Hi my name is Lars and I'm your new friend and Counselor!

So I started this new job. I know, one of my goals was to enjoy my time in Argentina and enjoy not having to work and go to school for the first time in my life, but it's a cool gig. I am back into the camp thing and now help run English Immersion camps in Argentina. The company is called "Colonias de Inmersion al Idioma" and more technical stuff can be found about the company here: (http://www.ecolonias.com/) Anyways I discovered this job on the one website that has been a lifesaver on this trip, Craigslist. In a nutshell the objective of these camps is to make the kids feel they are in are in an English speaking country, which allows them to practice there english and to experience English culture. We get pretty into it, to the point where when they first arrive we issue them their "passports"and they need to go through customs. In customs we literally search their bags for anything Spanish (were talking anything from books to candy) and we take it away from them if its not in english. As you can imagine the kids aren't always thrilled about having their pringles taken, but hey thats life. The camps are usually for 3 days and the whole time we are playing english style games with them, singing songs, and eating english style food(like hamburgers and Shepards pie). And like any good camp there is a theme. This last weekend the theme was hollywood, and the camp centered around the kids making their own movies in English and then watching them together on the final night of camp. It's a good job and I enjoy it. It's definitely tiring working with kids but the end result I think is worth it. Not only do I get paid but I have the opportunity to share with these kids a different culture and to help them with their language development. And I get to work and meet all sorts of really cool people from around the world. I work about 2-3 camps a month on the weekends so it works perfectly with my schedule. So thats a little update on life, stay tuned for more...

Beard Adventures: Tandil

The word Tandil can refer to a spider genus, and a German detergent. But in this instance I am refering to a little town near the rolling hills of Argentina. This little jewel was the perfect getaway from the busy city of Buenos Aires. It was a long weekend in commemoration of the liberator Jose de San Martin. The weekend started off great with my bus running about an hour and a half late. But as always I met a really cool person who helped me out. Her name was Agilda and was actually from that town. She was able to give me some good advice on places to go and even gave me her number and said that if I didn't find a place to stay that I could stay at her place. Saweet! So I arrive five hours later and it is butt cold. Mind you I still don't have a place to stay and am going on like 2 hours of sleep,=adventure!
Tandil is one of those cool towns where you can walk everywhere and see the whole town. And the beautiful thing was that it was actually quiet! I could actually hear myself think and it was great to just be back in nature.
On the outside there really is nothing spectacular about this city but its one of those places with a few hidden secrets. One of these is the great cheese and salami they have.

The other thing they are known for is this rock called
"Piedra Movediza," which translates into unstable rock. Apparently back in the day this huge rock just sort of balanced on the side of a hill and the locals would break beer bottles under it to prove to visitors that it actually moved. Well unfortunately in 1912 this rock ended up rolling down the hill and breaking into pieces. (Now its just known as "rock") But in 2007 a couple of engineering students mounted a similar rock in the same spot as the original. Unfortunately its cemented into the ground so it really isn't that impressive.

See not very impressive...But what Tandil lacked in unstable rocks it made up for it with awesome people! Since Tandil isn't very toursity all the people in the hostel were from Argentina except us. I ended up meeting this really cool guy named Javier who was pretty much our personal tour guide the whole weekend. He was raised in Buenos Aires and is taking a break from traveling around the world. He plans to keep traveling and will probably die on the road because that is where he feels most at home. Cool story. We also met other very cool Argentines and we were invited to an Asado at a hostel.

It was here we experienced true Argentine culture. Delicious savory meat, smooth red wine, and hours of conversation. (FYI, Argentine time is different than say, time in the States, if they say they are starting at 10pm what they really mean is that they won't be eating until 12:30am, so eat a snack)

Around 2am, around the time most North Americans would go to bed, my new Argentine friends said that the party was just gettin started. Tired, but determined to try to keep up with these Argentines, I accompanied them to a dance club. There we danced it up until about 5:00am when I had to bail out to catch my bus at 7am. I am pretty sure they are still dancing. Overall great trip with great people and it turned out to be a quite a cultural experience.
P.S. my beard is coming in pretty nicely...check it out!

