the trains were on strike and were not going to be running anymore. In the middle of all this ... my back was starting to go out on me, Jaden's arm got pinched in the bus door (accidentally) and screamed for a few minutes, Megan ran into a metal stair-rail and screamed for a few minutes, then Laile spilled hot chocolate all over her shirt ... she and I didn't scream but we did laugh. I learned that no matter where we are, kids will be kids, life will happen and we just have to laugh and take comfort in the fact that God is with us no matter where we are! We ended up not making it to Bible study at all, but we sure learned a lot about ourselves and this city and now we have something to laugh about (and the kids are fine now ...). =)

Our first hour in our apartment last Friday ... after we had hurried off the plane, grabbed a quick bite to eat at the DeWeeses, raced to the public health office to get our yellow fever shots, then headed home to unpack and get washed up, Micah pooped in the tub for the first time ever in his life. It was SOOOOO gross! I had to laugh with Laile later because I told her that through all the stresses of the trip, I had had a really good attitude (by God's grace!) ... but the moment he pooped, I lost it. THAT's what it took to make me have my meltdown. Oh yes, that was because at the precise moment he pooped, Jordan plugged our "white noise" fan into the transformer we bought in the U.S. and it promptly blew up, smoke and all. I realized that if the fan didn't work, my heating pad for my back wouldn't work for sure ... and that realization, on top of Micah's poop, was simply too much for my sleep-deprived brain and my over-stimulated heart!). I learned that it's often the little things that can push me (and us!) over the edge and yet, how glad I am to have kids that can poop in the tub ... it's better than NOT having kids (or a tub!).

I may add to this later. Jordan is also working on a post of his first impressions of Bs. As.

Marie