Back home and back into the swing of things! September 2, 2009

I’m home! (I know, delayed update!)I got home on August 12^th and was greeted by my parents and my big sis, Heidi! She brought me home grown tomatoes and a Dr. Pepper:) It had been a while since I’d had one of those! (Kyle would have been there, but he had just gotten into another airport from Costa Rica something like an hour before!) We went to McDonald’s and then to church where I got to see people from church that I hadn’t seen in almost two months! I had a day for rest on Thursday, then Friday was college registration…why did I have to cut it so close? I registered for classes and voila…I’m going full steam ahead into my senior year of college!

And things have been going since then. I checked in at work and I’m back on the schedule! We’re in week 3 of classes now. I have a pretty easy load…I even have all of Wednesday off. The only “class” I have is Spanish tutoring with Kyle. He’s a stickler for pronunciation, but I need a lot of help, so I should probably just be glad he’s willing to put up with my “gringa-ness” and not complain! ; )

It really was a great odyssey  this summer! I saw so much and had so many new experiences. The families I stayed with were great! They were so kind to me. I can truly say that this was a life-changing summer. To actually be in a different country gives you a different perspective. I got to see families who have given their lives to share the love of Christ with people who may have never heard the good news otherwise!  I got to meet people and hear stories of how God has worked in lives and brought about incredible change. I am so glad that I got to spend part of my summer in South America! I want to say thank you again, so much, to those of you who helped me get there and that held me up in your prayers while I was away! It really was, “A Summer to Remember”!

Chilly Willy! August 3, 2009

This is how cold it is here!

That’s not snow, but it sure is frost! This was a couple of days ago. It’s actually raining today, and strangely enough, when it rains, it warms up!

I’ve got about 3 days left here, and then I head up to Santiago. I’m giving the lesson at ladies meeting tomorrow and on Wednesday. I sang with a ladies group last night. It went pretty well, even though I only had one of the pages of the two page song we were singing;) I’m home in about 10 days…See y’all soon!

Finish up and Start again July 24, 2009

So, we finished up everything we were going to do on the flannelgraph project togeteher. It was a pretty epic job. We wrote on the back of almost every single piece, and we’re talking like hundreds if not thousands of pieces! So along the way, I found some rebellious Bible characters. They tickled my funny bone, so I thought I’d pass them along!

It was good being with the Reinhardts. Their church was very welcoming. I even had a lady make me a bedspread! How sweet,huh? They gave me a launching ramp for Spanish and Chile! That was I don’t seem like Such a dummy down here! ; )

I’ve been down here in Loncoche with Jody Ray for about a week now. I think we’re in the 10th region of Chile. And it’s cold! No snow yet, but definatly frost! It sure is pretty though. There was a pretty cold breeze today, but the sun was shining!

I’m in a big wooden home. I have my own room and my own heater. It runs off of propane I think. I’ve given my testimony 2 times so far, and I’m going to be giving a lesson tonight to a group of young people. The plan is for me to sing sometime for church too.

I never imagined it, but I’m actually enjoying instant coffee ; ) I have practically every day a “cafe con leche” which is warmed up milk, sugar and instant coffee.

The church has about 100 members and there is another mission that they do about a half hour away. They baptized on sunday night between 5-7 people and on Tuesday night they had Santa Cena (Lord’s Supper)

Things are going well here. I have 2 weeks left here. I’m hoping to go further south while I’m here, but we’ll see! Here are some pictures of the area so you can get an idea of what it’s like!

I heard it said that green and blue are God’s favorite colors ; )

An all girls day at the house! It was crazy!

A house along the way (not the one I’m staying in though)

I´m flying south for the winter! July 17, 2009

I´m flying down to spend some time in the south of Chile for 3 weeks. I think the weather this morning didn´t quite make it to 40 degrees at the time it was checked…brrrr! ; ) I´m already part of the way through my journey. I´ve been hanging out with some missionaries in the capital city, Santiago (I flew part of the way, and  had like an 8 hour layover, and they were sweet enough to come pick me up, take me to lunch,and back to their house!) I catch another flight around 7 tonight (4 pm California time) and will get to the house I´ll be staying at around 11 (8 pm California time) If you would pray for me, that would be awesome! Thanks so much!

P.S…I´m going to the airport that has a Starbucks, so maybe I´ll have some for like the first time in a month! ; )

Yo Canto! July 5, 2009

I sang with Heidi Reinhardt for both services on Sunday…In Spanish! 

Singing for night service was a surprise to both of us which we found out about when we got to the evening service…sounds a little bit like something a pastor I know would do ; )

We sang “People Need the Lord”

Click here to see the video:  Tienen Que Saber

Happy 4th! July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

Well, we celebrated around here by having  good American barbequed meal. We had steak, chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, and Dr. Pepper! It was yummy.

