Certainly not expecting a white Christmas in Chile

Well, after a cold beginning in Chile, I can say for sure now that we've entered the heat of the summer. Lately I just try to stay out of the sun and walk around barefoot in our house since the floor is much cooler than any other place. The Christmas tree is up and decorated, but right now it's hard to believe that Christmas is just a few days away. Instead it feels like we should be celebrating the 4th of July or a summer birthday party.

Last week we had a few goodbye parties for Bridget. . .here's a picture from the first one with a lot of the core women from the house (it was really hard to get everyone in the picture).

Here's Bridget with two of my most favorite old ladies. . .they certainly keep us on our toes.

On Monday of this week Caryn, Bridget's host family, and I went to the airport in Santiago to say goodbye to Bridget. After weeks (maybe months) of crying, Sandra, Bridget's host mom, handled the experience pretty well. Caryn and I are especially sad to see Bridget go. . .our peer group has dwindled from three to two. It's tough sometimes to live in a town where most people our age are either married and having children or still live at home with their parents, waiting to get married. The idea of being a somewhat independent twenty-something year old just isn't quite the norm here.

After dropping Bridget off in the airport, Caryn and I stayed with Sandra and Valentina and some of their family in Santiago for a few days. We visited Vina del Mar and Valparaiso for a day, and we'll both be heading back to visit there in a few weeks with our families. The two places are sort of like twin cities (or joined cities?) on the coast of Chile, north of Santiago, and they're built up into a hill right up from the water's edge. Caryn and I basically checked out the area, found a hotel, and located what looked like some good restaurants so that we have an idea of what to do when our families arrive. On Thursday we hung out in Santiago, doing some Christmas shopping and wandering around in the heat downtown.

For Christmas it sounds like we're going to Mass on Christmas Eve and will then come back to the house and eat snacks, drink champagne, and exchange gifts between the gringos. For Christmas day we're planning to meet up with the Maryknollers in the country at a beach a few hours from here. It sounds like it should be a good time--but definitely not the Christmas that we're used to in the States.

This picture somehow didn't make it in my last post, but this is us dressed up with Bridget's English class to sing "Old McDonald" for the end of the year party. . .what lovely costumes we had!

From Thanksgiving to the end of the year party

Thanksgiving dinner ended up being quite fun, even though it was a decent amount of work, especially for a group of us who had never prepared a full Thanksgiving before. Mimi, Ruth, Bridget, Caryn, and I invited some of the Chileans that we're closest with over for the event. The funniest part of the whole meal was probably the horrified looks on the faces of our guests when we explained that this meal would be self-served in a buffet style. Completely unheard of in their parties, we really had to convince them that it was okay to take as much or as little as they wanted. Below is a picture of the whole group:

The Friday following Thanksgiving Mimi, Ruth, Caryn, and I attended a retreat in El Quisco, a beach town about seven hours north of Chillan. We travelled by bus to Santiago (and man, I must say, we watched some really lovely movies on the bus ride there. . .all containing extreme amounts of violence), ate lunch, and then got on another bus to El Quisco. It's a beautiful town, and the retreat center that we stayed at was less than a fifteen minute walk from the beach. The retreat was hosted by the Chile Maryknollers, and was definitely the most, um, interesting retreat I've ever been on, with very alternative ideas of spirituality. In any case, it was nice to get out of Chillan for a week and hang out at the beach a little, even though it was waaaaaaaaaaaay too cold to even consider going in the water. Meanwhile, back in Chillan, summer has truly arrived.

Here's a picture from the beach at El Quisco:

And here are the really large, creepy looking spiders that I called tarantulas (but really are not at all harmful) that were hanging out around the retreat center:

This is Caryn, Sarah (a Maryknoller), and I hanging out at Isla Negra, the home of famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. It was easily one of the strangest places I've ever been based on the odd things this man collected, but the view was gorgeous.

This week we had our end of the year party at the house, which of course involved lots of eating and then each class performed a skit. It really was a lot of fun, especially after all the hard work that went into it.

