scott in argentina

Books and Paintball

2008-02-23T04:15:00.000-08:00

In just 2 days i finished off an entire book: "Same Kind of Different as Me". Very good read, and would suggest it to anybody. Biography is probably my favorite genre of writing, and this one ranks up there among my favorites. Not only is the story moving, the setting of the story is in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area, and in the area of Shreveport, LA ... both places i am very connected to as i have spent years there throughout my lifetime.
So far I've finished 3 books this year, the aforementioned one and:
"bowerman and the men of oregon" the biography of legendary running coach and nike co-founder bill bowerman.

"Jesus of Nazareth" by Joseph Ratzingher, who is better known as the current Pope.

today looks to be a good day to go play paintball with the guys on the football team... hopefully there will be some fotos of that soon.
sj

Human Feats/Physical Challenges/Stunts/Creative Competitions

2008-02-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

Humans throughout history have always been concerned with competition, and have been creative in coming up with ideas for various competitions. What is it about us humans that seeks for this rush of testing the physical limits that a body could dare to withstand? We see humans doing things such as running Marathons, Ironmans, scaling the world's highest mountains, and swimming across the English Channel. These sorts of accomplishments i can somewhat get a grasp on. Someone once asked a famous climber why he climbed mount everest, his response: "Because its there". That's a fair enough answer for me. I have run 4 marathons, and my response as to why I wanted to do it would be along the same lines of reasoning. However, in this post, i want to focus on some of the newer/crazier/more creative challenges that are out there. The marathons, Ironmans, and Mount Everest Climbs I can begin to understand, but there are some new competitions and challenges that are just hard for me to accept. I probably should do some more research and find some more crazy events for you, but here i want to list for you some of my favorite crazy/wild/insane challenges that us humans have decided to take on:

1) Beer Mile. This one isnt too out there or too extremely difficult, but it is a competition growing in popularity. On paper, the competition is fairly simple: You have to run 4 laps (equalling a mile), but the catch is that before you run each lap you must dring a 12 oz can of beer with a minimum alcohol content of 5%. Fastest time on record: 5 minutes, 9 seconds
Click here for the official beer mile site, complete with records, official rules, etc.

2) 24 hour treadmill run. This has been an event that has been around for longer than i thought. Again, the rules are fairly simple: how much distance can you run on a treadmill in a timespan of 24 hours. The world record is 153.9 miles
Click here for more info on the 24 hour treadmill run

3) Hands on a Hard Body. This is a crazy competition held annually in Longview Texas. It is a competition held by a car dealership. Several people are in the contest, and they must keep 1 hand on the car. Whoever keeps their hand on the car the longest wins the car! (short breaks are given every once in a while!) But just imagine the sheer discomfort of trying to stay standing and not fall asleep.
Click here for an article about the competition. I believe the article states the record for the longest time

4) 24 Beers/24 miles/24 hours
This is pretty insane. Run 24 miles and drink 24 beers all within a 24 hour time period.. pretty crazy, i wouldnt ever want to do it, but its do-able.
More info here

5) McDonald's Dollar menu challenge. Eat everything on the McDonald's dollar menu.
Probably a lot tougher than it sounds.
Click here for more info

6) Finally, there is free diving. Free diving is diving as deep as possible in one breath without the assistance of motorized machinery or underwater breathing aparati. There are several categories for free diving such as with our without fins, with our without weights. The overall record blows my mind away: 214 meters deep!!! are you kidding me? Insanity.
Click here for more info

Share with me some of your favorite crazy competitions!!!

what the announcers didnt tell you about the Giant's win

2008-02-08T04:11:00.000-08:00

At some point in the second half, I randomly waved my arm in a "tomahawk" style fashion. By tomahawk I mean the style of Florida state football or Atlanta braves baseball... if you still dont know what im talking about use man's electonic best friends, google or you tube. Anyways, I did the wave without the indian chanting theme that goes with it. However, a guy sitting behind me saw me doing the arm motion, and he mustered up a loud, basey, animal-dying like form of the indian chant. The giants happened do good on that occasion, so we began implementing it more and more. Soon we had many people in the sports bar on their feet, doing the tomahawk chop and chanting the indigenous chant as well. Everyone knew the tomahawk chop had nothing to do with either of the teams, or this particular super bowl, but i think that was the genious of it. It just stuck. Several began losing their voices by the time of the final game-winning drive of the Giants. People walking past the bar looked at us like we were freaks, partly because we were watching football in the first place, but definitely because we were chanting to the tomahawk chop. I cant help but think that a little of our mojo from down south helped push the New York Football Giants to victory.

At first, Damian and Tomas are laughing at the Tomahawk chop, but soon later they are enjoying being part of the action.

julian and guido, the only ones rooting for the Patriots, are stunned

books and el salvador

2008-01-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

well, one book i am giong through as a liesure book is South America on a shoestring by Lonely Planet. I like to pick it up a few minutes before bedtime and learn about other places, and perhaps give myself an "imaginary" trip to wherever I am reading about. I like learning about the history and background of the countries. A few nights ago I was reading over the El Salvador section. I was stunned to read about their civil war that happened in the 80's. I try to consider myself a decently educated American, with some knowledge as to what is happening around the world.. but I really had no idea of what happened there in the 80's. Perhaps I was too young, but still, it is recent enough that I should know about it. I learned that in El Salvador, 75,000 people died in civil war. There were many brutal deaths, including the killing of preists who spoke out against the government. Another 300,000 people fled the country. Using rough population data, this means that 5% of their people fled, and 1.25% died. If these statistics were carried out to the USA, this would be the same statistical impact as if 15,000,000 people fled the country, and 3,750,000 died. Plus, the US government spent over 6 Billion to help in the conflicts. This post is not about taking sides on the US government, more about me being brought to a pensative place in thinking about how i relate to the world. I also remember being moved in this way when i watched "hotel rwanda". I was again fairly ignorant of what happened over there. Sure i knew there was some strife, but i did not understand the scope of the killings, savagery, and devastations.

I will comment on the other books I am reading in the future:
I am reading or will read:
"no desperdicie su vida" ... the spanish version of dont waste your life by John Piper
"jesus of nazareth" by joseph ratzinger... who is well known as the current pope, Pope Benedict 16
"Bowerman and the Men of Oregon" by kenny moore. this is a biography of the most legendary track coach in the USA. He coached many olympians, and started making running shoes out of some kind of rubber material placed on his waffle iron at home, and eventually co-founded nike.

i wanted to get away from the more "manistream" Christian writers and books for a while.

peace
sj

2 things becoming less frequent in Argentina

2008-01-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

ok, so although Argentina has a lot of manifestations and some public unrest here and there about certain issues..... there really has been No MAJOR governmental problems in a while. I'm referring to problems such as military cous, resignation of presidents (forced or not), total economic colapse, etc.
Another thing that seems to have gone by the way side is new posts on Scott Jackson's scottinargentina.blogspot.com blog page. Let 2008 begin with a post within the first 10 days of the year. No, im not sure if i will keep up the rate of 1 post per 10 days. would i like to??? sure. New years resolution? im not a big fan of resolutions..... i did realize i havent been doing some quality reading in a while.. so i bought a few books to read. I wont mention which ones right now, because doing so will give me a reason for another post later!!! hahaha. now taking book read suggestions. comment board is open for book suggestions, or whatever else anyone out there wants to tell me via cyber space.
scott j, down south

See for yourself: Amazing Argentina

2007-10-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Watch some videos of some great places in Argentina and decide which place would you like to visit the most.

Clip 1: One of the most fotographed and visited glaciers in the world: Perito Moreno Glacier

Clip 2: Iguazu falls, in the northermost part of Argentina.

Clip 3: Patagonia!

Clip 4: Mendoza

Clip 5: Can't leave out magnificent Buenos Aires, accompanied with Tango music

election fraud, mosquitos, football, and karaoke

2007-09-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

election fraud: several newspapers have reported a crisis here in cordoba, as it recently was voting day to elect a new governor, and one candidate won by a 1% margin. most people here feel like there was some sort of a scam that went on, and "officially" they are doing a recount. meanwhile, there have been several manifestations going on in the streets, causing a lot of noise, street closings and traffic jams, and various street filth.

Mosquitos: I am currently well aware of the mosquito nuiscance, as i have a couple itchy bites today. warm, wet weather ahead means that ill have to stock pile off, raid, and any other concoction. the war is on!!

