I know, I know, I should have written earlier but this is seriously the first chance I have had to really just sit down and type to you all. I will write out the past few weeks in order and include any pictures i can in my entries. But before I begin, I want to thank all of you who were praying for my time in the States. My time with my family and friends was more than i could ask for.
And here we go...
Thursday- I got to the airport fine and arrived in Miami safely. At the border they found an apple that Ashlee had packed me for the trip that I hadn't eaten and after a minute of explaining to the security guards what the situation was, they let me take the apple out and throw it in the trash.
Friday-I arrived in New York and was met by a very familiar and friendly face. Diana who was a good friend from youth group when i was 16 met me at JFK with bagels in hand. We went to her apartment and then out for some great Indian food. After saying goodbye to Diana I made my way over to Jews For Jesus where I finally saw my dad. After a few minutes of hellos and awkward greetings where I tried to hug and kiss these boys I had never met before (thanks Chile for making me into a chilena). I finally figured that they were feeling awkward and forced myself to stop. Basically the whole day, anything I said had to be repeated in English since all my automatic responses were in Spanish. After saying hi and goodbye to everyone at Jews for Jesus, i tried desperatly to catch a taxi. A combination of the sudden rainstorm, the rush hour traffic and the shift change for all the taxi drivers madee catching a taxi impossible. I ended up walking/running in the rain with all my luggage in tow the 10 blocks or so to where I was going to catch the bus for Philly. i had prebought my ticket and was so scared that I would miss my bus, but the bus I had planned to take ended up being cancelled anyways (praise God!). So after sitting at the bus terminal for a few hours I got on my bus and headed for Philly where the beautiful Kallie picked me up and we began our day and a half of theology/life/prebyterianism/missions talking.
Saturday- Kallie and walked for like 6 hours around Philly. Our tour of Philly started with the Art Museum and we walked and walked until we couldn't walk anymore. I ate all the appropriate foods: Philly cheese steak, pretzel, ice cream (i forget what type of ice cream it was, but it was something specially Philadedelphian), Thai food, and to top it all off, Coldstones. Thanks to a special gift from Kallies dad, we took a carriage rided through the old part of Philly and it was awesome. Our carriage driver was so cool and one of those nerds that loves his job becuase he gets to talk about history all day long. It was a super sweet day...
Oh my gosh, how could I almost forget??? I stopped by Westminster on saturday and although there was no one on campus (I guess I can't expect too much on a saturday in the middle of summer) I sitll wlaked around and pretended I was a studeent there arguing with some of the greatest theological minds on this planet.
Sunday- I met up in Washington DC with my dad and we headed out to Arlington where my aunt and uncle live. In the metro station a man came up to me and started talking to me in spanish. My dad was confused, and so was I since I have no clue why the man knew I spoke spanish. Anyways, we went over to my aunt and uncles who I haven't seen in a long time and I was reminded of just how much I come from that family. my cousin Benny (who i haven't seen since I was 8 years old) and I have alot more in common than I have ever realized. I am hoping to convince him to come down here to Chile for a while. we´ll see... Then my dad and I went to my grandmas (YEAH!) who i miss mucho and I was so excited to see her new apartment. The plan was to go visit grandpa and then I would spend the night at my grandma's and my dad would stay with my uncle. We went to visit my grandpa who has recently not been doing well. I was sorry to see him in not the best condition but really grateful just to be close to him. After my mormor's death, I was hit with teh realization that I need to take advantage of the time i have with my grandparents now.
Monday- My dad and I went with my grandma one more time to visit my grandpa before we headed to the airport. We had our flights together and our seats reserved together. There was a family behind us for one of the flights and I was just so impressed with thte mom. i think the kids were adopted or foster kids since both parents were white and four out of the five kids were black (and all different shades of black). And this mom was amazing. i heard her the whole plane ride talking to her kids and loving them, even the way she told one of the little girls to stop kicking my seat was impressive. Anyways... We arrived safely and that night I met my dad's housemates Tina and Freddy who are from El Salvador. They are some of my new favorite people. So hospitable and sweet.
Tuesday- My dad and I ran errands. I know this may soudn wierd but that is exactly what I wanted to to with my dad. I just wanted to have a day with him that felt like a normal day. We went into the office and said hi to his coworkers and then over to the chilean embassay where I impressed my dad with my hardcore spanish. Then after a few more small errands (including lunch from LA TAPATIA!!!!!) we took naps. i woke up from my nap and found my dads house mate Freddy in the garden. We sat out in the shade eating freshing picked cucumbers and talking in spanglish. Then, my dad drove me over to my moms.
