Cochabamba Chronicles

The Romeros in Tucuman, Argentina

On Saturday, Aug 19, at 8:00 AM we flew from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz and on to Salta Argentina. The flight from Santa Cruz was late, and we were afraid we were going to miss our bus to Tucuman. A kind taxi driver rushed us to the bus station, and by some special blessing, the bus didn’t leave on time. We made it on the bus, and were on our way for our 4 ½ hour bus ride to Tucuman. These buses are wonderful. We rode a few like this in Uruguay. They have large comfortable seats that lay back, and foot rests with lots of room. We sat in the front of the bus, and could see everything as we drove along.

David Romero was at the bus station to pick us up and take us to our Hotel. We stayed in the Hotel Paris. It was nice and very adequate for our stay there. It was also just a block from their house. David wasn’t born yet when Martin taught his family the gospel in Tucuman, but he came to see us in Montevideo while we were serving there. Martin and Elder Nunnally taught the Romero family the gospel almost 50 years ago. Luis and Maria were baptized, along with their three children Mercedes, Daniel, and Marta. Mercedes has 4 children, Daniel 8 children, and Marta 2 children. Daniel and David served missions, and many of the grandsons, also. Luis died 15 years ago, and David takes care of his 84 year old mother.

They were so kind to us, and did they ever feed us well. We went to church with them on Sunday, and then had a big dinner in a long hallway in Maria’s house. On Monday, Manuel (Marta’s husband) cooked asado for us. They cook down wood to coals, and then cook lots of good meat over them. They cooked that way in Uruguay, also. Tuesday morning we went to David’s Institute lesson with him, and got to participate in his class. In the afternoon we went to Rodolfo’s house, and Mercedes and her daughter-in-law, Nadia and daughter, Desiree, cooked milanesa. On Wednesday, David bought us empanadas for lunch, and that night we went out for pizza. Every day except Sunday, David bought us ice cream. I love maracuya, and I got to have maracuya ice cream almost every day. It was so good. I am going to be sad, because I have never seen maracuya (passion fruit) flavored anything at home. We got to eat a lot of Martin’s favorite foods from Argentina, including, dulce de leche. We both felt like we wouldn’t need to eat again for a week. It was so good, though.

Every day we sat in the room where Martin helped teach the family the gospel. They would give us drinks, and try to get us to eat more food. They really know how to be hospitable. We would get fat if we stayed there too long. It was a great trip. We were thankful to get to spend 4 days with the Romero family. They are very thankful to have the gospel in their lives.

It is spring in South America. There were beautiful pink trees blooming everywhere.

There were about 3 different times they were stopping traffic to check people's ID.
A lot of people in the U.S. don't even want to show ID to vote.

Entering Tucuman

The end of our 4 1/2 hour bus ride.

Entering Tucuman on Saturday evening.

The Romero family at church on Sunday.

After church we had a luncheon in the hallway of Maria Romero's home.

Mercedes, David, Maria, Marta, and Daniel (standing)

Martin and Sylvia with the Romero's

Marta's husband, Luis, fixed us a wonderful asado.

Eating again. We did that a lot while we were there. The meat was really good.

Monday evening, David took us to a Feria Artesenal. We saw lots of handcrafted items.
There were also dancers. These dancers were dressed in the white and light blue
colors of Argentina.

After that we went to the Plaza de Independencia. We didn't get pictures because it was dark, but there were some dancers
from a dance group doing the Tango. I asked David if he could do the Tango, and he said no. I noticed a couple things.
Each couple had their own style. You better like the person you are dancing with because they dance really close. It is a very difficult dance, and there is no way I could do it. I would fall flat. It is a very cool dance. It is famous in Argentina.

There is always a Catholic church by the Plaza. This is the church where Luis and Maria Romero were married.

The next day we went exploring, and found this goucho dancing for money.
The woman stopped to dance with him. They used handkerchiefs.

We were also lucky enough to see the changing of the guard.
David said that only happens once a day.

There were many motorcycles. There would often be three or four people on a motorcycle.
The most I saw was 5. A mother, father, and three children.

We also got to see a protest of a socialist group. It was peaceful.
There were thousands of people. They wanted the government to do more for the poor working class.

Our milanesa dinner.

It smelled so good in Tucuman. They have lots of orange trees, and they were all in bloom.

David said someone wrote the graffitti on their front door. At least they wrote LDS.

I guess this is pretty common in South America. I wouldn't be too fond of it.
There is an open courtyard, with rooms of the house surrounding it. If you leave a room,
you are outside. I would particularly not like it to have to go outside to go to the bathroom.
They are all used to it. It is a lot what you are used to.

Every night we would spend time around the table. This is the room where
Martin and his companion taught them the gospel.

David, Martin, and Maria

The two of us with Maria

Martin and David

Martin always talked about how great the buses were in Argentina.
He said many of them were made by Mercedes Benz - here's proof.

This is a tall clock tower on top of the Post Office.

The last night we went out to dinner in a Italian Restaurant.
You could watch them cook pizzas.

They love to eat late. We didn't even leave for dinner until 9:00 PM. By 10:00
the restaurant was pretty full.

The next morning our bus was supposed to leave at 5:00 AM, although it was late.
David came to the hotel and walked us to the bus stop.
They have a lot of Virgins in the Catholic Church. This one was at the bus stop, and is
the Virgin of Transportation.

David and Martin before our bus left.

They grow a lot of sugar cane in Argentina. This was a big field of sugar cane.

There were some interesting trees that had huge pods on them. They were about the size of
large avocados. They would burst open and a huge ball of white stuff would float off.