Football: yesterday was cordoba's yearly flag football tournament. my team got second, losing only to the team that won the tournament. plus, several guys from the team enjoyed watching "nfl sunday ticket" here at my place.

karaoke: a cafe that i go to a lot offered their upstairs room for us to use to help people learn english, so we did an english karaoke night. after singing "amarillo by morning" i had to explain the meaning of "buckin'" and a few other frases from the song.

chau
scott jackson
ps dont forget to check out www.houston2009.blogspot.com if you are crazy and daring enough to commit to running a marathon that is over a year away.

top 10 things i miss from Texas

2007-09-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

10. Ultimate Frisbee.. (random games with friends as well as dallas winter league)
9. Driving down 635 (when there is no traffic)
8. Mexican food places like chuy's, mi cocina, etc
7. various festivals/arts events (shakespeare in the park, dallas greek festival, dallas dance festival, fireworks for 4th of july, amongst many others
6. Camping
5. Road Trips
4. Burger House hamburger with fries and a shake
3. Aggie Football
2. Dallas White Rock Lake
1. Possum Kingdom Lake

fotos of trip to cancun

2007-08-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

enjoy the pics.
click here to see scott's 2007 cancun vacation pics

to cancun and back again

2007-08-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

i am in the midst of yet another 24 hour-plus travel experience...
i got to go to cancun for a little vacation... got to see some great stuff while scuba diving: sharks, baracudas, moray eels, sting rays, sea turtles, and tons of bright fish.
now im in buenos aires for a slight lay over, then head back to good ol' cordoba.
i havent had an empanada in over a week.. that has to be a record.
if you dont know what an empanada is, its a typical food here in argentina.... im sure u can google it if u want more details.
laters
scott j

stuff from argentina

2007-08-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

my posting has plummeted below the minimum amount detectable by the seismographs.
tomorrow, katie and kevin, our summer interns leave. they have been here 2 months. that means me and jaclyn will get some rest, as their level of energy runs circles around us... but we will miss them. on tuesday the 7th i will be heading over to mexico to get a little vacation in.. which, my body has desperately been needing, after too many nights of low sleep.
about a month ago, we were fanatics about chess. it seems like we were always having some serious matches with all of our friends. this month the game of choice has changed to NCAA football 2006 for the XBOX. We have had all kinds of grudge matches, and the argentines are learning this "weird sport with a bunch of rules".

MARATHON 2009: Micah strange, Jason Lowe, Wes Moulden, Tigger Dennison, Shelby Dennison, Chris Pattillo and myself have all accepted the 2009 marathon challenge. In january of 2009, we will all be participating in the Houston Marathon. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join in on the shenanigans!! what do you have to lose.
We have teams divided into the Mrs. dennison vs. the Mr. dennisons, we have a league commisioner, Jenn Strange, and we are working on a t-shirt committee and a cheering staff..... if the last few sentences have made no sense to you, that makes sense.
see our website for the marathon 2009 challenge: click here to see the marathon 2009 blog/website

screaming monkeys, no showers, and other anecdotes from argentina

2007-07-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

yesterday we had a video game fiesta at my place... some people came around 4 pm, and we played video games/chatted until 12:30 am... you all should know what happens at 12:30 am in argentina on a friday night.... you guessed it... dinner! so we went to a place close by and got some good grub... by that time it was almost 2 am... tired, i finally hit the hay around 2:30.... at about 2:40 i was startled by a screaming monkey... not a real monkey, but a toy monkey.. i received it as a christmas gift. it is a monkey with elastic tubing on it, and when u launch the monkey, it makes screaming noises. Last night there was no launching involved, just screaming. A little bit later, i heard it again, but it was cold and i was tired, so i didnt want to get out of bed. it happened again and again, every 10-15 minutes.. so i decided the something needed to be done. i got the monkey and tried to stuff him inside a fleece glove, which i tried to stuff inside a bag, but i could still hear it. I looked all around it for a way to take out the battery, but there was no opening. so, out the small window in my bathroom, i launched the monkey.. i heard it scream all the way down the 9 story descent! it landed in a vacant lot next to my apartment building, and i could still hear it from my bathroom, but after shutting the bathroom door, i could no longer hear it.. it was the only thing that could be done to stop it.

a few days ago, my hot water heater broke, which means no hot showers! trying to take a FRIGID shower is pretty much impossible, so i went a few days without a shower.. finally yesterday a mechanic was able to come by and fix it.

on the 4th of july, about 15 people came to my apt for some classic hamburgers and hot dogs.. it was a good time had by all.

on the 5th, we had a devotional/bible study, and there was about 10 there for that, and then yesterday was the video game tournament.... so all in all, my apartment is getting some good use, and im staying tired.
scott j

Back to Texas!

2007-06-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

3 flights, 4 airports, and 22 hours later I will be back in Texas.
I had a great time here in Cordoba, Argentina - one I will never forget.

Thanks to all of Scott's friends for making me feel welcome and for such a fun time! I'm glad I'm able to put names with faces

Scott - Thanks for making "Mi Casa es Su Casa" - You gave up your bedroom, bathroom, and half your closet and drawers for me, and showed me a wonderful time!!

If y'all ever get the chance, come down to Argentina and visit Scott! Remember,"there's always room for one more!" Chau!

Jenni's Last Night in Argentina

2007-06-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my last night in Argentina, we went to the most amazing restaurant/tango show called El Arrabel. It's a well-known restaurant in Cordoba that has a concert and professional tango show while you eat. It was my favorite place that we went to! The food was amazing, and the tango dancing was unlike anything I had seen seen! People come from all over the world to see the show! If you get the chance to visit Scott, The El Arrabel is a MUST!! It was a fun ending to such a great trip!!! You can see some pictures below and also check out their website at www.elarrabal.com.ar

Villa General Belgrano and Gratitude

2007-06-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Scott and I and some of his friends here from South Carolina all went to a German town called Villa General Belgrano. It's an artsy craftsy little place that is rustic and surrounded by rivers, creeks, and huge mountains. It's a 2 hour bus ride outside of the city. The scenery was beautiful and the mountians were amazing!! These were real moutains unlike the ones that we call mountains in the "hill country" of Texas.

JENNI'S GRATITUDE LIST:

1)I am grateful for Highland Park High School in Dallas donating football uniforms and pads, etc...to Scott's football team here in Argentina, and Scott getting all the bags through customs. Scott's football team here in Cordoba is now the 3rd team out of ALL of South America to have football uniforms and equipment!!! When Scott presented it to the team last Saturday, the news and newspaper reporters were all there.

2) I am grateful for Damion and Marcello - two guys from the university on the football team that drove 12 hours in a car as small as a volkswagon bug to meet Scott and I in Buenos Aires to pick up the football equipment and drive 12 hours back. When they saw all the equipment, they had tears in there eyes, and said it was a dream come true. They started putting on the uniforms in the airport parking lot!!

3)I am grateful for fresh sliced tomatoes that come on the pizza's here. They don't have pepperoni or even know what it is, so the most popular pizza is cheese and fresh tomatoes. It's delicious!

4)I am grateful for Bombon Caserrato flavor ice cream - I get it every day! It's the bomb!!!

5)I am grateful for The Feria - Mom's and Pop's come from all the country to set up their arts and crafts stands on the weekends only here in downtown Cordoba.

6)I am grateful for Merienda - Because dinner is so late, everyone has "merienda" at 6 or so. It's after siesta and right before dinner. This is a time to meet friends in coffee shops or have snacks with friends in the home. Merienda can last 3 hours!! A popular drink for Merienda is Mate (pronounced like latte but with an M). I have yet to try it - their sales picth to me is that is tastes like a cross between seaweed and fresh cut grass. It's popular for everyone to drink it from the same cup.

7)I am grateful for the 2 young girls I ran into when I had been completely lost for at least 20 min.(I take after my cuz, Brandon when it comes to directions) who happened to be sophomores studying translation, so they could understand me and get me back.

8)I am grateful for Fernando teaching me the word "Che" - it means "Hey" here. So, if I foget someone's name or can't pronounce it, I say "Che, Como Esas?" It's like saying "Hey, how are you?" in English. It works great!

8)I am grateful for Scott's door man at his aprtment who will always buzz me in, so I don't have to look for the key.

9)I am graeful for all the tile sidewalks and every store having different tile in front of it. There are about 25 different pattern of tiles from Scott's apartment to the coffee shop.

10)I am grateful for getting to go to Scott's church and Amazing Grace! We went last Sunday at 8 - that's P.M. not A.M. (the church services are at night) I didn't understand a word of the message, but when they started playing "Amazing Grace" - I immediataly recognized the tune and began to sing along - IN English that is. Amazing Grace...How sweet the sound no matter what side of the equator you are on.

11)I am grateful for the Panaderia (bread bakery) that fills the air the minute you turn the corner from Scott's street. I would be as big as the Pillsbury dough boy if I lived here! They make the best sweet rolls and cookies!

12)I am grateful for the Disco grocery store. I can't read any of the products or labels, but I can understand the 70's disco music that is playing.

13)I am grateful that there is "always room for one more" - Everytime people get together at Scott's or David's apartment for Merienda or dinner, it will be packed -standing room only - and the buzzer will ring and David or Scott will answer, "Sure, Come on up, There's always rooom for one more." And believe it or not, there always is! People here love to get together for meals and visit for hours.

14)I am grateful for the lady in the beauty shop, when I told her, "no comprende espanol" she talked to me for an hour staright in Spanish. I didn't know a word, but just nodded and said Si....who knows what all I said yes too!

15)I am grateful for Fernando and how God is working in his life- He is the coach and president of Scott's football team who is an atheist, but through Scott's friendship, is coming to understand Christianity. He is currently reading the whole Bible through and the book, Mere Christianiy.

If you snooze you lose!

2007-06-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hola and Good Morning! This is Jenni, Scott's sister, writing today from Classic's coffee cafe. I have to tell you about the bargains I found!! Yesterday while Scott was taking his siesta, I went to the mall (called Patio Omas). Because of the late night culture, everyone takes siesta from 1-4, and all the shops and boutiques close down - except for the mall. Here's the great bargains I found:

-Lacoste shirt - 33.00 US dollars
-Fun sparkly earrings - 6.00 US Dollars
-Silver Bracelets - .30 Cents each
-Candle for Scott's apartment (to take out the guy's dorm room smell) - 3.00 US dollars (it is ver hard to find scented candles here...only 1 shop has them all the other shops carry unscented candles...most people use incense)
-Ice Cream with all the toppings and a choice of 50 flavors - 0.75 US Dollars
-Manicure - 6.00 US Dollars

So, it is your choice...siesta or bargain hunting.....

