Love I Try to Follow

One Year Again

2012-01-14T06:32:00.003-06:00

As I said, our actual anniversary date depends on who you ask and what date you are marking. So to make sure I cover all my bases let me say Happy We've Been In Chile One Year Day! All of that time was just a blur of sadness, excitement, airport, luggage and tiredness. By the time it was over I was very impressed that all 7 of us made it with all our luggage since each of us had 5 pieces checked (including a dog). It was a successful international move and a start of a huge step of faith. If I had a chance to relive that day....I'd pass. :)

One Year

2012-01-13T15:11:00.003-06:00

The anniversary of one year in Chile is a little confusing. What day it falls on depends on who you ask and what you are actually marking. January 13th marks the day I left the US to come to Chile. I said goodbye to my parents and lugged 5 pieces of luggage through the DFW and Miami airport. January 14th marks the first day I arrived in Chile. So, either way I am celebrating one year in Chile and the significance of this event. So much has happened in one year and I am so thankful to God for his faithfulness throughout it all. Bring it on year two!

Me and all my bags

In the airport

On the plane

The little boy's room I slept in my first few days

Crashing after a sleepless night on the plane

The New Year Chilean Style

2012-01-10T11:53:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my sweet friends and neighbors I had a very active New Years celebration time. The eve before NYE some of my neighbors got together to celebrate and they invited me. I was so happy to be included and they were all so sweet to make sure I was tracking with the conversations and understood all the slang they were using as they spoke.

I also needed a little help with my food and they showed me what to do. You see, we ate a big disc of mariscos (shellfish). Now, I have eating some shellfish here and there since being here but usually it they were already out of the shells or covered in cheese. This was the real deal. Game time. Go big or go home.

I can't say mariscos is something that I want to eat on a regular basis but it wasnt the worst thing I have ever had. :) It is just a lot to get your mind around and an interesting taste to get used to. These shellfish were dang fresh. They pretty much tasted like chewy sea water and I even felt a little sand in my teeth as I ate. Their shells had barnacle looking things on them as if they had just come out of the ocean that morning. Some of them were still closed and I had to pry them open with a knife. This is where my neighbors stepped in. They showed me where to put my knew to break them open and then which part of their gooey body to eat and which part not. Then, I put the shell up to my mouth and suck them out. I did it and did not make any faces and was quite proud of myself.

My plate. See the barnacles? I made sure to take a spot with the fewest maricos.

The rest of the night we sat around talking and listening to one guy play his guitar. He had instruments for the rest of us to play along with as well and I got the maraca! It was really fun to get to hang out with all of them and felt nice to be included.

Gringo Christmas

2012-01-09T10:15:00.002-06:00

I was also able to celebrate Christmas with my parents and teammates this year. My parents sent me a package in the mail and I ordered things for them online and had them shipped to them. On Christmas Eve day we got on Skype and opened gifts together. They were kid-less this year for the holidays as my brother and s-law were not able to be there either. It was actually quite funny opening gifts together on Skype so of course I had to take a few pictures.

Our team also had our first real Christmas together (not counting Christmas in July). We drew names for Secret Santa so we would all have gifts to open but didn't have to buy for everyone. It was really fun and I think everyone enjoyed giving and receiving. For food, we decided to embrace the summer time feel around here and had a yummy summer meal of BBQ brisket, fresh corn, watermelon, deviled eggs, potato salad and cherry pie. I also could not resist making fudge and peanut butter balls. It just is not Christmas without those sweets.

Ellen and I with the shirts we got

We had a good time eating and opening gifts. We also participated in a Christmas craft of making ornaments and wreaths (all ideas gotten off of Pinterest of course). Then we concluded the evening with some traditional cooking decorating. Mmmm it was a yummy and fun night!

Viejito Pascuero

2012-01-06T09:39:00.003-06:00

I had a wonderful first Christmas and New Years holiday in Chile this year. I was able to spend time with many different friends and neighbors and learn about how Chileans celebrate these holidays. I have lots of different stories and events to tell about so I will just share a few of my favorites over the next few blogs.

Viejito Pascuero is the name Chileans use for Santa Clause around here. It actually is Viejo Pascuero but they love to add -ito and -cito on the ends of words to make them small and cute, so that's how you get Viejito Pascuero. The Chilean tradition of Christmas and Santa Clause is a little different than in the US. The way it works here is they have a big dinner together as a family (or friends) on what we call Christmas Eve and then at midnight they go outside to look for Viejito Pascuero and while they are looking he sneaks in their houses and leaves them gifts. So when they come home, not having found him, they have their Santa gifts. I was thrilled to be able to experience all of this first hand this year.

Many of my neighbors were concerned about me spending Christmas alone so one family, who is actually Colombian but have lived in Chile a long time, invited me to join in their festivities. They have two cute little girls who are 2 and 5 and they were pumped about Viejito Pascuero. Around 9pm we went to their house and Skyped their family in Colombia to participate in their traditional activities. They read a few Christmas prayers and sang a few Christmas songs and everyone had their own instrument. I played the tambourine. After this we shared a Christmas meal together of Turkey, potatoes, rice and salad. I was able to tell them about some of my families Christmas traditions and explained to the little girls that Santa must come to South American first since he comes here at midnight and then he comes to the US during the night and we open gifts the next day. Haha.

Around 11:30 the girls wanted to go look for Viejito Pascuero so I went with them and their mom to look while their dad conveniently stayed behind to wash dishes. We walked down our street and back and did not see him. We went into my house to see if he had come but he had not. We walked back down the street and out of the condominium where we saw other kids running around looking for him. We asked them if they had seen him yet but they had not. We headed back to their house and their dad came out and said he was washing dishes and heard something upstairs and the thinks that Viejito Pascuero came in through the bathroom window (they don't have chimneys you know). We ran upstairs and there were little gifts on their beds and in the bathroom. They were so excited and added these gifts to their family gifts and got to opening.

Opening gifts like crazy

Little kids are not very quick gift openers because they just want to play with each thing as they go along. I stayed until 12:45 and at that point they were about half way done. I told them thanks so much for letting me spend this holiday with them. I really had a great time and loved getting to see such a special moment for those little girls and seeing how Chileans celebrate Christmas.

Beach Hike

2011-12-21T12:41:00.003-06:00

Our team had some good friends and mentors come visit us a few weeks ago. We had a lot of intentional discussion time about our work and plans for the future, but we also had some fun eating yummy food and seeing some sites. One morning we went on a beautiful hike together. The trail wound around the coast and ended up at a secluded beach. It was a gorgeous day and a perfect way to spend time together. While there are not many touristy things to do in our city the surrounding area is a sight to see. There are some definite perks to living in such a beautiful area of the world.

Christmas Time Is Here

2011-12-03T16:40:00.003-06:00

Well my friends it has been quite a while since I have blogged and a lot of things have happened since then but I will just let you read my newsletter to see those updates. If you don't get my monthly newsletters and would like to then just let me know in a comment.

An interesting cultural observation I have made lately is in relation to the Christmas season. Chileans seem to get into the Christmas spirit like we do in the US and I am happy about that. The malls and streets are decorated, many of my neighbors have decorated and are discussing a Christmas party. All of this is great, but here is the odd thing. It is summer here in the Southern Hemisphere so Christmas is not a winter holiday, but a summer one. Strange huh? Now luckily for me I am from Houston and so a white Christmas is not at all normal but to have Christmas in summer feels a little off. even for me.

Me and my cute little tree

What is more interesting is that despite Christmas being in the summer time here, many of the decorations are still centered around snow. They have icicle (had no idea that was how you spelled that by the way) lights, snowmen and snowflakes and Santa wears his big winter coat. Poor Santa, he must be so hot. Why don't they let him wear shorts? I think it is just because much of the commercialization of Christmas comes from the US where snow is often equated with Christmas but I just can't get into it. I am trying to mostly avoid the wintery decor.

My front door sign. Now every time I come home I start singing "Feliz Navidad..."

I am trying to get excited for Christmas though despite my worry that I will just feel sad to be so far from home and my family traditions. I am just praying to have opportunities to spend it with Chileans who might also not have people to spend it with. Can't wait to see how they celebrate!

Package

2011-11-07T20:48:00.003-06:00

I received the most highly anticipated birthday gift of my life a few weeks ago. That's right, my birthday is in April and six months later my birthday package full of lots of goodies arrived, sent from my brother and sis-in-law.

You see, they sent it way back when I was living in Santiago. We waited and waited for it to come and it never showed. Eventually I left Santiago, but still called my apartment building every week to see if it had arrived. Nope. It never came and I eventually stopped calling. About 5 months later I get an email from my previous landlady. She said the building had called her and told her they had a package for me! You can imagine how surprised I was to hear this. Not only that it had ever arrived, but that they made the effort to try and get it to me. She told me they would give it to any gringo that came to ask for it. So I called on my very helpful friends in Santiago to pick it up for me. I had no idea how I would ever get it from them but at least I would know where it was. They got it for me and a few weeks later they had a friend traveling to Concepcion who brought it down. He ended up leaving it at his hotel for me to pick up.

So six months later my package, passed through who knows how many hands, finally arrived. It had the tape all around it that lets you know customs opened it so they must have been the ones who slowed things down. Shannon thinks she put velveeta cheese in the package and maybe that is what they stopped it for. It was not in the package but we will never really know.

When I finally got to open it I was so thrilled. There were so many great goodies inside including the highly prized hand made converse all star house shoes. Those of you who know my sis-in-law will not be surprised at how cute they are but really, they are so adorable and I almost don't want to wear them for fear of messing them up.

Thanks for the birthday gifts. You better go ahead and send my gifts for next year now! :)

"the most delicious fruit known to men."

2011-10-20T08:21:00.002-06:00

I have recently discovered the wonder that is the cherimoya fruit. I have heard of it since I have been in Chile and even had cherimoya flavored ice cream, but until recently I had not tried it. Once I did, my life was changed. It is delicious!

You can learn more about it on the Wikipedia page, but know that from experience I can tell you it is as good as it sounds. The outside of the fruit is tough but the inside is sweet, creamy and smooth, kind of like coconut but much better tasting. Many people eat it straight out of the skin like a bowl. The seeds are pretty big, kinda almond like, and are easy to pick out. It is native to South American but is grown in other places around the world where it has been transplanted too. It must not be too common though because I had never heard of it until coming to Chile and I don't think it ships well so it is not exported very much.

It has recently come back into season and I have really been enjoying eating it. I cannot wait to share it with visitors when they come. Everyone enjoys a good, exotic fruit, right?

The Visit

2011-10-12T09:05:00.005-06:00

Well it's another rainy day here in Concepcion and if it weren't for my cold house I probably wouldn't mind at all. We have been having beautifully sunny days lately which make the rainy days much more bearable. But I am not here to blog about the weather. I want to tell you about my parent's visit!

They came for a 10 day visit and we had a great time. It was their first trip to South America and it went pretty smoothly. It was so great to have them here. They enjoyed getting to see my life here and I enjoyed getting to show them around. I had a good mixture of activities planned for us to keep us busy and yet there was plenty of down time to just relax and be together.

They brought me all sorts of goodies, from them and friends at home

Hanging around the house, warm by the fire

We spent some of our time doing home improvement projects that I needed help with including hanging things on my walls, sealing my doors, planting new plants for spring and installing fire alarms. My dad also taught me how to drive a standard car so that I can drive here if I need to. It was challenging at first but by the end of their trip I was feeling more confident. I do not plan on buying a car any time soon but now if I do I will be able to drive it!

I learned how to use a drill. Watch out!

We love gardening

Another part of our time was spent seeing the "sights" around Conce. I put sights in quotes because this is not the most touristy town. In fact, there is very little sight seeing to do but I just showed them some of the normal activities that Chileans like to do and we really enjoyed it. We also took a little day trip out of the city to see some waterfalls about 2 hours away. The drive was beautiful and so were the falls. It was nice to get out of the city and see something new.

Waterfalls

Huge tree on our hike through the park

Plaza de Armas- the central plaza in Conce

At the cold beach

At the natural history museum

The rest of our time was just spent hanging out, taking trips to the grocery store and mall, watching movies, cooking, eating out and doing crosswords. It was so nice to have family to be around, to take a little break from my normal life, to share my life and new home with my parents and to have visitors in my home. My house sure has seemed quiet since they left.

Trying a popular Chilean treat-Nalca. It was...interesting...

My parents embracing the Chilean's love of hotdogs

Cruising the local market

We made lunch with fresh fish from the market

Enjoying some team time at a local seafood place on the beach

I think they really enjoyed their visit and were already talking about their next trip. Hopefully my brother and s-law can come on that one too! Sometimes it is hard having this life here that the people I am closest to are not a part of but this was a great chance to get to share it with them. I am so thankful they were able to come.

Bio Bio Region- This is where I live!

Anyone else who wants to come visit, I promise to show you a good time! Maybe I can find some new sights to see by then.

Food!!!!

2011-09-27T07:38:00.004-06:00

The theme of Chilean Independence Day seemed to be food. Look at all the food I ate. Wow!

Grilling out at the neighborhood party

The spread at the neighborhood party

Asado at Marco and Kathys

Choripan (Chorizo in bread), my favorite

Mote con Huesillo (see previous post)

Anticucho (kabob) at the city party

The grills at the city party

Churro con manjar (aka dulce de leche)

So what did I do Independence Day weekend? I ate. :)

I'm Excited

2011-09-16T11:45:00.003-06:00

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately. Not because I haven't been doing anything but I have just gotten into a somewhat normal routine (or as normal as you can get here). There are a few things going on or coming up in the future that I am excited about so let me share.

1. Spring is here! I don't know if I would say the weather is warm yet but it is warmer. We still have cold, rainy days, but they are mixed in more and more with warm, sunny days and I am thrilled. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is the real deal here and because of the new changes that is starting to fade and the excitement of a new season and new life is here. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, people are coming out of hibernation and I try to spend as much time outside as I can. I am excited for Spring and then summer!

2. I have been attending a yoga class once a week to get me out among new people and doing something healthy. It is a little different than yoga in the US but I am really starting to get used to it and enjoy it. Some of the other students are regulars so I am slowly getting to know them and my teacher is just thrilled to have an extrajera in her class. I am excited for yoga class!

3. This weekend is Chilean Independence Day weekend. Sept. 18 is the actual day but the festivities begin Friday and go till Monday. I have a party with my neighbors, a party with friends and I plan on going to the city wide party as well. Chileans LOVE Dieciocho and really get into it with performing the national dance, decorating anything possible (cars, streets, stores, parks, etc.). This will be my first Deiciocho so I am excited to soak in all the culture and time with friends.

4. My parents are coming in 12 days! That's right the padres will be visiting me here in Chile for the first time ever and we are all (me, them and my teammates) excited. It is going to be so fun to finally get to involve them in my life here in person by showing them where I live, what I eat, where I shop, and what I do. We are going to do normal daily activities around the neighborhood and city but also going to do some tourist stuff that I have yet to do. I am excited to see my parents very soon as it has been about 8 months since I have seen them.

