Contenta con la Vida

La Chilena

2013-07-09T22:22:00.000-06:00

Now that Amanda is baptized, she wants to be just like Jesus (really, she told me!). And she's already doing a great job! Let's do some Christian math. Ready? Let's go!

100% + 100% = 100%

You see, Jesus is one divine person. He is just one person but He has two natures- human and divine. Now He's not just 50/50 but rather both 100% human and 100% divine. Miraculous! Following in His footsteps, Amanda is just one sweet little baby with dual citizenship. But I don't consider her 50/50 of each culture but rather as 100% American and 100% Chilean. It's different from me because if you ask what I am I usually say half German and half Polish (really those numbers should be more like three quarters and one quarter respectively but I like to give them equal billing) instead of 100% each. Probably because being third generation and on I'm really just 100% American.

But Amanda is special. And while we're waiting for her US documents still, this little Chilena has all she needs to prove her chilenidad/chileanness. And surprisingly it was pretty easy to get all this done considering Chile loves it's bureaucracy and red tape. We had to go to Registro Civil once to register her birth and get her birth certificate and then we had to wait about a week before we could go back to apply for her national ID (called a carnet) and passport. Because we had a baby in our arms we got to skip to the front of the line where they took our information and Amanda's picture. Although they had to take a few to get a good picture, it was so nice that they did it instead of me having to worry about it like with her US passport. They even had to take a fingerprint of her tiny thumb which just showed up as a black dot, hehe. All this for less than half of what it cost at the embassy and it was ready for pick-up just a week later.

Here's our little Chilena!

Carnet

Hopefully we'll be picking up her US documents soon as we'll need them to travel to the US in August!!!

We're Doing Something Right

2013-06-26T15:36:00.001-06:00

As a first time parent I often wonder if I'm doing it right and if I'm being a good mom. When I look at the big picture I kind of freak out, thinking how am I going to make sure she meets all of her developmental milestones, am I talking and engaging her enough, is she going to learn to sit and crawl if she's always in my arms? And how am I going to protect this tiny little girl from the cold, sickness, strangers, accidents, money problems, food allergies, prejudice and hatred in the world?! Basically everything that could hurt my baby (and I readily admit that I've probably watched too much Law and Order/NCIS/CSI which give me some crazy ideas of what evils could happen). It's at those times I want to put her back in my womb because I could protect her a lot better there. But that's not where she's meant to be and that's not how I'm meant to think. What helps me is to take things hour by hour and day by day. I know that this hour she just wants to be fed- and I can do that! And I know that today I can keep her happy and loved, fed, in a clean diaper, warm, safe from danger. I may be surviving these first months of motherhood with little sleep and not leaving our room much, but all I have to do is look at my beautiful baby that the Lord has blessed me with and see that she is THRIVING! And that is what is most important.

And after this weekend I also feel very proud and that Andrés and I are doing something right because... Amanda was baptized! I mean, how much better of a mother could I be than to make sure my daughter receives the gift of eternal life, am I right? Let me explain. Catholics have seven Sacraments and those seven are split into three groups. The Sacrament of marriage falls into the category of Sacraments of Vocation. Vocation means a calling from God. I am called by God to be married. It is my vocation to be married to Andrés. And with this vocation, which is a very great gift, comes many responsibilities. But the MAIN responsibility is to get my spouse to heaven. That is my utmost calling by God, to help and encourage the eternal salvation of my husband. And umbrellaed (I'm pretty sure I just made up that word, hehe) under that is to also get any children that come from our union to heaven.*

At Amanda's baptism, Padre Jota (the priest) asked Andrés and I what we wished of the Church for our daughter. We replied, "Baptism." And then we were asked what does Baptism give and we replied, "Eternal life" (see John chapter 3 in the Bible).We're doing something right! Of course we need to take care of Amanda's physical needs so that she has a long, healthy, happy life here on earth, but most important to me is that we take care of her spiritual needs so that she lives a holy life that will get her to heaven to spend an ETERNITY with the One who loves her more than I. We're on the right track by having her baptized. I'm not failing at being a mother.**

Amanda is a new creation in Christ, an adopted DAUGHTER OF GOD, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. I'm so happy for my little girl. And as I write "my little girl" I am reminded of what both the priest and my mother told me about Amanda's baptism. They said that she is no longer mine, that she does not belong to me. I have given her to the Father, she is His. When Padre Jota said this during the ceremony I almost started crying (dang those postpartum hormones) because while I know this is best for her, it's difficult saying that this precious little one does not belong to me. Thankfully Padre also made it clear that while she belongs to God, He still entrusts her care to me and she will always be my little girl.

We were very thankful that Andrés' childhood friend, Padre Jota, could be the priest to celebrate the Sacrament for us.

Pouring of the water

Praying the Our Father with the godparents. We decided to have her godparents be Chilean since we are living in Chile right now. We asked Roberto and Karina who are a married couple and friends of ours because we have noticed they live out their faith and we hope they will be a great example to Amanda.

Presenting Amanda to Our Lady. Totus Tuus Maria!

The happy and blessed family

Thank you to everybody who came and celebrated one of the most important days of our lives with us. And thank you to all the friends and family who weren't able to attend- we know you wanted to! Please keep our family in your prayers, that we may grow in holiness together towards our heavenly goal.

*There is so much to the Sacraments that it could fill up the pages of tens of thousands of books and thus I cannot clarify everything in great detail. So in case there is anyone unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine on the Sacraments of Baptism and Matrimony that I've written here, please understand that I am NOT saying that I can save my spouse and children nor that it is my decision nor actions that do it. Christ is the Savior and each person has to make the decision to cooperate with His saving grace. Yet as wife and mother I have the power and responsibility to give aid and encourage this.

**I don't know if putting disclaimers on my personal blog are really necessary but since I hear so much these days about "Mommy Shaming" I couldn't leave this one off. Getting Amanda baptized does make me feel like a good mom. However, if you're waiting to get your child baptized or if you don't believe in baptism/infant baptism, I'm sure you're a good mother too! The only purpose in this post was to share in the joy of Amanda's baptism and my affirmation of motherhood. :)

Amanda's Birth Story- Part II

2013-06-22T23:10:00.001-06:00

To pick up from where we left off, read Part I here. Reminder: What I write may be too much information for some people (it is about a baby coming out of my body after all) so consider yourself forewarned. I include some details that I wouldn't normally tell some people in person in case a mother-to-be is reading and wants to know what to expect.

We left the doctor's office with just an hour to spare before I was due to check-in at the hospital. Since that wasn't enough time to run home first, we got in the car and scooted off to Lider (Chilean Walmart) for shampoo and slippers for me and snacks for mom and Andrés (husband). Then off to the hospital we went. It took about a half hour to get checked-in even though I was pre-registered so we spent the time taking my final baby bump pics. Eventually an orderly came down with a wheelchair and took us up to my fourth floor room.

38 Weeks, 4 Days

In front of the number 1 for our first child

Apparently we were already behind schedule because they rushed me to change into my lovely, backless hospital gown and then they started prepping me for surgery. They took my blood pressure (which was at a normal number again and makes me wonder if my OB took it right in his office), shaved me, and got my IV stand ready. Then my midwife showed up and inserted the IV into the side of my lower thumb. And let me tell you, it hurts there. It's pretty much required to have a midwife here and you don't really choose one yourself- you go with the woman your doctor has chosen to work with. I was pretty disappointed with my midwife experience because she really didn't do anything and was very matter-of-fact and not so much bedside-mannerish. I think she would have done a lot more if it was a natural birth instead of c-section but even afterwards she seemed rushed instead of willing to help me with things like how to take care of my incision and breastfeeding.

Continuing on... I was then wheeled down in my bed to the second floor where the surgery would take place. I had been told Andrés would be with my the whole time but I guess they meant only for the actual surgery part because as soon as we got down there they made him wait outside while they took me into the room to start the anesthesia. The anesthetist was a nice man who tried to reassure me right away by telling me he spoke English when he found out I was a gringa. Usually when Chileans tell me this it means they speak a broken English that is usually more of a hindrance than help in important situations like this (although I definitely applaud them in their effort and level of English because it's hard learning another language)- and that was the case with him. He told me a few times, "It's alright, you're a big woman," thinking he was saying "you're a big girl" instead of insulting my large pregnant body. I guess I wasn't the best patient though because as he was inserting the needles in my back I kept arching away (I couldn't help it, it was an automatic reaction like when someone tickles you- except more painful) instead of pushing my spine towards him. But really, who pushes their spine towards needles? I think he first numbed up some areas with Novocaine and then put in one big needle of the anesthesia. I'm not sure on that though because nobody was explaining much to me. I really wish Andrés would have been let in for that part because of the language barrier.

