Petting Tigers, Midnight Studies, & Living Standards Clash

Posted by Dominick on Sep 29, 2011 in Tales From a Faraway Land | 0 comments

Greetings friends and readers! I just got back from a long day in the field ministry, ad I wanted to through something new up for you to read and enjoy.

Sometimes I feel like I am the only line of communication back home from this place. However this is only because I constantly forget that I am not alone in my efforts to share the wonders of Buenos Aires. In fact among my friends and congregation we have many that produce admirable works about their life here. As much as you may find my experiences here to be fascinating and inspiring (thats a little much I think), I often times find that reading about the experiences of my fellow expats can be quite enlightening. In fact I especially appreciate reading their take on events which I have previously written about myself.

Tonight I wanted to share 3 posts I feel are excellent reads, and will enhance your appreciation for the city that I love so dearly…

Xerxes and Argentine Infrastructure

The first one is from our good buddy Xerxes aka “The Mad Persian”.

Xerxes is a good friend and excellent young elder at our hall, hailing from the great state of…Connecticut (?) He has been a  great help to us here in the English Congregation through his amazing talks, calming voice in times of distress, and cheerful companionship in and out of the hall. Even if at times he is a bit of a “Jerkxes” (ok more than a bit…more like nearly all the time), he is still one of those few people you never want to leave.

As Xerxes is a fellow American expat, he is a good sounding board for those times when living in another country can just get oh so frustrating…Xerxes himself had a lovely experience dealing with what we call the “Argentina Business Model”. Basically it describes the Argentina mindset during business; they are doing you a favor by selling you something, its your loss if you decide never to come back due to dissatisfaction. He had some amusing experiences, and notable insights in his latest blog post here:

http://onexerxes.blogspot.com/2011/09/infrastructure.html

Heartwarming Ministry Account & Tiger Taming

Our dear Aaron and Sara…what would we do without them? As collectively our largest friends (like someone ran the sizer bar on the screen a little further up than normal), we enjoy having them form our late night service posse when we go African hunting in the wee hours of the night in some of the cities seediest areas. Coming to us all the way from Seattle these two lovable buddies of ours definitely are a joy to have, to hold, to drink with, eat with, and kill people with… I mean save people with 🙂

Take a peak at two posts from Sara’s blog that are quite revealing. One showcases their visit to the Lujan Zoo just outside the city. This zoo is not the tiny petting zoo, no touchy the glass zoo you remember going to last…this one you jump into the cage and handle animals you would never dare to stare at. Outside of this zoo the only time you would feel comfortable this close to some of these animals is if there were serving as your rug.

http://mangotangoland.posterous.com/zoologico-de-lujan

This post is a brief description of some of the environments we get to conduct our ministry in. Here Sara relates the results of some of our late night African hunts, and how regularly going into less than admirable hotels late at night while avoiding street dwellers, and hookers that seem to be having an male/female identity crisis can be oh so rewarding. Enjoy!

http://mangotangoland.posterous.com/55479801

So…Where Have I Been?

Posted by Dominick on Sep 3, 2011 in Featured, Tales From a Faraway Land | 6 comments

In case you haven’t noticed, this is my first real blog post since March (5 months!)…Firstly, for all of you who perhaps upon realizing this said “YAY!!! No more terrible stories to read!” (Dave!)…I would like to offer my most sincere thanks for your unwavering support 🙂

For the rest of you, whom I assume (quite pathetically at times) still enjoy reading my blog at times,  I hope you will enjoy the fruits of my renewed literary resolve here on this site.

But perhaps some of you do not know what exactly lead me to abandon my blog for such a large period of time…I guess now would be a good time to play the catch up game and explain whats been going on in the last few months.

…And Then Came The Spring…Or was it The Fall? I Can Never Figure That Out…

The last 6 months, nay, really the last year or so has been filled with several elements that have contributed to varying degrees to my more chaotic than normal lifestyle since then.

Mamma No Esta Bien

The foremost of these has been the continuing health condition of my mother. In late August, less than two weeks before I was to move to BsAs full time, she was diagnosed with Lymphoma.

Instantly, I began thinking about how this news was going to affect my plans. I initially began thinking that I should put off my move to BsAs…I even considered the possibility of moving to California to be closer to Mom. As these worries were tearing me apart, I managed to convince myself to hold off from full freakout mode until after we knew exactly what was going on.

After a very tense week or so for our family, the doctors finally told us that she had a very good chance of beating the cancer with a evidently “routine” chemo regimen. After a brief, less than fun, last minute visit, I managed to make my flight to BsAs, confidant Mom was in good hands in California, and that the situation was under control…

Fast forward to early January, we receive news that despite the favorable odds for a full recovery, Mom’s treatment was not 100% successful against her cancer. Needless to say this situation was quite distressing for all of us. Speaking for myself, I know I initially felt an immense regret over my choices regarding the previous six months of my life. I began having thoughts of feeling guilty over leaving her, etc…

Something Better

Posted by Dominick on Sep 3, 2011 in Creative Things, Lyrical Writings | 0 comments

10/11/10 & 9/1/11
a mi querida….

I only can ask
If you want something better
Something more than we are
To be partners forever

With backs against the wall
But faces to the wind
Though at times we’d fall
Ready for what may come

As these days drag on
And the world beats us down
Until there’s nothing left
Won’t you be the one
To pick me when I’m down

If only you’d be mine
Just give me a sign
I’d promise to find a way
To make each day
Hold more joy than pain
Until my final breath departs
On my dying day