Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."

So, I'm going wayy back for this update, but it was a fun trip and there are some neat pictures so it's worth writing about.

Central has two different study abroad programs here in Chile. My program here in Valdivia and then a shorter 6-week summer program up north in Valparaíso. I knew one of the girls who was coming down for this program so we decided to try and meet up for a weekend. It was a little difficult finding a weekend that worked, and a place to go since we're about 13 hours away and she had classes on Friday. So we tried to do some research and settled on Curicó. Needless to say it wasn't quite what we expected when we got there. It's supposed to be a really cute town but was strong affected by the earthquake because it's located pretty close to the epicenter, and also because most of the buildings are (were) over 100 years old and made of adobe. On top of that, it was winter so low season for any touristy things. However, we made the most of it and had fun exploring the city, riding micros, visiting a winery and eating delicious food, climbing a random hill, and getting to know our hostal owner (and locking her out of her house when we left... oops!).

Then on Sunday we decided it was time for a change so we headed about an hour south down to Talca. Talca was also pretty affected by the earthquake but it was a larger town so we got do a little more exploring. Plus, it was sunny which was a nice treat for Greg, Rachel and I who by that point had already experienced enough rain here in Valdivia. We found some ice cream (yum!) and eventually were directed by some friendly people to another nice hill where we could walk around and there was a good place to eat. Fabulous, except we needed to take a collectivo to get there. We found where the collectivos were passing, but every time our number passed us it was full. Problem. So we flagged down a random collectivo and the driver said even though it wasn't his route he would take us there. He showed us where to go and also gave us his phone number and said he'd come back to pick us up if we needed to.

The park/hill ended up being beautiful and the lunch was also absolutely delicious. We walked around for a while and even got to take a nice boat ride on a small river. For lunch we had a huge pot of chicken cooked with mariscos and ponche - which is like sangria but made with white wine. We were all satisfied and decided if anything that lunch had made our trip worth it! Plus it was cheap :). We called the collectivo driver and had the best taxi ride back to the bus terminal - dancing laughing and singing the whole way - and we saw Ashley off and then the rest of us waited for a few more hours playing cards until our bus left to go back to Valdivia.

I started writing this blog about two weeks ago but never got around to finishing it. Now I'm sitting in my room with all my bags packed to leave Valdivia tomorrow night. I'm all done with my classes (finally) and it's hard to believe that my time here has really come to an end.... so I feel like some reminiscing is in order. I've been walking around with a lot of mixed emotions lately. I keep thinking of things I would love to do here - go skiing in the Andes, travel further south or north, go to Buenos Aires, spend more time with the friends and families I've gotten to know and love - but at the same time I'm very ready to be home in the arms of my friends, family, and fiance! It's hard being torn between the two cultures, knowing that when I leave a part of me will still be here, with the way of life and my friends. It's also hard not knowing if I'll ever see these people again. I would love to come back but at this point I can't say if that will be possible or not in the future.

A few weeks ago we had a long weekend due to holiday that fell on a Monday. A while back when I did Un Techo Para Chile, I met a chilean who has a class with the other girl from Central and we hit it off pretty well. She's super outgoing and a lot of fun to talk to. She's in her second year studying history and education at the university and after the weekend we would get together once a week or so to eat lunch and catch up a little bit. She even met Jake when he came - which was quite the funny picture since she's barely 5 feet tall. She lives up in the countryside (campo) just north of Santiago and invited me to come visit her home and family with her. Of course that has been one of my favorite things to do here in Chile, so I made sure to take her up on the offer and went home with her for the long weekend.

It was a very nice relaxing weekend and I can't explain how good it felt to be separated from "city" life. We walked almost everywhere and I got to see the sun after being stuck in the rain for way too long in Valdivia. I also loved getting to see her life which is quite different from the families I've met here in Valdivia. Her family is adorable and incredibly frienly (they called me their prodigal daughter all weekend!) but they come from the lower working class (compared to the family I live with, whose kids go to the most expensive high school in the area) and her parents work to provide for their kids so that they can study at the university and have opportunities that they weren't able to have. They make a lot of sacrifices for this (like putting off the completion of their house!) but are proud and happy to do it. And if you ask them, they say they don't expect anything in return once she graduates (although, of course she will continue to care for them). This was just really interesting for me to see, as it presents a pretty typical different parent-child interaction of Chile. For instance if you go talk about going out for lunch or dancing with a chilean, occasionally they'll say they can but that they have to call their parents to have them deposit money in their bank account. At times this has been weird for me, after being "financially independent" for some time now but has been just another thing to learn about the culture here.

We didn't do a whole lot over the weekend, and that felt good. We mostly just hung out with her friends (who she hadn't seen in 3 months) and we watched a couple movies. I also got to go to mass with her Sunday morning and a Bible study afterwards. It was fun to meet some more of the community at church. Everyone was very welcoming (like always) and an older man even bought me cake and coffee! This is something that I've fallen in love with in regards to Chilean culture - their warmth and hospitality, especially to foreigners. And it's something that I'm going to miss a lot. In a lot of ways been fun to be "the gringa" and to talk about my life in the US to Chileans and see their reactions to some of our traditions (like the drinking age, fraternities/sororities and the changing of lasts names with marriage). And, I think I've had to explain Thanksgiving at least to 10 different people now too. :)

So that's that. I've got one more weekend to post about and then my upcoming travels as well. Tomorrow I leave Valdivia and head up to La Serena which is about 7 hours north of Santiago. I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again and enjoying some warmer weather (it might hit 60! haha). Then I fly out Wednesday and get home on Thursday afternoon. It'll be good to be home, but it'll also be hard to leave this country that has very much become a part of who I am.

Oh, for those of you interested... a large part of why parents pay for everything is that jobs are extremely hard to come by here without a college degree, and if you find one, you're lucky to make more than $10 for an 8 hour day of work - not necesarrily conducive for paying for college (which costs about $5000 a year at the public universities, not including food and housing).

Me with Belén and her family

I think it was about a month ago now that I got the chance to go back down to Purranque to visit my friend Carolina. Carolina just started her fourth studying law at the university and I met her through the Bible study I attend on Wednesday nights. I had spent a weekend at her house a while back, and they invited to come again to celebrate the baptism of her boyfriend Felipe. Purranque is only about 2.5 hours from Valdivia by bus so I left Saturday afternoon and got down to Purranque in time to watch part of a movie with Carolina and Felipe and then we went to their youth group survice they have on Saturday nights. It was really neat to be back here and see some familiar faces, and to just feel the warmth of a church family. Their church is a lot different than what I'm used in a number of ways but it still never ceases to amaze me how it still feels so similar and comfortable. It's a smaller church (about 50 people) and it's evangelical, which has a slightly different style than the CRC I grew up with :) . Even still, I reallyed enjoyed the service - we sang songs (with words on a projector, and some I recognized from their english versions!) and a lady from their church talked about staying involved in the church and contributing to its growth as young adults. Afterwards we dropped Felipe off at his grandparents house for the night and Carolina and I went back to her house. I really enjoy talking with Carolina. We're obviously not as open/close as I am with my friends in Michigan, but it's still been very nice to find someone like her to share time with. 

Wow, it's been two weeks already since my last blog post, it's amazing how fast time goes by and gets filled with various activities. There's still some events I want to talk about from a month ago, but I think I'll focus today on recent events and will try my best to put up some of the other stories/thoughts later.