Lot's of exciting things are happening here in Conce and I will keep you up-to-date as they occur!

I Heart Chile

2011-08-24T08:26:00.002-06:00

These are just a few things I love about living in Chile:

- I don't have to pay for gas or car insurance, I just hop in a car and someone takes me where I want to go.

- It is so easy to go to the doctor, much less waiting and you actually just see the doctor, no nurses to do their bidding.

- They changed to the summer time schedule in August so we are already getting more daylight.

- I like that question marks and exclamation points are at the beginning and end of the sentence so you know what you are getting into when you start reading.

- Once- the name of the Chilean dinner. They eat a big lunch and then basically just little sandwiches and tea for dinner. It is so simple and they all love it.

- Chileans like to stay up late and sleep late. Me too.

- Beautiful nature is everywhere. You should see the trees here. Gorgeous!

- You never feel like a Chilean doesn't want to spend time with you. If you go to their house and only stay 4 hours they will say "leaving so soon?"

- People here are passionate. They see a change that needs to be made and they will make that known to all and won't stop until they get what they want.

- Chileans enjoy being outside. Sometimes and rains and rains for days, but as soon as the sun comes out someone is always outside soaking it up. They love washing their cars, playing soccer and going to the parks just to be outside.

Living here is hard sometimes because of how different it is from my own culture, but it is not all bad. Chilean culture has a lot of great things to offer that I am loving taking a part of and learning about.

First Team Retreat

2011-08-17T16:11:00.005-06:00

It is often noted that missionaries do not do a good job of taking care of themselves. They get so busy taking care of others personal and spiritual lives that they neglect their own. With this in mind our team has implemented team retreats where we get away for a few days for some peace and quiet, some escape, some spiritual renewal, some vision brainstorming, and some good team fun time. We just had our first one of these and it was a huge success. I know we are not overwhelmingly busy in work right now but we sure are overwhelmed so this was just what we needed. Here are a few pictures to share our time and so you can be jealous of the beautiful location we went to.

View from our cabin

We had some good team time

We had some good quiet time

And we had some good nature time

We laughed at ourselves and the silly things we have done since being here with team awards

We attempted to go hiking in a national park nearby but it was too snowy on the road to get there

So we just enjoyed the snow around us and went for a little walk in it until we got too cold to go on

And we still got to see some pretty gorgeous views anyways

Missing Out Part Two

2011-08-13T19:50:00.002-06:00

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about missing out. Then I was mainly referring to people's lives that I was missing out on. Today I have been thinking about the silly, superficial things I have been missing lately while in the depths of culture shock. Here are just a few. Think about what your life would be like without them.

- Listening to the radio in the car (or having a car)
- Canned beans ( they make recipes so easy)
- Fast Food (the conveinence and yumminess of it)
- Cheddar cheese, oh it is so glorious you have no idea until you don't have it
- Paying bills online (as opposed to having to wait in a line at the grocery store)
- Watching TV shows on a TV rather than my computer
- Chips and salsa at a restaurant
- Free refills
- Being able to call my mom or BFF while walking or shopping
- American Football
- Double pained windows
- A heater
- Dry air
- Knowing how to get around

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer lately. I really am doing ok. Just missing stuff.

BBC Is Where It's At

2011-08-12T16:50:00.002-06:00

I still remain opinionless on all the Chilean education protests but I thought this article from BBC was interesting and informative. Mainly what I am thinking is, that I sure am glad I don't live in Santiago anymore. My old apartment was almost directly on the protest march route and let's not forget the tear gas incident in the metro. That was nothing compared to what is happening now, so I've heard. I do not live close to downtown Conce or any of the universities so I usually don't even know they are happening anymore.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14487555

Missing Out

2011-07-31T22:53:00.005-06:00

Well I dont mean to be a downer but I need to share one of the negative realities of being a missionary. Missing out. I now have my life here and it is great and moving along, but also life back in the US continues on without me. I know you must be thinking "duh Deanna, did you think it would not?" And of course I knew it would, but it is still an adjustment from knowing that life would move on to it actually happening and me watching from afar.

Friends have babies, family gets together, friends get engaged and married, people move to new cities, people loose jobs. I am not there to experience any of that with them and sometimes it just stinks. I know I made the decision to come here and I would not give that up, but that does not make the hard times any easier. I wish I could be there with my friends and family during important things. I guess it is mainly a selfish desire because I know they will get along fine without me, but I want to be there to experience it all with them. We are told mission work is difficult and requires great sacrifices but also is so rewarding and worth all the work. I am beginning to see those rewards but that does not make the sacrifices hurt any less.

Feliz Navidad

2011-07-30T14:53:00.003-06:00

Well as I mentioned our team celebrated Christmas in July this week. It was kind of a way to cope with our culture shock and our seasonal confusion that comes along with living in the Southern Hemisphere. The weather treated us well as it was cold and rainy and we just had a great time. In typical Christmas fashion we made tons of sweets, hung out at the house all day eating, talking, opening gifts and watching movies. It was a wonderful day and a great trial run for making all our tasty treats for the real Christmas. Check out some photos from the day!

Making cookies on "Christmas Eve" while watching Christmas Vacation

Our "Christmas" tree whose origin shall remain a secret

Me sitting by the "fire" with our gifts for White Elephant

Everyone happy with what the opened or stole

Our yummy sweets. We also ate glazed ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls and a pineapple dish.

David Bowden: "Diversity's Symphony"

2011-07-29T11:29:00.000-06:00

Christmas in July

2011-07-21T08:07:00.003-06:00

Because most of us associate Christmas with cold weather and all our calendars are thrown off since it is July and it is cold, we have decided to celebrate Christmas in July. We are not trying to make this THE Christmas and combine all our family traditions, but instead, trying to make this more of a team tradition to help with the confusion. The party is going to be on Monday, July 25, which makes today Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve. Haha.

All that to say, you Christmas lovers be jealous. I am listening to Christmas music in July and I do not feel like a freak. It really sets the mood. I wonder if they listen to Feliz Navidad here like we do in the US... Probably not.

Next up: making fudge and decorating cut out cookies.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Now In The News

2011-07-20T15:14:00.003-06:00

I am learning that Chileans really love to protest, at least the young people do. I hear it is drive by the fact that they (or their parents) grew up under a dictator and now they have free speech and they are going to use it in whatever way they can. And hey, as long as they stay peaceful I say more power to them. I don't really get it but it actually works more than you would think it would.

Remember those dam protests a few months back? Well, the work on the dams was postponed because of protests. I think that is pretty impressive. I guess then Chilean government is one that responds to the voice of the people (or at least the people yelling on the streets) so that is kinda cool.

So the newest protest hitting the streets and making the news is about education. Please do not quote me on any of this because I have asked many people about this many times and I only have a gist of what is going on. It has something to do with the cost of education and the students are not happy about it. They quit going to school a few weeks ago and will not return until they get what they want. This means all students in public schools, high school and college, are on strike. That's right. They stopped going, took over their buildings and are in a waiting game with the governement. The gov promised $4 billion to help releave some of the costs but that was not good enough. I hear another offer will be made this week. Hopefully they agree to it.

I have been told a number of time many of the details of what they want but I just do not understand the educational system here enough to really get it. To me, a university should cost money because that helps the education be higher quality but maybe their universities do not offer much financial aid or something like that. I really just don't know so I am not picking a side but what I do think is sad is the state of the campuses. As you can see from the pictures of the Univ. of Concepcion, they really have taken over and totally messed up their beautiful campus. And even though the students are on strike they are all over the campus, shouting things, and hanging out in their department buildings (the English students invited us to come join them and we could all practice English and Spanish together, nice thought but I don't plan on joining in protest thank you very much).

It is all very fascinating to me and I am very interested to hear the outcome and see if they ever go back to school.

El Dia de Independencia

2011-07-13T16:43:00.007-06:00

Official Balloon Blower Upper

Well, as noted before, we had a rockin' 4th of July party with all our Chilean friends last week. It was a blast! We went all out with decorations, all out with the food, and all out with fun. We had a great attendance (more Chileans than Americans, woo hoo!) and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The menu was: hamburgers (American style, no avocado or other Chilean items), hotdogs (American style also), baked beans (from scratch), potato salad, ranch veggie/chip dip, banana pudding and a flag cake. Yum!

Enjoying our yummy snacks

Beautiful flag cake

We did a lot of standing around talking and sitting around and eating. We told them some of our 4th of July traditions and they laughed at us a lot. The main things missing from the party were fireworks and homemade ice cream, but we made do. It was a little cold for ice cream anyways.

Our favorite little Chilean Valentine, all decked out

People loading up their plates

and enjoying the festivities

Another difference in this 4th party and others was that we watched soccer. There was a major Chilean soccer game on that night so we decided to combine our two cultures into one great night. Luckily Chilean colors are red, white and blue so it fit perfectly.

Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le

Our party was a hit. I can't wait until September 18th to celebrate Chilean independence day too!

USA loves Chile

Now I Remember

2011-07-04T08:45:00.005-06:00

I had to think long and hard about what I did last 4th of July. When I first started writing this blog it was titled I Can't Remember because I could not remember what I did. I tend to enjoy reflecting on past holidays on the days of new ones but it is hard to reflect on what you can't remember. I even went back and looked at pictures and my google calendar and still nothing.

What I did notice was that our team garage sale occurred that weekend so I decided that was why I could not remember because that was a crazy, crazy weekend. If you remember, we were trying to sell our things so we could move to Chile and it decided to rain. Not really having a big garage we decided to have the sale right inside of the Shutt's house and it turned out to be a huge success. It was exhausting, but a success. So that is probably why my day after the 2 day garage sale memory is not great but I do remember a little.

I hung out with my wonderful friends from Hope (my church in Abilene). This is what I remember. It was raining. We met at Swinny's house. We had decided to go watch the fireworks in a little town outside of Abilene where they were supposed to be good. So we drove out there and parked on the side of the road like everyone else. It continued to rain off and on but we waited. We wanted to see the fireworks. Lots and lots of cars started driving the other way like they were leaving and eventually we gave in too, assuming the show was not happening. We headed to Whataburger to get something to eat....and then the fireworks started. We were too far away to go back so I watched a little bit of the show from the Whataburger parking lot.

That is what I remember. Fireworks in the Whataburger parking lot. Hey, not every 4th can be the best ever, right? I am absolutely sure I had a good time though. We always had fun together.

So this year there won't be any fireworks either. It isn't really even a holiday but we are making it one. Our team wanted to celebrate together and we decided to invite our Chilean friends to join us. It won't be exactly like the 4th back in the US (although I know many of you in Texas aren't getting fireworks either), but we are doing our best and it will be fun and a nice way to share a little of our culture with those who have been sharing their culture with us. The major thing missing is homemade ice cream. What I wouldn't give for some homemade ice cream! Mmmm!

Happy 4th All!!

So Relieved!

2011-07-01T14:58:00.003-06:00

My couch, chairs, washer and dryer all came today! The washer and dryer were supposed to come last Saturday and they came today. The couch and chairs were supposed to come tomorrow and they came today. It all came today! Now I have all of my big purchases made and delivered. Go me!

Have a seat won't you. I know the lighting is bad but they are brown and comfy!

Washer and dryer. Everyone told me it could not be done, they would not fit. Booyah. They do....kinda. I gotta get one of those flat plugs because I did not think about the cords but they will fit. They will. Booyah.

Yes, I connected the water and the drain all by myself. I am doing my first trial run as I type and water has yet to pour all over the floor like I expected.

Yes, I have to vent my dryer out the window but I promise, everyone else in the neighborhood is doing it too.

Whew, sigh of relief. Getting all this into my house was not easy. I won't tell you how many phone calls I had to make and employees I had to bother (in Spanish thank you very much) before they came, but they came. I think I need to take a nap on my couch.

Hosting In My Home

2011-06-30T08:29:00.002-06:00

I hosted for the first time in my new home on Sunday. The team came over for church and then we ate dinner together. It felt so good to have friends sitting comfortably and warm in my new home. Everyone had a chair and everyone had a place to sit at the table. That is something to be thankful for coming off of living in a tiny apartment in Santiago with no room for everyone.

The next night I had my first Chilean friends into my home for a meal and that was very special too. The family I lived with my first 3 weeks here came over to deliver some packages that arrived for me and I used that as an opportunity to show them my new house, enjoy a meal together and catch up.

These were just two simple evenings of food and talking but they meant a lot to me. I love hosting and serving my friends and I see this as just the beginning of many many meals to come.

It Has Arrived

2011-06-26T08:28:00.003-06:00

The ash from the volcano way down south has finally arrived in Concepcion. I am pretty sure I read that it went all the way around the world and came back to Chile and now it is in Concepcion. I think the volcano has slowed down but is still going.

Looks just like a normal foggy day in Conce. Nope! It's ash!

From what I can tell on the internet news sites there is not much to be worried about. They have canceled flights in and out of Concepcion, and it may cause a little respiratory problems but they are only telling the very young and very old to be cautious. People are out walking around, children are playing outside so no one seems to worried. To look outside and see it, if you didn't know it was ash, you would just think it was a little foggy. Or if you were in Abilene you would think it was a little dust storm. But no, it's ash. I can see a slight dusting of it on the floor right in front of my front door but that is the only effects on my life.

This is a really horrible picture I know but you can mainly see it if you look at the tree line and how fuzzy they look.

No need to worry. I think it will pass soon and I can say I survived my first volcanic ash!

Bienvenidos

2011-06-19T09:05:00.004-06:00

I am finally moved into my home and have enough of the basics to survive and even cook a meal. I am really excited to show you. Welcome to my home. Let me show you around.

The outside of my house

My street. I pray for these people every time I walk by.

Come on in. Have a seat. Haha. This is my living room and dining room. I just ordered a couch and table so I am looking forward to having something to sit on besides camp chairs.

This is how I heat my house. It might seem intimidating and it is a little bit of work but it works soooo well. I have the warmest house on our team!

Here you can see the stairs to the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom. One of those rooms will be my guest room (you are welcome to visit any time) and the other holds all my boxes and suitcases. See the towels hanging? It is so wet here and this is the only way they can dry, next to the fire.

Here is my bedroom and my feather comforter to keep me warm at night.

My little bathroom.

My little kitchen, now complete with stove, refrigerator and dishes. Soon to come: washer and dryer.

Speaking of a stove, this is how I fuel my stove, with a tank of gas that I have to walk outside to turn on when I want to use it.

Another inconvenience that I am getting used to, my water heater. It heats as it goes and when I want to use hot water I have to turn the gas on (see the little yellow knob) and then light it with a match. It gives me wonderful hot water though so I can't complain.

My backyard. I can't wait for it to be warm and dry so I can eat on my back porch. Right now it stores my wood.

And speaking of cold and wet, these are worn almost daily now.

And just so you don't think I havent been doing anything, this is what it looked like when I first moved in.

My office: camp chair, computer on a box, as close to the fire as possible.

So ladies and gents, senors y senoras, that is my little home. I look forward to the day, very soon I hope, to have new Chilean friends over to warm by the fire, cook a yummy meal, sit on my comfy couch and share our lives together.

