Lara In Chile!: Day 171- UPDATE FOR WEEKS 24-25

DURING THESE LAST DAYS IN SANTIAGO...

NOTABLE EVENTS:
· attending the largest church in Chile, an Evangelical church
· attending the oldest church in Chile, a Catholic cathedral
· visiting the way cool Fuente del Bicentenario (Bicenteniary Fountain), created in 2005, in the Parque Balmaceda (Balmaceda Park). It has 128 spouts of water and multicolored lights, and is handled by a computacional system that can be coordinated automatically with some musical sequence!
· construction on a new radio room in the studio is underway, and we've had workers coming and going like a crazy house, with the doorbell and telephone sounding their shrill rings at nearly all hours of the day!
· going to La Moneda (the Chilean president's office and house) and watching the changing of the Guard

WEATHER:
The weather has been pleasant, but much more dry than in Buenos Aires' weather that I experienced last week of course! (I have had a few bloody noses as my body readjusts to the dryness here. I have been using Vaseline up the ying yang as my poor nose acclimates.) But anyway, the weather here has been in the high 70s, low 80s... so just about PERFECT, with a touch of an ever-so-slight warm little breeze that wafts through our open windows and doors with people coming and going all day. Nights are cool and pleasant, and perfect para pasear las calles (walking the streets). The end of the summer is here, so temps aren't blazing and the cooler nights are signs of fall drawing near. (School just began yesterday for the students of Santiago.) The daytimes are still nice to stay tan as I am out and about though! :)

THE WEEK'S EVENTS- IN AND AROUND THE HOUSE AND MINISTRY:
Friday- we had people in and out of the house, as we not only had staff in the ministry here working now at our new little office in the house, but also as people were coming and going to help prepare the space in the studio where we are putting in the new little radio room. We also ran some errands and checked out some radio sound boards and equipment at the "best music store in all of Santiago," according to Jim and Gerson, who will be working with the ministry's expanded radio ministries once the radio room is functioning. Among other equipment, the keyboards and drum sets at this music store were amazing! (PICTURES: top left- Gerson is beginning to clear out the area where the radio room is going in... see all that stuff behind him? So... look further down at Monday and Tuesday's pictures to see how the construction is developing! Picture on the upper right- this is all the stuff moved out into the middle of the studio floor... a MESS, right? )

Saturday- I began going through the stuff I have collected during my half a year here, sorting, organizing, tossing stuff, and deciding what to take back home with me... I need to try to pack it all back into the suitcases I came with, or just pay for a whole extra suitcase if it won't all fit! In the afternoon, Jim and I went to the big Mercado Persa in the "comuna" (sector in Santiago) San Joaquín, which I had visited earlier in my stay here in Chile, but there is constantly new stuff there, so it is always interesting to go. There are all sorts of items one may purchase, usually for VERY inexpensive prices, especially if you look for the good buys. Jim buys a lot of things for the ministry, as well as around the house, there at the mercado--from computer hardware, software, and equipment, to tools and furniture. There is also some touristy stuff there, but not much, and locals go there every weekend to go shoe/clothing shopping, eat, get their hair cut, all in these old empty buildings that fill up with vendors and little shops on the weekends. It is grand. At first it sort of reminded me of a great big garage sale.
Also on Saturday, some guys who have helped out in the ministry came over and helped Jim clear out the studio for the area where the radio room is being built now. The studio is a mess with stuff now! But the room is going up, and it's only a matter of time before everything can get all cleaned up and reorganized once the radio room is built.