Today we put up a Christmas tree, which just feels super strange considering it's quite hot outside. We're trying though--we watched Love Actually last night and keep listening to Christmas music whenever we can.

Photos from the past few entries

Here are some pictures that really belong with the past few entries, but this is a faster way for me to put them up.



This is from Daniela's birthday party, before they smashed her face in the cake.

Here's Diana Margarita and Gabi at the Abuelo's birthday party.

Ruth, Mimi, Caryn, and Jaime celebrating Jaime's dad's retirement.



This is Matias and Sebastian hanging out at a confirmation party.

Here's the abuelito opening presents at about 2 AM on his 80th birthday.

Thanksgiving gringo style tomorrow

The time just keeps flying by here and Chile. It's hard to believe that next week is already Thanksgiving, especially since we're well into spring and almost in summer here now. It's a little strange to be headed into the winter holidays with roses blooming everywhere, but I suppose we'll made do without a white Christmas this year.

Tomorrow Mimi, Caryn, Bridget, Ruth (the North American nun who just moved in with us), and I are planning a Thanksgiving dinner with a few families from the neighborhood. Obviously Thanksgiving is not something that is celebrated here, so we're having to make do with our courses and accept that there will be no cranberry sauce or full turkey (but we are having turkey--no worries!). We'll see how it turns out, since none of us really knows how to make some of the stuff. . .but in any case it should be a fun experience.

The last few weeks Caryn and I seem to have been crazy busy. For one, a couple weeks back Bridget's uncle Tony came to visit, and we ended up spending a lot of time with them. Ruth arrived on almost exactly the same day, so there have also been a few more people around. For one, when Tony was here we went out to a place in the woods in the mountains where Caryn and I will go camping this summer with one of the families that we're close to. Bridget had been there before and asked Carola if she could take us out there to show her uncle. We hiked around to a gorgeous area with a waterfall, but to be honest, if you're slightly clumsy (like me!), the climbing around part was a little difficult and scary. I only managed to fall a couple of times, but hanging out on wet rocks just might not be my strong point in life. I'll post some of Caryn's pictures from that day eventually.

The day after our trip to the waterfall we had an asado (a cookout) in the campo with Sandra, Bridget's host mom. That was enjoyable and laid-back, but then Sandra wanted to take us to this German park thing nearby. We didn't really know what we were getting into, but this was easily one of the strangest places I've ever been in my life. It was this giant German area in the middle of the campo with a playground for kids, a gigantic tent restaurant thing, and a fake pig that claims to sing and dance (totally creepy). I'll have to post a picture of that, because words certainly do not describe how weird this pig is. Later on we learned that this area was where many people were tortured during the Pinochet dictatorship, since a lot of the Germans (who had fled Germany after World War II) were closely connected to the government at that time.

That same weekend we went to a festival in Puertezuelo with Tony and Carola's family. After cramming into the pickup truck (five of us in the cabin with a gigantic sombrero that we thought was a drum since it was in a case and a guitar and another seven people in the back part), we drove for about a half an hour until we arrived in the town for this festival. It was really fun, with lots of eating, singing, and dancing, and it lasted literally all night. The kids that came with us all ended up going out to sleep in the truck, but we stayed until about six in the morning when the festival finally ended. The Chileans sure do love to stay up all night--no matter how old or young you are.

Tonight we're headed to the Victor Jara festival, which will be another festival full of music and dancing, from what I can tell. I'll write more about this sometime soon.

Beyond going to festivals and parties, Caryn and I have added a few new things to our weeks. We continue to teach English to third and fourth graders, we assist with English at another school with sixth and eighth graders, we hang out with the senior citizens in the chapel once a week, and now we've been asked to try to start a youth group at the church in addition to hanging out with the women at the house and learning how to weave. Overall, we seem to have become pretty busy these last few weeks.

Alright, I think that's all for now. Ruth's been working on a webpage for the Casa Ursulina, so be sure to check it out!

