Day 37- Update for Week Five

NOTABLE EVENT OF THE WEEK:
(Like how last week´s was the earthquake and surprise rainstorm...)
Thursday- walking home from lunch, we came upon the scene of a car that had tipped over, crashed into a tree, ambulances, carabineros (police officers) galore, crowd watching the drama, all a block down from the house!

MISSIONS PROJECTS:
So, working in the studio this week, we hosted numerous people, coming in and out of the house, the phones ringing off the hooks, etc. Crazy as usual. But fun. It´s nice to have people constantly coming and going at all hours. At the beginning of the week, I helped Jim clean his office and the studio. Right up my alley. Fun! Organizing! Then during a couple evenings this week we had some casting sessions in Studio JTV, where kids auditioned for hosting parts on this new little show that is going to eventually be broadcasted on enlacemusical.com (one of the Thurstons´ websites)... This show is called "Wi-Fi." Basically, there is one girl who is an interviewer, one who is the MC-host person, and then me, and I´ll be doing the bit on the English language for teen viewers- teaching things like greetings, catch-phrases, and slang that the youthful generation might commonly hear in American TV, movies, music, pop culture... So, what they were doing here this week were auditions, or a "casting session" for parts on this new program for teens here in Chile that´s gonna be broadcasted online, for Spanish-speaking youth through the EnlaceMusical ministry of Integridad (that´s the music, MTV-type branch that reaches a lot of the youth here in Latin America). So, Jim was just like (all of the sudden when I was standing up in the studio with him and surrounded by these other dudes who are involved in the WI-FI show), "Lara, you´re doing a 3-min segment on each show teaching English to the teen viewers." I was like, "WHAT?!" On TV? On the Internet? Wow! And then I was surprised that they wanted to put me on camera to test out my voice and everything in a little casting session. So, I´m gonna be teaching English phrases and slang that Chilean youth want to learn about I guess! Little things about Internet instant messaging expressions and such that youth are interested in. Wow, eh? I had a little issue with being a bit uncomfortable in front of the camera, and the following night when the guys in charge were over, I expressed that to them. Once I got up on stage, after wondering what to say, how to act, for a while, I was able to interact with the other two girls who will be working on the program, and got way more comfortable, just talking to them, with this huge camera staring at us all the while! No biggie I guess. It´s just that I guess I´m more used to being BEHIND the camera and directing-editing stuff as opposed to having a part on-screen. So, the guys in charge are going to write up a script and work on designing a layout and a bunch of other preliminary work before they come back to actually do the filming. We´ll rehearse and go through the plan for the show first, of course, and this is just another project that´s going on in the background. It should be fun. Projects are coming together!

On Thursday I edited 10 short programs (1/2 hour each) for this pastor´s radio show. Jim and Paul had a recording session with the man the day before. So I finished them up by editing in an intro and a closing, and adjusting sound levels. One more thing I´ve learned and can help out with now.

Then on Friday I continued to help Jim organize the monthly financial stuff... stuff that has to be sent up to the auditor-accountant in the States electronically every month. It was good to see where the money goes in their ministries, and get in on helping with the organizational system.

And while I´m on the subject of these missionary works that I´ll be doing here, other than just transferring hundreds of VHS tapes to DVDs and digitalizing them, as well as helping with whatever other odd projects pop up (like the informational video we just did in the last week that I wrote the script for, did voiceovers, and helped with filming and editing), I also have this other, RATHER LARGE project assignment that Johnnie is helping me with. I am the official COORDINATOR of the event. Let me explain... it´s an event that Steve Thurston (the Thurston´s other son who lives in Philadelphia) found out about cuz it´s been done in the States for a similar community... So on integridad.com there are chat services. There are people from all over the world who speak Spanish in these rooms, mostly pertaining to Christian-related topics, but they form relationships. So this event that will be planned brings those in the vicinity of Santiago together (there are somewhere around 600 users from this area who are registered users of the integridad-enlace chat service. They all have to register with the integridad server for safety precautions.). Anyway, there was this event in the States that brought the Internet community together safely, which fosters a more intimate, person-to-person community. Christianity is all about healthy relationships, and such an event and these communications-oriented projects promote healthy growth, communications, and relationships. So, more information on this project will be to come, of course, but for right now, this is just the beginning of another project that I get to help out with as I´m a missionary here! At first I was a little overwhelmed and intimidated when Jim assigned the project to me. I was just like, "ME? COORDINATE an event in this HUGE city I don´t know in a language I´m not totally fluent it... etc. and all this other stuff involved that I´m totally unfamiliar with?" But now that I´ve had time to think about it and get used to the idea, and then just today start talking more about it and thinking about planning, I´m feeling better and excited for it. Jim put me in charge of being the head coordinator and Johnnie is helping me (another person who works a lot with Studio JTV and the ministries here). So basically, I´m the one who knows everything that has to get done, I make all the to do lists, and delegate all the responsibilities that have to be carried out to those members of a committee that is soon to be formed. So sometime this week, Johnnie is coming over and we have an appointment to organize the preliminary stuff to get a committee together. We´ll take it from there... but this is exactly the stuff that I´ve been doing for basically my whole life--organizing and planning parties, gatherings, getting all the logistics worked out and all. This is fun to have stuff to be in charge of again, and PLUS, I´m learning more about the city, ways to go about doing things (buying, organizing, etc.) and the people, in organizing all this! How perfect is that!? I love doing this kind of stuff! Yea I´m busy again! I mean, not too much on my plate or anything. ASB and church and other stuff has helped with all of this stuff before. It´s been good experience. I´m excited to have something more to do, learning more about the culture and actively participating in the community, the ministries, as well as interacting with new people and forming relationships with them!

