summer in the south and MOU

If you haven't realized yet, it's summer in Chile right now!  Yesterday as I was talking to my beautiful friends, Lora and Bekah, on skype, they reminded me of the snow back home and one of the questions they asked me was, "So what do you do when you're not at the beach?"...or something like that.  Hahaha...gooood question.  Actually, the last time I was at the beach, there was a tremor off the coast of Chile near Temuco.  The waves were huge and the water came really close to us, but that's about it.  No big deal!  Sooo...no worrying back home--it's not allowed.  I wasn't going to tell the story, but now I think I should...sorry if it gets to be really long.  So last Sunday I went to the beach with some of my friends and we were playing UNO (with the cards that my parents sent me!) and we were watching the waves as they kept getting bigger and bigger.  There were two guys laying down with their eyes covered semi-close to the water.  Each time the water would come further and further up on shore and, thus, closer and closer to getting them wet.  Then a huge wave came...and bam...the water sweept right in under them!  It was so funny.  We then get a call from one of my friends mom's saying that there was an earthquake in Temuco, in the south of Chile.  The waves get bigger and I decide to make a video. hehe.  We leave the beach and start walking towards the mall which is up hill, just in case a tsunami were to come.  When we get to the top, we're listening to the radio and turns out it was just a tremor...no big deal...no big deal at all.  It was fun to fake freak out though. haha  So, to conclude, I am safe. :) yessssssss.

 

Here's a video of the waves...I get a little over spastic at the end of the video, but FYI, it's fake panic.  So no worries. 

MOU: Misión Operación Urbana

December 26th to December 31st I participated in MOU, which in English, stands for Operation Urban Mission.  It was basically a retreat in which about sixteen different churches in the area participated.  We stayed at a school for the week, different speakers came each day, we had worship sessions at least three times per day, and we also went out into the community to share God's word.  It was very tiresome, as we went to bed late and woke up early (7am) each day, and all day we were busy busy busy.  The experience, as a whole, was great!  Some of the things I learned include: 

1. Our job, as Christians, are to plant seeds--for the Lord.  We are to talk about God and what He did for us when He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins.  In fact, some people have NEVER even heard this before!  I always knew this before, but I never really knew it.  Ya know? (haha)  For some reason, it never really clicked in my head like I thought it had before.  

2. It's all for HIS Glory!  Not for us--but for Him!  It is all because of Him and for Him.

3. We can talk to tons of people we have never met before about Jesus--but when it comes down to our most loved ones--we often times stay quiet.  They should be the easiest to talk to, because we know them.  So many times we get caught up with ''offending'' them that we forget what we're dealing with--a relationship with Jesus Christ--eternal life.  What's up with that?

4. It is God that sustains us--gives us energy--gives us strength--even when we are very tired (as I was very tired the entire week).

5. Missions: The city is a very strategic place to evangelize as people come and go from all places to the city and then back to where they came from.  As I have thought (still thinking and praying) about being a missionary someday in the future, this made me think even more.  I'm not a city girl, at all.  I'd much rather run around outside barefoot breathing the fresh air.  But if I feel lead to live in a city, well, then I will do it.  (That took a lot to write that...as writing it makes it feel more real. Oh, gosh.)

Here are some pictures from the week!

My friend, Cony!  She's the one that invited me to MOU!

Worship.  See the 'CHILE' in the background?

The school's gym (worship/message place)

Rachel and me!  She was my last American friend to leave Chile! :(

On the micro (bus) to downtown Viña with Cote!

It was like slumber party every night!...and I was always the first to fall asleep. hehe

During the march with my dear Fran!

The school's parking lot/court.  Someone had an American flag towel at MOU! haha!! USA USA USA!

I save the best for last...I LOVE this picture!!! and I LOVE my friends, Paloma and Rachel!

Here's a video of the march:

At the end of the march we ended at a plaza in Viña, danced, sang, and had some fun.  (Notice the street dogs...yes, I'm in Chile.)

La Navidad y El Año Nuevo

Holaaaaa!  Long time to write. hehe
So much has happened in these past couple of weeks!  Usually when I start writing another blog post, I look through my pictures to see what all I have done and what all I need to fill you in on...let's just say that I take a lot of pictures. haha

My first Christmas away from home, and, it doesn't even feel like Christmas!  This helps on decreasing my feelings of missing home.  The food alone is an example of how different it was...

Shrimp and avocado! On Christmas Eve! hahah!! We're definitely on the coast!  No, I didn't eat the shrimp, but yes, I did try it.  The avocado was delicious though!

Watermelon! Sign of summer here! First time eating watermelon for Christmas!

