Today we went to the park again and had a bit of a less hectic day. We started off by doing the high tour around the tops of some of the falls - which was lovely apart from the annoying hoards of tour groups there. After that we had pizza for lunch and went back out to the devils throat to take the ecological tour boat back along the river. That was really nice and peaceful, and we saw 3 turtles, an alligator and a black splodge which was supposedly a toucan. After this we took a bit of a walk down the Macuco trail to try and see some monkeys - there were lots of giant ants, and we saw something that looked cat like but unfortunatley no monkeys. In the evening Laura & I went to the "Corner Restaurant" and had a lovely all you can eat buffet (15 pesos including desert!)

We arrived today after the overnight bus, and jumped straight in to doing everything on the first day - we checked into the youth hostel and headed straight to the park. Once there, we set off on the lower trail and then went on the boat ride under the falls and got drenched - but it was fun! After that we went across to San Martin Island where we got some lovely views of the falls from. After we'd finished the lower trail, we got the train out to the devils throat which was just amazing- you could see the waterfalls all round and the big gorge with water pouring in from all sides. There were loads of butterflies all over, so hopefully I should have some nice photos of them here soon.

We had a nice chat with Marcelo yesterday, and learnt a few more interesting bits about Uruguay. The conversation started of with whether or not there is freedom of religion in England, and then went on to Politics, Computers, Voting and various other bits and pieces to compare. Here voting in the elections is compulsory, and if you don't vote there are financial sancions - loss of social benefits. It was also interesting to here how in the financial crisis here a couple of years ago, all the political parties joined together to sort things out, before seperating again once things were sorted.

It's back to school time here in Uruguay, most of the kids go back to school today, but some went back on Monday. They've just had their summer/Christmas holiday and it's time to start the next school year, assuming they passed the last one -as here they have to repeat the year until they pass it. As it's back to school time, there's lots more stationary around in the shops, and school uniforms in many windows. But the number of people in the office shop yesterday was crazy - 4 queues to the counter filling the shop, and they'd employed 3 or 4 security guards especially for the occasion. Everyone was getting their supplies! At the weekend, we gave the kids from Escuelita books for school, and on Monday it was nice to see some of their work in their books.

The underground in Buenos Aires

Last night we had a lovely chat with our friends from back home over the webcam in the internet cafe. You can see them here:

The other day we had some sheets washed at the Lavadero (Launderette), and they will deliver them to you once they've been washed and dried. When I dropped the sheets off, they took my name - which I said and then spelt for them, but the lady there stopped me before I'd finished. On Wednesday, they delivered them and I had a bit of a chat with the deliverey guy, who was intrigued as to where we were from because of an unusual surname, which I thought nothing of, as it is unusual for Uruguay. He asked us if we are from far away, and whether we are Mormons, as there are lots of Mormons here and it's a usual assumption for foreigners.

Anyway - yesterday I saw the slip on the washing where the surname had been written: "Miuerhi" - even more unusual, they probably thought we were from the far east or something!

In the last week, we've had a few of the children round from the barrio, and it's quite interesting to see the differences between them and children back home (in general!). The children that we've had round love to clean and wash up - which I was surprised at. However we had a bag of packaging foam pieces from a parcel that we'd received and they thought that it was sweets or some other type of food - and asked where to buy them.

At youth group yesterday we had lots of bread rolls left over, so we decided to leave them in the fridge at the CAIF for Sunday to see if there was anyone who needed food. This morning at the service we got through the sermon and Gilberto was just about to start the Eucaristic prayer and realised that they'd run out of wafers! I don't understand why it was left to that point for him to find out though! Anyway, he was going to send Sendi home to find some bread, but she conveniently disappeared to the toilet. Then I remembered the bread in the fridge, so I got it and we had communion using have a finger roll. He still decided to dip it in the wine and put it in peoples mouths, and it was very squidgy - surprised he managed!!

I've just finishing reading Exodus in my personal bible studies, and whats really struck me about it is the way that everyone had their own part to play in building the tabernacle, which is particularly clear in Exodus 35. God gave each individual the gifts and materials, so that they could do the work between them. I see this as an old testament copy of 1 Corinthians 12 in many ways, and the church needs to be like this example of the Israelites. They all took their part that God had given them in order for the glory of God to be with them - so we all need to play our part in the church for the glory of God. It's also clear from these passages that God gave each individual the things that were needed, and that God gives us the things we need to what he has set before us. We need to acknowledge that they are gifts from him, and use them as for his glory.

It appears that 'Darwinists' are getting worried about evolution not being the only option taught in schools. They're getting defensive and it appears that they're realizing that they've not got any ground, well other than stubbornness that their view is right! According to Albert Mohler:"When a scientific alternative to evolution is presented, they deny that the theory can be scientific simply because it rejects evolution. Evolutionary theory is now at the core of their definition of science itself." Even between themselves they can't agree about any of the details - just that evolution is the only thing that can be right. Berman seems to worry not only about the theory of evolution being rejected but that looking at alternatives is "jeopardizing the nature of science itself, our education system, and even our form of government". If we do follow down the evolution route, even though some of its proponents seem to be loosing their faith in it, then where does it leave us? As Mohler writes: "If human beings are not made in the image of God, and if the entire cosmos is nothing more than a freakish accident, morality is nothing but a mirage and human beings--cosmic accidents that we are--are free to negotiate whatever moral arrangement seems best to us at any given time."

It's interesting to see how differently people here react to rain than those in England. Here everything stops when it rains, people stay in their houses and there's no-one on the streets. A lot of the smaller shops close because of rain as well. So after talking to Gilberto, Youth Group was cancelled yesterday, because there wouldn't have been anyone there. If everything stopped when it rains in England, the country would come to a standstill!!