Well, the drugs started to take effect and I could feel the lower half of me becoming numb and heavy. I kept testing it out, seeing if I could feel myself wiggle my toes. I think I could feel them move. This is where things start to get a bit hazy because the drugs made me tired and my mind foggy. My OB came in the room and he was moving around doing things along with the midwife, anesthetist, and about four nurses. They laid my arms out straight (like Christ on the crucifix, put up the curtain over my chest so I wouldn't be able to see my insides when opened up, and I was disrobed from there down. I noticed my midwife snap a few photos on her phone (I hope it was before I was disrobed) and remember thinking it was weird. I then felt someone petting my head and saying it was okay. It took me about 20 seconds to realize it was Andrés and that he was in the room with me. That's how out of it I was.

Then the surgery began. From what I know they cut me open using a cauterizer (so you don't bleed as much) and Andrés said he could smell my burning flesh. Nice. Then they put a closed clamp type thing in the incision that has a string attached to it. They yanked on the string and it opened the mouth of the clamp, widening the incision area. Then they tie down the string so that it remained open. I felt no pain but I definitely felt tugging and pulling. I don't know if it was the tugging of them opening me or of them pulling the baby out. And yank her out they did! All of the sudden I heard a little cry and they told us that we had a baby girl. Amanda Rosario was born at 2:22pm on Monday, May 6th, 2013! They cut her cord and brought her around and held her head next to mine so we could see her. I didn't feel sudden euphoria or great feelings of pride and joy (I really think it was because of the drugs), but I remember just thinking "She's here." And that I felt really tired.

Amanda was taken out to be checked on by the pediatrician and cleaned and dressed. Andrés went with her and I was once again alone. They stitched me up quickly and then I was wheeled into the recovery room next door. I think I was kept there for an hour and a nurse checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes. Again, I was really tired and I didn't mind being separated from Amanda- I wanted to rest. Not normal mothering feelings. Finally I was wheeled back up to my fourth floor room. My mom, Andrés, and his parents were there waiting. They told me how cute Amanda was and how she kept turning her head when the nurse tried to point her face towards them and how she fit her whole fist in her mouth (remarkable since she has shown no interest in doing this again since that time). After a few minutes the nurses wheeled Amanda into the room and left her with us and I held my daughter for the first time. Although still under the effects of the anesthesia, I was able to marvel at her small size and beauty and to breastfeed her. Amanda weighed 2740 grams/5.9 pounds and measured 47 centimeters/18.5 inches.

Super Dad- the man who got us through it all

Getting acquainted

Most people said she looks exactly like me and my mom but I believe her nose and jawline come from Andrés. She has a full head of black hair for now and steel grey eyes that I believe will eventually change to brown. We stayed for three nights in the hospital, of which Andrés was able to stay with us the first night, and then we went home on Thursday at noon. We had many, many visitors including Andrés' whole family and a large number of my gringa friends. Although a little awkward to have to feed her in front of some of them as I was just getting used to it, it was so nice to have their support and visits.

With Grandma Jo. Everything is so big on me!

Hanging out with the abuelita

As you were reading this, some of it might have seemed kind of negative because in a way it was for me. I want to be honest about my experience. It was not the birth I wanted by far and as a matter of fact I don't really feel like I gave birth because I didn't do anything- the doctor did it all in surgery. It's still hard for me to process that Amanda is here in my arms yet I have no idea what labor and pushing a baby out feel like. I'm pretty okay with it but I worry that one day I'm going start mourning the loss of that experience as I hear some mothers do. BUT with all that being said I definitely view my c-section as a SUCCESS and a JOY too because Amanda is here, healthy and safe. I'm very happy with my new life as a family of three. Contento, Señor, contento.

Amanda's Birth Story- Part I

2013-06-19T20:33:00.000-06:00

Amanda is already 6 weeks old, so before time gets even further away I need to write down her birth story or else I'll forget even more details. What I write may be too much information for some people (it is about a baby coming out of my body after all) so consider yourself forewarned. Also this is my version of the story- if you ask Andrés or my mom they might remember things a little differently or from another perspective. Because things were so fast and I was under the influence of anesthesia some things are a little fuzzy to me and I don't feel like I was able to process everything that was going on.

Here we go!

6 Months

Up until week 29 we had a very healthy pregnancy. Amanda had been growing well, my amniotic fluid was plenty, the placenta was well attached, everything was good. But when we went in for our third (and I had hoped final) ultrasound my OB noticed that Amanda's abdomen was measuring small. It was in a very low percentile compared to her heart, head, and legs which were measuring larger and at a medium percentile. We were told not to worry and to come back in three weeks to have it looked at again. We tried not to worry and when we went back her abdomen was still small. Went back a week later and STILL small. We were given one more week to see if it would grow. I asked my closest family and friends to pray because I couldn't form the words. At the 34 week ultrasound the OB said her abdomen had grown and everything was fine!

Photo Credit: Erica Work Gonzalez

We didn't have to go back to see the OB for another three weeks which seemed like a long time after we had been going so regularly. At 37 weeks he did another quick ultrasound and said her abdomen was still looking good. Then he said he'd see us in another week and if anything was wrong he'd do a c-section that day because he was going to a conference the latter half of that week. I was like, "Wait, what? You just said everything was good but are now talking about (what seems like a good likelihood of) a c-section next week!" This is why it's hard for me to wholly trust Chilean doctors because I've heard so many stories (especially birth stories) where they say one thing and mean another. Such as "you're completely healthy and the baby's great so there's no reason you couldn't have a natural delivery" and yet they're planning for a c-section in their schedule. But Andrés assured me after we left his office that the doc wasn't planning anything but rather just covering the bases in case something came up. Therefore I was still in my own little world preparing myself for a natural birth.

Photo Credit: Erica Work Gonzalez

On Friday, May 2nd my mom arrived in Chile! With an original due date of May 17 we thought we would have about two weeks to sit in cafes and do touristy things and then two weeks to relax and enjoy the baby once she made her debut. We were just a little off in our calculations. On the morning of May 6th, on grandma's fourth day here, on day four of week 38, we went back to the doctor. We put my hospital bag in the trunk with Andrés thinking there was a 50% possibility of us having to use it that day, me thinking there was a 2% chance, and my mom somewhere inbetween. The first thing my OB did was introduce us to his colleague, another doctor who was going to do a "second opinion" ultrasound (the sixth one we had had now). I was surprised because he had said at the last two appointments that everything was good. They didn't say anything to us during the ultrasound but I could see them repeatedly measuring her head, abdomen, and leg. We then followed the doctor into his office and he checked my blood pressure. He got a worried look but again didn't say anything was wrong but made me wait a couple minutes and then he took my bp again.

He then came and sat down at the desk with Andrés, my mother, and me and explained that both he and the other OB agree that Amanda's abdomen was measuring small again- about five weeks behind the other organs in her body. He said this could mean that the placenta wasn't delivering enough nutrients so they were all going to the important organs (brain, heart, etc.) and skipping over the less important (liver). Also my blood pressure had gone up. While it wasn't high on the charts, I usually have a lower bp so it was a concern. There was also something about the blood flow to Amanda's brain but that still has yet to be fully explained to me. With all this put together the doctor highly recommended we "take her out" that day because she wouldn't grow anymore and to keep her in would just be "risk, risk, risk." When you put it that way how could we do anything but decide...

...Amanda was coming that day!

Photo Credit: Erica Work Gonzalez

Read Part II here.

Introducing My Family!

2013-06-17T14:50:00.000-06:00

After a 16 month hiatus, I have decided to return to the blogging world! And boy has a lot happened in the past 16 months. In my last post I shared that Andrés and I got engaged.

Since then this happened...

And very shortly after this happened...

And then this little one came along!

