Thanksgiving

Earlier this week Uncle John, Don and Berrie were in town and we got to spend a little time together. I should them around Santiago on Saturday and on Monday we went out to Valparaiso. It was a lot of fun and had so great conversations, the food was phenomenal, and overall a fun time. I must thank them again for letting me tag along and be their little interpreter, but i think, hopefully, that they all enjoyed it.

Today is thanksgiving and i first must at least say some of the things that i am thankful for.
1) Great family and friends, i miss you all dearly. I hope that life is giving you trials, nothing that you can't handle, but something that will keep you honest and searching.
2) Opportunities, much of that comes from my raising (again parents, i think you didn't screw up too much), and how we all (regardless of age) still have the rest of our life a head of us. Make it worthwhile.
3) Tender socks, sorry a bit of a thing with me, i love socks.
4) Food and shelter, it is nuts when you see how many people simply do without both. It is nuts to see how we simply take these things for granted. Not to plug or ask for money, because anyone of you knows i don't like doing that, but in the spirit of the season please donate to your local or international charities. With the current economy things have slacked tremendously. People are doing great things all over the world, do you part and partake in this mission to try and make some positive changes.
5) Grandma's Almond Roca, yes this was a huge hit down here in Chile. I must tip my hat. Thank you very much.

This week was fairly normal, but then things picked up today and will continue until the weekend. Today was thanksgiving. There was mass at school this morning at 8 and i had work from 830 to 230 and then went to St. George for mass at 5 and then thanksgiving dinner. Then Father Mike and i had to leave Thanksgiving dinner early to get back to Andacollo for graduation mass for our Seniors at 8. (for those of you, most i would assume, who aren't accustom to Chilean geography it is about a 30-45 minute drive between the two depending on traffic.)

The thanksgiving meal was nice, but simply not the same thing as being back home. I truly do miss phenomenal home cooked food. Yes, i use the word phenomenal for my mother's cooking, and i would like anyone to question or doubt this claim. It is also very weird having it be 85 degrees and sunny for our Thanksgiving. I do think that it will even be weirder when Christmas roles around and i will be spending my time at the beach and what not.

Tomorrow i have school during the day and then the actual graduation ceremony for the Seniors.

Here i must give props to anyone who is a teacher or who works with kids, because you are astronomically underpaid and under appreciated. I have only been teaching for 4 months and have have thought about at least causing physical pain on many of my students. So 6) i am very thankful for the tremendous teachers that i have had throughout my life, both inside the classroom and out.

I hope that you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and that you are able to appreciate what we have been blessed with.

Thursday, November 20th 2008

This week has been rather fluid. We had, Tasi, a fellow missionary who is stationed in Peru come up last weekend. Overall it was a lot of fun, but a relaxing weekend. On friday we had a function at school for a high school reunion for the past graduates of Andacollo. It wasn't a great turnout due to the weather (it was rather cold), the first year funk, and the overprice of the admission tickets. We had a booth that i worked at for the Pastoral crew. We were selling hot dogs and beer to the clients, but in the end we ended up loosing money. It was an enjoyable experience, but it could have been a lot better. We, on saturday, went to the Candelori house for a weekend dinner which was enjoyable. It is coming to the end of the semester and we have to turn in all of our grades and what not by tomorrow. Something of course that we, at this point, still have not done. Yet, i am fairly confident that we will be able to crank it out before school tomorrow. The weather here is getting very warm. It is around 90 degrees and sunny, which means wearing the required tie and nice clothes at school a pain. It is fun seeing the seniorititis from the teacher perspective. I truly believe that teachers are more anxious to have school be done with then the students. The heat here in Chile is coupled with a strike that is going on with the garbage disposal workers. Needless to say that due to the heat and the presence of trash everywhere, the city has a wonderful pungent aroma.
This weekend i have Uncle John coming in so that should be nice to see some relatives and show exactly what i am doing down here. Then on Sunday i have a luncheon(my form of payment for tutoring) with some of the kids that live in the neighborhood, then we are celebrating the birthday of Father Mike whose birthday is a celebration for the whole congregation. I am excited for the end of the school year and the entrance of summer, which makes everyone is such a better mode.
I hope that you are doing wonderful and i love you all

Last weekend, Oliver, Brian, Michelle and I had a wonderful trip to La Serena for a little rest and relaxation. It was wonderful just to relax and be able to get out of Santiago a little bit. La Serena is about a 7 hour bus ride to the North and West on the cost. The weather up there was absolutely wonderful. I got my first burn of the summer which was nice, it is weird to be saying that i go the first burn of the summer when it is like almost mid November.
We saw the church and what not on the hills and the scenery was fantastic. There are some pictures here, but they really don't give it justice.

Catching Up

Man, time really does fly.
The last couple of weeks of school have just flown by. Then again they seem like that they are all starting to do that. Last weekend was Halloween, a day which we had off due to Chile making Halloween a national holiday for the Evangelicals. For Halloween night we, (Brian, Michelle, Oliver and I) went to a costume party at the ChACEr's house. It was a lot of fun and we ended up winning the costume competition. Seeing the photos attached you can see why. Then i decided to leave Saturday and goes visit some friends in Vina del Mar for Saturday night and hang out there on Sunday. The time was wonderful and let me try to get somethings into perspective. But of course i got back super late on Sunday and started school.
Tuesday we had a bit of a get together to watch the elections. I personally voted for McCain, yeah i will get that out there. I did feel a little overwhelmed and under represented in the group that we were with, being one of three Rights in a groups of 12 or so. I am more pissed about the fact that Gregoire somehow won. I was saddened by that. Since then just have had school and what not. Just got down going on a retreat with a bunch of Seniors in High school, so that was good. They were a lot more open and appreciative than the other group that we took last week. This weekend we (Brian, Michelle, Oliver and I) are going off to La Serena for a little R & R so that should be fun. Oliver's Aunt or something has a place up there so it should be fun.

Fun facts about Chile:
Chileans (or at least the poorer Chileans) don't have a concept of personal property. We live on the shady side of the street and because it is getting warmer i constantly find people simply sitting on my porch step (meaning a 2 by 3 foot step that is 6 inches of the ground) and hanging out. Our street is more a communal living area for no one around where we live has yards or patios, it is the street. This causes you to instantly be aware and welcomed by your neighbors. It is like living in a dorm hallway but partially outside, and a variety of ages.
The Chileans are also very fond of there music and i half suspect that i partially live in a dance club. There is no such thing as a noise ordinance, at least not in this part of town. People simply do as they please. What more interesting is that because the houses are small you will be able to hear at least 4 to 5 different types of music being played from anywhere on the street. I am currently inside my house and can pick out three different songs.

I hope that all are well and i will send more later, now that you are all missed.