Major Hurdles #1 & #2: Complete

One of the biggest hurdles for us in this country is the school. We worked very hard to get the kids accepted into the only english-speaking school in the city. We got on waiting lists, we completed entrance exams, we sent in reference letters, we were interviewed, etc. etc. We prayed like crazy, crossed our fingers, you name it - we did it.

Nido de Aguilas is not just english-speaking, but it also runs on the same school schedule as the US schools. Which is almost as vital as the english. South of the equator, school runs mid-February through mid-December so that students have summer break. Summer is December-February here. (Add that to the list of things that I had never really thought about before moving here.)

It would be very difficult for us to take our 11th grade student (Side note: Senior, Junior, Sophomore, Freshman are US terms - not really used elsewhere) and plop him into a spanish-speaking school. We would have to either have him skip a semester or repeat one. Neither option seemed like a good idea this close to graduation. So plan "B", if the kids didn't get into Nido, would have been to homeschool them utilizing online classes. That would not have been the best scenario, as my kids would not have had the opportunity to truly experience all that Chile has to offer, if they didn't have to leave the safety of our little english-speaking house.

But crisis adverted. We were notified that we were accepted to Nido the week before we left Arizona. YIPPEE!!!

The kids attended the New Student Orientation for school yesterday. We are fully aware that their happiness here rides heavily on how much they enjoy their time at their new school. Greg was a little nervous for them. Surprisingly, I wasn't even slightly worried. My kids make friends easily. They are also attending a school where the majority of the student population has lived abroad. I knew that they would fit right in.

Their first school experience went beautifully:

They had a great time and met some really great kids. Each grade level had 3-4 Student Ambassadors from that grade that took them around the school and gave them the ins and outs about what to expect. There were groups of about 8-10 new students in each grade level. My kids were excited that the other kids "all looked normal". I have to smile. I am not sure what they expected them to look like. Andrew texted his brother during the tour "tons of hot chicks, bro". Alex responded with "Ya!" ...Boys... Needless to say, they had a great day.

They talked about the diversity of the student population more than the tour of this amazing campus. Andrew said that all the kids speak english but most have some type of accent. *I don't think he realizes that HE has an accent, too!* He felt a little dumb because most of the students spoke 3-4 languages and had lived all over the world. They all spoke english and spanish, but usually also French, German or Mandarin. I told him that he would soon be able to add Spanish to his list. It was good for both of them to see that they are not the only kids in the world to be living away from their home country. They had an amazing time!

YES!!! Hurdle #1: DONE!

Just as they arrived home from school, the Spanish teacher was there ready to start our first class. I was a nervous wreck. Attending this first class was a big hurdle for me. But things went so smoothly. This teacher is amazing and although I didn't come away from my 1 hour class fluent in spanish, I can understand when someone asks my name - and I know how to respond.

Como te llamas?

Me llamo Tammy.

That's a baby step in the right direction! Homework is to study and practice the sounds of the letters and to also memorize our address and phone number in spanish (for safety reasons). We'll have classes twice a week, so before long, we'll begin to understand and speak spanish!

YES!!! Hurdle #2: DONE!

It was a busy but positive day!

It's All About the Food

I've mentioned before about how we love trying new things and are absolutely enjoying the food-tasting adventure here. Well this weekend was no exception:

We ventured in to the Supermercado just down the street from us. It's like a tiny little market that has most things you would need. They even had fresh bread and pastries. The pastries were unbelievable.

We also picked up these chocolate covered sticks that were carmel filled. They reminded me of a stale kit-kat with carmel in the middle. Not really stale, but the cracker part wasn't overly crunchy. They were really good.

We went to the farmer's market again on Saturday and grabbed another Peruvian mango and a chirimoya. These are the last of the season until summer. We know we love the mangos and we've loved chirimoya juice but this was our first time trying the fruit fresh. YUMMY!

The chirimoya is native to the Andes but you can find them in Southern California. They are ugly - warty on the outside - and full of uneatable seeds. They are very interesting. It has a banana/pear flavor with a smooth custard like texture. Very mild, but very tasty. It is served with a little orange juice poured over the top.

Alex even like it -

Sunday we had a "FAMILY JUICING" and juiced that huge bag of oranges we got from the roadside stand on the way back from the beach on Monday. It was a fun little adventure.

Andrew and I were in charge of peeling and quartering the oranges.