I know! We were a little surprised too! And so, so happy. Contenta con la vida!

We are now a family of three.

Here's a short recap of what took place over the last 16 months:
I moved back home to MN at the beginning of March 2012 to be with my family, start wedding planning, and to work and save up money for said wedding. The Lord was so kind to provide a job almost right away. I was hired to wash motorhomes. Yes, you read right. It was a good job and I got some exercise and am very thankful for the two months I did that, but washing RVs is just not for me. In May I was able to find other work for the United States Postal Service! I worked as a mail processor in the St. Cloud plant and I really enjoyed my work and co-workers. I got a workout every night (helped me get in shape for the wedding) and my co-workers were so supportive and happy for me when I got married and pregnant. The only downside is that it was the night shift- ugh.

I got to spend as much family quality time as I could when I wasn't sleeping, and everybody chipped in to help the wedding come together. Andrés came up the week before the wedding and then on August 4, 2012 we became man and wife! It was an awesome wedding and reception but the details must be saved for a later post. At the end of August Andrés returned to Chile and I planned to follow him after a few more months of work. On Septembter 13th I found out I was pregnant and Andrés got to learn about it through Skype! Oh the joys. Through the help and support of my parents I was able to move down here at the end of October and join my husband. I found part-time work right away and for months 5-7 of my pregnancy I was blessed with full-time work and again, awesome co-workers. Then on May 2nd my mom arrived and just four short days later Amanda Rosario was born! What a whirlwind. Andrés is now studying and working and I am a stay at home mom for the next few months. It's a blessed life. It's a sleepless life.

Now since I'm a wife, mother, and indefinite expat I'm sure most of my posts will be focused on these new aspects of my life. I hope you enjoy reading about these adventures and I'm so happy to share them with my friends and family- it makes me feel closer to you all across this distance. Also, don't expect posts too frequently (I make no promises to keep up the blog) because I'm still getting the hang of mothering and Amanda is still learning about life on the outside of the womb- which means she's almost permanently in my arms! With that said, I hope to see you here again somewhat soon. God bless!

Our Love Story, Part V

2012-02-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Click on the links to read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV.

On Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at approximately 10pm Andrés proposed and I said "Yes!" Or rather "¡Sí!" Here's how it all went down. First of all, it was very non-traditional and traditional all at the same time. The non-traditional part is that I knew it was coming. We picked out, ordered and paid for the rings together and I knew he was going to propose pretty much right away. Everything else followed a mix of American and Chilean tradtion and I loved that. What can I say? I'm a traditional type of girl.

Andrés and I started looking at engagement rings the first month I arrived in Chile but it wasn't until January that we settled on something. And actually we decided to forego the engagement ring and follow a South American tradition instead. We bought our bands which will double as both our engagement and wedding rings. During the engagement period we wear them on our right hands and then when we get married they will be switched to our left hands. We ordered them the last week of January and they were supposed to come in the 31st, but were a day late. February 1st came and on the way to pick them up (they were late again and we had to wait around a couple of hours) Andrés warned me not to get my hopes up that we would get engaged that day because he still wanted to call my parents first.

So we went home after picking up the rings and I got on Skype right away, trying to locate my parents. Andrés wanted to talk to them together but my mom was heading to a poker game with her brothers (that's right, my mom is that cool) so I made him talk to them separately. He told me I was being Bridezilla before we were even engaged! I didn't hear what they said to him, but when he asked for their permission they both gave their approval.

February 2nd, our 2.5 year anniversary. Andrés had asked me a few weeks before what I might like the proposal to be like. I told him that I wanted it to take place somewhere special to us outside of the house and that he could speak in whichever language he wanted to, but that at least a little part of it was Spanish. I gave him some ideas- the church, the beach, a café, etc. Honestly though, I knew that however and wherever he asked me, I would love it. On Thursday we ended up going to almost all of the places I suggested. He was messing with me! Actually, he was thinking about doing it at those places but then something would come up or there would be construction nearby and so the place at that moment was not perfect enough for him. What a thoughtful guy.

We went to a neat café for lunch, then to a couple of lookouts over the ocean, and also to the beach that evening. None of these were the places. When we left for home after the beach, Andrés did not take me home. Instead we went to a lookout (mirador) over the ocean in Concón. We got out of the car and sat on a bench and talked for a couple of minutes. Then he asked me if I was ready to get engaged... and I was like "heck, yes!" So he sat me down and then he got on his knees and took my hands in his. He asked me a few questions. Do you want to be happy with me the rest of your life? Do you want to start a family and have lots of kids with me? Do you want to go through all of the ups and downs of life with me? And finally, Do you want to be my wife? He asked me in English and I answered with a "¡Sí!" to every question. Then he took the ring and put it on the ring finger of my right hand. Then I took his ring out of his hand and asked him some similar questions, ending with ¿Quieres casarte conmigo? (Do you want to marry me?), and he said yes as I put the ring on his finger. It was perfect, wonderful, joyful.

Then he remembered (or I reminded him, wink wink) of me wanting to be asked in Spanish and he did it all over for me. He actually thought he had been speaking in Spanish the whole time! I love this man. And that's how we came to be engaged.

On March 5th I will be moving home to live with my family and plan the wedding. We will be celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony in early August 2012 in Minnesota. We are happy and so content with life. Thank you so much for sharing with us in our happiness. Contento, Señor, contento!

So happy on the night of the engagement. This is after going to tell his best friend Carol, who was so excited for us.

The inside of our rings are inscribed. Andrés says God is Love and mine says the same in Spanish, Dios es Amor.

Cafecito

2011-11-19T00:56:00.003-07:00

Andrés and I love going to cafés together. Not necessarily because I'm addicted to coffee (because I'm not) and not even because he likes coffee (because he really doesn't), but because we love the atmosphere and spending time together in this way. When we were apart, I really missed being able to do this with him. In Concón where we live, there aren't many cafés and so we always end up going to Valparaíso to indulge in this treat. Valparaíso is a big, colorful, port city it's called the patrimonio cultural de la humanidad- meaning cultural patrimony of humanity. Basically, it has a LOT of Chilean culture. At one café we received a map that listed a bunch of others and our plan is to visit each one and cross them off on the map as we go.

Last week after work on Friday, Andrés came and picked me up and we went back to the first café we had ever gone to together. Two years ago we went with our friends John and Kayla when we had a free day from Spanish classes. The café is called el Desayunador which I translate into "the Breakfaster," but they call it "Permanent Breakfast." I like my translation better. We ate once (pronounced own-say) there and it was super rico (really good). The only thing I didn´t like was there were so many gringos there! Seriously, the Chileans were really outnumbered. Most times, unless I´m homesick, I like to go to be one of the only gringos so I'm more immersed in Chileanness... or at least that's what I tell myself the reason is.

Here are the photos of our lovely afternoon together. In case you ever visit, I ordered the Once Chilena and Andrés got the Once Tradicional.

When we were with John and Kayla, we sat at the table behind Andrés

This mural of Valparaíso takes up one whole wall

Just our coffees and desserts- yum!

Andrés' cafe con leche

This traditional dessert is called mote con huesillos. It´s a rehydrated peach in juice with wheat kernels.

I actually ended up only getting hot chocolate.

Andrés' meal- homemade!

My dessert was manzana asada. An apple cooked in wine with vanilla ice cream.

My once, also homemade.

And through the window we got to watch workers building a new cobblestone street. Very interesting.

Ending on a funny note, the worker bent over had a plumber's butt tan line! It was pretty funny, but also I can imagine why so many construction workers have bad backs and knees.

Mira, flores!

2011-11-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely readers! I know I've been gone for ~~awhile~~ a month(!) and I'd like to get back to blogging soon. It's just that I got sick at the end of October and I'm not even totally over it yet. Plus I have two new classes to teach (yippee!). So until I come back with some more words and stories for you, I figured I could at least leave you with some beautiful pictures. These are from Valle Alegre, a countryside about 40 minutes from Concón where Andrés' family has purchased some land and are planning on building a house there in the next couple of years. Right now they're just building the important stuff- a bbq pit, a cabin that is really just a kitchen with a large firepit for cooking, a pool, etc. Oh yeah. I like the way they think. Anywho, these are pictures from the beautiful wildflowers currently populating the land there. Enjoy.

