Never thought I would take a 14 hour flight by myself. 1) I don’t like flying all that much 2)I need another person to keep myself together (aka, Jenesia) I think I did quite well considering all the stuff I had to keep track of. Thankfully on the flight from Atlanta to Santiago, it was pretty empty. I happened to be sitting one seat away from a man who had moved seats when I awoke. Was I snoring? Nonetheless I was happy to have the whole row to myself to spread out. I think that aided me in sleeping the majority of the flight. When I was walking thru the customs area, my suitcase made the loudest screeching noise with every step I took. People glared at me like I had a live animal inside. My bright pink bag came out with “inspection” stickers all over. Yikes. Hope they didn’t’ confinscate anything. The bag definitely needs to retire after this trip.
As soon as I stepped out to go to meet Juan Carlos y Tatiana, I could feel with all my senses that I was in Chile. I could hear the taxi drivers shouting out “taxi” at all the foreigners arriving. I could smell the distinct aroma of the laundry detergent “omo” that every Chilean uses. Yep. Definitely in Chile and back so soon! Its like no time has passed really. I got to met up with Juan Carlos and Tiana to catch up. They told me stories of the construction and the aftermath of the Earthquake. There have been 1,000 volunteers within Chile helping with the relief work. I boarded a train soon after to go to one of the places of my heart: Donihue.
I was warmly received by the Ponces. It was a little shocking to see the damage done to the house that I had spent the majority of my time living in last year. A relief group had come a few weeks prior to tear down part of the house that was irreparable. Just a few weeks ago, the Ponces were living outside. They had their kitchen still set up outside. I held back tears as I looked around. Everything so different, but yet everyone so positive with smiles, working away. Saturday I was able to help for a few hours gathering wood and taking the nails out for a fence. The time was too short because my flight was early the next day.
I met up with Candace. She has been living in Chile since December and consented to accompanying me for yet another trip to the south. We left early on Sunday morning and arrived in Coihaque after a 3.5 hour flight. We got to catch up on everything and I tried to prep her as well as I could for the upcoming weeks. We stayed with a couple in Coiaquye and Juan surprised me by arriving early to the house when I had anticipated his arrival for later. The next day we were to leave for Cochrane…another 8 hours on the road. All said and done it takes more than 24 hours to arrive to Cochrane from Sacramento!
This week has been great. A lot of preaching activities and enjoying the beauty of Cochrane. Not even all that cold! I think Im a little more prepared this time! On our first day out Candace and I accompanied Juan on some of his studies in the afternoon. At one study there was a little old lady who was preparing the tea, Mate. In Chile, especially in the south, it is customary for the householders or neighbors to share their Mate with their visitors. They drink this herbal green plantlike tea out of a special metal straw. I hadn’t prepared Candace for the situation. We could see the water brewing and Juan kept talking about the tea and how great it was to have sweet Mate in the afternoon. Candace and I on the other hand were trying to avoid the situation of her sharing the Mate thinking she would forget to share, but no! The 85+ , teeth missing, sweet older lady pours the water over the already used tea and starts sipping it out of the dirty metal straw and then offers Candace the next sip. I tried answering for Candace saying “oh she can’t drink the mate” and took one for the team as I gulped down the liquid with my eyes closed!
Last night Candace and I had a part in the Theocratic Ministry School. It was not very comforting in the beginning of the talk when I heard a little boy yell out “Are they speaking in ENGLISH?!” Great. There’s an idea of how much my Spanish accent is improving.
This morning we had a great little experience with some Austrailans that we met. Cochrane is a pretty touristy town so there at people from all over that come here to see the beautiful sites. The man, John, talked to Candace and I for awhile. He was very nice and asked what we were doing here so we were able to give a witness. We ran into him again and I found 2 English magazines and said “okay! I only have 2 magazines left in English…and I would really like to give them to YOU! Have you seen the Watchtower and Awake?” He replied that he hadn’t. He is a pilot. Him and his wife travel all around…in fact they are doing a year excursion in South America. The Awake happened to have various articles on the places they would be visiting. He appreciated the conversation and it got Candace and I all pumped up!