I knew I wanted to go into Communications and International Relations, but I didn´t realize I would be getting this extent of experience and exposure and even WORK so soon! I am so stoked! I mean, I´m doing all this in a different language, within the first couple months of being here! I´m just barely 18 too! When I really sit down and think about it, it kinda stuns me. But I know I can handle it, I mean, they´re not gonna leave me hanging and give me anything I CAN´T do. I´ve been learning a lot, quickly, but at the same time, I can handle it, and it´s not all thrown at me AT ONCE, suddenly. Like for instance, I can get myself around Nuñoa to buy things and run errands for Jim by myself now. I can go into stores, ask for help, get service, and buy stuff. I can ride public transportation alone now. I know how to survive with stupid, annoying construction workers around. I´m learning to live in a big city! And now, I´m just coordinating a huge event! What more could I ask for in the way of "Communications" experience? I´ve always been organized, a planner, and everything that this assignment is calling for, so I am so blessed that God is using me this way! It is SO cool! He is SO good! This stuff is all right up my alley. I mean, I have enough experience to be comfortable in doing new things, these new assignments, but at the same time I get to be taught so much as well! It´s quite the exchange process. It´s all about people, relationships, working together, enjoying each other, and learning.

AROUND THE HOUSE:
Lina returned home from Venezuela early Friday morning. Things are getting back to normal with her here... of course there are a ton of people who are calling and coming in and out of the house every day... the phone always seems to ring the most during the main meal of the day! ...as well as the doorbell, people passing through to say hello or to work... etc. etc. etc. Friday, we had an American, one of Jim´s old friends, coming in to stay with us for a few days. He is a Professor of Anthropology in California at William Kerry. Speaking of which, the evening prior, we had another U.S. missionary friend over for dinner, John Jaqualine. Jim, John, and I had quite a delightful meal. He goes around teaching how to use the Thompson Bible. At 6´6", he is a deep-voiced, towering, basketball-playing, personable man (probably in his late sixties), he was extremely interesting to listen to (stories of his missions history in Latin America putting on little 3-day teaching conferences) and asking him questions about how he got started in the Philippines!!! I could relate to a lot of what he was saying about his first experiences as a "gringo" missionary, and he said a lot of things that were really helpful advice for me. Very nice man.

SATURDAY:
In the morning, Jim and I went downtown to the flea market in Biobio. It´s like a huge 10 by 10 block garage sale. Different booths of practically everything there. This market goes on every Saturday, and we go about once a month, just to see what´s there and if we can find good prices. Interesting to look all around at all the STUFF and food of course.

Then in the evening we had a family get-together... an "asado," or barbeque. We grilled all kinds of meat and had fun passing time with each other (Top right picture is some of us passing time together with our first round of meat, on the left is some of us eating... Left to right: me, Paul´s girlfriend Marcela, Paul, Ricky, and some of Paulo´s cousins). Paulo Cesar´s family came over, and Paul´s girlfriend, and another missionary about my age who is here from Canada (He´s staying with another pastor´s family closeby. He will be teaching English classes and is here through March). (The bottom right picture is of Paulo Cesar, his uncle, and Ricky in front of the grill.) We had lots of good conversations in SPANISH (of course). See more pictures of the evening here: http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j96/Chile_girl/CHILE%20PHOTOS/Day%2035%2010-21%20asado%20bbq/.

SUNDAY:
I went to church with Paul. We took the Metro there again. The pastor was down south, so his son-in-law, who is the youth pastor, preached instead. Good message. A band (named Liberacion) played in the service. Great.

Then in the afternoon, Marco (see pic at left), one of Jim´s camera men for JTV, took me around to other places in downtown Santiago. Every person I meet offers to take me places. So, we went up to the top of Santa Lucia to get another gorgeous view of the city (see the picture on the bottom right of me with the Santiago skyscape behind... I´m at the top of Santa Lucia there). Nice walk up and a nice day to do so. Then we saw exhibits at the Museo de Bellas Artes (museum of fine arts), one of the museums in the city that´s free to go to (see vertical picture on left of the building). Mostly modern art works. Afterwards we got some ice cream cones (I had my first pistaccio cone ever... quiet tasty) and looked around at the artesania in La Plaza Armada (Santiago´s armory square). Take a look other pictures of the afternoon here: http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j96/Chile_girl/CHILE%20PHOTOS/Day%2036%2010-22%20more%20touring%20of%20Santiago/. We came home and had Jim´s traditional Sunday night pancakes! Mmm!

WEATHER REPORT:
We´ve been experiencing warmer weather after last week´s rains. Finally the higher temperatures have started to kick in and it really feels like spring. It is around 80 today, and has been similar for the last few days. And it´s still warm enough in the nighttime for me and Jim to walk the dog every night now right before bed. (I don´t have to wear four or five layers either! And my fingers aren´t ice cubes all the time!)

LANGUAGE UPDATE:
So, during the casting sessions, I got to meet a ton of new people and practice my Spanish CONVERSATIONAL speaking skills a lot! It was so fun and now I can see that I really am learning a lot and my speaking skills are advancing. And I keep adding Chilean people I meet to my msn messenger, or they add me, so I´m getting "bastante" (enough/a lot) of practice writing too! (I´m including various Spanish words and references for Mom who wishes to see more Spanish in my blog updates haha)

Another note: I´ve begun to play piano again, on their out-of-tune instrument. But it´s fun, relaxing, and uses a part of my brain that I´m sure is good to exercise. Well anyway, I´m done for now. I just get to be doing all these things and I´m so blessed and excited about it all!