Wow, I haven't written to you guys since last year!
I'm guessing/hoping that with the busy-ness of the holidays you didn't even notice?! Either way, here is a little overview to get us up to date: uno). No more school, no more books...!
dos). Celebrate good times, come on!
tres). New year...new me?
cuatro). I'm but a stranger here...heaven is my home!
cinco). Party in the U.S.A!
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TreesYes, I put my Christmas tree up....on October 24th to be exact. Be a Scrooge if you must, but you will not squelch my Christmas joy! I now will have over 2 full months to enjoy the twinkling lights, romantic glow, and general Christmas cheer. TripsThe last weekend in October included a two-day extension of fun because both Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Chile! (Oct. 31: Evangelical Church Day / Nov. 1: All Saints Day) The weekend quickly got packed with fun activities! Check them out here: 1) Mountain School Visit Tucked away up in the mountains way beyond the city of Longaví is a place called Loma de Vásquez {lo-ma-day-vahz-kez}. Along the dirt road you will find a small school for the children who live "nearby". There are 11 students from 1st to 6th grade who will greet you with warm smiles and send you off with hugs and a smile. Something that makes this primary school special is that because most of them live too far to travel every day, there is a dormitory where they stay during the week. We were honored to be received there as guests...and I am considering putting in my application! ;-) You can see more pictures and read more about our visit on Jon & Elise's blog post HERE...and as you may have guessed, Jon made a video about the trip and it is posted below. Enjoy! 2) Beach For Saturday, some church members organized a bus to take a trip to the beach! We had a great group and I had lots of fun flying my kite, building sand castles, relaxing, and having great conversations! 3) To the mountains again! Monday a group of 13 friends (and friends of friends) got together to explore the beauty of the Andes. Our destinations included: a border crossing with Argentina, Laguna del Maule, and the Inverted Waterfall. (And we saw another amazing bonus waterfall on our way to the inverted!) Yes, you read that correctly...an inverted waterfall! The wind that blows is so strong that it pushes the water right back up, producing a really cool effect! Another name for the waterfall is "Rainbow Falls"...but unfortunately it was too cloudy, so I guess we'll have to go back another day! HERE is a link to lots more fun pictures! TortillaWhen you ask for a tortilla in Chile, you will NOT get either of these: In Chile, the word tortilla is used for a delicious bread that is popular especially during the cold winter months. This dense bread's full name is Tortilla al rescoldo {tor-tee-ah-all-race-cold-oh} and it is traditionally baked in ashes. For those of you visual learners, here is a neat 2-minute video showing the whole process! (If you're feeling short on time or patience, fast-forward to about 1:30!) But, now to the REAL reason that I want to tell you about tortilla: This cute little guy showed up on the streets of our neighborhood a few weeks ago. I decided to name him Tortilla both because I love the food and he kind of has that coloring. Tortilla follows us to the park nearly every day and plays with Choripan. He is a sweet doggie, is always smiling, and loves to chase Choripan around. The other day he waited at the bus stop with me and sometimes he accompanies me when I walk downtown. It makes me so sad to think that someone tossed him out of their house but thankfully someone in the neighborhood puts food and water out for him every day. Does anybody want to come to Chile and adopt him? TeethI had been having a metallic-ish taste in my mouth for about a week, so this past Thursday I went in to the dentist to get it checked out. I found out that part of one of my wisdom teeth was infected and basically falling apart. The lovely Dr. Sandra asked if I wanted her to take it out right away and so I said "Sure, why not?" Neither of us realized that it would take an hour and a half and a large stack of nearly every tool in her office to accomplish the task. The tooth was so far back and only half there that it was hard for her to grab onto. We bonded over the pain, tears, sweat, blood, saliva, and laughter and now I feel like we are pretty much besties for life.
