The other Uruguay & the Conference

After a week of exhausting travels, the new week started with full speed and there was hardly any time to recover, as daily university and being a good boyfriend life retook their habitual place here in Montevideo. During the time in Argentina I must admit that I really missed this place, although it has been only some 6 weeks,since I came here, but I have been received with open arms and I really like it and it feels like my new home.

Marconi - A "red zone" district of Montevideo

This week I would like to tell you a little bit more about the other Montevideo, that most of the extranjeros never get to know, the Montevideo, that does not appear on postcards, but the one that is either neglected, rejected or abandoned and that mainly appears in the crime, poverty and violence statistics of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. I had the chance to go there and see it because of my new class, that just started this week: servicio comunitario or Community Service.

The school/institution we are working with

Prior to the commencement of this class, we have already been interviewed and asked regarding our previous service experiences, preferences, strengths and what we would be able to contribute, in order to divide us up into different groups and to assign specific projects to us. After the first introductory meeting with our professor, she took us on a bus ride to an area of Montevideo called Marconi, in order to meet our partner association Obra Banneux, which is a benevolent association that is depending on private donation and funding,to help children in poverty and violence prone regions to get a decent education and an actual chance in society.

Ths students doing their dishes after lunch

 

We were introduced to the local headmaster, a very nice Spanish lady, and were told about mission and expectations and we got to meet the adorable children. In my group of 5 I am with 4 girls from England, France and the States and we are going to work with children of 7 and 8 years of age (reminds me of my primary assignment) and we are going to teach them English in a playfull and easy manner! I am so excited and that´s gonna be great fun!!! But I will tell you a little bit more about them next week, after we had the first actual lesson with them =)

Housing in Marconi

Meanwhile I must say that this barrio (ghetto) reminds me quite heavily of the poorer areas on Mauritius and the richer areas of Madagascar, where I served my mission, and everytime I am confronted with such poverty it makes me realize how blessed I am, but on the other hand also the associated responsibility to use my blessings to help. It looks very rural, very dirty, children and dogs are playing in the streets or in front of corrugated iron shacks, whichs roofs are prevented from being lifted up by the wind by bags of dirt, and horses in the front yards. Houses are run-down and the people living there (with the exception of the chidren) did not really make a happy impression. All too often we don't even realize what we have and how blessed we are and how many of our fellow brothers and sisters are lacking so much, we should feel this responsibility to help more and actually act upon it, one person is not gonna change the world in one day, but it is a first step and it is worth it!


While we are already talking about helping and serving others, I also want to tell you about another great event that occurred this week, namely the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ. As we believe that God still loves us and speaks to his children, he has called a prophet in order to restore the gospel and the accompanying authority (e.g. to baptize or to receive revelation)in our days to the earth, after both have been lost after the death of the Savior's apostles and the parallel apostasy. Therefore we still have a living prophet on the earth and the same organization that existed during the Savior's ministry, having 12 apostles, and they receive the will of a loving father on our behalf. That's what general conference is about, the mouthpieces of our loving heavenly father helping us to receive the inspiration and uplifting we need in order to live a better more fulfilled life. And I wanted to share the message of our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson:

General Conference with my Sweetheart

He invited us to enjoy a fulfilled, joyful and happy life through the simple application of 4 principles in our lives (and if all 4 are too much for you, then just start with one, but you will also only enjoy 1/4 of the blessings^^) The first principle he taught was study and search the words of the living Christ (scriptures) and he invited us to do so with dilligence! The second principle, and I must say I haven´t heard that like this before he mentioned, was to plan our lives with purpose, adding to the knowledge about how to life our lives gained through the scriptures a sense of direction, planning and purpose. The third principle and a logic consequence, if we love one another, we will want to share what we have come to know to be useful and true in our life, with the ones we love, as they might also benefit, therefore teach with testimony. And the fourth principle helping us to have a more happy and fulfilled life is to serve with love.

http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

I would like to invite all of you to try this in your life and see how and if it works, as Jesus already taught, that you shall know a prophet by his fruits . . . I can tell you that these kind of counsels that I applied in my life worked and they made me what I am today, and if you want to listen to some of the talks or know more feel free to check the link above:

A package from Germany!!!!

The last event of this week also was a pure expression of love, as my most awesome mother (ofc in collaboration with my beloved family) sent me a true German package with Leckereien und Sweets from Germany, that should bring me through the cold and rainy winter here in Montevideo!!!
So be safe all of you, thanks for reading and caring and I wish you all a great week, may the force be with you and see you in a week with a new adventure from the Wayfarer . . .

The aforementioned cold and rainy winter in Montevideo :P

Argentina - Nahuel Huapi National Park

Buenos Aires - Waterfront

La semana santa, or in other terms the holy week here in Southamerica, is not only the celebration and commemoration of the greatest event in Christian, and I dare to say human history, with the accomplishment of the atonement, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God, but also plainly and simply a week of vacation for everybody, inasmuch as a lot of shops close and even universities, which means we all had the chance to travel.

