Un dia libre en las Sierras

Today was a special holiday here in Argentina called 'Dia de San Martin.' I'm unsure of San Martin's history, so I googled him but it's all in Spanish. What I can understand is he was a military man in the 1800's and campaigned for the independence of Argentina, Chile and Peru. So I guess you can say it might be comparable to MLK day in the states. I believe school was out today, and some businesses were closed in recognition. So in turn, a large group of us headed to the Sierras! David, Kristen and the kids were in their car, while Fernando and Heiner and myself rode with Lucas. Lucas is a very close friend of the Fulfer's, and I think they have known each other for over four years. Lucas studied English in college, and is basically fluent (he speak it perfectly.) It's refreshing to speak with an Argentine native in English, even though I shouldn't. I'm not here to learn my native language :)
  They came to 'Residencia Big House' (where I live) to pick up Fernando, Heiner and me around 11:00. You can get to the Sierras by car in a little under an hour (depending on where you go) but we made countless stops along the way to take pictures, shop around, eat and explore. I bought a lot of goodies for Brooklyn, Bubba, Tay, Gabe, Micco and Byron, and a bunch of homemade trinkets from a woman who is a fantastic artist. I better have room in my bags for all this stuff! :)
  We stopped to eat pizza for lunch, and the sun decided to show up so we were able to shed a layer. The sun felt so good after experiencing bitter cold this winter. We ate outside on the patio, and Heiner (who is our newest roommate here from Germany) came across an elderly German man. He was excited to speak his native tongue in Argentina, since he never thought he'd be able to.
   I'm telling you, ever since he arrived... our conversations as a group are hilarious. We are constantly translating something to Spanish, or English while Heiner is trying to translate German to Spanish, then English. We have a lot of fun :)

    Along the way, we stopped at the geographical center of the country. There is a large monument I guess you could say? There is a flag for every providence of Argentina. How cool, that the center of the country is so close to where I am!

GABE!! This one is for you!! LOOK! This store is called GABRIEL! It's una Liberia, a place where you can buy office supplies :)

I don't know what these are called, but you see this everyone in Cordoba. They are like burnt peanuts with a sweet glaze. It smells delicious, since they make them in front of you, and package them in little bags. They are TASTY.

This is where the geographical center point is!

    

     After the fun, David and Kristen asked if we wanted to stop at the orphanage to say hello and visit for awhile. It's called 'Hogar Envangelico de Ninos Bethel' and was founded in 1960. They know the couple that runs it (Eduardo and Cecilia Huespe), and have volunteered there many times. We hung out for an hour or two, watching the kids play soccer, and singing along to Spanish songs on the guitar. The cool news is, I am going to start volunteering there. It's about one hour by buss, and 30 pesos round trip. David is going to help me with the bus information, and I will be going once a week. I have to contact the gentleman who runs it, and set up a date. He told me that I can sleep in the girl's quarters if I'd ever like to stay. I'm so excited.. they are such great people!!!  For most of the kids, it's a sad history. Many of them had unfit parents, and had to leave their homes. But they are in a good place, there is so much love flowing there, and the are so close in Christ.. it's amazing. Here are some pics below. Anyways, enough for today, my hands hurt from typing. :)