To begin with, this week has been pretty crazy - filled with a few new "firsts", celebrations, and important dates. I'll start with last Saturday and work my way through my week....

Saturday was the first US game in World Cup in South Africa, and as luck would have it, we played England - significant because there's a large group of "gringos" (Americans) here and we hang out with one guy from England so a bunch of us went to a local bar to watch the game. It was basically empty except for all of us so we had fun watching the game, especially since we tied (most of us thought we would lose). After the game, I ran around town to finish buying an outfit to go to a wedding. I met an english professor here through the British guy (Greg) and especially during my first month here, spent a lot of time with her (Alexia), her fiancee (Floris) and Greg. Some of you might remember me talking about them in an earlier blog post I think. Anyways, their wedding was this past Saturday and they had invited Greg and I to join in celebrating with them. I ended up buying a completely different dress (my third one of the week actually, hah!) but had fun trying on clothes with the sales ladies who were super helpful. I ran home and changed to go to the wedding. The ceremony was at 7 in the Lutheran Church here and was short but very nice. In many ways it was similar to American weddings with a flower girl and the entrance of the bride with her dad, but it definitely had a slightly chilean feel. For example, the bride and groom get ready at their houses and then drive to the church, and the ceremony basically starts when the bride gets there (which, she always arrives "late" on purpose). Then, after the ceremony the real party starts. They had the reception at a really nice restaurant just outside of town. It was a smaller reception (about 70 people) but one of the funnest weddings I've been too. It was a very relaxed setting, and everyone seemed to have a great time. This too had some similar elements like the first dance, cake cutting, and bouqet toss along with some very "chilean" aspects - the two main ones being that a "good" wedding lasts until at least 5 am, and that half way through the reception the bride and groom bring out cotillón. This surprised me since I had never heard about it or seen it but it was a lot of fun. Basically, cotillón includes varios party hats, masks, ties, whistles, horns, etc... (similar stuff to things at a New Years Eve party). Everyone had a blast putting the things on and dancing to all the reggaeton! Oh, and of course the food was delicous.

Sunday through Thursday were filled with a lot of homework and classes it seemed - I can definitely tell that it's the end of the semester (two more weeks left!). I'm getting a little stressed with everything that I have this week, but once I get past Wednesday I'm in the last kick which I anticipate will feel really good :). Memorable events included Chile's first world cup came, leading Bible study Wednesday night in spanish, "celebrating" four years of dating with Jake, passing the "one month until I'm home" date, and then of course... my birthday! I didn't get to do anything special with Jake (obviously) but we did get to talk and as always I enjoyed looking at where we've come from. This year was extra fun too, because we can look forward to a life full of the memories we've already been making, something that makes me really excited. Realizing I only have one month left here is a weird feeling. In many ways, I'm ready to be home - I want to see my friends, family, fiancee, and could REALLY use a good dose of sunshine, daylight, the beach and summer break. At the same time, I've loved my time here and have developed some really good friendships that will be hard to leave. Especially knowing that I don't plan on returning to Chile in the near future. Then... my birthday. The day itself was normal (and busy with school.. first time ever, and I can say I definitely did not like it!). Then at night I had a special dinner with cake with my host family and afterwards I went out with a group of gringos and a few chileans to a local bar that was showing the final game of the NBA playoffs. It was fun to just hang out and talk and they even bought me a cake and balloons! There was also a music group playing who came over and serenaded me in spanish and english! Afterwards we went out dancing at a local disco. It was a fun way to spend the night with some good friends here. I laughed A LOT and will definitely remember my first chilean birthday.

So, that's the past week. I think I managed to keep it somewhat short even. :)

Chau!

This is a short public service announcement for all of you faithful blog readers....

As you may have noted, we have now moved into the month of June. Not only is this a great month due to the warm weather it brings to Michigan (although, it's going down in my book slightly because of the gross weather it brings to Valdivia, but that's beside the point) it's also right in the middle of the year (crazy!), and most importantly.... It's my birthday month!

And today, marks exactly two weeks until my birthday. YAY.

And you should also know, that I really like receiving cards with hand written notes for my birthday (more than chocolate even!). And it only costs about $1 to send a card here to Chile, and it only takes a week to get here to my house (giving you a whole week to write it and go to the post office and mail it).

And, finally, to complete my shameless plug, here's my address for those who may have forgotten it.
Las Lengas N°641 - Isla Teja
Valdivia, Chile

All that being said. I'll still love you even if you don't send me a birthday card. :)

Well, in all honesty I should probably be reading about chilean anthropology right now. Unfortunately, it's not holding my interest very well, and I did originally intend to write this post last week. So I guess nows as good a time as any...

p.s. I'm warning you in advanced this blog is long and somehwhat lovey-dovey.

....

Yep, it's official, Jake and I are (finally) engaged! :)

So, for those of you interested, here's my "official" story (Jake's might be added later if anybody is interested in his side of the story), along with a few other stories about our wonderful weekend in Mendoza.

I should probably start by saying that I honestly thought there was no way that Jake would propose while he was here, for a number of reasons. To begin with, he was coming directly from Honduras where he had been since the beginning of February. Also, before he left for Honduras he was incredibly busy studying for the MCAT and getting stuff together for his trip. Based on that, I figured even if he decided to propose here, he would never have had time to get everything together before he left. Also, I figured he would think it was too "cliche" to propose here, and on top of all that, after all his "you're going to have to wait until September/October/November/December/January" talk, I really thought it wasn't going to happen until at least October. That being said, I guess I was wrong :).

Anyways, so we got into Mendoza Friday night and started our adventure trying to find a hostel (family and friends who know us well, you will enjoy this story...). We  had a few recommendations from friends and a couple we had found online, and set off to go find them. This proved to be more difficult than we thought... for numberous reasons. First, the information lady told us we could take a taxi or a colectivo. We figured we would go for the colectivo, seeing as how they are cheaper and they're basically the same thing as a taxi, except they can take more than one customer at a time (so it often takes longer to get where you want to go). Unfortunately, in Argentina apparently colectivo means city bus.... so we tried to take the city bus since we were there anyways. Except you need change, or a card and you pay into a machine on the bus. But we only had bills. But by the time we realized this, people were coming on behind us and the bus was moving. oops #1. So we're on the bus, and we're looking for the plazas, except we don't see them. We see one, and decide to get off. Wrong one. oops #2. While we are there, looking like very lost and dumb tourists, we come across a nice old man. I (we?) am (are) mildly suspicious but he proves to be very helpful in showing us where we need to go (we were going completely the wrong direction. oops #3) and even gives us change to we can take the bus and pay for it this time... Except we start waiting for the bus and are on the wrong side of the street. Oops #4. Thankfully the nice man corrects us and we are able to get on the right bus and make it to the right plaza. Finally, we find the hostel we want. It's full. Apparently due to the holiday weekend in chile, everything is packed. Thankfully, we remember where the other one was somewhat, and make it there. They just barely have room for us. Phew. We also manage to find a place to eat, a bank, and walk around the city without getting lost! And thus begins our Argentinan adventures....

(I'll try to keep the rest of these shorter, but no promises. I really don't want to start reading...)