Interesting Observance

2011-06-10T09:00:00.002-06:00

Since being in Chile I have gone to the movies three times. I love going to the movies and not many things makes me feel more normal than sitting in the dark with a bunch of strangers, eating popcorn and enjoying a good flick. I most recently saw X-Men and thought it was really good. It was very interesting and exciting and just a good story. I really like prequels.

Anywhere I go in Chile I cannot help but observe and attempt to understand the cultural occurrences around me. I pay attention to the way people enter and exit the mall, how they stand in line, how they interact with strangers, and where they sit in the movie theater. Two out of the three times I have gone to the movies there were tons of seats available, in front of me, behind me, all around me, and yet they chose to sit right next to me or right in front of me.

In the US everyone wants to get a good seat, but not at the expense of sitting to close to someone you dont know. If someone has a good spot in a row you like you either sit a few seats down the row or a few rows in front of them. Of course if the theater is full you will sit wherever you can find a spot. Not here. I am not sure their reasoning, but they just sit right next to you even if there are tons of other good spots to choose from. I am pretty sure it never crosses their minds that it would be odd to sit directly next to a stranger when not necessary.

I am not saying this is a bad thing....just...interesting. And it does not just happen to me. It has happened to my teammates and Chileans do it to other Chileans. The same X-Men night, there were tons of seats and people not only sat right next to me, but they did the same thing to each other. To them, it just is the way it is and I find that fascinating. Every outing is a learning experience here.

One Reason I Love Living In Chile

2011-06-09T15:38:00.005-06:00

The fresh produce is awesome! There is a wonderful market not far from where I live that is open every day and is full of fresh fruits, veggies, eggs, meat, fish, and cheese. It is even bigger and better than the one in Santiago. The family I am staying with took me there on Sunday and it did not take long to convince me that I will soon be a regular there.

Beautiful!

Great prices all around (those are pesos, not dollars)

Lot's of people. This is the place to be.

I like this. Need to buy eggs and CD's in a hurry? Here you can get them both!

Small and Simple

2011-06-06T07:35:00.002-06:00

We had our first church in Concepcion Sunday night and I just had to document it with a photo. This is what we are here to do and this is the beginning. It was nothing big, nothing fancy, but it was significant. We started out small, just the 5 of us. We started out simple, sitting on the floor next to the glowing heater.

Head 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out

2011-05-25T22:48:00.003-06:00

Moving day for me has come very quickly over the last few days and I cannot believe that it is tomorrow. I am moving to Concepcion, my dream, and I am nervous/excited. I cannot believe we have been here long enough that it is time to move on. It has gone by fast and now it is time for the next phase, which begins with finding a place to live.

Friday, I move down with all my things in a rented mini-van and only faith and hope that I will find a place to live quickly. I have some friends to stay with but I will be happy to have my own place so that I can finally settle here. I am trying to see all the tasks ahead of me as fun instead of intimidating. It can be scary to buy so many things for my house all at once, especially the big electronics, but it also is super fun that I get to set up my house now how I want it so that I can use it as a tool to get to know people. I dream of the day I can invite Chileans over to share a meal and to accomplish that dream I first need to buy a fridge and some dishes. Baby steps.

I must admit though that I am a little more sad to leave Santiago than I thought I would be. This city has grown on me. I love how alive it is and how at every turn I am finding a new store, new cafe, or new activity that just adds to the wonderfulness of the city and my neighborhood. I love where I live. I am only blocks from the center of the city, only blocks from the major fruit and fish market, and surrounded by great places to eat. There is a beautiful park only a few blocks away that I love running and walking in and just observing the people. I am not going to miss the pollution that is giving me a cough though.

I am also going to miss the sweet friends I have made here. I used to doubt that I could make Chilean friends and now I know that I can. I just need friends who are patient and will correct my grammar.

So tomorrow I will be saying goodbye to Santiago and hello to Concepcion. Please keep me in your prayers for safe travel, that I can find a home quickly, and for a smooth transition.

Here I come!

Dr.s Orders

2011-05-24T22:28:00.002-06:00

This, mis amigos, is just what the culture shock Dr. ordered!

I heard rumors that this one grocery store in town called Jumbo sometimes had Dr. Pepper. I conveniently needed to go there anyways this week and look what I found. You might be surprised to know that I did not take the entire stock but that is probably only because I had to find a way to get them home on public transportation with them in plastic grocery bags. I also was kind enough to leave some for my teammates and I think we left a few for those unknown other foreigners out there who might have been waiting for this new shipment to come in.

I had to stock up though because I am about to leave town and I do not expect to see DP anywhere in Conce. Now I get to practice self control. Luckily I am about to move so I left one out to drink for lunch one day and the rest are packed away for a rainy day.

That's right. I got 16 of them. They were sold individually.

Mmmm, first Dr. Pepper in months!

BBC

2011-05-21T08:41:00.001-06:00

Check it out! Chile made the BBC news website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13445300

Represas

2011-05-13T16:49:00.003-06:00

Let me begin my story by telling you what I experienced and then I will tell you what I learned in the following days was actually happening. This is kind of a long story but I think it is interesting and a little exciting, so I would love for you to take the time to read it.

The other night I was heading home from another part of the city during rush hour. I had to change metro lines so I got off one train and started to make my way to the next platform which is about a 5 min walk in the underground. I noticed an unusual amount of security around and also that they were blocking off one of the exits to leave the station and go above ground. I didn't really think much of it and I went on my way.

As I was making my way through the crowds to my next platform I noticed an unusual amount of people coughing. Now it is fall and people are sick, but this was too many people to just be cold season. Then I began to feel a tickle in my throat. I thought it was really strange, but no one else around me seemed worried and they all just kept walking so I did too. As I followed my usual path people started coughing more and I could no longer ignore the now burning sensation in my throat that was moving to my nose and the strange smell. But again, besides coughing and covering their mouth's, no one seemed worried so I did not worry either. I thought to myself that maybe something happened with one of the trains because it smelled like something burning, like rubber maybe.

As I waited for the train the smell got worse and worse until my eyes started burning and I was hoping the train would come quickly. Other people's eyes were watering pretty badly but some of them were laughing. "Strange" I thought. While standing on the platform I made eye contact with a nice looking old man and he asked me if there was a fight above ground. I said I didn't know and I really was mainly thinking how proud I was that he would address me in Spanish and think I might know something. It was not until I got on the train that I thought "maybe there was a fight!"

I made my way home and was making dinner when I got a call from teammates Reid and Mer. They asked if I was home and if they could come over and they would explain what was going on. At this moment I heard it. There was an obviously big protest going on and they were marching down the street behind me, Reid and Mer's street, and it all clicked. A protest! I said of course they could come over. They had been outside on the street and were not wanting to try and make it to their building so they came to mine and waited it out. It did not take long for it to pass but as they were at my place we looked it up on the internet and sure enough, there were major protests happening all over the country and I had been right underneath it and didn't even know it!

Apparently there were 7000+ people at what is called Plaza Italia in Santiago, which is right above the metro stop I was at when I felt the burning. They were protesting the announcement that the president had just made to build 5 dams in the southern part of the country. From what I can tell, one side of the issue is that dams provide clean, hydroelectric power which is something this highly polluted and running low on power country needs. On the other side, dams have great ecological effects on their surrounding environment, not to mention the thousands of people's homes that would be flooded out to make the lakes. I am not taking sides, but these people at the protests were not happy. I could not understand all the chants but one of them is "Patagonia sin represas," which is what most of the signs say as well. This means Patagonia (the southern area of the country) without dams.

I am not sure how protests in Chile usually go but the police were ready for this one to get out of hand. They brought out their riot buses, had on their riot gear and began to spray the crowds with huge water trucks. When this was not enough, they threw tear gas into the crowds. This explains the burning in my throat, does it not?

I tried to find a good video to show you what happened. I do not think anyone was attempting to be too violent at first because they seem to just be chanting and waving signs and stuff, but with 7000 people in a small area, things can get out of hand fast. I guess this is why the spraying and tear gas began, to break up the crowds. Do not feel the need to watch the whole thing, but if you do, when they throw the tear gas and people run down some stairs and try to get down, that's me below there, in the metro.

It was quite an experience and really funny that I did not even know what was happening until after the fact, but it might not have been as funny if I had been above ground when all of that was happening. I asked my tutor how we are supposed to know these things are happening and he just said to watch the news. Maybe I'll do that when I have a real TV.

Belated B-day

2011-05-08T21:49:00.004-06:00

Well I am way behind on blogging and I don't really like going back but I did want to share about my first birthday in Chile. In April I turned 27! Can you believe that? I think I am officially into my late 20s and that is scary.

I was a little nervous about my birthday just being in a new culture and thinking that I would feel sad and homesick, but all of the people I love made sure I had a wonderful, sweet, special day and for that I am thankful. Here are all the great things that happened.

I received the bday package from my parents ON my actual birthday. It could not have been more perfect. It was delivered during my Spanish tutoring and I opened it after class. They gave me some nice gifts and some wonderful Easter treats. They also made a cute video of people from home saying happy birthday. It was so fun to watch.

Another sweet friend thought of me all the way in Abilene and had my teammates buy me flowers from her and give them to me. You are so thoughtful Laura. That surprise was wonderful.

I got more Facebook messages than I ever have before, I got to talk to my parents, my brother and s-law, the BFF and a few other loved ones. My teammates did a wonderful job throwing me a party. We had a yummy meal of sandwiches that I love, every chip and dip combo you can think of and the classic Deanna birthday cookie cake. We played games and continued our new birthday tradition of sharing what we love and appreciate about the birthday girl/boy.

I had the wonderful opportunity of getting to hear my church family at Falls Church sing Happy Birthday to me which was so special. They broadcast their service online on Wednesday nights and they always sing happy birthday to people. I got tipped off so I signed on and got to see all my wonderful people there singing to me. I loved it.

I also received some post-bday gifts from my sweet friend Kaylynn who sent me a very thoughtful package of things I greatly miss from the US. And recently I was given this beautiful scarf that has already done a good job of keeping me warm in this cool Chilean fall weather.

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so sweet and wonderful. I felt special and did not feel too homesick. It was a great way to start my 27th year of life!

3 Months

2011-04-14T22:26:00.002-06:00

I have lived in Chile for 3 months now. That is a pretty big marker for us! In some ways it has flown by because I feel like I have accomplished so much in such a little time. In some ways though I feel like "really, its only been 3 months? It sure feels longer." Either way, this is an amazing country with wonderful people and I am enjoying getting into the culture and people's lives more and more.

The move to Concepcion will happen at the end of May/beginning of June so please be in prayer for that transition. It is exciting that we are so close to being in Conce but there is so much to get done, mainly finding a place to live. The Lord will provide.

I Heart Mendoza

2011-04-13T12:25:00.005-06:00

This past weekend my team and I took a short vacation from language and cultural learning in Santiago, to visit the beautiful city of Mendoza, Argentina which is just across the Andes. We had a few days of fun and relaxation in a new city and a slightly different culture. I did a lot of walking around the city, saw some sites, did some shopping, and had a few adventures. The highlights include eating a lot of yummy food, taking a few tours, and zip lining through the Andes. It was a nice break from my daily life, an opportunity to refresh and recharge, and a good chance to have a lot of fun together. The Andes were amazing and I got a really good look at them when we rode a bus home through them. They are intense!

Enjoy a few pictures from the trip:

Beautiful Mendoza

Argentina is known for its steaks so I had to have one

It is also known for its leather so I had to buy my first pair of leather boots here. They will come in hand for the cold, wet weather in Concepcion. Sara got a leather purse.

Enjoying the moment of zip lining through the Andes- know I did scream a little but it was a blast

Don't we look hardcore with our helmets and harnesses. We have so much fun together.

Hello Mr. President

2011-04-02T18:45:00.002-06:00

I saw the president of Chile on Friday! I know a few months ago I joked about seeing President Obama when I really didn't but this time I really did. I saw Presidente Sebastian Piñera.

That's him. I think he is waving at me.

So here is the story. After class on Friday I headed to our local office supply store that is in Plaza de Armas which is the center plaza of the city where Santiago was founded. Located in this plaza is the post office and Catedral Metropolitana de Santiago.

As I was walking across the plaza I noticed some of the areas were roped off and there were large crowds of people standing around them looking across the roped off areas. Being the curious girl I am I went and joined the crowd to see what they were looking at. They were looking at the entrance to the church where a few people passed through security and entered the church.

When one lady appeared and headed towards the church all of these camera men rushed around her with cameras and microphones. The surrounded her for a few moments and then she was free. The lady in front of me yelled out her name and she turned around, smiled, waved and the crowd cheered. This happened a few more times with a few more people.

I paid attention to the people around me and what they were saying to figure out what was happening. I knew there must be some special mass occurring and some well known people were attending but I don't really know any well known Chileans so I didn't know if they were celebrities, athletes, government officials or what. My guess was government officials.

I was thinking about moving on when I heard someone in Spanish say, "no the president has not arrived yet." My ears perked up at this. The president! How exciting! I knew I had to stay. Not too much longer a car pulled up on the side of the church and sure enough, out stepped the president of Chile. He went to the crowed and kissed a baby and then walked towards the church. The crowed cheered for him and he waved at me and went inside. It was short and sweet but pretty cool!

I asked the lady next to me what was happening and she said she had no idea. I almost laughed. She didn't know either! I just had to find out though so I asked another group of ladies and they said they were not sure but that they think it was a memorial mass for a senator who had died a few years ago. That was sufficient for me. I did a little research when I got home and I think they were right. Either way, it was exciting and fun to be a part of something like that.

This is just zoomed in. You may recognize him if you watched the Chilean miners being rescued. He was there to greet all of them.

Time Change

2011-03-29T12:42:00.003-06:00

I find it fascinating that, for the second time, the Chilean government has postponed daylight savings time. Since it is fall here we should have fallen back into the winter time schedule in March. A few weeks before they pushed it back until this coming weekend and now, just yesterday they have pushed it back until the beginning of May. Who knew you could mess with time like that!

Chile is having a minor energy crisis (something about a drought and dependency on hydroelectric power maybe) so the energy branch of the government decided to extend the extra daylight summer schedule of time to save on energy.

It might not seem like it would make much of a difference but Chileans are super energy conscious and they do not turn the lights on in their homes until they cannot see the person next to them. I'm serious. Many times I have been sitting in the dark wondering when they would notice and turn the lights on. They also unplug every appliance when they are not using it. So maybe it will make a difference.

Maybe they should just stay on the summer schedule permanently. No one likes the one hour less of daylight in the winter anyways. It throws off our natural clocks, makes us tired and makes us hibernate. Chileans love to stay up late and sleep late so the summer time schedule makes sense no matter what season it is. I say let it be summer all year long!!!

Cooling Off

2011-03-27T07:07:00.002-06:00

As most of my readers are starting to enjoy warmer, Spring weather up there in the Northern Hemisphere, we down here in the South are preparing for Fall. I can tell it's coming. It can still get pretty warm during the days, but at night the temperature drops and you better have a jacket with you. I'm starting to wear my fleeces and sweatshirts around the house at night and this morning I woke up and my bedroom was quite chilly. I think it's time to bust out another blanket.

