DAY 100 (it's CHRISTMAS!)- Update for WEEKS 13-14

NOTABLE EVENTS:
· taking a trip down to a southern part of Chile
· going to see the 1879 civil-war era ship (of the times during the Monitor and the Merrimack) on Tuesday, 12/19
· doing an interview on a public radio station in Concepción!! IN SPANISH!! :)
· being with a family during the birth of another child! Precious, miraculous newborn baby girl!
· got to drive (a car) for the first time ever in a foreign country! WOO HOO! So much fun! It has felt weird not to have driven for 3 months, but nice not to be paying for gas. Public transportation is nice, but then again, it all depends on the circumstances.
· seeing the Nutcracker ballet
· and celebrating Christmas away from my family for the first time ever :( :( :(
...but it has been a good experience of course

WEATHER:
Before I left for Concepción, it was rather warm in Santiago, hot out! But my time in Concepción was like being back in Northwest weather- cool, and probaby didn't get much higher than 65. It is just ending the spring there. It rained a couple days, and was partly cloudy and overcast on other days. Sometimes it was windy and even COLD. The power went out for some unexplained reason on Wednesday night around 8 pm, and didn't come back on until 2 am that night. Having no electricity there is not such a big deal though because most everything is gas-run (except for the lights of course). So they can still cook and have heated water. Anyways, when I came back into Santiago, I could immediately feel the effects of the smog on my throat once more, and it is a lot hotter here. It has been in the high 70s and low 80s. I know this will probably sound cliché, but it really is SO WEIRD to have Christmas in shorts and tanks! It was in the mid-eighties on Christmas (the photo on the left of the thermometer show about 80 during the late afternoon of Christmas eve).

MISSIONS PROJECTS, EVENTS DURING THE WEEK, and AROUND THE HOUSE:
So, picking up where I left off with my last litle update, the 12th... We had interviews in the studio for Wi-Fi, and then on Wednesday, I went out with Felipe and Marcos (the two guys in charge of the Wi-Fi show) to conduct interviews on the streets in a downtown plaza in an area called Providencia. It was SUCH a blast! In Spanish of course, I asked passersby questions about what Christmas means to them and how they celebrate it. Then we went to this goth/punk mall where there are all these piercing and tattoo stores and a lot of menacing-looking kids walking around. I interviewed these characters about why they decided to get their tattoos, how much they cost, what they mean, etc. (This topic is a theme of this Wi-Fi episode.) I even got to do an interview of this kid who was in the process of having his tatt done, as well as have a few words with the artist. It was a wonderful experience to go out and interact with people in Spanish as an interviewer!

On Thursday, Jim taught me how to start putting the news up online on integridad.com. I will do this from now on. It is pretty simple, and keeps me in the loop, as well as gives Jim one less thing to do. The rest of Thursday was pretty relaxed, until the Burgos family called from down south in a town near Concepción, which is about a 6-7 hour drive south of Santiago. David Burgos, a youth pastor friend of Jim and Lina's was inviting me to come visit him and their family down there for a few days. He said to have me hop on a bus at 8 am the next morning and they would pick me up some hours later when I arrive at a Concepción bus station! So, I hurriedly packed and finished up some stuff I was working on.

Friday morning, Lina and I went down to the terminal de autobuses and purchased a one-way little ticket for about $11, and I was on the road! (See picture on the left of some of the roadside scenery on the way down south. It is a lot greener and more like home!) I stayed at Pastor Vicot and his wife Nora's house. Two of their grandchildren live with them (named Mario Victor (17) and Daniela (16)- their oldest son's two oldest children). This family was absolutely wonderful to hang out with and SO NICE and welcoming! The members of the family are always over, coming and going. Their youngest son, Esteban, lives at home with them (he's in his early forties). The oldest son of the three, Marcos, and his second wife Chany ("cha-nee") live a couple blocks up the road, and they were the ones who just had a baby while I was there. Then then middle son, Mario David (the youth pastor), lives a couple blocks down the road with his wife Ingre and their three children, Carol (15), Michelle (13), and Paulo (4).

