3/2/10
What an adventure life has been lately. Wow, just goes to show how things in life can change so fast. In the past two weeks I have learned to be so much more thankful for the things that I have than I had been before.
The Eveningsun wrote a nice article about my experience in the Chilean Earthquake but I'll do a quick summary of my experience.
I arrived in Vina Feb. 18th. I spent a few days in MOU (MisionOperacionUrbana). It was such a great experience. We basically had mini conference sessions about various bible topics, sang, had quiet time, went out in the streets to hand out papers about the bible and Jesus, danced, and enjoyed each other's company while eating good food, sleeping on the floor, and taking quick showers. I felt so welcomed there. It was slightly scary but I felt so energized when I got to talk to some people.
After the conference I went back to Valpo to spend a couple days with my friend Bedsabed. Her house isn't anything extravagent but wow, I felt welcomed and at home there. It made me look at my own life and the stuff I have in a new way. She shared whatever she had with me. It didn't matter if the bathroom wasn't the cleanest or the sheets the most comfortable, all that mattered was that they had the stuff they had. I don't think I had ever eaten so many potatoes at one time though :P We also spent time in her house in Loncura. I think that was probably my favorite experience in my time with her. Once again the house was small but the town was small too. The people were so friendly and so welcoming to me. The dirt roads, small stores, the fresh bread, the mini carnival/games of fooseball, ice cream, and just the feeling of closeness made me appreciate life in Chile so much more. I felt so content there and I am thankful that we could go for a short time. I think it is important to leave the city once in awhile to see things from a new perspective. It really is refreshing.
Wednesday night (before I left for Santiago) I had the opportunity to go to the Festival de Vina del Mar. Basically it is the biggest international music festival in South America. It was so fun. I went with Bedsabed, her sister, and Andres. We all had fun :) It was chilly and went from 10pm until 3:00am but it was awesome. There was a comedian that I couldnt really understand and two music artists: Raphel? and Mirando (?). But anyways, we danced, sang, etc. I only slept an hour before I packed up my things and took a bus to the airport to meet up with the ISA group.
When I arrived in at the airport, I first felt proud that I easily made it there by myself :) and I felt so welcomed and so mature because I could help the staff and be a resource for the new students.
Our experience in Santiago was shortlived as we only spent 2 nights there. But we played lots of Dutch Blitz, ate yummy italian, and I had the opportunity to meet some great people.
t was about 3:30 in the morning and I had just gone to bed about an hour before it happened. My roommates and I were on the 9th floor of our hotel in our room. At first I thought my roommate was just waking me up to ask me a question but then I realized it wasn't her. My next thought was that it was just a tremor because they happen quite frequently in Chile. However, I quickly realized that what was going on was much stronger. It was an earthquake. At first, I really didn't realize what was going on. It was completely dark in my room. I really didn't want to leave my bed. The adreneline overtook me though and I quickly realized that I needed to get up and go to the doorway. My roommate and I basically ran there. It was so hard to walk in the dark because I later realized our TV had fallen. I was a bit scared and disoriented. It was the strangest feeling I had ever experienced. I was also worried about what was going to happen to us and the building. Then I was worried about everyone else. But I knew that I was ok and so were my roommates. I just hoped that somehow we'd get through it. My roommates and I were a bit freaked out and we started to hear a bit of chaos outside. When things calmed we met outside with the rest of the group and our directors from International Studies Abroad. The group from Messiah College (my home college) and I met up and played a game we called "Escombros" aka: Rubble. Basically it was spoons with pieces of dry wall from the building. We were all thankful, in good spirits, and in great hands. We went through a period with limited internet access and switched hotels because there was fear that ours was not stable enough. The resort was goregous. I felt bad though that we could be there comfortably with running water, electricity, a ton of food, pools, etc. but it was for our wellbeing and a good place to debrief and regroup. We had limited internet access but unlimited icecream ;)And beautiful views to see. Monday we moved into our host families.
Things are getting back to normal now. Everyone is still precautious because there are frequent aftershocks. The water has returned to my host family today but they still continue to work on it so it can turn off at any time. Communication means are slowly coming back together too. Where I am we are thankful that things were not worse. Though, people feel for those who have lost family members, homes, etc. It is a "pena". But seems like people are in good spirits.
I personally feel thankful and extremely blessed. I am extremely happy to be surrounded by so many people that I love here and that all of my friends are doing well. Though, I feel sad to see the news of those who have lost so much. It is hard to see and to think that could have been me. I want to help them. I will finish out the semester. I am very excited to do so. I also hope to return in the future to visit.
Through God's grace we were carried through this situation. Everyday things keep improving. There is still some fear and some unease that the afterschocks will be strong for a bit. But things are being reconstructed. With prayers, good spirits, etc. things will be back to normal soon. My semester will continue as normal but I think the best part of this whole scary situation is that I learned a lot and started to appreciate the people I have in my life so much more. I am thankful for all.
This is my second semester in Chile. The country means a lot to me. It is a big part of my life. I love the culture, the relationality the people have, and the language. I have a great group of friends and feel like my Chilean families are sincerely my family. I am connected to a great church Union Cristiana in Vina del Mar and am extremely blessed to be apart of the International Studies Abroad Group (they have cared for us so much and have made sure all of our needs have been met and have been sincerely concerned about our safety). I feel like my experience has taught me so much and will continue to teach me more. I am growing more independent and into who I will become. It has been wonderful.
SO yeah. I appreciate all of the prayers and concern. We definitely were blessed.
I love my new host family and my little sister.
Today I had the opportunity to spend some time with the chicas de ISA (whom I love so much) and LORNA!!!!!!!! We went out for lunch and had a great conversation. She is probably one of my best friends. ♥ I also was able to be a resource for people too. It was nice feeling independent and like I could do everything on my own. And I got to showerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! And I spent time swinging outside under the stars and got to eat watermelon. ♥ Life is good.
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