It's not as if it is freezing or anything but all temperatures here feel more extreme because there is no relief. In the summer, there is no AC so even the 80s feel hot, especially in the sun. Now, 70s during the day is not cold at all, but when it gets into the low 50s at night, my place gets kinda chilly. It's nothing I cant handle and I'm actually looking forward to a new season but I have to learn how to best stay warm here because it is different.

I have some kinda of little wall heater thingy that I don't know how to work. I might need to figure it out, but it is advised to wait as long as you can to turn your heater on because if you are too cold in March then what are you going to do in June or July! Everything is a learning experience here. The most basic tasks I have to learn how to do but I am glad to be here and I am saying "Bring on the Fall!"

It's The Little Things

2011-03-19T22:49:00.002-06:00

I successfully made my amazing chocolate chip cookies today. It was a huge accomplishment. Everything I do lately feels like a huge accomplishment because everything is harder or at least has a learning curve. I finally got all the ingredients I needed to make them (or so I thought) so today I set out to do it. If you know me, you know I LOVE cookies. I can do cake, I greatly enjoy pies and brownies and pretty much every sweet, but I am a sucker for a good cookie.

To be able to make these cookies here are the tasks I had to accomplish:
1. Finding a baking sheet. They dont really have those so I got a metal baking pan which worked just great.
2. Find measuring cups/spoons. That took what seemed like a thousand stores to find but Sara finally did.
3. Finding chocolate chips. I hear they exist here, sometimes, but never for me. I had my mom send me some and a friend who came from the US brought me some as well as butter flavored crisco. I know there is another way to cook cookies without these delicious sticks but I sure do love them.
4. Testing out the "brown" sugar. It looked like the right color but it was really grainy. I looked on the back and it said the ingredients were sugar and molasses so I got it. I tastes about the same, the consistency is not, but it works!
5. Figuring out my oven. You would think the pictures would help but I is more complicated. I think I understand now.

So it has been a process but I got them done. You see, I love to eat cookies but I really love to bake them and share them with people. It brings me great joy when they are super yummy and someone else can enjoy them too. This is important to me and something I did not want to give up while being here. Well, ladies and gents, it looks like I dont have to.

I did have to substitute baking soda with extra baking powder and was nervous about the results but it was fine. They taste a little different but not bad. Not bad at all. You have no idea how happy this makes me to be able to make yummy cookies in Chile.

Up next: The Meredith's World Famous Chocolate Cookies.

Excitement

2011-03-16T13:46:00.003-06:00

There is excitement all around!

1. I received a care package from my parents at my own mailbox in my apartment building. I am rejoicing that the address I gave works and that I have Girl Scout Cookies to eat!

Example of a great care package- things I needed and things that are just fun and yummy

2. We are legal! Everyone on our team has received notice that we are legally "en tramite," which means that our visas are in process. I am legally in between and with this document I can stay in the country with no trouble. My temporary visa (which lasts a year) should be ready in 3-4 months.

What great joy I get out of such small accomplishments here. Every success needs to be celebrated! How about a Girl Scout cookie?

All About Conce

2011-03-15T07:17:00.012-06:00

This is not going to be a short post so stick with me if you can.

On Sunday night we returned from an amazing first trip to Concepcion since we have arrived in Chile. I give praise and thanks to God that it went so smoothly. It was a sweet blessing to have such a wonderful trip under our belts that will encourage us in the months to come, that reminds us that we are not here just to study Spanish, but to share the hope of Jesus with the people of Concepcion. They need this hope.

Hanging in the bus stop, waiting for our late bus

We left on Thursday and took the bus down which took about 6 hours and was quite uneventful. It was a beautiful drive and along the way I took note of the beautiful Andes Mts., the logging industry, the farming industry and the amazing skills of our driver to drive in dense fog. I tried not to watch.

Seaside lunch with our driver Marco

Friday was our driving day. We hired a driver to take us around and he was amazing. His name was Marco and he had lived in Conce for 30+ years so he knew his city. He took us to all the areas of town we could think of, plus the ones he thought we should see. We saw some of the richest areas of town, some of the poorest areas of town and everything in between. Our objective for the day was to just see the city; to get a feel for it, how it is the same, and how it has changed. This will help us think about ministry opportunities and to begin thinking about where we want to live. There are lots of good options for both.

Poorer area called Pedro de Valdivia Bajo

Richer neighborhood with large houses

A nice middle class area in San Pedro

Marco also drove us to see some of the earthquake destruction in Conce and then took us to see the destruction of his city, Conce's twin city, Talcahuano. This one of the major cities that got hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami. There are many people still living in temporary housing a year later but a lot of recovery has happened as well. I felt sad for them and that same day Japan was rocked by the huge earthquake and tusnami as well, which, I'm sure, brought back lots of memories. Later that day Talcahuano was evacuated for fear of a tsunami hitting them. There was no damage done but I could just sense their nervousness.

The famous building pictured often in the news, still not cleared

One of the many temporary housing areas in Talcahuano

Friday night we were blessed to have dinner with a sweet family that we have connections with and met last time we were in Concepcion. They are Marco, Kathy and Valentine (their cute son) and they were so hospitable to us. We just ate pizza and talked for a long time, catching up on their lives, asking them questions about Conce and hearing their earthquake stories. When we left them they said if there was anything they could do for us, anything, to let them know. They also offered their home for us to stay in and to accompany us to find homes because they know the area better. I think they meant it. I hope they know what they are getting themselves into because we need a lot of help. :)

Eating pizza with Marco, Kathy and Valentine

Saturday was a more relaxed day that we just spent walking around the city and discovering things for ourselves. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was so fun to see Chileans out, enjoying their Saturday.

We walked through the park, soon to be one of our favorite places

We stopped at a garage/antique sale at a plaza

We visited the University of Concepcion campus

We stumbled upon a storyboard of photos of the earthquake and saw how far they have actually come, it was powerful and humbling and such a blessing to have accidentally discovered

Saturday night we had lunch with a new friend Jaime and he took us to a University of Concepcion soccer game. It was a very fun experience. The crowd was small but excited and the view from the stadium was amazing. I have no pictures but we had a great time. Jaime was a great host and had a lot of great insight and encouragement for our work in Concepcion.

Sunday we packed up and headed home. The ride home was interesting. We probably stopped at least 15 times to pick people up in the middle of no where. By the time we got to Santiago there were people standing all around us without seats. This is not what I expected the trip home to be like and we later learned this was probably not legal. I felt the culture shock rising in me as the trip went along, just wanting to get home, but I also had to laugh at how different traveling can be here.

Overall, the trip home was a huge success and a great encouragement to me and my team. Conce is different in so many ways but it is also still the same city and people that I know and love. I know that God is working among them and I am excited to join that work.

Conce Here We Come

2011-03-09T19:07:00.002-06:00

We are going to Concepcion for the weekend!!!!!!!!!! We have not been there since our survey trip almost two years ago and we are anxious to visit the beautiful city of Conce that we fell in love with. We are leaving on Thursday and coming back on Friday and I am excited. Pray for a refreshing and encouraging weekend and that God will show us where he is already working.

The team in Conce on our survey trip

They Were Not Lying

2011-03-01T16:46:00.004-06:00

Everyone told me but I just could not believe it. They said it would get worse and I would respond "worse, how could it get worse?" They were not lying. The rumor is that on Sunday 250,000 cars came into Santiago, returning from summer holiday. 250,000 cars. Just think how many people were actually in each of those cars and think of all the people who do not have cars that came back to town also. It is back to work and it is very clear. Traffic is awful and the metro is nothing like I have ever experienced before. I have had two bad days of public transportation and it makes me want to avoid rush hour like the black plague.

What I experienced today was a little nerve wracking. I have been in some bad car traffic jams and I know many of my readers know what that is like, but a human traffic jam is way worse. I was in no danger of physical harm and because I was expecting it I just toughed it up like all the Chileans were doing, but wow, I have never been in such a tight space with so many people before.

I headed home with Sara and Mer around 6:30pm. To get home we had to take one metro line (red line) 2 stops, get off and change lines (to the green line) and then ride one stop. Where we change lines is a major metro intersection where tons and tons of people pass through. When we got to our first location of boarding, the train that stopped was very full. There was just a wall of people at the door way and I was going to get on but the people did not move and I chickened out. So we waited for the next train and I watched other Chileans shove their way on so I did the same. It was elbow to elbow, butt to butt, face to face, full.

So we rode two stops and got off and followed the huge mass of people to the green line. When we got to the green line platform the crowd just piled behind us and when the train came, we waited until the people on the train exited and then people started cramming on. I almost did not have a choice but to go with the crowd of people who just kept boarding and boarding and boarding. I really did not think I was going to make it but the people behind me kept pushing until I got on. I was afraid the door might shut on me but then this other man got in behind me, grabbed the handle bars and pulled himself in, pushing me further into the crowd, to where it was only his body keeping me from popping out. The door closed and I just focused on staying calm and not panicking. I could not move my body and there were other bodies touching me all around. I was concerned that we might not be able to get off but we just pushed and said "permiso" and made our way off the train to freedom.

Wow. That is normal here but to me it was unbelievable. The horrible thing is that people have to do that twice a day, five days a week for a much longer ride than I had and they have no choice. I did not believe that the traffic (car and human) could get worse, but they were not lying. I just got worse.

First Meals

2011-02-26T07:13:00.004-06:00

I am close to completing my first week of living alone in Chile and it has actually gone really well. I am enjoying my apartment and think that I finally have the things I need to get by for the next three months. I have made countless trips to the store this week to buy food and household items such as cleaning supplies and kitchen utensils and I am tired of shopping.

Shopping, cleaning and organizing makes me hungry so I of course had to do a little cooking this week. I was kind of nervous about it but I prepared three good meals and joined in on a number of other meals throughout the week at my teammates houses. It is overwhelming to cook when you have almost no food, no spices and no utensils but we made it work.

My first meal to cover for myself was breakfast. Now I know that breakfast does not seem like that big of deal but I promise, everything takes longer here and if I just eat cereal I will be very hungry before lunch time. So I began by attempting to make a Chilean breakfast like I had been eating at Isabel's. It took more time than I thought it would but it was yummy and sufficient.

On the menu: fresh bread from the store, one side with ham and cheese, the other with butter and jelly, a peach, yogart, coffee with milk and pear juice (I thought it was OJ in the store). The only thing missing was the palta (avocado) and it was too hard to eat.

Next came lunch. I really had the bare minimum of food so I was very limited in what I could cook but I was happy with what came out. I know it does not seem like much but I was proud of this meal.

On the menu: more bread, burned on the stove in an attempt to toast it, eggs with ham, and palta. Only seasoning ingredient available: salt.

My second night in my place Chad and Sara had me over for dinner for their first real cooked meal. It was such a great success. The food was so yummy and it was nice to feel normal and enjoy sharing a meal in each others homes even if our table was two boxes and Sara had to cook the pasta in two batches because it would not all fit in one pot.

On the menu: pasta with tomato sauce and ground turkey, parmesan, and garlic bread.

And now for my pride and joy. On my third day I attempted what I would consider a real meal. It was lunch time but that is the time Chileans eat their big meal so I have joined in that aspect of their culture as well. So I started out the morning at the feria and got lots of fresh veggies for super cheap. Then I stopped by the grocery store and got rice. Then I stopped by the meat store and bought some chicken from the butcher across the street. This purchase alone was a big step. I could have just gotten chicken at the grocery store but most Chileans prefer the carneceria so I wanted to try it out. It was a little intimidating and I am not sure if I could buy red meat there but I was proud of my chicken.

On the menu: a beautiful salad, chicken and (the best part) Chilean rice.

Oh it was all so good. Chilean rice is great! Everything was seasoned with salt and cilantro. It was not the best meal I have ever made but because of the effort and the significance it felt like it was.

Next on the menu: Eel!!!!

Haha, just kidding. I just saw these at the local fish market and was so creeped by them and that people cook them that I had to share.

Brief Update

2011-02-23T11:53:00.006-06:00

So I have this tendency when I don't blog for a while to try and write everything that has happened since I last blogged. You would be reading for days if I did that so I am going to try to sum it up in bullet points and pictures. You should know though that I am doing good and enjoying the excitement and challenge of living in Chile.

We finished language immersion classes at Berlitz. We studied for 4 weeks, 5 days a week, 9am-6pm. It was a very challenging schedule and I felt as tired and frustrated as I have ever felt in my life during that month. I am thankful we did it and how much I progressed during it but I am also very thankful that phase of language learning is over.

My last day of Berlitz I rewarded myself with donuts that I passed by everyday and resisted.

We are taking a week "off" from language learning to get settled into our new homes and find tutors to start studying again next week.

Sara and I with one of our professors, Grace.

Group shot! Last day!

I moved!! I am now living on my own for the first time. I have spent two nights in my apartment and it is going really well. I feel almost settled and I feel comfortable and safe. I have taken the time to get to know the desk workers in my apartment building and they have already been a great help to me.

Moving day! It was sad to say bye to Isabel but exciting to gain some freedom.

My place is one block from the Overalls and two blocks from the Lukkasons. We are living in the heart of Santiago, only blocks from some of the main plazas and markets in the entire city.

I have gone shopping for grocery and housing items more times than I can remember in the past two days. It is a lot of work setting up a home. The place is "furnished" but it is still lacking a lot. We are all torn by not wanting to set up too much here and have to transport it all to Concepcion and wanting to feel comfortable for the next three months.

I have really enjoyed my two trips to the central fruit/veggie market that is always open. Today I bought a head of lettuce (no bagged lettuce here), a green pepper, a head of garlic and a bunch of carrots for $1200 pesos which is about US$2.50. Not bad huh? The people who work there are very helpful and patient with me since some of the produce varieties are new to me. I like taking their recommendations.

I am slowly learning my way around the area and enjoying the adventure that every day brings. I am so thankful we took the week off from school to get settled because nothing happens fast or easily around here. I am pretty sure the words efficient and convenient do not translate well into Spanish. It takes getting used to but life sure is interesting!

Welcome to my home. Let me give you a tour. I also can offer you a cup of tea since the sweet sweet missionaries here gave us all housewarming gifts.

This is my bedroom and the comforter I bought for fear of using bedding in a furnished apartment used by who knows how many people.

Other side of my bedroom. It's ok to be jealous of my TV. I know you are.

My closet is actually somethign to be jealous of. Walk-ins are not common here. Funny story how I got locked out of my closet, could not get in, the landlady did not have a key and did not know what to do so I had the desk worker call a locksmith for me. Hilarious.

My living room. Please have a seat on my awesome green couch.

My kitchen and bar. I'll post soon about the first real meal I prepared today. I was so proud.

Would you like to have a seat on my porch? Be careful, you may not be able to get up.

Well thanks for stopping by Casa Deanna. It has been great to have you. I hope you will come again. Now that my schedule is a little more normal, maybe I can blog more often about specifics that happen.

Chau!

Know What Else Today Is?