Did you notice the person in this one? hehe

Anyone know, is this a type of lily? I think so.

Love these ones. Barreness mixed with beauty.

Say What?!

2011-10-25T21:02:00.001-06:00

As an English-speaker in Chile, I sometimes see things here that make me do a double take but wouldn´t turn the head of a Chilean. I´d like to share the funniest ones so far with you.

Nutritious PLACENTA conditioner for your hair

Ass beef, yum.

I think I´ll stick to my piña coladas

An Inside Peek

2011-10-17T21:12:00.000-06:00

My dad has been asking me for weeks to put up pictures of what the house and neighborhood I live in are like. Well I haven´t quite gotten all the pictures of that yet, but I thought I could give a sneak peek with what my bedroom looks like. I have to say that Andrés´ family has been amazing. I am the tenth person living in this house and I´m one of the only ones that has a bedroom to herself. I am very grateful for everything the family´s done for me and to welcome me into their home- including preparing this room for me! Andrés´ brother M gave up this room and moved in with him so I could have it, and then pretty much everyone in the family helped Andrés get it re-painted and fixed up before I got here. So here it is!

This is the pretty bedspread Andrés surprised me with

This is the outside of the closet that Andrés designed and then we built it together. It´s nice having an engineer for a boyfriend.

This is the inside, with all of my stuff

This is the view from my bed. This is the first time I´ve ever had a TV in my room. And almost the first time I´ve ever had cable (I had it for nine months in college). I feel spoiled.

And this is my desk. Tricked you! We actually switched this desk for the one Andrés´ room tonight (because it had a better bookshelf) and so my desk no longer looks like this. But you get the picture anyways.

I Work Hard for the Money

2011-10-13T21:11:00.000-06:00

I know I told you in the last post, but in this one I can fully rejoice with you- I have officially entered the Chilean working world!!! I have now taught four classes at the Navy and two clases particulares (tutoring). I´ll start with the Navy. I was first told that I would have 11 students, then it went down to 10 and yet only 7 show up every class. One of the three who had never come before finally came last class and after missing only three he´s still quite behind the others. The men are all older than me, I would say between 28 and 55 years-old and they are all officers. They´re all very polite and most are very eager to learn- I would say they are an excellent first class to have. I teach them three days a week for two hours at a time and earn about $10/hour of which 10% will be taken out for taxes. The only slight drawback is that it´s quite a commute. With the micro (bus), it takes me about an hour to get there and then an hour and a half to get home (it takes more time on the return due to rush hour traffic). So if you take that $20 for every class to cover the two hours of teaching, the two and a half hour commute and the hour of lesson planning, it´s not $10/hour anymore. But I´m still thanking the Lord and the institute because I´m very greatful for this work and for something to fill my time. And I´m also praying and hoping that the institute will have some openings for more classes come up.

Now about my clases particulares. These are tutoring sessions and very soon I´m going to start posting flyers and such in public to advertise my mad English skills. But I already have two people I´m tutoring. One is a precious little five-year-old girl named J. J is only in kindergarten but she loves what she´s learned so far of English so her parents want to encourage her in that. She really reminds me of my niece P who is just a year older and who I´ve been told has the same desire to learn Spanish. I´ve had one class with J so far which went well, and there´s just two things I need to remember for next time- don´t expect to cover too much and to add in some more fun activities. Little girls cannot sit still at a table for an hour! I also have started tutoring a man (also with the initial J) who is this girl´s uncle and wants to learn for business purposes. I think we made progress in our first class and I think it will be interesting in the future coming up with his class material. It´ll be a challenge, but a good one I think.

And this brings me to my work visa. Now that I´m working, I have to have a visa. And I got it today! I had to go to the Extranjeria (Foreigner´s Office) twice and had to wait about an hour in line, but it wasn´t that bad. Especially since the visa was FREE! I think when I went to Austria I had to pay a pretty penny for my student visa, so this was a nice surprise. It also feels like an accomplishment because I went to the Extranjeria all by myself! Well, Andrés actually dropped me off, but he didn´t come in with me (he had to go take a final) and I was able to communicate my needs without any help. Whoohoo. Now this does mean that I don´t know what all the paperwork I was given is for, but I do know that I have my work visa that is valid for four months and that is what is most important.

My work visa! (All important and personal information hidden of course)

The other paper they gave me- I´m not quite sure what it´s for. It says something about residency...

After receiving my visa, I decided I wanted to celebrate by going to Starbucks for the first time in Chile. I have to say that it was worth it, but that Starbucks will be a once every three of four month treat- it´s so expensive! I got a grande white mocha, which admitedly is one of the most expensive drinks on the menu, but I did it for my mom. Well not for her, but to remember her and reminisce because it´s her favorite drink. When we´re together we usually share one. So I leave you with photos from my first Starbucks adventure here, a little piece of home. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and my work situation up until now. I REALLY appreciate it and feel free to keep those prayers coming.

Holy cow! 2750 pesos, that´s about $5.50!

Here´s my nonfat white mocha WITH whip cream :)

Here´s my cup with my name in all it´s glory! Many gringas have trouble with the baristas not understanding their names, but thankfully my name translates easily in Spanish- it´s the same!

What a Month!

2011-10-11T10:54:00.002-06:00

It´s already October! And not just October 1st, but the 11th. Where has time gone? And why have I not blogged about it? I honestly thought when I got here that I would be writing posts all the time to keep my family and friends updated. It´s not that I´m so busy that I have no time to write, although there have been a few days like that, mostly it´s just that when I do have time I prefer to spend it with Andrés instead of on the computer. I seriously think I´m on the internet less than I´ve ever been in the past 8 years! So here´s an update on what´s been happening here in my corner of Chile in the past month- all the stuff I meant to blog about but never did. :)

During the second week of September Andrés and I went to Santiago to finish getting my degree legalized. You can see how the process started here, and now I´m happy to say that it is all taken care of! I´ve heard about how long lines can be here, so I was planning on possibly having to wait a couple of hours to get a piece of paper stamped, but it took only TWO MINUTES! That´s 90 seconds of standing in line and 30 seconds to have a man stamp and sign my diploma. We had taken the bus to Santiago instead of driving- it saved us about $20 in gas money and it was a fun adventure. But that also meant that we had a lot of free time in Santiago now that the line was so short. We wandered Santiago Central for awhile, found lunch, rested in a plaza and then met up with two friends from college, Kathleen and Phil, for happy hour. It was so nice to see some familiar faces and talk about old times.
A month ago today was September 11th. That day meant three things for me: the tenth anniversary of 9/11, also the anniversary of the 1973 coup d´etat here in Chile, and the birthday of Andrés´ best friend Carol. It was a little weird to be here in Chile when it was the tenth anniversary of 9/11 because although I didn´t really hear anybody talking about it in person, it was all over the television. Multiple cable channels had specials on it. I made sure to say some prayers for the victims, families and my country. September 11th is also an infamous day in Chile for their own reason- the coup d´etat. Why do bad things seem to happen on this day? Usually there are riots on this day, but I didn´t hear about much and I definitely didn´t see anything, maybe because it was a Sunday. The really good thing about this day is that it was Carol´s birthday! We went over to her house and celebrated in a typical Chilean way with her friends and family and had a BBQ, drinks and cake.
I think I briefly mentioned before a prayer request for the son of my host mother. When I came to Chile the first time, I stayed with a wonderful woman named Mónica. She took good care of me and when I arrived I was looking forward to spending lots of time with her. Unfortunately that hasn´t been able to happen yet because she has been at the hospital non-stop visiting her son, David. On August 3rd David had a series of six heart attacks due to a hereditary heart problem and has been in the ICU ever since. He is breathing on his own now, but I believe he is still in a coma and has little brain activity. Please, please, PLEASE pray for him and his family. That if it is God´s will, He will bring David back to his family, and for the family´s suffering. I have been able to visit twice and next time I´ll make sure to tell David of your prayers, thank you.
Of course during the middle of September we celebrated Fiestas Patrias!
I finished up my cuecas lessons and proved my cueca skills the first weekend of October. Just like I showed you Andrés´ dancing, I´ll try and post a video later of me. I was a little nervous so I wasn´t as good as I could have been, but I have to say that I did well for a foreigner! Also, I was very touched at how proud both Andrés and my profesor were of me. It made me feel very loved.
I have gotten the itchies quite badly twice now. They come and I can´t stop scratching for a few days, then they slowly fade and come back a week or two later. And although we´re not positive, our best guess is that they are an allergy to the laundry detergent. So we´re going to try a new brand and see if that fixes it. Hopefully I´ll be getting some health insurance sometime soon and maybe be able to go to the doctor if they don´t stop.
Also, during this time Andrés has returned to school! After over 100 days of striking, classes are back in action for him. I will write a longer post later, but the gist of things is that the strike is still going on, but so that the students don´t lose their school year classes are also taking place at the same time. Andrés had three weeks to finish up the two months he missed of the first semester. He is in finals right now and is studying like crazy- éxito mi Amor! This semester will end on Saturday (it should have finished in July) and then the second sememster (which would have started in the second week of August) will begin next week.
Then over the past three weeks we have also been celebrating birthdays. First Andrés´ nephew J turned 6, then Andrés turned 27 and finally his other nephew S turned 8. We´ve been eating a lot of cake and pie. :)
Finally, some really good personal news. I found work!!! On Thursday, September 27th I got a call from an institute asking if I could take on an English class. I went to an orientation meeting on the 28th and started Monday, October 3rd! It was a whirlwind but a big relief too. So I have one class I teach three days a week for a total of 6 hours each week. I´ll have it until mid-December. And guess who I´m teaching? The navy! I teach 7 naval officers and they are great- very polite and friendly and willing to learn. I hope that the institute will give me more classes and I am also doing some tutoring on the side. Also, this means that I should be getting my work visa very soon. Yay for not having to leave the country due to my tourist visa expiring!