Chau!!

back in argentina

2007-06-04T06:04:00.001-07:00

Hola! Como Estas? I'm Jenni, Scott's sister, writing in today on the blog!! After traveling 24 hours, we finally made it to Cordoba, Argentina late last Thursday night. I flew back with Scott from Dallas to Argentina. I thought I'd get to relax and unwind from the long taveling hours Thursday night, but the moment we stepped in the door, neighbors and friends started flooding in (and stayed until the wee hours of the morning), and it's been a whirlwind ever since!!

It reminds me alot of New York City here except everyone speaks Spanish, and I mean EVERYONE!! If you've ever been to SoHo, you can picture Scott's neighborhood. It is great being with Scott because he translates everything for me, and I am so glad when we go to a restaurant that has pictures on the menu, so I can just point to the picture. People here walk everywhere just like Manhatten, live in high rises, and cute little coffee shops, restaurants, and boutiques line the streets. If you're not in the walking mood, there's also a zillion taxes that will take you anywhere. Not all taxi's are yellow here, so I never know if it is truly a taxi or not. At first I thought we were just hitching rides from random people. I also like it here because I can afford almost all the shops that I go in to, which is a different experience from when I shopped 5th Ave. last summer, where I couldn't afford hardly anything I picked up!

No one here thinks about dinner until about 11:00 and the restaurants don' get crowded until midnight and stay open until 3-4 am. They also love to eatr dessert, so that is served at around 1:00 after you finish dinner.

Everyone loves Escot (that's how the Argentine's say Scott's name) here, and he is even a hero to some. He has been in the newspaper and on the news in the 3 days I've been here, the girls in his aparment building make him homemade pizza, and all the people in the coffee shops and cafe's know him by name and have his order ready for him when he arrives. Reminds me of Seinfeld! No wonder Escot loves it here! As they say in Argentina, Chau and kiss kiss (they always kiss when they greet and leave)

Jenni

P.S.Don, there is no chai tea latte here just regular coffee...been hard for me to adjust.

Football in Cordoba

2007-04-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

We are now well into the training for our football team. We are doing a 2-month introductory course, with 3 parts to every practice: theory, physical training (of which i am in charge), and practice. This coming saturday we will have try-outs for different positions.

Check out a couple of pages:
here are some pictures of a couple of practices:

Pictures of Practices

here is our club's webpage: (click on the "staff" link and you will see my name there)
Cordoba Football Americano

one year in argentina

2007-04-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

a few days back i celebrated 1 year of being in argentina!
i arrived on april 8th of 2006.
this coming sunday there will be a 10k race which i have been trying to train for.
not too much else is going on right now, or at least im not in a writing mode right now.
talk to u guys later.
sj

stretching, homeless guy at mcdonald's, and a traveler from Denmark

2007-03-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

Most people know i like to run. one thing that goes with running is stretching.
Stretching is interesting.... you have to find that point where it feels both a little bit uncomfortable, yet really good at the same time. hopefully that makes sense. I think the same thing happens when we truly love. The cross is the greatest example of love (afterall, Jesus himself said "greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends"). In the flesh, the cross was the most painful and uncomfortable thing ever, but in his soul, Jesus was satisfied, because he was performing the greatest thing ever. I think when we truly love people, it will cost us a lot and it will feel really uncomfortable (and even painful), yet at the same time, if we are truly loving it will bring our soul alive, as we are imitating God, and bearing His image within us. Sometimes God calls us to love in ways that the world doesnt understand. Mother Teresa says that no one can do great things. She adds that we can only do small things, with big love. Jesus was remembered for his love. Lazarus was raised from the dead, but eventually died again. The lepers Jesus healed, eventually died from something else, but in these miracles and others, his touch of love will never be forgotten. I remember one time I was driving down the access road to highway 75 in dallas, tx. I saw a homeless guy, and he said he needed money for food. I told him i would be willing to pay for his meal at McDonald's (there was a mcdonald's in sight.. about 1/2 mile down the road at the corner of 75 and Royal). He said that would be great, and he started walking towards the mcdonalds. Then I got a call from God to truly love the guy. I was told to let him in my car and give him a ride up there. When i told him to get in the car, it felt so uncomfortable (he smelled, he was kinda scary looking, etc.) yet at the same time it felt so great, because when i let him in my car he no longer saw the white, middle-class guy, he bagan to see God's image in me, and i saw his face light up, there was a glimpse of a tear in his eye. He felt truly loved at this point. I think he for a brief moment forgot he was homeless and felt amazed that someone would let him ride in the car. We talked over things at McDonald's and then we parted ways. The other day i was hanging out in a park by my house and met a guy from Denmark, named Espan. He is travelling through south america for 6 months. He showed me how to juggle 4 balls, and he could even juggle 5. He was telling me about the hostels, that they can be loud, insecure, and expensive. I sensed a need. God takes care of my needs, and to show this love to others, i want to take care of their needs. i invited him to take a look at my apartment, and if he liked it, he could stay for the week. he said that would be great. Once again, i feel uncomfortable about it.. i mean what if he steals my computer? why should i trust him? but, if i really felt the holy spirit talking to me to offer my place to him, then those questions are really just a mute point. i mean, who cares if my computer is stolen? people have suffered a lot more in their pursuit to love.
many of us love others in many ways... we use the 3 "T's" to love others and love God... the three "T's" are our time, our talents, and our treasures. It feels uncomfortable to sacrifice these things, but i guarantee it will feel right, more than that, it will make you feel more alive than ever.
Join with me in living.

book suggestion

2007-03-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

I am not quite done with it yet, but I would highly recommend "Evangelism Outside the Box" by Rick Richardson. He has encouraged me to go with Jesus to seek and save those who are lost. Jesus said that if he had 100 sheep and 1 was lost, he would go after the lost one and leave the others behind... if I am 1 of those 99 left behind, why not go with Jesus and help him find the lost? It may take sacrifice and it may take me through places ive never been, but then again, finding and befriending the lost is no easy task. Its a glorious one though! If you consider yourself a Christian, how many non-Christian friends do you have? Do you regularly think to invite them into your life? Are you seeking to be involved in their lives?

1 week back in argentina

2007-03-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

so, i am beginning to put some posts up again, and will try to put up 1 per week.
coming back to argentina was smooth.... LAN chile is an airline company that does a great job with their service. i did have a 9 hour layover in miami, but i managed to get a ride to an embassy suites hotel and chill out by the pool during that time.
coming through customs was a bit of a problem with 2 laptops, 2 projectors, and 2 video game systems. they kept the stuff that wasnt mine, and my friends had to pay a fine to take it out of customs.
im back to eating empandandas, pizza, and beef all the time. last night i got my caseratto ice cream fix at about 1 am. and tonight i have some people from the cordoba football team coming over. The XBOX has allready been a hit, with some guys wanting to come over to play it.
gotta go. have a guest coming
bye for now,
scott

in the United States

2007-02-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

ok, so ive put off posting for a while, im in the us of a. 2 major differences i notice 1: dallas is way more spread out than i thought it was compared to Argentina.. and 2) places close way too early here.
ok, check back again in a couple week.
keep it real.
treat everyone with a big bundle of love
and if possible, live at peace with all men.
chau
scott jackson

sorry its been a while... hey im going to the USA

2007-01-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

yeah, so i havent posted anything in forever.. which means i probably have 2 people reading this regularly as opposed to 3.
anyways, i hear there is a cold blast even down in texas. yesterday it was about 98 here and i went swimming. I did a lot of my christmas shopping after Christmas.
I went to a small german town called villa general belgrano to pick up some artsy/craftsy type gifts. here are a couple of pics.

