Day 1-2 - Getting There

At 1:30 PM, our group began to arrive at WGM to load up the cars and head to Louisville. Everyone arrived prompty having done all the packing they needed to do, and we were ready to go. However, God wanted us to keep depending on him, so as we loaded up one of the minivans, we realized that it had gotten a flat tire! No worries, they replaced it with the spare and we were only delayed a few minutes. In the mean time, I had been filming each of the team members talking about who they are and how they became a part of the trip.

Once we were packed and all set to go, we set off "like a herd of turtles". Besides leaving a last bag back at the student center and having to run back to get it, we were on our way! Our Louisville flight arrived on time, and in Dallas, we were only delayed about 45 minutes by Texas State's dacnce team, so none of the guys on our team were complaining about that :). I ended up sitting beside a guy from Texas who was going down to Argentina to hunt dove with his father and some others. He was very friendly, but after talking a little while, we were both out for much of the flight (a total of about 8 hours).

Sleep was not constant, but I have enough rest to sustain me for today - at least that is what I hope since it is just 4:30 in the afternoon, I feel good though.

We arrived in Santiago a bit later than we had hoped, but since we pretty much ran to our gate, we made it with time to spare. Flying over the Andes mountains was unbelievable - here we were, flying at about 20000 feet watching snow capped mountains pass by below us. And before we knew it, we were on the ground again.

Mendoza, Argentina. It's absolutely beautiful here! The natural climate is a dessert, but the people began to develop a really complex irrigation system that takes melted snow from the mountains and runs it through the streets, so the roads are all shaded by thousands of trees. Because the missionaries are reaching out to a wealthier people group, their houses are a bit nicer than what you'd expect from a typical missionary house. The houses remind me of Spain - very open, large, tile floors, breezy (it's a dry 82 degrees today -amazing!), and clean. We are sleeping on air mattresses and have just gotten dressed from lounging by the swimming pool :) Incidently, I feel a bit spoiled. And burned. I brought along spf 48 sunscreen, but am still a bit pink after just about 30 minutes outside. The altitude plus my virgin skin my have something to do with that. No worries, it's just a warning for me.

Tonight, we will be attending youth group from about 8p-midnight, and will have dinner afterwards, which is something else that reminds me of Spain - later meals. Being here has put me in a sort of nostalgic mood. I have never been to South America before, but it almost seems like I have because it is a strange cross between Mexico and Spain. Mexico, in that the landscape is a little more sprawling, and the public areas are as well-kept as they were before the huge economic collapse a few years ago, and Spain because of the cars and overall European influence in architecture and way of life. I can already tell that I am going to like it here.

I think I'm going to sign off here. I hope you all are doing well, and it looks like I will easily be able to update the blog daily. If you would like to send me a personal message, I will also be able to check my email.

elisa dot platillero at asbury dot edu (I wrote it this way to avoid spam mail)

God Bless!