Andrew may have done more eating than peeling. He didn't want anything to go to waste.

Dad and Alex worked the juicer.

We ended up with about 4 liters of juice. It is yummy (drinking some now as I type!)

We rounded out our weekend with dinner at the Lambert's home. They are the nicest family. With five kids ranging in age from 14 - 3, it was a great time! So much fun energy at their house. Elizabeth made lasagna - YUMMY! It was nice to be able to talk with others who have recently been in our shoes.

What a blessing it is to move in somewhere and have immediate kinship with others. The church does that. The gospel connection makes it so that we have "family" no matter where we go.

It was a great weekend!

Back to Work

I've needed something. Before we left home, I was running the PTO at the school, organizing the stake Girls Camp, Chairing the 8th Grade Promotion Committee, and preparing to move. So, a little busy. We arrived in Chile and I immediately got to work making this house our home. That took about a week. Then nothing. I've got this little blog, but other than that. Nada. I'm not good with nothing. I need something to focus on. Something to make me feel useful.

Well, Sunday at church it all changed. I officially became the English-Speaking Seminary teacher. I will teach 4-6 high school kids about the New Testament every morning before school for about an hour.

I am excited about this new adventure. I need another project to focus my energy on and make me feel useful. Plus - I can use all the blessings I can get at this point. Our church is a volunteer-run organization. No one is paid for doing their "jobs". Not the bishop, not the english-speaking seminary teacher. This is amazing really. Blessings are better than money anyway. Blessings are universal and never cause any grief. I also think doing something because you CHOOSE to, has a different impact than doing something because you HAVE to. It puts things into a little different light.

Anyway - I am excited for this new endeavor. I worry about my lack of knowledge and my hatred of mornings... but truly, this is just what I needed and the Lord knew that.

AS FOR GREG:

He's busy. Busy - Busy. He is a sales/engineer who covers the entire world except South America. *But wait - you're living in South America* I know, I know. It doesn't make much sense. He is working here to help the people get the kinks worked out so that they can continue to grow here south of the equator. This is in addition to the areas he covers and the people he is hiring to help him cover those areas.

Add to that the fact that he now has to take care of me 100% and carry a big bulk of the load I typically bear (grocery shopping for example) and he's got quite a load right now.

He's busy.

He was asked yesterday to serve as the President of the Elder's Quorum. Holy Cow! That is quite a large responsibility. The Elder's Quorum is the organization for men within our church. He'll be responsible for all of them. Some who speak English, most speak spanish - but the spanish is both Chilean as well as Peruvian, which varies just slightly. We have extremely wealthy families and family in poverty. It's a varied group with drastically different needs. I know that this man of mine will be very good in this position. I know that the Lord will bless him with the ability to communicate with these people easily.

Greg is a very contemplative person. He is a problem solver but an amazing listener. Most of all, Greg is very humble. The Lord needs humble men to do His work. I have no doubt that Greg will be able to serve in this new position beautifully.

It will also be a blessing for me as I will have to get myself out there. I'll have to take some of my load back so that he can serve others. I'm ready. Spanish lessons start Tuesday and Greg is checking out cars for me tomorrow.

It's amazing how perspectives can change so very quickly. Today, I'm ready to take on the world> We'll see what tomorrow brings :)

A Roller-Coaster Ride to the Olympics

A roller-coaster rolls you around, flips you upside down, jerks you back and forth, and makes you scream out of sheer terror. Then it stops and you laugh and climb right back on. The same as life...

Friday brought a flooding of emotion. Frustration. Fear. Anger. Defeat. But as quickly as it came, it passed. Saturday was a bright new day.

School orientation for new students starts next week, and the kids were in dire need of haircuts (Greg, too really). So we ventured down to this cute little place within walking distance of our home. They got all three of my guys in right away and while I waited, I had them do my nails. The gal did an amazing job on the boys. I'll be honest, this was a concern of mine. Greg & Alex have such straight hair that you can often see the cut lines. Andrew's hair is so curly that people don't even know where to begin. This lady nailed all three - AND SHE SPOKE ENGLISH! *WHEW* Such a relief! One obstacle out of the way.

The boys had a stake youth activity at church; "THE OLYMPICS". They had an amazing time. I got periodic texts about the fun they were having. They couldn't stop talking about it when they got home.

Alex was amazed at how well most of these kids play ping-pong. "People say soccer is the national sport in Chile, but I think it's ping-pong." Apparently they were all really good and quite competitive.