Two months in

Well, it's been awhile since my last post, and we've been pretty busy since then.

As of the last time I'd written, we were headed to a birthday party and then a trip to Vilches. That weekend ended up being quite fun. It seems like basically everytime we're invited to a birthday party, it's with the Pulgar family. Carola, the woman that Caryn and I know best in this family, is one of 12 sisters and brothers. She has four children and lives just around the block from us, and she's a wonderful person that helps us out in whatever way she can. Anyways, the birthday party that we attended that weekend was for one of her relatives, and like always, it was quite a feast of barbecued meat, lots of salads, soup, and plenty of other food. At that party Caryn and I ended up napping in someone's bed there--it was sort of like eating Thanksgiving dinner and then just wanting to go to sleep afterwards. We didn't make it the duration of the party, which went well into the night, as we knew we needed to get up and travel the next day.

On Sunday of that weekend we went to Ted and Maruja's place in Vilches. Not knowing exactly where we were headed, Caryn, Bridget and I just got on the bus and hoped for the best. When the person collecting money for the ride asked us where we were going, we described the place as we'd been told, and finally he said, "Oh, the place where the gringos (Americans) live! Yeah, I'll tell you when to get off." They do live in a small town, but it's just really funny when random people on the bus figure out where you're going and then warn you to get off. We spent a few nights there, which was a really great experience. We got the chance to go hike around in the mountains and down by a gorgeous river, but there was also time to rest as well.





Last weekend was fairly normal and relaxed. We hosted a lunch at our house for the anniversary of the death of the mother of some of Mimi's godchildren. Maybe I shouldn't say we hosted. . .they brought and prepared food for the 20 or so people that came. It was really good, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It's interesting how much time people spend celebrating and remembering and eating here. In some ways, it seems a lot healthier and like people actually get together and spend time with their families more than just a few times a year.

This past week the house received a free bus and tickets to go up to the the Termas de Chillan, hot springs up in the mountains. It's about an hour and a half away from here, curving up the side of the mountain. Everyone packs gigantic lunches to share for the day. Caryn and I were a little bit confused--when we started to think about what we wanted to pack, we were thinking things like sandwiches, a piece of fruit, maybe some crackers or chips. Instead, we ended up making things like an entire pasta salad, egg salad to share, pevre (a sort of salsa thing), ants on a log (you know, celery with peanut butter and raisins. . .except we forgot the raisins), all kinds of things. You just end up taking your kitchen their with you. There are three pools of hot water of varying heat and depth. It was an interesting experience. . .some of the women were covering their faces with the mud from the pools, saying that it's really good for your skin. I just sat and tried to not get burned--by the sun or the water. About a half an hour before we were supposed to leave it started to get really cold and was threatening rain, so everyone packed up and got on the bus a little early. The bus ride is an interesting one. There were something like 45 seats, 51 adults came, and then they're allowed to bring their children, who are held on laps or sit on stools that we brought along. For instance, Caryn and I sat in the front seat with a thirteen year old girl in between us and I held a nine year old for most of the ride since she also suffers from motion sickness like I do. Everyone just crams in like sardines. . .the claustraphobia when you first get on the bus can be immense since nobody can figure out where to sit or how to fit everyone. With time, though, it gets figured out and everyone survives the trip.

Besides our normal routine for the week, we had two birthday parties to attend yesterday as well. One was for Daniela, who turned 11, and another was for someone we just call "Abuelito" who turned 80 (he's Carola's father-in-law). The party for Daniela was nice and not much different than a party for kids in the States. Abuelito's party, though, was something else. More than sixty people showed up at their house around 9:00, and at 3:30 AM when Caryn and I left they were still going strong. They set up gigantic tables outside, and everyone sat down together to eat his birthday dinner. It was incredible--Caryn and I were sort of expecting a buffet kind of thing or pick at food whenever you want to experience, but nope, this was a full out meal in which we were served our food by the cousins in the family and everything. It was really good, and the abuelo seemed really happy that so many people made it. After dinner, the tables were pushed aside and everyone started dancing, and then some of the guys pulled out their guitars and they sang for awhile until we returned to dancing again. Overall, it was a great night.