Uruguay, travel, and a visit to the dentist

2007-01-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

How is it possible to describe new lands and new countries in words??? I arrived in Montevideo, the capitol of Uruguay, after a 17 hour bus ride from Cordoba. The buses have these great chairs that recline almost all the way back, unless you are the lucky one that has a ticket for the very back row of the bus, which doesn’t have quite the same room for the chairs to decline. I turned out to be one of those lucky persons!
I found a ticket for my next bus to Chuy, which left at 2:30 pm. The bus ride from Montevideo to Chuy was great. It was about a 5 hour trip, and the road remained close to the coast almost the whole way. Every now and then we would pull a bit away from the ocean, which would bring long, green, rolling pastures, full of cows and other animals. The tree formations and different shades of green were very interesting to me. Some of the tree formations far off in the distance almost looked like a painting that someone had painted in the background, along with the blue sky. The bus headed into small towns/villages on the ocean shore line every once in a while. These towns/villages are sprinkled every 20 miles or so along Uruguay’s long beach line. These sleepy beach villages were quite unique. I would describe them as a mixture between Mexico, Hawaii, and Key West, wrapped up into one, without the resort glitz and glamour and with the flavor of a third world country. In these towns, there are all kinds of houses/cabins for rent, and there are many different kinds of people moving about the streets. Many of these are travelers from North America or Europe, with backpacks on, with a nice tranquil look on their face, with the aim of going wherever the wind carried them next. The colors of the flowers in these towns also caught my eye. After all kinds of green in the pastures, the brilliant mixes of reds, blues, oranges, yellows, and purples, provided a delight to the eyes. You would be hard pressed to find someone with closed toe shoes on in these towns. No, these are villages where flip flops, hair down, and no makeup is the norm. I almost expected to see Jimmy Buffett sipping on a cold drink as the bus strolled by some laid back open air restaurants. In these kinds of towns there is no difference between Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday, every day is a vacation, and your soul breathes a little bit deeper as the noise of all the things of the city are not there to get in the way, only a nice ocean breeze with the sound of the waves crashing in. Uruguay, what a place that God painted you to be.
Coming home, I did not have much of a game plan, but in the end it worked out fine. We (me and the marshall family) had to get up at 4 am in order to get to montevideo at 9 am. the night before we got to bed at 1 am, so i was travelling with 3 hrs sleep. we were cramped in the marshall van from chuy until montevideo. Upon arrival, i caught a bus from montevideo to another uruguayan town, colonia. That was a 2 hr bus ride. In colonia there is a ferry that goes to Buenos Aires, so i took that. That also took a couple of hours. By this time it was afternoon and i was dead tired, and the thought of taking an overnight bus ride or staying the night in Buenos Aires did not sit too well in my head. I flagged a taxi down and headed to the Airport. I got lucky and got a flight for cheap heading to cordoba that same afternoon. I arrived home at around 8 pm. what a day of travel!!! oh yeah, in that day of travel i crossed the widest river in the world (the ferry between colonia and buenos aires) and also i crossed the widest street in the world (in taxi in buenos aires).
A few days ago in chuy, i chipped a tooth. It was very annoying because the tooth had a sharp point and my tongue was getting aggravated from that, making it hard to talk or chew food. Today, i looked for a dentist. Obviously, i have no dentist here, so i just wandered the streets looking for a dental office. A few were closed as many stores are on vacation here. I stopped into a doctors office and talked to a dr. He recommended a place for me to go. he called ahead and told the secretary i was coming. I walked into the office, the secretary took my name, and told me to go down the hall. I arrived into a room, where the dentist was just sitting there waiting for me. Im thinking, wow this is totally different than the states, where if u are a first time patient, you know, you are sitting there filling out 3,000 forms, waiting for the dental assisstant, then waiting more for the doctor. anyways, i sat in the chair, she looked over my teeth, pulled out the tool, and smoothed off my tooth. So then im thinking, ok.. how much is this gonna cost?? "that will be 10 dollars" what 10 bucks???? are u kidding me??? thats nothing! crazy! i was in and out in about 20 minutes. enjoy these pics, click on them for a better, bigger version.

a day at the beach can be very tiresome!
Rachel, Nicole, and Nathan in the back of the van

me in Brazil!

Christmas, adventures

2006-12-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from down south... today i will be going on a journey to uruguay. this will be the 6th country that i have been to. From Cordoba, it is a 15 hour bus ride to the capitol, Montevideo. When i arrive there, i will look for a bus that goes to Chuy. That will be another 4 hour bus ride, which will head east and north along the coast of Uruguay. Chuy is on the border of Uruguay and Brazil, so it is possible that I might visit Brazil as well.

Yesterday, i was feeling adventurous, and i was also tired of running my same old route through sarmiento park, so i decided that i would run in a direction i've never run before. The goal was to run far and to purposely try to make it difficult for me to find my way back. I dont know why i consider things like that fun/exciting, but i do. It would be easy to find my way back if i just turned around at a certain distance, and returned the same way I came. That is not the idea, the idea is to do a big loop, using your sense of directions as to where to go. I ran through some neighborhoods ive never been in, and eventually found my way back home after running an hour.

here are my picks for the upcoming bowl games:
UCLA 3
Alabama 11
Texas A&M 2
Rutgers 17
Clemson 9
Mizzou 4
So Car. 10
Texas Tech 5
Purdue 6
BC 12
Texas 20
Georgia 18
Miami 13
Tennessee 19
Auburn 16
Wisconsin 7
West Vir 21
Michigan 14
OU 15
Louisville 22
LSU 8
Florida 1
fl. 23 osu 21

another late night

2006-12-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

so i just arrived at my apartment building at 2:10 am after hanging out at a students apartment. Leaving the building was a neighbor of mine, along with her boyfriend. They were dressed nice, so i assumed they were going to dance or something.. i asked where they were heading and they said they were going out to eat! ok, i know this is a late culture, but that is just insane! leaving to go out to eat at 2:10 am!!! what???? by the time they got to any place it would be 2:30 am, and at least 3 am before they got their food! craziness!!!
i think ive made it to bed more times this week after 3 am compared to the number of times before 3 am. i think ive aged more in the last 6 months that i have in the past 6 years.
c yall
sj

national holiday

2006-12-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

so today in argentina it is a holiday. It is dia del virgen, or virgin day. On this day, everyone around the country honors and prays to their favorite virgin "saint". It seems like each town has their special virgin, that you can pray to and what not. Obviously this is a very catholic holiday.
and yes, they decorate the malls here with all kinds of christmas decorations. including a big tree... however, i have yet to see a live "santa".
sj

La vida en Argentina

2006-11-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

so, I had a "typical" Argentine night the other night (by typical I mean the way the hours just go by).... here is how it went.....
went to church at 9 pm, the service was over at 10:30 pm. The young people all began talking, conversating. At 11:45 pm the church people finally wanted to close the building up, so we moved outside onto the sidewalk. At 12 midnight I got VERY hungry. At 12:30 I was getting impatient at the others for not deciding a place to eat, so I said Im not waiting much longer.. I let people know that they were more than welcome to come to my place and order a pizza or something... they said they wanted to go out to a place, and took a while longer to decide.... finally they decided to go to a place... we all got in the cars and made it to the place... it was 1:15 am by the time we got there. Because we were a big group, about 30 of us, they didnt have enough seating, so we had to kind of arrange various tables and what not... 1:30 am i finally got a seat. Now, the Argentine waiters do not work for tips, so the service is... slow... to say the least.
I finally got my order in around 1:50 am. My food came at 2:10 am. By the time we finished eating, and waited for the bill, it was 3 am. We left, but being that I was sooooo hungry.. I was not even near being full... We walked down to the ice cream shop and entered there at 3:30 am. By the time we got our ice cream and chatted some more, it was after 4 am. By the time I walked home and got to bed, it was 4:30 am!!! So the next time you wake up at 3 or 4 in the middle of the night.. just think, somewhere in the world, its very possible that I'm just getting to dessert!! laters

pick your poison

2006-11-15T06:19:00.000-08:00

so, the last 2 nights have had some compications...
there are 2 major complications.. 1 is heat, 2 is mosquitos.
It has been getting really hot here, and without A/C you definitely have to keep some ice cold beverages around. At night, it cools of a some, so in order to sleep at a decent temperature, you have to open up the windows for some ventilation. This only provides a way for mosquitos to come in and start their festering. So the option then becomes, try to sleep in heat, without the buzzing and biting of mosquitos, or sleep with a good breeze, but leaving your body exposed to the attacks of mosquitos... pick your poison...
here is a random video from my apartment of a hailstorm.. click on hailstorm below and enjoy!
hailstorm

Riot Police

2006-11-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

You have to get used to seeing some riot police every now and then in Argentina!

random news/info

2006-10-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

just some random updates:
we have consolidated our 2 bible studies into 1. we were meeting on thursdays and saturday afternoon.. but now i think we will just meet on saturday afternoon.
next weekend i will run in a race (they dont have many here, so id like to take advantage of the ones they offer)
and then in 2 weekends we have another 7 on 7 flag football tournament here in cordoba. a team from rosario will be coming, and in order to give them a chance to play 2 games, we are splitting our team in 2.
also, we are working on a tract/information about our church, so we can leave it with people that we talk to.
chau
scott

Will Washington Imitation

2006-10-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

well, Will put up a funny video on his "IDIOT" blog, so i am following his lead with this funny video:
Click on "Injured Bad" and enjoy!
Injured Bad
ps its hot in cordoba
sj

Natural Phenomenon Week

2006-10-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

So, this past week ive had some definite run-ins with mother nature...
I experienced an earthquake, 2 very harsh hail storms, an electrical lightning storm, and some other thing im not sure what it was but it made the sky red at night.
The earthquake was definitely a long way away from Cordoba, but it is not uncommon that Cordoba feels the effects of earthquakes in Chile, Bolivia, or Western Argentina. After looking at a log of all the earthquakes there are in the world.. there is actually a large number, few of these actually do damage. I was at my table writing and i felt my body swaying and i wanted to make sure i wasnt going crazy so i went to my balcony and then checked the hanging lamp shades, and they were swaying some... it lasted a while, about 1 minute. that was my first earthquake experience.. although 3 weeks ago, supposedly the same thing happened, but i didnt feel it, probably because i was on the ground level, and not in the 8th floor of my apartment building.
The hails storm were accompanied by a lot of rain, and the hail was about pea to grape size. it made a lot of noise on the roof. for one of the storms I was in a cabin and it had a tin roof so it was very loud. The lightning storm was before the hailstorm, on the same night.. we were watching some intense lightning for a few hours... it was wierd cuz there wasnt any thunder.. it was just quiet as could be, with the whole sky lighting up every 3 to 5 seconds. Between the lightning and the hail storm, we noticed that the sky was red in one part.. it was really freaky looking... i have no clue what that was.. troy duncan can u help me on that?
my only guess is that a lot of dust was being kicked up into the sky, and the dust, mixed with the light from the lightning, made a glowing red color.
chau yall
sj

McDonlads's Delivery! This is NOT a Joke!

