Archived Chile Stories...2006

Jan 21 2006

Hola! Okay. So it happened. I fell in love with a Chilean!! Can you believe it?! It was love at firstsight. He has these big brown eyes and brown hair. His Spanish is exceptional (well...better than mine) and I already went to his meeting and met his family and sat with him. His name is Vicente and he is adorable. Unfortunately he is shorter than me. A lot shorter. Unfortunately he younger as well. A LOT younger. 3 YEARS OLD. Not sure if it will work out. :) Haha... Did I scare anyone?! The kids here are so precious... Everyone calls me "Tia." (Auntie) Its great!
Still having a great time. We just arrived in Vina Del Mar last night with Tiana and Juan Carlos. Gonna spend the day at the beach most likely. Went out in service this morning. An apartment complex.. Its crazy all the different territories we have worked.
Mountains...beach...rural.
The people have been incredibly HOSPITABLE! My Spanish is still pretty sketchy...but its coming along a little better. The other day the sister we stayed with in Pichilemu (Anita) was telling a story in English...after she was done Jenesia asked me if I understood and automatically started translating the story. I finally said "Hello! Of course I understood. It was in ENGLISH!!" I think she has just gotten so used to translating...I don´t know what I would do without her. Probably cry all day with frustration! I have so many things I would like to talk about with everyone...but it can be so frustrating not being able to spit the words out! Everyone thinks I´m in my mid-twenties..that´I´m shy...haha. If only they KNEW!! When I come back to visit...maybe my true colors will show through! The father at the house we were staying at would talk REALLY LOUDLY in Spanish..thinking I would understand better...then his daughter and wife would start laughing and say "shes not deaf...just talk more slowly!" haha...
Cannot beleive the trip is coming to a close. I´m returning January 25th. 4 more days for all those wanting to know... For those that don´t care...there is the info anyways!
Goodness...my mind is so blank right now...could be the lack of sleep. Apparently Nessa and I have full on conversations in our sleep. And I´m sleeptalking..but in Spanish!! Wahoo!
The stories are running low...this may be the shortest email yet!!
I miss you all..and thanks again for the support thru your emails and the encouraging thoughts! This has been quite the experience of a life-time and I feel like its only the beginning! Its such a neat thing to be fully immersed in a different culture. It makes you appreciate life a little bit more and allows you to see how united we really are in the Truth!! The worldwide association of brothers. We have so many distractions...but it is important to realize what our main focus should be. Chile has helped me out! I suggest you all come here! Tomorrow! :)

Alright...until I see you all again. Ciao for now.

Mucho Amor-
Stephanie

Jan 15 2006

Hola Friends de Estados!

So yesterday I was very upset over the fact that I wrote a beautifully long e-mail to you all and just as it was sending..the internet died momentarily! When I revisted the page my email was on..everything was gone! The genius email I had created amounted to nothing and I was left on the verge of tears because I had little time to compose a new email! I decided to try again...realizing the email would not be as well written and thought out as the first..but nonetheless presentable. This time I was going to be smart and save the draft before sending..and what do you know?! Yet again the ineternet crashed. I was infuriated! I had been at the Internet Cafe over an hour already and was NOT about to start another lengthy email, so I left the desk frustrated as ever.. tears streaming down my face. I paid the stinking 650 pesos..(thanks for nothing)..and left the cafe with this emptiness inside that only ice creqam could fill. Jenesia tried comforting me in between laughing over the fact that I was so upset! Mmm...that ice cream was sure good though..made the tears instantly vanish!
And here I am..in a DIFFERENT Internet cafe mind you. Using this so called "computer" that I have grown to detest!
I´m sure you all needed to know that long explanation of a not-so-interesting experience I had..but you do not even know how incredible it feels to get that off my chest. Seriously! If you decide not to read the rest of the email just because of my stupid introduction, I don´t blame you. Its okay. I understand. Stop reading now if you want!! You will be sorry though. :)
Anywho...so Nessa and I are here in Pichilemu. Its a cute little surft city. Absolutely beautiful. Kinda reminds me a little of Santa Cruz meets Hawaii. We went to Punta de Lobos which has the longest waves in all of South America. Its Famous! A surfers dream. I wish I could go surfing! Apparently the water is bone-chilling cold though. I had to be content with watching the surfers. We are staying with a very kind and classy pioneer sister. Her house is breathtaking. 2 stories..overlooks the ocean and city. I woke up in the morning and looked outside and it was absoluetly gorgeous! Not to mention..Nessa and I have our own beds (the last place we were at we had to share a TWIN bed..yikes). Plus...here there are no ants crawling up my legs bothering me in my sleep. There is more than 1 bathroom to share and I actually go to take a HOT shower! Woo! AND I got to wash my clothes this morning! They are drying outside in the wind. Aw...never have been SO HAPPY to do my laundry.
Today we had a lovely day in service. Worked right by the beach. Beautiful. Pretty good response.
Almost forgot to talk about the construction we did on thursday thru sat. It was amazing. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip for sure. I had a blast! All 3 days I worked on insulation, drilling the walls in, and typared the side of the KH. They entrusted ME with a heavy duty tools. Can you believe it?! I was a little hesitant to work on the scaffolding, but soon got over the little fear I had and climbed to the top where I would hold onto the trusses and work up on the ceiling. Very fun! Dont worry mom...VERY SAFE. If I were to fall..the Insulation would have caught my fall for sure. :) We looked kind of ridiculous in the ensemble of a yellow raincoat, goggles, earmuffs, hard hat and gloves! The work exhausted us and we had to walk about 15 minutes to the site each way. Morning worship was at 7 where we read the text (I brought mine in English)..we had additional comments, a talk be the construction overseer, experiences from the yearbook, prayer and breakfast.