2011-02-14T18:01:00.002-06:00

Today I have lived in Chile for one month!

Happy One Month-iversary to me and my teammates!

Now, 16 days of Spanish immersion down, 4 to go. Then the real celebrating comes!

Saturday Adventure

2011-02-13T13:01:00.004-06:00

Most weekends since being here in Chile we have all been to exhausted to do much and too tired of public transportation to want to go anywhere so we usually end up staying home and relaxing around the house. I love doing this but this weekend we decided we needed a little adventure in our lives and some time together to have fun and enjoy the city we are living in. So off we went, to Cerro San Cristobal.

Climbing up to the Virgin!

This is a huge hill in the middle of the city with a huge white statue of the Virgin Mary on top. It is a popular tourist site and also a place Chileans seem to enjoy going to together. From the top there are amazing views of the city. This city is so huge. You also have the choice between spending some time in meditation and prayer or having a cold snack of ice cream. This hill is an interesting mix of religion and tourism.

Great views of the city from the top

Steps up to the Virgin Mary

There are multiple ways to get to the top. You can take the funicular (like a train), take a taxi, drive, bike, run, or walk. We decided to walk and it was quite the hike. Thankfully it was a cool day yesterday because we got a work out from this hike. It was not too long but it was super steep and, I have to admit, we had to stop a few times to catch our breath.

Another view from the top

I decided to partake in a different cold snack/drink called Mote con Huesillo. It is a very Chilean drink that they seem to love here. I had a sip of it my first week but decided I needed to dive into the culture and get a whole one on my own. Ok, I just looked it up and huesillo means dried peach and mote is the Quecha word for grains cooked in water. I think that the huesillo is a peach that has been dried and then re-hydrated in the tea-like substance and then at the bottom are grains of wheat. Obviously I am not 100% sure but it is something like that.

Bottoms up!

So, I tired my own cup of this drink/snack and it is pretty good. It is really sweet and the only thing I can compare it to is peach flavored sweet tea. I know it seems strange to have things floating in your tea but trust me, it is not as bad as it looks. It was actually quite refreshing and a good little snack too. The Mote con Huesillo stands are all over the place (mainly in the summer I am guessing) so I was excited to join in the tradition of the drink.

I know it looks gross but it isn't

After the climb we headed to a nice area to eat dinner. We were searching a place to eat and out of the 7 million people that live in this city, we ran into someone we knew! It was our professor Virginia and we were all so surprised and excited to see her. She was with her mom and sister and we got to meet them. What was hilarious was that I was wearing my "Virginia is for Lovers" t-shirt (state slogan by the way) and her name is Virginia!!!! She thought it was so funny and so did I so we just had to take a picture.

We love Virginia

It was a wonderful Saturday adventure with lots of fun and laughter. I am looking forward to class tomorrow when they asked me what I did over the weekend and I can say something other than "I rested."

Safe and Sound

2011-02-11T19:01:00.001-06:00

Friends and Family,

I wanted you to know that I am safe and sound along with the rest of my team after the earthquake that occurred earlier today. It was a 7.0 and the epicenter was about 40 miles northwest of Concepcion. Santiago, where I am currently, is 270 miles north of Concepcion.

I was busy in language school when it occurred and no one at the school even realized there had been one. I did not hear it about it until I got home and saw the news. I assumed Santiago would have felt a quake this size as close as it was, but I didn’t. As far as I know now there was little damage done and no loss of life.

Thank you for your concern. Praise God we are all safe and pray that those closer to the epicenter are as well.

Downhill from here

2011-02-09T19:19:00.002-06:00

13 days of immersion down. 7 days of immersion to go.

Foooooooooooood

2011-02-06T18:24:00.003-06:00

Right now most of you are probably watching the Super Bowl. Amazing, I am not jealous at all. Know what I am doing? Eating my first bowl of cereal in over three weeks. Yum!!!!!! I know it seems like such a small thing but I love cereal and I have really been missing it. I am thankful we eat a full breakfast every morning (eggs, jam, bread, avocados, juice, coffee) because we don't eat lunch until 1 or 2pm and cereal would not cut that schedule but it might become a regular dinner meal instead because they usually eat big lunches and smaller dinners. I think Isabel didn't even eat dinner tonight.

Above we are eating a big lunch with one of our professors. We eat lunch out with a different prof every day. This is the prof that on Friday I broke down in laughter with. She makes these funny sounds that various teammates can imitate really well so when she makes them they are even funnier now because I think of her being imitated. We aren't making fun of her, but just enjoying her quirks. So on Friday she made her noises and I tried to hard to hold in my laughter but I just couldn't. It was the end of the day and I was exhausted and Sara was laughing a little too and I just lost it. She of course asked what was so funny and I just said I was really tired and everything seemed funny which true. I am not sure she fully believed me.

We ate at an Indian restaurant for lunch today with Isabel after church. We told her we wanted to take her to eat and this is where she wanted to go. We were a little nervous but it was super yummy. I don't know what was on our chicken, shrimp and lamb but I really enjoyed all of it and amazingly nothing we ate had curry on it I don't think. Isabel really enjoyed herself. As you can see, they put dots on our foreheads while we ate there.

Now I don't know much about Indian culture but I was told these were only for married, Indian women to wear so it was not very culturally sensitive of them but I still enjoyed it. Seriously, the food was so good...except the desert.

We wanted to stick with the chocolate cake because, while not very authentic, it seemed the safest on the menu, but it was obvious Isabel wanted to try this other dish so we went for it. The only word I remember describing it was carrots and that is mainly what I remember eating. I was hoping for something like carrot cake but it was more like a pile of shredded cooked carrots with a few other strange flavors mixed in there. Not the greatest. I was with Wes and Ellen and we exchanged concerned glances and went for it. Let's say that one bite was enough but I went for two just to be nice. On my second bite I, once again, could not hold in my laughter and it came spilling out. It was just so funny! Isabel asked if we liked it and all I could say was "it's different." She ate the rest of it. :)

I sure do talk about food a lot on this blog.

That's right, our eggs are really fresh.

As this relaxing weekend comes to a close, tomorrow it is back to school. We have made it through two weeks of intense language school and have two more to go. Bring it!

Nos vemos.

Spanish Brain

2011-02-03T20:58:00.002-06:00

I majorly have Spanish on the brain. I am constantly thinking in Spanish and words are more and more often coming to me in Spanish instead of English. I think this is a good sign but it is kind of like having a song stuck in your head that you don't know all the words to. Have you ever had this happen? You know, you sing a few words, you mumble a few words, you sing a few words, you take a guess at a few words, you sing a few more words confidently and then find out they were totally off. This is what my brain is like now. I have Spanish stuck in my head but I don't know all the words so there is a lot of mumbling, a lot of guessing, and a lot of being totally off. But it's not so bad and I am learning more and more lyrics every day.

Style Observations

2011-01-31T18:56:00.004-06:00

I admit it. I notice clothes. I notice clothes on people in the US and I really notice clothes on people here. Some people, I look at the clothes and shoes they wear and think "they look like me." But others, not so much. Here are a few of the new styles I have seen on women. Is this what the young women are wearing in the US and I just didn't know it?

These are interestingly called Harem Pants

I think these are called gladiator shoes or something. Don't they look hot (temperature I mean)?

Imagine the combination of harem pants and gladiator shoes. I want to adapt to the culture here but I am not so sure about this style. I might just stick to my capris (called pescadores) and chacos.

Chao for now!

My Head is Spinning

2011-01-29T18:56:00.005-06:00

One week of Spanish school down, three to go. Wow. This week was as crazy or crazier than I expected. Nine hours of school with an hour commute on either end plus homework every night makes for a long long day. My head is seriously spinning with new words and conjugations as I go to bed each night. By the end of the week I felt like I could not speak Spanish or English anymore. I have been thankful for this Saturday to have a day of rest and not studying.

Team photo on the first day

Despite how difficult school is I am thankful to be in it and am very impressed with our experience so far. Our teachers are excellent and have been in this business for years, some more than 20. They are good at balancing serious study with breaks for laughter, learning funny things and enjoying a scoop of ice cream after lunch.

During a pausa (break) at school.

I am in a class with just Sara and we are at level 5 of 10. I am a low level 5 but I am making do and learning a lot. We have one teacher between the two of us so we get a lot of time to speak, read and listen. This first week was a review of much of the grammar I have learned before and being exposed to hundreds and hundreds of new vocab words. Why do we need so many words to get along? I think we are being excessive. :)

Enjoying a frap at Starbucks. After working at Starbucks I never wanted to go there but it is amazing how much of a difference a little taste of home can make me feel, especially when its dang hot outside.

We also go out to lunch with a teacher every day and this cost is included in the price of our tuition. This is a chance for us to chat casually and and relax a little. We have a budget that is easy to stay within so most days we stop by and get ice cream or a frap on our way back to class. It is becoming a bad habit but it is so good. I love ice cream here.

At the market last week enjoying some free fruit that later made me sick. I learned my lesson.

Besides school, this week we have had a little team time, I recovered from some contaminated fruit and a bad fall, we have become experts at our public transportation route and I have gotten to walk around the neighborhood some and see what is out there. I took today off from studying Spanish and did some skyping with friends and family, did some laundry, and went to see a possible apartment. I am planning to live at Casa Isabel through most of February but that is going to come soon so I am trying to find a furnished apartment. I felt good about the one I saw today so we will see how that plays out.

I fell last week while walking down the street and really banged up my knee. Isabel doctored me since I had nothing. Please notice the leaves on my leg. :)

I feel like so much has happened this week that I could write for hours but I think for now I must say goodnight.

Chao from Chile.

PS- Please forgive any spelling mistakes. My computer knows I am in Chile so it checks it for Spanish misspellings which is pretty much everything. I dont feel like editing.

The Calm Before the Storm

2011-01-22T05:57:00.004-06:00

I am sitting in my Chilean house right now as a cool morning breeze blows through my window, listening to the hum of traffic that never ceases. It is a peaceful, quiet morning here at Casa Isabel (lady I'm staying with) and I am excited about my day of visiting a feria (market) and joining my teammates and amigos from church for an assado later in the afternoon. What a perfect Saturday.

My room

This peaceful quiet is quite the opposite of what is to start on Monday so I wanted to get a blog post in before things get crazy. On Monday we start language immersion classes. This means Spanish class from 9am-6pm where even lunch and breaks are supposed to be in Spanish. Then I come home to Casa Isabel and speak more Spanish and do it all again the next day.

This is the way we have chosen to learn Spanish and in the end it will be worth it but it will not be easy. Despite the anticipated difficulty I am looking forward to it. I have learned a lot of Spanish just being here for one week, not in class, so I am excited to progress even further.

My first week here in Chile has been a wonderful one. Most nights I crash because I am so worn out for the language learning and just how much we cram into one day, trying to get things done before school starts. I have ridden the bus many times and can now get from school and church and the city to my house with no problem. I even survived rush hour in hot, non- AC public transportation and I came out alive.

My Bip! card for public transportation

I have eaten an uncountable number of paltas (avocados), drank numerous cups of coffee, had lots of delicious empanadas and am still on the hunt for the best ice cream ever. Yum. Thank goodness I am also walking a lot everyday. Amazingly, I have also had Mexican food. Who knew we could find a Mexican food restaurant in Chile!

Mexican food!

Drinking cortados

I have bought a pre-paid cell phone (they won't give us plans w/o visas) and have even had a few successful phone calls with Chileans. I always felt triumphant because it is hard to talk on the phone in another language.

We all have cellphones

I will end with this story and video. Our first real Chilean friend, Alejandro, took us to an art exhibit where art is projected onto the river that runs downtown. We heard this explination and were like "huh?" but then when we saw it, I realized that is as accurate of a description as you can give. It is art projected onto the river. Now this art is not like a paiting of Van Gogh but more like graffiti type art and the pictures were huge, maybe almost half a football field big. It was quite impressive and appears that this is the first time this form of art has ever been done in the world. I really enjoyed it and was thankful to Alejandro for taking us.

Until the next time I have a chance to blog, nos vemos!

Important Research

2011-01-15T14:12:00.003-06:00

In honor of my brother who always asks...

First Days

2011-01-15T13:15:00.005-06:00

My first two days in Chile have been pretty surreal. Ellen asked me when we got on the plane in Miami "do you feel like we are moving?" I said, "No, I don't really know what I feel." So much effort has been put to getting to Chile and now here we are. Really all I can do is take it one day at a time, slowly adjust and just take it all in. I could easily become sad, overwhelmed or excited at any moment. Really I just feel thankful and blessed by all the support and prayers from home and from all the help we are receiving here. The missionaries in Santiago are making our move here so much more smooth.

Miami airport, happy face.

On the plane, stressed faces. We strongly dislike the Miami airport, but we made it!

We have already eaten lots of good food, seen some beautiful places around the city, taken an evening stroll, visited Jumbo (grocery store) and talked a lot. I feel like I am already learning Spanish and culture but even more I am learning how much their is to learn. I think moving in with host families next week will be invaluable for learning and I am looking forward to that.

They have cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup! These are so important for many recipes and I did not expect to find them.

Excited about my hairdryer purchase. Very important.

Other ladies excited about their purchases as well. It was a successful first Jumbo trip. There will be many more to come.

The weather here is beautiful. It is summer time and the sun is warm, the sky is clear and the pollution is low enough that I can even see the Andes. Amazing! They are so huge! I have missed having mountains in my back yard. The homes do not have central air or heat but with the windows open, it is quite pleasant. In Texas we would be dying.

Eating empanadas at the feria (market). I could get used to this.

Enjoying the summer weather

Chile Welcomes Team Conce

2011-01-14T08:16:00.002-06:00

We are landed in Chile! I am too tired to go into the details of the trip but it went as smooth as international travel with 5 pieces of luggage and a plane change can go. Praise God. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming as we recover from travel and a night with little sleep and adjusting to our home city for the next 6 months. More posts to come.

Peace.

Today's The Day

2011-01-13T10:01:00.004-06:00

Today I head down South. Today I leave for Chile. Can you believe it is finally here? On one hand it seems like today would never come but it also feels like it has come so fast. I am excited and scared and nervous all at the same time. We have been working so hard to come to this and now it has. God have mercy.

I had a wonderful Christmas holiday with my friends and family and it was a perfect way to send me off. I am so blessed and that is what I am focused on as I leave today. I have wondered what today would be like many many times, how I would feel, how I would act, what would happen and now it is finally happening. It's going ok. I feel very sad and very nervous but I am going. It may be stressful and tiring for a while but I can handle it.

I fit most of my important belongings in 5 suitcases

What I do know is that God has been faithful. I was fearful that I would experience a lot of anxiety this day and the days prior, but God has provided me (and those close to me) with peace that I know could only come from him and I give him the glory for this.

Driving to DFW to fly out the day before

Please pray that this peace continues and that is reaches to my teammates and all our families. This is what we want to do and where we want to go but that does not make leaving easy.

Spent the evening with the BFF- I gave her my scarf I have been working on for 2 years and she gave me a cute bracelet

Booyah Wins!!!

