Wow! I cant believe I am already writing about another week! Each day feels like a week…but the weeks feel like days! Its weird! But this week was wonderful. No complaints except for the Heat. 97 degrees most of the week. Its weird for me to think its January! I sometimos forget that I am in South America. Everything has become so normal for me here. But when I first got here I was like WHERE AM I! haha like for example today my companion was changing Money at the bank. And it was a HUGE bank..pretty nice. And I look down and there is a dog that just walked right by me. He had just walked in the bank like he owned the place or somthing. I just cant Picture Things like that happening in america. Nobody even tried to get him to leave. It was weird…but i laughed to myself.
Hmm Things have been good. Every week is very similar yet there is always crazy funny things that happen everyday. But everynight my mouth hurts from smiling all day. I am so happy. I have come to realize the harder you work the happier you will be. And you may not feel it at the moment but there is nothing more satisfying than laying in bed at night thinking about a day here after we have served with everything in us. Our toilet runs all night. Iv begun to try to Picture the noise as a waterfall.
So now I fall asleep to a waterfall.
Its not bad haha.
Last night we visited and helped an old old old woman. All she pretty much said to us was… Im all alone. I kept looking at my companion and thinking is she really saying this over and over again…or Am I just Still not understanding a single Word people are saying here. Well she was really saying it. She was just very sad… We sang for her and were going to bring her to church on Sunday. She is so excited!
Food is good. The fruits ahhhh!! I love them! Still amazing. But they dont have ranch here which im starting to miss. They eat mayo with EVERYTHING! It mean i like mayo but they dip EVERYTHING in it! Blah. We have a lady do our laundry for us here. We pay her 6 mill a month which is like $12.00. OUR CLOTHES come back cleaner than when we bought them. Im not kidding. She Works on every satín one by one. She said this brings her so much happiness to be doing OUR laundry. How sweet is she!! And you want to know something even sweeter. She puts a little stich of thread on the incide. We each have a color….So on the inside of my clothes I have this little stitch of red so she knows whos laundry is whos. I swear…its the simple things in life that are wonderful. Haha
This week we did a lot of service! It was fun! But the best part of the week was when we met this little girl and her mom. The 3 year old girl had downs syndrom and her name was rosia. I fell in love with her. She stole my Heart! My companion says Im never going to be able to leave this place because the Children FLOCK to me. I dont know what it is but I literally love the kids. I just play play play all day with them. But anyways, so we were teaching this woman…and 3 year old girl rosia kept trying to get my attention. So finally she went outside and starting climbing the fence. Okay so a fence here is different than fences in the status. They are taller than the house. The are to Project your home. So she starts climbing it and I run out to get here because there is only rocks on the ground and i was so afraid of her falling. So we brought her back in and we were talking to her mom and within probably 5 seconds I look OUT the window of her house and ALL i see is this little girls FEET! She has at the top of this 10 foot fence! I RAN OUT THERE SOOO FAST! So did her mom! I have NO idea how she got up there! She was sooo strong! Anyways. It was funny..but you might have had to see it for it to be funny. He he
Oh and Iv become obsessed with ice cream. They have the best here! And so ya know how I lost my wallet …well that sure didnt keep us from anything this week. We got free staff everywhere we went! The people are wonderful always giving us drinks, fresh fresh fruit, and ice cream! I love chile!
I will say…its not easy being here. I am exausted more than I have ever been. This is a ï feel like i just ran a marathon kind of tired…everyday. BUT OH SO WORTH IT!
I love you all and miss you….
Let me know if you need anything!! Or anybody in your prayers!
