SaTuRdAy

Today was pretty relaxing.  I slept until noon then worked on my homework and ate breakfast.  Then I went to the artisan fair with Anna Grace, Sarah Grace, and Elizabeth where I got some neat gifts for people.  We were there for about an hour and I went home for lunch while AG, SG, and Elizabeth went to a restaurant by the ocean.  Lunch was still being cooked when I got here so I just worked on a project and started filling out a scholarship application.  My phone rang and then started the madness...It was Sarag Grace telling me that Elizabeth's purse had been stolen.  I immediately emailed her mom to tell her so she could cut her card off.  I also emailed my parents & messaged them on skype in a panic telling them to call Elizabeth's mom to tell her.  Finally I thought about facebook and since none of my family was on, I message sweet Megan Jones who called my mom to tell her the situacion.  Mom called Eliz's mom then called me on skype and I called Sarah Grace's phone to talk to Elizabeth so we had this great 4 person, 3 way thing going on.  Needless to say, Elizabeth got the card shut off.  They were in constant communication with the police as well as the restaurant who was being helpful.  At this point I had to eat lunch with the fam (it was literally the best meal yet...potatoes, salad, and this indigenous food).  After lunch I skyped Mom for a few minutes then worked more on the application and homework.   I then got dressed to go to Papa's brother-in-law's birthday party.  Since I was ready and everyone but Mama was at the mall she fixed me once.  They got home and we watched the news while waiting to leave.  The tradegy of the cruise ship crash is so sad and I can't believe it happened.  After a while we left for the party.  I enjoyed meeting more people in their family...they were all really nice.  At midnight, the birthday boy blew out his candle, we ate cake, then we left.  It was a good day besides the Elizabeth's-purse-got-stolen part but through that situacion God was of course present by putting Megan in the position to help out! :)  I really appreciate my Theta sisters...they're always there to help!

Santiago Stories

Yesterday we went to Santiago for a field trip at 8 am.  When we got there we went to Villa Grimaldi which was a center for mental torture during Pinochet's reign over Chile from 1973 to 1990.  There weren't many original building because when Pinochet learned that he was about to be revealed, he destroyed the area.  There was one replica of a building where they housed people and it was 1 meter by 1 meter.  These tiny buildings were originally lined up in rows and several people were crammed into each one.  Children played in a pool with military officers while their parents were tortured in a center.  There was one building there that was a memorial to some of those people and it had shadow boxes of their things with information about them.  There was also an original tower still there where people were harrassed.  In addition, there were two large stone walls with the names of those lost as well as a flower garden with plaques of names.  It was really sad but since it's a memorial garden now, there were tons of trees and flowers native to Chile throughout the area.  After leaving there we ate lunch then went to Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago.  This house was similar to his house in Isla Negra in that it had tons of stuff in the house but the design was really different.  This house was broken up into three different buildings.  One part was a guest house, one part was Neruda's house where he slept, and one part was a bar and sitting area.  It was really neat and enclosed in trees but I like the Isla Negra house better because it's on the beach.

Once we finished our tours at Neruda's house, some people left with Professora Marisol but some of us stayed in Santiago for a few more hours to explore the city and eat dinner.  First, we went to Bella Vista, a really nice area to look in shops.  I just bought some vintage coasters and other people bought jewelry and paintings.  We met some nursing students from the US that were studying in Santiago and I think they were happier than us to hear english.  We talked to them for a little while and they told us that in order to get to our bus on time, we needed an house to ride the metro.  We ate dinner and left there at 7:00 for our 8:00 bus.  Tara and Chris stayed at Bella Vista to see Tara's friend from Texas who worked in the area because their bus was at 9:00.  We walked wuickly to the metro and finally found it.  We realized that we may not make it in time so we started running through the metro station paniked.  First we went to the Tur Bus office to make sure we were going to the right place to get on our bus.  Then we had to buy a metro card to ride the metro.  We just bought one and put enough money on it for all of us to ride.  On the other side of check in we ran to the metro and this lady, who was trying to be really helpful and not sketchy, told us which metro to take.  We got on and had to ride for a while....we were supposed to get off at one stop but we decided we could go up one more to save time. Terrible idea! We got off and realized that there was no way to get to our bus from there so we ran around to the other side and got on a metro to take us back to where we were supposed to be.  By then we had missed the bus but we weren't worried about switching tickets to a later time.  At this point, we were freaking out about Tara and Chris because they needed to leave already to get there.  Elizabeth called Chris and the first thing she screamed was "Leave now!" haha it was funny later hearing about how scared they were.  Sarah Grace and Laura Kate went ahead to see if it was possible to switch our tickets and Gardner, Elizabeth, Rakiya, and I waited behind just in case we had to get back on the metro because we didn;'t want to have to pay a ton to check back through the metro line.  Throughout all of this we're on and off the phone with Chris and Tara giving them instructions on how to get to the bus.  LK and SG come back and say that there are no more tickets back to Vina tonight so we freak out and all go to the desk.  There really aren't any more so we get into another company's line and get the last 6 tickets back to Vina at 10:45.  At this point Chris and Tara are about to miss their bus and we're on the phone with them telling them to hurry but they missed their bus too.  The only tickets they could get were for 8:45 this morning.  They called Wofford students in Santiago who tried to get them a place to stay but finally Tara's friend got them somewhere to stay.  They left and the rest of us waited in front of the bussed for about 45 mins because we did not want to miss our bus.  We asked this one man who worked there about our bus because it wasn't showing up on the screen and he told us not to worry, he'd get us on our bus and everything would be fine.  He checked on us a few times, probably because my face was a mixture of anger/horror/worry.  When our bus came, he called us over to the front of the line and put us on first.  We were so relieved and thankful!