Okay…much to do. There is a little taste of whats going on! Hope all is well!
Abrazos y Carinos y todo!
Chaooooooooo.Steph
As soon as I stepped out to go to meet Juan Carlos y Tatiana, I could feel with all my senses that I was in Chile. I could hear the taxi drivers shouting out “taxi” at all the foreigners arriving. I could smell the distinct aroma of the laundry detergent “omo” that every Chilean uses. Yep. Definitely in Chile and back so soon! Its like no time has passed really. I got to met up with Juan Carlos and Tiana to catch up. They told me stories of the construction and the aftermath of the Earthquake. There have been 1,000 volunteers within Chile helping with the relief work. I boarded a train soon after to go to one of the places of my heart: Donihue.
I was warmly received by the Ponces. It was a little shocking to see the damage done to the house that I had spent the majority of my time living in last year. A relief group had come a few weeks prior to tear down part of the house that was irreparable. Just a few weeks ago, the Ponces were living outside. They had their kitchen still set up outside. I held back tears as I looked around. Everything so different, but yet everyone so positive with smiles, working away. Saturday I was able to help for a few hours gathering wood and taking the nails out for a fence. The time was too short because my flight was early the next day.
I met up with Candace. She has been living in Chile since December and consented to accompanying me for yet another trip to the south. We left early on Sunday morning and arrived in Coihaque after a 3.5 hour flight. We got to catch up on everything and I tried to prep her as well as I could for the upcoming weeks. We stayed with a couple in Coiaquye and Juan surprised me by arriving early to the house when I had anticipated his arrival for later. The next day we were to leave for Cochrane…another 8 hours on the road. All said and done it takes more than 24 hours to arrive to Cochrane from Sacramento!
This week has been great. A lot of preaching activities and enjoying the beauty of Cochrane. Not even all that cold! I think Im a little more prepared this time! On our first day out Candace and I accompanied Juan on some of his studies in the afternoon. At one study there was a little old lady who was preparing the tea, Mate. In Chile, especially in the south, it is customary for the householders or neighbors to share their Mate with their visitors. They drink this herbal green plantlike tea out of a special metal straw. I hadn’t prepared Candace for the situation. We could see the water brewing and Juan kept talking about the tea and how great it was to have sweet Mate in the afternoon. Candace and I on the other hand were trying to avoid the situation of her sharing the Mate thinking she would forget to share, but no! The 85+ , teeth missing, sweet older lady pours the water over the already used tea and starts sipping it out of the dirty metal straw and then offers Candace the next sip. I tried answering for Candace saying “oh she can’t drink the mate” and took one for the team as I gulped down the liquid with my eyes closed!
Last night Candace and I had a part in the Theocratic Ministry School. It was not very comforting in the beginning of the talk when I heard a little boy yell out “Are they speaking in ENGLISH?!” Great. There’s an idea of how much my Spanish accent is improving.
This morning we had a great little experience with some Austrailans that we met. Cochrane is a pretty touristy town so there at people from all over that come here to see the beautiful sites. The man, John, talked to Candace and I for awhile. He was very nice and asked what we were doing here so we were able to give a witness. We ran into him again and I found 2 English magazines and said “okay! I only have 2 magazines left in English…and I would really like to give them to YOU! Have you seen the Watchtower and Awake?” He replied that he hadn’t. He is a pilot. Him and his wife travel all around…in fact they are doing a year excursion in South America. The Awake happened to have various articles on the places they would be visiting. He appreciated the conversation and it got Candace and I all pumped up!
Okay…much to do. There is a little taste of whats going on! Hope all is well!
Abrazos y Carinos y todo!
Chaooooooooo.Steph
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