A Contrast of Two Cities...

Colonia (our current assignment) and Salto (our future assignment) are, in some ways, alike. There are three main tourism destinations in Uruguay: Colonia's historic quarter, the Atlantic coast beaches, and the hot springs outside of Salto. It dawned on me the other day that we're moving from one touristy city to another! Both cities are situated on the banks of a river and both cities are the capitals of their "departamento" (state/county). Both cities are located closer to the Argentine capital than the Uruguayan capital and both have strong interaction with Argentina.
But Salto and Colonia are also disimilar. Salto has a population of nearly 100,000 people and that is nearly four times the population of Colonia. It's also warmer in Salto--the median high temperature in summer is around 90 degrees in Salto and 80 degrees in Colonia! (Record high temperature in Salto was 108 degrees...and that's not factoring in humidity!) Salto is home to the largest university outside of Montevideo and Colonia doesn't have a certified intensive care unit at any of its "hospitals".
At the end of the day, God has called us to proclaim a life-transforming message and we want to do so wherever He places us. There is plenty of work to do in BOTH places!

There are no U-Hauls in Uruguay!

There are no U-Haul trucks or trailers for rent in Uruguay. So you have to hire a truck and a driver and he'll try to convince you to hire a couple of guys to help. As you're talking to the truck driver/owner, you brace yourself for the price quote because, right now, diesel is over $6.20 a gallon. There are no Staples or Walmart stores to find cardboard boxes, plastic totes, shrink wrap, or bubble wrap. (I did find a "taper" after visiting several stores!) So you have to drive around town and see what boxes the local businesses are putting out on the street. Last week I stumbled onto a large pile of boxes outside a local "supermarket" and I hurried to toss them all in to the back of our minivan. I heard someone approaching and I was worried that one of the many local "recyclers" was coming to contest the spoils. It turned out to be a store clerk who asked me if I wanted a couple more boxes and then asked me how much money I was getting per kilo of cardboard! I must have been pretty shabbily dressed...I didn't realize I looked like a "recycling technician"!

Children's Day

Children's Day is a big event in Uruguay. (Oddly enough, this year the government postponed the holiday by one week only a month or so before it was to be celebrated.) Most of the churches we're familiar with take advantage of the holiday and use it to reach out to children and their families. This year, as a fellowship, we distributed several thousand Bible story CDs in four different cities. We received the CDs (free of charge) from Mr. Mark Ring of Comforting Ministries. Here in Colonia we distributed several hundred in the vicinity of the two grade schools closest to the church property. They were very well received and we could have used more.