This month my team is staying in the small town of Los Andes in central Chile. The city is back-dropped with spectacularly massive snow-capped mountains—a daily reminder of the goodness and grandness of our God.
Our host family is absolutely wonderful. They are a family of four—Juan and his wife Elvira, and their two kiddos Sammy (3) and Valentina (5). Each and every one of them is filled with a spirit of joy and kindness. We came here to serve and bless them, but they have been a blessing to us, and have shown us what it is to be cared for. They keep us laughing, and keep our stomachs full.
The Chilean diet consists of pan (a.k.a. bread), pan, and more pan! Oh!…and café or té. Pan is baked fresh each day and eaten with every meal. I eat this stuff like five times a day, which is probably not my best life decision, but let me tell you, it is worth every single bite!
Pretty much every moment spent eating at a table together has been my favorite moment so far. I’ve always found there to be something exceedingly special about breaking bread (literally) in the company of friends and strangers alike.
Three days each week I get to walk 30 minutes through the multicolored neighborhood—each home and business a new and exciting color—to Escuela España where I am an English teacher for pre-school through second grade students. I am swarmed upon arrival by kids with toothless grins and outstretched arms. “Hello Tia!”, “How are you Miss?!”, “¿Cómo se dice * points at shoe * en ingles?”. I teach the students English, and they teach me Spanish.
Lunchtime is what I look forward to every day. It is then that I get to build relationships with the kids. Sometimes that looks like playing games with the niños, or letting them climb on me like a jungle-gym, or letting the middle school girls braid my hair, or just talking and laughing back and forth with our broken Spanish and English. Man, being a teacher and hanging out with those kids wears me out! But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Hasta luego
