The Paris of the South

We left Montevideo for Buenas Aires early on Friday morning on a charter bus headed for Colonia where we would take the Ferry to B.A. Our first stop was this really random museum of world record collections of pencils, key chains, and perfume bottles. Personally, my favorite part of the place was the playground outside with some legit merry-go-round deals and a seesaw on springs. It was awesome. We got off the bus again to see an old bull fighting rink and to have a picnic by a beach. The bus trip ended in Colonia where we wandered down by a beach through cobblestone streets and then climbed a lighthouse where we could barely make out part of the skyline of Buenas Aires across the ocean. Whitney, Ben, and I went down to the pier and sat and watched the water and the ships, got coffee in miniature coffee mugs, wandered through an artisans market and simply enjoyed the relaxed pace of the town.Then we headed to the enormous ferry to go to Buenas Aires! We couldn’t figure out if it felt like we were on a plane or a bus or really moving at all the ride was so smooth.
After arriving in Buenas Aires we got on an air-conditioned bus to ride to our air-conditioned hotel. This hotel was literally in the center of downtown. There is a massive obelisk that marks the center of a 20+ lane street (one of the biggest in the world) that runs through downtown and our hotel rooms each had balconies overlooking the street. Buenas Aires is an incredible city with many many different interesting things to see and explore. Here are a few of my favorite parts of Buenas Aires:

La Boca- an old, beautiful, colorful neighborhood with lots of vendors, salsa dancers, painters, musicians, and restaurants.

Puente– a famous, white, modern looking  bridge over a beautiful river. The River walk is pretty posh and one night Brady, Ben, Whitney, and I went down to a little park to people watch and talk.

The Ferria- a street filled with a long market. There were beautiful embroidery crafts, colorful shoes. Whitney and I spent a few hours walking down the market and finding all sorts of beautiful things and trying to have little conversations in Spanish with some of the vendors.

The last thing I want to mention about Buenas Aires are the wonderful friends I made there. I met Marisa and Ashley at the church service in the morning  and then Whitney and I met up with them after we wandered the Ferria and they showed us a 5 story mall and took us to one of their favorite restaurants served family style. We had such a wonderful conversation about how the youth of different countries can represent Jesus to the world. The way that a common love and a common purpose can unite God’s people across countries is inspiring in a way like nothing I have ever experienced. It is a bond that grows stronger with differences and is more pure as it combines cultures. The love of our great God unites us and this friendship gave me a taste of the joy that will be ours when together with followers of Christ from all over the world we will all praise or King and spend every moment glorifying Him.