I'm not in Tennessee anymore...

On Wednesday, December 29, 2010 my Argentine journey began. Mom, Dad and Kelsey saw me off at the Airport in Knoxville. From there I flew to Dulles and then on to Argentina!

Kelsey and I in Mcgee Tyson Airport. Mom insisted that we
use the Christmas trees as the photo backdrop.

Lisa, myself, and Doug just before I headed off.

Yesterday at 10:00 AM, I arrived in Buenos Aires (BA) with swollen ankles and matted hair thanks to the 10 hour plane ride.  After proceeding through Customs, I was met by an Argentine friend named Andres who works with the Crusade movement. There was snow on the ground when I left the US of A, but there was none to be found in Buenos Aires. 'Twas about 95 degrees fahrenheit when I stepped from the airport into the fresh Argentine air.  Air conditioning is a bit of a rarity, so as you can imagine, I'm managing to stay exceptionally warm...which seems strange since it's December

Andres showed me around a bit and took me to buy some towels and things for the apartment. After that, I was able to get settled in to my very own apartment here in this monstrosity of a city. I will be living with two of my teammates Ben and John Mark, but they are already in Cordoba preparing for camp. I'll be joining them there shortly.

Before I expound more about what's going on here,  I'd like explain a bit about my blog. "Gringo" is a term that Argentines use to describe Americans which could perhaps be applied to caucasians in general. Garrett is surprisingly difficult to pronounce for those accustomed to the spanish language, so throughout my first day I was strictly referred to as "el gringo". Hence the blog title. Also, I discovered on my very first day that I love the city at night. While it's always busy and, as I learned last night, never sleeps, it seems most alive after the sun goes down between 8 and 10 PM.  Ten o'clock is a pretty standard dinner time here, so there seems to be much hustle and bustle that leads right up to dinner time.  The background reminded me of the city lights.

How about a video tour of my Argentine home?! The apartment is a work in process, and it a little scant on furniture - but it's coming along.  The video starts you off on the street that my apartment is on. Happy viewing!

Today for New Year's Eve, I'll be getting together with Andres and another friend that is involved with Vida Estudiantil (that's what Crusade is called here).  And tonight I'll ring in the New Year with my friend Karin and some people from her church.

What's next?

The next month will be pretty unusual.  For most of the year here, I'll be working on one of the college campuses of the University of Buenos Aires system and will have weekly routine. This month is quite the opposite. Students are on summer holiday at the moment so most of them have returned home to wherever their families are.  So, we do some other things during the month of January until students get back in February. Here's roughly how things look:

Jan 1 - Jan 9 : Camp

Jan 10 - Jan 22: Mapuche Project

Jan 23 - Feb 4: Vacation

Camp 

Or "Campamento"as it's called in Spanish will be the equivalent of a Crusade Winter Conference back in the states. It's a time for students to come and hang out and there will be some talks given and seminars to attend, which will be spiritually focused, along with some games and such.  This will take place at a conference center / hotel in a city outside of BA, in Cordoba. My team is actually already there, so I can't wait to see them as well as meet many of the students who are already involved with Vida Estudiantil that will be attending the camp.

Mapuche Project

This is a trip we take to visit and indigenous people group in Argentina. They live in an impoverished area in the South of Argentina and few people here even have running water. We are going to take food and clothing that has been collected in BA and will help build, repair, and do other general labor in an effort to help them. We are trying to meet their physical needs in an effort to show them love, but we will also certainly be trying to help them meet spiritual needs by sharing the good news of what Christ has done for them.

Vacation

I know you're probably thinking - "You just got there, how can you be taking vacation already?!".  Quite honestly, that's what I'm thinking too! My team has been here since September 6, so I imagine they are very ready for some rest and relaxation. As it turns out, the end of January / early February is the best time to take some time off because the students aren't around. So I get to galavant now and get down to business later! I'll be going with John Mark, Tiffany and Katie on a trip to the "End of the World" as we call it. We're headed to the Southern-most part of Argentina, which happens to be the southern-most part of South America to see glaciers and penguins!!! I'll post updates with pictures and things along the way!

Well, that's a bit about what I am and will be up to! Thanks for reading.

Ciao for now!