to countdown. or not to countdown? or do i even have a choice in the matter? THAT is the question.

As a little girl, I was known in my family for making countdowns...countdowns for everything.  I would even make those paper chains and hang them in the doorways so that each day I could tear a link off.  I made countdowns for Christmas, my birthday, until school ended, trips, etc etc etc.  In fact, for Christmas, we also have this Christmas calendar in which there is a pin with a star that you have to move along each day and when you get to Christmas Eve you have to put it over the stable where Jesus was born.  I was (and still am) the one that always moves that star -- when I was a girl I don't think I even gave others a chance to do it (as it was always the first thing I did in the morning after waking up), and now...I think they have simply given up on trying.  

Now I bet you're all wondering, "Did Diane make a paper chain countdown in Chile?"...hahaha...ok, maybe you're not thinking that.  A better question would be: Is Diane counting down the days until she leaves Chile?  Is she counting down the days until she gets home?  

Am I?  Will I?  ...honestly, I don't think I have a choice.  This time around, I don't want to countdown...but so many people around me (either them being sad that I'm leaving) remind me and tell me..."Don't goooooo!!" and ask me, "When will be you be back?!?!"...or (being extremely happy and excited for me coming home) tell me..."Get ready for some football tackle size hugs!" and, "We really miss you back here!"  And I don't hear this just once in a while...I think I get this everyday.  So, let me tell you, it's hard.  Today is May 21st, and coincidentally, it is around 9pm here in Chile, meaning that I will be in Chicago, IL, USA exactly two months from, well, now.  Two months.  (You can say that again.)  Two months.  Yeah.  I said it.  One side of me is soooooooo incredibly excited to see my family and friends back home...but the other side of me is sooooooo incredibly sad to leave my family and friends here in Chile.  

It's interesting how our minds work.  Last semester, when my American friends here had two months left, they were all very conscious of the date and time in general (as they were either ready to go home by then or trying to make the most of Chile the best they could).  And then there was me...not even sure what day it was!  And now...here I am...and I know exactly what day it is and how much time I have left.  Crazy how our minds work...how our concept of time changes when we are expecting something to happen.  Kind of like the car ride to the pool and how it always seemed to take soooo long to get there, but then the ride home seemed to go by so fast (especially when us kids would conk out as soon as we buckled our seat belt from swimming all day).  

My birthday is June 20th...meaning that exactly one month from that date I will be getting on that plane--the one leaving this beautiful country.  My mom did ask me to do her a favor though.  She told me that I'm not allowed to be sad on my birthday.  Wait, was that a favor?  Or a command? (hahaha!)  Oh well.  So....that I will do.  My birthday will be great!  I just know it!  That one will for sure be a blog post! hhaahaha!

Don't get me wrong, folks, even though I'm thinking about the time I have left here in Chile, I am at peace.  Even though I actually know what the date is and what that means...it doesn't mean that I'm obsessed with it or anything.  In fact, I very much recognize that time is, well, just time.  And truth be said, there is a time for everything:

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 a time to be born and a time to die, 
 a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
 a time to kill and a time to heal, 
 a time to tear down and a time to build, 
 a time to weep and a time to laugh, 
 a time to mourn and a time to dance, 
 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 
 a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 
 a time to search and a time to give up, 
 a time to keep and a time to throw away, 
 a time to tear and a time to mend, 
 a time to be silent and a time to speak, 
 a time to love and a time to hate, 
 a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him." Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

"He has made everything beautiful in its time...I know that everything God does will endure forever..." Wow. I know that I will have to leave Chile, and that it will be good, even knowing that it will be hard.  Even though it makes me sad to think about leaving my loved ones here, I know that God continues being good...and that his time continues being perfect.  

So peeps, two months.  Time to live it up!!!  Just like I've been doing for the first ten months I've been here!-- and I have the reason to do so now more than ever!  The good news: I won't fall asleep on the way home like I did as a girl coming home from the pool...in fact, I'll be wide awake for the entiiiiiiire riiiide!!! yeah baby!!

This weekend:

FRAN!!!

Las niñas from the girls' home!!!

 VIDEO with las niñas: CLICK HERE TO SEE SOME MAGIC!

^ Thanks to that video (and the time it took to download it), this blog became really long...but I hope you enjoyed it! hehehehe!

        

you learn something new everyday

So....I'm not JUST learning SPANISH here...

1st Semester:

I've learned some Chilean dances (one being La Cueca, Chile's national dance):

(I unfortunately don't have a picture of myself)

With the help of mom's recipe and loving advice -- I've learned how to make an apple pie on my own: 

...and then eat it on the beach (that part not on my own though).

I've almost learned how to surf:

...I never could stand up on the board, even though I tried very hard.

I've learned how to throw a 'trompo' (Chilean top): 

...not very well (if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can notice that it's going to land wrong on the ground...but it was SO worth it as I got to keep the trompo! haha! yay for free souvenirs!)

In class, I learned how to scale a natural rock wall with rope pulley system thing:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer:

I've learned how to jump...or at least how to show off that skill...haha:

And here's a video too!: Diane Jump  <--click link (I hope this works!)

For new years...I learned how to stay out all night:

(which was especially difficult for me! haha!)

While in the north of Chile, I learned how to eat a copao (cactus fruit) and get it all over me...hehehe:

With my best friend, Fran, I've learned how to shop at the fruit and veggie market:

I love, you, FRAN!!

Estafanía, my Chilean niece, taught me how to make flowers out of real petals:

She made sure to only use petals that had already fallen from the flowers!  So eco friendly!

