Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."

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.