Saturday morning we get up and eat breakfast, and decide to find the big park that's nearby. Thankfully we had no problems finding this. We grabbed a few snacks/drinks and started walking around. We decided we wanted to go up Cerro de la Gloria, since it was supposed to have a nice view and a cool statue. We started walking and really enjoyed the park. It was beautiful and had great trails for walking/running. As we got closer to the cerro though, we realized most people choose to drive, or take a taxi up, and for good reason. hah! We kept walking though and ended up really enjoying the walk (even though it was long) and got to see some cool sights, and managed to not get run over (although we did get redirected by the police at some point to a safer road...). We also found a taxi/bus to take us back down. Good choice.

We just kind of hung out the rest of the day, walking around the city and doing a little bit of souvenier shopping. We also were hoping to find a wine tour for Sunday morning since they the popular thing to do in Mendoza (with close to 200 vineyards!) but had a really hard time finding one. We had finally given up hope and were looking at other touristy things to do (hiking trips and such) when we by chance happened upon an agency that was doing one! After that, we finally headed for dinner. Argentina is pretty well known for good Italian restaurants, and since we both like pasta we figured we would find a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. We had seen one that afternoon and headed back that direction. It was a nice restaurant and we enoyed just talking and eating dinner (we even got dessert!), and we had a nice waiter who we let practice his english :).

Over dinner, Jake told me that we should walk around to all the different plazas (there are 5) afterwards. I was mildly sleepy but decided it would be fun. At this point I was also starting to think that there was a slight chance that he had something more planned. He had been extra giddy all week, plus had even made some comment about a ring when I was looking at some of the handmade rings and jewelry in the park earlier that day. Plus, he seemed to be putting extra effort into making this night fun/special. First we went to Plaza Italia where we swang on the swings and took some pictures by one of the many beautiful fountains in Mendoza. The second plaza was España and here Jake decided that we should dance. We slowed danced a little under the stars and of course did a little swing dancing while he sang to me :) (insert "awwws" here.. hah!). At this point, I was trying REALLY hard not to get my hopes up, especially as we were walking to the third plaza and I asked him what we were going to do and he simply said "Oh, I have an idea"; however, we get to the third plaza, and it's incredibly lame with graffiti everywhere. I sensed that Jake was a little disappointed and we kept walking without any major events. We headed back to my favorite plaza (of course we went to plaza españa on accident first... par for the course for us I guess!). Anyways, Plaza Chile which was right by our hostel and we had been there the night before. I thought it was especially cool because all the benches have neat designs and names of cities in Chile. Jake decided we should go to the bench "Santiago" and we sat there for a while talking a little more. After a bit, I suggested we find Valdivia again (my "hometown") and when we stood up Jake told me that he had a gift for me. Yep, at this point I was trying not to freak out since I had basically figured out what was coming. He had me close my eyes and hold out my hands and started talking; however, I'm not sure I really remember what he said, other than that he wanted to give me from the moment he landed in Santiago (or something like that). Anyways, I opened my eyes and there he was on one knee. He took my hand and started to talk some more (all I remember thinking is, get to the point and give me my ring... oops.. hah sorry Jake!) and finally "popped the question". Of course I said yes, and I think I even started to laugh since I was still quite surprised. He pulled out the ring, and just kept thinking "I can't believe this is happening!" and kept laughing and saying "No way!". Defnitely not the way I always thought I would react (I imagined tears since I tend to cry really easily!), but fun and exciting nonetheless. Oh, and I should also mention that I did hit him numerous times afterwards because I was shocked that he actually proposed, and more so that he managed to put it all together while he was in Honduras!

We walked around the rest of the night, and at one point I do remember crying a little bit :). It was exciting to finally be able to talk about getting married and not have to be hypothetical about it. It's still a little surreal but at the same time a wonderful feeling. I'm excited to start planning not just a wedding, but our life together. There's a lot of changes that are coming in the next few years, but we've already figured out a lot together, that I'm just excited to continue changing and growing with him.

So that's it. Sunday we had a good time on the wine tour (the scenery was beautiful and it was fun trying some different wines) and got to enjoy some more of the beautiful weather (it barely rains in Mendoza, a nice change from Valdivia). We had one more night at the hostel and then headed back to Santiago on Monday.

Hope you enjoyed reading, sorry that it was massively long! Let me know if I missed anything important. Oh and I'll try to post the pictures up later for those of you not on facebook).

Love you all, Chau!

I apologize to my mom, sister, grandma and grandpa, because although I loved having them here, Jake wins the prize for being my favorite visitor... :)

After getting home early Monday morning from Un Techo Para Chile, I spent the day trying to catch up on sleep and life and anxiously waiting to hear from Jake. Of course I never heard from him and had to just show up at the bus station hoping he had managed to get on a bus in order to arrive in Valdivia around 7 (we had tentatively figured out that he would get in around that time). Thankfully, he had managed to get one, and got in around 8 or 8,30. I was relieved to see him and had a good laugh when I found out he hadn't called me because he had packed my cell phone number in the wrong bag...

We dropped his stuff off at his hostel and then headed out to get some food at one of my favorite local places here, La Ultima Frontera. It's a neat bar/restaurant with good food and a fun atmosphere. Tuesday I went to class (and also skipped a class.. ha) and Jake came to my house to meet my host family and eat lunch with us. It was a really rainy day so we just hung out inside. Then at night we went out to La Cervecería Kunstmann with some of the other gringos and friends I have here. It was fun to have him meet them and have some good laughs. Wednesday we got to eat lunch with one of my chilean friends. This was fun, especially because she's not quite 5 feet tall, making for quite the comparison with Jake (I missed this photo op unfortunately!). Then at night I made him a typical chilean "once" (dinner) - bread with palta (avocado) and tomato (one of my favorite meals actually!). Thursday was our last day in Valdivia. We went out for lunch again with a friend and then ate once with my host family before heading off to the bus terminal. I almost forgot my camera (would have been tragic!) but thankfully remembered when we were still within walking distance to go back and get it. We took a bus from Valdivia to Santiago and got in Friday morning and hopped on another bus that took us over/through the Andes Mountains to Mendoza in Argentina. There we eventually found a hostel and walked around the city (more to come on Mendoza in a few days).

Overall my time with Jake was wonderful. It was one of the first times in a long time where we were able to be together without rushing from one thing to the next, or be preoccupied about homework or school, or whatever. We got to spend a lot of time talking and catching up. Sharing how we've been changing over the semester and relishing the fact that we're continuing to change and grow in so many similar ways. I also enjoyed showing him my life in Valdivia, and exploring a new city with him. It never ceases to amaze me all the different cultures and landscapes that exist. The mountains were breath taking, and the city of Mendoza was beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop and all the vineyards that the city is known for.

Being with Jake was also a good reminder of the fact that although I'm loving my experiences here, I'm also very excited to be home again. I'm blessed to have met some great people here that I can share this time with, but there's no replacing my friends and family from home. They (you) mean so much to me and I'm realizing the truth behind the fact that relationships are what make life worth while. They take a lot of work but as they say in spanish, valen la pena (they're worth the effort/pain).

I'll try to post some pictures and a few stories about Mendoza in the next few days :)

Chauu

Well, there are a few other things I should be doing right now but since I have absolutely no desire to learn about Latin American contemporary literature right now (and my paper due date got pushed back a week!) I figured I would put up a quick update (especially because if I don't do it now, it's going to be another week or so).