YES! You guessed it!  We ate CHILI on Christmas Eve in CHILE!!  Before I left for Chile in July, everyone was always asking me, "Are you going to eat chili in Chile?..hahaha.." and I would respond reluctantly, "he...he...probably not."  But..what do you know!? I did! This is due to the fact that my Chilean host sister's husband is from Colorado, therefore, loves chili.  His mom, taught my host sister how to make it.  And it was, delicious!! However, not as good as the best chili ever made by Grandma Lund!

There was one thing that brought me back to Christmas in the states...Pumpkin Pie!  When I made pumpkin pie for my family for Thanksgiving, they absolutely loved it!  My Chilean niece, Camilia, really wanted to make pumpkin pie for Christmas.  I taught her how to make the pie crust and gave a her a copy of the recipe.  Instead of canned Libby's pumpkin, we used yellow squash.  It turned out really well!  Great job, Cami!  The square pie is blueberry pie and the round one is the pumpkin pie!  Look at the lights on the hills in the background! 

Overall, Christmas Eve was very nice.  We played Clue (I won!), went to the Christmas Play at my church, came back to eat dinner, read a part of the Bible about Jesus' birth, and the opened gifts.  Here in Chile, they celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, open all the gifts on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day is just a day of relaxing,playing with the new toys, going to the beach, etc.  I thank my host family so much for accepting me as part of their family and for loving me!  Even thought it didn't feel much like Christmas, with it not being cold, no snow, etc...I most definitely still felt the love from the people around me.  I thank God for that!

From left to right: Ingrid, Alan, Camila, Sonia (Osy), Julio (Cuyin), me.  This is in Ingrid and Alan's apartment.

Cami and me in the water!  It's COLD!!

Ingrid and Cami on the beach.  It was really windy, so we didn't stay that long.

New Years!  New Years in Valparaiso/Viña del Mar is HUGE!  The fireworks being the big attraction!  They lasted 25 minutes and were absolutely spectacular!  Here's a short video and some photos of them:

 

The view from Ingrid's apartment.  We could see about 7 points of fireworks...and that was probably just about half of them!  If I come to Viña/Valpo for another New Years, I'm going to watch the fireworks on the beach! :)  It was sooo nice to watch them with my host family though!

The Grand Finale basically just lookes like really bright lights. hahaha! SO many fireworks!

Later, after the fireworks, we gave everyone a hug and had a toast.  It's a New Years tradition to hug everyone you know and wish them a Happy New Year...even for about a week after the celebration.  They also put pineapple ice cream in their champagne...or in their ginger ale for the kiddies (me included..hehe).  It's basically like a root beer float, but with different flavors!  They also broke out the crazy hats...as you can see...

Esteban smiling!!!

My host parents and me before the fireworks.

Oh my...the laughter!

Sammy and Estefy on the balcony waiting for the fireworks to start.

My host mom and me

Julio, Ingrid, and Sonia celebrating the New Year!

After the fireworks, Estefy fell asleep and Sammy and I played Jenga!

Then, I headed out to meet up with some of my Chilean friends and Rachael, my only American friend still here (she left yesterday!).  Rachael and I were so surprised that here we were, at 2am in the morning, and just LEAVING to go out. HAHA!  That's how it's done here in Chile...especially on New Years.  In fact, my host family just told me to stay in Valparaiso until the morning as it's not very safe to come back in the middle of night...better to wait until the sun comes out.  So, that's what we did.  We went to a dance club in Valparaiso and danced the night away, literally.  The music was great as they played everything...rock, reggeaton, salsa, merengue, cumbia, techno, rap, pop, American music, etc!  One of my Chilean friends and I left the club around 6:50am and then the others followed at 7am, because the club was closing.  It was so weird when I walked out of the club and it was LIGHT OUT!  All in all, we had a wonderful night.  It was nice, because the group that I went with were friends from church, so we were all very safe.  I didn't drink anything the whole night, except for half a glass of coke and three ice cubes.  That was a mistake...I was sooooo thirsty when I got home...aguaaaa is what I needed!  hahaha  To sum up, I spent New Years the Chilean Style!    

All of the buses going to Valparaiso were PACKED!

2am...the streets still full with people! New Years in the Summertime!

Me, Rachael, Nicole, Benjamin in the club

SNOW!!! nope, just kidding, only paper. :) A girl can dream, can't she? (My friend, Paloma, and me).

In the morning, when we left the club...

New Years Day: I got home around 8am and woke up around 12pm as I didn't want to miss lunch at my host sister's house with the kiddies (and I didn't want to mess up my sleep schedule too bad)!  Yes, I was tried, but it was worth it!  We had yummy choripan, grilled chicken, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, cherries, etc.  It was a great lunch!  Then...we went to the pool!

Best photo sequence ever:  Esteban is famous for being cute (this is the blanket my mom made for him!)...Julio is known for sleeping anywhere--anytime (not sure where this blanket came from).