Plaza in Buenos Aires

After seeing my girlfriend off to go to EFY in Argentina, where I most unfortunately couldn't get a spot anymore, I planned my own trip from Montevideo to Buenos Aires and on to Bariloche in Argentina, to meet up with a friend who was already there, and just in advance and I'm sorry to disappoint you in this matter, no I did not meet the pope ... So finally after having gotten my 2 different tickets (which actually was quite a hustle) I took the bus from Montevideo to Colonia (3h) and from there on with the overnight-ferry to Buenos Aires, Argentina (3h). On my way there I met another exchange student friend from Montevideo (Lucy from England) and we travelled that part of the way together and she was able to help navigating in Buenos Aires. The trip was quite calm and comfortable, however I must say that Uruguayans (and I guess Argentinians, too) love to wait in lines!!!! Ridiculous .. A couple of hundred people waiting in a line, for what seems to equal the amount of 2 eternities, but yes I know times is different down here, wait ... What is that anyway ...?

Becci and I in the lift

But enough sarcasm for now, although I really think it improves quality of life, especially in situations like this, and let's get back to Buenos Aires, a 14 million world metropole and the Capital of Argentina, with tons of skyscrapers and hectic frenzy everywhere you look. Unfortunately I only caught a brief glimpse of this beauty, which is why I'll have to come back soon to explore it a little more. Suffice it to say, that traffic is super nuts (I experienced a 15 minutes honking concert, cuz our bus was blocking a 6way lane and blocking all the traffic, hahahaha don't ask me why^^) and that it huge and a lot faster than Montevideo. I made my way to the bus station, seeing a lot of street vendors, beggars and a lot of dirt, where I only had to wait for an additional 3 hours because my bus was late. Finally inside the quite comfortable and spacious double-decker, I was on the road again to Bariloche, Argentina, which meant we had to cross Argentina horizontally (about 1600km) jippijayeah!

View on a lagoon at Punta de Princesa

 

But the time was well spent, scripture reading, journal writing, eating, watching movies, sleeping and also introspection (man, you gotta try this sometime, quite some amazing stuff to be discovered!). The landscapes changing from skyscrapers, to apartments, to houses, to farms, to woods, to no farms and fields, to no farms, to nothing (seriously for about 3 h there was nothing outside .. No house no tree, nada ... Then a lonely settlement and then again nothing but our lonely forsaken road for the next couple of hours, splitting the desert savannah in 2), and then the mountains began, at first soft scarcely vegetated hills and then rocky and zerklüftet (withered) mountain formations, embedding a sky blue river, on to snow covered peaks at the horizon indicating the real Andes and the chilean border and our destination ...

Mountains!!!

After 39 hours of travel I arrived in Bariloche and was instantly captured by its stunning beauty: 7 beautiful crystal blue lakes surrounded by a great variety of mountain types, I have never seen before. With about 102,000 inhabitants and more of a tranquil resort, it almost appears as a sanctuary in the middle of nowhere for the stranded wanderer. I spent my time down there with Becky and we couch surfed in a hippie community, where everybody was really nice and welcoming, and they showed quite some skills with home growing plants, if you know what I mean ...
The main events of my stay in Bariloche where a crazy breathtaking 9 hour hike up Punta de Princessa, walking along the Kamm to el Refugio Frey and descending from there back to el Lago Gutierrez( words can't describe this, if you really wanna know what it's like, come down here and see for yourself!)

landscape along the road

Then we were guilty of committing a chocolate shopping spree, as Bariloche has gained world fame in producing chocolate and they are currently building the world's largest chocolate egg with 5m (about 17 feet) and are breaking and it eating it right now! And third, I finally felt like I have reached heaven, maybe not literally, but at least culinary speaking ... El Boliche de Alberto! I guess we all heard about the famous Argentinian beef, well let me say, I can totally confirm that, as I had the best steak in my entire life (and probably the biggest portion) and it was sooo good that we went there twice within 2 days, as it's not even that expensive. A huge steak, a huge pile of fries and a huge salad, and the meat was so tender and so tasty, that I'm totally running outta words to describe it ...

Nur fliegen ist schöner!!!! (check out the size of the bagpack in comparison to the steak^^)

 

So yeah, now on my way back (the same long one^^) I look back and must say, what a great place, what a great time! The on,y thing that could have been better would have been, if my sweetheart had been with me, because I missed her a lot, and there where many moments, where I thought, how awesome would that be if we could share this one together ...

Nahuel Huapi & I

 

At the end let's get back to the main point and central message of this week, which is that Jesus Christ, our loving elder brother gave his life for us as a ransom, so that he could act as a mediator between us and the father, if only we would give heed onto his gospel, which is believe in him, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the holy ghost and continue faithfully in keeping the commandments. However he is not dead, but he overcame death so that we might also live and I know all this to be true, because my heavenly father answered my prayer and i know that he will answer every sincere prayer, even yours ... dare to ask ...

landscapes along the road #2