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| Comodoro Rivadavia |
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| The sunrise on the early morning drive to Caleta Olivia was sooo beautiful over the water. |
After a good nights rest in a very old and vintage hotel in Trewlew, we met up with Hermano Ricael
Sosa in the morning. He has become a dear friend and we were so happy to see him. After a few abrazos, I gave my seat in the front of the car to Hermano Sosa so he wouldn't feel frustrated trying to speak Spanish from the back seat. I was happy to sit in the back and let the two men speak Spanish while I contemplated the scenery and made up Spanish sentences in my head that I might be able to use over the next few days. We headed south to Comodoro Rivadavia on a two lane curvy road. We had about a four and a half hour drive. Comodoro Rivadavia is an oil rich community situated right on the water which is called The Gulf of San Jorge. The gulf itself is very beautiful , but Comodoro is dusty and windy and over all not too striking. It is a small port. The church has just situated a new mission here and the new mission president and his wife arrived the weekend we were there . We arrived late afternoon and checked in to our very tall hotel and ate a simple empanada dinner together. Saturday morning we were up very early and headed to Caleta Olivia for an early morning training with the District President and one of his counselors. They were very , very, nice. The district president was young and has only been a member of the church about 8 years. Our training went about 4 hours so it was a long one! Elder Sosa and Michael split the time and both did a great job. I took notes and leaned a few new Spanish words in the process with my dictionary at hand! I am getting to where I can understand more and say a few phrases to communicate a few thoughts. Though only in the present tense! Here is a picture of the group!
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| Group in Comodoro Rivadavia |
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I don't have my notes with me here in Chile so I can't remember the names. Hermano Sosa, however , is the one on the far right. The room was narrow and this was the only place to stand!
After finishing the training we drove back to Comodoro Rivadavia as there are no hotels in Caleta Oliva and enjoyed a good nights rest! The next morning we enjoyed a wonderful day at church!
The members were particularly friendly and we received many kisses on the cheek! We truly embraced the warmth of the people and loved our time there chatting with many different members.
That evening we had another training in Comodoro which was great and well attended. An especially nice group of people.
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On Monday morning, we left really early around 7am as we had to drop off Hermano Sosa in Trelew and begin our trek back to Buenos Aires. We forgot to get gas right in Trelew so we stopped at a gas station just outside of the city to fill the tank up with diesel fuel which is what is required. The station didn't have any diesel so we had to try and make it to Trelew on the diesel we had. Gas stations are few and far between in Argentina and our greatest fear of the moment was realized! .... we ran out of gas about 30 minutes outside of Trelew! Michael and Hermano Sosa flagged down a truck and Hermano Sosa climbed in and reassured us he would be back with some gas. So about two hours later he came with his adorable wife and daughter with about 10 gallons of gas. As he began to put it in the car, he looked at Michael and said, "gas , right" and Michael said it has to be dieasel did you forget?" He hanked out the hose and said that it was regular gas! So we sat in the car again for another hour until he and his family returned with the diesel fuel. He and Michael filled the tank and Mike had said to me while we were waiting that with diesel fueled vehicles they are difficult to start again when you run out of gas.......that did prove to be true! After several attempts to start the car, Hermano Sosa said he would go to Trelew and get a tow truck or a mechanic and be back. So another hour and a half sitting just off the highway with huge trucks whizzing by........ Sure enough back came this wonderful Sosa family with a young energetic mechanic! While they had been gone Michael read in the car manual about what to do.. but it was vague and we had a difficult time finding the right button as did the mechanic. The instructions said to push a black button, (everything under the hood was black!) and pump it to get the air out of the fuel line. The mechanic finally found the right button , pumped it about 50 times and the car started! It had taken all day! and we still had about 6 hours to go to get to Las Grutas. We followed the Sosa's to the dealership where the mechanic worked to pay them and they would not take any payment whatsoever! We bid a found farewell to the Sosas with Abrazos and hopes to see them again in the future... and we were off to Las Grutas about 5pm. (we had spent four wonderful days with Hermano Sosa and enjoyed every minute!) One of our cardinal rules on the road here is to never drive in the dark, as the roads are only two lanes, they are unfamiliar and it can be dangerous. However, we both felt okay about going so we headed north. We landed in Las Grutas on the Gulf of San Matias about 10 pm. We got up early the next morning and headed to Olavarria, our next stop in Buenos Aires Province, about four hours outside of Buenos Aires. We had scheduled a training there with a small district that night and we wanted to get there early enough so that getting to the training would not be a rush. We had a great meeting with a wonderful group.
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| Olavarria |
The left again early the next morning as we wanted to get into Buenos Aires by noon, which we did. We usually find a great parking place right next to our apartment , but not this day! So Michael just pulled up on the sidewalk and I stayed with the car while he hauled stuff in to our apartment foyer.... then I hauled it upstairs while he went to find a parking place. Michael went on in to the office later to return the car and finish up a few things before we left for Santiago, Chile the next morning. I stayed home and did laundry.... which is a trick as we don't have a dryer. However, a fan and a heater worked great in the back bedroom and by 8:00 at night the laundry was all done and ironed! We were up at 4:30 the next morning and felt excited for our meetings and trainings in Chile and we headed to the airport around 6am.
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| The Gulf of San Jorge |
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Comodoro Rivadavia
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