Trust Issues.

Hello all. A little update, I have been sick this past week so I've been MIA, but don't worry its nothing serious.(Lets just say it pays to be living with 2 doctors)Im about to start my 3rd week of school. My classes are great and include 4 classes in Spanish(one of which is a Tango class) and 1 class in English. And they don't start until 1 in the afternoon so I am loving the sleep!
One change I have noticed in my life since traveling to South America is my increased trust in people. Now a lot of us have grown up being taught "if its too good to be true it probably is." So we constantly distrust people and different type of offers because nobody wants to be labled as a sucker. While I think its wise to take everything with a grain of salt,I also have learned we can miss out on so much because we fail to trust. We not only miss out on cool and adventerous opportunities with people, but I believe this mistrust can overflow into our relationship with God. Allow me to explain. Flying into a new country can be exhilirating and scary at the same time, especially if you don't really have an itinerary. When I landed in Chile I had no idea where I was or where the hostel was and it was in the middle of the night. I had met this Chilean guy during my flight and he was pretty cool. Everytime we passed by each other on the plane he high fived me. He even went so far as to wake me up one time, while he passed by row. How thoughtful..anyways we land and start heading out of the airport and he asks me where I am going and if I wanted to share a cab. Now bells start to go off in my head, and I remembered the wise words from my lonely planet guide to not share a cab with someone you don't know. After fighting with that voice inside my head for a couple of minutes I decided to to go for it. I would just make sure I had my throwing knives on me. So it turns out he had a cab waiting for him already that his company had already set up for him. He ended up dropping me off right in front of my hostel free of charge! And gave me his number and address and told him if I needed anything to just give him a call. Score! There are numerous stories I could share with you from this trip that are similar. I mean I found my host family on Craigs List and all they did was give me an address to meet them at. Definitely a little sketched out during my cab ride to their house, I was thinking of all of the horrible headlines that they would be writing about my disappearance in the newspaper; "American stumbles upon drug lab and is killed, or "Young man shows up at a Mafia hangout and is turned into a monkey slave." You know that sort of thing. Well I can tell you that these people are the nicest people I have ever met and are definitely not in the Mafia. What I have come to find is that most people are genuinely good people and by living paranoid I was missing out on some cool experiences. Frank Crane once said “You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough” I mean cool things like couchsuring are built on trust, and its a shame that those rare and unfortunate bad events can keep us from trusting others. Im not saying to just be an airhead and not have discernment, but trust first and if you do happen to get screwed over then get up dust yourself off and keep going. Trust is key in our relationship with God as well. I know for myself there can be that doubt in God's grace. Sometimes I feel its impossible for God to keep loving me because of all the times I've screwed up. His grace sounds too good to be true. But trusting in him means beleiving that when he said "It is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God not by works, so that no one can boast," that he meant it. And we all know the ever so popular verse, "trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways awknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6. Without trust we miss out on the goodness and kindness of strangers and freedom in Christ. I know for me this is something I am growing in and am excited to see the opportunities it provides.

Futbol Mania

I promised a good story, and a good story I shall write. Last Sunday was the final of Copa América. Copa America is the oldest international continental football competition and is held every 4 years. So its kind of a big deal and everybody was watching it. It just so happens that the stadium this event was taking place in is just a 10 minute walk away from my place. So after watching the first half of the game at a bar my roomates and I headed toward the stadium to see any after game festivities. As we walked to the stadium the streets began to look more and more like a tornado had gone through. The streets were trashed and the game wasn't even finished yet. We knew this would be a good night. In front of the stadium a crowd was gathering in anticipation of an Uruguay win. There was a news van parked on the side with a 10 inch T.V. screen in the back, that was surrounded by 30 people looking through every nook and cranny trying to catch a glimpse of the game. Meanwhile the stadium, a mere 50 yards away felt like it had a life of its own. You could feel the anticipation of another Uruguay goal and the tension was so thick that I swear the stadium just might implode. Then it happend. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!! The stadium erupted with a roar that would make any ordinary man insta-poop his pants. It was awesome. Two minutes later the game ended with Uruguay beating Paraguay 3-0. People poured out the stadium and it soon became very crowded. At one point there was almost a fight but then it got broken up. Dang it. So we are walking along taking it all in when we are suddenly at the front steps of River Stadium. My roomates and I look at each other for a second and then took a step up. We just walked in, no police and no dodgy looks we just waltzed in. It was suprising because 3/4 of the stadium was still full of screaming Uruguayan fans. Beside ourselves, we walked up and down the aisles looking for a good place to take videos. There were chants, tons of fans, and confetti. So cool. And there were like 10 different chants that people just kept saying over and over. Kind of like an I pod shuffle, but louder. The coolest thing for me was that you could feel the passion. It was more than a game, it is a way of life. The people from Uruguay as in most South American Countries eat, drink, and bleed futbol. As a past player of the game I can identify somewhat with the passion for the game but not at the level that they have. So instead I just soaked in the moment and celebrated alongside Uruguay. I can't wait to actually see a game.

