We spent most of the day getting to know Buenos Aires. We were on a tour all morning. One of our first steps was the La Recoleta Cemetery. This is a cemetery full of elaborate mausoleums, for people who have enough money to purchase a spot for one. They are very tightly packed together; walking around in this cemetery is like navigating a small town. Many of the mausoleums are decorated with beautiful, elaborate sculptures.
After seeing some more of the sights that Buenos Aires has to offer, we stopped for a noon concert at the Argentine national capital. All of the Argentine congress was invited to our concert, but most of them are away campaigning for elections that occur in a few months. Our hosts, the Sosas, are working with a man named Luciano Bongarra to get our concerts scheduled. Luciano has made it his mission to get the word of God into the Argentine government. Very few practicing Christians are involved with in government, but the number is slowly increasing, as he runs a weekly Bible study with a growing number of regular participants. A Christian influence in the government would bring Christian values to the decisions made by representatives and to the way that they interact with each other and other people. Our concert at the capital was part of this effort.
After a lunch at an Argentine Burger King, we returned to the hotel to rest for the big event of the day: an evening concert with two other choirs, one from a local Baptist seminary and one from a local Catholic church.
After these two choirs performed, we took the stage and were received very well. We finished the concert with all three choirs giving a performance of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.
After the concert, we went to a rather late dinner at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Many of us were excited to hear that this buffet also included “all-you-can-drink” service, as restaurants that offer free refills (even on water) are few and far between down here. We arrived back at our hotel at around 1:00 in the morning.
Check back for more on our ongoing adventures tomorrow!
Aaron Kelley