And that is my update. Hope you are all doing great. Family and friends, I would love an update on your life too!

Chau!

Feliz Cumpleaños Andrés!!!

2011-09-28T12:52:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday to the man I love with all of my heart! Andrés, you are an amazing, generous man and I am so in love with you. And I am so happy that I finally get to share your birthday with you and be here in person. God has blessed us so much already, and I pray that He may continue to pour His graces upon you in this new year of your life.

Last year on Andrés´ birthday he went to the U.S. Embassy for his visa interview to be able to come and see me. He was denied and it was a really hard and sad day for both of us. Thankfully he tried again and was approved. This birthday is already way better than last year. I love that this is the third birthday of Andrés´ life that I´ve been able to be a part of, and I look forward to many more to come. Andrés, mi viejito, te amo tanto.

This is the wonderful man that I love and that I can have lots of fun with :)

Andrés, sssshhhhhhhooooooooo te amo

Fiestas Patrias

2011-09-22T20:55:00.001-06:00

Tonight I write in blue, one of the colors of Chile´s flag, in honor of Fiestas Patrias. This past weekend we celebrated Chile´s Independence Day. Chile and the US are similar in that our independence days aren´t exactly when we had independence from our mother nations but rather when we declared our independence. And for Chile, that was September 18, 1810.

Photo Credit

I had been warned about Fiestas Patrias. I had been told to expect five days of non-stop asados (BBQs), meat and empanada eating, wine and chicha (kind of like homemade sweet wine) drinking, cueca dancing and staying up until 5am every night. Whoo! Thankfully I only had one day of this- so I got to experience everything but still get my precious sleep the other nights.

I had my big day of celebrating on dieciocho itself, September 18th. Just so you know, I have been waiting two years for this. The past two dieciochos (18ths) I have heard about Andrés and his family and friends getting together and going out. I have wanted to be here for that so bad- and now I was! The 18th was Domingo, or Sunday, often referred to as "fomingo" or the equivalent of boring Sunday, so I thought that maybe Fiestas Patrias would be a little more low key this year. Maybe they were, but I didn´t notice. We started our dieciocho off with Mass at the parish where we also celebrated the priest´s ordination anniversary so the church was very full. After Mass there was cueca dancing in the courtyard and empanadas and wine! Can life get any better than that? Jesus, dancing and empanadas.

Empanadas- que rica!

After Mass we headed over to Andrés´grandma´s house in Villa Alemana which is about 45 minutes away. Pretty much Andrés´mom´s whole side of the family was there. They had already eaten their asado (BBQ) but thankfully saved us some and heated it up right when we got there. So we went around saying hi to everybody and getting reacquainted and then we sat down to eat. A very common activity to do for Fiestas Patrias is to fly kites so after eating we went to the field next to the abuela´s house to see the kites. Let me just tell you, they can go really high! Andrés´ little cousin got hers to go so high it was just a little speck in the sky, and then the line got cut so it flew away.

We left his grandma´s for a couple of hours to go visit his friend Carlos who also lives in Villa Alemana. Carlos´ family is very inviting and it was nice to be around such friendly people. We basically just sat around and drank chicha and ate empanadas while they talked. I´ve now become more comfortable with my spanish but it is still very hard to follow conversations when they´re talking so fast (at their normal rate)! After that we headed back to the abuela´s house and played a game that is very similar to bingo. I think my mom would be proud of me, I won the first game! Then we left to go home.

We got back to la casa at about 10pm, stopping for a Nescafé coffee for me and a Red Bull for him. We rested and watched tv for two hours and then headed out (at midnight!) to the ramadas. The word ramada means branch in english and the ramadas are called such because they are usually places constructed totally out of branches where people go to dance and drink and celebrate. The ramada we went to in Concón was huge so it was a regular building and on the inside they had it decorated with branches. They had two different groups that switched playing about every half hour. First a half hour of cueca, then cumbia, then cueca, etc. I was really excited for the cueca because this would be my first time getting to dance it with Andrés outside of lessons and I had been waiting to do this with him for a long time. However, it didn´t go quite as expected. It was so packed that people kept bumping into me and the concrete floor didn´t make moving my feet very easy so that it was hard to concentrate on the music and the steps to the cueca. I ended up getting really frustrated, first with not being able to dance the cueca correctly and then my mind started blowing things out of proportion (I chalk it up to it being really late and I was tired). I was thinking that if I can´t do this, then I´m never going to be able to fit in or fully learn the language, etc, etc. I almost started crying on the dance floor. It was bad. This was my first breakdown here and I´ve heard from other expats that more will come- it can be hard adjusting to a new way of living and feeling out of place a lot of the time. Andrés saw that something was wrong and we stopped dancing but then I felt bad for having ruined things, but I couldn´t explain it to him over the music and my emotions. Thankfully, when cumbia came back on they played some fun songs and things turned around.

We ended dieciocho on a good note by stopping by the beach at 4:30am to watch the ocean and listen to the waves hit the shore. Thank God for an overall good first Fiestas Patrias.

La Cueca

2011-09-10T18:40:00.014-06:00

It seems like my life has been taken over by... la cueca. The cueca is Chile´s national folkloric dance where the couple mimics the courting ritual between and rooster and a hen. And since the fiestas patrias (independence day celebrations) are quickly approaching, it seems like everybody is dusting off their cueca-dancing boots. Andrés´nephew S is in second grade and he´s learning how to dance the cueca in school. I´ve seen a couple of high schoolers who are preparing for a cueca test at their colegio. Andrés started taking cueca lessons in July at the Club de Cuecas y Huasos (Club of Cuecas and Cowboys) in Valparaíso. He just graduated/passed the first level last Saturday and they had a dance and dinner where all the students got to showcase their cueca skills. It was a lot of fun and now I´ve started taking the beginner level classes while Andrés has moved on to intermediate ones!

The cueca is actually one of the first dances I ever had with Andrés. We were learning it in my escuela and Andrés was my partner. I sucked at it. But now I´m somewhat okay because I have that same partner to practice with outside of class! It´s actually more fun than I thought it would be (I didn´t know I would like folkloric dancing so much), the music is growing on me and I feel so good actually knowing the steps. I can´t wait for dieciocho (September 18th, Independence Day) when hopefully I´ll get some opportunities to use my newfound skills.

Here´s a video of Andrés dancing the cueca on his graduation night:

Here´s some photos from the night:

Andrés´ friend Carlos

It went cueca, chicha, cueca. You would dance one cueca, take a drink in a bull´s horn, then dance another cueca.