Thanks for your emails!!
paige
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
"AHHHHH LOOOOO"
Its been a rough one…but Some how everything always Works out. First off I had my wallet stollen on the bus...pretty much from right under me. I walked off the bus and realized I didnt have it and we checked and it was gone! My knees went weak, I thought I was going to fall over. It had my mission debit card, My Own Debit card, my texas drivers license, my flashdrive with ALL my pictures on it, and (40 mill-chilean money) which is about 80 dollars. There bills are really weird here so thats why I had that much money with me. So its gone. I was sick about it at first. But I put a stop on my cards and There sending me a new one. But the cash and flash card and my texas lisence are gone. Whats really weird is right before I left that day I had this feeling to take my chilean visa (which whats keeping me in the country) and hide it in my house. If that would have gotten stollen I would not have been able to stay in chile. So im thankful for that. Everything is working out. My companion is the BEST. She is so selfless and has been helping me so much! She is obsessssed with dr. pepper (just like you mom!) and hasnt had one in over a year (They dont sell it in chile ONLY COKE)...so If someone wants to send me a Dr. Pepper for her, I would love you foreveR! HAHA Anyways, enough about the bad stuff... things other than that are good! I get to start over in Feb. cuz´I´ll get some more money put into my account.
This week has been great. I love it because EVERYONE HERE works at the COMPO...which is where they grow all the fruit! EVERYKIND! So you dont even ask someone what they do for work you just ask what type of fruit they pick. ITs awesome. All week Iv had the freshest berries! I eat really healthy here because We eat so much fruit and salad and yogurt and then at lunch we have full course meals. But the bread...ahhh the bread. They make it fresh everyday....so Im obsessed! I eat bread all day...to the point where Im like addicted. If im not walking with a peice of a food in my hand, I will STOP and get some food. haha I feel like thats all I talk about is the Food in Chile!
The people. Wow the people are soooo loving! Well most of them. One of the girls we help is a girl named KArin (the r sounds like a D) She loves learning english so I LOVE IT. But shes 18 and I LOVE HER. ONe day Im gonna figure out a way for her to come visit me! She is amazing! Yesterday we went to make breakfast for her. We brought all the stuff to make french toast because they don´t really make stuff like that here...and we were in her kitchen and I just developed such a love for their family. I just felt so sad that they live like that. They had NOTHING. Yet, They had everything. It just makes me realize how UN-important materialistic things are.
This week has been fun! We laugh all day and die of heat. Its so hot here!!!! But we´re fine. Oh yesterday I met a little downsyndrom girl with here mom and she hid behind her mom while we talked to her mom. And so were having a conversation with her mom...and All of a sudden she POPS out and YELLS ¨MICHEALLLLL JACKSONNNN¨¨!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS HILARIOUS. She was adorable.
We were in this ladys home the other day with her little girl and she gave me this drink. And it was in a glass cup. It looked like water but it was kind of green and had little plants floating around in it and it was warm...and I was like Oh what is this....Except in spanish. And she said it was this drink she made up kinda like herbel tea. So i gave it a shot! I thought I was going to throw up. It was the literally the worst thing Iv ever tasted. And she kept asking me if I liked it...and I just like nodded...and I just couldnt keep drinking it, I thought I was going to throw up. So I just set it down. I hope she didnt get offended. I will just know to not drink those anymore...
On sunday I sang a solo in church. IN SPANISH. It was fun! I hope i sang the words right...People were crying all over...so either I butchered the song...or got it someone right.
The church was full because it was only an hour because it was voting day on sunday (cuz of the president elections) !! they love their new President here !
Today we met 2 americans!!! the first 2 since being here! Wow it was the biggest relief. I couldnt get a smile off my face. It felt amazing to speak english with them! ITs crazy how simple things like that make y day now. haha. Anyways!!! I gotta go we have lots to do today! Im gonna go sing on the street and try and make some money. hahajk.
Interesting fact about chile-
you dont knock on peoples doors...you stand at their gate infront of their house and YELL: AHHHH LOOO
its funny...Iv gotten used to it.
LOVE YOU ALLLL!! Thank you for all your emails! write to me if you can..its alot easier cuz I dont get too much email time!
LOVE,
PAIGE
Paige Corrine Conley
0´Higgens 940, Oficina 502
Concepción
Chile
This week has been great. I love it because EVERYONE HERE works at the COMPO...which is where they grow all the fruit! EVERYKIND! So you dont even ask someone what they do for work you just ask what type of fruit they pick. ITs awesome. All week Iv had the freshest berries! I eat really healthy here because We eat so much fruit and salad and yogurt and then at lunch we have full course meals. But the bread...ahhh the bread. They make it fresh everyday....so Im obsessed! I eat bread all day...to the point where Im like addicted. If im not walking with a peice of a food in my hand, I will STOP and get some food. haha I feel like thats all I talk about is the Food in Chile!
