Soo right now I am sitting down in the living room after a long walk in the park (and some journaling)... Why the long walk? Well, this afternoon I think I ate my weight in Chilean food. Okay, okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm not kidding, it was like the equivalent of our Thanksgiving in terms of food. What was exactly? Chilean Independence Day!! Otherwise known as Fiestas Patrias!! So imagine 4th of July combined with a Thanksgiving Feast plus some crazy Chilean dancing as well as "terremotos" (traditional Chilean drink that will knock you on your butt - kinda difficult to explain but I will tell you that it has pineapple ice cream in it. Sounds interesting, eh?)
Anywhoo, on Friday, in celebration of Fiestas Patrias, I took the bus out to Viña del Mar (Valparaíso and Concón - they're all next to each other, all of which are on the coast) at the invitation of my Chilean friend, Christian, whose family has a home out there. Pretty darn lucky, I'd say. So I got to do some sight-seeing around Valparaíso as well as take an afternoon to explore the coast of Concón (see pictures on your left entitled "Fiestas Patrias"). Wow... Literally jaw-dropping views... Don't believe me? Okay then, check out these videos that I made especially for you all. ((Pictures are great, but with videos you get movement and sound!! i.e. the sound of my voice narrating and the sound of the waves!))
Video 2 Pending...
Yes, I did get a little video-happy, but I am hoping you all appreciate the videos!! As you can see from video #2 I was standing on a peninsula of rocks surrounded by the crashing waves. It was incredible. It was a moment of complete contentment and awe, some of which had to do with my listening to this sweet podcast about God's faithfulness to us as His people. It talked about how covenants were made back in the Old Testament: they would cut in two different animals and then walk between them to symbolize the people's agreement, kinda to symbolize the shared responsibility in making this covenant. Anyways, so when God makes His covenant with Abraham, Abraham cuts up all these animals but then only God passes between them, thus symbolizing that even if Abraham (i.e. us as humans) break our part of the "deal" (which we do of course) God is the one who will take responsibility and pay the price (i.e. He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins). Wow. Talk about faithfulness and steadfastness towards us. His unbreakable love for us, His rebellious and defiant people. So to bring this tangent back to the ocean and the rocks etc. I was standing there in awe of the God who made the beauty and power before my eyes and I realized that all those things aren't even God's greatest love or greatest treasure. Instead, we are... these wicked sinful humans who go around hurting other people, starting wars between nations as well as between friends/family, constantly screwing up and being selfish etc... Of all the things God created, we are the "apple" of His eye. Whoa... Take that for some perspective...
Okay, so beyond my tangent was the rest of my weekend, which consisted of a wonderful BBQ and some dancing on Saturday night. Oh, note: I wish I had grown up dancing like these Chileans have... Plus, unlike our "bump & grind" that we got going on in the U.S. of A, Chileans have actual "dances" like salsa, merengue, cueca... It is actually a lot of fun!! And in my case, it would have been much more fun if I knew what the heck I was doing out there on the "dance floor"!!! Sunday morning I got up early to take the bus back home to Santiago where everyone was ready to grill-out and feast like kings! I won't go into an insane amount of detail about the food because that will either bore you or make your mouth water but I will say a few things. As a "pre-game" food we had "chori-pan," which consists of grilled chorizo (a type of sausage, from Spain) in little buns (i.e. "pan" for "bread"). Delicious. As a dessert, we drank/ate "mote con huesillos," which has peaches that have been "marinated" (for lack of a better word in English) in sugar water etc. thus making this wonderful juice to which you add "trago," which are these weird wheat-like noodle-like things... Honestly, I might have to take a picture for ya'll. It's kinda indescribable.. at least in English.. :) Also, I might add a funny note... So as my host dad (Papá) was placing this "steak" on my plate, my host mom (Mamá) asks me if we have "meat" in Iowa or if I eat a lot of meat or something like that. I bust out laughing. Of course!!! I am from Iowa!!! Chileans don't understand that they haven't had a steak until they have eaten steak in the US. Oooh Chile. Gotta love it!!
Okay, okay so I need to get going and Skype my real parents as well as answer some emails... Tomorrow I am going to go to the Estado Nacional for some real celebrating!! Updates later.
¡Ciao!
Besos
Sarah
Video two isn't posted!
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