The outfit of the huaso

Andrés´ friend Flaco/Ranier

The cueca can begin by clapping the rhythm until the singing starts

They all passed!

First Day in Chile

2011-09-04T20:53:00.001-06:00

Now that I´ve been here for two weeks, I´ve decided that I should show you some pictures from the first day I arrived. Our plane landed at 6am and going through customs went really smoothly. In fact, everything went really smoothly and fast until one of my suitcases never arrived at baggage claim! I had to wait about a 20 minutes while they waited for the final pieces to come out and while they double checked all the leftovers. Finally LAN took me to their counter and took down my information, saying that they thought it would come in on the next flight which arrived in an hour and they could deliver it to me in Santiago. Well, I didn´t know yet where or if I was going to be in Santi so I decided to go find Andrés (finally I get to see him!) and thought we could wait for the next flight.

So I left baggage claim with my one suitcase and there he was, waiting for me! Of course it was a glorious reunion, hehe, and it was so nice to be back in his arms after 6 months. Honestly, (those of you who have been in a long distance relationship probably know a little of this) after you´ve been apart that long it is REALLY nice to be together again, but the first few minutes are a little awkward. You think to yourself, Do I remember how to hug him? Where do my arms go? What kind of a kiss is he expecting?! Thankfully for us, the awkwardness and nervousness usually only lasts for a little while. I´ve heard for others that it takes them up to day to fully warm up to each other again! It´s just strange when you´re used to only seeing someone through a computer screen for hours everyday and then suddenly there they are- 3D and all!

Anyways, so we had our glorious reunion and then we decided to wait for my luggage. It was kind of a waste of time because it did not show up on the next flight, but it was kind of nice to sit and chat and catch up. Also, since it was 7am, I doubt there would have been much for us to do in Santiago anyways. I´m going to transition into the pictures now, but in case you´re curious, my suitcase showed up the next day and they delivered it to me all the way out in Concón. How nice of LAN, they seriously were very courteous in all of this.

After we left the airport we headed for Cerro San Cristobal (St. Christopher´s Big Hill) which has a huge statue of Mary at the top, we call her Mega Maria. It is our tradition to always go therre first, enjoy the view and pray a little in thanksgiving for being together again. I love this tradition.

Together at last!

A cute note on one of the fences. It says: Do you want to go out with me?

View of Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal

Who´s this handsome fellow?

Mega María

It was a sunny day

After San Cristobal we went to el Centro to see the markets and we ate lunch at one of them. It was so good! Although the waiters were very pushy, they basically fought over us to get us to eat at their restaurant and not the competition´s.

My lunch- so yummy

Andrés enjoying his food

I´m Back!!!

2011-08-24T21:14:00.000-06:00

I´m back in Chile and back with Andrés and back to blogging. I´m also very happy. Moving my stuff back to Minnesota was a little rough, but I immensely enjoyed my time with my family and had lots of fun- pictures will follow soon. The trip to Chile on Friday was long, but went by a lot faster with my new Nook(!) and now I´m with Andrés once again.

Time is already passing really fast and I plan to start blogging regularly again, but for right now just a tiny update. I got here at 6am on Saturday and one of my suitcases was missing but it arrived the next day and was delivered to my house. Andrés and I spent the day in Santiago and were planning on staying overnight to do some more exploring but the hotel didn´t work out... bummer. Sunday and Monday we pretty much spent putting my room together and resting. I went to Mass on Sunday and was glad to see my host mom, however her son is very sick so I´m sure they would appreciate your prayers. Tuesday I was going to start looking for work but I got sick late Monday night and ended up sleeping in instead. So today I started the job search! Oh my, it´s a little nerve wracking but I must have confidence that God will provide. I dropped off my resume at three English institutes- they all said they weren´t hiring right now but will keep my information for if/when something comes up. Tomorrow I go to Valparaíso to do it all over. Come on St. Joseph, provide a job for me! :) As for my Spanish, yesterday I started to speak only in Spanish. I really want to get a good handle on the language and have set a goal to be fluent within 3 months. Andrés and I were also going to go to one of the Education protests today, but by the time I was done handing out my resumes it was over. However, there was a march of what looked like high school aged kids that passed right by his house tonight. We were watching TV and he muted it and said "Listen, it´s a march." I didn´t believe him, I thought it was the TV in the next room. So he got up and showed me that protesters were walking down the street! It´s quite different to see how it works here. As for right now, I´m sitting in my new bed trying to stay warm because it´s much colder here than I thought it would be. Sometimes I can see my breath, it´s that cold in the house!

Once again, thanks for reading and thanks for your support. I´m happy to be back!

They're Almost Here!!!

2011-07-28T17:43:00.000-06:00

My parents are on their way! In fact, they should arrive at my apartment in four to five hours. I'm so excited to see them and hug them and also to see my niece, P! She's six-years-old and on her way out to Wyoming for the very first time. I have to say that I'm very thankful for all the sacrifices my family is making for me. They weren't able to leave the house in Minnesota until much later than expected yesterday and they didn't get to their hotel in South Dakota until 8am- that's right, 8AM!!! They basically drove straight through the night. And let me tell you, I did that a few months ago and I thought I was too old to be doing that at only 25 years-old! It seems like P is a trooper though and is doing well with them.

Everything seems to be coming together on my end. The man replacing me arrived at work this Monday and training has been going very well. I've gotten to know his wife and kids a little bit and I have to say it feels like a missed opportunity to get to know a really nice family- I wish they had arrived months sooner! On Sunday the parish had an ice cream social to say goodbye and I also had a BBQ with RCIA members of the past on Tuesday and I've been meeting up with friends whenever I get the chance. Saying goodbye is really hard! Especially since I don't know when I'll see a lot of these people again. I'm going to miss my parish community and Wyoming friends so much. Over the past week or two I've been packing up my apartment, and while it is tedious work it seems to be coming along. I really only have my kitchen and food items left to go through. I've been having to sort things into four piles: things to go in the garage sale, things to go to Chile, things to store in MN and things to bring to MN and give back to the family members they belong to. By the way, if any of you readers are in WY and know me, stop by my yard sale on Saturday!

I probably won't be posting anything for about a week or so because of all of the moving plans. Tomorrow my dad is going to work on car stuff, I'll be finishing things up at work (I can't believe it's my last day!), and I'm not sure what my mom and niece will do. Friday night we have dinner with a wonderful woman here who has been like a grandmother to me and we'll make preparations for the yard sale. Saturday morning/early afternoon will be the yard sale and then we'll go to 5:30pm Mass (my last Mass in the parish, sad) followed by a BBQ with the parish staff so I can say all of my goodbyes to them. Sunday morning we'll load up the truck and make our way to Jackson, WY. We get to spend a night in a nice-looking hotel and then all day Monday we're going to explore Yellowstone! None of us have ever been before. Monday night and Tuesday morning will be spent in Cody, WY and then we'll start driving and make it home to Minnesota (pray all goes well) by Wednesday night. Ufda! To all of you MN peeps, know that I'm looking forward to spending lots of quality time with you before leaving for Chile on the 19th. Only 21 days to Andres and Chile!!!

P.S. To anyone who has supported me in this transition through words, acts of kindness or gifts, I want you to know that I GREATLY APPRECIATE it. I don't think I could have made this big decision and followed through with it without you. I especially want to thank Andres, my family and my fellow parishioners. I love you all.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

2011-07-17T22:03:00.000-06:00

I'm realizing that in this time leading up to the move to MN on July 31st and to Chile on August 19th(!), I might not have as much time to blog as I thought I would. Things have been busy! So I thought I'd give you a little update on what's happening in my life.