The people. Wow the people are soooo loving! Well most of them. One of the girls we help is a girl named KArin (the r sounds like a D) She loves learning english so I LOVE IT. But shes 18 and I LOVE HER. ONe day Im gonna figure out a way for her to come visit me! She is amazing! Yesterday we went to make breakfast for her. We brought all the stuff to make french toast because they don´t really make stuff like that here...and we were in her kitchen and I just developed such a love for their family. I just felt so sad that they live like that. They had NOTHING. Yet, They had everything. It just makes me realize how UN-important materialistic things are.
This week has been fun! We laugh all day and die of heat. Its so hot here!!!! But we´re fine. Oh yesterday I met a little downsyndrom girl with here mom and she hid behind her mom while we talked to her mom. And so were having a conversation with her mom...and All of a sudden she POPS out and YELLS ¨MICHEALLLLL JACKSONNNN¨¨!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS HILARIOUS. She was adorable.
We were in this ladys home the other day with her little girl and she gave me this drink. And it was in a glass cup. It looked like water but it was kind of green and had little plants floating around in it and it was warm...and I was like Oh what is this....Except in spanish. And she said it was this drink she made up kinda like herbel tea. So i gave it a shot! I thought I was going to throw up. It was the literally the worst thing Iv ever tasted. And she kept asking me if I liked it...and I just like nodded...and I just couldnt keep drinking it, I thought I was going to throw up. So I just set it down. I hope she didnt get offended. I will just know to not drink those anymore...
On sunday I sang a solo in church. IN SPANISH. It was fun! I hope i sang the words right...People were crying all over...so either I butchered the song...or got it someone right.
The church was full because it was only an hour because it was voting day on sunday (cuz of the president elections) !! they love their new President here !
Today we met 2 americans!!! the first 2 since being here! Wow it was the biggest relief. I couldnt get a smile off my face. It felt amazing to speak english with them! ITs crazy how simple things like that make y day now. haha. Anyways!!! I gotta go we have lots to do today! Im gonna go sing on the street and try and make some money. hahajk.
Interesting fact about chile-
you dont knock on peoples doors...you stand at their gate infront of their house and YELL: AHHHH LOOO
its funny...Iv gotten used to it.
LOVE YOU ALLLL!! Thank you for all your emails! write to me if you can..its alot easier cuz I dont get too much email time!
LOVE,
PAIGE
Paige Corrine Conley
0´Higgens 940, Oficina 502
Concepción
Chile
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
"I felt so at home"
Yay!! My second week in chile! Thank you for all your responses. We have to pay for Internet at the Internet café so i cant be on toooo long..so sorry if I dont get to respond right away! We also have to pay to use the restroom!! Hahaha I just payed like twenty cents to use a toilet with no SEAT. Haha
Everything is going well! I mean, I´ll be honest this week was a little tougher for me. Its really hard not being able to comunícate. I know I just need to be patient but I want to know now! Haha I have been trying to study really hard and listen to people as they talk but then i find myself nodding and smiling when they are asking me a question and then i just look to Hermana Williams and she helps. Shes awesome!
So let me share a few little things about the week. I have gained lots of weight. Im still being stuffed…but im getting a little more used to it. Actually i´ll be honest, a lot more used to it. Haha. I eat alot. We walk the entire day! So when your always moving, you always are hungary. There is fresh fruit everywhere but I like their bread….so I eat A LOT of bread. One day last week my hands swelled up after lunch, I was hoping that Im allergic to bananas so I dont have to eat them anymore and it would be a good excuse haha….but It must be something else because the next day it did the same thing. So im not sure. Haha. It was so funny though, my hands looked like mickey Mouse. My rings wouldnt come off. But that happens to alot of missionaries..they develop weird allergies. We also get eaten alive!!! I have like 20 bites on me. My roomate got like 45 bites from flees and other bugs one day and she doesnt have nails so I X´ed them all for her…. I love my roomates. We have electricity in our house…its not bad.. but If you saw it .. you would prob die. Haha. But im perfectly content. One other thing weird about Chile is they dont put ice in their drinks! And their juice is really thick. Its hard to get used to! So all the drinks are warm. It is a treta if someone gives you ice cube. Then you get atleast one sip thats somewhat cold haha. Everyone hear makes me sing! And they love to hear and learn English! They asked me to sing the titanic song yesterday….that shows how outdated they are here! Haha No, they know some american songs but everyhouse looks like your walking into the 1960´s. No joke.
