tres mil cinco cientos pesos para almuerza!?!

my first chilean sunrise!

thirty-five hundred (tres mil cinco cientos) pesos for lunch!?!?! sound kinda crazy. well, welcome to the world of chilean money. it’s crazy because they use commas instead of periods so it looks like 3.500, which is actually a little less than seven dollars. plus, like most foreign countries there’s a large amount of coins, and it turns out many that have the same value look very different and are even different sizes. it make my head spin at first, but it’s getting easier.

actually, a lot of things made my head spin at first, but it’s amazing how fast you start accommodating. oh man, the spanish here is crazy. i’d been warned about it before i left, and let’s just say everything i was warned of was true. supposedly chilean spanish is the fastest spanish in the world, plus they don’t pronounce a lot of their s’s and d’s and train off their endings. but, they say that if you can understand chilean spanish you can understand any spanish in the world, so it’s not all bad. it’s going to be rough for a while, but i’ll catch on.

the last two days we’ve spent in santiago, touring the city, getting to know one another, and learning some about what will happen once we get to valparaiso/vina del mar. santiago is such a modern city, i’ve been so surprised, i actually forget i’m not in america sometimes. they have many of the same brands of products and most of the same modern conveniences. if you look close, it’s easy to spot the differences, but i’ve still been really surprised.

it’s incredible how diverse our group is and how different from everyone i feel. i never realized before how much i surround myself with people like me. my friends and i always seemed so different before, but now i realize we all have the same foundation, but that’s not true with most of the people here. don’t get me wrong, i really truly like them, they’re terribly interesting, fun people, but we're all so terribly different. most people want to go out to drink every night which something so new to me. it’s pretty cultural to go out late here too i guess. so i’ve been confronted a lot with having to figure out where i fit into all of this. i want to experience this country and it’s culture, but i don’t want to compromise who i am. it’s really just a lot to process.

and then i’ve also been amazed by the Lord’s provision. in the times i’ve felt most alone, i’ve been so comforted by the fact that He’s continually with me, watching over me, and it’s in His plan for me to be here, doing what i’m doing, with the people who are here. luckily, i have found some people i can relate to. the girl i’m rooming with is named laurie and she’d fit right in with my friends at home. also, almost all of the isa directors are christians, and they speak very highly of my host family, and i’ve been told that they are involved in a church and whatnot, so i’m really excited about that. i’m excited to experience chilean fellowship. it’s so fascinating to learn about all the differences in the cultures.

well, i could go on for days, but you’ve probably already stopped reading, so i’ll sign off for now. i love and miss you all and would love to hear how life in the states is going! i’ll post again soon!!