Building A New Community

For about 5 days, I have been adjusting to my new life and building a new community here in Chile. It has been tough; I miss my Bolivian family like crazy and the environment they provided for the last 3 ½ months, Katie has recently decided to no longer participate in the program (leaving me the only new associate in the Pocuro house), the culture and the people in Bolivia are completely different from those in Chile, and the spanish is really giving me a hard time...the accent and the way in which people speak here are so hard to understand. My language is currently a one way street – I cannot understand Chileans, but when I speak they can understand me.

Despite these difficulties, I find an unamazing amount of beauty and support surrounding me. Chile is beautiful (it is definitely wine country...so many vineyards!) and I know that this little town of Pocuro will provide me a sense of joy and pride in the work that I will do over my time here. In addition, Natalie, Patrick, and I are joining four Associates who have already lived in Chile for one year. These four people are great and have already provided an unspeakable amount of support in my transition to the life I will live for the next 2 years. For Christmas, we are planning a camping trip in which I am sure I will get to know them even more and have plenty of great stories to tell.

In the spirit of my transition from one community to the other, I am a posting a few pictures of my “old” community and my “new” community. I will have pictures soon of the people in my new community - as for now, thanks to my housemate Ryan who is a tech guru AND writes a fabulous blog that everyone must read everday (link is on the right of my blog), I just have pics of where I live in Pocuro, etc. Plenty more pics of Bolivia, my house in Bolivia, and my Bolivian family can always be seen on my online photo album, by clicking on the MY PHOTOS link on the right hand side of this blog.

And...just to get the feel of my new community, check out this short blog entry from my Pocuro housemate Ryan. It is a great read and apparently not out of the ordinary....

Missing you all, have a wonderful Christmas and know that I am thinking and praying for you all during this holiday season!

M

My Bolivian Family and Me

(From left) Dad Nestor, Mom Juana, Brother Jorge

Nestor - works as a Principal at one high school in the morning and an Assistant Principal/math teacher at another high school in the afternoon







Juana - works a home, but works long house throughout the day cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. She is hilarious - she always gave me a hard time about my height for a gringa!






Jorge - definitely my best friend in Bolivia. 24 years old, Univeristy student studying to be an technical engineer, working with computers and computer systems. Soooo hilarious and such a great guy, miss him like crazy!

My new community - Pocuro, Chile

The valley of Los Andes/Calle Larga - how beautiful...and its my new home!

(from left) The capilla (small church) that neighbors my house, my house with our bikes in front, my kitchen with my housemate Emily washing dishes, and my dog Memo walking into the gate in front of our house