We are continuing the series on living in Argentina. I love it here, in fact I was thanking God this morning for allowing our family to be here. If you ever visit Argentina, you are going to notice that there are phrases that are very commonly used. For this blog, we are going to look at the phrase, “Que bárbaro!”. So what does it mean? “Bárbaro” literally is translated as “barbaric”, but that is not really what the phrase means. It can mean many different things. I was in a local butcher shop where I practice my Spanish in the mornings. I asked the couple who run the shop what “Que bárbaro” means. I found out that context is very important, because depending on the context, “Que bárbaro” can mean, “cool”, “how sad”, “that’s great”, “that’s horrible”, “wow!”, and many other meanings. For example…

• A family was hit by a truck on the road yesterday (this was actually a conversation we had last week). In response, “Que bárbaro!”
• We had 10 visitors at church on Sunday. Again you can respond, “Que bárbaro!”
• I lost my job this morning. “Que bárbaro!”
• We are going to visit my grandparents in Jujuy. “Que bárbaro!”
• The asado will be on Saturday afternoon. “Que bárbaro!”

I could go on, but I think you get the point. It is an all-purpose phrase. So maybe the next time you are talking with someone, you might throw in a “Que bárbaro!” for good measure. If you are in Argentina, you will fit right in, if not it will make for an interesting conversation. So what do I say to the idea of training men and planting churches in Argentina? “Que bárbaro!”