Hola! Hope England (or wherever you may be) is treating you well. We have done quite alot of the building work now; the foundations have been dug, the metal stabalisers have been wired together and theyre now cemented into the foundations. We´ve also found the water pipe that we´ve been digiging for for ages :) The hole is so deep though, it covers me when I stand in it.
Last weekend was really busy, but it a good way definitely. On Friday evening we first went to see a choir from Santiago who were singing in Temuco, then went on to a vigil which was about half an hours drive from Temuco. We sang three songs for the congregation- one in English, one in Spanish and one in both! The loved it so much when we sang in Spanish. Afterwards I was bombarded with young people, who had realised I spoke Spanish and wanted to know everything about out team and why we are here. It probably was the most Spanish I´ve ever spoken since I´ve been here, but I didn´t feel our of my depth at all, which was great :) We left the vigil, after many photos, at gone 12, and got home just after 1am.
Given the late night before, you´d think that we´d have a lie in on Saturday, but apparently Chileans don´t need as much sleep as we do! We were woken at 8am for a trip to the beach, which was about a 3 hour drive away from Cajon. Yay! The yay was said sarcastically at first, but actually it turned out to be one of the best days I´ve had yet in Chile. The car journey was hilariously cramped as we had 4 people in the back of an estate car. I say hilariously cause if I didnñt laugh about it then I probably would have cried at how numb I was! After about 200 stops, some for snacks, one for a punture, some cause we were lost, we finally arrived at the beach. It´s a miracle we got there, what with 4 in the back and 3 in the front of the pastors car...
It was such a good day though- so refreshing to get out of Cajon and experience a bit more of Chile. The best part had to be when us girls went running around in the sea and getting all wet and sandy whilst the boys lay about on a rug, as far from the sea as they could get. They complained about the sea being too cold, and that it would be uncomfortable if they got sand everywhere. I just think they didnt want to get their hair wet.
Sunday we lay in, then did an Easter egg hunt, though the eggs aren´t as nice here as in England. At church we did a drama about getting sucked into sin, and Jesus paying the price and setting us free, which was greatly received by the congregation.
Today (Monday), we were surpised with a day off the building site, so we went for a walk and found the most gorgeous spot by the river. we had to walk through some dodgy looking underpasses under the motorway and clamber down a steep slope, but when we got there it was so worth it! Right now I´m sat on a rock listening to the water and watching a heron on the other side of the river. This is way better than where I last wrote my blog!
Today is actually Tuesday, but when I wrote the above it was Monday. After writing that, we went and got everyone else and went back to the river. I was determined to reach a big rock that was quite far into the river but hopping from other rocks, like stepping stones. I was so close, but when I was almost there I fell completely in...in my clothes. It was so embarrasing! Especially walking home dripping wet.
Well my hour is nearly up on this computer so I better go. Please keep in touch.
Laura x
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Finally Here!!
Hello friends, family, whoever may be reading this! I know it´s been ages since I first posted on here but hopefully it will be weekly now that I´ve got into a bit of a routine. Well, I say routine, but actually everything is pretty relaxed here- I don´t think Chileans understand what routine is!
Last week I tried to write but my hour at the internet shack (it really is a shack) didn´t really give me enough time, especially as half an hour into it my computer crashed, much to the internet man´s amusement! It was just as I was about to send an update to church as well, so then I spent most of my remaining time time doing that again. That´s why now I´m writing my blog on paper first and then just typing them out later.
Right now I´m in our little ´garden´, which is a rectangle of bare earth with a few little trees and a rotting shed, and I´m accompanied by Gerald the horse and a cat that we haven´t named yet. Random animals are pretty usual in these parts! Next door has lent us 3 cats because our shack (yes, shacks are the only way they can be described) has a bit of a vermin problem... :S As for the horse, well I have no idea! I think it belongs to one of the other residents.
So far the garden has been the only place I can be completely by myself, and it´s SO refreshing. It´s a beautiful day as well- there are no clouds in the sky ans it´s definitely suncream weather. SO much for it being Chilean autumn! I can´t imagine how hot sumer must be!
