pictures worth sharing ****
Plaza San Martin - there is a plaza by that name in every city in Argentina it seems. Well, this day in particular was a holiday that marked 31 years since "the military coup that ushered in a seven-year dictatorship that killed or made to disappear 30,000 people." ... it is so hard to imagine that happened in such recent history. They string up the pictures of some of the people who disappeared, "the missing," in the plaza. Here is part of a really interesting article from a BA paper... "At the same time, tens of thousands of people joined in two marches to Plaza de Mayo in front of the Government House to demand justice. Similar marches, rallies and ceremonies were held throughout the country."I say to the courts: trial and punishment. We need the trials to be speeded up... There are military who are in hiding today, who are afraid of showing up in court. Military who were the masters of the lives of the Argentines who wanted a different country," Kirchner said at the La Perla army barracks — in central Córdoba province — which functioned as a concentration camp.Undeterred by a heavy rainfall, the crowd cheered Kirchner, who has made human rights one of the cornerstones of his centre-left Peronist administration.The President, on behalf of the state, once against asked for forgiveness."In this camp of horror that was led by cowards whose names are unmentionable, I beg the pardon of the Argentine people, of the grandmothers, of the children, of the disappeared, due to the (state’s) lack of courage to assume responsibility," he said.Similar remarks from Kirchner in the past sparked controversy because he failed to mention that the leaders of the dictatorship were imprisoned under the government of Radical president Raúl Alfonsín — an unprecedented move in Latin America, a continent plagued by dictatorships ever since most of its countries gained independence in the early 19 century." (props to JB)

on a lighter note...here are some great girls to be praying for (l to r: Jemina, Greta, Maira, Euge - Vida student, Kathryn - teammate). they are super fun to spend time with! they are all freshman this year - two are studying English and one of them Art.

the boys...with their Truco cards...that means their happy :) and this time even a whole pizza box to themselves! it really is a fun game, but quite complicated to learn - it's all about bluffing and betting...i think that's why the guys love it so much. ...and because it's Argentine!

a cool sunset sky...taken from our balcony

this picture was from awhile ago, before the weather turned cold...but it's so fun i wanted to share it. these are some of our sweet girls involved in the movement!!

this may be one of my favorites! this is Quino and Charo, our campus director's kids. they are hilarious. well, at the moment they're playing with these toys my parents brought for them - they're blowfish!! i'll have to put another picture up here later so you can see their actual faces but i just love this one.

you can be praying for their family - their grandpa, Mauricio's dad, just passed away yesterday after battling cancer for many years.

thanks for keeping up with our random postings of pictures with captions. one day we'll get better about telling stories and having themes for our posts :)