Beach Hike

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

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

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."

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

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!!!!

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

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!