So, on Saturday, some of the family took me and walked around downtown, buying some things the family needed, while they showed me around. We went to the mall in a nearby town called Talcuhuano (on the left, see the picture of the welcoming roadside display to this town). Saturday night, there was a confirmation ceremony for some girls of Pastor Victor Burgos' church. Michelle, Carol, and Daniela all participated. This was the first time any Assembly of God church had done an event like this, entailing months of classes to prepare the girls in studies about their committment to staying chaste until marriage and pure.

On Sunday morning, there was Escuela Dominical (Sunday School), and church during the evening. Both times, I got up in front of the congregation and interduced myself and talked a bit about why I am in Chile, etc. It really wasn't bad to stand up in front of the congregation, though it was a big body, and speak to them in a different language! It was quite fun, actually! I am liking this public speaking thing, and was even able to crack a few jokes! They laughed at some things I wasn't even trying to be funny about too! hehe! Church and socializing with people was good. During the afternoon, between church gatherings, I went up to the radio station booth that the church has there. The people who were doing the program at that time invited me to do a little spur-of-the-moment interview! It was fun! (See the picture on the left of me up in the room. People are, left to right: Alex, Kathy, Nicolas, Carol, and ME!) They asked me about why I am here in Chile, what I am doing, what I think of the area, things about "home," and advice to give to those who want to become missionaries, etc. Then they wanted me to give a "saludo" (hello/shout out) to those back home, in English. That was cool too!

Monday, Daniela and Michelle took me to downtown "Conce," as they call it, showing me around the University of Concepción and the artesania and the center of the city, where I ate my first "completo," which is a Chilean hot dog with tons of goop (usually served with mayo, guacamole, ketchup, mustard if wanted, queso (cheese), salsa, and occational sourkraut) on it. I just had guacamole, ketchup, and some garnish on mine.

Tuesday, some of the family and I went to tour the Huascar, the naval ship (see pictures on the left and right (me at the speed gear shift thingie majigger)). It was interesting to be on a naval/army base in a foreign country. Then we drove to another nearby town that is on the coast, called Lirquen, where we ate lunch at this little seafood restaurant. Not a seafood-fan, I just had some empanadas de queso, but as a good traveler, I did taste-test the mariscos (seafood/shellfish). YUCK! For a lack of better words after trying the seafood, I told them not only with my facial expressions that I STILL DIDN'T LIKE MARISCOS, but also that they tasted like "un perro mojado," a wet dog! They still like to make jokes about that reference. Sometime take a look at my blog entry about Chilean foods because I will be adding dishes and items that I took pictures of at the restaurant there and telling about them. Then we almost got hijacked while waiting in the car to leave Lirquen, but Esteban, who was driving, responded in such a way that scared the mugger off. Esteban said that he had been watching the guy just rob a guy behind us in his side mirror prior to that, and so he knew that it was coming. Interesting experience! The whole little town was just a little "questionable," but a good experience all the same. You gotta experience it all when you travel, right? Also on Tuesday, the baby was born at a clinica downtown in Concepción. We waited all evening, and finally at 10:04 pm (they had to do a c-section), baby Paz Patricia Antonia Ortiz Burgos was born! I know, what a name, huh? She is absolutely gorgeous (see picture at left of me holding her, and picture on the right is of her and her mother).

Wednesday, we went to see mother Chany and baby Paz, and that was the day that I drove us back home, and the power went out. That night, I had dinner at David and Ingre´s house, candlelit due to the power outtage, but oh so fun. And the meat was quite tasty! Coming home, I watched a movie with Daniela before going to bed. Oh, the family watches a lot of TV together (as most Chileans do), and one of the nights, the movie Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights was on. Nobody had every seen it! I was so surprised, because it is the reason why Shakira's song, "My Hips Don't Lie," is so popular, and this song is the song-of-the-year here! Anyways, they LOVED the movie, and the fact that about a quarter of it is in Spanish, so I didn't have to explain and answer questions about the "Englishness" of it so much.