This past week was a more relaxed week compared to some of the others. I didn't have any big papers due and no quizzes either so I had a chance to hang out and try to get ahead on my homework for this week! I didn't get as far ahead as I would have liked to, but that's life I guess. I went to the Bible study again and am starting to enjoy it more and more. I'm finally getting to know the group and am getting used to their style. We've been studying the miracles of Jesus and it's been really cool to note the things that come up week after week in the stories - especially the faith of the people healed (and their undeservingness to be healed), and God's amazing power manifested through Christ (that now lives inside of me!).

This weekend however, was very busy. I left with nearly a thousand students from the Valdivia area to travel 7 hours north to the towns surrounding Concepción with the organization "Un Techo Para Chile" (a roof for Chile). This organization was founded in 1997 by a small group determined not to let fellow chileans continue to live in tents. Since then it has grown and with the bicentennial this year, they have been working to completely eliminate all the tent camps throughout the country. They work in all areas of the country but have been concentrated lately in the areas most affected by the earthquake and tsunami. My group of about 300 or so students went to San Pedro de la Paz where we got split up into 15 or so groups. Each group (comunidad) went to a different place to build a mediagua (emergency shelter) for a family affected by the earthquake. The groups were set up for us, so not only did I get to help build a house for a family, but I got meet some pretty cool people in the process, and laugh a lot.

We left from Valdivia around 5,30 Friday night - which was quite the site! We had 27 micros (city buses) lined up all along the river coast with all the volunteers milling around trying to get organized. After a very squished, and somewhat long bus ride (thankfully with two stops!) we arrived at the school where we would be staying around 1 am. Most people would assume we unrolled our sleeping bags and went to sleep to prepare for the long days to come, but nope. Hah, this was definitely interesting for most of us gringos who were ready to sleep but the majority of the Chileans (and therefore us as well) were up until after 4 am. The day before they had said we would be getting up at 7, which made us all a little worried, but thankfully this was 7,00 chilean time.. which means we got up at 8! Unfortunately the morning didn't go super smoothly, due to lots of volunteers and not as many trucks and supplies so we spent time getting to know our groups and cutting the various parts that we would need. Groups left periodically and mine was one of the last to leave at 4,30...! We worked diligently (in the dark and cold!) until around 1 when we finally headed back to the school to sleep (of course, not until 4 again!). My group was a little worried when we left because we didn't have as much done as we would have liked, but we were hopeful about Sunday. We got up around 8 again on Sunday, ate some breakfast and arrived at our site by 9,30. It was a long day, filled with carrying walls over fences, digging, nailing, sawing, teamwork, creative solutions and lots of laughs. And we finished! We finished hanging the door around 11 I think, and then got to invite the family to come see it and talked with them. It was cool to hear a little bit more about them and see that the mediagua would be put to good use. We got to share one more cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate afterwards and then headed to back to the school before heading back to Valdivia where we arrived around 7,30 this morning. I finally got home and got to shower, and take a very nice long nap!

So that was my weekend in a nutshell. But it was a lot more than that. It was so cool to see all these students give up a long weekend to go out and help build these shelters. What I liked even more was the chance I had to talk with them and get to know them, along with the family that we were serving. I was in a group of 8 (5 girls and 3 guys) and we were working at was the house of a woman (who will be called tía from this point on), who had a daughter and son-in-law who had lost their house in the earthquake. I'm not sure where they had been living, but tía had a small backyard just big enough for a mediagua for them. My team spent a lot of time working while we were there, but we also got to spend some time talking to her and her family, who were all very gracious and helpful. She was always bringing us out something to drink and served us lunch and dinner. This gave us a neat experience to actually spend time talking to her and learn more about her life. On top of that, all their neighbors were super helpful and not only allowed us to pass through their backyards with the walls and floor of the mediagua, but also jumped right in to help us lift them over the fences.

Here's a few pictures :)


Ready to work Saturday morning!


Working hard Saturday night to get all the posts sturdy in the ground. (They are all jumping around the post to pack it in place)


Working together to help put the walls up


Nailing together the roof supports


With the family inside the finished mediagua!

Now I'm off to do some reading and try to write a paper before I head to class, and then the moment I've been counting down to for almost a month now - Jake will be here in Valdivia! He should be somewhere between Santiago and Valdivia on a bus right now, and should be arriving around 7ish if all goes well. We'll spend some time here in Valdivia while I go to class and whatnot and then are hoping to head up to Mendoza in Argentina for a long weekend before he flies back to Honduras, and then finally back to the US. I'll be sure to post pictures and stuff after he leaves!

Chauu!

I'm essentially half way through my study abroad experience. I've been here for over 10 weeks now (which have seemed to go incredibly fast!) and have just under 11 to go. I guess this calls for some reflections?

So far I've been really blessed with a great study abroad experience. I've been able to travel a fair amount, try a lot of new things, and learn a ton. I can actually notice a difference in my spanish from when I first got here, and feel much more comfortable in a group of Chileans - and understand nearly everything being said. I've gotten to see a lot of Chilean culture, and share some of my favorite (and not so favorite, but nonetheless intriguing) parts of culture in the US. And I've made some really great friends, all of whom I can't wait to continue to spend time with during the rest of my time here. I find myself thinking nearly every day how blessed I feel to be here, and to be accepted and welcomed by so many great people. On top of that, I've been able to grow as I've been forced to make choices about my lifestyle here and have had the chance to share my faith, and a part of the gospel with some of my friends. All of this leaves me with a great feeling of peace and contentment. Obviously, there are times when I miss my friends and family deeply, but for the most part, I feel confident that this is where I should be, and because of that I've been able to truly enjoy and aprovechar (one of my favorite spanish words, it means to make the most of) my time here.

Aprovechar. It's an interesting concept, and something that I hope I can take back with me to the US. Let me explain. As I'm sitting here writing this blog post, I'm realizing how I've purposefully tried to take advantage of my time here, in a lot of the typical "study abroad" ways - I've been traveling, trying new activies, meeting new friends, attempting talk in a different language even though I feel ridiculous because I make mistakes and can't think of words, etc... - but I've been also taking advantage of things that I didn't necessarily plan on, but have just kind of happened. I've been enjoying more naps, and walks through the park, I've taken time to relax and spend more than 10 minutes eating a meal as I rush to my next activity, I've spent more time doing devotions and have talked about my faith and why it's important to me. Anyways, the point is, I'm doing most of these things because I realize that my time here is limited, that I only have X number of weeks in Chile and I "need to make the most of it!". But what just hit me today, is that I should have this same attitude in the US, or wherever I am, because my time there is limited too. And, I can truly say that because I've been purposefully trying to do these things, I've felt so much more at peace here. I can't help but smile as I walk 20 minutes to class, enjoying the rain or the sunshine and listening to whatever comes next on my ipod.

I hope that makes sense. and that you all are busy taking advantage of what's happening right now in your life. Because we don't need to worry about what comes next, we simply need to live in today, in this once in a lifetime moment.

Well it's been almost two weeks since my last entry so as you can guess life has been a little busy. Lots of thoughts and occurences and I'm still not sure what this blog post will hold but I guess we'll see :).

