Tango, Peanut Butter, and Jesus

Thursday night, three of the Spanish teachers from our Spanish school took us out to a tango club. We felt really cool to be invited somewhere not in our guidebooks. The venue was called “La Catedral”. From the street it looks pretty sketch, but inside there is a warehouse-sized room with a dance floor (of course), dim lighting, and an eclectic mix of art on the walls. We learned some of the basic moves…but unfortunately, I am still very much a white girl so I don’t think I’ll be mastering the sexy Argentine tango flava any time soon.

Normally packages come to your door, right? Not in Argentina. They have decided that it is much easier to send a package notification to your house, requiring that you find the international post office, whose street address is not on any map, and once you find the office, wait an hour to pick up your package. I confess that I doubted that my mom’s package of peanut butter was worth all the trouble, but once Darrah and I arrived home and feasted on the creamy JIF goodness, all was well. However, Saturday I received another package notification and Darrah is expecting one this week…I guess we’ll just bring a book and peanut butter to keep ourselves satisfied during or next hour wait at the post office.

Friday afternoon some of the girls we met at church last Sunday met us for coffee so we could get to know each other. There were three girls around our age and an older woman who works as the church social worker. Our entire conversation, mind you, was in Español, so I’m hoping that everything I think I understood is indeed correct. The older woman invited us to join their small group Bible study on Fridays, which is such an answer to prayer. We have been asking the Lord for community and discipleship opportunities and he is definitely providing. On Friday we talked about being ambassadors of Christ outside the four walls of the Church. These women have such awesome vision for using where the Lord has placed them as a place for ministry. I am praying that God will provide opportunities for us to grow in friendship with these women and learn from what God is doing in and through them.

Church was wonderful this morning. Granted, we still didn’t understand the whole sermon, but we’re improving. This morning we sang “Here I am to Worship” in Spanish. We were standing there, singing the same song in English, and we realized how that moment was such a beautiful glimpse into the glory of God’s kingdom. Philippians 2:10-11 says, “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.” We worshiped with a global body of believers this morning. People were singing “Here I am to Worship” in hundreds of languages. How cool is that?! We serve a great God indeed.

The afternoon was wonderful as well. Darrah triumphed over the impossible bus system and navigated our way across town where we met up with about 25-30 girls from the church between the ages of 11 and 32. We went to a huge park to play, chat, and drink “mate”, the national drink of Argentina. Now…let me pause for a moment to describe mate (but you should google it for further detail)…it is a communal drink that consists of yerba leaves, hot water, and sugar and you pass it around, all sharing the same straw. I know what many of you are thinking…Caitlin Cornwell?!...sharing a straw???!!! Well, you should know that I think I might have done away with my germ-phobia today (and this is coming from a girl who never goes anywhere without hand sanitizer). I seriously loved mate. It was an interesting taste, but I really just liked the idea of it…it’s meant to be shared in community with a bunch of people sitting around talking and enjoying it together. As I looked around the park, I realized how many people were doing the same thing…not necessarily drinking mate, but just playing, talking, and enjoying the company of friends and family. People rest on Sunday. Almost no stores are open and everyone takes the day to relax and have a good time. It’s a far cry from America where the only thing closed on Sunday is Chick-fil-a.

Oh yeah…I just have to give a little shout out to my Carolina roots. The girl who we have gotten to know the most at church, Maria Laura, studied English in the States for four months last year, so she has a lot of clothes and jewelry from the US. But this afternoon, you will be pleased to know, she showed up in head-to-toe Carolina blue…seriously, Tar Heel shirt and pants. She said they were a gift from a friend in the States. I have yet to find a bulldog, but I’m sure one will turn up soon.

Love y’all,
Caitlin