Yesterday we me tour first English speaking person! It felt amazing!!!!!!!!!! He was sooo funny. He has family here and it was sooo nice to talk to him in english. I felt so at home. He is here until march and he gave us his phone number incase we need anything! He was great!
Thank you for all your emails! I was sooo excited to see them all! I know i cant respond to all of them but I apréciate them so much. Sorry if some of my words are misspelled. Microsoft Word keeps changing them because its formulated for Spanish. But my address is-
Paige Corrine Conley
0´Higgens 940, Oficina 502
Concepción
Chile
Mail takes awhile toget to me but I would love some letters! Also, I know im writing a mass email but if anyone has some good back strengthening excersises for me that would be great! I have to work out everymorning. Its a rule. (which is good) but I am having a lot of back pain so I need to build this back up. My mom just happened have very large breasts and I got that trait too….so its starting to wear on me. Haha. Just kidding.
But yes back exercises would be awesome!! Thank you!
I love you all sooo much! I think and pray for you always! This is an amazing experience and It is honestly the best decisión I ever made. I can tell there are going to be some hard days… But Your words of encouragement are so helpful!!
Love you alllllll!!
PAIGE
Everything is going well! I mean, I´ll be honest this week was a little tougher for me. Its really hard not being able to comunícate. I know I just need to be patient but I want to know now! Haha I have been trying to study really hard and listen to people as they talk but then i find myself nodding and smiling when they are asking me a question and then i just look to Hermana Williams and she helps. Shes awesome!
So let me share a few little things about the week. I have gained lots of weight. Im still being stuffed…but im getting a little more used to it. Actually i´ll be honest, a lot more used to it. Haha. I eat alot. We walk the entire day! So when your always moving, you always are hungary. There is fresh fruit everywhere but I like their bread….so I eat A LOT of bread. One day last week my hands swelled up after lunch, I was hoping that Im allergic to bananas so I dont have to eat them anymore and it would be a good excuse haha….but It must be something else because the next day it did the same thing. So im not sure. Haha. It was so funny though, my hands looked like mickey Mouse. My rings wouldnt come off. But that happens to alot of missionaries..they develop weird allergies. We also get eaten alive!!! I have like 20 bites on me. My roomate got like 45 bites from flees and other bugs one day and she doesnt have nails so I X´ed them all for her…. I love my roomates. We have electricity in our house…its not bad.. but If you saw it .. you would prob die. Haha. But im perfectly content. One other thing weird about Chile is they dont put ice in their drinks! And their juice is really thick. Its hard to get used to! So all the drinks are warm. It is a treta if someone gives you ice cube. Then you get atleast one sip thats somewhat cold haha. Everyone hear makes me sing! And they love to hear and learn English! They asked me to sing the titanic song yesterday….that shows how outdated they are here! Haha No, they know some american songs but everyhouse looks like your walking into the 1960´s. No joke.
Yesterday we me tour first English speaking person! It felt amazing!!!!!!!!!! He was sooo funny. He has family here and it was sooo nice to talk to him in english. I felt so at home. He is here until march and he gave us his phone number incase we need anything! He was great!