Classes are going pretty well but are definitely keeping me busy - especially considering that I only have 4 classes, when I'm used to have 5 or 6 with a lab.. however, three of them include a lot of reading and writing papers, which of course takes me a lot longer to do in spanish than it would take in english. I'm also getting pretty good (or bad..!) at procrastinating because there are so many other things going on that I would rather be doing. It eventually all gets done though, and done well-enough.. And I'm actually enjoying my classes despite the workload, I'm learning about a lot of things that I would have never learned about if I wasn't here - for example anthropology, modernism, poetry, and art, and all of this from a very different point of view than I would encounter in the states. It's made me think a lot and it's been cool to expand my knowledge to different subjects. I've also really enjoyed seeing the United States from a different perspective - it's helped me to see new things that are both good and bad about the US.

Other than school work, I've been spending quite a bit of time hanging out with friends here - both american and chilean. I've made a couple good friends in my classes and we'll hang out in the library and try to study together. We actually get quite a bit done but it's nice to have someone there suffering along with you, and distracting you every once in a while! Plus, it's nice because I can ask questions about words/concepts that I don't understand. I've also been helping one of them with his English homework which has been really entertaining for me, to read it and have it seem so easy, and then to watch him struggle with it. I'm realizing just how hard it is to learn english - I mean who decided that the plural of tooth should be teeth anyways? I also went dancing with a couple of them for the first time last week. Definitely a new experience. I'm not much of a dancer... let alone trying to dance to reggaeton, but I figured it was worth giving it a try. I can't say it was my favorite thing in the world, I would still prefer to stay in and play cards, but I did enjoy dancing and singing along to the few songs that  I knew. And wouldn't you know, it sounds like I'm going dancing again tonight, so apparently it wasn't that bad! :)

Another rather large noteworthy event was my trip to Argentina last weekend! Bariloche is a big tourist town in Argentina about 7 hours by bus away from Valdivia and so I headed there with the other CMU girl and a couple girls from another study abroad program who are also here in Valdivia. I knew one of them from class but none of the others so it was fun to get to know them and to explore Bariloche. It's known for it's chocolate (the shops alternate between t-shirts, artisan chocolate, and ice cream..!) and it's spectacular views of the Andes Mountains. IT was a really fun weekend and filled with lots of adventures and good food. Saturday afternoon we biked el circuito chico (short circuit) which was about 17 miles of hills and breathtaking views. It was very refreshing and I loved seeing a different part of God's creation. It was also a nice time to just be removed from busy life for a little bit. Then Sunday morning we went for a hike up Cerro Campanario (a hill/mountain) for another great (although cloudy) view. The weekend went by super fast but was definitely worth getting behind in my homework.. hah!

Here's my favorite picture from the weekend (I learned how to use the panorama function on my camera!). There's a link to more of them on the side of my blog for those of you interested!


Last noteworthy event is that I went to a Bible study this week on campus. I've seen a couple signs for various groups but have had class or something else at the times listed. Well, I decided I wanted to try to find one, even if I had to skip something, just to check it out - especially since I've had the chance to talk to a couple friends here about my faith. Anyways, the next day, sure enough I saw another sign for a Bible study the next night, right after one of my classes ended. So I went in search of it Wednesday night and found a group of about 10 students meeting for a small Bible study. I can't even explain the feeling I had when I walked into the room - it really just felt so comforting and like home. Definitely a great feeling. All the students were super nice and I talked with them a little bit before the Bible study officially started. One of the girls led us in prayer, and then led a discussion about one of Jesus' miracles (Bartimeo receiving his sight). I actually understood what everyone was saying, and the whole time just kept thinking how much I had missed being in fellowship without realizing it. It was just such a great feeling, and a cool reassurement of how expanse the family of God is (and that once you're a part of it, you're in no matter where you are) and how important my faith is to me, and how much joy it brings me. Anyways, so I'm excited to go back, and to get to know the people in the group because they all seem like a lot of fun.

Well this is sufficiently long. If only I could write this much in spanish for my literature class.. bah!

Thanks for reading.

Chauu!

I recently got an invitation to join a facebook support group from an old friend that I haven't seen in years who in October will be leaving the US to partner with World Race, which means she will be traveling to 11 different countries over a period of 11 months to spread the gospel. Anyways, after being involved in a few mission trips and trying to fundraise, I enjoy being able to help out other peoples adventures so I asked her for an address and from there we've been facebooking back and forth and catching up a little bit and it's caused me to have a few interesting thoughts that I figured I would share with you.

When I say old friend that I haven't seen in years... I mean an old friend that I don't think I've seen for almost 8 years. We met at Camp Geneva before going into 7th or 8th grade and maybe saw each other once or twice in the years following camp (I remember her coming to my 8th grade play) but not since then. Of course, we managed to find each other on facebook and have had the chance to swap happenings every once in a while. And, she ended up working at Camp Geneva again, completing the small world circle and getting to know some of my friends from college and high school - always fun connections to make. Anyways, point of this is... it reminded me again what a blessing it is to be a part of God's family. It never ceases to amaze me how I am able to have such great conversations with people that I hardly know (and that I know really well!), all because we share the same love for a God bigger than anything we could imagine. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecc. 4:12)

In one of our conversations, we started talking about how incredible it is too look back on our lives and realize the different events God used to prepare us for something bigger than we could imagine! It's something that I've been realizing here a lot, and then to hear her talk about it was pretty cool too. It was also neat because God gave me a new image of it all. One of us used the word "orchestrates" and it hit me what a cool picture that paints - how God is the conductor of our life. He directs the different events to rise and fall, enter in and out, at just the right time to produce the incredible song and experience that is my life! And since I tend to really enjoy music, it's was especially neat to think of my life as a song - with high points and low points, key changes and so many other unknown elements that work together to produce something so beautiful. The best part? I know that when I let God conduct this song, it not only brings praise and glory to Him, but it becomes a testimony to the people around me. Then, when you begin to add together all the songs and lives of the body of Christ, instead of drowning each other out, they work together to amplify each other, and produce something even more beautiful - and this is the unbelieve power and wonder of our God, who brings everything together for our good and His glory!

The last thing I picked up from my devos last night and seems to tie in with this as well. Lately, my devo book has been talking a lot about worry, and how the devil uses worry to distract us from our work in the Lord. For example, when we worry, we focus on ourselves, instead of on the people around and we are unable to be effective witnesses to unbelievers. The author suggests various ways to fight against worry, and the one that really struck relates back to the Israelites. Often when God did something for them, they would set up a large pile of rocks that they could "look back on" and be reminded of what God had done and how He had cared for them. For me, nothing beats worrying more than that. It always amazes me when I look back on my life to see how God has been present through it all, working to orchestrate my song and when I see this, I'm reminded again of God's faithfulness. And when you concentrate on God's faithfulness, it removes any remaining worry.

Think that's all I have for now. I've now been here for 7 weeks, so I'm a little over a third of the way through my trip. I can definitely tell my spanish is getting better, and have been getting to know a few of my classmates pretty well. Just yesterday I got to explain to some of them what maple syrup is and what real pancakes are! (The pancakes they eat here, are really crepes and only eaten for dessert, never for breakfast! *gasp*) and I even got to try and explain an assignment to a classmate that I understood but he didn't - all in spanish of course! I also got to play bingo at the casino and practice my numbers :). Miss you all and hope you all have a great upcoming week!

Chauu!