2010-12-29T12:11:00.004-06:00

I have been playing fantasy football with my brother and his friends for like six or seven seasons. I have never won the entire thing until this year!!! I am the champion!

I did not think I had a chance because I was not so great in the regular season but I just barely made the playoffs and then the awesomeness of Booyah (my team's name) just kept on coming! I even had one of my major players not play this week and I still won. Where all this talent came from I am still unsure but I am quite proud.

It sure feels good to win especially when I get a little reward for it.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-25T11:18:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and a beautiful day of celebration and family. My Christmas day is a small, simple one but I am enjoying the slow day. In preparation for Christmas I have participated an many of my regular Christmas traditions. Here are a few of them.

Getting our Christmas tree. We used to cut them down at a farm but those days have past. As I always say, "it is the best Christmas tree ever!"

Spending time with life-long friends I do not get to see often enough.

Cookin' yummy food in the kitchen.

Playing Wii. This is a new tradition but it has become a regular activity of our holidays.

Hanging our Christmas cards. My mom has done this since before I can remember. She loves displaying her cards. Another point to note, it is warm enough in Houston to wear shorts. Or it was that day at least. Gotta love the first day of winter being 80+ degrees!

Starting the fireplace with the leaf blower. Something about the cold air being heavy and pushing the smoke into the house. I don't know but it happens every year and always makes me laugh. This is actually from today so thankfully it is a cool Christmas day here now.

Every holiday season has its traditions and it's peculiarities that are not expected but enjoyed. Here are a few new additions to my holidays.

Me hanging out with a huge metal rooster.

Searching for a cat around the house and finding her looking down on us. No this is not a new cat, we are cat sitting. Isn't she cute though!

Realizing that I am more like my family than I thought. We love our boat shoes. Mine are the ones on the bottom.

I hope you are enjoying your holidays, traditions and peculiarities both!

I Did It Again

2010-12-24T10:03:00.003-06:00

I chopped 9 inches off my hair this week!!!!!!!!!

I know all of you are very interested in my Hair Chronicles so let me just tell you all about it.

The before shot

Four+ years ago I decided to brave the world of long hair. I grew it out for two years and then chopped off 10 inches to donate. You can read about the first time I did it here. I really enjoyed the whole process and grew to like my long hair so I decided to do it again.

As you can see from that post, that was May 2009 and now we are at December 2010. I probably could have let my hair grow out even longer but I wanted to get a good cut before I left for Chile so it was now or never.

Before from behind- look at those luscious locks :)

So I did it. I cut off 9 inches and it is short! I have had it this short in the past but not in a long time. I really like it but it does take some getting used to. I love how little time it takes to wash and dry it and how little mousse it takes to style it. I enjoy my short hair. I also enjoy the fact that now I don't have to get it cut again for quite a while.

So check out my new Christmas do!

The After shot

Adios hair

It Begins

2010-12-18T13:54:00.003-06:00

Remember my birthday post in April? I got a surprise harmonica and I thought maybe I had found my calling. Well since then guess how much I have practiced.

NONE!

Well, none until today. Today my dad found an old harmonica book in some of his files and he gave it to me. My past excuse for not playing has been that I have been living with people and did not want to be disruptive. It was a legitimate excuse.

Now that I am at my parents house where my dad practices his guitar each day I think that excuse no longer works so I decided to give it a shot.

Did you know playing the harmonica is hard? I didn't! When I was a kid I used to blow on an old one we had and thought, "hmm, no big deal."

Wrong! It is quite hard and I am going to have to work on my technique a lot but I think it might be worth it. I kinda enjoyed sitting around, practicing an instrument. It has been a while and I am going to have to brush up on my music note reading skills.

F-A-C-E

Every Good Boy Does Fine

Sound familiar to anyone?

So I was practicing a little and attempting to get down covering certain holes with my tongue so that I could play one note at a time (not easy). I thought I was getting ok at playing Row Row Row Your Boat (gotta start somewhere) so I attempted to play it for my parents. I asked my mom what song I played and she said, "umm, Mary Had a Little Lamb?" Ohhh I was crushed! I guess Row Row Row needs a little more work.

I think I am up for the challenge. I might take a little hiatus again while in language school and living with a Chilean family (can you imagine their surprise) but once I have my own place I am going to rock out!

Hello Texas

2010-12-04T19:30:00.005-06:00

I made it!! I am safely back in Texas and have been here a couple of days. My bags are finally unpacked and I have even started going through some of the many boxes crammed in my closet here. The Goodwill around here is very lucky. My dad has already taken TWO LOADS for me.

My sorting goes something like this.

I start off asking "Do I want to take this to Chile?" If the answer is yes yes, it goes in one pile.

If the answer is no this I ask "but do I want to get rid of it?"

If the answer is no, it goes in a box in my closet again.

If the answer is yes it goes to Goodwill!

It may not seem like a good system but it is working for me. I am already a few boxes less. Simple is the way to go people.

I love cleaning out my stuff. I mean yea the teddy bear I got for some unknown reason 10 years ago is cute but wouldn't it have a better life with some poor child than gathering dust in my room. Yes!

On another note, the travel to get back to Texas to go through all my stuff was great. I won't bore you with the details but here are a few pics to tell the story. St. Louis was a lot of fun and our time was filled with eating, watching football, playing games, playing wiibuilding fires and visiting the arch. Good times.

Building Fires

Playing Wii- showing our dancing skills

At the Arch

Pod to go up in the Arch

Beautiful at night

And I'm Off

2010-11-23T07:44:00.003-06:00

I'm packed. My car is fueled up as am I with coffee. I'm ready to join the other million people on the road today. Grrrr, I have my game face on. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! :)

My plan is, since I have never driven on any of the roads or through any of the cities I am about to, I am just going to enjoy the trip, traffic, rain and all. I get to drive through Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Wow! Us Texans are not used to being able to cross that many states in under 24 hours. This should be an experience.

According to the Weather Channel I will only be driving on one of 10 Most Congested Roads and that is right here in DC and I drive on it many times a week. This will be breeze! :)

Pray for my safety and give me a call. I am sure I can only handle so many hours of audio books at once.

Farewell lovely Virginia. I will miss you!

Where is Harry when you need him?

2010-11-22T08:30:00.006-06:00

I could use Harry Potter this morning. I really need someone to magic all my things into suitcases and into my car with the swish of a wrist. I don't wanna pack!!!!!!!!!!!

I purposefully did not pack this weekend, leaving it all until today but now I'm not feeling it. I will get over that soon because I am leaving tomorrow morning whether I am packed or not and I would rather be packed. I just needed to whine a little to the blogging world. I usually do not mind packing for a trip but packing all my things is a totally different story.

I also don't wanna pack because I am sad to leave. I have had a wonderful weekend with my wonderful friends here and it was hard to say goodbye. I enjoyed my favorite place in the city, ate yummy food, laughed, worshiped in Spanish and in English, ate more yummy food, and I feel so blessed and supported. Thanks to all of you for making my time in DC amazing. It is amazing how attached I can become to a place and to people in just three short months. I think my mission here is accomplished. :)

Adios DC

What I do have to look forward to now is seeing my family. I have not seen any of them since August and I am excited to visit St. Louis where my brother and s-law live. We are going to have a wonderful time relaxing and eating. That's what T-day is all about right?

Hello St. L

So what do I need to do in order to see them soon? Pack.

Ugh. Here I go....

Best Way to Travel

2010-11-18T16:44:00.005-06:00

Road-tripping alone is not exactly my idea of fun, even road-tripping with friends is not my preferred method of travel, I would rather fly, but sometimes its gotta be done. This is one of those times. Tuesday I leave the lovely metropolis of DC and my lovely friends of DC and head back South by way of Ohio and Missouri. Not exactly a direct route but it will work.

The first two days of travel, with the end goal being St. Louis, will be done alone. Two days in the car by myself. Ick. How do I survive? Only by the invention of audio books.

When I started traveling a lot, especially between Texas and Colorado, I discovered audio books. I think the first one I listened to was Little Women. I soon discovered that some of the classics I felt like I should enjoy but could never work up enough of an attention span to read, I could listen to. You see, since I was already bored in the car and had not much else to pay attention to (besides driving of course), it was actually quite entertaining to listen to authors like Jane Austen, Emily Bronte and Jack London. They became wonderful stories that kept me alive while driving for so long alone.

My list of books I have listened to has continued to increase as the miles have increased. I have not only read classics, but mainly. I have listened to My Antonia, Call of the Wild, Emma, Mansfield Park, Wuthering Heights, and Brave New World and I am in the middle of listening to War of the Worlds.

Since I am about to depart again I have returned to my trusty provider of free audio books, Librivox. This website takes books that are in the public domain and uses volunteer readers and provides free audio books that you can download straight to Itunes. It is an amazing deal. If you do not like older books then you might look into buying audio books or visit your local library, as they usually have a decent selection.

This trip I am going to attempt to finish War of the Worlds and also The Scarlet Letter and Uncle Tom's Cabin, none of which I have ever read. Although I am sad to leave DC and am not looking forward to two days in the car, I am quite happy with my listening choices. I will let you know how it goes!

Here is my basic route according to Google Maps. Know any good places to stop?

View Larger Map

Again

2010-11-16T23:01:00.004-06:00

I bought my plane ticket to Chile AGAIN today. That is right, again. I bought it a few weeks ago, canceled it, got refunded, did some more research and bought it again. It is a long, complicated and boring story but the end of it is that I now have a plane ticket to Chile. Ahhh! This has been so long coming. I feel so many varied emotions it is amazing I am able to think straight.

I am thankful the ticket is bought, that I have the funds to buy it, that our team received good advice on buying tickets, and that I now have one less thing to worry about getting done. No matter how prepared or unprepared I am, I will be flying to Chile on January 13th. Can you believe it? I almost cannot.

Pray for me. Pray for my team. Pray for everything we need to accomplish between now and January. Pray for us as we say goodbye to those we deeply deeply love. Pray for Chile.

Questions I get a lot

2010-11-08T08:16:00.002-06:00

As a soon-to-be missionary, I get asked a lot of questions. To be more specific, I get asked a lot of the same questions over and over again. I really do not mind being asked these things because I am usually just so thankful that people care enough to engage me in conversation about what I am so passionate about. I also understand that my plans and what my teammates are going to do is a little confusing so it is good to clear some things up. Here are some of my regular questions as of late.

When do you leave?
I leave Washington DC right before Thanksgiving to spend the holidays with my family, the month of December in Texas getting ready to go and spending time with my home church and then I hop on a plane in mid January 2011.

Do you speak Spanish?
Eh, kinda. I have studied Spanish off and on for years but I have never become fluent. I can get around but I have so much to learn. My teammates and I will start language school as soon as we get to Chile and study for at least 6 months.

Where are you going to live?
Not sure yet. (Ha! I love telling people that) I will first live in Santiago for language school and the missionaries there are helping us figure out where to live, either in furnished housing or with a family. From there, I will travel to Conce (short for Concepcion) to find a place to live there. No, our whole team will not live in the same house but hopefully we will live close to each other.

What is the weather like in Chile?
Well, you need to be more specific. Chile is a really long country and has varied weather but in Conce it is quite mild. It does not get out of the 80s in the summer and does not get below freezing in the winter. I does rain a lot.

Are you going alone?
Nope, I have six wonderful teammates. Check out their blogs!

What are you doing now?
I have been living in the DC area for the past three months getting to know my supporting church family here. It has been wonderful.

How long are you going for?
At least five years.

Chile...isn't that where there was like a big earthquake or something?
Yes, in February there was a large earthquake but where are there not natural disasters? This is just a new one for me to learn how to live with. I survived the tornadoes of Oklahoma, the blizzards of Colorado and the hurricanes of Texas. Maybe I will be the next Bear Grylls. :)

Any other questions?

Violated

2010-11-05T07:34:00.003-06:00

I got hacked!

I feel a little violated.

My old yahoo address sent out some strange link to everyone in my contact list. It was really strange and I see no evidence in my account of anything happening but it must have because I promise I did not send that out myself. I promise!

I have been working to fix the problem. It would make sense to just delete the old account and I would except that I am using that email to play in two yahoo fantasy football leagues and I might not be able to get back in. Wouldn't that be a sad day! After the season is over though that account is gone!

So, I did as much as I could. I deleted all of my contacts and all old emails saved there. I changed my name and my extra email address. I changed my password multiple times, so many times actually that when I tried to sign in this morning I forgot what it was. Maybe if I can't remember it then the hacker won't be able to either. :)

Hopefully the email world is safe from strange emails from this chica for a while. I apologize for anyone that received something strange from me.

Mini-Vacation/Roadtrip/Retreat

2010-11-01T15:10:00.003-06:00

Thursday I took a quick trip out to the Virginia countryside and had a wonderful Mini-Vacation/Road-trip/Retreat that I did not even know I needed. Marilyn, one of the women I live with, has a country house out west of DC and she graciously let me visit for a night.

Can you believe someone lives here and sees this every day

I was able to take long walks, spend a lot of time in prayer, eat lots of yummy food, read and just enjoy the quiet. It was seriously amazing how quiet it was out there. No sounds except the crickets and the occasional gun shot from the neighbor. I also was able to see the stars so brightly. I had forgotten that I cannot see them in the city and I really enjoyed gazing at them, despite the cold.

I could walk/run here everyday

Marilyn took good care of me and gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted or needed. She provided yummy meals, gave me a great tour of the little town near by and took me to a delicious dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. We had a lovely time.

Beautiful contrast of green fields and colorful leaves

The drive to and from the country house was spectacular. Seriously, the leaves changing here looks like the trees are on fire. I saw some beautiful aspens change in Colorado but they do not compare to the color variety here. Amazing! There is everything from yellow, to orange, to red, to purple and every shade in between. There are even some trees with all of these colors plus green on them and those just make me so happy. I did not know that was possible.

I love fall and I love Virginia

I don't really consider myself a country girl, I prefer the mountains or the city, but knowing that country can look like this (and not just a dry farm like in Texas)...my eyes have been opened. Thanks for a wonderful time Marilyn!

Besame Mucho

2010-10-27T23:00:00.002-06:00

We sing this song in my Wednesday Spanish class every week and every week I laugh, a lot. I do not know the tune at all and I know others do not either. We sound awful! Yet, we keep trying, I keep laughing, we do not get any better but it sure is amusing. Ever heard this song? You can read the lyrics in Spanish and English below.

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte después

Quiero tenerte muy cerca
Mirarme en tus ojos
Verte junto a mi
Piensa que tal vez mañana
Yo ya estaré lejos
Muy lejos de ti

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte después

English translation:

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight was
the last time.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Because I fear to lose you,
To lose you later on.

I want to have you very close
To see myself in your eyes,
To see you next to me,
Think that perhaps tomorrow
I already will be far,
very far from you.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
As if tonight was
the last time.

Kiss me, kiss me a lot,
Because I fear to lose you,
To lose you later on.

Too funny. I love it.