As a side note, there were these two nuns at the bus station when we arrived.  We kept joking the who time saying okay no worries the nuns are still here.  It was really funny because the nuns were on our bus....the whole time they waited they did not really talk.  They were very quiet and patiently waited.  For some reason I felt such a sense of peace knowing they were there.  The image of them was a reminder that God was present and I really think they were angels :)

While our day in Santiago was really hectic, it was still fun...once we were on the bus home!  It's a funny story though and we made it back okay.  Needless to say, we all decided that we like Vina better than Santiago.

Classes, Volunteering, Once

I just realized that I never talk about my breakfast...I absolutely love what I have daily.  Usually I eat a piece of bread with either manjar (aka nutella), peach jam, or cream cheese and ham.  It is sooo good...especially the jam.  I have either milk or juice to drink but today I had chocolate milk which is my fav so I was excited about that.  Today we had classes as usual.  In the first class we discussed the hisorical events that took place in the movie.  In the second class we discussed the use of "se."  After classes I went home for lunch.  We had empenadas (which are so good), salad, corn on the cob, celery, tomatoes, and cherries.  After lunch, I met my volunteer group at Cafe Journal and we walked to Nino de Amor together.  When we arrived, the kids were outside eating their snacks because the snack room is currently being repainted.  We played with the kids for an hour and today LK got the baby out of his seat so we enjoyed playing with him and helping him walk.  After volunteering I went home and got ready to go to Mama's friend's house.  When Mama got back from picking the car up, we went to her friend's house for "once."  Her friend, Annamaria, is really nice and she's such a good cook too.  We stayed there for a while then we went to Mama's sister's house on the way home.  I met her sister and niece the other day so it was fun to get to see them.  We didn't stay there long.  Next, we quickly went to the supermarket before it closed to get a few random groceries.  It was a pretty typical but fun day.  Tomorrow we have a field trip to Santiago and we're leaving UVM at 8 am so it's going to be so fun getting up extra early.  It'll be worth it though because our tours in Santiago will be great. :)  Chao!

First Visit to a House Church

This morning I had classes from 9:30 to 1:30.  In one class we watched the movie "Machupa" which is about two boys who attend the same private school, one rich child who pays and one poor child who goes for free.  The boys become quick friends, dispite teasing.  The movie is set in the time period of the military dictatorship in Chile....so it begins in late 1972/early 1973.  It's a true story and it is very well acted...it's just so sad that it's actually true.  Unfortunately the movie ends on a very sad note but it was really interesting dispite the tradgedys that take place.  I highly recommend watching it & for those of you who don't speak spanish, you can use english subtitles :)  In our other class, we did grammar work about "se."

After class, I went home because I thought we were going somewhere earlier than we actually did...I need to pay better attention to times in Spanish!  Everyone else went to the mall for ice cream but I'm glad I went home because I talked to Mom & Drew on skype for a long time then did a little homework.  Carlos & this lady toured the house for literally 10 minutes because they're expanding the program at UVM at the lady is in charge of the program...visiting host families is part of the process.  At 5:00, Mama, Rodrigo, Fernanda, & I had "once" (tea & bread).  It was really good....my favorite thing to put on my bread is manjar, a chocolate spread kind of like nutella. :)

After once, Laura Kate & I went with Mama to church.  She says they have it Wednesday nights instead of the usual Saturday nights because more people are able to come then in the summer.  It was such a great experience.  Once we arrived at the house church just two blocks away, we discovered that it's a Jewish church.  I was excited because I've never been to a Jewish service before but it was really interesting.  We sang songs then listened to two testimonies then listened to the sermon.  After the sermon, everyone stood up and three older girls & all of the little girls had people read specific Bible verses about praising through dancing and song.  They taught us a few dance moves then we all sang & danced to a song.  Even though it was extremely crowded it was a unique experience.  It was a very personable church...at the beginning all of the people with guests stood ad introduced their guests which was very sweet.  There were about 30 people there are 3 people brought guests so I though that was great.  I really liked the atmosphere of the sweet people & God was definitely present.  Laura Kate & I are looking forward to going back next week.