Well... life definitely took a turn towards busy this past week or so due to the visit o my mom, sister, and grandparents. I had a lot of fun traveling with them and showing them Valdivia, and of course just getting to spend time with them. Although it did make my life a little crazy as I tried to go to classes, do homework and be tour guide :). It was worth it though and definitely bittersweet to see them all go (I now am much less busy but miss having them here!)

Anyways, I'll try to highlight some of our events from the week for you, and put some pictures up on Picasa for you to look through if you have time. We met in Santiago Friday morning after all traveling from our respective places (mom and petey from MI, gma and gpa from Ecuador, and me from Valdivia). Needless to say we were all a little tired from traveling all night, and this was only counfounded by the fact that they hadn't been able to find the right taxi from the airport (but they did find one at least) and Mikayla had managed to grab the wrong suitcase! After getting that sorted out (rather easily and quickly thankfully), some showers, and naps, we met Carissa Elenbaas (random connection from Byron) and she gave us a tour of the city in exchange for a suitcase of much needed things we brought for her (including a laptop since she lost hers in the earthquake/tsunami... if you want to read more you can go to her blog http://carissaelenbaas.blogspot.com/2010/03/earthquake.html ) Anyways, we managed to get to the cathedral, plaza de armas, the fish market, el palacio la moneda, and cerro san cristobal, along with stopping for a fairly traditional chilean lunch and some delicious pizza at night.

Overlooking Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal

Saturday we headed to Valparaíso and Viña, definitely my favorite part of the trip. Both cities are super cute with their own different, but somewhat similar personalities. We took a boat tour of the port in Valpo (it's a huge shipping port), and of course rode some funiculars (for you Amazing Race fans!) and got to see the beautiful colors of the houses and hills in Valpo. Sunday we mainly spent in Viña walking along the beach and eating a delicious brunch! Eventually we headed to the bus station for our 13 hour overnight ride to Validivia....

Valparaíso

Me and Mikayla in front of Castilla Wolff

In front of the flower clock in Viña

When we finally got to Valdivia (my home town), I got them settled into their hostal before heading "home" to unpack my stuff and go to class! In the afternoon I met up with them and gave them a small tour of the city before going to class again and then meeting them for dinner at a delicious pasta place close to my house.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both pretty relaxed which was nice for all of us after traveling so much! We spent a lot of time walking around and shopping at el mercado municipal for souveniers, and of course ate lots of delicious food! Tuesday night and Wednesday night were especially fun. Tuesday we had "once" (dinner-ish) with my host family. It was fun to talk in broken english and spanish and translate between everything, and both of my families enjoyed getting to know the other! Wednesday, we went to La Cervecería Kunstmann, which is a must-do here in Valdivia. We went with some of my friends from the University (all of whom speak english!) and had a lot of fun eating pichanga (one of my new favorite foods, french fries with lots of different meat, and sometimes avocado and tomato) and drinking one of Chile's most popular beers.

With my host mom Viviana

At La Cervecería Kunstmann

Thursday we went to Pucón where we saw the Volcano, the beach, did some more shopping, and went on a canopy tour, which was definitely another highlight of the week. Not only was it a blast to zipline from tree to tree, but the scenery was beautiful!

On our canopy adventure!

Volcán Villarica

Friday was their last day in town. I met them for lunch at another local restaurant that had been recommended to us and we split 2 giant burgers. They finished up some shopping and then we took a boat tour along the river to a more remote part of Valdivia where they make Chicha (fermented apple cider) and to a really old church. It was a nice relaxing way to end their time in Valdivia. Greg and Rachel joined us too which was fun and we all went out for pizza afterwards! After that they made one last stop at the grocery store to pick up some food and drink "souveniers" before heading over to the bus station. The bus was on Chilean time (about 30 minutes late), but they eventually got loaded up and began their long journey home (they should have recently landed in GR).

Overall, it was a really great trip. It was so fun to show them my life here in Valdivia and even more fun to see them become more comfortable in a different culture. Learning about different cultures, especially hispanic ones is something I'm passionate it about so it was cool to see them start to appreciate this culture as well. They even all were speaking various levels of spanish by the time they left!

Well two weeks of classes are done, and I've still only attended 2 out of my 4 classes! The first week I only had two, because the others are optativas (electives) and so they start a week later; however, the second week of classes here is called Semana Mechona. It's basically a big welcome week filled with some fun and some not so fun activities for all the first year students. They have concerts and parades, but the major event of the week is when all the second year students torture the first year students who have the same major as them. And it's quite the event to watch, as they throw mixtures of oil, butter, garlic and flour at the students, take their shoes, draw all over them with markers, and then force them to walk into town and beg for money to get their shoes back... Let's just say I'm glad that we don't have the same tradition in the states. If you're interested, there's a few pictures of it all in the Valdivia folder on Picasa, they were taken by a friend of mine here who is teaching english as part of his internship. From what he said, the pictures look gross but don't do it justice because you can't smell it... (yuck!) Anyways, so because of Semana Mechona most of the afternoon classes are cancelled, which mean that once again I only had classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. These two classes are fully underway though, which means that *gasp* I've had to start doing homework! Something I haven't done for almost four months now... It's mostly reading for quizzes that are coming up in the next few weeks but there's a lot of it, and of course it's all in spanish so it takes me a while to decode it. It's definitely been good practice though and it's starting to feel second nature which is pretty cool. For instance, this morning I was reading Teorías del Aprendizaje (Theories of Learning), and realized that I was actually learning things in spanish that I didn't know in english - that was a weird feeling!

I also got to try a new sport this week! Whenever I head into town I have to cross a river and there are almost always people rowing. I asked my host mom about this and said I was interested in trying it so on Monday she took me to the sports club and I signed up to take remo (rowing/crew) lessons. It's really popular here in Chile, especially here in Valdivia because there are so many rivers that are perfect for it. I had my first lesson Thursday and it was actually a lot harder than it looks, but still a lot of fun. There's a lot of technique required, plus all my instructions were in spanish, which complicated things a little further. It also requires use of your whole body, which meant I was a little sore on Friday! I definitely enjoyed it though and I'm looking forward to the rest of my lessons!

That's about it. I'm looking forward to hopefully another week of nice weather (it's about 70° and sunny right now! yay!) and am getting really excited to see my family! My grandparents are currently in the Galapagos Islands and are arriving in Santiago on Friday a few hours before my mom and sister will arrive! We have lots planned and hopefully they'll enjoy seeing a little bit of what my life is like in Chile, along with having fun being a tourist!

Before leaving for Chile, quite a few people asked me how they could be praying for me. Of course there are lots of things that I could use prayer for, but the one thing that was at the forefront of my mind was community. I was realizing that by leaving Michigan and heading to a completely new country, I was also leaving behind my support system - my friends, family, church, everything that was comfortable and safe to me - and this was definitely the thing that I was most nervous about.


And now, here I am almost a month into my trip and feeling incredibly blessed because of that very community that I thought I was going to miss so much. Don't get me wrong, I miss you all like crazy, but it's been amazing to me to see how even when I am 5 thousand miles away God has allowed me to be in community with people from home. On top of that, I've been able to realize once again how blessed I am to have found such a great community. I'm also learning that community means more than just being in the same room as another person. It's so much more than that, and sometimes doesn't even require that you are in the same country (although this certainly helps). There's no formula for community, and it's not an easy thing to do in the least bit, but when it's done right it is incredibly rewarding.