As for this week, Sister Ruth arrives to move into the house with us on Wednesday, and Bridget's uncle will be visiting from the States for the week. It looks to be another intersesting week!

Getting used to life in Chillan

Well, since it's already been nearly two weeks since my last post, I suppose it's time to write something new. It seems like time is already flying by here--it's hard to believe that Caryn and I have been here for about six weeks now!

Lately we've been adding new activities to our schedules. This week, for instance, we began teaching English at one of the local schools. There's only one class for each grade, and, well, even though I've only been there for one morning, I think it's safe to say that the school is lacking in many areas. In any case, Caryn and I decided to start off by only teaching two grades--3rd and 4th--to get a feel for it before we decide to take on any more than that. Although teaching went relatively well (thank goodness for the experience working at Arrupe this summer!), walking into the school was quite overwhelming. For one, most of the kids were at recess, so we walked into a swarm of children. The other thing that certainly wasn't helpful for me is that many people here think that I look like a former volunteer (who also taught at this school), so much so that they run around yelling "Tia Betsy is back!". It's a confusing process to explain to little kids that you're not the person you think they are. Anyways, our third grade class was a little crazy but nothing too terrible, and our fourth grade class was quite calm and under control. Considering how concerned everyone was for us here at the house that we wouldn't be able to handle the situation, I think we did pretty well. For now we're going to keep teaching every Wednesday morning until the end of the school year in December, and then we can decide what we want to do next school year.

The other activity that we added for sure this week is hanging out with a group of senior citizens on Wednesday afternoons. Every Wednesday there's a free lunch for seniors at the local chapel, and since they arrive at 12:30 for lunch and then have a meeting at 3:00, many of them just hang out after lunch until their meeting. Apparently the time passes slowly with little to do, so Caryn and I are going to start hanging out with them, bring cards and bingo and things like that. There are only about nine of them, so if anything it probably won't be too overwhelming. In fact, it seems like this will be a good way to get to learn more about the history of Chile right from the people who experienced it here firsthand.

Other than that, Caryn and I are about to finish weaving our first scarf (which certainly has its, um, "artistic" parts). I took a giant blanket off my bed today, which is a good sign for me that it's finally getting warmer outside. Our pregnant cat just had four kittens, which are sooooo tiny. It's a game to try to touch them--you have to wait until the mother cat gets trapped outside so that she won't ferociously attack you.

This weekend we have a birthday party to attend, and then since it's a holiday weekend (yep, Columbus day. . .) we're heading out to the country to visit Ted and Meruja and their daughter--they're a Maryknoll family here in Chile.

"Yesterday"

It's finally starting to warm up. . .I even went around in short sleeves yesterday!

The Spanish is getting better little by little. It helps that Caryn and I have been trying to spend more time with Carola, a woman who lives just down the block who speaks English and has time in the morning to hang out and do little Spanish and cooking lessons. Her son is marrying a former volunteer in December, so she's pretty used to having gringas around and understands what's hard for us to learn and what words are difficult for us to pronounce.

Today at Mass the choir was singing as usual. However, Caryn pointed out that something was a little weird. They were singing their hymn to the tune of "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. We stifled our laughter and figured it was just a coincidence. Later in the afternoon there was a large church procession that we attended. Everyone met at their respective parishes and chapels and then joined a procession that ended in the park of the nearby neighborhood for an open-air Mass with the bishop, which we hadn't originally intended to attend. Anyways, about halfway through the Mass the choir begins singing, and I look at Caryn, and this time there was no hope for stifling laughter. The song "Holy, Holy" was being sung to the tune of "Yesterday" by The Beatles. Even all of the Chileans standing nearby were laughing, as most of them could recognize the song. It was absolutely hilarious. . .and Caryn and I now know that indeed, we will continue to hear church songs to the tune of pop music from the States.

