Wow, is the only word that comes to mind describing “la pampa” the most fertile land in the world! Daniel took me to the amazing Church farms. I feel so blessed to know all what the Church is doing to prepare for the future and alleviate hunger all over the world. We went on Friday and I must say, this assignment is going to be different. I can’t help to compare areas whenever I move so here is my observation thus far.
The people: Members and employees of the Church are very kind and professional. They like to do things the right way from the start. Outside on the streets of Buenos Aires is another story. I would say, it's the survival of the fittest!
The food: Yum, food is fabulous! I love Italian cuisine so I am in heaven.
The climate: It’s four seasons and that means it gets cold. We are experiencing the start of winter so not a good time to visit.
Housing: You get a lot less for your $$$ if you want to live in a good neighborhood. Finding a niece place to live is as expensive as New York.
The traffic: We can drive in this city and not feel so overwhelmed even on heavy traffic.
The Habitat: South America South area is absolutely breathtaking! I am already in love with all of what this part of the world should offer for tourists. Come on over!
Politics: Like many developing countries, there is clearly a good deal of corruption in Argentina. They are having elections in a few months so it’s tense. One Party in particular has created a great deal of entitlement among the people.
Economic stability: Very Volatile. The dollar is strong now but that could change. In only 18 months, the dollar exchange went from 20 to 50 pesos for a dollar but now it went down again to 42 pesos to a dollar. In other words, there is no rhyme or reason why it goes up and down all the time.
Sports: The favorite sport is soccer. We are currently watching a game Uruguay Vs. Ecuador so we are finally in a country where people are big fans of soccer, Daniel’s favorite sport. Gooool!
Health care: I never knew this but in Argentina health care is 100% free if you are an employee. This is a good place to get sick but we don’t plan on it of course J
Over all, like any place, it has its pros and cons. On Sunday, we woke up to a rare phenomenon of a huge block out in all of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and even parts of Peru and Brazil. It had never happened before but we didn’t feel it because our Hotel has a generator. From our window, we could see all the streets around us without any electricity, it was raining hard so we stayed inside all day.
What I like about our new assignment is that we are only a three to four- hour difference from Salt Lake depending of time of year. Daniel’s mom and family are a lot closer and easier to visit and there are direct flights to many cities including, Miami, Orlando and New York. Yay! Tomorrow I will be on my way to meet baby Isaac, so you can only imagine how thankful I feel to be relatively closer and travel a lot easier. What a tender mercy!
Con amor,
Vero
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