I enjoyed it very much altho I probably can´t have a full appreciation because I only understood half of it! Lunch was nice because we had time for a SIESTA that I took full advantage of! I think I belong here with my 30 minute naps...I´m ready to go! There was a car backseat in the construction office that was vacant that I claimed practically everyday. The others boys would put some sheets of plywood down and sleep there in the Kingdom Hall. The meals we had each day were very good. Got to eat some good authentic Chilean food. I like it better than I thought I would and I have learned not to be so wasteful!! I feel like a horrible person for all the food I have wasted in the past!! Wasting food here is a BIG no no!! I only take as much as I know I can eat..or I give the rest to one of the construction boys who are perputually hungry! One boy, Mauro, I call Vaccuum because he is always eating the leftovers! Don´t think he quite understands why I called him Vacuum..but oh well. One boy Eduardo loved the Lakers so we would always bicker back and forth. Another boy spoke pretty good English because he watches a lot of American movies, so it was pretty interesting talking to him. In the Construction group, it was like were this big family. All 16 of us! Wish we could have been with them longer. :( ¨We had family study on Fri night and played games afterwards. The boys wanted to play Soccer, but apparently it was "out of the norm" for girls to play, which of course made we want to play even more! That never stopped me before! I reflected back on when the Soccer ball hit me in the face...but talked with Annabelle (one of the 2 sisters on the team) and she always wants to play, but the boys dont let her. I told her I would if she asked, so she did. Awkward silence for like 3 minutes and then the boys finally consented! I´m sure they didn´t regret their decision either! Nessa later joined our team of 3 girls and 3 boys vs. 6 other boys and we came out victorious! I even tried head-butting the ball numerous times! I think I shocked everyone. Mission accomplished. I have a new favorite sport...GOOOOALL!!

So the other day I had mustered up enough courage to comment at meeting and Nessa starts laughing uncontrollably causing me to chuckle mid-answer It was SO embarassing! I couldn´t stop...Im sure the brothers and sisters in the hall were thinking "those crazy gringo girls..." The congregation was very warm nonetheless! I me every single person there probably and was greeted with a kiss. Did I already talk about that?!
Its crazy. Initally I was uncomfortable with the fact that complete strangers would meet and greet me with a kiss. I would pull away like they had a disease and they would suddenly kiss the air. I have changed my ways! I NOW am embracing the custom of kissing everyone I encounter! On the cheek of course... :) So..if I come home greeting you in this way..do not be alarmed..I just have taken home some of the Chilean culture with me. :)
So the other day I had me 1st authentic Churro! So good! The fact that it was overflowing with Manjar mad the whole experience even more delightful! What is Manjar you may inquire?! Well...its a little bit of heaven..thats what it is!! The flavor and texture is somewhat like caramel. The second my lips touch it me tastebuds go crazy! I wish I could drink this stuff. Its delicious! I need to bring some home with me. If you are nice may I will share some...but first...there will be a quiz on the emails I have sent. :)
Never have i eaten a piece of chocolate I didn´t like..but I couple days ago Nessa MADE me try this chocolate made in Chile. I thought it tasted fine...but apparently it didn´t like me because it made me sick to my stomach and nauseous the rest of the evening and I even woke up with a black tongue. Thought I was going to die!! A black tongue! That definitely cannot be good! I´m still alive though. Just so you know.
Oh...so here in Chile..the election is over and Chile has a new WOMAN president! The first one here ever! Crazy huh?!
Okay...guess I´ll leave on that note.. Did I mention how much I appreciate all the emails and pictures from you guys?!?! Seriously!!! Thanks you so much!! It makes me feel not so far from home. Keep em´coming! You guys are awesome! Sorry I can´t write more personal emails. I know the mass emails can be quite annoying...especially with my dramatic needless details! Stories I will probably repeat in person..but they will be a lot more exciting!
If you have gotten this far in the email...THANKS for taking the time to read it!! It must have been a long..agonizing process...:) I miss you all MUCHO!! I will write again soon..hopefully.. Actually..the trip is over in about a week...unless I decide to live here...which is probable. :) Trip has flown by! Ciao for now!

