The First Year

  

Following the trials of travel, relocating and setting up a new home, came a period of adjustment. Some of the experiences were amusing; others were frustrating; still others enlightening. Regardless of how they felt, my parents established a routine, overcame the difficulties of a new environment, shared their beliefs and lived out their commitments.

The ups and downs of settling in are clearly illustrated by the saga of “the lost box.” Nowadays, it is fairly common to lose a piece of luggage during international travels. Most often the item is delivered or can be picked up a day or two later. However, in 1946, in faraway Argentina, several months passed before they knew the whereabouts of the missing luggage.

Dad had shipped the crate to New York with ample time for it to arrive before the departure of our ship, the José Menéndez. When it didn’t arrive, he said, I had the Express company send a tracer after it. I inquired about the tracer twice. When it did not finally come, I left the receipt with Hill Maconaghy [missionary colleague on furlough] and he inquired about it.[1] 

A couple months after our arrival in La Carlota, Mother wrote: The box never came yet and if it does it won’t be until the Maconaghys come in May or June. We left the paper with him at the dock and he’s going to see about it. I do hope it is found though, because there are some things in it that I want badly such as handles for our cabinets, Rita’s highchair, her Panda, little red wagon, dress material, Sam’s tools, etc.[2]

Dad’s list of the contents of the box reflect somewhat different values and priorities: It contained 20 theological books, about ten of which I was intending to study during my first term on the field. One book was a Hebrew lexicon given to me by Herman [Dad’s older brother] and prized highly by me. It [the box] contained some tools which weren’t exactly inexpensive . . . some of Rita’s toys and quite a few pieces of dress material for Kathryn as well as Rita. It also had in it a high chair which I had spent a good many hours making for Rita just before we came.

 A month later, in May, my parents experienced a good-news/bad-news evening, my father noted: Our hearts were made happy then sad tonight as we were sitting at the supper table. One never knows when he will receive mail here in Argentina. At 6:30 p.m. we received three letters. We were happy to get them, but when we came to what Pop had to say about the box which we were forced to leave behind, then we sorta sank in our chairs. He received notice that it would be sold soon because no deposit had been paid on it yet. We’ve done everything in our power to locate it and to get it taken care of but we never so much as found out where it was. It seems such a shame that we’ve had all this trouble about it because I sent it two weeks before the ship pulled out . . . After all this and then they would sell it out from us. We feel like crying, but the Lord knows all about it. I’m going to write a detailed letter to the Express Co. trying to explain all the details so that if we don’t get the box, we may get the $150.00 declared value.[3]

In June, the box was located and Mother wrote to her parents, I just want to have a chat with you about “that box”. Every time I mention “that box” to the missionaries down here, they laugh and I suppose you do too anymore. Just received a letter from Hill Maconaghy. I quote, “I think the meanderings of that box are about finished. At any rate it is down the cellar here in Philadelphia. We were away for a couple of days . . . When I returned Wednesday night the folks told me that your box had been delivered to me by Railway Express. It appears to be in good condition with the exception of one corner where it looks as if they had tried to open it to identify the contents.”[4]

Then in July Dad wrote again, Our Box came with the Maconaghys. It is now in Río Cuarto. Sorry they did not think to have it shipped to La Carlota, for the R.R. to Río Cuarto passes right through here. We will probably have it brought over here next week or the end of this week by truck.[5]

Margarita, Rita and red wagon full of blocks

At last, we got our box and everything was in good shape, wrote Mother in August. Rita’s had the time of her life with all her toys again. Today she went to bed with Panda, Dinah, and another baby doll. She wanted the dog Fae gave her but there just wasn’t room for any more. The red wagon of blocks gets emptied all over the house. She calls Grandma and Grandpa faithfully on the telephone.[6]

A week later Dad wrote: The first thing we did after we got our box opened was to put the handles on our kitchen cabinets. I next began to use the screw driver and square which were in the box. Soon I found use for the glue in putting Rita’s high chair together. Kathryn, of course, lost no time in using some of the cloth materials which she found there.[7]

Despite the challenges of daily life in a foreign country, my parents did not allow anything to slow them down. This is how Dad summarized their routine: We continue in the same round of events—study Spanish and Bible, attend services, lead singing, preach and teach Sunday School classes once in awhile . . . work in the shop.[8] Study, serve, shop work—in that order.

