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:
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It may not be the highest peak in the world or even South America, but just north and east of Linares are the most beautiful mountain views I have ever seen in my life. Reserva Nacional Altos de LircayWe were a modge-podge group of 6 people. We left in the dark and returned in the dark. We walked 19 miles (29 km). We saw condors, lizards, and rich blue skies. We trudged through dirt, snow, and rivers. We all smelled terrible at the end. We could not stop smiling. While climbing in elevation, a few different thoughts were repeated over and over again in my head: 1) Why aren't mountains flat? 2) Are my legs still attached? 3) Ow. 4) Wowzerz. 5) Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. 6) I'm actually really glad that mountains aren't flat. But most importantly of all my thoughts... 7) The psalms are alive before my eyes. 8) God is so much more than I could ever grasp. 9) I am so incredibly blessed. So immeasurably rich. Psalm 19: 1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 95: 1-5 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you-- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Ephesians 3:17-21 "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." And as usual, when exploring alongside the Grossest with the Mostest, there are plenty more fabulous pictures on their blog and of course, a video. So, when are YOU coming to explore Chile?!I think I have finally recovered. There was food. So. Much. Food. For many days. Wednesday through Monday. I'm tired all over again just thinking about it all. Here are a few highlights: Wednesday, September 14thWednesday was a big day for our school. The students put together a presentation that represented Chile's history and key cultural icons and also featured dances from different regions of the country. Afterwards everyone got together as the families, students, and school staff shared typical food. Children kept bringing me food. I ate 10 different things. Then the staff had our own little celebration afterwards...with, you guessed it, more food. Thursday, September 15thThursday was Longaví's parade and our school was proud to march. Since the parade was not until 4:30pm, everyone came to school after lunch, around 2:30. You may be wondering what marching in the parade exactly entails? I think one student summed it up the best like this: "We wait for 2 hours and then walk for 2 minutes." Saturday, September 17thOn Saturday I went with Jon & Elise out to el campo {el cahm-po} [the countryside] to share in the festivities of the lovely family of Maria Rosa & Gustavo. What did I learn this weekend? I actually really enjoy oysters and mussels. Especially raw with lemon. #surprised #wow #delish Check out this video that Jon made of our day, including a trip to a beautiful nearby river! Also make sure to check out their blog post for some great pictures from the weekend! Sunday, September 18thSunday we went back to Maria Rosa & Gustavo's house where there was lots more food, family, fun, and cueca! Check out this video summary of another great day! Check out other celebration week related videos Jon has done about Chile's National Dance "The Cueca" and Fiestas Patrias celebrations at his rural Chilean school (which includes dances from all over Chile). You have probably realized by now that you should be subscribing to Jon's vlog on YouTube! Subscribing to his vlog will also bring you great benefits such as: news, joy, happiness, tidbits about our lives in Chile, and random appearances by yours truly. Coming soon to a blog near you...Stay tuned for another update coming to you very soon about an AMAZING hike we took last Saturday. Here's a teaser: Also coming soon, the first installment in a section I'm going to call "Meet & Greet" where I will introduce you to special people in my life here in Chile! Mystery Guest #1 is...a secret.
Hey, guess what?! Today marks my one year anniversary here in Chile...more on that in the next blog! Also, my colleagues Jon & Elise are currently soaking up some sun in the northern hemisphere and will be presenting about life in Chile at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church in Fort Atkinson, WI at 9:15 on Sunday, July 24. If you're in the area, stop by and have a chat with them! amorchile.org We are currently on a two-week winter break from school here in Chile, and I was blessed enough to have visitors during a few of those days! We spent just two short days here in Chile and four short days in Buenos Aires, Argentina (and a few hours in Uruguay, too). It was my first time ever in Argentina and I can't wait to explore more! Here are a few pictures/videos from our adventures... Flying over the Andes = breathtaking. There was, of course, tango. Our short trip basically included eating a lot of really good food, drinking wine & maté, staying up later than your grandma would ever recommend, and chatting it up with Uber drivers. And as usual, what trip would be complete without some dancing?! Hi, its me again! Thanks for coming back to read...even though it has been a while since I've posted! I guess I could blame it on getting a schedule back together, the general business of life, vacation hangover, or just plain laziness....but let's just say that the fact that you're reading this means you've already forgiven me and so let's get down to business. Here are a few things that have been going on in my version of the southern hemisphere: thing one.School has started! We marched back into the Longaví schools on March 7th...more specifics on that next week! thing two.We had a garage sale at church...sort of. Read about it HERE. thing three.3) We decided last weekend to take a trip to somewhere the doggies could run and play freely...so we went camping...just a few kilometers from the Chile/Argentina border...on a volcano. HERE you can see Jon's breathtaking pictures and Elise's lovely ability to tell a story. DON'T miss the epic video at the end. thing four.Fall. Fall happened. And, as if he knew I was having troubles rearranging seasons & months in my head, my friend Facebook helped to remind me what season it was. It was also helpful during a vocabulary review with 5th grade to practice: "Fall: March, April, May / Winter: June, July, August"...now I just have to work on internalizing it. #lifeinthesouthernhemisphere thing five.My puppy had a 'sterilization' surgery at the end of February and is recovering well. I think she was upset with me for a few hours, but we talked it through and soon her snuggles resumed.
She knows {"Sit" / "Lay down" / "Venga" (Come in Spanish) / "No (No in Spanish)"}. Technically I don't believe this makes her bilingual, just confused. She continues to be adorable and snuggly and I recently learned that she is a mini-puma, born to climb mountains. |
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