Amor and Besos...
Su Stefania!


Jan 9 2006

Hola!

So here I am in the beautiful "Biblioteca" (library) that is not really all that beautiful. Earlier Will Smiths "Gettin Jiggy Wit It" song was blasting thru the library. Pretty funny. I tend to get a little homesick when I hear all these songs from the states. "Hotel California" I have heard a handful of times not to mention other popular tunes. The last cafe Nessa and I were at they must have realized we were Gringos because they turned up the american music really loud...trying to impress us or something. It didn´t work needless to say. :)
Today we arrived in Los Alamos. It was about a 2-hour bus drive from where we were previously. Had to wake up early..like 8..as opposed to the 11 o clock hour that we are getting so used to! Very bad habit...but we are getting to bed no earlier than midnight. I´m becoming quite the night-owl which may be shocking to most of you! We had to say our goodbyes to Juan Carlos and Tiana last night because they took the bus back to their Bethel home in Santiago. It was a sad occasion. We won´t see them again until the close of our trip. Nessa and I as well as 4 other family members went to bid them farewell. As the bus drove away we were all waving emphatically like we wouldn´t see them ever again. Then, as we were walking back to our van to go home..we saw that their bus had stopped a couple yards ahead, so us kids ran up to it and started dancing and jumping up and down waving to Juan Carlos and Tiana, putting on a little show for them. It was hilarious! You should have seen the sideways glances we were getting...well worth it though! It will definitely be sad not having the Munoz´s around ...altho I won´t miss Tiana telling everyone that my sole purpose of coming down to Chile is to find a Chilean husband! Its horrible because by this time I can understand the language pretty well, but my speaking abilities are not perfected, so I cannot defend myself at all!! I might have mentioned that in the last email. I know what people are saying and they just kind of assume I don´t since I don´t say anything back!! The other night at dinner Tiana´s mother-in-law said something to the effect of "shes smarter than she looks huh?" thanks a lot! She redeemed herself later when she said I looked like a doll. Its hilarious how BLUNT everyone is.
So I haven´t had the best experiences with Showers. Unfortunately I was not informed at one house that the cold and hot shower knobs were opposite! How was I supposed to know? That was probably the coldest shower I have ever taken. Poor me. The Hot Springs made up for it. Aw man...those were amazing. Wish I would have taken more pictures. Got to soak in these natural hot springs created from the volcanoe...huge jacuzzi like setting in a beautiful atmosphere. We were only like 30 kilometers from Argentina too! I was SO tempted to jump the border just to get another passport stamp....so close.
We haven´t been as active as I anticipated...altho the other day we played soccer and I didn´t realize what a fun sport it is! That is..until I got hit in the face with the ball!! Why does that always happen to me? My nose STILL hurts actually.. and we played a couple days ago..I think its bruised internally. Poor me :) Tiana and I got a little too competitive. Man..I miss basketball. Can someone let me know how the KINGS are doing??
Oh...and this is going to come as a huge shock.. INSTANT COFFEE. I love it. Goodbye Starbucks! Hello Nescafe! Can you believe it? I can´t!! Thats what I have every morning though. That and the good ol´ bread. EVERY MORNING. One morning we had clams and corn for breakfast...that was different. Pancakes were my favorite. There actually is a Starbucks in Santiago that I´m DYING to go to...but the drinks are probably like 2000 pesos. Too rich for my blood. Even with my Americano. So instant coffee it is!!
ok...Library is closing now. Must go. Still didn´t get to write everyone...but I´ll end with this poem. Ciao!

"chile"
Here I am going
to the beautiful chile
the things i´ll experience
make me act so silly

the things i will see
and the new friends i will make
will give great memories
that no one can take

unfortunate for me
you can´t be here too
but the adventures to come
i´ll enthusiastically share with you!

hows that for a corny ending? miss you all!! Write soon! ADIOS!!

mucho amor
stephanie

Jan 6 2006

Hola Amigos!

Okay..so I thought I would be writing a lot more frequently..but it hasn´t quite panned out that way! I know some of you are probably "mucho" disappointed. Okay..maybe not. :)
So I´m still having a pretty good time. Been down here about a week and we have stayed in 3 different places. Right now we are in ´"Villa Rica" which when translated it means "Rich Way". The climate is very similiar to Lake Tahoe. Montains..lake and everything. We are staying in a cabana close to the lake with Tiana, Juan Carlos, and this guy Daniel. I keep calling him "Daniella" though by accident which is offensive to him apparently. haha. Can´t see why. Actually I have done a lot of offensive things. Apparently you aren´t supposed to yawn or stretch in front of people and of course after these LONG bus rides I´m always yawning and stretching in public and I couldn´t understand why people were giving me these weird looks...until Tiana told me its EXTREMELY bad manners. Goodness. How am I supposed to know? In Chile they also find it offensive if you DON´T put your elbows on the table. Here I am at Juan Carlós family´s house trying to display my amazing american manners by NOT having my elbows on the table and I am then told that I need to have atleast one arm on the table at ALL times! Different indeed! Aw man..the stories are endless.