Sunday- In the morning, Paul and I went to the oldest Catholic church in Chile, which is red on the outside and has this one original window still in it. On the way to that church, we walked along Avenida Paris and Avenida Londres, which is original cobblestoned streets and sidewalks, and European-looking buildings. Paul says that sector of downtown is where they film a lot of movie scenes/TV shows in Santiago if they want to have a European-esque feel/look. The area was so pretty that I went back to take pictures today (Thursday)! The Catholic church service was pretty much the same as one in English, although I noticed certain differences that I hadn't experienced in a Mass before. I am not sure if this is just because it could vary from church to church (but usually Catholic churches do not vary), or whether it was a cultural difference. During communion a guy up front rang a bell when the father presented the cup and the wafer bread of Christ. But they said the Lord's Prayer the Catholic way (in Spanish though of course), and the service seemed to be formatted about the same as other services I have been to in the States. Then after the service, we walked through town after church, through aresania and vendors' booths, taking a walk downtown in and out of other grand Catholic churches, and also along other streets to see if any museums were open, but it was too early on a Sunday afternoon for that. We waited 45 minutes to get a bus back to our comuna of Santiago... the whole ordeal with the change in the transportation system of TranSantiago is still a HUGE pain! It's all over the news still, and now people are beginning to protest. Government officials think that the system is fine, and do not see anything wrong with it, but then again, one of the high-up ministers of a governmental department tried to ride a bus this week, and couldn't figure out how the tarjeta de BIP worked... whether she needed to swipe it or type in numbers or what (the card that you use to take a bus or metro, use the public transportation systems)! It was terrible. Shows how in tune government officials are to the public transportation system issues. Honestly! Comical, but sad! They have NO idea what condition the system is in when they don't even use it like millions of the majority of people in the city do. Well, back to Sunday... in the afternoon, I sat out in the sun and read and did some studying, and then in the evening, Jim took me to the largest church in Chile, an Evangelical church. It was BIG! There 15,000 people normally attend each week (that is the church's capacity), and the members of the congregation take turns and trade off which sector of Santiago goes each week. I think there are four divisions, so that people can go and fit in about one time a month. The other Sundays, I assume they meet somewhere else? This church has a 2,000-member orchestra and a 100-person choir and nobody is paid for their service in teh church except for the pastor, who is there for life (the last one they had died two years ago, so they still have a generally new one). Then after that church service, Jim and I took a VERY, VERY crowded metro further downtown to see the fountains that light up and are just oh-so-spectacular! (This is my new favorite place in Santiago. FYI, my old favorite place was in a little amphitheater in a park about a 25-minute walk away from the house here.) The fountain is called the Fuente del Bicentenario (Bicenteniary Fountain), as I said before. We got there and they weren't lit up, but I think they go on at nine pm because we'd been there for a bit, and in perfect timing, they turned ON! It was spectacular. (PICTURES: top left- the oldest Catholic church in Santiago. Top right- the European-looking streets near the Catholic church. On the lower left- in the largest Evangelical church service Sunday night. All the other pictures that border this paragraph are of the fountain area! ¿Que bonita, no?)

Monday- Construction on the radio room got underway, the air conditioning unit and two new phone lines went in, I ran errands for Jim, paying las cuentas (bills)and waiting in forever-LONG lines... I did a bit of shopping, and began writing a ministry update letter for the Thurstons. It was a busy, but really good day! I also have been taking a bunch of pictures to document the changes in the house, marking the expansion of the Thurstons' ministries. :) (PICTURES: top right, the new AC unit that went in!! Next picture down on the left- the studio's new radio room going up, at the end of Monday. The picture on the right- towards the end of today, Tuesday.)

Tuesday, today- I got up earlier and had left the house by 8:30 to head downtown to La Moneda, the president of Chile's house and offices. Before I leave, I had to see the Cambio de la Guardia, or the Changing of the Guards (that is a little ceremony that the trained military puts on during even days of the month, at 10 am. I was misinformed that it was earlier, but it was a beautiful, warm, sunny morning that I just walked around downtown and enjoyed until the ceremony began. The performance was great; I snapped some great pics, and also took some little video clips on my camera. (To see them, just click on the links below at the bottom of this blog entry, after the link to my photos I have added as well.) After the changing of the guards, I walked downtown more (oh yeah, I went all by myself; the city really feels like home now. But don't worry- I am still careful and cautious of my safety in the city. Still, all the whistling and whispers of "que hermosa" and other things towards me as I walk by are quite annoying though(because I am one of the only non-dark-haired people in this city!).). Then I took the metro to the other side of town to the casa de cambio (a money-exchange house that we always go to) and exchanged my last money to come home with... to pay for extra luggage weight, etc. Then in the afternoon, I worked more on the Thurstons' letter, uploaded pictures, and ran some more errands. Jim and I went to the Santiago's famous best bakery, Mozart's, which is about a 10-minute walk up from the house. MMM how delish. everything looked! We each got a little morsel. I took pictures of course, to document the city's finest. And well now, after dinner, we went to the JUMBO, which is a supermarket we drive to because it has more of the imported items (like brown sugar, Hersey's syrup, and marshmallows from the States that Jim likes). We bought supplies for me to make Jim's favorite cake before I leave to head home: pineapple upside-down cake! (PICTURES: top right, changing of the guards at La Moneda. Lower left- Jim standing in front of Mozart's bakery. The lower pictures are of the bakery's goodies!! mmm!)

HEALTH:
I am feeling great and in good spirits, though sad to be leaving here. It's not that I DON'T want to go home, but it's not that I couldn't go either way. I just hope I can come back someday! Anyway, my health is great. No more cough, and my voice is pretty much back to normal after bieng sick with bronchitis and all that crud.

LANGUAGE UPDATE:
I am still talking in Spanish a lot, and I am afraid that for at least the first few weeks I am back (if not for the rest of my life), I am going to have a hard time turning off my little Spanish switch. Although Chilean dialects are distinct from other parts of the world, I will still love to use my Spanish at whatever chance I get!

So, peruse the new pictures I have added in the following bins...!
changes around house- radio room in studio
changes around the Thurston house- new office
Day 169- visit to Chiles largest church
Day 171- cambio de la guardia-changing of guards
Day 171- visiting Mozart bakery- best in Santiago
views of around Santiago
My fav place in Santiago- the light-up fountains