Great Day

2010-10-26T22:31:00.002-06:00

Beautiful cloudy day. Wonderful AM worship time. Blessing to teach such amazing women. Learned a lot from these amazing women. Challenged by our study of James. Nice, simple lunch at Wendys. Good conversation. Picked up necessities at grocery store. Speedy run. Talked with precious friends who give great advice. They pray for me and I for them. I am so thankful. Oil changed. Are my air filters dirty? Chat with the Madre and the BFF. Always good. Peaceful, fun evening. Mexican food. Stories. Laughter. Chick-fil-a milkshakes. Life changing. My life is changing...

Feelin' Thankful

2010-10-21T07:07:00.006-06:00

I love when I think "I need to write a blog, but what should I write about" and then I realize it is Thursday and I get to share with my few readers what I am thankful for. If you have never done a post like this you should try it. It just makes my day!

Thankful for:

My winter wardrobe- it is starting to get cool here and I am prepared
The leaves are actually changing now- there are a few bright red ones that just make me smile
Guilty pleasures- Regis and Kelly
Friends who surprise me with their generosity
The chance to teach
The beautiful architecture at the National Cathedral

My funny Spanish classes- it is so much easier to learn when everyone is relaxed and having a good time instead of fearful
Halloween candy
30 Rock- makes me laugh every week
Internet TV so I can watch shows later
Sweet friends who visit and gave me the chance to see the monuments at night- so impressive

Morning cereal
My Wednesday adventures with J.
The possibility of so many wonderful people visiting me in Chile
The miners! Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le
Still no wreck despite my driving mishaps, maybe I will make it out alive
How close beautiful nature is to such a huge city

It has been a wonderful past couple of weeks and I am sooooo thankful!!!

I Saw Him

2010-10-18T08:47:00.003-06:00

That's right! I saw the president! Mr. President Obama.

Or, well, to be more accurate I saw Mr. President's car but that is almost the same and I am pretty sure we made eye contact through those tinted windows. :)

This is the story. I was in DC looking at the monuments with friends from out of town. It had just gotten dark and we were heading away from the Washington Monument (which is close to the White House so probably on his drive home from somewhere important).

We had noticed some flashing red and blue lights at a few of the intersections and traffic backed up some and wondered what was going on but I did not want to go and find out. It is usually best to avoid flashing police lights.

So we were standing next to one of the streets and looked up and a helicopter was flying real low over the Washington Monument and I said that I did not think anyone was allowed to fly over this area and how strange that seemed. Then the road in front of us was clear and then came the motorcade.

There were probably 5+ motorcycles, numerous SUVs, then two limos with the presidential seal on them (eye contact made here), then more SUVs, two ambulances, and some more motorcycles. It had to be him. No one else would get that treatment.

Hello Mr. President!

NFL Thoughts

2010-10-11T20:33:00.005-06:00

Brett Farve annoys me.

Why does Farve annoy me? I don't I have a good reason. I used to be a fan, I used to love watching him play like I love watching Peyton play. Now I'm just annoyed.

I heard the announcer say tonight that he just turned 41 yesterday and has to have shots in his ankles. Retire already, for real retire, not retire and then come back and then retire and then come back...

Oh yea, that's why he annoys me.

I can't say I miss grad school but I did enjoy our class discussions about our Farve feelings.

I watched a video on the Houston Texans last night on Hulu. I guess the NFL puts out videos about various teams. I don't know, but I enjoyed it. I remember how exciting it was when they were a new team and it did not matter how bad they were or how many times Carr got sacked. It was so exciting and still is.

I have missed not getting to watch them play this season.

What happened to the Peyton Manning commercials? I love those. They were so funny! I love Peyton. I never get to watch him play either.

It seems like a million years ago that I was sitting in Monday night class with Chris watching the MNF score on my computer while trying to be engaged in class. Thanks for not minding Chris and for even asking us what the score was.

I've Been Converted

2010-10-08T09:06:00.002-06:00

I am a new NPR convert and I must proclaim it to the blogging world!!!

I have never been a huge fan of talk radio of any kind. I have listened to ESPN radio a bit but mainly I associate talk radio with me getting into my mom's car, hearing Rush Limbaugh and changing it to some pop station. I never had any interest in hearing him or anyone else talk on the radio...until now.

I think some of my conversion has to do with the fact that I am in my car more now than I have been in a really long time. I get tired of hearing the same songs on the music stations over and over (why do they do that, by the way?) and I have trouble finding a clear station to listen to my ipod through.

NPR was suggested to me so I decided to give it a shot and I really enjoy it. As I understand it, it is a liberal talk radio show but I cant really tell. I usually change the station if they get to talk about too much political stuff but what I really enjoy is the news from around the world. They are always talking about some situation somewhere and I love hearing about somewheres.

I have listened to reports about post-earthquake Haiti, the war in Somalia, FARC in Colombia, the situation in Iraq and the list goes on. I love learning more about what is going on in the world and although I may not take time to read a ton of articles about the news I am totally willing to listen to different people talk about it while I sit in traffic bored anyways.

Other memorable listening sessions have been about NASA- I love NASA and want us to go to Mars ASAP, Justin Timberlake- did you know he was funny, and Desmond Tutu- my hero.

I feel so up-to-date and educated after listening to NPR and I love it. I love world news and science news and especially positive news. NPR does not just focus on all the bad stuff in the world but the good stuff too and I like that. It is a good balance.

I am an NPR convert and I will not be ashamed!

The Kennedy Center

2010-10-06T09:02:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to see the National Symphony Orchestra play at The Kennedy Center in D.C. It was such a surprise that I got to go and I was thrilled. A friend from church called me Friday afternoon and invited me and I could not turn it down.

The outside view

To be honest, before coming to this area I had never even heard of The Kennedy Center but since being here I got the impression that it was kinda a big deal. I had no expectations of ever being able to see a performance there and just hoped for a tour or something. Then this opportunity came along!

The Hall of Nations- I found Chile's flag

I tried to dress nice and look as formal as possible with what my informal wardrobe has to offer. Luckily there is no dress code so there were people dressed in jeans all the way up to formal gowns. The building is absolutely beautiful and has an amazing view of Georgetown and the Potomac River. These are not my pictures on here but they will give you an idea of what the place looks like.

Inside the concert hall- we sat on that far wall in the first box next to the stage

So we attended the symphony and it was amazing. The first piece they played was a little odd and modern but the second piece, Beethoven's 9th Symphony was spectacular! I was just happy to listen to something but someone I knew their name but it really was a wonderful performance. In the last movement a large chorus was on stage and they sang along while the symphony played. I absolutely love hearing a large chorus sing and they were wonderful.

It was all wonderful. I had such a good time and I am so thankful to have had the chance to go!

Gnnochi

2010-10-01T08:24:00.004-06:00

I made Gnocchi last night!!! That's right, the Italian dish made out of potatoes and I had a true Italian showing me her ways. It actually was not too difficult but you have to own some kitchen gadgets that I do not. We did a wonderful job! They were so yummy and I had a great time.

This is not a picture of what we made but close enough

I actually first tried Gnocchi in South America (Argentina I think but I forget exactly) and I really liked them. When I learned that my Italian friend could make them because she learned from her mom, I jumped at the chance to learn. Mmmmmmm!!!

My beautiful friends

Not only did we have really yummy food, also including a spinach salad, home grown green beans and creme caramel, but we had great company. We had a wonderful evening of eating, chatting, laughing and looking at old pictures. It was a perfect way to spend a raining day.

It's Time for Another...

2010-09-30T06:31:00.004-06:00

...Thankful Thursday!!! I have not done one since May and that was actually a Thankful Sunday so it almost does not even count. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm going to share it all with you.

I am thankful for:

The amazing rain we are getting in DC due to some tropical something. I am loving this. It was a little hard to get out of bed this morning but I managed.
Morning coffee
Everyone here in DC who has helped me so much- helped with offering directions, providing meals, giving advice, making me laugh and just being my friends
The relationships I am forming
Excitement over little things like new jeans
The chance to cook and eat new foods
Visits- those who have come and those that are coming

Cathie and Daniel visited their daughter and had time see me!

I have not gotten in a wreck since living here
Funny friends
The leaves on the trees just starting to change
The chance to serve
People who help me make decisions when I cant stand to make another
Exploration

My exploration of Old Town Alexandria- beautiful place

Restful sleep, seriously, so thankful
My running trail
People who challenge my view of the world
The amazingness of being able to communicate with people far away

I love Thankful Thursdays!

Tee Hee

2010-09-27T22:12:00.003-06:00

Things that make me laugh:

West Wing characters
Attempting to sing really high notes in church
Funny stories from friends
Remembering my funny stories
People who don't know the sounds that "h", "j" and "ll" make in Spanish
This guy in my Spanish class that says "um" more times than actual words, so that by the time he finishes his sentence I cannot remember how it started
Lanes that randomly end when I am driving in them
People who try to convert random shoppers in the mall
Me being stupid enough to stop and listen to these so-called evangelists
When I fall out of my yoga poses
Thinking that the Texans might actually be good
Checking my fantasy football scores- I am terrible
Saying "nos vemos" in Spanish
The Pioneer Woman

Weekend Fun

2010-09-23T06:28:00.004-06:00

If you know me at all you know that I like to have fun, to try new things and to spend time with people. This past weekend was full of that and I loved it all.

Saturday I went to the H Street Festival with some friends from church. What is the H Street Festival about? I still don't know. It was just a festival to have a festival I guess and it was perfect that way. The weather was beautiful and the street was full of interesting food, people, sounds, and smells.

Eating Thai food and a snow cone, all from the same booth

We mainly spent our time walking around, seeing what yummy food we could eat and watching the interesting people. There were people doing crazy things all the way from singing in a gospel choir to having hula-hoop contests to having a dance/paint party.

I think this car was trying to grab us

There was also an art car exhibit which was cool to look at and admire their work. I was so impressed! I seriously felt like I could have stayed at the festival all day just looking at people go by, wondering why they were dressed in costume and what they were thinking about the festival. There were people of all ages and all races, some with dogs, some with kids and some just having a good time. It was great!

Lots of people there enjoying the festival

Sunday was a a wonderful surprise, not that I did not know what I was going to but that I did not know I would enjoy it so much. I went with friends from church to what is called Opera in the Outfield. It is an event located at the Nationals baseball stadium. The Opera that is being performed at the Kennedy Center is simulcast to the stadium for everyone to watch. For free!!!

So after church on Sunday we headed down to the stadium. I drove and got us there and back safely with only a little stressful moment when I had to parallel park with cars driving by. Ahh! Anyways, we took our lunches in and got seated just in time to not pay attention to the screen that was telling us the story line. I felt a little lost throughout the whole thing but not so lost that I did not enjoy it. We worked as a team and figured out what was going on.

Beautiful day to sit at the baseball stadium and watch an opera don't you think?

It was sung in Italian and they had English subtitles for us to read. In between each act we would read a little more of the story so we would know what was going on. They gave away the ending before it ended but I guess knowing that the main character is going to die in the end is not that unusual for an opera so I just went with it and tried to be surprised anyways.

The singing was AMAZING and so was the set and costumes. I just loved every bit of it. I also was impressed how easy it was to see and hear it all sitting in that bright, open baseball stadium but it really was not a problem.

I am not sure of the official reason for the opera but as I told my Spanish class about my weekend they asked me why they had a free opera. I thought about it and attempted to respond that I think it was so that those of us who knew nothing about opera can now appreciate it a little bit. I feel a little more educated about the opera and think it is something that is great. There are probably a couple thousand other people who feel the same way. Unless they didn't appreciate it I guess but I just cannot see what you could not appreciate about it.

Obviously we did not have to dress up for the opera

Anyways, it was a really fun weekend and I was so thankful to spend time with such wonderful people, enjoying the beauty and culture of DC.

Oh yea, and the Houston Texans beat the Washington Redskins. They were playing here and I really enjoyed trash talking my Redskin fan friends. Go Texans!!!

Quiet Time

2010-09-21T07:30:00.002-06:00

The scripture meditation for today comes from Galations 6:11.

"See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!"

Haha, I know that is not meant to be funny, but it always makes me smile to read it. It seems so out of place, but such an interesting little glimpse into Paul's world. I wish in my Bible these words were capitalized or something so they would be large letters. That would really be funny!

I hope you got as much out of this quiet time as I did. :)

Espanol

2010-09-20T13:38:00.003-06:00

I just attended my 2nd Spanish class since being here in DC and it went really well. I got a chance to talk about my weekend (blog about that coming up) and relearned for like the billionth time, the subjunctive. If you know what that is join me in shouting BOOOO!

Just to show that the opportunity to learn Spanish is all around me let me teach you a new word I JUST learned while sitting here at a coffee shop. I look up and see this sign that says "No Loitering" and underneath it "No Vagabundear." That is a great word. Say it with me, "vagabundear." That might come in a close second to my favorite Spanish word to say, "estacionamiento." What does that mean? Something deep maybe? Nope, it means parking.

It's the little things in life that amuse me.

Vagabundear.

Estacionamiento.

What a great day!

Pretty Shoes

2010-09-14T12:42:00.003-06:00

I love getting new running shoes. They are so pretty. They are white and fresh and clean and ready to be run into the ground. It is like I get to help them do what they were created to do. Run! Silly, I know. I took these new babies out for a spin this morning and they felt great. My knees were thanking me for some new support.

National Zoo

2010-09-13T19:57:00.005-06:00

On Labor Day I went to the National Zoo with some friends from church. The weather was perfect, the zoo was free, and we had a great day. We walked around for almost 6 hours and were worn out by the end but we saw a lot. My favorite animal to see was a tie between the panda bears and the jelly fish. Jelly fish? Jelly fish. They were amazing!!! Just look at the picture below. I seriously could have watched them for hours.

Sweet looking lion

The only thing the zoo was missing was giraffes. Giraffes are my favorite animal and I was really looking forward to getting to see these strange looking creatures with their awkward heights, bony knees, big eyelashes and purple tongues. How could the National Zoo not have giraffes! Even the Abilene zoo has giraffes!

Check out those brilliant colors

Sometimes going to the zoo can make me sad that the animals are stuck in cages and not able to roam as much as they would be in the wild. This trip was no different, but some of the signs in the zoo addressed this issue and said that many of these animals are more healthy and well fed than most animals in the wild and they are treated very well. I guess that's ok...

Panda bear- they are so cute

The pandas were also really fun to watch. They were very playful and it was cool to know that they are they only pandas in the country.What is funny is that they are on loan from China. It was funny to hear that the US and China are working on a new lease for the panda bears as if they were a rental house. Their 10 year lease just ran out and they are trying to keep them. I hope they get to stay. Their habitat was so huge that it was hard to find them unless they came inside (and they did). As soon as the pandas came in people crammed into see them and the crowd was super excited!

Beautiful jelly fish- these were my favorite thing to watch

Ladies of the group, riding home on the metro

I have to give the credit for these pictures to another party member not pictured. Thanks K. for sharing and for taking some great pics.

Sure, I'll Take an Ashtanga Yoga Class...