In April, after two months in Argentina, with only three official languages lessons, Dad described their struggle: It seems that Spanish comes so slowly for us. We know the words. We can understand, but it’s so hard to talk.[9]

Lynn and Lois Schrock, young missionaries in Río Cuarto, complained of similar language difficulties: We are still in the midst of language study. To us it seems to be going “regular”[so-so], as they would say down here. The Schrocks had been in the country longer, had more opportunities to practice in the city, and were already teaching Sunday School classes regularly. Even so, they envied my childlike language-acquisition ability. The Hoyts tell us of how little Rita has picked up words and uses them as though they were English. It makes us wish we had started twenty or more years ago when we would not have realized that we were in the midst of a new language but would have just started to speak it.[10]

Dad told of a time when the lack of language skills and knowledge of the culture aggravated an embarrassing situation. Our light bill came yesterday and it is 10 pesos and 37 cents or about $2.75 in U.S. money. We are not sure yet if that is for one month or more. It was rather embarrassing. They come to your door with the bill and expect you to pay on the spot. It so happened that the cash from our checks hadn’t come to us yet so we didn’t have the money. I had a rather hard time telling him why I couldn’t pay, but I finally got it across to him.[11]

It took a couple months to resolve the check-cashing situation. Meanwhile, Dad was mortified. We owe everybody and his brother and that gets me worse than anything I know.[12]

Then, finally some relief, the first day of July, we got our cash for June. That’s how difficult it is to get those checks cashed. Kathryn and I had a great time going around paying up our bills. We owed Dowdy’s 30 pesos, the grocer 18, 26 for fire wood, 187 tithe, etc. We are now free again and are hoping that we shall not have many more of these experiences.[13]

From the very start, Dad and Mother were immersed in the work of the mission. A mere week and a half after the move into their first home in La Carlota, they were back in the city of Río Cuarto, at the mission headquarters for the annual church conference. They helped with the necessary preparation, such as pitching the large tents for eating and sleeping accommodations, and other odd jobs. Even this soon after their arrival, both my parents participated in the program. Mother delivered a message for the women through an interpreter. Dad had a scripture reading and special music, as well as all the decision-making meetings with mission co-workers. All of these activities in addition to helping out as much as possible with the regular commitments in La Carlota and a couple other small towns nearby.

In June, four months after our arrival, Dad wrote, I made my debut last Thursday night. I gave a Bible study . . .  I didn’t have much trouble although one feels strange reading a sermon after having preached the other way. . . Another strange feeling is that of wondering if your hearers understand your words. However, I’ve felt that way speaking in English sometimes.[14]

Not long after, my parents’ participation in the services increased. From now on I will preach or read every other Sunday night. We’re certainly far from talking this language with ease. I don’t know whether we’ll ever get there. Kathryn is to speak to the women next month.

My father talked about his study routine and I was surprised to learn that it included graduate work. I’ve been doing some work toward my master’s degree. Have to do my studying in the morning because there are so many other things to do in the afternoon and in the evening I tend to fall asleep. Of course, we do not have a siesta during the winter. Perhaps when we start taking a siesta again, I won’t be so sleepy in the evenings.[15]

Winter set in and it was difficult to heat the whole house, especially the upstairs study. We brought the desk downstairs this week near the stove. It’s much more comfortable there. It hovers right around freezing most of the time now. We hate to go to bed at night and get up in the morning. We can get our one room quite comfortable except right near the floor. Of course, with just a curtain over the door, there is a constant draft.[16]

Strangely enough, even then, mosquitoes were a problem. Dad explained why.  I think they come from our neighbor’s patio which is worse than a barnyard. It generally has water in it and they have ducks, chickens and dogs. The odor is something terrific and methinks the water makes a wonderful place for the breeding of mosquitoes. In fact, if we want to be sure of a good night’s sleep, we must light a spiral which glows slowly all night.[17] So, from early age I slept with an espiral by my bed. The fragrance those mosquito repellent coils give off remains a favorite of mine to this day.

We suffered a few illnesses that season. Mother found a wonderful remedy for colds. I had the start of another cold but checked it one day with the favorite remedy – eucalyptus, only in different form. There are a lot of trees around so Margarita brought me the leaves and I boiled them in water, when it was still real hot I took a towel and put it around my head & the pan, then breathed the vapor deeply.[18]

Rita has conjunctivitis. . . that is just the pink eye, they wrote. It is quite bothersome . . . We are using boric acid and something we bought in the drug store here, Dr. prescription.[19]

Later, in the spring, another plague appeared in our own back yard. Several weeks ago after a rain we noticed that our patio was just covered with snails. We had known that we had snails, but we didn’t realize that they were as the sand of the sea. They are this oblong type of snail which one sees in the water, but they have a round shell. I called them wood snails when I saw that at home. We began asking our hired girl if there was some powder or liquid which we could buy to kill them. She didn’t know about that, but she thought she could get someone to gather them. In the afternoon a little boy came to gather them and was he ever tickled. He must have gotten about two or three quarts of them. Those slimy, squashy animals were just wallowing all over each other. I asked him what he was going to do with them. “Voy a comerlos”. What, you’re going to eat those things? ”Sí, son riquísimos”[they’re delicious] He was perfectly welcome to them. They serve them as a delicacy in the better hotels here.  I later learned that the owner of the house had brought those snails here to multiply for himself.[20]

