Its a rainy day here in Buenos Aires. The sidewalks are not only wet and full of put holes, but also an unparalleled amount of dog droppings. The Porteños (the name for residents of Buenos Aires) are less friendly than I expected, but maybe its because I'm forgetting that I'm in a megacity and not an African village. I guess this is as friendly as it gets in the face of urbanization.
It's been an intense couple of weeks. We've been introduced to the hundreds of urban issues--poverty, segregation, pollution, waste removal, politics, corruption, gentrification, and shanty towns are just a handful of them. It's scary to think that cities are the future of humanity...its said to be the most efficient way to sustain a growing population. Within a decade or two, the world is projected to have over 60 megacities (San Francisco is not one of them yet). A lot of the things I'm learning are quite shocking and depressing.... I don't think I will ever see the world in the same way again.

The other day I had a really interesting conversation with an Indigenous woman from the Amazon who was making and selling jewelry on the streets. Spanish was a second language for both of us. There isn't even a handful of indigenous people in the city anymore. Buenos Aires prides itself in being a very European city. The indigenous have been tragically persecuted in the past and there is still quite a bit of prejudice towards them in many parts of latinoamerica. Though they are no longer persecuted, the indigenous everywhere are greatly exploited.

Anyway, this woman named cielo azul is from a hidden village in Peru ( She tells me the government has no knowledge of their existence). Her greatest desire is for her village to remain unknown and uncontaminated from the world, suggesting that ignorance is bliss. Cielo Azul (blue sky) left her village when she was a young woman and now has no other option but to remain in the world to support her children (she's a single mother who suffered years of abuse from a non-indigenous husband). Her children want nothing to do with their indigenous roots. Every 3 months she goes back to visit her village but she has to enter and leave the village empty handed. It's a journey through the amazon that takes several days on foot. Cielo Azul described their way of life to me and it seemed so beautiful, almost like a Utopian society. Of a population of 5,000, only 3 of them are "in the world". (And they practice population control by limiting births to two children per woman)

I attended church all weekend long and it was quite interesting and very refreshing. There are several Salvation Army corps here (most of them in the poor, needy, and dangerous parts of town! yay!) I definitely missed it and needed it--it is always so encouraging to see the church doing God´s work in the world. It is super hard to connect with people in the city, a lot harder than all the other places I've been to. The church has really been the only viable way.
Many of the students in my group are struggling with community and adjustment, and frustrated and confused with all the issues that we are learning about--so keep us in your prayers. It´s only been a week but it feels so much longer, I am more homesick than ever on this trip but as always, God has been so good and faithful and he is providing for us and showing us great things here. So I am so thankful and excited for all that He has planned for us.

blessings,
Annie