Andrew won a gold medal for his puzzle work. They asked for 1 volunteer to complete a puzzle from each team. His team pushed him out in the front as they thought it would be some kind of a mental puzzle. It was actually a puzzle-puzzle. So he sat for the allotted amount of time and put together the puzzle. Apparently he had the biggest piece completed in the end. Thus, the gold medal for puzzle-ing. (Who knew that was an Olympic sport?)

They played soccer, volleyball, basketball, ate treats... They had a blast. Andrew said the girls were actually whistling at him. Well, I guess that's one way to communicate with a boy if you can't speak the same language.

They both had a great time. Saturday was a good day! Good thing I got back on that roller-coaster ride. I would have hated to miss out on all the fun.

I'm Done.

Thats it. Just done...




The oven guy came today to "fix" the oven. Well no matter how many times I tell people that I don't speak spanish - they continue to speak to me in spanish. What else can they do? I don't think they understand how very little I speak.

I can say: 'Como estas?' I can answer with 'Muy Bien, Gracias'. I've learned that Mateo means Matthew. I kind of know how to greet people depending on the specific time of day. I know that it's either Buenos or Buenas. I know that morning is dias, afternoon is tardes, and evening is noches. I think the feminine buenas is for the afternoon and evening - but really, I'm not 100% sure.

I can say 'agua sin gas, pro favor' when I want to order water without carbonation at dinner. I know paulta is avocado and camarones are shrimp. I can say 'gracias' and even shake it up with a little 'muchas gracias'. Oh, and I've learned como - which means, please repeat.

Yep. That about sums it up. That is every single word that I know and understand.

I can pick out similar words like; perfecto (perfect), telephono (telephone)... but unless the sound resembles something I know already - forget it. I have no idea what you are saying. NONE!

I've also learned that there are many different words here. Their gracias sounds like gracia. Their buenos dias is more of a buen-di. Their words for things are different than the ones used by the Mexican people (thus used by Greg, as he learned spanish in Mexico). They also talk about 40 million miles an hour. Combine that with the dropping of the ends of the words and my lack of knowledge and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Case in point: The oven repair guy today. Right out of the gate, I tell him "No hablo espanol". *Which, by the way, I always start out by saying 'habla' which means YOU don't speak spanish instead of I don't speak and have to correct myself.* He continues to explain things to me and I smile and nod. Which is probably a mistake, because that indicates that I am following along - which I am not. The sweet man slowed down his speaking - still doesn't help. Slow or fast, I don't know the words.

So I call Greg on his cell phone. Who, by the way, I begged to be here when this guy came - but that's another story. Greg talks to him, then his cell phone drops the call. So then the guy talks to me again. *Insert more of me smiling and nodding* I call Greg back. They talk. The guy works for a little while and then calls me in to talk again. You get the idea. It was an hour of him talking to me. Me smiling and nodding, then calling Greg who talked to him and would drop the call with his crappy cell phone (in his defense, he's on his way to a mine north of here and the reception is bad).... over and over. Finally, the guy tells Greg the oven works fine. WHAT!!!!?????!!!!

This oven doesn't hold a temperature. How can that mean it's working fine. Apparently, that is just how it works. From what I can gather, you turn it on max and wait for it to reach the temperature you want. Once it reaches that temperature, you adjust the knob to that temperature. The oven will SHUT OFF until the temp drops and then turn back on to get back up to the set temp. Then repeats. Oh - and you have to make sure the timer is on. It won't work unless the timer is wound. WHAT?? Whatever.

Back to the story with the oven guy. So he puts everything back in the slot, all the while explaining to me that it is all working fine (I think that is what he was trying to tell me). Then he wants me to pay him. I am not prepared for this. I thought the property manager would be billed for this service. Apparently I owe him $10.000.00 which is about $20 USD. I don't have one single peso in this joint. Not one. Not a single coin, not a bill. I check the safe. Nope. Only US money in there. I call Greg back. He talks to the guy and says that he will bill the homeowners. The guy is still standing there and pulls out pesos and indicates that he needs money.

I call Greg back. The cell phone isn't working. I try again. And again. Finally I get through and Greg talks to him again. Eventually they agree that he will take $20 USD.



... I don't think I am cut out for this. We all have our limits and I hit mine about 3 weeks ago.