2006-10-11T05:01:00.000-07:00

In my apartment buidling, the bottom floor is kind of like an entry-way and reception area, where the elevators are to go up to the apartments.. anyways, in this area there is a table and companies always come by with their flyers (normally its like supermarket stores with the weekly specials) I guess this is the Argentine version of junk mail. Anyways, as I got home the other day, I just had to grab this flyer and scan it in... because the flyer is for McDonald's delivery! For those of you who are non-Spanish speakers, the flyer says: Call to McDelivery. You can enjoy all of our products with the same flavor and quality, but in your office or home.

cooking a pizza in argentina

2006-10-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

the argentines like pizza and they are very tasty here. Probably the best pizza i have ever had in my life was a couple of weekends ago at the retreat, when cello cooked up some on the grill. Here is the typical way argentines prepare their pizza.
after buying a pre-packaged pizza dough/crust at the local supermarket:

step 1: cut up cheese and put on pizza

step 2: put ham lunch meat on pizza

step 3: cut up tomatoes and put on pizza

step 4: put pizza in oven, and pray u dont burn it!

step 5: enjoy the sweet goodness!

News and Pics

2006-09-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

well, we had our first retreat this past weekend. it was good except at night i thought i was gonna freeze. we have a friend named lichi (thats a nickname) who has a cabin in a nice place that is about 45 minutes outside of town. 8 of us, plus baby Coen, went there on saturday and sunday. We ate like kings, because one guy named cello (short for marcello) went to chef school. He prepared the best homeade pizzas on the planet. other than eating and hanging out by the fire, we did a lot of relaxing, with some nature walks mixed in.. and some singing and devotional time too.
in other news, my friend javier moved last night. He was in cordoba to find work in an english speaking call center, but he didnt get the job, so he moved back home, which is a town several hours away. we will definitely keep in touch via email and i hope to go visit him sometime. He was just starting to really grasp his nesesity for God and how God could help him.
here are some pics.

my friend javier who is moving away from cordoba

David working hard on the American style breakfast.. scrambled eggs with bacon!

what is a campout without fire?

Coen and Uncle Scott hanging out

the group on the campout

hi from Cordoba

2006-09-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

well, its been a week since my last post, so i better update it now. Please leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail (scottinargentina@gmail.com) if you have any suggestions for the content of this blog... more stories? more frequent posts? more serious stuff? more fotos? like Whataburger says.. i want this to be "just like u like it"
the other day i stiffed the taxi driver his money. i was late for school, so instead of walking the 1.18 miles i decided to jump in a taxi. well, we began chatting and everhything and i was late and wasnt thinking.. and i got out of the car... i turned around, realizing i hadnt paid the 3 argentine pesos, and the car was gone.. boy did i feel bad. i did give him my business card, and i was hoping hed contact me so i could pay, but so far he hasnt.
today i bought a sleeping bag for a campout... see yall
scott

Photos of my neighborhood!

2006-09-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

well, ive decided to give you a "photo tour" of some of the things that are within a 5 minute walk of my apartment. i could only post 5 pictures at a time, so there are 2 other pictures in a second post, below this one. We begin the tour in Sarmiento park. It is the biggest park in Cordoba, where people exercise, relax, and of course take some mate.

next, we have a bus stop right off of plaza espana. a lot of buses (called colectivos) carrying students stop here.

Here is one of Cordobas biggest palaces, which is now owned by the government.

Here is the american icon.. the golden arches of McDonald's!! this is 2 blocks from my house, and is on plaza espana. There are several other McDonald's in town.. i am guessing but i would say there are maybe 10 McDonald's here.

the last picture is a museum, which is also on plaza espana. behind the museum is the beginning of sarmiento park

a few more pics

2006-09-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

some girls playing baseball in p.e. class

an open field in sarmiento park

a very LONG night

2006-09-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

so this past weekend i had my first "job" with an argentine company. the company is called all in english. www.allinenglish.com.ar anyways, i had to teach kids english using the theme of the "old west". we taught them all kinds of stuff about cowboys and indians, growing crops, and we even built scarecrows and shelters. those were some of the fun parts.. the not-so-fun part was having to sleep with 19 11-13 year old boys in a bunk house..... well, i shouldnt use the word sleep because there wasnt much sleeping done by anyone.. these kids were off the wall with energy and they were fighting amongst each other.. and when a kid would go to sleep the others would put toothpaste all over their face. at about 4 am i was quite surprised by the silence that finally came.. after about 5 minutes, the silence was interrupted and all of a sudden i hear a kid going crazy, walking around and screaming. to be honest, at first i thought he was demon possessed by the way he was carrying himself and his loud screaming... he was flailing around and injuring his body on the walls, etc. we couldnt get him to wake up and he continued to make a scene, beating on all the beds and what not.... somehow we managed to figure out in his speech that he had to go to the bathroom so we turned on the light to the bathroom and he ran inside.. but 2 seconds later he ran out screaming and shouting that the comode had been stolen by someone.. so we told him that he had to open the door to the stall, that the toilet was there, and he ran in and to his surprise, the toilet was there... wow.. the whole time he was sleepwalking! that was a long night!
upcoming events: sept. 9th going to rosario for a football tournament
september 23-24 a spiritual camping retreat outside the city.
chau
sj

NO RAIN

2006-08-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

i dont have much for this week's post.. other than i was thinking the other day about how is hasnt rained here much... actually i was trying to remember the last time i heard thunder or saw rain..... and i couldnt remember the last time.. since i came in april i think it has rained one time really hard. they say summer here is dry and it sure is!
in 3 weeks is the 7 on 7 football tournament in Rosario.. our team name is the eagles and it is 7 on 7 flag football. somehow i was named starting quarterback, which isnt my strength, but hey, its fun....
chau.
sj

Update from Cordoba Argentina

2006-08-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

hey, i just want everyone to know that you should be getting a newsletter in the mail in the next few days. please read over it and know that you are a part of what is going on here. also, i would like you to visit our website, which has been updated with a video testimony as well as a new prayer guide. The website is one of the links on the right side of the page, or just type in www.commissioninternational.net
hope everyone is doing well!
scott j

Guys Domination of Sequence.... Continues!

2006-08-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

This is a great board game that we often play with friends here in Argentina. We are teaching it to more and more people, and we seem to always play girls versus guys. The one thing that also never changes is who wins. The guys have a dynasty going as we have won.. ohh... ive lost track how many times we have won in a row.. it is 10 times now in a row we have won and the girls have only won once!

on vacation

2006-08-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

well, i am offically back in the USA.. but only for 1 more hour.. im on vacation to cancun mexico for one week, and I had to go through Miami. Man, LAN chile airlines has some good grub. Last night on the plane for dinner I had some salmon with vegetables and mashed potatoes. Complete with a roll, side salad, piece of cake and candy. As if that isnt enough, they came around with wine too!
so, i will be in cancun for a week.. its kind of weird to think that I'm leaving home.. and that when i think of home i think of my apartment in Cordoba. I am in the same terminal as when i left in April, and I am glad that I am not toting right now all of my personal belongings. I will be working on a newsletter while in cancun, so those of you on my prayer list will be getting that in the mail soon.
ok, im really tired... i love you guys.
scott

how to wash your clothes by hand in 4 easy steps.. yeah right!

2006-07-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

step 1. put clothes in bathtub

step`2. wash/scrub

step 3. rinse

step 4. hang to dry

soccer game and guessing game answer

2006-07-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

so, the big winner for the guessing game competition was jennifer strange, although the competition wasnt very stiff as she submitted the only guess. last thursday the people came over to bible study at 8. we ate dinner from 11 to 12, then talked for another hour and a half... so they ended up leaving at 1:30 am. not too bad for Argentina.
Last night we got another chance to play 7 on 7 soccer. We had a good mix of people, including 1 brazilian and 1 swedish guy. 2 players got hurt, so we ended up playing 6 on 6. My team won 3 to 2 and i scored my first goal. On one corner kick, i kicked the ball and a guy headed it in to the net.. that to me was more fun than scoring the goal. We played from 11:15 to 12:30 am. I got to bed by 1:30 am. tonight (july 18th) we are celebrating kevins birthday at my place.. im expecting about 25 to 30 people but we will se who all shows up. Yesterday i had a 3 hour religious discussion with 2 catholic girls.. in the end our major points of disagreement were over relative truth. I hold to the belief that is something is true, than anything else that contradicts that truth cannot be true, but relative truth says that truth depends upon your point of view. here is a photo after the soccer game.

Youre invited to play the guessing game!!!!