For example, I was on facebook the other day and noticed that a friend from Central was on so I decided to say Hi for a minute and hear about her recent spring break trip. We've known each other since freshmen year but didn't really get to know each other well until last spring break when we went on the same trip through His House. We spent a lot of time together on that trip and shared a lot, especially in regard to relationships. We both realized that we were at very similar spots in regards to dating, and finding each other was an answer to prayer for both of us at the time. We were able to be honest with each other about a lot of different things, and it was so great to have someone who understood because she was going through the same things. Since then, we try to get together occasionally but unfortunately we both tend to lead very busy lives so it doesn't happen all that often. As we were able to catch up again via facebook chat though, sharing recent stories and thoughts, it struck me that even though I don't talk to her regularly, I still feel safe opening up to her about what I'm struggling with. To me, this is community. We were thousands of miles apart but we were still able to lift each other up in prayer, to share in each other's joys and failures, and to be encouraged by each other. And this is only one of many examples. So thank you to those who I have been able to facebook and skype with over the past few weeks; I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of your life, even while I'm here in Chile. 


As for an update on my life in Chile. I'm still wanting and waiting to find my community here, but I'm not worried about finding it. I know that I can trust God to provide me with the community I need - whether that be in the form of my Bible, my friends and family from the states, or new friends here in Chile. And He knows what I need better than I do, so that's pretty reassuring. My God is my Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer and has shown Himself to be faithful time and again. And this is a promise that I can take with me wherever I go (and so can you!).


Joshua 1:9 "For the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."


P.S. There are some new pictures in the Valdivia album of my University if you want to take a look!

Well, I was informed that I should blog and update again (you know who you are! haha). And I realized it had been much longer since I posted than I thought... so here goes. Nothing too thought provoking probably, but hopefully some interesting stories for ya'll.

Since my last post, quite a bit has changed in my life here. One of the most exciting events was my trip to a nearby town called Pucón with the other CMU girl. It's a pretty touristy town but since summer is officially over and we went tues-wed it was pretty dead. The town has just about anything to do that you can think of including: white water rafting, climbing a volcano, zip line/canopy tours, hot springs, shopping, the beach, bike riding, and horseback riding; just to name a few! Of course these all take time and/or money so we didn't do them all, but we did take a cool canopy tour and relax in the natural hot springs which were a balmy 39°C. :) We also stayed in a hostel owned by a super nice couple and ate some delicious food! We even ran into some fellow gringos and got to talk to them for a little bit. Only downside of the trip was that I lost my cellphone (I'm pretty sure it fell out of my pocket into the bus seat, and of course I didn't notice until it was TOO late!). But overall, a super fun trip - feel free to check out the pictures to your right!

I've also started to meet more people and my classes finally started! We now have two more guys start living with my family here who are also studying at the University - so in case you are counting that's now 5 guys, me and my host mom in our house! Thankfully it's not too crowded and there's definitely always something going on which keeps life entertaining! I also met a guy from England who hung out last semester with the girls from CMU. We went out to a cool restaurant Saturday night that I hadn't been to yet and then to a sushi place last night with Rachel and one of his coworkers and her fiancee, who is actually Dutch! Both nights were a lot of fun getting to know new people, trying to figure out what my last name means (I couldn't remember, but we found it!), and learning about British accents and parliament! And with the start of classes I'm slowly meeting new people - both American and Chilean.

As far as classes go, I say they started but in reality I've only attended 2 classes so far, and I only have one more this week! We picked a list of about 8 classes each and then were planning on going to each of them this week and then deciding on 4 classes to take for the rest of the semester. Of course, at this point (last Friday) they still hadn't posted the schedules yet so we also had to plan for possible overlaps which would elminate a class or two. So, first thing Monday we headed to the U to find our schedules. That wasn't too hard once we finally found out where they were. Then we went to our first class - Precolombian America! It was an okay class, and I was a little reassured by how much I could understand but not very interesting and definitely not one of my first choices. Then that was it for the day. I had 2 classes to go to today, but the first one was cancelled because the prof was gone on medical leave (at least, that's what I gathered.. hah) so I hung around the U and then went to my second class, Intro to Anthropology. It wasn't bad but still isn't one of my first choices. I have that class again tomorrow, and then I'm actually done for the week! Hopefully next week I'll be able to go to all my classes and get them figured out - right now I'm hoping that I'll take/like History of Chile, Contemporary Latin America Literature, Creative Writing, and a psychology class. Whatever my classes do end up being though, I won't have class Thursday or Friday... so that should be nice and very conducive for travleing - I keep hearing about more places to go!

I think that's a good summary for now.

Chao

Well, I'm feeling more comfortable here at home and in the city so Rachel (the other girl) and I have finally started taking mini adventures since we haven't had a lot to do otherwise. It's been fun to walk around downtown and see all the people and shops. We walked through a couple cool markets with different hand made crafts (artesanías) and of course walked through the fish market. I need to take a picture because I haven't ever see anything like it in Michigan! There are ALL types of fish that you could imagine. There are sea lions here too that just lay by the river all day waiting for scraps from the vendors. We also have been sure to try all the different varieties of ice cream!

On Thursday we took a trip to Niebla, the local beach. Of course we picked the one cloudy day all week but it was still fun to see the ocean and black sand. We had lots of fun trying to figure out how to get everywhere (including finding the right bus stop!) and ended up walking a lot but got to then enjoy all the sights that pass by too fast when you are on a bus. We also ate at a cute restaurant, Entrecostas. We were both pretty adventurous even! Rachel ordered some empanadas with mariscos (shell fish) and I got an array of sea food - including shrimp, mariscos, crab, octopus, and a few other things I couldn't identify - and I tried them all! It came with a dip of onions and cilantro that was really good.

We also walked all over town yesterday in order to start the matriculation process at the university. First we had to register with the police, which wouldn't have taken too long except the police couldn't count... (they had to figure out how long our visa was good for and had a lot of problems counting 200 days), and then go to another office to get our carnet de identidad, which you need for everything. Needless to say, we pretty much know our way around the city now!

In terms of other new foods I've tried, last night we went to some friends' house for dinner where I tried crudo for the first time. It's a pretty traditional Chilean meal and consists of white bread, raw meat finely ground with salt and oil mixed in (crudo), onions, a mayonesa type sauce, pepper, and lemon juice. It was different but not bad. Maybe I'll come to like it more as I'm here. I've also had some really good soup with mariscos, and finally empanadas today! They also have a sauce here called aji (a-he), which is similar to a spicy salsa and is put on just about everything (just like avocados!).

I've also started running, and am hoping to train for the Chicago marathon again. It's a fun way to see the city, and dinner here is very conducive to running because I can run at 7 and not be hungry (because lunch was at 3) and not trying to let my food digest. Plus then it's still light out but not very hot! And the best part is that I don't think my family thinks I'm crazy yet for wanting to run. :)


This is getting long, but I wanted to add one last thought. It's been cool to be here in the aftermath of the earthquake and see the solidarity of Chile as a nation. They are currently in the process of a teletón, and EVERYONE is involved, from the cities in the very north to the cities in the very south. Here in Valdivia, there's a huge concert going on in the Plaza and my brother is actually helping volunteer there. And ALL of the micros (buses) and taxis have writing on the window about the teletón (Chile ayuda a Chile). I've just been very impressed with how unified the country is and how important it is to the people to help their own and bring restoration to their country. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers, both for me and for the people of Chile.

