Argentina Trip

Argentina and Chile February 2007

On our way to meet and travel with Kyle at the end of his mission, we flew into Santiago, Chile for a couple days. The flights to South America are overnight, and for some reason seem worse than going east-west to Europe or Asia. We had a great hotel in Santiago, the Park Plaza, small and in a nice area with a pool on the roof and a great breakfast. We took the subway into downtown Santiago, saw the government palace, main square, cathedral, main market, and rode the funicular up a hill to the Virgin Mary statue overlooking the city. The taxi from the airport might have cost us more, but the guy could see I was thinking about the price, and he changed it quickly when I questioned it.

You might expect some wild travel experiences in South America, but I had told myself that these are modern countries, and that there would be no anomalies, and I would not be a paranoid American. However, some interesting things happened when we got to Rosario, Argentina. My suitcase had gone missing on the flight, for starters. We had a reservation with Advantage Car Rental, and our online rental agreement stated there was a rental agency in the Rosario airport terminal. On asking around, no one had ever heard of Advantage Car Rental. There were three other car rental desks, only one open, Budget. A nice man there said that if Advantage was associated with Payless Car rental in the next booth, they only showed up about once a month. He was nice enough to call the Buenos Aires Advantage office for us. They said that unfortunately, our car "had been in an accident." I asked them what we should do, and was asked "can you come to Buenos Aires?" Buenos Aires is 5 hours away from Rosario. Luckily, the nice Budget man had a little Renault for us to rent. But, judging by the amount of time he spent explaining the different crash deductible options, and documenting the nicks and dents already on the car, it was obvious that he fully expected us to get in an accident. But, he told us he really didn't think we would roll it over, so we went with a medium insurance plan.
The countryside looks like Iowa in late August, warm, humid, flat and fertile. We stopped at the equivalent of an Argentine Costco, and noted that, in order, the largest departments are meat, alcohol, and, believe it or not, there were two full aisles devoted to different brands and types of mayonnaise, which, like many other things like drinks and yogurt, comes in plastic bags.. Driving Argentina was quite an exhilarating experience. Most intersections are unmarked, with no right-of way rules. Kyle explained that momentum pretty much has right of way. So, you can get in a swarm of cars travelling fast, or get near a bus travelling slower. Nearly all of the drivers are males between 18 and 50. There are lane markers, but only by way of suggestion. Driving between lanes is a good way to keep your options open. Most city streets are one way. Near the center of a city, there are small arrow signs by street signs. A few bocks from the city center, they most times have small blue arrows painted on corner houses, stores or wall fences. A little further out, they many times don't have any indication as to street direction, and you have to look at which way cars are parked to determine direction. Though missionaries typically are not allowed to drive in Argentina, Kyle explained that while driving in America you can basically turn your brain off, but driving in Argentina requires your full attention all the time. I actually found it quite exhilarating. We got places faster and didn't have to stop as much.

We checked into a downtown hotel, called the mission home, and found out that there had been a misunderstanding, and Kyle had been waiting for us since the previous day. We got directions to the mission home and drove out to meet him. It wasn't easy to find, but we did, and were reunited with Kyle, amidst much tears and many hugs. We met President Hutchinson and his wife, and took Kyle back to the hotel. The next day was spent trying to get our ATM and credit cards to work, waiting for the lost bag (which did show up, thankfully, but was missing $80), and visiting people.

The next five days we drove around the mission, stayed in variously interesting hotels, and mainly looked up and visited people Kyle had taught or worked with, which was a truly wonderful experience. The way to announce your visit is to stand outside the fence and clap you hands until someone notices you and invites you in. Branch presidents hugged Kyle at length, people cried over seeing him, and little kids gave him presents. We really saw first-hand the love he has for the people, and they for him. Kyle had authored a poem in Spanish about his missionary experiences, and we had brought copies in nice envelopes. So, he handed those out and we watched as he conversed in Spanish, and interpreted for us every so often. When you greet people in Argentina, they do the air-kiss on one cheek thing (all but man-man). Argentines usually have a siesta from about 1 to 4 in the afternoon, so they are up late in the cool evening, and we could see people until about 10:30 at night. We visited about 5-7 families each day in five towns, Ramallo, Parana, La Paz, Rosario, and Santa Fe, some pretty average financially, and some in more humble dwellings.

After a large rain storm in la Paz, Kyle wanted to find an old man who lived in a tent. We drove down a dirt road and got stuck in some very slippery mud (the kind where when you walk on it, it builds up to about an inch thick, and you have the sensation of getting taller as you walk). All the neighborhood kids came out to watch the spectacle as we spun the tires, mud flew up and over the car, and Kyle got covered in mud trying to push the car out. We finally gave up and Kyle went in search of help. He found three young men, and we were able to get the car back to safe ground. We paid them well for their help, about a days' wages, but later found out that these boys were responsible for robbing the little old man we were trying to see, and were into illegal drugs. The car was a mess inside and out, so we went to a garage where they cleaned the whole thing (and sprayed down our pants and shoes) for 7 pesos (3 AR pesos to the dollar, so about $2.33.) Since Kyle's suit was trashed from the mission and mud, we bought him a nice argentine suit for $150US, which was probably a pretty good deal.

We resumed our visiting and did see the little old man, who had upgraded from the tent to a mud-wall one room house with plastic tarp roof. He was really nice, and you could see the love in his eyes for Kyle. In between these visits, Kyle would sometimes fill us in on the family situations. Marriage (lack of), cohabitation, and young single mothers seemed to be a pretty big problem in some areas, just like at home. I was amazed at how persistent Kyle could be in tracking people down. He tracked one lady to from one city to another we visited a few days later, and then to another location in that city, but we finally found her and had a visit. They were always happy to see Kyle again, whether they were still going to Church or not. In fact, I think some of the less active ones looked happier to see him. You could sure tell that he had worked hard and tried his best to help them improve their lives. On a few occasions, we could tell by the tone of the conversation that Kyle was calling them to repentance (he called it "dropping cane") one last time, but it always seemed well received. The visits and meeting people were the best part of the trip.

We turned in the rental car, the Budget man went over it meticulously and seemed a little disappointed in not finding any damage. Then we flew to Buenos Aires and, thanks to Debbie's internet searching, stayed in a very nice and reasonable hotel downtown. The next day we did a standard bus tour of the city and some interesting neighborhoods. The next day we went to the Ricoletta cemetery, some art museums and shops, then caught a flight to Iguaçu Falls on the Brazilian border.

The falls were fantastic, I'll put photos on snapfish. We did a jungle jeep ride, saw monkeys crossing the road high overhead in the trees, powerboat ride up to, and partially into, the waterfalls, train ride through jungle, walked on boardwalks to heaviest part of falls, the devils throat, and did a scenic raft ride. We kept running into three other families bringing their missionaries home, and saw mission president at Iguacu falls. Flight back to Buenos Aires, some more of seeing the city and shopping, the long flight back to Dallas, barely caught our Seattle connecting flight, and made it home to much hugging and tears with Kyle's sisters and extended family.