2006-07-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

ok, so here is the challenge: we had a bible study at my apartment last night. the bible study was scheduled for 8 pm. Your goal is to guess what time the last person left my apartment that night. keep in mind that it was a thursday night, not a weekend night. tell me your guesses by clicking on the comment button and adding a comment. the closest one to the time wins!!
my friend shannon leaves today.. he has put up some pictures on his blog. you can go there easily because his blog is listed as one of my links.
chau!
scott j
ps, for all you who are dying of texas heat... its between 50 and 60 here!

team is working hard, bible studies planned

2006-07-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

this morning many of the team members were tired, they have been doing a lot of stuff, and staying up late. its been real cool to watch them form relationships with people and theve been a huge help. we have several people interested in bible studies.. we had a big meeting at my apartment and almost 30 people were there!!! that was crazy!!! after about a 2 hour descussion about christianity, many were intersted in joining a study of the purpose driven life. we hope to have one in english on thursday nights and one in spanish on tuesday nights, but it is still a little in the air. last week we got the opportunity to get away from the city for a day and we visited a really nice placed called la cumbrecita.. it was so beautiful. some argentines we have been talking to invited us over for an asado, which is like a barbecue.. i really want to talk about that. my friend david fulfer describes the asado in a really good way on his blog, so i am going to steal his words.. here is what he wrote: "Do you know how long an Argentine asado takes? If you arrive at 10pm expecting the meat to be already on the grill, then you do not understand the culture. If you are told that the meat will only take one hour to cook, then you do not understand the art of asado. Last night, we began to eat at 1am. Thankfully Kristen and I decided earlier that I would go with the team without her and Coen, while they hung out with Gabi. Now, if you think that beginning to eat at 1 am means that you will be done definitely by 2am, then you have forgotten that an asado is more than just a steak or some chicken on the barbi... First comes the blood sausage, then the chorizo (regular sausage), then you get some ribs, and then some brisqet. Just when you think you can't eat anymore, the backstrap and pork comes off the grill, followed by the kidneys and intestines. If you are feeling really queasy, it is not as bad as it sounds. When I looked at the clock on the wall it was 3:30... but sitting where you are it probably seems like a really long time to eat an asado, but then you have forgotten about the time warp in this great country, where people celebrate new found friendships over a dead cow, and a watch is just big honkin' piece of jewelry."

the team, shannon arrives, and world cup

2006-07-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

chau argentina from the world cup. they outplayed germany but couldnt pull through with the win. my good friend shannon just arrived and its exciting to see a familiar face. he will be staying with me here in my apt. our team is doing good.. they are really taking advantage of relationships they have formed and its cool to see them outreach to people in the neighborhood. the last 2 nights, 2 girls have cried as team members were reading them the bible. one was named pamela and the other ivanna. pray that god will keep working on their hearts. there are also a group of guys that invited us to play soccer and it was fun. we are supposed to play again tonight at midnight. ok, gotta go
sj

do you think i can wash my clothes by hand?

2006-06-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

its 1 am and im tired but i figured i needed to give an update..
first, our team of 10 is here now. they are really kewl and ive enjoyed hanging out with them. Its amazing to see them go out and meet people. they have specific times where they go out and share the gospel, but they also have lots of free time, which they have used to meet people casually on the streets, in parks, or wherever else students hang out. Also half of them are taking spanish classes 3 hours a day monday thru friday. i just walked back from their hotel, where they cooked dinner and invited some argetines they met to eat with them.. who knows how long they will stay up tonight. Wednesday night we are supposed to meet some people at midnight to play soccer.. guess it will be a late night match.
in the meantime, i continue to get more settled into my apartment. Today i bought kitchen stuff like plates, bowls, utensils, etc. and i bought a buch of stuff for my bedroom and bathroom like sheets, a comforter, towels, etc. oh yeah i bought some curtains too. its hard to shop because i dont know where all the places are and.... well.... its hard to describe but its just harder to shop here. Today i brought 2 girls from the team along with me to shop to give me some good taste suggestions.
i bought a big sofa and it is real nice, but its kind of real big and taking up more space than i wanted it to.. well see how it all comes together. A friend of mine washes her clothes by hand and she showed me how to do it and gave me a challenge to do it too.. i will try it out.. should be intersting.
i think im gonna give my address and phone number out officially on the next post or so, but ill at least give my address now in case you are really dying to send me something.
Chile 242 #8C
Barrio Nueva Cordoba
C.P. 5000
Cordoba, Argentina, south america
chau
scott

Las hinchas dicen AGUANTE ARGENTINA

2006-06-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

some pics of argentina fans
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world cup and business

2006-06-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

last week when the argentine team won, everyone went ape crazy.. ive got some pics of the celebration that i want to post. im becoming a real argentine fan.. its fun... ive been extremely busy.. our team of 10 comes in tomorrow....and argentina plays tomorrow too!!!!
when the team plays, all the business shut down and everyone watches.
sj

My Apartment

2006-06-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got an apartment!!! that is soooooo relieving to know that i dont have to walk 500 blocks a day trying to find an apartment.. ok, the 500 blocks is exagerating a bit... but ive spent hours upon hours walking up and down streets with wierd names like ituzaingo, obispo oro, derqui, chacabuco, etc. ive got nueva cordoba just about memorized ive walked so much. my apartment is what they call a duplex.. here a duplex means the living and kitchen are downstairs and the bedroom is upstairs. it is on the 8th floor and i have 2 balconies, 1 on the 8th floor and one on the 9th. The apartments here are Seinfeld style.. in the sense that when u have visitors you "buzz" them up. I cant wait to have people over and say "come on up"
Now i have the daunting task ahead of me to buy furniture, and to somehow figure out the system as to how to get the electricity and gas to come on. they use natural gas here to heat the water, heat the apartment, etc. The apartment does not have Air conditioning and it doesnt come with a fridge.. so i gotta get one of those... im trying to get a used one today... new ones are like 400 bucks.. which is expensive when ur a missionary.
i want to try to save as much as possible so i can make the living room a comfortable place for people to come and hang out..
chau
scott

world cup, apartments, mavs

2006-06-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

things are good here in argentina...
i have put a deposit down on another apartment, hopefully the contract will be signed monday.. its not quite as great as some of the other ones, but it is definitely good and im pleased with it if i get it. it is a 2 story apartment, with a living, kitchen and bath downstairs and a bedroom and bath upstairs. it has a pretty good view from the 8th and 9th floors and is about 250 dollars per month. the fulfers are still in an apartment hotel and they are eager to get some space and their own place. coen has been sick the past couple of days but i think hes getting better.
people all over the place are starting to get really fired up for the world cup. there is blue and white all over the place.. im trying to figure out where i want to watch the game.. ive got several options. argentina plays on sat. the 10th. ill be rooting for the usa too and hope to see some of their games.
we are also trying to get ready (when there is time) for the team coming down in a couple of weeks. apartment hunting is hard here and it takes a lot of time... i think weve spent about 4 hours a day walking around from apartment to apartment.
hmmm.. ohh ive notices here that ive begun to like things that i didnt like in the states..
i now like eating tomatoes, olives, and plain soda water.. and coffee and tea too!
scott j
GO MAVS

tough times

2006-06-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

We are having difficulties getting an apartment.. well at least i am.. the fulfers are also in the process of getting something and i hope that they can get something soon.. i went to sign the contract for my apartment and for some reason they wanted to back charge me since i first put a deposit on it and i said that i shouldnt have to pay for days that i didnt have the key.. they said i was wrong.. i got some other people from argentina to come and they also sided with me, but they wouldnt budge...
i didnt want to live in a place where they didnt treat people fairly..
my friend chris hilgeman is here visiting a few days, and ive been hanging out with the fulfers, so that has been fun..
my last day of spanish class is tomorrow, so that is good.. i have a test to see what level i am at..
i really need an apartment soon but that is not looking very likely..
i feel really tired of not having my own place, tired of arguing with people about what is fair, and tired of many things.. but i have some wierd peace from God...
thanks for your prayers.
muchos besos a todos mis queridos hermanos en cristo.
chau
scott

held up at gunpoint

2006-05-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

someone better check my parents to make sure they didnt have a heart attack after reading this.. but, last night, about 12 hours ago i had a pistol pointing straight at my chest from about 8 feet away. we were leaving from david fulfers apartment and david fulfer and his family were still inside. Me, david buckenmyer,and his girlfriend were standing right out the door ready to get in the car when 2 men appeared all of a sudden, one with a gun.. i couldnt tell what they were saying, but i did hear one thing clear.. "voy a matarte" meaning that he as gonna kill us. first he pointed it at buckenmyer, who was closer to him than me.. when u have a gun pointed at u, u ever know how u are gonna react. i kinda froze and went into a thinking mode.. when he pointed the gun at me i started thinking faster.. how am i gonna solve this situation?? i dont like that he is pointing it at me.. and the thought crossed my mind to be prepared feel something intense and see blood go everywhere. but it never crossed my mind reach into my pocket for my wallet. once again he pointed at buckenmyer and buckenmyer could sense fear in his eyes, so he took a step TOWARDS the guy with the gun.. the guy with the gun stepped back, behind the car... stopped.. and spoke again.. then after a second or 2 they took off running. that was intense. in the car david fulfer prayed for them... i didnt feel like praying for them.. i felt like pounding them... we had a nice dinner though, with 3 non-believers and we built some friendships with them. after dinner, on the way back to fulfers place, julieta, buckenmyers girlfriend, hit a guy with her car.. but not too hard.. he fell and we took him to the hospital.. he was really old but turned out to be all right. i got home at 1 am and tried to sleep but it was hard..
ill add more later
sj

freaky taxi ride

2006-05-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

so i took a taxi home the other day... im getting more and more comfortable with taking the public busses, and am learning more about what lines go where... that is good because its a lot cheaper than taxis, although compared to the us, the taxis here arent too bad.. 2 to 3 dollars can get you anywhere. so i handed the guy a 50 peso bill.. and he didnt have change.. so he got out of the taxi and walked to the store on the corner to ask for change.. the only thing is that he left the car in neutral and didnt put on the parking brake on.. so here i am sitting in the back and the car starts rolling forward, just a little bit at first.. i wasnt too concerned.. but then it started picking up steam and i started getting concerned becuase the hill was getting steeper.. i didnt know whether to hop into the front seat or yell at the driver.. i chose to yell at the driver.. he quickly ran over and hopped into the car and stopped it... that was crazy... life in argentina is always crazy!
ok, gotta go.. im speaking to the youth group in a few minutes..
BY THE WAY: DAVID BUCKENMYER AND DAVID FULFER, WITH HIS FAMILY ARE HERE!!! THATS GREAT!

ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

2006-05-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

this is gonna be long but it should be worth reading.. i hope...
hilary duff is coming in concert and im pumped to go.. yall know i am an in the closet lizzie mcguire (show starring hilary duff)fan right?.... ok, im just kidding.. about going to the concert, but not about being a lizzie mcguire fan
anyone want to go furniture shopping? why would i ask that??? well, because ive found an apartment and hopefully i will be getting the keys this friday! yay! its on the 7th floor and has a balcony overlooking a park. they have to check some paperwork on me, but i dont forsee any problems. I prayed a lot that God would show me the right apt. and i was having sooooo much trouble deciding.. but things fell into place for this one and im at peace with it. i have to get the lights turned on and the gas turned on and then get furniture.. so me actually moving into it will take a while but at least its mine!! i can officially have visitors now too.. so anyone who wants to... come on down!!!!
im really pumped too about david buckenmyer coming friday and then david fulfer comes saturday. also on saturday i have the opportunity of speaking to the youth group at church!
right now i feel like my writing is in a teenagers style, so i guess they are wearing off on me...
ok, also the coolest thing happened today.... i got to spend time with this guy jorge.. he was saved last summer and is living a tough life.. he has never had a dad, works as a janitor, lives in a very humble house way away from town.. but he came to my house today to hang out for a while.. we talked for a long time about his life and how he wants to quit smoking and all kinds of stuff.. its hard for me to know what to say to him, but i prayed before hand that god would take myself away from me, and i feel thats what he did.. he gave me words of encouragement and the strength to meet with him.. his personality is hard to talk to, and we dont know each other well, but im glad that god has used me. its seems like most of the time when god uses me i have to sacrifice something, whether it be time, money, comfort, whatever... but he longs to use us and i hope he uses me more.
i was thinking back on these last 6 weeks... and in all honesty they have been really difficult.. but at the same time they have been easy.. its kinda like running a marathon.. its insane to run that far, and it is a very hard feat to accomplish... but if you train for it really well, when you are running the marathon you are thinking to yourself.. man this is really hard, but thanks to my training, im able to withstand all the obstacles.... ive felt the same here.. ive gone days feeling alone, days of sickness, days when i wake up and the shower water is cold and i just skip my shower for the day.... but because God has been with me and because of the prayers of faithful friends.... i feel like it hasnt been that hard.. but i feel like it should be a lot harder than it has.. im not sure if that makes sense....
im gonna keep on walking by faith.... join me in influencing the world!

blah blah blah

2006-05-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

ok this is my first entry that i dont have anything specific in mind to talk about. lets see.... the weather here has been really good.. 50 at night and about 70 during the day. my spanish classes are going well... we had to write about someone famous so i wrote about martin luther king. the other girl in the class wrote about kurt cobain. its cool that there are only 2 of us in the class. i found a really great apartment that i really wanted but it got rented out before i could get in all the paperwork.. that was a bummer. im thinking of signing up to take a course at the university called the psychology of personal training. it meets only on mondays for a bit in the afternoon so i figured that might be good... im gonna go to the university and check on it this afternoon. last night we went out to eat to celebrate the birthday of damaris. this friday i am going to another birthday party.. vanessa oliva is turning 22. i need to go to malvinas to check in on jorge too.. i need to contact him again and discuss where he is at and if hed like to meet with me regularly or not. sorry to be boring.. im hoping to learn to post videos soon, so be prepared for that. scott

For Will-baby

2006-05-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

hope this rocks your world

im in school now

2006-05-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

i was going to title my next blog entry "cold". the reason is that the house im staying at is cold. it is some natural phenomenon or something that cant be explained as to why it is so cold but its cold. im always piling up all the blankets at night and its hard to get out of bed. oh well, ill get used to it.
ok, about school. i started classes today at the university. i got on the bus ok early in the morning. i only had to pay ONCE this time. yesterday, i got on the bus.. it was only like my 2nd time on the bus, and u hand the driver these special coins called cospeles. 1 token costs 40 cents. then when u give the driver the token a register prints out a small ticket.... i figured what the heck is the ticket good for.. then all of a sudden a guy wearing offical looking clothes begins to check everyones ticket. i managed to crumple up my ticket and put it somewhere in my backpack. i couldnt find it. he asked me for it and i tried to tell him i didnt have it and then he went away. i thought i was in the clear. then after he finished checking the entire bus he came back to me and asked for it again and it was an embarrasing scene, as i could not find it. some lady behind me said "hey theres ur ticket on the ground" (only she said it in spanish) so i thought i was saved and gave it to him. it turns out that was from some other time or something and it didnt work.. he proceeded to give me a lecture about the ticket so i just pulled out another cospel token and paid again, got my ticket and handed it to him. i was kinda frustrated. anyways, today was the first day i took the bus into town and back. normally i take a taxi which costs about 2 dollars. but now i can save money with the local bus, plus it is more exciting as all kinds of students and people use the bus. oh yeah, in my spanish class there is only 1 other person.. an 18 year old girl from the netherlands who is studying economics here.. i dont see how she came here knowing NO spanish at all.. that is crazy! but now she talks as good as me cuz she has been here 3 months. when i first saw her i thought she was from texas cuz she had on brown boots and jeans and just looked like a typical person from the us.
today there was no homework, but we will have homework in the future.
its good to be on a schedule.
chao
ps will washington my next post is solely for you. if i can ever get this blog to come to life again!

pictures

2006-05-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

here are some more pictures.. the first was taken from my roof, looking towards downtown.. the second is a street downtown.. and the rest are with the youth at the superpark.

What a weekend!

2006-05-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

yeah it was a great weekend here in Cordoba. Friday night was my birthday.. well, i guess the whole day was my birthday but we celebrated friday night.. i invited about 10 people over for pizza. we ate, hung out and laughed... oh, and had some ice cream cake too. i finally got some good sleep... last week there were 2 days i got bad sleep.. one due to ravaging mosquitos... the other due to a loud radio.
ok, on saturday night i went with the youth group at rincon church to the super park. that is actually what it is called. super park. now it is nothing like 6 flags or the texas state fair midway.. but it was really fun. the kids at the church are really funny. they had a few good rides to do in groups. one was the hammer.. which spins you up and down and eventually u do a big loop and go upside down. they had some bumper cars, but they were kinda weak. they most exciting ride was the MAMBO. the Mambo looked pretty simple, yet it was a blast. ill post a picture of it later when i can, cuz its hard to describe. but it had some cool lighting effects and played music by 50 cent so that made it all the better. after the mambo one girl was given a new nickname.. la bandera.. which means the flag. maybe you can get the picture how she got that nickname.. she was holding on for dear life while her body was flailing around like a flag. when we got bak to the church at 10:30 all the kids wanted me to go eat with them so i went and got some pizza (2nd night in a row). i stayed there and talked with them and some other young adults from the chruch for a long time. on sunday after church we made some pizza at home (3rd straight night of pizza). and watched a movie we rented. monday was a holiday here, kinda like labor day.. so we got in the car and headed towards the mountains. it was some good scenery. we had a big cookout. on monday night we ate something called locro. i almost threw up eating it. i kept downing coke to help it digest and go down. locro is a soup with cow stomach, intestines, pigs feet and corn. it was tough to put down for sure.
ok before i go.. here are some random argentina wacky things:
seeing horses with carts being driven through the main avenues..
squeegying off the bathroom floor every day after a shower.
there are others but i cant think of them now... i gotta go get a new cell phone i managed to lose mine allready
i got pictures of the mambo to come soon!!
chao
sj

lots of stuff!!!

2006-04-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

ok, sorry to be long-winded but I feel like i have a lot to write about so this may be long.. ill try to keep it interesting.
1- when looking for medicine for diarreah no one likes to go into the store and say "hey what can you give me for diarreah" eventually after about 4 or 5 days of intestinal problems i caved in and went to the local farmacia. of course i said i needed something for "stomach ache and diarreah". she told me she had one medicine for each of those symptoms, so i pretty much was forced to ask for diarreah medicine. boy was it good though.. i felt like drinking the whole bottle, i could feel my body accepting it.. since then ive been fine.

2- i have some random "wierd" or maybe better put, differences, about living here that I want to jot down real quick- 1.the stars are all different, or aligned differently 2. its fall here.. its weird to see the trees changing color and falling off 3. everyone kisses on the cheek when greeting each other.. yes, even guys greeting guys.

3. last night before i got in the shower the people i am staying with told me there was a slight electrical problem and that electricity was running through the walls, and that when taking a shower i should be careful not to touch any metal and be sure to shower in my flip flops or i would get shocked... that is just the news you want to hear, especially when u think of the fact that here they use 220 volts instead of 110.

4.i went to malvinas, which is about 20 minutes outside of town to go meet jorge and some other people. first i went to a house with 3 kids that i met last year. their names are kevin, german and evelin. i tought them to throw the frisbee and it was kewl cuz they remembered me from last year. i left the frisbee with them and told them to practice till i come back. then i went to jorge´s house. jorge was saved last june and i had heard he was not going to church so i wanted to see him. he was home this time and i spoke with him briefly.. i didnt have too much time but i wanted to encourage him and i told him that i wanted to meet with him further. i dont want to force him to meet with me, yet at the same time i want to make myself available for him.. i gave him my number, so hopefully he will contact me. if he doesnt, i will go visit him again maybe in 2 weeks. i showed him a book, called no wonder they call him savior, and i said he could have it on the condition that he would read it, and he did take it so i hope he reads it. the problem is that the church where he lives is very small and there really isnt anyone his age so he really has a hard time wanting to go there. he works as a janitor at a nice theater, or a place where they have orchestra and plays. please pray for him.. i challenged him briefly about the fact that the world tells us to live one way, but as Christians we should not listen to the world.. but, if he is living on his own, with no one to help him, then it would be tough to not allow the world to influence him.... when i was saying this he began to tear up some, i think it hit home.... it was crazy cuz i felt like i wasnt even thinking about what to say, god was just telling me what he needed to hear....