Thank you for all your emails! I was sooo excited to see them all! I know i cant respond to all of them but I apréciate them so much. Sorry if some of my words are misspelled. Microsoft Word keeps changing them because its formulated for Spanish. But my address is-
Paige Corrine Conley
0´Higgens 940, Oficina 502
Concepción
Chile
Mail takes awhile toget to me but I would love some letters! Also, I know im writing a mass email but if anyone has some good back strengthening excersises for me that would be great! I have to work out everymorning. Its a rule. (which is good) but I am having a lot of back pain so I need to build this back up. My mom just happened have very large breasts and I got that trait too….so its starting to wear on me. Haha. Just kidding.
But yes back exercises would be awesome!! Thank you!
I love you all sooo much! I think and pray for you always! This is an amazing experience and It is honestly the best decisión I ever made. I can tell there are going to be some hard days… But Your words of encouragement are so helpful!!
Love you alllllll!!
PAIGE
Monday, January 4, 2010
"I don't think I'll ever forget that moment."
HOLA!!!!It´s my first week in Chile and I ABSOLUTLY love it here!! This is seriously the best decision I EVER MADE! I email on Mondays and I AM 3 HOURS ahead of texas time. There is so much I want to say´...There has def. Been some changes in Culture. Every single female you see that you know you have to kiss on the cheek. Its funny because if you don´t say hi and goodbye to everyone you know or meet... they get offended. I love it though- we talk to hundreds of people everyday! The people are sooo loving. They are treating me like one of their own...although I look opposite off everyone in this entire city! They have not seen a Blonde in forever (I literally am like the only blonde light eyed person in this entire city) All day I heard ¨Rubia¨yelled....(which means blonde in spanish)...I love walking the streets as people play soccer (le football). Somehow the soccer ball always ¨accidently¨ gets kicked in our path so they have to run by us to get it.
In Chile its just the beginning of summer here so its HOTTTTTTT!!! We are outside the entire day from early in the morning until 10 at night so my skin is turning Brown. (so much time wasted at a Tanning Salon---shoulda just made a trip to chile haha) Currently I am at an internet place where you pay to use the internet per minute. And this keyboard is very weird...so forgive my typing and spelling errors. There is so much to tell! First off my companion is Kory Williams. She and I go everywhere together and never leave each others side. She is Blonde also, graphic design major, worked at chilis, is bff with her sister, went to byu idaho, athetic, and doesnt like dogs. I DONT think I could have been put with someone more perfect! We get along so great and laugh all day. She is my translater. She didnt know any spanish when she first got here and now she is FLUENT so she is really helping me out! It is tough being here and being the onlyyyyyyy person who has no idea what is being talked about. Haha. I have learned to recognized when she is about to laugh or smile so i know when to laugh....that way people don´t realize that I have NO idea what they just said. Haha...I know it will come! It just tough. She and I have had some awesome experiences. First the funny stuff. Obviosly being light skinned-light hair people think we are either German or American. So if were walking the streets...Chileans will randomly yell any ENGLISH word they know. Yesterday people yelled, ¨BBQ CHICKEN¨ WINDOW¨ ¨DOOR¨ !! So funny!
I am in a city 3 hours north of Concepcion called Linares. Its pretty run down...but the people are so humble and treasure what they have. Here-Lunch is the BIG meal of the day. Its like a lunch-dinner combined at 2 p.m. And um let me just say I will not be coming home skinny. We are fed everyday at 2 by a member of the church and how much food they give you is a way of showing you how much they love you. They use their finest dishes and set the table perfectly to try and help us enjoy our 1 time of day where we are sitting. They save for weeks to be able to pay for the meal to feed us. And they made everything homemade. You are expected to finish everything on the plate and when they offer you food it is rude to not accept it. Id say that I am a pretty big eater...but um How to I explain this-I have been given a new idea of the word BIG. My first day she served me a plate full of just chicken. The other plate was patatos pork and squash all mixed together. THE ENTIRE PLATE was full. The other plate is for bread and salad. In spanish the lady that fed us said to my companion (in spanish obviously) , ¨Shes too skinny-Were going to STUFF her¨
It took everything I had to finish all that food. I felt like I was eating a cow. My stomach literally looked like a basketball. Then she brings out this little plate for desert and sets the BIGGEST BANANA on it Iv ever seen in my entire life. Somehow I managed to get it down. Omg....It was hard. When we were leaving the ladies said to my roomates, ¨Good, Now you won´t have to put rocks in her pockets to keep the wind from blowing her away¨ !! haha....I can laugh about it now because Iv gotten used to it. It is like that every single day. I love love love their salads here! No ranch in chile though!! But I already have some really cool foods I can´t wait to make when I get home!
