Blogs from Viña del Mar, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America

Yesterday was Easter (Día de Pascua). I went to church with my host family. I was very excited to be able to spend that special day with them. One thing I was NOT looking forward to was the epically long church service. Oh man!! I know I'm an adult with an attention span but I cannot handle it! Church starts at 10:00 and doesn't get out until 2:30!! That's 4 and a half hours!! I'm not used to that. I love going to church. Love it. It's a time for me to hear what God wants to say to me and bond with others in the Body. It's usually such a joy. In the states, I go to Bent Tree Bible Fellowship which is a great bible based church in Texas. I'm accustomed to having a ... read more

We have been looking forward to our visit to Chile with great enthusiasm as it is our first time. I always think of this country as a “downunder” version of California. Terry Breen put a map of Chile against a U.S. west coast map, and at 2653 miles, Chile stretched from the tip of Baja to the Gulf of Alaska. Down here it is called the "shoestring country" because it is so long and narrow. This thin ribbon of a country is only about 110 miles wide. Chile is a land of extremes from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, from Pablo Neruda to Augusto Pinochet and from the Mediterranean warmth in the north to the frigid glaciers of the south. Chile has the driest desert in the world and some of the wettest weather ... read more

Some thoughts on Chile: Santiago is a typical large capital city. Since it is summer, the visitors include many Chileans as well as international tourists. The people I met were friendly and patient with my lack of Spanish. Starbucks was a huge hit here, as Chile did not have anything like it. Among the beautiful 17th and 18thcentury buildings are modern high-rises. Earthquake damage from the 2010 quake is visible and slowly being repaired. The main highways are in excellent repair. They are privately owned and paid for by tolls. All main highways are toll roads. The downside to this privatization is that roads get built where they will be profitable and other areas may be under served. The resort of Vina del Mar is teaming with tourists, many from the Mendoza Province of Argentina. It ... read more

The cruising world is kind of small. At the Customs line I met Bobby & Donella who are part of our CruiseCritic group. While having dinner Wednesday evening, Jeff and Nanette strolled by and joined me. This is our third cruise together. While waiting for my tour yesterday morning at the hotel I met Charlie and Deb, another couple from CC and shared the tour with fellow cruisers John and Mary. We met our guide Willi and our driver Hermano and off to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar we went. The driver started off the day by informing us that the reason for all the terrible traffic in Santiago was because of 'WOMEN DRIVERS" and the day progressed from there. Every time we hit a traffic jam he would mutter women drivers. Besides being witty and ... read more

It’s been quite a while since my last post. Oops. Sorry ☺. Life in Chile has not drastically changed over the last few weeks although the weather is starting to warm up! Nearly every day after classes we head to the beach to play volleyball, take a walk or just sit and talk. Every time I see the waves I think about how blessed I am to live 4 blocks from the sea where God’s omnipotence and sovereignty is so evident! Caroline and I have been spending nearly every day with the youth from our church. There is usually some sort of activity going on since the majority of our friends don’t have classes due to the student strike. It’s a bummer for them but a bonus for our social lives ☺. There are many things ... read more

French Fries with a Fork. It’s been a week now since I first noticed this peculiar habit. Chileans eat French fries with a fork! To my chagrin, I was forced to follow suit so as not to be rude, but it pained me with every jab of the metal prongs into the delicious potatoes. Clearly they don’t understand the North American way ☺ Chaos. I don’t know how else to describe life in Chile this last week or so. There have been 2 or 3 student marches in Valparaiso and Santiago since I have been here and it appears that a lot more goes on than just marching. Unfortunately, what are meant to be peaceful demonstrations turn violent very quickly. Luckily there have been no fatalities thus far. Tens of thousands of people gather for these ... read more

“Death Becomes Her”...This is the name of the movie (at least I think it was a movie) that we watched last night. The movie was in English but with Spanish subtitles. Now imagine yourself in a foreign country sitting in the living room with a family of non-English speakers. The dad, sitting to your left, turns to you and says, “I understand ‘death’ and ‘her’, but what does ‘becomes’ mean?” You say, “Oh, you know, like death ‘becomes’ her. But not actually ‘becomes’ her, it merely ‘becomes’ her. Try not to think of it as ‘becomes’ her, but rather more of a ‘becomes’ her.” Now imagine this entire conversation happening in another language. Let’s just say I had difficulties explaining this movie title. Well, school is officially underway. This week was extremely chaotic and disorganized. My ... read more