becka lippy

Guess who finally got her work visa and is officially legal???? Por fin!

Here he is, my beloved Eduardo... my future son-in-law. And yes, I believe in arranged marriages and I do NOT care if my daughter has found some other love. I refuse to let this one go!

So around 11 years ago, I made a friend named Annalisa Schappert who has remained such a HUGE part of my life (even though our friendship consists of two Starbucks runs a year) since then. She is one of the most amazing people I know. She has been the one that I have giggling fits with, and yet she has also seen me in my darkest hours. I could not ask for a more amazing sister in Christ! It is amazing to me that God teaches her and I similar lessons in life even though we live such seperate and distinct lives. And while alot of my friends from Jr. High have left my life forever, I am so confident that no matter how far away in the world we are, Chubs and I will be friends forever. So Annalisa has left for Thailand and she has joined the dark world of blogging. Take a minute and check out her blog... annalisa.schappert.blogspot.com

So Ashlee's parents have come out to Chile for the week and I have to admit that I feel so blessed to have them here (and not just because they brought some peanut buttercups with my name on them!). But really, I ahve known them for over 4 years and although I haven't spent huge amounts of time with them, I have seen enough to know that they are such a godly couple that I admire. They arrived on Saturday. Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch. Monday they went to school with Ashlee. Tuesday was Thanksgiving in our house (I know, it's supposed to be Thursday, but we like to do things differently down here). I will write a seperate blog about that dinner that includes photos. Yesterday I got to spend the afternoon with them. Mark, Mary Jo and I spent the day walking around Bellas Artes (including a tour of the museum) and then did some gift shopping. It was really nice to spend this time with a couple that I have admired for so long, and yet barely know from persona

So this blog is coming a bit late, but I just wanted to say goodbye to a sweet heart that has been a huge part of my life here in Chile. I met Alison in March and for the last 9 months she has been like an adopted roommate. She is the New Yorker who says words like "lush" and the Jew who emlightened us with ehr perspective on the world. And now she has gone to return to New York.. :( Ali, I will miss you horribly and I expect some really long and descriptive emails, like the kind that help me get over my phobia... jeje For the last few months she has lived in a house with a bunch of interesting characters including: the "Italian", the "Maricons" (that is a very vulgar way of saying a gay guy, ,but it was always said with affection), and more recently "Frenchie". Anyways, i have had the chance to hangout with these guys recently, particularly the gay guys and we have really hit it off. That area of town that I described earlier (Bellas Artes) is t

This entry won't be as deep as the title implies. I just mean to say that life is what life is. It goes and goes and in all honesty, is fairly quick and short. Fridays always come and I am shocked that a whole week has gone by. This week was filled with stuff just like any other week. Work, classes, some babysitting, Bible study, etc etc. I have become used to the rhythm of the city. I was walking to work on Tuesday and I noticed it. I was a part of this huge thing called the city. Suddenly (how dramatic I am!) I could see my life being filmed as if it were the story of a young girl making it in the city. Last friday i was at a girl's house for her birthday party and from her garden there was a beautiful view of Santiago. Since it was at night the whole skyline was full of lights, different colors and brightness, together giving a picture of Santiago at night. And I was talking to a friend (you know who you are!) about how much I love the city. And yet recently I have been sayi

So I took advantage of the beautiful sunny day on saturday adn did some Bible study while I laid out on my terraza and drank a cold beer. Then, I met up with Sam and Jason to go to a goodbye party for the Swans who will be returning to Aussie land for 6 months. On the way there, Sam asked me when we were going to go study at Moore College. I dodged the question. Then after arriving at the Swans home, Sally Swan shoved a book on Sydney and asked when I was going to give in and move there to study. Bueno, I guess my friends have decided my future. No, don't worry Grandma, I am not moving out to Aussieland anytime soon. Chile is far enough. Here are the little Swans looking like angels (well, the one in the middle Edward really is an angel) Goodbye Swans! You guys have been such a blessing in my life and I will miss you horribly the next 6 months!