We may have been ignorant of escargot as a delicacy; however, our diet was in no way deficient. We’ve certainly been having some wonderful meals, wrote Dad. Kathryn has been trying her new stove by making lots of desserts. She baked some swell cakes and pies. I hope she doesn’t stop. We had boiled ham again this week. Nice, fresh, crisp lettuce seemed to be plentiful and we were able to purchase bananas. We’ve eaten nicer here than we ever ate in our own home in Winona Lake.[21]

In addition my mother grew a small garden. We had our first bit of lettuce yesterday from the deer tongue seed you gave me, she wrote to her parents in June. It’s doing very nicely.[22]

My parents enjoyed the creative opportunities that family life offers. Mother sewed and knitted. She made all my clothes, and her own. Also in June, Dad wrote, Kathryn is making a long sleeved dress for Rita out of a corduroy dress which was given to her. It is going to be nice.[23]  Mother was anticipating the cooler weather to come. Then in September, with the approach of spring, she wrote, Last week I made a green seersucker dress for myself and this week a brown flowered with white collar and cuffs. The green material I brought from home and the brown was a piece that Mrs. Endecott gave me. Rita still has a nice supply of dresses as you will remember I spent a lot of time sewing up everything.[24]

Mother had a good eye for decorating. She mentioned that some said their kitchen looked like ones featured in the magazines, then commented, It’s not quite that but it is nicer than most have and it didn’t cost as much.[25]

 Dad built most of our furnishings and all my toys. For much of that first year, Dad borrowed Brother Dowdy’s tools. It is nearly impossible for me to imagine Dad without access to a workshop. One amusing little anecdote reveals that sometimes Daddy let me come along! Rita certainly brings lots of laughs for us. Yesterday we were walking along hand in hand to the carpenter shop. She said, “Let’s run, Daddy”. So we ran for quite a little ways. Then she looked up at me very sternly and demanded, “Let me walk”. Of course, I said that would be all right. Then she began to laugh and said, “I did it. Rita did it”. I said, “Rita did what?” She answered, “Rita told Daddy”.[26]

In addition to the comic relief I provided, working with his hands was a welcome break from study and all the other stresses. Dad was very intent on accomplishing as much as possible. I am on the job getting some few items made for the house before the time comes when I will not have sufficient time. I am finishing a cabinet for the mimeograph, then I want to make a four drawer file. I’m trying to do a good job on these. I will copy my file after Brother Dowdy’s. You should see it. It is a masterpiece in workmanship. I will probably make the major part of it from cedar wood. It is a bit different from the cedar we see in the States. I also want to make a sewing machine stand for Kathryn’s machine and a case and tripod for Kathryn’s flannel graph board.[27]

Time for settling in was running out and they would soon be left in charge of the mission in La Carlota after a mere ten months. The realization of the awesome responsibility was sinking in. It scares me to think of the burden which shall fall on us about the first of December. Things are all going to pile up about then. I’m struggling as much as possible to get some of the things done now which I shall not have time for later. Yesterday and today I have been working on a screen door for the back door. One can’t buy such a thing here. Scarcely anyone uses them here so if you want one you must make it yourself. The door is such a tall one I have had to take great care to get the thing strong enough. When we first moved here, not knowing how long we would remain, I just tacked some mosquito netting over the windows and we did without a screen door. Now that we are going to remain, we are making something more permanent. If I had just had my power saw, it would have taken me half the time or less. Motors are so costly here that I am just going to wait till my ship comes in before I get one for the saw.[28]

The things which lie ahead in the near future look almost insurmountable, but the Lord is able to bring us through.[29]

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).”

 

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[1] 5/13/1946

[2] 4/20/1946

[3] 5/13/1946

[4] 6/15/1946

[5] 7/31/1946

[6] 8/09/1946

[7] 8/15/1946

[8] 10/19/1946

[9] 4/20/1946

[10] 5/24/1946 Schrock letter

[11] 4/27/1946

[12] 6/22/1946

[13] 7/01/1946

[14] 6/15/1946

[15] 9/19/1946

[16] 6/22/1946

[17] 6/22/1946

[18] 9/20/1946

[19] 9/27/1946

[20] 10/12/1946

[21] 4/20/1946

[22] 6/15/1946

[23] 6/22/1946

[24] 9/20/1946

[25] 9/20/1946

[26] 7/09/1946

[27] 7/31/1946

[28] 9/27/1946

[29] 8/15/1946