Wednesday- I spent the day with my mommy. We drove up to Napa and went wine tasting and exploring the beautiful terrain. I cannot say details of what we talked about since mother daughter talks are confidential, but I will say this: it was so good to talk to my mom. We found a cute restaurant that served us ice teas and chips and salsa outside as we listened to a man play guitar on the nearby stage. Then after a delicous dinner we drove home and decided to go to a movie. We saw scanner darkly which wasn't my favorite movie of all time, but after such a great day, i can't complain.
Thursday- My mom went to work and I also began the huge job of sorting through all my possesions and deciding what I want to bring back, what I need to bring back, and what I need to buy to bring back. After a few hours of sorting, my mom returned from work to have lunch with me. She also brought back my sister who brought me an apple (thanks Aviva). We went out to lunch and I went back to my job of sorting.
Friday- I woke up early to pick up a rental car. Then i headed to SLO! On my way down I stopped by to see Emerald. That girl is so supper sweet and I loved just talking to her and hearing from her in person how she was doing. I had to cut it short thought to get back on the road to SLO. When i finally got to SLO I headed to Danielles house where would be staying. I have known Danielles parents for a few years now and have talked to them a little, but I really got to spend time with them that weekend. We sat in their living room for a few hours just talking about life and all. I really like them. They have beautiful spirits. I drove into SLO that night and as I drove through I was just overwhelmed by the absolute preciousness of the town. I drove out to Avila and found a little farmers market happening with a live band playing. Families were out htere eating cotton candy and laughing and dancing to teh music. it was truly magical. But I felt wierd. i couldn't figure out if I was supposed to be sad that I didn't live in this enchanting world anymore, sentimental that I used to live here, or just happy to be in such a beautiful part of God's creation. I called my mom and felt a little better.
I then drove out to Danielles church where she was helping out with a high school youth group`sleep over. I hung out with her there for a while which was basically just quality time talking to one of the people who understand me more than I can describe who i can tell anything to. Really nice time. I drove back to her house and went to bed, while she faced the high schoolers.
Keith, youre just going to ahve to wait for the blog on our coffee date, wontcha??
The rest of the days will be coming soon.... patience
And here we go...
Thursday- I got to the airport fine and arrived in Miami safely. At the border they found an apple that Ashlee had packed me for the trip that I hadn't eaten and after a minute of explaining to the security guards what the situation was, they let me take the apple out and throw it in the trash.
Friday-I arrived in New York and was met by a very familiar and friendly face. Diana who was a good friend from youth group when i was 16 met me at JFK with bagels in hand. We went to her apartment and then out for some great Indian food. After saying goodbye to Diana I made my way over to Jews For Jesus where I finally saw my dad. After a few minutes of hellos and awkward greetings where I tried to hug and kiss these boys I had never met before (thanks Chile for making me into a chilena). I finally figured that they were feeling awkward and forced myself to stop. Basically the whole day, anything I said had to be repeated in English since all my automatic responses were in Spanish. After saying hi and goodbye to everyone at Jews for Jesus, i tried desperatly to catch a taxi. A combination of the sudden rainstorm, the rush hour traffic and the shift change for all the taxi drivers madee catching a taxi impossible. I ended up walking/running in the rain with all my luggage in tow the 10 blocks or so to where I was going to catch the bus for Philly. i had prebought my ticket and was so scared that I would miss my bus, but the bus I had planned to take ended up being cancelled anyways (praise God!). So after sitting at the bus terminal for a few hours I got on my bus and headed for Philly where the beautiful Kallie picked me up and we began our day and a half of theology/life/prebyterianism/missions talking.
Saturday- Kallie and walked for like 6 hours around Philly. Our tour of Philly started with the Art Museum and we walked and walked until we couldn't walk anymore. I ate all the appropriate foods: Philly cheese steak, pretzel, ice cream (i forget what type of ice cream it was, but it was something specially Philadedelphian), Thai food, and to top it all off, Coldstones. Thanks to a special gift from Kallies dad, we took a carriage rided through the old part of Philly and it was awesome. Our carriage driver was so cool and one of those nerds that loves his job becuase he gets to talk about history all day long. It was a super sweet day...
