XXOO -- Besos!!

Besos!!  (i.e. "kisses")  

You hear it and see it all of the time here in Uruguay. People greet each other with a kiss - placing right cheeks next to each other and making a smacking noise in the air. Men to women. Women to women. Men to men. One kiss. A clasp of the arm or a hand on the shoulder. It's the standard way to acknowledge someone and give a greeting. And when you arrive at someone's home, or a meeting, or a restaurant - almost anywhere, really - you have to great EACH PERSON with a kiss on the cheek.

In the U.S., we shake hands and give hugs.

In Holland, they use THREE kisses - right cheeks, left cheeks, and finally right cheeks again. (whew!)

You also say "besos" to each other here in Uruguay as you say good-bye to each other - in person, over the phone, in a message or letter.

Everything's "BESOS!!"

In the beginning I didn't quite know what to do with all of these kisses. It seems rather intimate for someone who's used to thinking of kisses in a romantic way. Luckily I had twelve years in Holland before relocating to Uruguay so one kiss now seems easy.  ;)

I had two aunts who always signed x's and o's at the bottom of my birthday cards when I was a kid. Kisses and hugs... A symbol of warmth, of affection, of care and concern. I think of these symbols when I place my cheek next to someone else's or say at the close of a conversation "Besos!"

Warmth...

Affection...

Care...

Concern...

Upon greeting...

And in parting...

Think you could do it??  Give it a go! :)

San Geronimo: Yeah you guessed it -- by Becky

During lunch, we left the house waiting for the spackling and concrete to dry. (It had nothing to do with the fact that Uruguay was playing Italy in The World Soccer Cup.)

Side note: The World Soccer Cup means Soccer teams from all parts of the globe will play various teams who are also from all over the globe, unlike certain countries who have "The World Series," when it is really, "The State's Series."

In order to get an accurate flavor and charm we go into town to a small community building to eat and watch the game. Upon arriving we are greeted by one brown, black and white dog that sits by the door wagging his tail and squeezing between our legs in an attempt to enter the building.

Inside their are several men watching soccer on a t.v. We join in and order ravioli, and pizza, cokes and fanta (The pizza here is similar to toast with tomato sauce and a slice of mozzerala cheese cut into rectangles.) After taking a few sips from my soda a large fly appears out of no where (its winter time for pete's sake) and immediately begins swimming in my soda bottle. Do I need a new bottle?

Phil grabs a fork and manages to nab the drenched bug. I decide soda is too expensive and I'll drink it floating bug or no floating bug.

We continue watching the soccer game until Uruguay bites their way to victory.

San Geronimo once again by Becky Hess

Tuesday we hope to prep and patch the walls in the main room in order to begin painting. 

We move all the furniture into the middle of the room which requires big muscles. Which one of us has the muscles? Phil, the teacher, with the mind of an engineer helps us stack all the items as though we are completing a puzzle. Afterwards he brings in a tarp which he found in the work room. This fits over the piled furniture as though it was custom made. We do a jig and a high five.  

Hoping to get the spackling and concrete to dry Phil tries to get the fire place going. < All you boy scouts would be proud of Holly's wood carrying skills.> Along with Phil's ability to get wet trees to burn. On a side note someone with the initials of MP threw a dry gourd into the fire creating a blast that made my guitar sing and me scream. Will the concrete ever dry?

Life in San Geronimo by Becky

Monday night, 11:15 pm time for bed, unfortunately the bathroom began spurting water all over the floor, fortunately Marilyn is a get-her-clean- type of woman. 

Fill up warm water bottles as our bedtime heat source and try to begin snoring. Awake before the sun, which isn't difficult as the sunrises at 7:45 am. 

Will we have water and a working shower?

No. Grab a bucket. It works just like a good Haitian shower. 

For some team members it becomes the first shampooing in a sink. 

This trip has been good for exercising creative problem solving.   

San Geronimo: A Note from Becky Hess

Monday's here. Time for San Geronimo. Awoke before the sun, packed up, checked out the ATM for pesos. For you banking folks, the ATM's in Uruguay are inside a small room. Once inside the door locks.  Imagine needing to take out $3500. My hands shook as I typed! (Don't worry Jack it's basically $150 US.)  Transaction completed? The switch at the side of the door is key to get back to the car.    

After exchanging money we stopped for groceries for a variety of foods. Around here we have enjoyed lots of roasted meat minus vegetables. The idea of 5 fruits and vegetables a day isn't characteristic for Uruguay. Yes Mom, we grabbed broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, bananas, mandarins and apples.

Here's one of the meats for an Asado (barbecue). 