Please pray for my strength as I continue to live here.  I absolutely LOVE my host family and all of the new people I'm meeting.  I need strength though to share the gospel to those around me.  I know that only through Christ's guidance will I be able to do so.  Also, please pray for safe travels on Friday as we venture to Santiago for a tour. I hope everyone is doing well!!  Chao :)

lovin' on some niños, walking a few miles, eating helado...this is the life :)

This morning I had class as usual & we're talking about the dictatorship of Pinochet who was a dictator in Chile from 1973 to 1990.  The history of Chile is so interesting but the things Pinochet did really were terrible.  Either Friday or next Wednesday we're going to see one of the concentration camps where he tortured citizens who did not obey his commands which will be a difficult tour.  This afternoon after lunch I started volunteering at the orphanage, Hogar de Niños!  I absolutely loved volunteering there...the kids are so sweet as well as the ladies working there.  There are 13 children there ranging from 18 months to 5 years.  There are 2 girls and the rest are boys.  Two of the boys are brothers, two others are twins, and a girl & baby boy are siblings.  We hiked up a cerro (large hill/small mountain) to get there and when we arrived, the kids had just woken up from their naps and they were having a snack.  We played with them inside for a little while since it was so hot outside but after a little while we were able to go to the patio.  They have tons of toys outside so we played with balls, blocks, and Barney. :)  One little boy named Luis was extremely sweet and he played with Laura Kate most of the time, but with me some as well.  We played soccer with him and build a castle.  I also played a lot with a little girl who wouldn't tell me her name.  She was so cute though.  All of the kids there really just need and want attention so it was amazing to be able to provide that for them, even if it was just for a few hours.  The children call one lady "mama" and they call all of the other helpers "tia" (auntie) which I thought was really cute.

After the orphanage I went home and had tea time with Mama, her aunt, her cousin, & Rodrigo.  Then I finished a paper for class tomorrow and I had a small dinner (Potato, Pumpkin, & Meat soup with salad).  Dinner was extremely good!  After that I went on a 2 hour walk with Mama around the city and on our way back we got helado.  We left at 10 and just got back at midnight.  There were a ton of people out...in Chile people literally don't go home/to sleep until about 2.  It's so different and kind of fun but us Americans get tired way before the Chileans.  It was a very good workout though but I need sleep now!  Hablarte mañana!

Un tremlor...no big deal

Today was pretty normal except that there was an earthquake!!  This morning I got ready for school & fixed my own breakfast because Mama hadn't woken up yet & I was so proud that I had fixed my own food then I was like...oh wait, I do that every day at home haha.  We had class for 4 hours today and I got home at about 3:30 and had lunch (lasagna with ham & alfredo sauce and salad).  After lunch I skyped Mom & Dad then finished homework.  Mama's sister & her niece came over and they went to Valparaiso for a little while to shop.  While they were gone, I was just sitting here doing homework and the apartment literally started shaking...pictures on the wall, building swaying back and forth.  I was freaking out and I knew it was an earthquake but I didn't want to be that American freaking out so I just remained calm and got some watermelon from the kitchen.  After eating that I casually went to Rodrigo & was like...oh hey did you feel that eathquake & he was like what are you talking about & I was like um oh no am I going crazy??  But then everyone in our Chilean facebook message was freaking out & Carlos sent us an email telling us to remain calm & making sure we were all okay.  He also explained that it had been a tremlor (a small earthquake...but I heard it was a 5 on the scale).  When Mama, her sister, and her niece got back they were freaking out about the tremlor too/laughing at me because I was freaking out more.  We had tea time complete with tea, juice, bread, and fruitcake.  Now I'm doing more homework and I'm not sure what we're doing tonight.  So...definitely a pretty interesting day.

8 de enero

This morning I got to sleep until about 10 then I had breakfast with Mama & Rodrigo. After eating I caught up on journal entries then went to get ice cream with Mama & Rodrigo.  We ad that at a cafe then walked along the coast for about 40 minutes.  While walking we saw Mama's brother so that was neat.  We also saw sculptures made out of sand which were so cool.  THen we returned home via bus & had lunch.  At lunch we talked some about religion which I loved & Mama said that she's a Christian & she goes to a nearby house church on Wednesdays so I'm going to go with her this week!

After lunch I called Elizabeth to see if she wanted to got to the beach with me & of course she did....who doesn't like the beach?  We met at Cruz Verde (local pharmacies) where she got more pesis then we walked to the Chilean artisan fair.  There I got earrings, a Chilean coozie, and a head band for Payton.  We went to the beach next via bus.  At the beach I read Radical & Elizabeth read another book.  We eventually left around 8:30 & we couldn't find a bus so we walked home which took almost an hour.  We took pictures along the way & Elizabeth got pictures of all of these rocks along the coast with Bible verses written on them in Spanish.

Elizabeth came home with me to do homework & Mama gave us dinner which was spinach with meat and cheese, salad, rice, & watermelon.  We drove Elizabeth home & Mama & I talked about church.  She showed me her Bible that was a gift from another exchange student :)  and I showed her my Spanish/English Bible.  I finished homework then skyped with the fam.