My spanish is coming along. We talk to sooooo many people. But it is extremely hard to understand chileans. They speak super fast and slur all their words together. Aldjfaldjfañlkjfdalsjdfahdfowuerouofjñlsdkmnñ....They would say all that just to say Have a good day. Haha....No not really. But thats what it feels like. So I just smile and laugh! Good thing smiling is universal. Whats helped me the most is our English classes. On Saturday i taught the whole class! It was really funy. They helped me with my spanish too...so it was a 2 way teaching haha.
Chilean fruit is amazing! They selll it on every corner and it is FRESH! I had the best nectorine yesterday. People in chile are very loving and um verrrrry relaxed. For example we will go to see someone at 330 in the afternoon and they will still be in their pajamas. Brit would love this place for that rea son alone. Haha. Another example of that would be like yesterday when we left the house early in the morning and this ollld man and his friend were just sittin in a old chair out by the road and when we came back that night at 10 they were still sitting there. That happens almost everyday....
There is something wonderful about being here though. Its a feeling of protection. I know that God is watching over us and I know we will be kept safe. In fact I have never felt safer.
Saturday was wonderful day! We decided to stop by this house of an old woman. It was literally made of scrap wood and branches. As we sat on broken chairs and talked with her. She could not stop smiling. I looked at her tearfilled eyes and when I looked away I took notice of the ground. She was living on Rocks and dirt. And this was normal for her...it was all she knew. The world stood still. I though about how humble she was. I thought about how thankful I need to be for all that I have..And I wanted to make every second I had here in Chile count. I don´t think I will ever forget that moment. Here was a lady who later explained that she had prayed that someone would visit here that day because She has been alone for years. And for some reason we felt the need to stop. Tears streamed down her face as we taught her about the Love God has for her. Somehow the spanish words were poaring out of my mouth...I can´t wait to return and visit her again.
Another lady we help is a lady named Jacquiline. She has 2 children. Her husband used to beat her and whenever he comes to town she has to hide so he doesnt come after her. It is very sad. When we went by to visit her yesterday she was at work. She lives in a tiny 2 room house. There were dishes and things everywhere. So we cleaned the whole room for her. I have never felt so happy cleaning something (sorry mom) . We are trying to help her get her life back on Track.
Another old lady we visited was sitting on her pourch and so we decided to stop and talk to her. She could barely hear or walk. She couldnt really hear what we were saying so We asked her if we could sing to her. We started to sing and when I took a moment to look up she got really emotional. The song we sang was about how christ can comfort us during hard times. She told us that she had recently lost her husband and it was very hard for her-especially with the health she was in. She said that she felt uplifted and was so grateful for our smiling faces.
The funny thing is...something so simple can make someones day. Believe me-it can be tough being here. We walk all day and my back and body are killng. But it is soooo worth it.
People call me Missionary Barbie haha. Its funny! In my eyes I look the opposite of a barbie! I dress for comfort and I am like always covered (it keeps us safe here)! Oh a funny fact about chile.... If you ask someone for directions ....if they don´t know how to tell you how to get there, they will just make something up. I think its hilarious because it happens all the time. ....Because they just don´t want to sound dumb by simply saying they don´t know. Hahaha.
So heres a funny story. We constantly have to be drinking water because the sun soaks all of our energy out of us! Well....One of my roomates had to go to the bathroom so bad and not everyone has bathrooms. In fact, sometimes you have to walk forever to get to one. Well she was like not going to be able to make it and so shes like, ¨I cant do it anymore I have to go¨ She literally stood there and just peed! It was the funniest thing ever! I love her. She seriously couldnt help it! Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Oh same girl- She is soooo awesome...but i swear she has the funniest stories. So last night she was visiting someone and she was sooo exausted. She was sitting there talking to the lady with her companion and I guess she felt like she was going to fall asleep...so she asked if she could go to the bathroom (cuz she just wanted to wake her body up) So she went to the bathroom and she said she sat on the toilet and accidently FELLLLLLL ALSEEP!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHA Her companion said she was in there for like 15 minutes hahahhaha.
