I´ve been moved into deep campo! Did I already explain what ´campo´ is? There´s city and there´s campo. 80% of the mission is city, close to the center of Buenos Aires. Then we have a few little towns that are way far away from everything, and that´s campo. And that´s where I am! I´m in a beautiful, clean little town called Bragado, in the district of Chivelcoy. We live in an apartment complex on Quiroga between Gral. Paz and Escalada. (Andrew includes some identifying landmarks because Ken likes to look up his location on Google Earth ... pretty cool.)
After the transfer meeting on Wednesday, we ´campo´ missionaries went to the bus station and waited an hour for the bus that would take us to our areas. We waited for an hour, loaded up our gear when the bus came and hopped on, and then went to sleep for the 4-hour ride to Bragado. We arrived and got off the bus, waited in the freezing, freezing cold for a taxi to come, and finally got to our pench. A little more involved that taking a remís directly to the area like I´d done in my other areas.
The way missionaries talk about campo, I was imagining it to be a bunch of fields and dirt roads, with a house here and there, but that´s not accurate. It´s a city that´s a little bit like Luján, only cleaner and calmer. What is true about campo is that it´s super tranquilo. You can leave your bike unlocked on the street and no one will take it. (We´re not supposed to, though. I need to buy a bike lock.) And they take their siesta time seriously - in between 1:00 and 4:00, there is NO ONE in the streets.
Oh, that´s the other thing - I have a bike! Woohoo! I´m enjoying being able to bike around the city, and getting over the inevitable case of sore bum syndrome. Later today we´ll be stopping by a bike repair shop to get some necessary changes done, including raising the seat, fixing the back brakes, and adding reflectors. It seems that the previous owner of my bike was a little lax in keeping it shipshape.
Oh, right - my companion! My companion is Elder Correa. He´s from Rosario, Argentina, and is serving here in Buenos Aires West while he waits for his Visa to go to Venezuela. He has 5 months in the mission - one less than me. It is really fun to have an Argentine companion, but also really difficult, because: Argentines talk differently to fellow Argentines than they do to people from any other part of the world. I am finding a whole new world of Argentine slang and expressions, and learning that Argentines speak SUPER SUPER FAST! It´s almost intimidating, because my companion speaks so fast and so accurately without even trying. I´ll be picking some things up from him, if I can.
 |
| Elder Correa making something that tasted really good. |
And, personality-wise, he´s also really cool. He´s friendly and works hard and seems to enjoy life. Also, he's a super cook, and since we eat in the pench a lot here, that´s awesome.
There´s a fun old lady who gives us lunch 2 times a week. She is mostly deaf. (But there´s a big difference between mostly deaf and all deaf. ...Please open his mouth.) We literally have to yell at her for her to be able to hear us, which means I can talk to my companion and ask him things, like whether she´s actually serious in the ridiculous things she says. (She usually is - she´s a very funny lady.)
That´s all I´ve got time for today! I love you all very much & hope you´re enjoying your summer.
Love,
Elder Stockton
There´s a fun old lady who gives us lunch 2 times a week. She is mostly deaf. (But there´s a big difference between mostly deaf and all deaf. ...Please open his mouth.) We literally have to yell at her for her to be able to hear us, which means I can talk to my companion and ask him things, like whether she´s actually serious in the ridiculous things she says. (She usually is - she´s a very funny lady.)
That´s all I´ve got time for today! I love you all very much & hope you´re enjoying your summer.
Love,
Elder Stockton
 |
| Elder Lee. He´s from Tucson! |
 |
| Elder Hutchings, the redhead. We entered the MTC on the same day. |
 |
| A delicious before-bed snack! (the sammich) |
 |
| Making tortillas! |
 |
| A dinky burrito that was just good enough to remind me of the real thing |
 |
| In my new pench, and cold! |
 |
| Tomatoes! |
 |
| ´Futbol´ with some of the young men in the new ward. These kids are great! One of them invited his friend to soccer. The friend liked it and came to church the next day. He liked that, too, and now we have an appointment to go and teach their family. Woohoo! |
From Andrew's last few days in Villa Amelia:
 |
| A cool poster someone made for the zone of Castelar |
 |
| Waking and rousing our investigators to come to church |
 |
| Abigaíl, Karen, and their friend Juliana. |