Later on today, I may be going as a sort of show and tell piece! There is a girl who goes to the church here who is in a competition with other teams in her school. They are offering points if you bring in a North American!!! Haha! So I may be going in later today to get her some points ; )

What better way to celebrate he 4th of July than by getting someone points by being American?! ; )

Fun Facts! July 2, 2009

FUN FACTS

• I wasn’t the only one with a fanny pack on my journey (aka “annie pack” ; ). I’ve seen at least 5 since I left!

• I went to McDonald’s last night

• There are high rises here

• I stay on the 18^th floor of one (and I haven’t taken the stairs yet ; )

• We are 3 hours ahead of California time here so your 6:00 am is my 9:00 am

• Its T-shirt weather right now where I am even though it’s their winter

• The toilet Really does flush the opposite way south of the equator

UPDATE

Things are going well here. I’ve got just about 2 weeks left up here with the Reinhartds. In “my pictures” there is a map of Chile with the different areas separated by different colors. I am in the very top one right now.

I have done so much since I’ve been here so far. I’ve been to a youth meeting, a couple of ladies meetings, and Sunday morning church (I went into the Children’s class to help, but ended up mostly observing). I’ve been to Sunday evening church where I went to the regular service and  actually understood a lot (preaching is probably the easiest thing to understand). I’ve been to a surprise birthday party, a college class, some stores (one reminded me of a Walmart) and I’ve been to one of their malls (which also had a meat market in it!).

It has been quite the experience so far. My world has gotten bigger. This is kinda hard to put words to, but I’ll try. I generally live my life in about a 10 minute radius of my house. This includes work, school and church. At times, it expands to a 45 minute radius, and every once in a while it stretches to a 2 hour radius. My world is normally So small. I think being here has given me a better grasp on reality.

I’m not sure what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day, but I can be almost certain it will include using my brain to try and translate Spanish into English so I can understand what’s going on around me Hasta Luego!

Travel Update! June 29, 2009

Well, I’ve been here 4 full days,and had yet to get out a travel update, so here it is…

My mom and dad  helped me at the airport for as long as they could and then Dad prayed for me and we said goodbye. That flight was pretty uneventful as I remember. When I arrived in Texas, the first major thing I noticed was the heat. The second major thing I noticed was a Bass Pro Shop right in the airport. I thought that was funny, and somehow fitting of Texas ; )

On the flight to Panama I sat next to a guy who was from Panama. My flight from Chile to Panama did not have a number gate assigned to it yet so after giving up on getting help from the information place (the lady was having a fun chat on the phone), I went to go figure it out on my own. I got to the right place and I was pretty proud of myself! I had heard that there was wifi but couldn’t get it working. I was barely sitting down at my gate for 5 minutes before it was time for me to board. (It had taken us forever after landing to actually get off the plane into Panama!)

Okay, so I go through the door after having my ticket checked and go down some stairs to a waiting…BUS on what looked like the street! A bus? I thought I was going to be getting onto a plane?! There was a man outside the bus who I showed my ticket to and he told me that was right. Well, I suppose that was the gist of what he said…I don’t thing it was in English though! ; ) Weird. What am I doing? So I get on the bus, and then thankfully I saw a man who I knew was going to Chile from my flight! We drove to the plane I would be talking from there. That was the longest flight of my adventure. Like 6 hours. I got fed 4 times on flights and that doesn’t even include the cereal I opted out of. The food was generally pretty bad, but it kept something in my tummy ; )

K, so when I got to Santiago from Panama I realized it was cold…and I was in flip flops! People were in their boots and coats, and here’s miss dummy California over here in her skirt and sandals(and as I found out later, they didn’t heat their building!). Customs and what not were interesting. I almost got my trail mix confiscated (I only found out later that there’s a $200-$1,000 fine that they can charge you…Yikes!). I had to wait a while for the Sky Airlines place to open up and then I got all set and headed to where I would wait for my flight. There was a Starbucks, but it didn’t work out for me to get any : (

My flight from Santiago to Iquique was a connecting flight which I wasn’t privy to before I was in Santiago and about to board. Things looked pretty good though, so I had them look at my ticket and hopped on. At the first stop, I didn’t really know what was going on ‘cause it was all in Spanish, but I finally asked and found out that my stop was the next one. Good thing I didn’t get off!

I got to the airport and we exited the plane pretty quickly. When I got down to baggage, Mr. and Mrs. Reinhardt were waiting outside the glass doors for me. We got my luggage and headed home and the rest is history!

Praise the Lord for a successful trip!

Chao Chao! (as they say here; )

June 24, 2009

I made it to Chile! I’m not at my final destination yet, just about four hours til I see people I know, but I am definatly in Chile…and guess what…it’s cold!

*Real update coming soon!

The begining of my journey June 2, 2009

These are the 3 flights I’ll be taking to get to Chile. I leave Tuesday morning (June 23) and arrive Wednesday morning (June 24). I’ll be in transit for something like 17-20 hours. I figure, with enough time for about 3 meals and perhaps a late night snack during that time, you should be able to remember to pray for me at least once ; ) It’s gonna be something else!