i'm lacking inspiration for a title...

3 weeks from this very moment i will be home. i can't even bring myself to count the number of days that is. one, b/c i'm really excited about it, and two because the fact that i'm leaving breaks my heart a little bit every time i think about it. alot of my gringo friend leave either for home or for travels in a week, which i'm hoping won't make my last two weeks here fome (boring), but i think it will be a really good opportunity to spend some good quality time w/ my family and chilean friend before i leave the southern hemisphere.

well, the last week, or really weeks, have been pretty eventful. the trip to the isla de pascua was very enjoyable, albeit short. it was so good to see my feet after the months they've spent hidden under two pairs of socks (my feet were soo happy in my chacos, this cold weather and lack of being free just isn't good for them!) and just to be warm all over for once! the isla's also beautiful and definitely has something mysterious about it. i wish i could have stayed longer, but the four days i was there were definitely enjoyable!

since when i got back late tuesday night until now i've been really busy working on end of the semester projects, attending cenas de despedidas (goodbye dinners), and having other adventures in valparaíso. in the last couple weeks i've spent alot more time w/ some of the gringo friends i've made, sometimes b/c of projects and stuff we have to do together for our classes, but often just because i've come to realize that i really enjoy the company of alot of them. i've been amazed at the form our friendships have taken, b/c all of us our so completely different, but yet we have the coolest relationships. completely different from the friendships i've always had in the past, but really good at the same time. they've made me think so much about how i look at the world and the people in it and they've also really challenged me in my faith, even though that definitely hasn't been there intentions. it's been really good although at times really uncomfortable stepping outside of my naive, sheltered bubble that i've kept myself in for so long. and it's also been an incredible challenge to do this while still remaining true to who i am and what and who i believe. but through the grace of God and His abounding provision, i feel like my experiences have been all good. and the Lord has been using me and teaching me in situations where i never would have expected to find Him. i also feel like the Lord's really been preparing me while i'm here for what He has in store for me next semester, especially in my position as an RA. i think before i came here i often fell into being very judgemental of many of the choices that people make in how they live their lives, but i've been learning that i have no place to judge others. i'm here to love and to be the Lord's hands and feet, something i continually screw up, but luckily He's a bazillion times bigger than my biggest screw ups and shortcomings.

ohhh, there's so much i've been learning and processing. right now i'm really really tired, so i may leave you for now with the beautiful pictures of la isla de pascua, but as i continue to process all that's going through my head in these last weeks, i'll try and keep the posts coming. i love and miss you all and i'm really excited to see you all in so short a time! mark your calenders. july 15th's the day. i want to see you all PRONTO (soon!) after i get back.

les quiero y extraño muchisimo!

me attacking laurie w/ my lei (sp?) in the airport when we first arrived. me and the chicatito (little) moai. kinda a my size moai really. i liked his hat too.the sunset one night. this wasn't even the best part of it, this is just when i finally decided to go get my camera, which i've finally learning how to utilize to capture sunsets (yay for manual functions and actually knowing how to use them!)super cool flower that was all over the island.me and laurie sitting on a moai that was never completed. the carved shaped them while they were still in the earth and then somehow cut them out and set them upright. these are the 15 moai that are quite famous. i didn't get all 15 in this pic ( i have another that has all of them) but you can get an idea of how big they are in this picture b/c laurie and amy are standing in the middle of them. they're pretty huge if you haven't noticed by now.the sky at sunset one night, yet again thanks to the manual function of my camera which i've grown so fond of :)me in playa anacana (sp?). you can't tell in the pic, but it was raining while we were there (and all day for that matter), hence the wet hair. but it was quite beautiful nonetheless.

i'll be home in a month! that's crazy!!

well, i should probalby be sleeping or at least packing right now, considering i have to be on a bus to go to santiago to catch my plane that's going to take me to la isla de pascua (easter island!!!!!) in just over 4 hours (....), but i feel like it's been far too long since i've updated, and there's so many things i feel like i should be sharing, so... maybe i just won't sleep. i can sleep on the bus and the plane!

so, since my last post, geez, alot's happened. here's some of the event highlights:

