Pequeñas alegrías...

It's cold.

Minus three degrees Celsius cold.

Those of you from colder climates are probably laughing and thinking "she's got no idea what cold is!" Well, you might be right. I just spent five years in a tropical climate and developed a "thicker skin" for melting temperatures than for freezing ones!

I wake up before the sun is out, shiver to the shower, wallow in the piping-hot water (oh yeah, quick update about the gas cylinder crisis-I moved to another apartment with natural gas piped in...Hallelujah!)...well, not really wallowing...more like "hugging" the streams of steamy water appreciatively, then dress in layers (hello stockings!), put on my big, fluffy jacket, walk out the door and hear the "crunch, crunch, crunch" of the frozen grass under my boots.

The other day, as I was sitting on a wonderfully icy toilet seat, I recalled thinking, much in the same position but, in that tropical climate, on a warm toilet seat (it was 40 degrees Celsius, and the bathroom was located on the second floor, which was always very hot), "man, I wish I could sit on a cool seat". Well, wishes do come true. Icily true. Too much information? Moving on then. :)

This post was really supposed to be, like the title says, about small "happinesses" that happened to me this past week (the toilet seat just kind of crept in) and for which I am grateful:

1. Happiness is...a hot water shower! heating! cooking! (see this post to understand).

2. Happiness is...receiving a book about God's will, and sour candies (that sounds like a strange combination, come to think of it! But I love them both! :) ) from a very thoughtful far-away-friend.

3. Happiness is...walking down the street smiling to myself (alright, I'll admit to outright laughing out loud)  as I browse  a photobook sent by a collection of wonderful far-away-friends.

So, to all in heaven and on earth, a big thank you for helping make this cold week surprisingly warm.

Melodramatic gas problems and other musings...

A couple of weeks ago, I was struck suddenly with a 2 minute crying spell along the lines of "everything is so difficult here"... fortunately my brother (who was recovering from a foot operation) limped over and gave me a hug. We also had the following profound dialog:

Bro: This is Argentina...we're a third world country, you know!

Me: I lived in a third world country for five years and things weren't THIS hard!

Bro: Well, but at least you're not in the middle of an uprising...

Me: I am, however, unable to buy a dumb gas cylinder to cook food and heat my water with!!!

Waaaahh....

(A little background information: the idiotic Argentinian government has fixed the price of all smallish gas cylinders at a ridiculously low price-which you would think is good, right? Wrong. The gas companies are refusing to sell at that price because it doesn't even cover their taxes, transportation, etc...so guess what? There are NO smallish gas cylinders  to be had!...They do, however, have a vast stock of humongous gas cylinders which they are more than willing to sell you at outrageous prices!...and it's winter, so you can't really take cold showers...).

I shared this little melodrama with a friend, via email. The following comments (copyright JC! used without permission :) ) hit the nail straight on the head: 

"Back to the gas cylinder..is it harder to deal with problems at home? I mean in [another country] you expect a certain level of discomfort, but at home things should be better. And plus when you're in [another country] you can enjoy all the adventure that comes along with the discomforts. It's a lot more enjoyable to say, suffer a couple of days without water when you have [wonderful beaches, getaways] as an option." 

Sometimes it's hard being a local! When you're in a foreign country, certain difficulties can be written off with an "oh yeah, everything is so hard because I'm a foreigner here and don't know how things are done".

Well, I am no longer a foreigner....darn!

Salwar Kameez and a Happy Sabbath

I have to confess, I'm sort of an eclectic dresser. I like to collect and wear outfits from other countries I've been to (insert my my brother's exasperated rolling of eyes here, as he comments "How are you ever going to attract a guy dressed like that?!").

Today I went to my university church (where everybody obviously never deviates from a "western style" of dress) wearing a salwar kameez and sat near the back, waiting for the Sabbath School to finish. As soon as it was over, a lady makes a beeline for me...a lady from India*!

Now for those of you that might not be aware of it, there aren't many Indians in Argentina-in fact I had never met any in Argentina before-so finding one in a small, in-the-middle-of-nowhere hometown like mine is quite a feat. She greeted me in almost flawless castillian (yes, we Argentinians speak Castillian spanish, in case you were wondering...not that we're snobs or anything lol!) with a very Argentinian kiss on the cheek, and asked me if I had come from India. I told her I had visited a little bit and enjoyed it. She was sweet, charming, and very friendly. She also told me that she never wears her Indian outfits  "as people don't really do that here". I told her that I didn't mind that much as I love my Indian outfits (they're very comfortable!) and enjoy wearing them. Now, the Adventist world (and the "Indian network" in particular) is quite "small". It turns out her sister was my parents' neighbor in the Philippines, and another relative of hers was my coworker in Thailand.

See what wearing a salwar kameez does? How else would I have found all that out and met such a sweet lady?

Namaste.

(*) Edit: I later found out she's from Sri Lanka.