Chile and Church

Today is the 20th and we have completed a week of school here and learned a great card game that I hope you will play with us. We discovered a grilled pizza place which is a great treat after empanadas and loads of meat...but it doesn't beat the chocolate here. The kids would still love to have chocolate 3 times a day. The pizzeria is also in this amazing building made of the special myrtle trees here and it is built like one of the dwarves homes only large. They love dwendes which are like gnomes-so like woodland creatures. So far this weekend we did a day over in Chile going to a hot spring and I tried to go to the volcano, but the roads to it are closed. It was a long driving day plus while waiting in line at the border, my rental car died. Yes it was totally embarrassing! But as soon as a guy ahead of me noticed I was not moving forward, he came up and asked if I needed help. Instantly there were 9-10 men around the car trying to push and jump start it going forward then they tried going backward then a huge SUV pulled up and they jump started it. This on a 2-lane road using both lanes and stopping traffic. It all took less than 10 minutes, but I was most blown away by the number of men who jumped in to help. The original fellow was Chilean and spoke some English. I later was able to help him get through the border process quicker to reciprocate. Sorry no photos as the hostel now has a new computer but no USB port. Chile was like a jungle compared to arg. Chile's side is like Seattle's side of the mountains--more lush and they had many waterfalls like the Cascades. The Arg. Side does not have much undergrowth and where there are woods it can be quite dense. Yesterday we went to El Bolson to church but left later than I had planned so missed half the service. It is a tiny society. They had a SS teacher so the kids joined the class. Very sweet people and made us feel very welcome. They ended the service with a silent prayer time while one more hymn played on the cd. It really touched me again how universal this CS message is and the church too. It has been decades since I had visited a church outside the US and I am so glad we did. I will see if we can go in Buenos Aires next Sunday. After church we went toacafe for asado then to the street fair. El bolson is known for its local artisans and Bohemians. Found a few things tos buy and many things we liked. Came back to a parade and outdoor concert in Bariloche.