We were teaching this 18 year old boyfriend and girlfriend (Karin and Orlando). They are hilarious! We love them! I can barely communicate through words but we always seem to find something to laugh at. The other day I was in the middle of teaching them all I could in spanish and I was like In deep thought and all of a sudden Orlando yells, ¨Wasss YOUR NAME¨ hahaha we died laughing. He must have been thinking of how to say the few words he learned in english class and finallly he rememebered them so he just had to blurt them out! It was so funny.
In Chile its just the beginning of summer here so its HOTTTTTTT!!! We are outside the entire day from early in the morning until 10 at night so my skin is turning Brown. (so much time wasted at a Tanning Salon---shoulda just made a trip to chile haha) Currently I am at an internet place where you pay to use the internet per minute. And this keyboard is very weird...so forgive my typing and spelling errors. There is so much to tell! First off my companion is Kory Williams. She and I go everywhere together and never leave each others side. She is Blonde also, graphic design major, worked at chilis, is bff with her sister, went to byu idaho, athetic, and doesnt like dogs. I DONT think I could have been put with someone more perfect! We get along so great and laugh all day. She is my translater. She didnt know any spanish when she first got here and now she is FLUENT so she is really helping me out! It is tough being here and being the onlyyyyyyy person who has no idea what is being talked about. Haha. I have learned to recognized when she is about to laugh or smile so i know when to laugh....that way people don´t realize that I have NO idea what they just said. Haha...I know it will come! It just tough. She and I have had some awesome experiences. First the funny stuff. Obviosly being light skinned-light hair people think we are either German or American. So if were walking the streets...Chileans will randomly yell any ENGLISH word they know. Yesterday people yelled, ¨BBQ CHICKEN¨ WINDOW¨ ¨DOOR¨ !! So funny!
I am in a city 3 hours north of Concepcion called Linares. Its pretty run down...but the people are so humble and treasure what they have. Here-Lunch is the BIG meal of the day. Its like a lunch-dinner combined at 2 p.m. And um let me just say I will not be coming home skinny. We are fed everyday at 2 by a member of the church and how much food they give you is a way of showing you how much they love you. They use their finest dishes and set the table perfectly to try and help us enjoy our 1 time of day where we are sitting. They save for weeks to be able to pay for the meal to feed us. And they made everything homemade. You are expected to finish everything on the plate and when they offer you food it is rude to not accept it. Id say that I am a pretty big eater...but um How to I explain this-I have been given a new idea of the word BIG. My first day she served me a plate full of just chicken. The other plate was patatos pork and squash all mixed together. THE ENTIRE PLATE was full. The other plate is for bread and salad. In spanish the lady that fed us said to my companion (in spanish obviously) , ¨Shes too skinny-Were going to STUFF her¨
It took everything I had to finish all that food. I felt like I was eating a cow. My stomach literally looked like a basketball. Then she brings out this little plate for desert and sets the BIGGEST BANANA on it Iv ever seen in my entire life. Somehow I managed to get it down. Omg....It was hard. When we were leaving the ladies said to my roomates, ¨Good, Now you won´t have to put rocks in her pockets to keep the wind from blowing her away¨ !! haha....I can laugh about it now because Iv gotten used to it. It is like that every single day. I love love love their salads here! No ranch in chile though!! But I already have some really cool foods I can´t wait to make when I get home!
My spanish is coming along. We talk to sooooo many people. But it is extremely hard to understand chileans. They speak super fast and slur all their words together. Aldjfaldjfañlkjfdalsjdfahdfowuerouofjñlsdkmnñ....They would say all that just to say Have a good day. Haha....No not really. But thats what it feels like. So I just smile and laugh! Good thing smiling is universal. Whats helped me the most is our English classes. On Saturday i taught the whole class! It was really funy. They helped me with my spanish too...so it was a 2 way teaching haha.
