Un Feliz Sabado en Misiones

 As Adventists, we really enjoy great Sabbaths, don't we?  Well, today was one of those...  We had a great sermon, a great lunch, a great walk, a great visit, and a great shopping trip in the evening.  What more could you ask?

Today the sun came out again.  The weather here is not exactly cold, but in the morning and evening you need something warm on.  It's kind of like being in a cold house.  The sun rises late and sets early, too.  But the weather is by no means cold yet.  Winter will begin here on June 21!

Last Sabbath, a former geography teacher at ISAM by the name of Victor App invited me to come over for some history and background on this place.  Today I took Mr. App :) up on his offer.  His daugher, Mariela, will be an exchange student to SVA from August to October.  You can see her next to Julia in the photo below.  We spent the afternoon on his patio while the kids "waded" (yeah, right!) in the creek out back.  I showed him the map of Virginia and lots of photos of SVA and the Valley.  He showed me all about Adventist history of South America They are so excited!  You wouldn't believe the level of pride and enthusiasm these folk have about going to the United States.

 

Yesterday afternoon, I had a meeting with our SVA students here to get us more organized and focused on the task at hand - improving our Spanish.  We spoke about how to represent our family, school, and country.  The kids shared about some struggles and successes in the first full week of classes and school culture here.  I took a week one Spanish language video sample from everyone and will do so every week until we leave.  I also gave them an assessment of their performance so far.  This is serious business, you know.  :)

During this exchange program, students are graded on a few things: attendance, cooperation/adaptability, speaking Spanish (not English), language progress, and intangibles.  Some are always with Argentineans while others spend more time than they ought with English speakers.  I am docking them for that.  But everyone is doing well in spite of challenges such as frustration at the inability to communicate the most simple things, homesickness, navigating the friendship question, and ordinary logistical issues.  I am proud of each one!

Here are the fathers of two students coming to SVA on exchange from Argentina next year.  You see Mr. App with Gerardo, an economics teacher and current law student.

This young man, Santiago, will also come to SVA this fall on exchange as well.  He plays tennis, I hear...  So, we are little by little meeting our new students and parents.  Here is a photo of Melissa Tejedor's mom.  She loves us so much!

Tomorrow, Sunday, a few of us will be going just up the road to the Adventist Wellness Center to play tennis.

I was able to get caught up on the French Open yesterday, watching the Nadal and Djokovic advance to tomorrow's final at 3 p.m. Paris time.

In the afternoon and evening we will visit the Jesuit Mission at San Ignacio.  The students got some good historical background on this place with a lecture by a history professor and watching the film "La Mision" with Richard Chamberlain and Robert DeNiro.  It is set at Iguazu Falls, which we will visit in another couple of weeks.  Here the Jesuit missionaries worked with the Guarani Tribes.

I am learning more about this area everyday.  It was largely settled by German Adventists in 1912.  It has one of the highest densities of Seventh-day Adventism in all the world.  There are some places around Lake Titicaca, the Philippines, and in Africa that have similar density of SDAs.  This little school (bigger than SVA by the way) is growing.  They actually have a few college degree programs in nursing, accounting, and teaching.

Thanks for reading!!!!!!