After a HOT shower and with a cup of tea at my side I will try to put into words the weekend that I experienced : ) I went to the "Campamento de Jovenes" with the youth from 2 churches in BA. I went in knowing that it was a church retreat for 2 nights and 3 days in the outskirts of BA and that was about it... Sooo I'll start from the beginning I suppose.. : )

Well Emma, Nena, Chelsea and I arrived at the church Saturday morning at about 8:40, scheduled departure time was 9:00 so being the "Yankees" that we are, we got there early... Silly us, we are on Argentina time now : ) We finally left at around 10 (ish) and started a trip that was supposed to take 1.5 hours, wellllll after getting lost 4 or 5 times and quite a few U-turns we made it to the location around 2 or so : ) The bus ride was worth the trip in itself, I sat in the back with 3 other Americans and sang along to Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Journey, The Beatles and Grease with a bus load of Argentines! ahaha. The ages ranged from 14-26 and the people that I met this weekend are truly some of the most genuinely nice, loving, energetic and fun people that I have ever met in my life. The most incredible part of the bus trip was that not once did you hear anybody complain about the "mishaps" or about being "late", they were all too busy enjoying the time with their friends to waste time complaining... really got me thinking...

The location for the retreat is a tad bit hard to describe... Well it's a family's gated farmish/acreage, they live there in their house but they also have living quarters for events, and a salon to hold our group talks and a mess hall and kitchen. The pictures will do a better job explaining than I can : ) I was instantly reminded of the Burwell Farm as I walked through a herd of ducks to get to lunch and could hear the call of a goat in the distance hahahaha. It was a frigid weekend, and unfortunately there was no central heating (I am so SPOILED) so we relied on a fireplace in the mess hall and only had heat from a heater periodically in the salon and while we slept! I layered up, like a good Wyomingite (literally 6 layers), slept in my clothes and made sure to keep the fire stoked!

The theme for the weekend was Pirates of the Carribbean (naturally an American movie : )), but the discussions were really incredible. We talked about what the desires of our hearts are because that's where our "compass" is pointing us, what true treasure we have in Jesus, how to follow our own "map" of life and how we can all work together in our own roles on the ship of life! I couldn't directly translate every single word that was said but it  really didn't matter,it was a true testimony to the language of love, and how this kind of love knows no language barrier. God is so good, and each day I spend down here reminds me that his love is beyond words : )


We met in small groups, did devotionals, played games (most of the time I had no idea what was going on: )), had free time to "hang-out", acted in skits, and ate some classic camp food, Argentine style : ) Our group won for best skit, I represented you all back home with a stunning duet performance of Celine Dion's hit from Titanic, "My heart will go on". Chelsea and I actually won the award for best singers of the weekend... That video will be buried with me : )) The weekend flew by, kinda of like this past month has, and taking the time to reflect on  all the incredible people that I have met and experiences that we have shared makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world (I know it's cliche, but deal with it : )) I am really meeting people that I know will be friends for a lifetime Thank you all for sticking with me the past month, sending love from the South!

View from the back of the bus, please notice the girl drinking a mate on the bus : ) Only in BA

Classic

The view as we drove into the camp

Dressed up as pirates before our skits!

After a series of events, Chrlsea and I ended up sharing this bed, which was a blessing in itself because we were nice and cozy and warm!

The mess hall/salon building, the living quarters are in the background to the right!

A new friend : )

The gathering place : )

The lovely living quarters!

The gathering place part deux : ) With modern heating this time : )

All of the camp! Can you find me?!

Group Number 9! Chelsea, Tore, Meli, Marun, Alex, Bailey and Veron! : )