Playing with Chileans

I hung out with all Chileans today after I came home from school. What a feat...I understood 20% of what was being said amidst all the:

• slang and curse words

• the cachai (the Chilean way of saying "y'know?" after every question), and si po'h (which is a shortening of "si pues" which I would translate into "OK")
  

• the Chilean accent that drops the "s" and the "d" (for example: despues--> dehpueh; pasado --> pasao, which ends up sounding like Portuguese).

Now I know how my parents feel when they hear me and my brothers talking. Now I know how foreign exchange students feel when they are alone in a big group of norteamericanos. It felt like my brain was going to explode and it's a very awkward feeling, kind of like when you feel that you're not wanted in a conversation but you can't leave because it'd be rude. That's how it feels. This is not to say the Chileans I hung out with today were not welcoming, they certainly were, but it's an example of the difficulty of the language barriers for any foreigner. So lesson learned: be nice to foreigners and include them in conversations!

P.S. We started our EAP Bible study today! We're going strong with 5 people but 4 of them are gals and only one dude. We listened to CJ Mahaney's sermon from Resolved Session 11 about the violent and necessary crucifixion of Christ. It was so nice to see that even if we might have minor theological differences; we are still unified in what the Gospel is; we are sinners saved by grace striving for godliness in a foreign country; we desire to evangelize to the lost even in Chile; and we all want a church body to fellowship in. Gracias a Dios.
P.P.S. Happy 4th, gringos!