A week of celebrations

It’s a cold, rainy, blustery day today in Chillan. Since we’re enjoying the week off in honor of the 18th, the independence day, it’s a nice day to stay in pajamas and never leave the warmth of your bed. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s about 55 degrees outside (yeah. . .I just had to look it up online in order to find out how to convert the celsius to fahrenheit) and it’s usually a little cooler inside. I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t need to wear two (sometimes three) pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, and who knows how many shirts. Last night I came home and put on a winter hat for awhile because I just couldn’t warm up. . .too bad it gets way colder than this in the winter time (June, July, and August).

Sooo where should I start? Perhaps with the Bio-dance class I experienced last Wednesday. Some of you would love Bio-dance (Ashley Boone, I especially think of you). I, for one, find it a little strange. Bio-dance is a class that’s offered here at the center, and apparently it’s somewhat popular here. I don’t really know much about it, so all I can do is explain the class that I participated in. Basically, everyone in the group comes in, takes off their shoes, and sits on a giant rug on the floor. When everyone’s in the room, the teacher shuts the doors so as to create a safe space (sort of like being in a CLC or something), and people who aren’t in the class aren’t allowed to wander in and out. The women then take turns sharing what they experienced in the previous class, and then the class activities begin. Basically, it’s about expressing yourself through dance. There are different activities, some individually-oriented and others more group- or community-oriented. The women seem to really enjoy it and they’ve created a great feeling of community within the group, but it was a little weird for an outsider to join in. The other thing that made the class strange for me was that the teacher used some music from the States, which, being in English, I could clearly understand. I have to admit that I was a little confused when a song all about loneliness came on when the women were doing a community-oriented activity. I’m doubtful that I’ll be returning to that class anytime soon, especially since the music kept making me laugh at inappropriate times, but it seems like the women really enjoy it and will be going at it for awhile.

On that same Wednesday I started to get a cold, which really sucked. Thursday the cold only got worse, and I think I slept more of that day than I was awake. When I went to an art class on Thursday at the house, one of the women who had been in bio-dance with me asked me if I was feeling worse than the previous day. I admitted that yes, I felt pretty sick and was struggling just to be out of my bed. In typical Chilean fashion, her response was that she noticed that in class the day before I had stepped off the rug onto the tile floor while wearing only my socks, and she KNEW I was going to get even sicker after that. I’ve already been warned enough that Chileans (or at least the women who come to the house) believe that walking around barefoot or in your socks on a cold tile floor means that you most definitely WILL get sick, no question about it. Wet hair is another really bad idea. It’s best to not let anyone know if you choose to not blow dry your hair after you shower, or you’ll get a good long lecture afterwards about how sick you’re going to be. The temperature has everything to do with getting cold. When I was sick, nobody cared. . .they all still kissed me on the cheek everytime they entered the room, it wasn’t a big deal to drink out of the same glass as me or pick up food off my plate. . .definitely not like when someone is sick in the States.

On Friday Caryn and I went with Mimi to Mass at the local chapel because there was a little social gathering afterwards to begin celebrating for the 18th. The priest is new to the area. He’s really young (36) and super animated. He does random things, like in the middle of his homily he asked Mimi who Caryn and I were, so then she had to introduce us to everyone as he asked questions about whether or not we could even understand him since he said we looked like we didn’t know what was going on. He randomly throws in a word in English, which can be a little strange and sort of overwhelming when everyone in the church turns and stares at you. After Mass everyone went to eat empanadas (meat filled pastries) and drink ponche (a mixture of white wine and peaches), which was only the beginning of many many many many empanadas in the past few days. That same night there were a bunch of women at the house making pino, the onion-meat mixture that would go in the empanadas to be made the next day. They made enough for about 400 empanadas, and let me tell you, the house still sometimes smells like onions to me.

Beginning in the morning on Saturday women were here working all day to make empanadas for the evening party. We were actually able to help with this process, rolling out the maza (dough stuff) and filling it with the pino (meat mixture). Even Caryn, the vegetarian helped fill them.