But aside from making a new friend, do you wanna know what the best part is? It only cost 40,000 Chilean Pesos = $60 USD (and without going through any insurance)! I would leave a picture of the event here...but since I am trying to keep the blog child-friendly, here's a picture of a happy tooth: For a few months now I have been blessed to spend many of my Saturday mornings volunteering with a community organization here in Linares. They started a project called "Escuelita We Liwen". Escuelita {es-kweh-lee-tah} means "school" in Spanish and we liwen {way-lee-when} means "new dawn" in the language of the native people of Chile. It is called New Dawn because it takes place in the neighborhood of Linares that carries that name: Nuevo Amanecer {Nu-eh-voh-Ah-mahn-eh-ser}. While the neighborhood may officially be named Nuevo Amanecer, most people in Linares refer to it by its old name of Huapi {wah-pee}. Often when I hear residents of Linares talk about Huapi, it is said with, well, a certain tone...allow me to help you imagine that tone: Huapi is "on the other side of the tracks" and has been known for poverty, crime, and violence. People are always advising to "watch your purse" and "don't go there at night". Can you imagine the tone? "Huaaapi." Yeah, that's it. (Don't worry, Mom...I only venture out there during the day and I have NEVER felt unsafe!) In recent years the city has been trying to help the image of the neighborhood in different ways, one of them being using the name "Nuevo Amanecer". The non-profit organization I am volunteering with hopes to offer encouragement and provide enthusiasm for the youth living in the Nuevo Amanecer neighborhood. They offer 2 services to the neighborhood: 1) Tuesday After-School Homework Help Lots of high school and college students as well as some adults offer their assistance on Tuesday evenings. Any student with any question in any school subject or needing reinforcement can come and receive help for free! 2) Saturday Workshops The volunteers who come on Saturday offer a variety of workshops for both youth and adults. Currently the workshops offered include: Kinesiology, Community Garden, and English. (Can you guess which one I help with?) The Kinesiologist helps people learn to stretch and advises them on different health topics. The community garden leader has worked with the youth to: dig space for the garden, plant different flowers and vegetables, build a fence, and start a community compost area. In the English workshop we play a lot of different games to review colors, numbers, animals, days of the week, etc. If students need specific help reviewing for a test, we try to focus on that as well. The leaders of the group organized an extra special Saturday activity in October. Together everyone walked down to a small park that is by a river at the edge of the community. They discussed the importance of taking care of the environment around us, had a healthy snack, and then worked to pick up the garbage around the river. I am excited to watch what happens with this program and I pray that it continues to grow! My schedule right now doesn't allow me to help every Saturday, but I do go whenever possible! And to be honest, I am not always thrilled about getting up and spending my entire Saturday morning teaching. But you know what? Once I get there, I am always happy that I went and I thank God for the blessing it is to be there! God is so good! All of these pictures are from the organization's Facebook page. If you're on Facebook, you can see/read more about them and their work HERE.
And while you're on Facebook, why not check out and give a thumbs up to our church page HERE. You can keep updated on our building project and other fun events! If you have studied Spanish, you've learned that:
This is also a pololo...a bug that appears in Chile in spring. I've been told that the word pololo started to be used because it is a metaphor for the boyfriends always hanging around their girlfriends, just like these bugs around fruit. While walking in the park with my puppy this afternoon, I found a pololo stuck in my hair. I took a picture because I thought the story about the use of the word pololo would make a good blog post...
And right after I got done taking that picture....my dog ate my pololo. #truestory # mylife If you've been reading this blog for awhile you've had the pleasure of seeing my beautiful puppy, Choripan {chor-ee-pahn}. She is silky soft, muy tierna y regalona (very sweet and cuddly) and the best part about coming home. In May this lovely lady turned one year old! One casual evening in March, Choripan and I were on a walk when we came across another cute little puppy who was wandering the streets. He followed us and played nicely with Choripan...and on our way home I tried to return him to the house by the corner market where I thought for sure he belonged. The shop lady explained that he had been abandoned a couple of weeks before and didn't have a home. {insert heart melting} He looked so young and frail but still managed to have a smile on his face and play nicely with Choripan...and because of that I just couldn't leave him there on the streets. I named him Mote {Mo-tay} after this lovely summertime cold drink "Mote con huesillo" made from peach juice and barley. Mote resided with us for nearly two months, put on a healthy weight and got his updated shots and many much needed cuddles. (He never quite understood where to correctly go potty though...I apologize once again, Jon & Elise...) #thatfacethough They played well together...AKA they made a mess together and Choripan was happy there was someone to share the blame with... There are a few active volunteer groups here in Linares in defense of our animal friends. One is called "Sociedad Protectora de Animales de Linares". They are quite active on Facebook, constantly helping to reunite people with their lost pets and offering low-rate sterilizations. Another great service that they offer is helping animals in need find loving families. Every Saturday for a few hours they set-up in the Plaza of Linares and help facilitate adoptions for newborns or rescued animals. I went two Saturdays scouting out a family who might want to adopt a cute grey haired puppy. Though Mote was very well behaved and as cute as ever the first Saturday, he just couldn't compete with twenty cute newborn pups. However, we ventured to the park two weeks later and were successful at finding a family for Mote! And while we're discussing dogs, let me tell you about Porotos {po-row-toes} First, here is the food: On the left, porotos granados and on the right, porotos con riendas (literally, "beans with reins"). The second is a delicious winter bean soup/stew with squash and spaghetti noodles...and I haven't had a bad bowl yet! If you know Spanish there are lots of recipes on the internet to try, but for those who don't speak español THIS was the best one I could find for you...give it a try! This is Porotos the dog. I had seen him a time or two in the park before and one night Choripan and I found him dying under a tree in the park by our house. Ok, well, I thought he was dying...so I took him home for the night and decided that if he was still alive the next day I would take him to the vet. Though he didn't move much, if even at all overnight, 24 hours later the vet called to say that it was just a lung infection, Porotos was already doing better, the owners had been identified, and the dog's name is actually Gary. Horray for happy endings! FYI: Here in Chile May 13 started Winter Daylight Saving (until August 13). We are currently 1 hour ahead of Central Time Zone. And last, but certainly not least...
Kathy, our new director for Kingdom Worker's: Chile, came for her first visit in May! We had a wonderful time getting to know her, showing her around, and introducing her to people at our schools and church! We look forward to working together and her next visit! Thank you, Kathy! |
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