Chao. ¡Fuerza Chile!

Well, I've almost been in Chile for a whole week. Which in reality, isn't a lot of time, but it's been enough to start to adjust to the culture and my new family. I'm having a lot of fun, but have also found myself with more down time than I can ever remember having (and I also realize, will probably never have again once I leave Chile.. ah so is life I guess). Hopefully this will change a little once classes start but for now I'm trying to just enjoy it by spending time with my family, sleeping (yay naps!), and spending some time digging into the Word and journaling. Anyways, I just finished my devotions today, and decided that they were worth sharing.

Since I've been here, I've been trying to figure out what kind of person I wanted to be. I mean, NOBODY here knows who I am. I could go by a different name, like different music, act differently, etc. etc. and no one would know the difference. This is a crazy thing to realize. And I've been struggling with this a little bit, because I want to be accepted by my family and their friends here, but I also know that I'm called to live a lifestyle that glorifies God. So where do these two meet, and how do I get over my fear of not being accepted because of who I am in Christ? And where in all of this does sharing the Gospel fit in?

Today, I found the beginning my answer in Day 33 of Battlefield of the Mind (Joyce Meyer) and the book of Joshua. In day 32 and 33, Meyer talks about what it means to truly meditate on Scripture. To be more concerned with understand scripture than getting through a whole chapter or book. She actually compares it to eating a meal - where you take time to comment on the smell, the appearance, the texture, and finally the taste. That in doing this, we will be able to take God's word to heart, obey it, and be successful - not necessarily in worldy terms, but in the kingdom that matters. She also mentioned Joshua, which, 'coincidentally' Joshua was the book that I was planning on starting to read today. In Joshua 1:8-9, God commands Joshua to meditate on the Scriptures day and night, and to 'Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.' All of this, was just the reminder that I needed. Not only can I rest in the fact that God is with me, but because He commands me to be 'strong and courageous' I can trust that He will give me the strength to be just that. I'm not sure how people will respond to me, but I know that if I continue to obey God's plan for my life (which I can understand by reading and meditating on the scriptures) He will give me the strength to overcome whatever struggle, and he will turn my obedience into growth (and success) for His Kingdom. And I can't ask for much more than that.

That doesn't mean that I'm not scared at all. I am, but I'm also at peace about it, and I'm learning that being in God's peace is a pretty great peace to be. And for those of you looking for ways to pray for me, well here you go :).

Chao. Shalom.

¡Hola todos!

Well, I finally got my address, and a couple people have asked me for it so I figured it was just as easy to post it on here. Feel free to send me mail. And I promise to send mail back!

Las Lengas N° 641, Isla Teja
Valdivia, Chile

Chao

Well, I've managed to survive my first few days in Chile and am already falling in love with the country! It's been fun to see all the differences and similarities and to be somewhat touristy. I'm also beginning to understand a lot more of what's being said, which is nice! Anyways, I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned about Chile thus far that I've found to be particularly interesting.

1. Palta (avocado) and mayonesa are put on nearly everything, particularly sandwhiches and hot dogs.
2. There is an abundance of delicious ice cream - especially right now since it's still summertime. (I can see myself fitting in well here!)
3. You have to pay to use public restrooms (it's only 150-250 pesos which is about 20-50 cents)
4. You get a receipt for everything (even going to the bathroom!)
5. Américo is not a nickname of the states, but is rather is a popular singer/heart throb. Some of his big hits include "Te vas" and "Que levante la mano".
6. Chile is celebrating it's 200th anniversary this year (on september 18)
7. Smoking is very common
8. PDA is not only acceptable, but almost expected (I mean, if you love someone, why wouldn't you want to be kissing them ALL THE TIME? jaja)
9. Mullets are apparently in style - as I've seen more mullets in two days than I have in my entire life up till now...
10. You can get a beer with your combo at fast food places (including the ones in the mall)

Oh yeah, and my new favorite word is probably weá, which is a very general word for "thing" and can be used whenever you can't think of the name of an object (I think I'll use this word a lot).

Well, I've finally got some pictures posted from Santiago. I think I've managed to get a slide show going on the side here, so feel free to look at them there or I think you can see them bigger by going here: http://s865.photobucket.com/albums/ab212/aveeneman/Santiago/?albumview=slideshow

Chao.

Well, it's been a LONG time since I've blogged, but I figured I would give this a go in order to keep ya'll posted on what's happening in my life and thoughts while I'm in Chile (I leave next Tuesday and plan on returning July 23 - yeah, that's 5 months...). I'm not really sure how often I'll be posting, or what I'll be posting, I can't even guarantee it'll be interesting.... hah, but I'll do my best.

Anyways, I have a bit of time before I head to Canada to celebrate Grandma V's 90th birthday (wowzers!), and so I thought I would try to post some of my thoughts about my upcoming trip. It's somewhat hard to believe that it's finally here! I've been planning this trip basically since August and am finally close enough to count down the days until I fly out. I'm definitely ready at this point - everyone else is either gone on their study abroad, or well into their spring semester, and I'm running out of things to do at home. And all the last minute details are finally coming together - like I finally got my visa (and managed to not get lost in downtown Chicago) and I finally found out who my host family is - so that is exciting! Turns out God wanted to remind me once again of His faithfulness and I got placed with a family that I've heard about from a couple of girls who have studied in Chile previously. My mom's name is Viviana and I will have 3 brothers, who are all right around my age! I should be able to hang out with the oldest one, who actually attends the university that I will be attending. I've also been reading a lot about Chilean culture which has been really interesting. I've learned a lot and at least feel a little more prepared about what to expect. At the same time, I recognize that no amount of reading can really prepare me for what life will really be like there.

And even though I'm excited about what's to come, at times I can't get over the fact that I'm really leaving and living in another country for 5 months. That's a long time, and sometimes I feel myself getting caught up in that and worrying about it. A lot can (and probably will) change over that course of time, and I really don't have any control over what changes take place. It's reassuring though to come back to the fact that no matter where I go, God will be with me, and He will be with the ones that I love - because He's everywhere. And that's a pretty cool link to have while I'm down there - to know that the same God who is watching over me is watching over my friends and family back home (or wherever they are). Also, I've been reminded lately of just how perfect God's plan is for our lives. Yes, we are imperfect, and do our best to mess up that perfect plan, yet He is able to bring about anything and everything for our good. Nothing happens outside of God's realm of control. How reassuring! So I guess what I'm trying to say is, yes I'm nervous, but I'm also incredibly excited because I know that this trip is part of God's perfect plan for my life. He has big plans for me (and all of His followers) and I can't wait to see how this trip plays into that - how it shapes, grows, challenges and changes me to become more Christ-like. And that's what I'm most looking forward to. I mean, of course I'm excited to meet new people, and develop relationships, and travel, and speak spanish, and learn a few things. But to know that this amazing adventure in front of me is a part of God's plan - so cool!

Anyways, I hope that was a fairly logical train of thoughts. I forgot how hard it is for me to blog because I get too many thoughts going at once and I tend to have a hard time organizing them... maybe it'll get better as I go. Or I'll just spend more time planning what I want to say. Hasta luego...

Shalom.