It was a fun day, but definitely a long day of work. For lunch we once again ate empanadas.







In the evening, Bridget, Caryn, and I put on the chinita dresses that had been lent to us so that we could “fully” participate in the party. I felt a little (and by a little I actually mean a lot) ridiculous wearing this traditional Chilean dress, but everyone seemed to get a kick out of it.

We basically just sat around and ate more empanadas that night (we switched it up and ate some fried cheese empanadas this time and anticuchos, long sticks full of meat). We had beautiful live music for awhile, and then switched over to a DJ with tons of cueca music. Oh, cueca. So much cueca. I’m not sure that I ever want to hear another cueca song again, but somehow I doubt that’s possible. All three of us each danced at least one cueca, and let me tell you, I think we were all pretty relieved when the music switched over to salsa and merengue and cumbia. The party lasted until about 3am, and the house was a disaster afterwards. . .

On Sunday Caryn and I went with Bridget’s host family to our first asado, or large barbecue with tons and tons of meat. Tons. Caryn, who has been a vegetarian for at least five years, even participated in the meat-eating activities. Then, what do you know, we ate empanadas once again.

I swear, it’s just a week of partying. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were national holidays, so nobody had to work, and most schools are actually closed Thursday and Friday. Monday night we ate, can you believe it, empanadas once again at a woman’s house around the corner. Afterwards they invited us to her brother’s house for continued celebrations. Everyone went, including the daughters who are only 10 and 12, even though we didn’t leave for the brother’s house until about midnight. It was a good night of drinking wine, sitting around listening to everyone else sing Chilean songs while two of the brothers played guitar, and then dancing to whatever music came on. We finally left around 3:30am, but it seemed like everyone else would continue for quite awhile.

Yesterday we hung out in the campo most of the day at the local school there, which 22 children attend up to sixth grade with one teacher. There were some interesting activities, from horseback riding to three-legged races to tug of war to catch the chicken/pig and win it. We had another asado at night with plenty of meat again, but thankfully for once we actually came back at a decent hour.

Who knows what’s in store for us next, but today we graciously declined an invitation for lunch. . .I think we just needed a rest from all this constant activity. For the most part, the language seems to be getting a bit easier and I’m feeling more and more comfortable in my surroundings, but it is really hard to get used to the constant cold.

After one week in La Casa Ursulina

Well, after surviving one week and one day in la Casa Ursulina, I'm starting to feel a little bit more accustomed to my new surroundings and the people that I live and work with. That doesn't necessarily mean that I know how to use public transportation or how to find where I live, but that will come with time.

Throughout the past few months, many of you have asked me what I would actually be doing once I arrived here. I really didn't have much of an idea besides working at a women's center, but now I feel like I'm starting to figure it out a little better. From now really through December Caryn and I are just supposed to be getting used to the house, getting to know the women who come to the center, and working on our Spanish. For the time being, my day mostly consists of waking up, eating breakfast with the three women who work at the house and Mimi, the nun in charge, and sometimes a few other women who volunteer here. After that, it really just depends what's going on that day as to what we're going to do. Three times a week the other gringas (American girls) and I do Tae-Boe with one of the women from the community for about an hour, and then we either go downtown to run errands or do some sort of task around the house. For instance, today we learned how to clean out wool that has been shaved off of sheep. It's really actually a disgusting process that makes me appreciate wool so much more. You basically pull apart the wool so that all the dirt, poop, and other random things stuck in it falls off. After that it gets washed, you do the same cleaning process, and it gets washed again. We haven't learned much past that step yet, but we'll get to the point where we can actually spin the wool, which should be interesting.

Most of the classes here are either craft classes or exercise/dance classes. There's crocheting (but not like we do in the States usually. . .they use super fine yarn and make table cloths and other things that require intricate designs), painting on fabric, ceramic painting, making blankets out of used clothing and materials, and weaving, which I started to learn how to do today. As for the others, there's a regular excercise class, belly-dancing (which isn't nearly as strange as I thought it would be), and something called bio-dance, which I have yet to experience, though that also sounds a little weird. On Fridays we have a class for pregnant/parenting teens, which I'm excited to get more involved with.

