Jorge is on the computer and you will notice Dirty Frank sleeping by his feet. Jorge is in charge of finding people to live in the hostel. His mother, Nancy, made me soup and tea b/c I got sick. You can hear the Chilean Spanish accent when Nancy talks. She uses the word "harta/o" for "mucha/o".

I have a new job that I am pretty excited about! I will be working at a hostel on the weekends and on Wednesdays. I will get to meet a lot of people from all around the world - we could start our own little United Nations!

Quick side note: "The Way of a Pilgrim" is a good book to read on the practice of the Jesus prayer. Joel Wilson sent this to me and has been a fresh of breath air. If you haven't read it, I would recommend it. The front page says "A classic of Russian spirituality."

The weather is amazing here, so hot and sunny everyday. Anyone want to come visit to get a break from the cold??

The only complaint about the hot/sunny days is that I sweat a lot and currently own 2 pairs of pants one of which is extremely uncomfortable. So, I end up wearing the same black pants nearly everyday. However, it's great b/c I am sooooo thankful right after my black pants are washed and clean to wear. I have learned how simple life is when owning only a few outfits.

My roommate, Lizzy from England, found/saved an abandoned kitten - he was literally skin and bones. His name is "Dirty Frank" or "Sucio Frank". She is taking good care of him and Dirty Frank is starting to gain enough energy to play. Hope all is well with everyone!

Today I have the day of from work so I've been reading a magazine called "Sabado" that comes every Saturday. There's a big stack of them sitting in the house, so I "steal" them to practice Spanish. I decided to go downtown to the main square "Plaza de Armas" to read, it's more motivating than in my room w/o windows.

I found a shady place under a tree in front of the court house. I didn't think anything about the grass being partially wet. "Hmmm... why would this grass be wet, it hasn't rained in months?" About 20 minutes later I found out b/c while I was reading the sprinkler went off and shot me right in the face! Haha!







I went back to the main square and saw a boy feeding the doves. Poor doves! :)






These 2 pictures are also in the "Plaza de Armas". The picture below - well, I should have asked if this is a famous cathedral or something.

I present you all to a wonderful friend - Megan. She's from Texas and this is her at Vina del Mar, Chile. She lives in the same hostel as I do. We went to a Mexican restaurant last night. Eating Mexican while speaking English with a US citizen reminded me of home a lot. It was a lovely evening. I am very thankful for her.

While we were walking home from the Mexican restaurant last night we saw a man peeing on a tree. We made a little chuckle and he noticed that we saw him and he yelled "disculpa chicas!" - "excuse me girls!". Ay, ay, ay.


To the right is a cute Chilean family on the beach. As the dad graciously took about 8 minutes to put sunscreen on his son so he wouldn't burn, a lot of things went through my head. First thing is hoping that I have a family someday and the next was "oh yeah I will have to put sunscreen on myself and my children, too much work!" :)

It's amazing how many sacrifices parents make for their children. So, this goes out to all the parents in this world - thanks for making the daily sacrifices for your children!

The trip to Vina del Mar was my first time in over two months to go to the beach. The bus ride only takes an hour and a half from Santiago.

My new phone number is: 317.641.9451. And, no I am not home.

My new address is:

Maturana 557
Comuna Santiago
Barrio Brasil
Santiago, Chile

The picture below: (left to right) of Evelyn (Chile), myself, Jaime (Chile), Alex (Germany), and Fernando (Brasil). Jaime is a friend of Alex and doesn't live in the hostel. The picture is missing a couple of people who live in the hostel including a girl from Texas (another United States citizen!). They are all wonderful people. Good times!

As I was heading out this morning, I see our dogs using sleeping in their houses. Note to people who buy really big nice expensive dog houses for their dogs: THEY ARE DOGS!! They really don't mind sleeping in cardboard and look at how authentic this is. Please remind me of this picture when I go to the pet store to spend $50 - 100 on a dog house.

Happy New Year to all!
May God grant you all a peaceful year.

I did move and will provide my new address later. I live in a French-style house with high ceilings and 7 other people from around the world. We share a big kitchen, 5 bathrooms, and my room is about the size of my last apartment. Today I had fun playing with a little 10-month old girl (neighbor). The cost is way better and I thoroughly enjoy the people I am living with. The only thing I am trying to get used to is being able to hear every noise in the house while trying to fall asleep.

We have a couple of dogs that the owner of our house and various other neighbors take care of. Two of them (Copito and Dandy) have a broken leg from being hit by cars. Here is a picture of "Copito". He is also blind in his right eye. When I first met him I was pulling up to the house on a bike that one of my roomies lent me to go to the gym and little Copito was limping at the end of the dog herd. He kept having to take breaks because he can only use 3 of his legs to walk. He would rest on his broken leg for support. His tail started waggling when one of the neighbors came to give them water and feed them. I was blessed that day to have met Copito, a joyful 3 legged Chilean limping dog.

Allie this video is for you! This is from Catemu on the farm. We were labeling tomato sauce jars. We both thought that the camera was on "take a picture" mode, but I forgot to take it off of "take a video" mode. So, Allie is pulling a funny one behind my back while I am posing and smiling for the "picture" when in fact it was a video that captured the whole thing. Allie and I were cracking up! Allie - you're hilarious! Miss you tons hermana! Hope you are doing well.