I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. There are certain things I think back on with fondness. I can remember playing outside in our yard as a young boy on Friday nights in October and being able to faintly hear the local high school marching band playing in the distance. I share this to give you one very small example of the customs I grew up in. Every nation has different customs. It can be broken down further, into regions (different states, cities, and even towns have unique customs), and even in families (for example, some families have the same meal on Christmas Eve). Our customs make us unique.

We live in Argentina now. We are welcomed by a whole different set of customs. You will not hear marching bands playing faintly in the distance on Friday nights in October. That doesn’t exist here. However there are many new and interesting customs to be learned. Whenever you pass by a car with a jug on top of it, it means the car is for sale. When you greet a friend, you place your cheek to theirs and make a “kiss” sound. When you walk by a table at a restaurant, you may say “provecho”. When you see that 85% of the ice cream flavors include something called “dulce de leche” (a very, very sweet caramel-like sauce). When the biggest part of Christmas is Christmas Eve night when the clock strikes midnight until about 3:00 AM (we will be experiencing this for the first time in just over a month). I could go on, but I think you understand. New customs are not weird or bad, they are different. Perhaps the most important thing I have learned as we continue to adjust is that my attitude determines almost everything.

This is the final post in the series “Living in Argentina”. The truth is we are still learning. There is much to learn. I make mistakes often, and I correct them as I learn what I have done. Living in Argentina is a blessing, but greater than learning the customs of a new and beautiful country is to share the Gospel with others who have never heard!

Living in a different country than the one you grew up in means you are constantly learning differences from what you are accustomed to. I find that some things are really small, almost insignificant changes and other things are much bigger. Attitude has everything to do with how we adjust. It is important to remember that the customs we are learning are not “weird”, just different. The subject of todays post is something that is much bigger as “culture shock” is concerned. I grew up eating dinner around 7:30 PM or so. As Leslie and I were married and had children, we would normally have dinner around 6:30 PM (with small children it was easier that way). We arrived to Argentina 7 months ago. One of the larger differences is how late Argentines have dinner. Many of my friends normally eat dinner around 10:00 PM. This is normal. If you eat out, restaurants do not normally open until at least 8:00 PM and people don’t really start dining until 9:00 PM or later. Our neighbors can be out on their patios eating dinner at 10:30 PM or later. This is certainly something we are not accustomed to! It is not weird, but it is different. it is humorous to talk with people here about dinner. They will ask about our lives and when they find out that we used to eat dinner so early, they are shocked! “How can you eat so early?!?!” (all said in Spanish). The same reaction I had when I find out they eat dinner so late is the same reaction they have when they find out we ate dinner so early.

I think the first question I had is how in the world could they eat lunch at noon-1:00 PM, how can they wait until 10:00 PM to eat again? The answer is how the day works here. We have a normal breakfast time, lunch around 12:30 PM-1:30 PM, and at around 5:00 PM we have something called a “merienda”. This is a “snack” time that consists of coffee, mate (click here to learn about mate), a pastry, cookies, etc.

So, how do we adjust? We eat at home most of the time. Because of this we can eat at an earlier time. When we have people over for dinner we usually have the dinner later. If we do go out to eat it makes for a late night, but that is okay. We make it fun. It is all a part of life in Argentina!

Learning From Others

We spent the first week of October in Arequipa for a pastor’s conference. Pastor Gardner started the ministry over 25 years ago. National pastors from Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina were there. Missionaries from around South America were present as well. Outside of the sessions, I spent a lot of time with Pastor Gardner. We talked about the future here in Argentina and our next steps. We arrived back in Argentina with plans to move forward. There is much to do here and God is allowing us to have a part in it all! Please pray for us as we begin preparations to move forward in the ministry. Our language school is now finished and it is time for us to move forward. More details are coming in the next few months.

“How do you say…”

I am asking, “How do you say…” less and less! Although we are finished with formal language school we will always be learning. Practice is the key. I had another opportunity to preach in the church we have been attending while in language school. Pastor Jorge is very kind to allow me to preach. There were mistakes and I catch most of them as they come out of my mouth. I am improving with every message. Leslie and I are really growing in the language. The girls are also learning the language. While there is still much to learn we are all growing every day!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

I am still learning. I have lived here for 7 months and it seems like each day comes with more questions and more answers. Some customs are very subtle while others are more obvious. If you are ever in Argentina and you are speaking to an Argentine, you will very quickly see him/her use hand gestures. It is a very normal thing to see Argentines talk with there hands.  Within the first weeks of arriving here, I remember talking with a man in the church who, in the course of conversation, stopped and pulled down at the skin below his eye and said “ojo” (meaning “eye”). I didn’t understand that at all. Why did he just say “eye” to me? Why did he pull down at his eye? What did that have to do with anything. It didn’t take long to learn some of these basic movements. I use them myself now. Here are a few that I have learned…

• Ojo (eye) – pulling down at the eye. It means, “be careful”. For example, if someone was looking at your backpack, another person might warn you and pull down at his eye.
• Rubbing your hand across the bottom of your neck – “I don’t know.” This is done while saying “No se.” (I don’t know).
• Touching your four fingers to your thumb – I don’t understand this at all, but it means to have fear or to be afraid of something.
• Pretending to write on your hand with an imaginary pen – this is done in restaurants and means to bring the check.
• Extend your hand, palm down, and curl your fingers up toward your palm repeatedly – this means to “come here”.
• With your hand forming the OK sign, make a short, quick downward motion in front of your chest – This one is used a lot (I guess they all are). It basically means “just right, perfect,the best”.
• Bring all of your fingers and your thumb together with your hand pointing upward. Move your hand up and down at the wrist – frustration, what are you talking about, etc.

I am sure there are many more. These are the ones I have learned and I find myself using them on a fairly regular basis in daily conversations. Living in Argentina means learning to talk with your hands.