Hermana Barker in Bahia Blanca : I am Really in Argentina!

Can you believe it? Because I sure can´t! This place is insane and awesome!

MY AREA! I am serving in Santa Rosa La Pampa! It´s pretty interesting here! We actually work in kind of a dangerous area, so we don´t live in our area we live with two other Hermanas (Sisters) that are serving in a different sector of Santa Rosa. We have to be in our house at 8:00 every night instead of 9:00, but don´t worry we are still safe. The Church knows what they are doing and they wouldn´t put me here if I wasn´t safe!

Okay so lets back up to last Monday November 3^rd. I left Salt Lake International Airport at 11:15 AM, a short 4-hour flight to Atlanta. Then I boarded my flight to Buenos Aires Argentina....holy cow the longest plane ride of my life (literally.....hahaha) but I definitely fell asleep right when I got on the plane and missed the dinner they served..darn it. The plane was FREEZING cold and I definitely put my jacket in the carry on that I ended up checking....oh well I made it.

So we got off the plane in Buenos Aries at 7;30 AM the next day and it was such a blur we were all in such a hurry and there were so many of us. There were probably 50 missionaries, because there was a whole group of ‘Visa waiters’ that ended up coming with us too! But we went through customs (I didn´t even get stopped) and then the madness started. We walked through these opaque doors and all of a sudden there were like 200 Argentinians. No more speaking English. We found our travel guide, who was a hoot. Then we threw all of our luggage in this big truck and got in vans and none of us knew where we were going, because all the missionaries going to all the missions in Argentina were still with us. We drove past the Temple, didn´t get to go though ); Our travel guide couldn´t speak English so we were all pretty confused then we finally figured out that he was saying ¨another airport¨ what!? Yeah apparently we only got half of our travel plans...so we went to an Argentina airport and that is where we started branching off. We got there at like 10 AM and our flight didn´t leave until 5 PM forrrrreeeevvverrrrr layover. Anyway, then we got on the plane it was a 1-hour flight to Bahía Blanca.

There are 24 new missionaries in Bahía Blanca this transfer!!!!! We met our Mission President right off the plane then we all got our luggage and threw it in another big truck. We got in taxis and went to the Church. Where we had dinner and interviews with the Mission President (yupp in Spanish). After that all the Hermanas got to sleep at the Mission Presidents house...it was so nice. It was like a mansion, hahah. Then we got ready the next morning headed back to the Church had more training and then we met our companions! My companion is Hermana Zubeldia! She is from Kaysville Utah! And this is her last transfer!!!! Crazy! She is so sweet and I am so happy that I have a companion that speaks English too! The language is interesting. I´m pretty sure they taught me the wrong kind of Spanish in the MTC. It´s a lot different here and it´s on fast forward....hahahaha I´m working on it though. I can understand a lot but it´s super hard to talk because I don´t talk fast enough so they think I´m done and they start talking over me...so I don´t get to say much...hahah Most of them like to hear me talk though because they think it´s funny.

Oh so after I got my companion we started contacting people in Bahia Blanca because we needed to wait to take a bus to our area that didn’t leave until 10 PM...definitely a 4-hour bus ride.... so we got to our home at 2 AM and I still had to make my bed and that stuff....hahahahaha. I was so tired day two.

I literally don´t have enough time to tell you everything I want to today.

Oh my favorite thing about Argentina, Facturas; they are like a yummy croissant kind of thing with dolce de leche inside....they are amazing. Oh and dole de leche is heaven. I put it on everything.

One weird thing about my mission...since night time is the best time to meet with people we NEVER have dinner, We have lunch with a member every single day and we don´t get to eat dinner until we are home for the day, super weird.

The worst part about my mission...the drivers...they are crazy! There aren´t any stoplights or stop signs it´s like constantly playing chicken. Oh and pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. Oh and NO one has teeth.

To greet someone in Argentina you kiss him or her on the cheek. That´s interesting to adjust to but Hermanas obviously can´t greet men like that but men always try to anyway, it´s awkward to stop them...hahaha The kids here are adorable.

There are dogs everywhere.

Our area doesn´t have any sort of paved road or sidewalk so we walk in the dirt and sand streets. Every house has a bucket on a pole in the front yard. It’s for garbage, so the dogs don´t eat it...hahaha.