I refuse to utter the words "I want to go home". I won't speak them out loud, but they run through my mind almost every single day. Then I stop and give myself the whole pep talk, wipe my tears and forge ahead.

They say the first 2 months are the hardest. We've officially crossed over into month 2. Halfway through the hardest part. I can do it. At least I can fake like I can do it, until I finally can.

My new motto: Fake it 'till you make it, baby!

It's Kool-Aid Time!!!

We found a strange little store next to the Pizza Hut that sells random things. It does have a few US items, so we had to stop in yesterday.

The had Banana Split Pop Tarts for $8USD a box. We didn't even ask about the price for the Costco sized boxes of Rice Krispy Treats or Mtn Dew. We ended up with a large can of Kool-Aid.

Guess how much we paid for that sucker? Go on, guess....

What did you guess? $10USD? $15USD? Nope. $20USD. Yep $20 buckeroos for one can of Kool-Aid. Crazy I tell you!

On the flip side, I paid only $6USD for this entire bag of oranges:

Thank goodness Greg was able to take apart the juicer and fix the short in the wiring. I am NOT juicing them by hand. (Another reason why I keep him around.)

Dia de la Virgen del Carmen (Our Lady of Mont Carmel)

We spent the holiday on the beach in Zapallar.

It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Santiago. There are other amazing beaches closer but we heard this one was much more private and our friends were there!

Roberto and Ignacia lived in the US for about 3 months this past December-February and we were able to get to know them a little better. They have 4 kids ranging in age from a college sophomore to a 14 year old that is only a couple of days younger than my Alex. They are great people and I truly enjoy Ignacia. She took an english language class at ASU while in Arizona and her english is very good, which is a relief for me. I really like her, so it was an enjoyable afternoon with friends.

We took the scenic way out and the drive was beautiful:

One of the tunnels is a full 8-10 minutes long. It was a little intimidating. It was also about $8USD to go through it. But it's better than 1/2 hour of switch backs.

We passed lots of agriculture along the way. Tons of flowers and avocado:

The rows of trees along on the side of the mountain are avocado trees:

When we finally caught a glimpse of the water - I was in heaven. It was absolutely beautiful. Just south of Zapallar, we drove around Cachagua for a quick little look-see. This is the town where you can take a boat out and around a little island that has penguins. We will plan to do that adventure very soon.

Zapallar has a main landmark called "One Tree Hill". It separates two main areas. A beautiful rocky area full of tide pools and an unbelievable sandy beach.

There is such beauty in both extreme landscapes. The rocks were stunning.

There was a stone pathway that allowed for an easy stroll along the beach.

The kids enjoyed exploring the tide pools.

The tide was coming in and we told the boys to be careful. They didn't believe us and almost got wet. The "WOAH! Mom, did you see that?" expression on Andrew's face cracks me up.

We headed to the northern side of "One Tree Hill" and met Roberto for a stroll along the sandy beach. The stone pathway continues on here. It stretches for about 5 kilometers along the water in Zapallar.

The water here is turquoise blue like in the Caribbean but it is surrounded by mountains like the beaches in Oregon. A perfect combination!

We walked along the pathway and eventually up to Roberto and Ignacia's vacation home for appetizers before our lunch reservation at 2:30. They served wine, (Sprite for us) and delicious cheeses and crackers. They served this smoked salmon/cream cheese roll that was to die for! I'll have to get that recipe from their nana.

Their home has a stunning view of the beach. They said that on New Year's Eve there is a fireworks show on the beach and they have an amazing view from their patio.

We went to a lovely little seafood place on the water for lunch. Nicolas (the CFO for the company down here) and his wife joined us. They have a place in Zapallar as well. In fact we saw this statue with Nicolas' family name on it. Apparently his great-grandfather was one of the first mayors or something.

We are exploring the option of spending Christmas here. There is only one hotel with few rooms, but we hope to find a home to rent. Years ago, one man owned all this land. He gave it away to his friends with the understanding that they were to build homes on their part. Many took him up on his offer and the homes have remained in the families for generations. This gives a very family feel to the area. Everyone here has been friends for years and years. It also keeps it very exclusive and private. Finding a rental will be a challenge, but Roberto has offered to help.

We sat on the beach until sunset and then headed back home.

On the way home we stopped at one of the roadside stands for some fresh produce. We bought some clementines that are out-of-this-world, lemons, avocados (of course) and a large bag of oranges for juicing. It was a perfect day!