Had a tramatic experience in the Metro in Santiago a couple days ago. The metro is basically like a Subway and Santiago is a pretty big city (capital of Chile.So here Tiana, Nessa, and I are dragging our 70 lbs of luggage around the metro having to go up and down many flights of stairs, sweating like crazy. My carry-on bag broke for one and I had to tie my sweatshirt around it to keep it from spilling out EVERYTHING. So we are running thru this metro station because we are late for our Bus which we had already supposedly purchased NON-refundable tickets for. Us girls looked ridiculous in our matching black work-out pants and teal green tee shirts (not planned). Finally we get on the Metro thinking "yes! we are going to actually make it. Time is on our side!" and the Metro comes to a sudden halting stop!. I must have had a look of horror on my face cuz Juan Carlos looks at me and asks " Que Pasa?" (whats up?) Oh great. So we are stuck on this metro in close contact with all these other sweating people and I think to myself "Either we are going to die...or be stuck down here for 10 hours." Thats what it came down to... Death or 10 hours stuck on the metro. Well...somehow the misery only lasted 6.5 minutes and we were up and running. I sighed with relief and started clapping...must have looked pretty ridiculous...but I´m convinced that this whole trip is out to make me look ridiculous! My spanish. Oh wow..lets not even go there...the things I have said..

We were received very kindly by Juan Carlos´ family on Wednesday nite. They had a full on meal ready for us at 1 o clock in the morning..we came and sat down at the beautifully spread table. The best flavors my tastebuds have ever encountered! So much cilantro..and lemon. Chicken stuffed with mushrooms..fresh bread.. I exclaimed ´"me encanta pollo!!" (i love chicken) and didn´t realize I would get such an odd response. Apparently they only use the word ´"encanta" when they are extremely passionate about something...but I was REALLY passionate about this chicken!! :) Tiana explained to Munoz (Juans dad) that my last name meant "cannibal" in spanish and he gave me this weird nervous look.. so I took the Salsa that was next to me and pretended to put it on him and showed him my teeth like I was ready to take a bite into him...needless to say the whole table was filled with laughter.
Could have been the lack of sleep though.

I appreciate people writing me back and letting me know whats going on! I have so many stories to tell, but I´m getting so hot in this internet cafe and there is still so much to see.. I even wrote a corny poem to share with you all..but its in the van!

Oh..bethel was a blast too. Got to work as a painter...2 days straight... Ate lunch and dinner with the bethel family as well. Such a privilege. It was very rare that we got to work in construction too...Tiana had to pull some strings. Glad she did! I think I´m gonna look into being a professional painter..okay..maybe not. Right now I´m reflecting on my gross hands with the paint under my fingernails and the red ink all over my left hand that got on me in the airplane..still there...gross!

Okay..so hope everything is going well for everyone! I´ll try to write in the next couple days or so..and get back to your personal emails.
Ciao!

Muho amor
estefania

Jan 2 2006

Hola Amigos/Familia!!

So we made it safely to the beautiful Santiago, Chile!! No plane crash...we survived the intense turbulence!
Everything is going great thus far...its so nice and sunny right now.. Almost
9 o clock at night and the sun is still shining bright. Long flight unfortunately...but
we got to sleep atleast 4 of the 14 hours!! Once we landed in Santiago, a Bethelite named David picked us up from the airport with another brother from Peru. We spotted them right away because they were holding a sign with our names along with a Spanish Watchtower. On the car-ride over to the Bethel I realized how much I need to practice my Spanish! Oh the stupid things I have said already...Jenesia can attest to it... It really is humbling though! I´m gonna keep trying...but I have a feeling I´m going to be a mute for the first half of the trip and just take everything in. I know you are thinking "yeah right..stephanie...mute..thats gonna happen!" :)
Once we arrived at Bethel we saw Tiana from a distance and she came running to us with open arms crying...tears of joy of course. :) Tomorrow we are going to get to work here...painting I believe. Should be a good time. Already got to have lunch with the other Bethelites. The food is...well..unique.. only been here a day though! Still new things to try. Can´t wait till the beach..we leave Wednesday..gonna do a long 13 hour service day on Saturday..
Okay..more to say...but I should get going for now. I would love to hear from you guys! Thankfully we have internet pretty much wherever we go..More stories to follow I´m sure. Ciao for now!!

Hasta Luego-
Stephanie Conable