So friday night we (meaning the normal group of us from youth group) went to a birthday party of a girl named Peggy who happened to be the first Anglicana I ever met, and one of the first Christians I met in Chile. I seriously felt like it was the VIP of the young Anglican community (and Sam, you can stop laughing). Anyways it was actually really fun and I got to see some people I hadn't seen since Congreso and i I got to meet some really sweet people. I met some girls who are gringa and here becuase their parents are with Navigators here (Navigators is one of my favorite campus ministries). Anyways, it was really nice to hang out with people my age who love God. And I learned that although alcohol used to help me speak Spanish, no mas. Now, after a few drinks I loose my ability to speak teh langauge. Good, I say, motivation not to over drink. :)

My first three months in Santiago I went to a PCA church (I came from a PCA- Presbyterian Church of America church in California). It was gringo, bascially everyone who goes there is an ex-pat from middle class white America. I only spent three months there and then realized that I didn't really belong there. If I was going to truly live in Chile, why would I spend all my time with other Gringos. So I left and started going to my Anglican church. But in that short time I saw learned something that no other church experiencee has shown me. Community. I have never seen a church that so well lived out the call to be a community, a family. After church every sunday, about 30 of the church members go out to lunch together. It is awesome. The church, the family, goes to teh food court of a local mall and everyone sits around a bunch of tables eating and talking and sharing their lives with each other. I was so impressed with this and that feeling of community will stick with me forever.

This last week has been one of thoughts and misunderstandngs and hopes and failures... between me and God. I don't know why or why it started, but by the time wednesday night came I was mildly upset and pretty confused. I have been listening to the sermons of Francis Chan (those of you who know him are all excited now!) and I really like what he says. He always seems to remind me that my first love is Christ and that anything I give up for Christ is nothing compared to the riches I gain in Him. Bueno... but then I was thinking about it and how much I love the systematic and reformed hardcore "dead in your sins" preaching. And I had a problem mixing the two in my mind. So what do I do? I call Jason and basically force him to let me talk it out with him (he has been waiting for a good theological convo for some time now!) and our talk really helped. I realized a lot about my relationship with God. And I began to ask some questions about what my relationship should look like

Here is a pic of our little group of friends. This was taken on our way home after going out one last time for drinks before Rachie left.

so a lot of people complain that they hate Mondays since it means the begining of another work week... but as I explained in last weeks blog, I actually like Mondays because I have a few hours of freedom. So once again I decided to spend my freedom on food. I went to the pick up truck across the street from my apartment that sells fresh fruit and veggies and I bought chirimoya and oranges for some yummy chirimoya alegre . And then i picked up some wine (Misiones dee Rengo- check it if Trader Joes carries it because it is awesome!). And as I made myself chirimoya alegre and a sandwich for lunch, i listened to Las Orishas (a cuban hiphop type of band), and I thought about how much I love this country. I really just enjoy my life here. It is gringo enough that I can live without any HUGE culture shocks or even really changing much of my life (see my last blog for the other side of the same coin) but it still has that latino flavor to it. Now the only question in what to do next year. by

I was thinking in the mirco (bus) on my way home from work tonight as I watched the sunset over the pollutioned hills... and I thought, I have learned so much from living here. I almost think it is like a culture shock. They say that there are two common times to get a culture shock when living in a new country: the first month and about 9 months into your stay. Well I have now completed 14 months here in Chile. I don't like to describe what I am feeling as shock, since that implies a negative experience. And in all honesty, nothing that I am experiencing is new information to me. But I am just now seeing how these cultural differences effect my life personally. And that is where I think the shocking part comes in. I will give two examples: 1) The fact that many people my age date not because they are really commited to that person (and please, chilenos, don't try to argue with me, I am just comparing the system of thought to that in the US). Basically in the US, you might go