• my dad came to visit me for a week. translating and being a guide was definitely an adventure and at times really tiring, but it was really a great experience to spend a week solid with my dad, something we've never really done before. it was really a joy to see him interact with all the people down here, especially considering the fact that he knows maybe... 20 spanish words. but he handled what could have been potentially frustrating situations incredibly. way to go dad! i'm really glad you came!
• we celebrated a couple birthdays. my mom's birthday was at the end of may so we threw her a fun little party and then i turned 20 while my dad was here. it was really a great birthday. started out w/ my brother seba sending me a text message at 12:30 am from his bedroom (i.e. we were in the same house when he sent it) wishing me happy birthday and telling me i should come search for my b-day present in his room. he gave me the worship cd from the church, which was a really thoughtful gift. about an hour later, pipe came home and greeted me with a rendition of "feliz cumpleaños" and a huge hug. and that was all BEFORE i even went to bed, the morning of my b-day. the rest of the day was wonderful too. my dad and i did some exploring in my favorite hill in valparaíso (cerro alegre!) and then seba organized a get together/birthday party with alot of my friends. we ate pizza and talked and watched movies. it was really fun! yay for birthday parties and awesome family!
• i got back some of my grades on tests and papers in some of my classes this week and they have all been surprisingly good! i have really decent grades in some of the classes i was really worried about, so that's a relief. and i finished my literature class that has been a huge weight on my shoulders, which feels so good. haha, but that's only after i read 110 pages of a novel in spanish in one day to get ready for my final test in that class. but it's done now. YAY!
• in my chilean culture class we have a final project to make a video, and after a couple changes to our topic, we settled on shoes in chile. super random, i know. but i'm pretty excited about it. mia, barret and i went to the beach today to get footage of people on the beach with shoes on. but while we were "working"on our project there was also a fare bit of goofing off and foot fighting (don't ask... you'll just have to see the video when i get home). good times, good times. it's really nice to actually be excited about a school project for once.
  
• and then a bazillion other really fun moments, but it would take me all night to tell you about all of them.

and then, another big event, too big for just a bullet point, is that i reached the one month left mark yesterday. one month left... the reality that i will very soon be leaving this place and returning home is starting to hit, and as it gets closer, i get more and more uncertain about how i feel about that fact. i've enjoyed all of this experience, but lately i've really starting to love it here. i'm starting to get comfortable in my way of life here, starting to become more independent, getting more and more things figured out, and most importantly, i've developed some really precious relationships. and in a month i leave it all. almost five months of living and loving and learning and growing and hurting and being comfused and being amazed and so many other things... that i have to leave. and while i have every intention of coming back it'll never be the same. and part of me right now hates the idea of letting it go. but then, on the other side, i'm really excited to be home. to see my family, my friends, the place and foods that i love, and for it to be summer (i'm sick of winter!). i'm excited about the things the next school year has in store, but... i'm just torn. but regardless of whether i like it or if i'm ready for it, it's coming. i'm just starting to realize it's not going to be as easy as i originally thought it would be come home. on top of leaving everything here i'm gonna be hit with some pretty serious culture shock in the form of being ridiculously busy with the school year that will start far too soon (especially b/c i have to move into the dorms aug. 2 for my RA position) and coming back to the university missing some of my most treasured friendships there (brittney, laura, josh). but i have faith in the Lord's provision. this experience was really hard at first, but it was soo good, and i know that coming home will be the same. life can never really just be easy, but it's definitely more interesting this way. and despite the fact that it's really difficult and confusing and complicated at time... it's so good. i continue to be amazed at how blessed i am as the Lord continues to rain down His blessing on me and i know that the rainy season of His blessing won't end when i leave the rainy season here in chile! (corny, but sooo true!)

well, i'm starting to get tired, which will soon cause me to start rambling, so i think i'll cut off this entry before that starts happening too much. i'll be sure and post my isla de pascua pics when i get back! les quiero y extraño muchisimo!! (i love you all and miss you tons!)

i really enjoy this picture! this is my chilean mom blowing out her birthday candles :)the kiddos (o chiquillos) at my b-day party. a couple more showed up after this picture was taken, but it's a fun one. in the picture are my brothers sebastian and felipe, my sister maría jesús, cata, eva, and diego.

me blowing out my birthday candles, and yes, that is a pizza.

eva, my chilean mom, my real day, me , and my friend dani eating at brighton cafe, which is this wonderful little cafe with an incredible view of the city and really great food on one of my favorite hills in valparaíso.