This weekend the house is having a huge party/benefit to celebrate the 18th, independence day, which is a huge huge huge holiday here. Most people will have all of the next week off. We'll spend the weekend making empanadas and dancing the cueca, the national dance here. I've actually been attending class with the other two gringas to learn how to do the dance, and the teacher keeps telling us that we've learned it better than most Chileans now--who knows if she's just saying that, but we're quite proud about it!

Hasta pronto!

And so the adventure begins. . .

First off, sorry to all of you who may have been waiting to hear if I'm alive or not. It's been a busy first week with not much time for internet, but we're definitely off to a good start.

I left the States last Tuesday on an overnight flight to Santiago, Chile with Caryn, the other wonderful volunteer that I live and work with. After a very long flight, we arrived in Chile with the normal fun times of paying customs fees and getting our passports stamped. Bridget, the HM volunteer for the past year who will be here until December, picked us up with a Maryknoller named Judy who lives in the city. From there we headed to Judy's house for a good long nap and some wonderful empanadas (meat-filled pastry things that Chileans love!). It was quite cold in the evenings, but everyone assures us that it is currently spring and that it's actually getting warmer right now.

After a few days of rest and relaxation at Judy's, Bridget, Caryn, Sarah (a young lay Maryknoll volunteer who arrived only a few months ago), and I headed out to Los Farellones, a sort of ski resort area up in the mountains. When I get a chance I'll post some pictures of the beautiful scenery that we encountered there. After much confusion about when we would actually be leaving for the mountains and where we were staying, a friend of a friend of Bridget's picked us up and drove us to our home for the weekend. For those of you who know me quite well, you know that a one and a half hour ride up a mountain is not exactly the easiest thing for my motion-sick stomach, but somehow I survived the at least forty or so hairpin curves. When we got to the top (about 2800 meters), I experienced a little bit of altitude sickness, but nothing too terrible. We stayed at Bridget's friend's house, who is actually a cop in Los Farellones (which means he skis a heck of a lot). He left us to ourselves most of the time, so we basically just hung out and got to know each other better. After much deliberation, we didn't end up going skiing at one of the beautiful resorts, but we did go sledding down the side of what appeared to be some sort of random mountain that the cop took us to. It was quite the adventure, which involved the other building a jump while I rested at the top of the hill, exhausted from just a few rides down. Overall we had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other in such a gorgeous place, and we all made it out without broken bones!

Yesterday we arrived in Chillan, our home for the next fifteen months. After a four and a half hour train ride south of Santiago, we were greeted here by about twenty of the women who are most involved in the women's center. They were very welcoming and excited to meet us, but it was quite overwhelming to enter the crazy world of Chilean Spanish (with lots of missing syllables and strange slang) with a regularly scheduled meeting of so many people. We unpacked last night and just got settled, learning how to use hot water bottles to make our beds warm or figure out which of the billion cats around here actually belong to the house. Caryn and I actually live where we work with a nun from Kentucky named Mimi. She's been wonderful in helping us get accustomed to our new surroundings. Today we saw how the house functions on a normal day--errands and things in the mornings followed by a huge lunch and classes in the afternoon. Many of the women here are involved with weaving and crocheting and even spinning wool, so we have plenty of things to learn how to do and watch with awe. They all seem like great people. . .once I can better understand what they're saying!

So basically, Chile is somewhat cold right now, the women are all very nice, the Spanish is difficult to understand, the food is good, and I've got a warm water bottle waiting for me in my bed!

Welcome to my blog!

I've started this blog to keep everyone updated about my upcoming fifteen months in Chile and the many people and adventures that I encounter. I hope that you'll check this site from time to time as a way to keep in touch. Feel free to e-mail me at kristy.calaway@gmail.com, as I'd love to hear from you, even if it takes me awhile to respond.