Chile and how the world is small.

My church in Chile, Luz al Mundo, has an elder who is a missionary from Germany. Today was his last day because he has to go back to Germany to visit various churches for about 6 months and he will come back to Santiago in December/January. That reminded me of Meinolf Mellwig (yes, that pastor of the Czech church) and how he had to return to Germany last year when LBC was on missions. So, purely out of curiosity, I asked him if by the off chance he knew Meinolf Mellwig.

And you know what!? They are both sent from the same German missionary organization and they had done missions together in the same location before! They were roommates or something like that way way way back on the missionary trip. He knew about the English camps LBC does with Meinolf's church so I got to tell him a bit more about LBC's ministry with Meinolf. Times like this I wish I actually got to meet Meinolf instead of talking about him as an elusive figure.

What an unlikely intersection of nationalities of United States, Chile, Germany, and Czech Republic somehow coming together on a normal Sunday at church in Santiago...

Buenos Aires, Argentina--Recap

I already devoted several hours to editing and uploading my pictures from my trip to Buenos Aires on facebook, but I don't feel it's fair to neglect this blog either, so I'll give a brief overview here. This is what my trip to Buenos Aires consisted of:

Papas fritas, beef and chimichurri. Although I got sick of beef after a few days, it compensates for my almost meat-free diet in Chile.

Hanging out with Lighthouse in Uruguay (OK, so maybe this isn't Buenos Aires, but close enough! Just a 2 hour ferry ride away!). I can't believe God made the scheduling so perfect that I was able to spend the entire debriefing time with them.

Hitting up all the touristy places that all Argentina guidebooks recommend.

Spending practically 24 hours a day with these dudes. I don't know how I survived it...it was definitely the grace of God. Thanks God for everything : )

And although I was longing to stay and extremely sad to leave, my time in Argentina is over (for now...). It's back to Santiago and being a chilena again. Speaking of being chilena, my Chilean ID cards came in! I'm legal now! The top one is my university ID, the bottom is the national identity card that everyone needs to carry around.

They'd be fantastic souvenirs to bring home!

P.S. I am doing Flocks-style homework for Bible study tomorrow-- in Spanish! We are studying Galatians and it's terrific to know more deeply God's Word in another language. I have to keep on making comparisons to the English text and the Spanish text so I'm also learning new words as I go along. I also have to write my answers in Spanish so it helps my writing skills as well. What a sweet deal!

Lighthouse in Argentina

Everything worked out. No update because I have been so busy having fun with, catching up with, and hugging them : ) Pictures to come when I return to Chile.

Edit: They just left Argentina. I was able to see them off at the airport up until they entered through security. I hugged each and every one of them and began tearing up when I hugged Romi. I left the airport, not wanting to look back and hopped in the first taxi I found and rode back alone. The three days spent with them was a refreshing time spent with some of the people dearest to me from my San Diego church family. It was much needed after being away from them for one month to hear about the missions trip to Tucuman as it's fresh on their minds, see people increase or discover their love for Iglesia Biblica Misionera, telling them how my time is in Chile, savoring every second I have with them...

I love Lighthouse.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buen dia (o sea, buenas noches) desde Bs As! I guess God did want me to come to Buenos Aires because here I am in my strange hostel in a shady part of San Telmo typing on my laptop in the dark and listening to Brazilian speak Portuguese outside my door. I am rather familiar with my way around here already, much more than when I came here the past 2 times with LBC because we only walked thru Calle Florida, the huge touristy shopping pedestrian street, which is the scene that I want to stay away from now that I have an opportunity to check out non-touristy Buenos Aires. I didn't take any fotos yet because I don't want to take out my big bulky camera until I have a good feeling of the city. It makes me rather nervous.

I'm getting kind of anxious about meeting up with LBC tomorrow because I don't know what time they are arriving and I don't know their cell phone numbers. I really don't want to stake out their hotel until they arrive, but I might have to. I went to Andres' church today and met his pastor, who gave me his phone number, which was different from the one Andres gave me, so I'm kind of nervous about not being able to get in touch with them. If worst comes to worst, his pastor has my phone number and Andres can get my phone number from him. I will not be that excited to be here until I see LBC! Sure, I'm having fun here, but now that I have Chilean eyes, so to speak, Buenos Aires is just another city. It actually reminds me a lot of Santiago, just with more blondes, better food, better air (but not that much better), and more European buildings. And weirdly enough, I actually miss the Chilean accent and slang. When I got here, the Argentinean accent weirded me out, even though I have heard it many times before! I had a hard time understanding them even! Moo Tang, you're right...I'm slowly gonna like Chile more. Look what one month has done to me! What I like about Argentine Spanish though is that they speak much slower (whew) and I understand a lot of what they say, unlike in Chile. Nevertheless, the rapidity in which many Chileans speak really helped me nurture an attentive ear, which has helped me a lot coming to Buenos Aires. Woot! Now I know for sure my Spanish is improving! Furthermore, I do miss Santiago because my Chilean momma is there, my room is there, and it feels like home now that I'm away from it. Weiiiird!

Furthermore, I'm meeting a lot of international people. My 3 roommates are from Ireland, and I was explaining to them where I am from. Kind of the USA, kind of not. It's kind of cool: I'm a US citizen whose parents are from Taiwan, but I came from Chile because I'm studying there. It makes me sound like one of them people from Europe who go all over the world to study and know 945869670 languages. Jajajaja I wish!

Anyway, this ends my random thoughts while being in Buenos Aires. I hope I get to catch Lighthouse tomorrow. Sigh. Stressful. They're pretty far away too, so this should be quite an adventure...

LBC Missions

I have been checking the EAP website since I got accepted to see if the academic calendar is up so I can coordinate the dates to go to Tucuman (accent mark on the "a"), Argentina . I will need to be in Chile by June 25. That means a little more than three months away.

Nevertheless, the coolest part--the Intensive Language Program spans from June 30 – July 18.
LBC is in Tucuman from July 10-24 (with a few days taken off for travel time).
U de Chile orientation is July 23-25.

...That means I have FOUR to FIVE days off to visit Lighthouse in Argentina.

WOW! God is so good. It's like I am going on missions with LBC again this year since I get to be on the Home Team with the CZ & AR teams this year, I just won't be flying out with them (I'll just be meeting them there, jaja).

Gracias a Dios.