Living in Buenos Aires

Hello All!! I have been busy this week settling into my homestay in Buenos Aires. The neighborhood I live in is called Barrio Nunez, and is in the northern part of the city. It is a really nice area and pretty ritzy except for all the poop on the ground. I am staying with 2 doctors named Alicia and Jose. They are awesome people and house students from all over the world all of the time. At this moment there are 6 students living with them including me. Needless to say there is never a dull moment in the house and at dinner. I get fed 2 meals a day and even though all of us students can speak english the primary language at the dinner table is spanish. Primarily because Alicia and Jose don't speak much english, but it's also good practice. Its a pretty sweet setup they've got. I am living in their pool house in the back with two guys from Boston.

It's pretty awesome and their meals are amazing. I am definitely blessed to have found the place, so praise God! So now I have got the housing down I just need to find a church and a gym. I went to a church on Saturday for collage aged kids near my house. It was pretty cool, except I only understood every 3rd word but I understood the overall main point of the message so that was good. So that's pretty much it, I start orientation for school tomorrow and classes begin on the 1st of August. Spanish is still hard but I am getting a little better everyday. My biggest obstacle is the understanding part. My mind still thinks in english and is still a little slow in translating things. Its just one of those things where I need to learn to think in spanish. Plus Argentine spanish is a little different than the rest of the world. For instance, any word with a "y" or "ll", in Argentina it is pronounced with a "juh" sound instead of a "yuh" sound that I am used too. And instead of referring to you as "tu" they use "vos" which is a little different but not too bad. All in all things are great I have yet to see the new Harry Potter movie but that is okay. Sorry this is more of an informative post without cool stories but I promise next post I will have great stories, one which includes me sneaking into the COPA Cup Final. Ciao!

More Dangerous Less Fun!

My good buddy Craig from Kidder Creek told me of this story where him and a bunch of his friends from home were rafting on the Klamath river. Craig explained to them that they could 1 of 2 routes. Either Rattlesnake or Dragons Tooth. When asked what the difference was between the two he said that Rattlesnake was a fun run with little risk and Dragon's Tooth was more dangerous and less fun. They decided to do go with Dragon's Tooth. They had fun with Craig's play on words and "More Dangerous Less Fun" became their motto for that entire trip and was chanted frequently. Its a bit of an oxymoron I think because sometimes more dangerous=more fun, or at least more dangerous usually means a good story. South America is "More Dangerous Less Fun." Allow me to explain. My very 1st night in Santiago Chile won there soccer game for the COPA cup. Feeling very celebratory some guys from the hostel and I went into the main square to celebrate with the Chileans. We were chanting and jumping and having a great time when all of a sudden the crowd turned on us. Wallets were stolen, cameras were taken, and even beanies were being yanked off guys heads. Luckily we had Paul. Paul was probably responsible for most of the attention anyways. Seeing as how he is a 6'6 265lb monster of a man from New Zeland, he gains a lot of attention. But his size was useful this time as he battled through the crowd and created a hole for us to escape through. We escaped with no casualties and a guy who had lost his passport actually ended up recovering it. Some people had wallets stolen and luckily I didn't have anything on me for someone to steal. There are actually quite a bit of protests turned to riots lately in Santiago over a number of reasons. These usually end with tear gas and water cannons used on the protestors by the police. Oh ya fun fact, I guess Chilean tear gas is so bad that it is illegal in some countries. I hear its nasty stuff, but I also heard that eating a lemon will help with countering its effects. I hope I never have a chance to test that. Chile is one of the more modernized countries of South America so I only imagine that the stories will get better and better. I leave for Argentina tomorrow and don't start orientation until the 25th of July. I am getting a little better at speaking Spanish but it is still hard to understand. Chilean spanish is a little different because they talk in slang and drop the "s" on a lot of words. But as with most things I know it will just take time.