Chilean fruit is amazing! They selll it on every corner and it is FRESH! I had the best nectorine yesterday. People in chile are very loving and um verrrrry relaxed. For example we will go to see someone at 330 in the afternoon and they will still be in their pajamas. Brit would love this place for that rea son alone. Haha. Another example of that would be like yesterday when we left the house early in the morning and this ollld man and his friend were just sittin in a old chair out by the road and when we came back that night at 10 they were still sitting there. That happens almost everyday....
There is something wonderful about being here though. Its a feeling of protection. I know that God is watching over us and I know we will be kept safe. In fact I have never felt safer.
Saturday was wonderful day! We decided to stop by this house of an old woman. It was literally made of scrap wood and branches. As we sat on broken chairs and talked with her. She could not stop smiling. I looked at her tearfilled eyes and when I looked away I took notice of the ground. She was living on Rocks and dirt. And this was normal for her...it was all she knew. The world stood still. I though about how humble she was. I thought about how thankful I need to be for all that I have..And I wanted to make every second I had here in Chile count. I don´t think I will ever forget that moment. Here was a lady who later explained that she had prayed that someone would visit here that day because She has been alone for years. And for some reason we felt the need to stop. Tears streamed down her face as we taught her about the Love God has for her. Somehow the spanish words were poaring out of my mouth...I can´t wait to return and visit her again.
Another lady we help is a lady named Jacquiline. She has 2 children. Her husband used to beat her and whenever he comes to town she has to hide so he doesnt come after her. It is very sad. When we went by to visit her yesterday she was at work. She lives in a tiny 2 room house. There were dishes and things everywhere. So we cleaned the whole room for her. I have never felt so happy cleaning something (sorry mom) . We are trying to help her get her life back on Track.
Another old lady we visited was sitting on her pourch and so we decided to stop and talk to her. She could barely hear or walk. She couldnt really hear what we were saying so We asked her if we could sing to her. We started to sing and when I took a moment to look up she got really emotional. The song we sang was about how christ can comfort us during hard times. She told us that she had recently lost her husband and it was very hard for her-especially with the health she was in. She said that she felt uplifted and was so grateful for our smiling faces.
The funny thing is...something so simple can make someones day. Believe me-it can be tough being here. We walk all day and my back and body are killng. But it is soooo worth it.
People call me Missionary Barbie haha. Its funny! In my eyes I look the opposite of a barbie! I dress for comfort and I am like always covered (it keeps us safe here)! Oh a funny fact about chile.... If you ask someone for directions ....if they don´t know how to tell you how to get there, they will just make something up. I think its hilarious because it happens all the time. ....Because they just don´t want to sound dumb by simply saying they don´t know. Hahaha.
So heres a funny story. We constantly have to be drinking water because the sun soaks all of our energy out of us! Well....One of my roomates had to go to the bathroom so bad and not everyone has bathrooms. In fact, sometimes you have to walk forever to get to one. Well she was like not going to be able to make it and so shes like, ¨I cant do it anymore I have to go¨ She literally stood there and just peed! It was the funniest thing ever! I love her. She seriously couldnt help it! Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Oh same girl- She is soooo awesome...but i swear she has the funniest stories. So last night she was visiting someone and she was sooo exausted. She was sitting there talking to the lady with her companion and I guess she felt like she was going to fall asleep...so she asked if she could go to the bathroom (cuz she just wanted to wake her body up) So she went to the bathroom and she said she sat on the toilet and accidently FELLLLLLL ALSEEP!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHA Her companion said she was in there for like 15 minutes hahahhaha.
We were teaching this 18 year old boyfriend and girlfriend (Karin and Orlando). They are hilarious! We love them! I can barely communicate through words but we always seem to find something to laugh at. The other day I was in the middle of teaching them all I could in spanish and I was like In deep thought and all of a sudden Orlando yells, ¨Wasss YOUR NAME¨ hahaha we died laughing. He must have been thinking of how to say the few words he learned in english class and finallly he rememebered them so he just had to blurt them out! It was so funny.
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