2010-09-10T13:35:00.002-06:00

Since my weekly schedule has been quite irregular for the past few weeks...or months...I have not been able to attend any yoga classes. I have been missing yoga so when I arrived in Virginia I started looking for places around me. I found a little studio down the street and decided to check it out on Tuesday. I had emailed them to see which class I should take, stating that I had done some yoga before and wanted something challenging. Challenging was what I got!!

I arrived and the class was made up of me, another lady and this intense looking instructor. I knew I was in trouble when she said that to practice Ashtanga properly you are supposed to go to class six times a week. As she began to explain what we would be doing I was thinking "what is Ashtanga, what have I gotten myself into, and would they notice if I left." I told the instructor I had never done Ashtanga before and she said that was fine but I needed to check my pride at the door and know that I would not get it my first time. Awesome.

I also knew I was in trouble when she said that downward facing dog pose (using sanskrit terms by the way, not words like down dog but words like adho mukha svanasana) would be our resting pose and there would be no child's pose for us. Crap!

It seems that the basic move of Ashtanga is what you can see in the video below. I could not even do this basic move so of course I could not do the rest of the poses. Could you? I mean, I can hardly do a push up, how in the WORLD am I supposed to do THIS!!

I stuck it out through the class but when I left I was sweating and my arms and legs were like jello. That was NOT a normal yoga class, more like a body building class. I pretended like I had a good time and that I would come back sometime when in reality I wanted to pull the lady's arms off so she could not inflict pain on anyone else ever again!

Turns out I am not just a wimp and this type of yoga is real and is crazy. I emailed my old yoga instructor to see what kind of class I should be taking. I told her what I went to and she said "Wow! Power to ya!" and then told me what her style is called. I am going to do that next time.

You might think I am exaggerating about how hard this class was but I'm not. I could not even do the poses half way and 4 days later I am still hurting. My lower abs hurt, my upper back and shoulders hurt and my hamstrings are killing me! On a normal day I can bend over and touch my toes no problem. Not today! Not at all since Tuesday! I did not even go for a run yesterday because of my hamstrings. I have been stretching like crazy and am hoping for some relief soon.

I enjoy trying new things so I won't say I regret going but I am looking forward to a doable yoga next week. Hopefully that is what I get!

Old Spice Commercial

2010-09-09T21:29:00.000-06:00

This commercial cracked me up tonight. It is so bizarre!!!! This is such great advertising that it makes me want to wear Old Spice!

Blog Advice

2010-09-08T21:07:00.004-06:00

The Pioneer Woman today gave a list of 10 things she has learned about blogging, one of them being do it regularly, even if you don't feel like you have much to say. Tonight I don't feel like I have much to say. I have a lot on my mind but that does not mean anyone would want to read about it. The little cursor is blinking at me, challenging me to type something...anything...whenever I am ready...here it comes...

It has been a while since I have been the "new kid in town" but now I remember why I always try so hard to make people feel included when they are new. It is tough being new. Not that everyone here is not nice or welcoming or anything because they TOTALLY are, but it is not the same as when I am the regular kid in town. I like being the regular kid. It is easier.

I better get over wanting to be the regular real quick though and be ok with being the new kid because the next year+ of my life is going to be about being new. I am new here in Virginia, I will be new in Santiago and I will be new in Conce. I am ok with all of those things but I dream about being a regular in Conce.

A regular here, eating fruit, chatting with the salesman

A regular here, waving to those I know passing by

I dream about going to the grocery store down the street and knowing the people that work there. I am excited about having a usual place I eat at or drink tea at where I am known and I know others. I can't wait to get to know my neighbors and being the interesting foreign friend next door instead of the new girl who doesn't know anything. I look forward to running through the park and waving at the old man or the woman and her baby that I pass by everyday.

A regular here, no explanation needed

A regular here, see the tennis rackets?

I pray these dreams come quickly, but also that I am open and ready to learn from being the new girl. I try very hard to live in the moment and enjoy where I am at instead of always looking for something better, so until I am a regular in Conce I will attempt to thrive at being the new girl and see what I can learn!

A regular here, praying over the city

Hopefully not a regular on this route :)

Ladies Week

2010-09-04T07:24:00.002-06:00

This week has been full of meeting with various ladies of the church and I enjoyed it greatly. I decided last weekend that I needed to start asking people if I could spend time with them and this wonderful week is a result of that.

Monday: Attended a Bible study at a homeless shelter for women with 3 women from church. I was amazed and how much the homeless women desired to study God's word and to share their struggles.

Tuesday: Had a lovely evening with a lovely lady and she cooked a lovely dinner for us. We talked for a couple of hours and I really enjoyed getting to know her.

Wednesday: Ventured to a new area of town to a free Spanish conversation class and was joined by a lady from church who also wants to learn Spanish. We were very impressed with the class and I was glad to have someone to experience it with.

Thursday: Joined a lady from church on a trip to one of the military bases in the area. We worked out at the gym (where I pumped some iron), went to the PX and the commissary (I use those terms as if I know what they mean) for groceries and stopped by the Air Force Memorial. I love joining someone for their daily routine or running errands and I loved this also.

Friday: Went to lunch with some ladies at the Officers Club at the base. I had to put on my best manners and remember how to properly cut my meat but I had a wonderful time chatting and laughing and eating yummy food. They were so sweet to me and I felt so welcome.

Friday Night: Braved the Metro alone to have dinner with a friend from Abilene who lives here now. I thoroughly enjoyed my traveling experiences (the Metro is a great place to people watch), my time with her, and our delicious homemade dinner.

Thanks for a great week ladies!!

My Hope

2010-09-02T06:59:00.002-06:00

Networks from jessalyn massingill on Vimeo.

This is a video about my church in Abilene, Hope. It is about 30 min long but it is worth watching it. These are the people that provided me Hope.

Slowly But Surely

2010-08-31T14:09:00.005-06:00

I am slowly but surely figuring things out around here. I feel like my curiosity senses are on high alert. I am always noticing things that I am sure I would not notice if I was not so new to the area. For example, the streets are really poorly lit. I was on the freeway the other night and there were no overhead lights. This makes it difficult to see especially because it seems like every road is under construction which means lots of reflectors in my eyes. If you call me at night and I do not answer it is probably because I am driving. I cannot do both in the dark.

The intersection called 7 Corners that I mentioned the last post beat me again yesterday. I was feeling very confident that I could make it through it no problem. I was wrong. I went through it once and got in the wrong lane and ended up going the opposite direction I wanted to be going. So I U-turned (thank goodness for U-turns) and attempted again to get in the lane I thought I needed. Nope! Wrong again! This time it was too late to turn around though so I heard the familiar "re-calculating" and just kept going the wrong way and found a new route. Crisis averted.

I had a really fun weekend with my two new friends Tara and Kevin. I explained to Tara my almost constant need to be social, (what can I say, I love being with people) so we made some plans. On Saturday we went to one of the private art museums in the District that usually costs but was free that day. It had some great collections and was such a manageable size that we made it through in a few hours, with time to have some more fun. We headed to the Eastern Market and this place was great! I did not buy anything but if I wanted jewelry, crafts, art, fruit, veggies or meat this would be the place I would go! It was beautiful.

At the game with Tara and Kevin- sorry for the fence face

Saturday night I worshiped with Falls Church's Iglesia de Cristo and it was great. I love singing in Spanish and even though I did not understand the majority of the sermon, it was encouraging to be with those Christians on a Saturday night.

Sunday was fun of church and baseball. Church in the morning and evening and baseball in the afternoon. Tara and Kevin and I drove to the National's stadium to see them play the Cardinals and they actually won! My friend Hannah joined us for some of the game and it was great to see a familiar face. It was a hot but beautiful day and I had a great time watching the game and enjoying the view of the Potomac River and Navy Yard. On the drive home we saw the Pentagon! I was impressed.

Me and Hannah at the game

This week I have been meeting with various people from church in their homes and for ministry activities. This afternoon I went to a Spanish conversation class at a local library. I was expecting to just talk with people as best we could but the teachers actually taught us things and then had us talk about them. There were people of all ages and levels and I really enjoyed it. I like the controlled environment for language learning.

I am looking forward to this Labor Day weekend. Who knows what I will be up to but I am sure I will have a good time!

Life in the Big City

2010-08-26T15:51:00.003-06:00

Life in the big city of DC is great. Now I don't actually live in the District (as people here say) but I live in Northern Virginia, Fairfax county. It is so interesting to see how people label different areas, by county, by city, by neighborhood, by shopping center. The layout of the city is a mess but people make it work and so am I.

It is funny how just two weeks ago I would have found it annoying to drive 30 min. to visit a friend because many people and activities were so close I could walk to them. In just a short time, I have reverted back to city driving where 30 min. is actually really good time.

The other night I drove to an area of town to meet two friends for dinner. I was so proud that I made it there with the help of my trusty side-kick Garmin while only cutting two people off to get into my correct lane! I also found free parking and that just made my night. I was quite nervous that I might have to park at a meter and I was not ready for that big of a step.

A GPS is a necessity. I know they have just recently become popular in cars (at least to my knowledge) but I am not sure I could have managed without one. I am getting used to hearing the phrase "re-calculating" as a pass on by my turn or get into the wrong lane (which is easy to do, one intersection is called 7 Corners for a reason). There are also these strange side roads that are like access roads to the freeway but they are along normal roads. I am still not sure how to manage those babies.

The church I am working with here is treating me wonderfully. I have already met so many great people and if I could just remember all their names I would be set. There are people of all ages and they have been so welcoming. Many of them already know who I am when I introduce myself and offer words of encouragement or excitement for me to be here. I am looking forward to getting to know as many of them as possible during my months here.

Everyone is also insistent that I must take in some of the sites while I am here. Luckily I have semi-recently visited many of the major tourist sites so that means I am getting to visit some of the less major ones and experience some of the real DC culture and not just the tourist culture. I love that! It is amazing how different cities in the same country can be from each other. I just love these new experiences. It reminds me of when I first moved to Denver and I used to yell out "I can't believe I live here!!!!!!!!!" every time I got to see or do something cool. That is how I feel now.

As wonderful as living here has been this first week I cannot deny that I am also missing my friends and family in Texas so if any of you need to beat the heat or take a vacay then head on up here. You will love it!!!!

The Journey

2010-08-23T14:00:00.003-06:00

The journey from Houston, TX to Falls Church, VA was a long one. It took us 3 days to arrive and this included two hotel stays, 30 hours in the car, crossing through 7 states, countless bathroom stops, many GPS references, and some pretty bad food along the way to get there, but it was worth it.

Most of the drive was beautiful and we enjoyed a short time on the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park at the end for a hike and pretty drive. I loved the beautiful trees in Mississippi and the rolling hills and mountains through Tennessee and Virginia. I never knew what this part of the country looked like.

I am excited to be here in the DC/Falls Church area. I had a good weekend getting to visit with many people from the church and I drove my parents to the airport today to send them back to Texas. The adventure begins!!

Some not-so-green salads in Tuscaloosa, Alabama- we did not have to pay

The view my dad had of the mountains

Me on the AT- I could not help but think of Bill Bryson

Resting our weary selves in the beauty of the Appalachian Mts.

Drinking Inca Kola at a Peruvian resturant in Virginia- do they drink this in Peru I wonder?

On The Road

2010-08-19T20:53:00.003-06:00

I am sitting in a hotel in Roanoke, Virginia. My parents and have finished day two of three of driving from Houston to DC. Whew! It has been a beautiful drive but I sure am tired of sitting down. I am ready to be there!!!! Tomorrow we are going to do a little sight-seeing along the way so that will make the drive a little more fun.

It was sad to leave Abilene and really sad to leave my teammates but I am excited about my time in Virginia. Until I have more to share you can check out our team blog and see how our send-off weekend went!

Adios Abilene

2010-08-12T21:44:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow morning at 8AM I will be saying goodbye to Abilene, my home for the past two and a half years. Although I am moving on to where I want to be I am still sad to leave this place. I am surprised by how much this town has grown on me! I think it is more about the people than the place. I have had so much fun and am so thankful for all the wonderful friends I have made. ALL of you are welcome to visit in Chile!!!!

Church going away party for me and others- yall are the best!

The family I lived with- thanks for not letting me be homeless :)

Great friends I made over the past few years- I will forever remember our game and dance parties

Two of the many many roomies I have had- love you girls!

On the river again

2010-08-10T22:12:00.004-06:00

Another year of Waltonia has come and gone. I think I will just let the pictures tell the story.

Going off the rope swing- it was scary at first but then I could not get enough

Waiting to eat a scrumptious dinner

Oh river, how we love you

I could not get this to turn normal but I want you to focus on the goat eyes- creepy!!

Lovely women of the Meredith clan

Me testing out my new, huge sunglasses

Playing washers with my cousin

Sitting in the field, in an awkward line to watch an exciting game of horseshoes

Hanging out in the cabin- no that is not my brother's real hair, it is a hair hat...

Putting my swingball skills in to action

Lined up for the event of the week

A Mariachi band!!!!!!!!!!

Chopping and cooking with Shannon

Feeding the donkeys, not sure they would survive with out me each year

It's That Time of Year Again

2010-07-26T13:03:00.004-06:00

In less than a week I will be doing this:

Rockin' my ping-pong skills on a crooked table

And this:

Hangin' with the fam outside

And this:

Chillin' in the river

And this:

Playin' games all night long

And this:

Feein' baby animals

Waltonia here we come!!!

Police Chase

2010-07-22T23:36:00.006-06:00

And I thought the most exciting thing to happen to me on Thursday was my clumsiness of dropping my milk carton and a canister of sugar all over the kitchen floor. I was wrong!

Here is what the news says I witnessed:

Undercover Drug Buy Goes Bad

ABILENE -- A police undercover drug sting goes wrong Thursday night and ends up in a three crash in south Abilene.

According to police, undercover officers were attempting to make a marijuana purchase when the suspect fled in his Ford SUV. After a short pursuit, the drug suspect ran a red light at South 14th and Barrow and crashed into two bystander vehicles.

He then took off on foot, but was soon apprehended.

A woman whose car was struck was not seriously injured...but police were not sure about the extent of the injuries to the bystander in a truck.

Woah! It was an exciting evening. Here is what I remember:

I pulled up to the intersection, about 2 cars from the light and noticed 3 cars smashed into each other, with glass scattered all over the place. I could not see the cars well but I was looking to see if people were ok when a guy darted out from the cars and ran off. My thought was "oh no, he is running away because he doesn't have insurance or something." Ha. I knew I was wrong when this other guy wearing street clothes and a bullet proof vest that said POLICE over it chased after him holding his gun.

The first guy ran around the side of a building and then took off down the alley with the police guy following behind him. They ran right behind my car! As I am quite afraid of guns I wanted to see what was happening but I did not want to get shot either so I laid down in my car and watched from there. I probably looked pretty silly.

After that a number of other police cars pulled up to help manage the situation. They put another guy in handcuffs and made him sit down on the corner while they talked to the people who got hit. I guess they were ok, thankfully.

I had to sit at the light for quite a while before they would let us drive off. The crashed cars were in the way and just too much going on for them to care about getting us passed them so I just sat patiently, a little surprised at what I had just witnessed. Who knew Abilene could be so exciting!