 At the grocery store one can buy rugs, electronics, and earrings along with all the food. After loading the groceries we high tailed it to San Geronimo (Phil's driving so he's not afraid of all the local drivers who decide stop signs are optional).

Eucalyptus trees shedding their bark line the driveway, Holly and I hop out of the car to smell the flowers, and take pictures. In the midst of winter, arrays of colors catch my eye. Yellow, pink and  red pops out from the green background. A German shepherd barks protecting her pups and the house. I keep hoping she won't decide to take a bite out of me. 

Today we began prepping for tomorrow's work, moving furniture, made beds, cleaned the kitchen, and bathroom, cooked and cleaned again. Sang, prayed and ate together. What will happen next? 

Demolition Begins. Good night!

Hospitality in Uruguay

Day 1: Hospitality in Uruguay by Phil Hostetter, 
traveling team from Neffsville Mennonite Church, Lancaster, PA

We arrived in Montevideo yesterday, mid-morning and have been surrounded by Marilyn's friends and co-workers (Matt and Toni Daniel's family) since we landed.  Friendly faces welcomed us at the airport giving us an enthusiastic beginning  for this leg of the trip. 

This morning, we gave the gifts of the tools from our Vacation Bible School children to Matt & Toni Daniels, and Ms. Marilyn. Wish you could have seen all the joy and smiles. It was like Christmas morning! Or hitting open a candy filled piñata and all the love falls out. Thank-you VBS kids!  Matt picked up the tools, showed his children these "new toys," inspecting them, and started talking about all the projects we will be able to do this week. Starting with VBS kids giving. Thanks for caring. Your dollars and coins last week helped buy these gifts. Pat yourself on the back - as Matt says a, " BIG THANKS!"

When we arrived at Marilyn's apartment yesterday, we met her neighbor who owns the store downstairs (Angela). Later on Matt spent some time with us giving an overview of the work of missions in Uruguay and Christian Associates' part in God's work here.  This is a widely secular and un-churched area of Latin America. 

Which accentuates the connection we had through the wonderful experience of worship with Marilyn, Matt & Toni's set of friends, listening to their spiritual journeys and sharing their personal struggles, singing and praying together.   We had to adjust to their pace of life since most evening meals and activities start after 9:30 or 10:00 pm!  I (Phil) went to bed this morning at 12:30 a.m., after spending hours talking with everyone in the group along with Matt and Toni after everyone left!

This morning we had the opportunity to worship with Marilyn again at the English-speaking international church that she attends, and listened to Becky preach to our group about the openings hospitality provides to allow God to speak in our situations.  Christ's Church was a very welcoming group, and we found them reaching out to a group of sailors from Ghana and Sierre Leone who were stranded in Uruguay due to an unfortunate situation where they were treated badly. 

We have received overwhelming hospitality from Marilyn and her friends here, and we have graciously become part of her community in such a short time.  Marilyn's friends have helped us feel right at home and loved, even though we don't speak the same first language. Thanks for praying! 

Tell me about San Geronimo House!

Several years ago, my colleagues Matt & Toni Daniels had the opportunity to purchase a beautiful home about 45 minutes outside of the city. (We all live in the capital city of Montevideo.) The former owners were Christians and their children were hoping that the home and property could continue to serve as a place for people to spend time with God. And that was Matt & Toni's vision, too!

San Geronimo house is located in the middle of a eucalyptus forest. You have to take a dirt road off of the highway to get to it and then you drive in a lane that is lined by these big trees.

By the time you pull up to the front of the house, you feel like you're in another world!! And that's just the feeling that people often need as they leave their work, their home and the many things that might be heavy on their minds and come away for a day, several days or even a week!

We've had some really fun birthday parties at the house! There's lots of space to go for a hike in the woods, play games on the grass and eat cake with ice cream!

We also hold retreats and workshops at the house as well. There are three bedrooms with lots of bunk beds and two bathrooms so up to 15 people can sleep in the main house. 

But the house set empty for several years and so there are a LOT of repairs that need to be done: the bathroom and kitchen plumbing, painting the walls, fixing the leaking roof...  All of that takes money and people to do the work...

Several people from my home church in the States will be arriving on June 21st, 2014 and we're looking forward to painting the living room, entry, hallway and hopefully one of the bathrooms as well. Also, we hope to finish the plumbing changes that were needed in the one bathroom. I'm looking forward to having them here!  They'll be staying till the 29th in order to celebrate my birthday with me!  (yeehaw!!)

San Geronimo House is a great place to rest, play, hike, pray, learn, grow and spend time with God. We want to make the property ready for all of these things! Thanks for your interest!!