Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Special Day in Canuelas

I need to start this blog by making a correction to last week's entry.  It has come to my attention by Nico, that I said his English was limited and he takes exception with that.  So, sorry about that.  Nico's English is bueno.  He says Cesi's English is limited.  Now my life is settled.

The Argentina Bethel Family had their annual family day here at our home at the Canuelas Assembly Hall.  Because we live here, we were invited.  We will probably never have such a privilege again and we are so happy we were here to have a part.  They have been planning all year for this and started putting it together last Wednesday.  We took so many photos and just can't do it justice so if you want to see more than posted here, come by and we will share.  I did not get photos of the following:  the brothers playing on six different soccer fields, volleyball, tennis, game tables, puzzle table, playing basketball, playing bocci (two different areas) and playing foosball.  I will try to show the other activities though.

Some of the brothers arrived Friday night and slept in the assembly hall, open rooms and some in tents.  They started cooking the meat at 5:30 Saturday morning and the buses arrived around 8:30.

 This was the night before.  

We had pizza the night before made in this pizza oven.

This is the welcome sign that the brothers would see when they arrived.

This was the event schedule.  Everyone received a gift bag with a hat in it and drink mugs and a special letter.

This was some of the sausage and chorizo cooking.  There was much more.

This was the pork and beef.  Pork is closest to us and beef in the background.  We had salads, bread, sweets, potato chips, soda, watermelon and tons of Bethel ice cream, chocolate and strawberry.  Enough for seconds, thirds and whatever.  No one went hungry.

Our table for dinner.  We got to meet so many wonderful people.  400 Bethel family members were there.

There were brothers singing..


Horses with no saddles.  That freaked me out.


Aerobics first thing in the morning.

Two go karts.

Several pool tables.

Several ping pong tables.  I thought I was pretty good but young 
Alejandro beat me four times straight.

There were six pools.  This is the permanent one at Canuelas and you can see two in the background.  We didn't get in because it was cool and breezy and a very fine mist of rain for a short time.

There was time for siesta too.  Lots and lots of hammocks.

This was an exhausting day for some of us.


We were divided up into language groups and given a verse from Kingdom songs to sing.  There was Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Guarani, Armenian, English, Sign Language and I think I am forgetting one.  Anyway, at the end we sang the last verse altogether.  It was awesome.  Brings tears to your eyes.

English Group

Sign language group.

This is the home overseer for Bethel, Pablo, and his wife Norma.  So friendly and loving.

Sweet couple from Bethel, Eunice and Marcos.

Argentina Bethel Family 2013


We are so privileged to have been a part of this special day.  Next weekend here at Canuelas is the Ezeiza Construction Family Day.  More fun to be had and we will photograph that as well. 
 Neil and I have received a very special gift from a very generous family.  They are sending us to Iguazu Falls.  They are one of the new nine wonders of the natural world.  They are located on the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.  It is said that when Eleanor Roosevelt saw Iguazu Falls that she said, "Oh, poor Niagra."  We will let you know.   We leave on February 2 and return the 5th.  We will post photos of this experience along with a photo of this most generous family.  Thank you Sergio and Claudia and Mattais.  

Until next time, we send our love from all the brothers here in Argentina and wish you could be here with us... love,  Neil and Cindy





Sunday, January 13, 2013

We Had a Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was so fun although it was very hot and humid.  The week was good too.  For me it was the same in the kitchen and dining room but Neil was excited to dig the baptismal pool and work on the entrance road and so there is where my photos begin.

This is the marking for the baptismal pool.  It doesn't really look that big right here.  So....


If it was finished and filled with water, it could be very useful right now.  It did rain a bit so here are some photos of the rain.


We also had four new brothers move in at Canuelas for one month.  One of the brothers was written up in the November WT Public Edition under the article The Bible Changes Lives.  He is from Austria and his first language is German.  He speaks Italian, Spanish, English and says a few words in Japanese.  The other three boys are in their early 20's and speak a little English.  Their youth and love for Jehovah is refreshing.

Last Sunday after the meeting a brother and sister from here at the assembly hall in Canuelas took us to Buenas Aires to see the  Rio de Plate.  We had a nice time having refreshments and looking at the river.


Sergio is an engineer, he used to work in the States and speaks very good English.  His lovely wife is Raquel and she does not speak any English but she smiles a lot and is a good sport about  having to have Sergio translate most of what we say.  As of yet, we are not fluent in Spanish, however we do have five weeks to get there.  Afterwards we went to TGI Fridays and had an American burger.  We ordered two burgers and onion rings, two waters and one coke and it cost $60 US Dollars.  Wow!!!! No more of that.

Yesterday a lovely couple named Nico and Ceci took us to Le Tigre.  We had been their before but it was so different this time.  We went on a boat taxi and had lunch and it was overcast and breezy and so cool on the water.  A HUGE wake came off the water and soaked Ceci and me and we were wet the rest of the day.  That was okay.  They are the ages of Andrew and Jeff and they are having their first baby in June, her name will be Olivia.


 They are very hospitable and kind.  Their English is limited as is our Spanish but we managed to talk all day and understand each other completely.....we think.

This was the restaurant we ate at for lunch.  We had salad, asada, papas fritas otherwise known as french fries, 7-up for the girls and beer for the guys.  Delicioso.


This is the water taxis.  It takes you all along the delta and makes stops at different spots where you can picnic or eat or where people live.  It was so relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Delta of Le Tigre


Locals cooling off!

We had a wonderful time in Le Tigre and Nico took care of everything in the planning so we didn't have to worry about a thing.  We couldn't have had a better time.  Thanks guys.

Today after the meeting, which by the way, we both commented in Spanish,  we were invited on a picnic with a family from our congregation.  They are Julio, Ana, Celeste and Violeta.  Oke and Ing Marie were there too.  They also brought along their pet goat.

Celeste is 10 and Violeta is 7.  They give wonderful comments at the meeting.  They greet everyone with a beautiful smile and a kiss.  They are going to preach in Northern Argentina next week for about a week and have to camp out doing it.  Quite an adventure for them.

Here is the family and the goat being shy.  Ana is Nico's sister.  So their hospitable nature runs in the family.  We had asada, salad and a wonderful homemade Tiramisu that Ana made.  We were hoping to drop some weight here.  It's not going to happen.  Here is a photo of the asada.




Well, a wonderful week has come to an end.  Next weekend is going to be really exciting for everyone and especially for Neil and me.

Next weekend is the Argentina Bethel Family Day.  It is held here in Canuelas because the property is so large and beautiful.  Since we live here, we are invited.  We here it is an event to be seen so we are glad we will still be here to see it.

The only news from the kitchen is this, Suzi and her husband have gone to seldom worked territory for two weeks in northern Argentina so I will not have her around for awhile.  I hate that.  We get along so well and we work well together.  I hope she has a great time and it is a great privilege to serve Jehovah in that capacity.

Hasta la proxima vez!