I just talked to my mom and she said that my notarized degree finally arrived, and that the Chilean consulate signed off on it! Yippee! It actually took my university about 7 weeks to do their part and the Chilean consulate only a few days to do theirs. Who would have thought?...
We had Totus Tuus/Vacation Bible School at my parish this past week and after spending five straight days with 4-12 year-olds I am pooped! Those kids wore me out! I came home on Friday night, ate dinner and fell asleep at 7:30pm. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I am officially a vieja (old lady). It was a great week and the kids had fun and learned lots, but I'm def looking forward to catching up on my rest.
Speaking of work, the man taking over my position should arrive sometime this week! I'm looking forward to meeting him and his family. This also means that I should have a good amount of time to train him in- but not so much time to clean-up my office before he arrives!
Cars hate me. My car broke down a few weeks ago, it got fixed and I drove it for a couple of weeks and now it broke down AGAIN! The first time it happened, a man from the parish kindly patched up the brake line and instead of me paying him cash we traded labor for labor and I fixed up some stuff around their house. This time, there is probably no repairing it (most likely something is seriously wrong with the tranny). So that same man and his wife let me borrow their car for the weekend so I could get to work at the golf course. I came out of work yesterday and the tire on their car was flat! Cars hate me. And it sucks for something to happen in somebody else's car. A spare was put on and all is fine, but I'm glad that I probably won't need a car for the next two weeks since I can walk to my job at the parish and...
Today was my last day working at the golf course! I'm officially a one job woman! And in two weeks I'll be a no job woman. :( I look forward to the 3+ weeks of vacation but please pray that I find a job in Chile quickly.
I visited one of the specialists that I had to see that I mentioned here and it all checked out- everything is fine! :) The only thing is that it turned out to be a waste of time and money. The other specialist I have to see isn't that big of a deal (just a little painful), I'll be going to the dermatologist this week to have a number of moles removed (I'm a very mole-y person).
It's starting to get very hard thinking about having to say goodbye to all the people here at the parish and in Wyoming. I'm going to miss them all so much! This has truly become my home and it feels way different leaving here than it did MN to go to college or college to come here.
With that said, only 33 days, 6 hours, 46 minutes and 19 seconds until I'm with Andres in Chile!!!

FAQs

2011-07-08T00:05:00.001-06:00

I often get asked a lot of the same questions so I figured I would take this opportunity to answer them in a public forum in case any of you faithful readers are curious as well. Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions you want me to answer.

When do you leave? Will you go directly from Wyoming?
I bought my plane ticket last week (yippee! but ouch on the wallet) and I leave from Minneapolis on August 19th and arrive in Santiago on August 20th!!! I leave Wyoming on the very last day of July and will get about three weeks in MN with my family. It's going to be crazy having that much vacation time! And on my way to Chile I have an 11 hour layover in Miami.... so if anyone there wants to come hang out with me or take me on a little day excursion in the area while I wait, just let me know! :)

Will you be in Chile indefinitely?
Kind of. My plane ticket says I will be in Chile for nine months but I'm hoping that I will be able to extend it for three more months. Then I will come back to the United States (MN) for 4-6 months probably and then I will go back to Chile to live indefinitely. And by indefinitely I mean 3-5 years and then we (BOTH Andres and I) will probably come to live and work in the U.S. until all student loans are paid off.

Are you getting married there?
Probably not. We are planning on getting married, although we are not officially engaged yet, but are hoping and planning for the wedding to be in Minnesota in the winter of 2012/2013. That will be the period when I'll be living in the states for 4-6 months and the hope is that Andres can also come for a good amount of that time and that is when we'll have the wedding. When we return to Chile we also want to have a second wedding/vow renewal/reception with his family and friends. However, sometimes I wonder if I can last that much longer without marrying him! If I weren't Catholic and know I have to wait a certain amount of time for wedding preparation, I think I would try to convince him to elope ;)

Where will you live?

I'm going to be staying with Andres' family. I'm looking forward to getting to know my future in-laws better and also I'm excited for when they will get to know the real me. And what I mean by that is that I feel my second-grade level Spanish doesn't always get my points across and so when my Spanish improves I think they'll be able to understand me and who I am a lot better.

Are you nervous?
Surprisingly, I'm not. But with how frequently I'm asked this question I feel like I should be. Honestly, I'm just so excited to be with the one I love and to be back in Chile. I don't know if I could do it if I was never going to be coming back to the States, but I know that I am so this is just a great opportunity for me to expand my horizons and get a little break from full-time parish ministry. And did I mention that I'll get to be with the one I love? So excited! The only things that I get a little nervous about is when I think about living with Andres' family. I think they're great and we get along really well, but I wonder how it'll be different now that I'll actually be living there and not a guest. I don't want to be treated like a visitor but like a family member, and I want to help out with household things. Some people have also warned me about the Suegra (mother-in-law) and how they are really protective of their sons and how they can seem to be really overbearing to gringas. Honestly, I can't imagine Andres' mother being like that and even if she is you'll never know because while I want to be honest, I also don't plan to write mean or degrading things about people on this blog- especially about my Suegra!

What will you do there?
Good question. I first plan to find a job teaching English at an institute. I don't and won't have one lined up before I get there, but I really hope that I can find one within the first few weeks. Please pray for me! After awhile, like maybe when I'm back in Chile the second time, maybe I can find a job teaching Religion in a Catholic school since that is what my degree is in. There's also a possibility that in the far off future (3 years or so) I might go back to school to get a degree that I can actually use there. We'll see I guess...

Thanks for reading, don't forget to ask any more questions in the comment box.
P.S. 43 days, 4 hours, 53 minutes and 45 seconds until I'm in Chile!

It's All Coming Back to Me Now

2011-07-06T23:14:00.002-06:00

People probably hear me say this all the time, but it's hard being an adult! I don't know if I'll ever get used to all of these adult responsibilities. Tomorrow I'm getting life insurance. Life insurance! It's for my dad in case I die, because then he would be stuck with paying my student loans since he co-signed on them. I hope I don't die anytime soon. I also went to the doctor today. I thought I was being all responsible going to make sure I was healthy before moving out of the country. Turns out I'm being punished for acting like a responsible adult. Now I have to fit in seeing two specialists in the next few weeks before I lose my insurance. It's nothing life-threatening or too serious, but it is something that needs to be done before I move. Welcome to adulthood, Tammy.

Okay, now that my pity party is over, it's time to move on to the real subject of this post. I've now known Andres for over two years! It was this time two years ago that I was in Chile learning Spanish and getting to know Andres, a few other Chileans and 15 gringos really well. I miss them all so much! And all these good memories keep coming back to me. I keep thinking to myself two years ago today I was... dancing until 4:30am at el Huevo (a five story dance club in Valparaiso)...getting my tattoo... celebrating this person's birthday... or meeting this person for the first time. Today is the feast of St. Maria Goretti, an Italian martyr for purity and an amazing example to all young people. Two years ago today I was visiting el Colegio Santa Maria Goretti, the local parochial school in Concon (and where Andres went to school!). We only had a half day of classes and then we went and visited the school and met the nuns and students. It was very interesting. I enjoyed it, but let's just say that Chilean Catholic school kids act quite a bit different than U.S. Catholic school kids.

Anyhow, if any of you who were in Chile with me the first time are reading this, know that I'm missing you and wishing we could all be together again. Son mis hermanos en Cristo y les extrano y estoy rezando por ustedes. Les quiero mucho!!! Let's go back ;)

Education Reform

2011-07-05T23:12:00.000-06:00

Andres has not had school for four weeks. Not because he's on summer break like our schools are (it's winter in the southern hemisphere), but because the students are on strike. They are on strike to bring reform to the public university education system in Chile. They want the cost of education to be lowered (many are actually calling for it to be gratis or free, but I'm told they don't expect that really to happen) and the money for education that comes from the government to be distributed more equally among the different universities. I don't understand a lot of it because I really can't imagine something like this happening in the U.S.- I feel like our government would laugh at us and fail us all for the semester, all while keeping our tuition money. But I do support Andres and his classmates and I hope the Minister of Education meets some of their demands (yes, they have demands!).

My observations on the student-led strike and protest marches (and please remember that these are my personal opinions and I realize that I am not expert by far on these matters, especially since I am not there):

Most of the professors support the students being on strike
It seems most everybody supports the students. I haven't heard one person speak out against them being on strike. If you look at the pictures on Eileen's blog you'll notice that family members, including grandparents!, come out and march with the students
Students in Chile are taking on more debt than I realized. With the amount of student loans they're taking on and the lower cost of living there (which also means a lower salary than here), they will be paying off that debt for many, many years
It amazes me the power these students have. They have shut down their universities. And it's not because they don't want to go to school or because they want to waste their education, but because they think it is extremely unjust the way their education system is run, especially the profit end of it. They are getting the attention of their government and the government (and the whole country) is listening, even if the Education Minister has not done anything yet
From what I've seen and heard about, the youth in Chile seem to protest or have marches a lot. Way more than here. And sometimes those marches seem pointless to me and the violence and destruction that comes from them seem pointless. This is not one of those pointless protests or marches. This is important. And the pointless violence, harm and destruction seems to be coming from the government.
I saw this youtube video (see below) today and the university students staged a flashmob dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller. They dressed up as zombies and had signs that said "I'm dying from debt". I think this was a very creative way for them to make their point and it seems very well organized with a high number of people participating. I'm impressed.