So....Chile Chile Chile, what else shall I tell you...there´s just so much to tell, I don´t really know where to begin. We´ve been here just over a week and it´s already beginning to feel like home. Although I´m totally overwhelmed by the new culture, I also feel like there´s no place I´d rather be right now. We have been made to feel so welcome here- the people from the church we are working with are so loving, they treat us just like family. For example, when we got off the bus in Cajon at some silly hour after our 37 hour journey, the whole church was there to greet us, and they had prepared a meal for us at our house! And anytime we need anything, they´ve managed to get it for us, sometimes even before we´ve finished asking them. Even though they don´t have much themselves, they want to provide us with as much as they can, because they say we´ve been such a blessing to them in building their new church.
Oh yeh...building. It´s quite hard work! There´s not alot to do at the moment because we just don´t have all the materials, but what we can do, we get on with doing. So far, we´ve dug some trenches, wired some metal rods together, and cememnted the rods into the trenches. I don´t know alot about building, so I´m just doing as I´m told and hoping I´m getting it right! Most of the time it´s been fine though. It´s amazing how much we´ve managed to do in such a short time, actually.
I´m not going to lie, I do miss England. I miss my bed! A matresss and a sleeping bag is comfy, but just not quite the same...and there is no space for anything in the girls´ bedroom, we´re all just living out of our bags. Clothes avalanches are becoming a regular ocurance :P I have managed to put up some nails to hang our towells and coats on though (go me :D ) Also living in a team is quite challenging- it´s hard to get real alone time, and I´m missing having chats with people who know me properly. But we as a team are getting closer every day, especially us girls, so I think it will get easier in time.
I hope you are all ok. Hopefully I will update soon!!
Dios te bendiga
Laura
xxx
Last week I tried to write but my hour at the internet shack (it really is a shack) didn´t really give me enough time, especially as half an hour into it my computer crashed, much to the internet man´s amusement! It was just as I was about to send an update to church as well, so then I spent most of my remaining time time doing that again. That´s why now I´m writing my blog on paper first and then just typing them out later.
Right now I´m in our little ´garden´, which is a rectangle of bare earth with a few little trees and a rotting shed, and I´m accompanied by Gerald the horse and a cat that we haven´t named yet. Random animals are pretty usual in these parts! Next door has lent us 3 cats because our shack (yes, shacks are the only way they can be described) has a bit of a vermin problem... :S As for the horse, well I have no idea! I think it belongs to one of the other residents.
So far the garden has been the only place I can be completely by myself, and it´s SO refreshing. It´s a beautiful day as well- there are no clouds in the sky ans it´s definitely suncream weather. SO much for it being Chilean autumn! I can´t imagine how hot sumer must be!
So....Chile Chile Chile, what else shall I tell you...there´s just so much to tell, I don´t really know where to begin. We´ve been here just over a week and it´s already beginning to feel like home. Although I´m totally overwhelmed by the new culture, I also feel like there´s no place I´d rather be right now. We have been made to feel so welcome here- the people from the church we are working with are so loving, they treat us just like family. For example, when we got off the bus in Cajon at some silly hour after our 37 hour journey, the whole church was there to greet us, and they had prepared a meal for us at our house! And anytime we need anything, they´ve managed to get it for us, sometimes even before we´ve finished asking them. Even though they don´t have much themselves, they want to provide us with as much as they can, because they say we´ve been such a blessing to them in building their new church.
Oh yeh...building. It´s quite hard work! There´s not alot to do at the moment because we just don´t have all the materials, but what we can do, we get on with doing. So far, we´ve dug some trenches, wired some metal rods together, and cememnted the rods into the trenches. I don´t know alot about building, so I´m just doing as I´m told and hoping I´m getting it right! Most of the time it´s been fine though. It´s amazing how much we´ve managed to do in such a short time, actually.
I´m not going to lie, I do miss England. I miss my bed! A matresss and a sleeping bag is comfy, but just not quite the same...and there is no space for anything in the girls´ bedroom, we´re all just living out of our bags. Clothes avalanches are becoming a regular ocurance :P I have managed to put up some nails to hang our towells and coats on though (go me :D ) Also living in a team is quite challenging- it´s hard to get real alone time, and I´m missing having chats with people who know me properly. But we as a team are getting closer every day, especially us girls, so I think it will get easier in time.
I hope you are all ok. Hopefully I will update soon!!
Dios te bendiga
Laura
xxx
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