Thursday was my last day with the family. We hung out and Michelle and "Abuelie" Nora (that is what the grandkids affectionately call their grandmother) and I went to a pool in Hualqui, about 10 minutes away from their house. We just dozed around and picnicked, and I watched the kids swim, for it was FAR too cold for me to get into that water, even though it was "heated." (See picture at right of Michelle- proof of my reasoning.) The day was overcast and windy. Thursday night there was a youth outreach event. Then at midnight, my bus left. It was the first time I rode in one of those "double-decker" buses. My seat (a "semi-bed" that reclines with a foot rest and all), was on the second floor, so I got a good view of the road when it was morning. I slept on and off, but not soundly, and therefore, was very tired on Friday.

I arrived "home" to Santiago early Friday morning and once home, immediately went for a run! It felt so good! Then I unpacked and got a lot of stuff done during the day, after being gone for the week. A package from home also arrived on Friday, so I was extremely happy to receive that!! It was actually sort of a sappy experience. (See my package from home on the right?) Then Friday night, Mary Jane had a litle birthday party at her and Paulo César's little house. I returned home exhausted late that night, and had a good night's sleep. I spent Saturday catching up as well, organizing things, and uploading all my pictures, and that night, Lina and I went to see the Nutcracker ballet in a downtown plaza!

Sunday, Christmas Eve, there was a special church service at the church I normally attend, however I didn't go because on Saturday night I had had a massive migraine and was still a bit under-the-weather Sunday morning. But in the afternoon when I was feeling better, I baked a couple cakes for the company we were having later in the evening. We had a total of 16 people for our Christmas Eve dinner. Jim and I did all the meal-cooking (See pictures on the left of me checking the turkey, and the vertical one of Jim and me working away in the kitchen!) The tradition for most of Chile I guess is that the family gathers and does a big dinner on Christmas Eve, and most families open up their gifts before they go to bed as well. So, we had the meal, Jim led us in the typical Biblical scripture readings at midnight, and then we distributed presents and opened them before bed! (me with some presents from home on the right) I was so pleased to have gifts from home! It was wonderful, as well as sharing gifts with the Thurstons here as well. Then a doctor and his daughter who were visiting from Ecuador stayed the night. His daughter is 17, and she stayed the night in my room. She is a sweet girl, but EXTREMELY talkative, as I stayed up until 3 am chatting with her! She really needed an ear to listen though I think, because she has been living in Chile for the last 11 months with her father, away from her older siblings and mother (becuase they are studying in a foreign country) whom she is pretty close to. It was really interesting to hear such a poetic young lady speak to me from her heart about missing HER family during this time of year, as it is also her first time ever away from her family for Christmas (even though she has her dad with her).

Today, Christmas, has just been a rather relaxed and lazy day. I made cinnamon rolls and we had leftover Christmas feast foods for lunch, and Jim and I have just been hanging out playing with our new toys... mp3 players! Fun!

LANGUAGE UPDATE:
Staying down south with a Spanish-only-speaking family was really good for my language skills, both listening and speaking (especially speaking though). Over Christmas when we had all of Paulo César's family over and we were speaking in fast, slang-Chilean, I realized that I am understanding a lot more Spanish, and replying a lot quicker, with more ease, in Spanish. I think having Pastor Victor Burgos joking around with me the week I was down there was really beneficial, because I am a lot better at joking in Spanish now- catching on and understanding jokes, as well as making jokes of my own now! haha!

SO, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! I am sorry my update was so long, but a lot has happened and I had a lot to catch up on from the last couple weeks! ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL 2007!!! WOW!

Take a look at pictures I have recently uploaded in the following bins:
Days 90-96 Concepcion trip
Day 97 Mary Jane bday
Day 97- xmas package from home
DAY 99-100 CHRISTMAS

(all my pictures are in labeled bins at: http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j96/Chile_girl/CHILE%20PHOTOS/)