Warm Weather

We are having very warm weather and high humidity!  Everyone in the United States right now has been talking about Fall and the leaves changes with the weather.  Since Argentina is in the southern hemisphere, we are experiencing Spring.  Today was 102 degrees (F) with 90% humidity.  So, how do you cool down without an air conditioner?  You play in a river, of course.  In our case, we have two rivers that run right through the middle of our city: Río Grande and Río Xibi Xibi.  The Río Grande comes from up north and is quite full of churned earth (similar to the Mississippi River), but the Río Xibi Xibi flows from the mountains through mostly rocks (so it's more clear).

Packages

On Wednesday, we received notice that a package had been received in the post office for us.  We could not retrieve it the same day because the part of the post office that we needed was already closed.  So, on Thursday, we went down to the post office in the morning expecting to wait in line, pay our fee, and receive our package.  The post office had changed locations since the last we had visited (a year ago).  When we got there, we found that we had to ask for an appointment, or "turn," at customs (aduana).  There were no "turns" left for the day, so we received an opportunity to return the next day.  Thus on Friday, we returned to pay our fee at the post office (for them holding the box and sending a notification that it was there) only to find out that customs is no longer at the post office, but three blocks away in its own separate building.  At the aduana (customs), we waited for around an hour (thankfully we were number 2 on the list of appointments)... they were working on the computers and moving furniture. So, after 3 days and a lot of waiting, we finally received a care package that had the items we wanted to make Thanksgiving easier to share with the people around us (we are expecting 16 people this year), as well as a little candy from the states.

Prayer Walks & Drives

 This week we were praying for the neighborhood of "Ciudad de Nieva".  We walked around the neighborhood praying one day and took a bus (since our car is in the shop) around the neighborhood another day.  We thought we would share a few photos from those two days.
  The bus we chose only comes to the bus stop every 30 minutes or so.  The bus route was larger than we thought.  We waited for 20 minutes in the shade, but since it was 102 degrees out and near 100% humidity, the kids were uncomfortable.  

 We found the other staircase up the hill.  It has less steps, but a greater distance than the staircase that goes straight up the hill.  (You can see Jonny and Nate climbing the hill together).
  All around town are chalkboards that have "Tombola" written on them with a bunch of numbers.  There was one hanging outside of a small store near our bus stop.  Tombola is like the lottery here.  

We always find interesting things on our walks (although usually not on camera).  We found this snail... the kids wanted to not only watch him, but to pray for his safety.  Later, we also found a snail in our backyard, which they named Dashy. 

Life returning to Argentina

We have returned to NW Argentina.  After finding a new house to rent, we have started exploring our new neighborhood (barrio).  There are many one way streets that are not labeled very clearly (usually with a small arrow on the side of the building/house on the corner).  There are often no street signs at all.  Here are just a couple of streets near our house - no street names, only arrows.

We are living on a hill in our capital city of San Salvador de Jujuy.  We have 3 roads that travel down the hill, but there is also one stairway down the hill.  It has 108 stairs, which isn't that bad on the way down the hill... just on the way back up!  Also, when we have a rain storm, it's a great waterway.

We live near a plaza named the Plaza H. Yrigoyen.  He was a president of Argentina two different times during the 1920's.  As I understand it, his full name was  Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen Alem.   He was considered the "father of the poor" and was a teacher before becoming President.

September 2014 Update

We are excited to share with you our most recent newsletter!  You can follow the link below over to our website to view the pdf.  CLICK HERE

Please let us know if you would like to be added to our newsletter email list or physical address list.  You can email us at schneidernewsletters @gmail.com .