Oh Chile so chily.

Arrived into Santiago,Chile after 13hrs of flying. No matter what I do I can never sleep on planes because I can never get comfortable. There just never seems to be enough room. Now I know I have an advantage over larger people because I can sit cross legged on a plane, but there is still never enough room. The flights were uneventful until deep into the 9th hour of flying,when the captain goes over the radio and asks if there is a doctor or nurse/paramedic on board to see if they could go check on a passenger. So I raise my hand and the stewardess comes to get me, and when she sees me she has this look on her face that basically says "ya sure your a doctor, dream on gringo," but then I explained that I was an EMT...but I could tell she still wasn't buying it. So I am led to the front of the plane where the seats are 10x bigger and where it smells like cucumber melon lotion and I am led to this kid that was complaining of stomach pain. So I do my assessment and check to see what was wrong. My diagnosis...constipation. But I don't blame the kid for freaking out, it was probably his first time being constipated. So I pretty much hung out with him for awhile made sure he was alright and went back to my uncomfortable seat. Upon landing and going through customs and paying a $140 reciprocity fee(thank you U.S for that) I hitched a ride with this chilean guy named Ivan. I guess he got a kick out of me because he let me ride in a cab that his company was paying for and dropped me off pretty much right in front of my hostel. Oh and did I mention it was 35 degrees outside? Ya everywhere I go I feel like im in an igloo. I couldn't check into the hostel until 1:30pm so I spent most of my day walking around trying to exchange my currency and ended up falling asleep on a park bench. All in all I am jovial and tired. The people in Chile are just great, probably some of the most genuine people I have ever met. And Santiago is pretty cool too. It's kind of like L.A. but more colorful. And there are asian people here who speak spanish. That was weird. Ok its past my nap, pictures to come. Arrived into Santiago,Chile after 13hrs of flying. No matter what I do I can never sleep on planes because I can never get comfortable. There just never seems to be enough room. Now I know I have an advantage over larger people because I can sit cross legged on a plane, but there is still never enough room. The flights were uneventful until deep into the 9th hour of flying,when the captain goes over the radio and asks if there is a doctor or nurse/paramedic on board to see if they could go check on a passenger. So I raise my hand and the stewardess comes to get me, and when she sees me she has this look on her face that basically says "ya sure your a doctor, dream on gringo," but then I explained that I was an EMT...but I could tell she still wasn't buying it. So I am led to the front of the plane where the seats are 10x bigger and where it smells like cucumber melon lotion and I am led to this kid that was complaining of stomach pain. So I do my assessment and check to see what was wrong. My diagnosis...constipation. But I don't blame the kid for freaking out, it was probably his first time being constipated. So I pretty much hung out with him for awhile made sure he was alright and went back to my uncomfortable seat. Upon landing and going through customs and paying a $140 reciprocity fee(thank you U.S for that) I hitched a ride with this chilean guy named Ivan. I guess he got a kick out of me because he let me ride in a cab that his company was paying for and dropped me off pretty much right in front of my hostel. Oh and did I mention it was 35 degrees outside? Ya everywhere I go I feel like im in an igloo. I couldn't check into the hostel until 1:30pm so I spent most of my day walking around trying to exchange my currency and ended up falling asleep on a park bench. All in all I am jovial and tired. The people in Chile are just great, probably some of the most genuine people I have ever met. And Santiago is pretty cool too. It's kind of like L.A. but more colorful. And there are asian people here who speak spanish. That was weird. Ok its past my nap, pictures to come.