HoveyServinGod

They have these Fonda’s only during Dieciocho aka the Chilean Independence Day.   They go on for about 4-5 day and are located all through the city and country.   They are generally very large at least to us….but there are tons of different culture at these festivals.   This was the transportation that was used to rescue the Miners in Chile that got trapped underground for several days while the world watched and wondered if they’d make it out alive.   If you remember it was actually built by someone in the States, but the Chileans take great pride in it.   As you can see, it would have been a tight squeeze for me and Brian to be rescued! There were many different traditional dance displays that varied greatly in costume and style.   Here, we captured one that included dancing horses!   The horses are very well trained along with their riders, so   it was quite a sight to see!   This is me with a friend from the school, Crystal Salsman.   We are holding a spiraled potat

Brian and I are in the middle of celebrating the Chilean Independence Day, also known as “Dieciocho.”   It is the 18 th of September and has different customs than our 4 th of July.   One of the customs is dancing.   I bought a dancing dress for the occasion because it seemed to represent a unique part of the culture.   The most popular dance here in the city is called the “Cuaca.”   Please forgive me if I spelt it wrong…..I have NO idea how to spell it.   As you can see in the picture, it is a GREAT twirling dress…..what fun!   One of he traditional Chilean drinks consist of barley on the bottom, peach juice, and then a whole, peeled peach in the beverage.   In the picture, you can see that most of this person’s peach juice is gone, but if you look carefully, you can see the peach and the barley still remain.   We tried this at a picnic that was celebrating Dieciocho. This is another Chilean treat called an “’empanada.”   On the inside of the bread there is meat, onions,

This past weekend, Brian and I were in for a treat.   We had our first taste of a Chilean Garage Sale……it was in our “backyard!”   Since we live on the school property, our “backyard” consists of the school gym.   It is an open gym that has a roof, but it served as a garage for a number of the public.   The Juniors and Seniors also had a bake sale to raise funds for their Jr./Sr. Banquet and class trip.   As you can see through the progression of photos, it started off slow, but quickly filled up!   The sale started at 10:00AM and ended at 1:00PM.   MOST of the goods were sold in the course of that time.   Brian and I found a few treasures…..our BEST find was an ihome for our ipod.   It was only $10 US Dollars and it works great!   WHAT a blessing!   That was Brian’s find.   I walked away with a couple shirts and a dress…….2 of the 4 fit, so I still considered the money spent a success.   The GREATEST thing about the sale though was that there was NO setup, NO clean up, and it was ri

This week Brian has been under the weather with a flu bug….well, at least that’s what we’re calling it.   There’s been a nasty virus that’s been drifting among the students/teachers at SCA, and Brian caught it.   He’s been out of commission for the week.   He didn’t leave the apartment for six days…….HOWEVER, we have a funny story from his time down. I came home from school and found Brian on the couch, still not feeling great.   I sat down to talk to him for a minute, when he said, “Phyllis?   You have become fully acclimated to Chile.”   In disbelief, I responded, “What makes you think so?   You sound so sure….” With a grin, Brian continued, “Well?   When a person starts talking Spanish in the night—when they should be SLEEPING—it’s a sure sign.” “I WAS sleeping last night!   WHAT do you mean?” “I mean that is more evidence to add to my case because now I know you were DREAMING in Spanish…..I’ve got a Chilean on my hands.” Hahahahahha. I had the giggles the r

Brian and I have lived through two tremors this last month.   Now, when Minnesotans think of tremors, they often think of chills and shaking.   Well, in Chile, a tremor is not a human body shaking……it’s the entire ground underfoot shaking!   Thankfully, we were forewarned when we got here that these things are NORMAL.   So, please, don’t fret!   We received earthquake safety instructions when we got here much like we would have tornado drills in Minnesota.   The windows rattle and it sounds like thunder outside, but it doesn’t last NEARLY as long……..at least not yet. Even if the world DOES shake though, Brian and I are secure…..secure in our Lord’s will for us. Yesterday Brian was not feeling well (the flu has been going around here), so we listened to a sermon by John Piper.   In it, he said, “Prayer is not a domestic intercom; it’s a war time walkie-talkie.”   Since we have been in Chile, I have been busy praying “God make this easier, or God make that easier.”    I was deeply