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Semester:

My friend, Felipe, taught me how to make pie de limón (Chilean Lemon Pie):

(And I taught him how to make American Chocolate Chunk Cookies!)

I've learned how to be a flaite...in other words, a Chilean gangsta:

My chilean twin, Andrés, and my best friend, Cony, and me.

My host mom and I learned how to make homemade alfajores as I wanted to make them for my dear friend, Cony, for her birthday (they're cut up in this picture): 

What they should really look like. 

And to top it all off, most recently I have learned to andar en moto...aka...ride a motorcycle: click here for a quick video --> Diane Bikie

My friend, Pablo, 'La Gorda' (the motorcycle's name is 'the fatty' as it has 'XL'  printed on it...hahhaa!), and me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now...these are all things that I have learned to DO...but let me tell you, I have learned way way way wayyyyy more than just these simple verb-type-things.  God has been teaching me so much about Himself, myself, and my relationship with Him.  He has been faithful.  ...and the best part of it all: there's still a LOT more left to learn...not only in Chile...but for the rest of our lives! WOO!!!  God is sooo good, eh?  One thing I realize through writing this blog is that in order for one to learn, one must also be willing to be taught -- to be molded -- to be led -- to persevere.  For example: I've learned a few things, but they still need practice in order to perfect them.  OR  Sometimes it takes some courage to take the first step.  OR  Many things can only be done once you get rid of your pride.  Learning Spanish (and any language really) means getting rid of your pride...means messing up.  But you know what, that's okay!! :)  Spanish is just one of the many things that I'm learning how to perfect here in Chile!

Well...that's all for now, folks!

P.S. OH!  I thought this was funny...but I'm not sure if all of you who read this will:  My friend, Becky, from back home pointed out after I had told her that I've been in Chile for more than nine months now that I could have had a baby already without anybody back home knowing!  HAHA!  Good news: that did not happen.

I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL MUUUUCHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!

2 months and 10 days left..

^^^ Can you believe that??  I've been here for so long already, but the time has just FLOWN by!  I'm trying to fit in so many things in the time that I have left here in Chile.  That means...busy weeks and crazy fun weekends.  My classwork really isn't that bad, but I AM still studying here...that means that I DO still have work to do.  I try to do it all during the week so that I don't have to worry that much about it on the weekends.  Good plan, eh?  :)  It helps that my classes with the most work are on Thursday and Friday. hehe! 

I haven't written in a long time so there is just so much to talk about!  I think I am just going to have to accept that I can't write about EVERYTHING.  So, I won't.  Lucky you. :) 

Okay....how about with Easter Sunday!  We had a nice day with the family...and even did an Easter egg hunt--which was so low key!  Our Easter egg hunts are rockin' awesome in the states! haha!  I was pretty much the only one dressed up for church too. hahaha!  I guess they don't dress up for Easter Sunday here!  We had a really nice lunch and I could finally eat sweets!  The first sweet thing I ate after giving them up for lent was--drum roll please--a chocolate eater egg! haha!!  It was a really nice day to spend with the whole family!

One of my very good friends here, Felipe, turned 23 so of course we had to celebrate!  Me and two more of my very good friends here (Andrés and Cony) surprised him at his university on his actual birthday with 23 balloons that I pretty much had to blow up all myself (as Cony can't and Andrés...well...I don't remember, but he did blow up maybe 5).  It was a great day to be with Felipe and let him now how much he is loved.  Then he had a party on the weekend and I made him American cookies (Chocolate Chunk and Oatmal Raisin) and they were a HIT!  They don't really have cookies like that here...so it was a new experience for a few.  This past weekend I taught Felipe how to make them and in return he taught me how to make Lemon Pie!  Delicious! 

Wow....I haven't written about the retreat I went on with my youth group yet!  That was probably a month or so ago...oops!  Well, let me tell you about it.  For two days we stayed at a huge school that used to be a boarding school in a city further towards the mountain range...but still close to Viña.  It was nice to be out of the city and spend time focusing on God and building relationships within the youth group.  The theme of the retreat was ''Die to Live.''  Which means that in order to live in Christ, we must first die to the world and ourselves.  God thus makes us a new creation -- restoring us -- freeing us!  And it is so so so soooo true!  Easter weekend it kinda hit me as I had time to really meditate on all that I learned during the retreat.  The depth of how He heals us...how He forgives us..and how He helps us forgive ourselves really struck me.  It's difficult to explain, because it's something that goes so deep in my being.  If you want to know more or are just interested/curious...let me know and I can try and explain it to you more profoundly (in person hopefully...or by skype at least!)

Let's seeeee....oh yeah!  I'm ALL BETTER!  I had been sick ever since I went on vacation to the north with my host family.  I came back to Viña with a horrible cough that lasted more than a month...then I supposedly had 'allergies'...then I got a virus and had to go to the hospital because my fever was really high...then I think I caught a cold...then I got an ear infection which ended up being 'Glue Ear'.  The worst part of it all: not being able to ride my bike.  haha!  Sounds so...trivial...but I'm being serious.  Anyways...thanks to God...I am allllll better!  I was suppossed to have had glue ear for at least 3 months...6 months...and it could have lasted up to a year!  It usually takes a really long time to cure and the options of treatment are 1. time and 2. an operation.  So...with all that said, Thank you, God...for healing me.

Well, I have to head off to my French class now...I'll write more soon! :)  I love you and miss you all back home!