5. 10k race. i did a 10k race on sunday morning. it was a great day to run. there was about 500 runners i think. it was absolutely crazy cuz right after i checked in i looked around and i saw what was definitely 2 girls from the united sates sitting on a bench. they were students from clemson, wich is about 20 miles away from the headquarters of commission international. another girl also joined them. it was kewl to meet people from the US. they encouraged me bucause they said they had noticed a HUGE need here among the university students. they were all different religions but said they were having big trouble finding a church to go to. i invited them to come to rincon church, the church i am going to right now in the neigborhood i am staying in. i hope they come sometime.. who knows, maybe God will use me as a missionary to united states people here. i dont really have a way to contact them though, but they did tell me where they run everyday so maybe i can join them. also, i met a guy who wanted to run with me sometime.. i also hope he contacts me.. i would have gotten his number so i can contact him, but i didnt have a pen or my phone. he has my e-mail though in his cell phone.

6. apartments.. im kind of in a "holding pattern" right now... im kind of geting ancy to move.. as i feel i am wearing out my welcome with the people i am staying with, although they want me to stay for another month. also though, even if i do find an apartment i need a propriedad, which is someone that has property to vouch for me... there is one guy who is going to help us with this, the only thing is he wants to wait until david fulfer comes at the end of may... the thing is that the people dont know me real well, so i cant just go to someone and ask them to do that for me.

howdy

2006-04-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

hey everyone. i realized that on my post titled good friday, i made a mistake on my address.. i left out the city.. cordoba.. it goes before argentina.. i fixed it so if u want to see the whole address go to the good friday post... again this is a TEMPORARY address.
im running a 10k race this weekend.. i dont know if running down here is big or not, so it should be interesting. i hope to at least meet some people who might have the same interest.
prayer requests:
1.ive had stomach and digestion problems on and off for about 4 days now so i hope that gets better..
2. ive been trying to contact this guy jorge that i met last year but so far have yet to get ahold of him.. i hope to do some kind of discipleship with him.
3. apartments.. they are saying in order to rent a place i need to have a collateral gaurantee.. you have to have someone that owns a house vouch for you.. most people use someone in their family, obviously i dont have family that owns property in argentina... it will work out one way or another i hope.
chao
scott

pictures

2006-04-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

here are some pics... in case you are wondering.. i have been hanging out with guys too, but guys never want to take pictures...
me and stefi at park sarmiento

me, maria elena, and natalia (nati for short)

maria elena and nati

the house i am staying at

my room!

the kitchen!

lamb kidneys???!!!!!

2006-04-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

so this past saturday i had a very typical argentine day.
i got up and had some tea with bread for breakfast. then i went to julieta barros house for lunch. when someone invites you for lunch it is LUNCH. julie is a girl at the rincon church who is 27, and she has a 19 yr old sister named stefani and a brother named douglas who is 16. they all live together and it was a fun time. they cooked chicken and potatos. then we feasted on some ice cream. the ice cream here is really good. it took about 2 hours or more for lunch.. they talk at the table eating for a long time. then we decided to go to the park. we took our mate (pronounced ma-tay) which is green tea which is drunk from a special container. we relaxed in the park and i taught stefi and julieta how to throw a frisbee... it was a good time. then we went home (on the way home we listened to the 2 local soccer teams that were playing each other that day, talleres verses belgrano), got ready for church and had a good church service. after church they invited me back to their place for dinner. the father had cooked up a whole lamb, along with some potato salad. the lamb ribs were good. he put a round piece of meat on my plate and i tried it... i probably would have to cuss to say how aweful it tasted.. it was like eating trash.. it turned out that it was the kidney! that is one thing i hope to never taste again. then after the meat and potatos there was some ice cream. then after the ice cream there was coffee. by then it was midnight and time to go home. oh yeah! that reminds me of one more thing... when julie stopped to fill up, she explained to me that she can use gas or natural gas, so because natural gas was cheaper she bought that... they stuck this hose into the front of the car and filled it up.. that was so crazy.. she has a switch on the car so she can switch between regular gas and natural gas... CRAZY!
chao
scott
ps would any girls in the US listen to soccer on the AM dial?????

good friday

2006-04-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

well, its easter weekend here in argentina.. and all over the world for that matter.
man, i could really write a lot right now... ill just write a few things that come to mind..
first, i got a cell phone here.. i converted my US cell phone to work here. in order for it to work you have to buy these phone cards and charge your phone with minutes by pressing in a pin number...
from the us i could never figure out how to call a cell phone here.. you are welcome to give it a try...
you would have to dial 011 54 351 614 6539 my actual cell phone number is 156146539 its complicated because there is a country code.. i think for argentina it is 54 and then there is a cordoba city code which is 3514 or something
running.. i have run a couple of times.. it is hard cuz the streets are all busy and the sidewalks are pretty messed up. you have to constantly watch out for cars.
oh yeah, that brings me to the streets... its hard to get around.. mainly cuz i have no idea where i am.. i am usually decent with directions but i am always getting turned around. a few reasons why its crazy.. 1, the street names can change suddenly, 2, the streets in some neghborhoods run east-west and north-south but in others they run northeast-southwest and vice versa... 3 the blocks are pretty short so they have tons of streets to memorize..
i had a decent religious discussion with a couple of girls that were at the shop where i got my cell phone... i had to go into the store like 3 times in 2 days cuz of different things i needed to do before i could get it activated, so i spent a while in there and of course they were wondering what i was doing there.. they were both college students.. one was an athiest and one believed in god but didnt have any specific beliefs about her god... they both said there are many atheists in the area and they said that the priests were bad.. i dont know what they meant by bad.
we talked about religion for a while.. i didnt feel lead to like witness to them, just to share about my faith and what kind of lives they lived.. i think i will go back and drop off the case for christ in spanish or maybe more than a carpenter.. i need to find these books in spanish.
eating.. the food isnt the healthiest but it is good.. i am eating a lot of empanadas.. which are like meat pies and also a lot of pizza... ive eaten pizza 3 times allready.
a cold front came through.. it is wierd because the cold fronts come from the south.. and the temperature is in centegrade. so getting used to weather forcasts is funny.
i cant wait till my north american friends get here.. at least i will be able to share in the same struggle with them as being in a whole new place and culture.
next week i will look for an apartment, then i will have an address for people to write to me.. if you really want to send something.. you can send it to my TEMPORARY address. scott jackson, 568 mejico, barrio general paz, c.p. 5000, Cordoba Argentina (after each comma would be a new line)
or if you really need to call you can call the number of the house i am staying at.
it is 011 54 3514 4524539
if you go to www.callingcards.com you can buy a calling card to call argentina for about 3 to 5 cents per minute.
chao
un beso
scott

a week of firsts!!!

2006-04-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

i want to send out a quick update on my first few days here in Argentina. After 3 flights i made it smoothly to Cordoba. I gathered all my things, made it through customs.... then i didnt see anyone i knew at the airport.. i was bombarded by taxi drivers, who obviously knew that i was looking pretty lost with no ride. My friends did eventually show up, they slept in!!! They made it up to me quickly by cooking me some nice food. The food here is really good. they eat a lot of beef and italian food. so far lunch has been typically at 2 to 3 and dinner is like at 11 at night. in the morning and late afternoon there is time for a quick bread and tea or coffee. last night i tried to play a smaller version of soccer that is played on a basketball court.. lets just say there is room for improvement. it kinda feels like i am on a vacation, cuz my schedule is all thrown off and i am staying with a couple and there is a lot of exploring to do. the couple i am staying with have a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment and they left this morning for a 2 week vacation so i will be staying there myself. My "street" spanish lessons are going good. i am learning more and more... i would learn faster if english was not used so much here... they listen to american music and like to practice english, so my brain is constantly going back and forth.. it would be better if i was under constant spanish. lets see.. i have found that i have to find a balance when it comes to missing everything and everyone in the US.
if i think about it too much then i will feel bad and sad, but i also dont want to just forget it all together. The people here are awesome. i cant wait till david fulfer comes in late may. right now for me is just getting plugged into culture.. but i know the work will begin soon for outreach. lets see.. the weather is awesome here.. 60 at night and 80 and sunny during the day. in may it will begin to get colder. if you have any questions about any other details let me know.. my abilty to get on the net right now is hit or miss... but hopefully in due time i will be able to update this regularly. chao, un brazo. (that means bye, and a hug.. that is how they end conversations here)
sj
ps i shaved my beard off yesterday.

a week of "lasts"

2006-04-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

not that I am leaving forever, or will never see my friends here in Dallas, but this past week I have had some "lasts".. like my last meeting with the 9th grade guys on tuesday night. My last run at White Rock Lake with one of my best friends, Shannon Neffendorf, my last American meals, etc.

picture from june, 2005

2006-03-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

here are some of my argentina friends

new blog about my argentina adventures

2006-03-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

maybe i will do a better job keeping this blog up to date... or at least i will try to post some stuff here that might be worth reading! PS-im leaving for Argentina April 7th.