Okay, that's enough from me. I'll send you to recent posts from two bloggers who are actually in Chile. I really recommend that you read Abby's words and see her pictures here and here. And Eileen's here.

107%

2011-06-30T23:22:00.002-06:00

*Update: I apologize if you read an earlier version of this that had some pretty funny typos. I may have learned my lesson to proof-read before posting these. I have now edited those typos. Enjoy!

Guess who made it to her goal? That's right, this girl! I did my budget tonight because tomorrow is the first of the month and I officially have 107% of the money needed to live in Chile! During the early spring months I was seriously doubting if I would make it all, but these past few months I've kicked my budget's butt! Praise the Lord!

And it's really good that I'm going to have excess because I might need it. One thing is I'm going to need $130-$260 extra to renew my passport while in Chile. Another thing is that this money I'm saving should last me for 9 months in Chile. However I would really like to be able to stay for 12 months. So any extra money means I could stay longer. Lastly, it's nice knowing I have extra cushioning in case an emergency happens. Emergency funds make me feel safe and secure. Yay for emergency funds!

And for more good news, it seems like plane ticket prices have gone down! They're still pretty expensive (around $1500) but about $200-$300 less than a few weeks ago. Buying my plane ticket is my next priority- hopefully I'll be able to purchase it in the next couple of days!

Finally I'll leave you with how my funds grew 14% this month. Unfortunately, I don't have any really good tips. Mostly it's because I don't have to pay rent next month and having that extra $500 in the budget makes a big difference. The other way I grew this fund is through my second job working in the snack shop at the golf shop. I don't make a big hourly wage but the money seriously helps. If you know about Dave Ramsey at all, he says to do anything you can to get out of debt, including working an extra job or two. I can see now how that really works. If I wasn't going to Chile, this would be $5,000 extra dollars a year I would be able to pay on my student loans. Now, I'm not sure if Dave Ramsey would advocate my going to Chile before paying off my loans, but that's going to take years and love trumps money! I think he can be happy that I'm not going into more debt by moving to Chile.

What I like to call...The Itchies

2011-06-28T22:04:00.000-06:00

Andres and I were videochatting last night and he told me to hang on because he had to put his newly-washed sheets on his bed. And that reminded me... of the itchies! Let me tell you, the itchies are NOT fun. Unfortunately, it seems like the itchies are only something that this gringa gets.

You may be asking yourself: what the heck is she talking about?! What are the itchies?! Oh my goodness, the itchies are these red spots that I get when I go to Chile that itch like crazy! I've gotten them the past two times when staying at Andres' house and there are two thoughts of where they come from. The first and more comforting thought is that they are allergies, and possibly allergies to the laundry detergent (which would be on the sheets and why I was reminded of this). The second thought is that they're fleas. That's right, you read it- FLEAS! Please don't think I'm dirty because I might have had fleas. According to other gringas, how they itch and the pattern of the spots look like fleas. But because they go away when I come back to the U.S. and the fact that no one else in his family gets them (I'm the only lucky one) would make it seem like they're not fleas.

The first time I got them, it wasn't so bad. It was only a couple of spots and I could deal with that. But the second time I was in Chile for three weeks, so I had to deal with many spots all over my body itching like crazy for three weeks! I was applying menthol, anti-itch cream and taking benadryl. It didn't really help. And now that I've been reminded of them, what am I going to do if I get them for nine months?! They might drive me crazy. Andres assures me though that we can go to a doctor and figure out what kind of allergy it is (he's convinced it's allergies). That doesn't exactly thrill me however because what if they have to poke me with all those allergens to find out? What's worse: itching all the time or getting poked a bunch?

I guess I'll find out soon enough...

What's in a Name? Part II

2011-06-27T21:55:00.001-06:00

In my very second post, I wrote about why I chose to name my blog "Contenta con la Vida." Tonight I would like to share with you the meaning behind "TTM" and why the blogs are signed by "TammyTTM" and the web address is "tammyttm.blogspot.com."

TTM stands for Totus Tuus Maria which is Latin for "totally yours Mary" en ingles or "totalmente tuya María" en español (p.s. If you are a guy I believe you would say "totalmente tuyo María"). This phrase was the motto of Pope Blessed John Paul II. I think the story goes that when JPII was a young boy his mother died and so his father took him before an image of the Blessed Mother and told him "This is your mother now." From that time on Our Lady had a very special place in his heart and he even made this the motto of his pontificate and put it on his papal flag.

I came to learn about this phrase and the meaning behind it when I went to college. I think I talked about this a little bit before when I went back to visit Franciscan University, but my college was very special in that it had something called households. A household is kind of like a fraternity or sorority- but so much more! You have different prayer commitments each week with your household (usually about 2-4 per week) and usually you live with those girls, share meals with them and they are some of your closest friends on campus. What mostly unites you to your household is the shared charism with the sisters (or brothers if you're a male). Each household has it's own charism or devotion. My household is named Totus Tuus Maria and has a great devotion to Mary (under the name Our Lady of the Streets) and all of us sisters make a total consecration to Jesus through Mary as we enter household.

There are many different ways and prayers to consecrate yourself to Mary. The way or method that I have done is total consecration to Jesus through Mary according to St. Louis Marie de Montfort. St. Louis Marie writes that total consecration "consists in surrendering oneself in the manner of a slave to Mary, and to Jesus through her, and then performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary, and for Mary." Most basically you give yourself completely to Our Lord through Our Lady- you make yourself totus tuus Maria. The theology behind this is that Jesus came to us through Our Lady and so the best way to go Him is by following His example and going back to Him through Our Lady. When I made this consecration, I gave everything that I am to her- physically and spiritually, all my merits, graces and goods- trusting that she will present me most lovingly to her Son and plead on my behalf when I am found unworthy. I put everything that I am and everything that I have in her hands.

I cannot describe how much totus tuus Maria is a part of my life, how much belonging completely to Mary has changed me and brought me closer to her Son. For those of you who know me personally, trust me when I say that everything good about me is because of her. She is my Mother, my model, my Lady. She is helping me get to heaven so that I can spend an eternity filled with joy and love with the Trinity.This is why I include TTM after my name in this blog. I am and always will be totus tuus Maria. And I want to act totus tuus Maria, too. When I wrote about the phrase "Contenta con la Vida" I said that I want my blog name to remind me to be content and happy with the life God has given me no matter where it takes me. It's the same with signing my name TammyTTM- it reminds me that everything I do should reflect Our Lady and belonging completely to her. You may also remember from when I shared pictures of my getting my tattoo in Chile, that this is what is written permanently on my right foot. I want to constantly have within my sight that I am totus tuus Maria and to give her honor through it.

The act of consecrating yourself to Mary is a prayer that only takes a few minutes to pray. But because it means so much, St. Louis Marie recommends preparing for it. So there is a booklet that has thirty-three days of preparation prayers to get yourself ready for the first time, and then you are also supposed to renew the consecration and do the preparation prayers again once a year. I am really excited because I am renewing mine right now. I'm currently on Day 15 and I will end by renewing my consecration on July 16th which is the feast of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel (La Virgen del Carmen). This is very significant to me because la Virgen del Carmen is the patroness of Chile- so I think it's very fitting that I re-consecrate myself on that day and I pray that she watch over and guide this new chapter of my life in Chile.

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María, soy tuya y todo que tengo es tuyo.

Nuestra Señora de las Calles, totus tuus!

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I hope I do not need to say this and that you did not misunderstand this blogpost, but I want to make clear that I (and my fellow Catholics) in no way consider Mary to be God or above God. We do not worship her. BUT we do have a great respect and love for her above all others because she is the Mother of God and free from all sin.