Fire News
Heaven, Baseball, and EnglishWhy reinvent the wheel...especially when I could never do as good of a job? Click HERE to read Elise's amazing blog, with some great pictures, about the immeasurable blessings of the two VBS we were able to have during January. Odds & EndsJust a quick reminder that I'm coming to visit...maybe to a town near you! ;) (I am currently in Miami...and it is proving to be a wonderful stop on the way up north...not only because of wonderful friends, but because it is just a little bit colder... and it is obviously the United States but everyone speaks Spanish!) During my visit, I will be doing a few different presentations about life in Chile at different schools and churches. Below you will find 3 different places where the presentations are open to the general public. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more specifics for any of them! The first one coming up is this Sunday, February 5th @ 9:15 am. Church services are at 8 am & 10:30 am. Also, I sadly won't be able to go around and see all your lovely faces while visiting in the USA, but I still would love to see as many of you as possible! If you live near southeastern Wisconsin, please come and share a few hours or even just a few minutes! :) ♥ P.S. I guess I should tell you...because it makes me laugh (now, after the fact)...that my dog at my passport. I'm not even kidding. Guess she didn't want me to leave? Thankfully, it was Sunday morning and I didn't leave until Tuesday evening...so I had time to throw my things together, get on a bus to Santiago, and get an emergency passport from the USA Embassy! Phew! #closecall
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Southern Central Chile is on fire. Literally. Yes, this is the region where I live, but thankfully and prayerfully the city of Linares should be safe from the fires, so please don't worry for my safety. However, towns just a short bus ride away are suffering. Where I usually can look and see the beauty of the mountains is covered by a dark sad smoke cloud. Yes, there are some fires every year, but this has become the greatest forest disaster in the history of Chile. Here are some facts that I know:
So do not fear, for I am with you; This is what "people are saying":
Here is what I ask:
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: 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 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?! |
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