Oh my gosh, how could I almost forget??? I stopped by Westminster on saturday and although there was no one on campus (I guess I can't expect too much on a saturday in the middle of summer) I sitll wlaked around and pretended I was a studeent there arguing with some of the greatest theological minds on this planet.
Sunday- I met up in Washington DC with my dad and we headed out to Arlington where my aunt and uncle live. In the metro station a man came up to me and started talking to me in spanish. My dad was confused, and so was I since I have no clue why the man knew I spoke spanish. Anyways, we went over to my aunt and uncles who I haven't seen in a long time and I was reminded of just how much I come from that family. my cousin Benny (who i haven't seen since I was 8 years old) and I have alot more in common than I have ever realized. I am hoping to convince him to come down here to Chile for a while. we´ll see... Then my dad and I went to my grandmas (YEAH!) who i miss mucho and I was so excited to see her new apartment. The plan was to go visit grandpa and then I would spend the night at my grandma's and my dad would stay with my uncle. We went to visit my grandpa who has recently not been doing well. I was sorry to see him in not the best condition but really grateful just to be close to him. After my mormor's death, I was hit with teh realization that I need to take advantage of the time i have with my grandparents now.
Monday- My dad and I went with my grandma one more time to visit my grandpa before we headed to the airport. We had our flights together and our seats reserved together. There was a family behind us for one of the flights and I was just so impressed with thte mom. i think the kids were adopted or foster kids since both parents were white and four out of the five kids were black (and all different shades of black). And this mom was amazing. i heard her the whole plane ride talking to her kids and loving them, even the way she told one of the little girls to stop kicking my seat was impressive. Anyways... We arrived safely and that night I met my dad's housemates Tina and Freddy who are from El Salvador. They are some of my new favorite people. So hospitable and sweet.
Tuesday- My dad and I ran errands. I know this may soudn wierd but that is exactly what I wanted to to with my dad. I just wanted to have a day with him that felt like a normal day. We went into the office and said hi to his coworkers and then over to the chilean embassay where I impressed my dad with my hardcore spanish. Then after a few more small errands (including lunch from LA TAPATIA!!!!!) we took naps. i woke up from my nap and found my dads house mate Freddy in the garden. We sat out in the shade eating freshing picked cucumbers and talking in spanglish. Then, my dad drove me over to my moms.
Wednesday- I spent the day with my mommy. We drove up to Napa and went wine tasting and exploring the beautiful terrain. I cannot say details of what we talked about since mother daughter talks are confidential, but I will say this: it was so good to talk to my mom. We found a cute restaurant that served us ice teas and chips and salsa outside as we listened to a man play guitar on the nearby stage. Then after a delicous dinner we drove home and decided to go to a movie. We saw scanner darkly which wasn't my favorite movie of all time, but after such a great day, i can't complain.
Thursday- My mom went to work and I also began the huge job of sorting through all my possesions and deciding what I want to bring back, what I need to bring back, and what I need to buy to bring back. After a few hours of sorting, my mom returned from work to have lunch with me. She also brought back my sister who brought me an apple (thanks Aviva). We went out to lunch and I went back to my job of sorting.
Friday- I woke up early to pick up a rental car. Then i headed to SLO! On my way down I stopped by to see Emerald. That girl is so supper sweet and I loved just talking to her and hearing from her in person how she was doing. I had to cut it short thought to get back on the road to SLO. When i finally got to SLO I headed to Danielles house where would be staying. I have known Danielles parents for a few years now and have talked to them a little, but I really got to spend time with them that weekend. We sat in their living room for a few hours just talking about life and all. I really like them. They have beautiful spirits. I drove into SLO that night and as I drove through I was just overwhelmed by the absolute preciousness of the town. I drove out to Avila and found a little farmers market happening with a live band playing. Families were out htere eating cotton candy and laughing and dancing to teh music. it was truly magical. But I felt wierd. i couldn't figure out if I was supposed to be sad that I didn't live in this enchanting world anymore, sentimental that I used to live here, or just happy to be in such a beautiful part of God's creation. I called my mom and felt a little better.
I then drove out to Danielles church where she was helping out with a high school youth group`sleep over. I hung out with her there for a while which was basically just quality time talking to one of the people who understand me more than I can describe who i can tell anything to. Really nice time. I drove back to her house and went to bed, while she faced the high schoolers.
Keith, youre just going to ahve to wait for the blog on our coffee date, wontcha??
The rest of the days will be coming soon.... patience
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