A few items worth noting and Thanksgiving recap

Everything is going really well...and it feels fantastic to say it, more than you know. After a challenging and very formational first year, things are great. I am continuing to enjoy work each day and really have come to appreciate and love my life here. The sunshine and summer breeze helps too :-)

At one point here in Chile, I jokingly said "I am humble enough to admit that I am good at this." Haha. Well, joking aside, I am certainly humble enough to admit that I do not write the best blog posts and that there are plenty others in this world that have the ability to truly capture not only what it means to be a volunteer in another country, but life once you have been affected by the experience. Here are three excelent blog posts recently written by past and current associates that are not only worth noting on this blog, but worth you checking them out:

"818" By: Ryan Greenberg

"Volunteering: The Big Reality Break" By: Patrick Furlong

"The Grace of Change" By: Natalie Nathan

I thought about everyone on Thanksgiving and hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Many of you have asked me if Chileans celebrate some type of Thanksgiving holiday throughout the year. The answer is no, but as the cultural centers around family, it seems Chileans do not need a reason to gather the entire family for a meal. Often, entire families eat dinner together each night or get together for tea and bread in the evening.

While last year we had to make an effort in order to celebrate the holiday, this year we received an invitation from the Sisters of Villa María, an order of sisters out of Philadelphia, PA. We were invited along with U.S. priests, brothers, and sisters from our Congregation as well as 8 other young "twenty somethings" from the U.S. who are teaching English at Saint George, the high school I work at two days a week. It was a gringo holiday and we certainly celebrated it U.S. gringo style. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and much much more. We were amazed when we walked into the beautiful patio where dinner was served and saw all the food - many of which had ingredients that were brought from the United States (ex. pumpkin pie filling).

All throughout dinner, I was in a complete daze, eating food that I have not eaten for well over a year, and ate more than I ever thought I could in one sitting. Even more, the dinner was spoken in English (an extra bonus!) with clever quips from two very fiesty nuns from Philly. The only things missing were a football game on the tv and cold weather outside. Otherwise, it was a good ol' American holiday celebrated just the way it should be...this time, it was only 5, 188 miles from home.

me and my pumpkin pie :-)

New Pace of Life, New Community Member

Just wanted to say hi to everyone and that I hope all is well. Spring is here, summer is on its way, and the sun has finally made its appearance. I have already made a trip to the beach with Natalie and our Chilean friend also named Michelle…I even have my first sunburn of the year to prove it. :-)

Life is a bit different now. On October 27, Roy, Ryan, and Caitlin ended their two years of service as Holy Cross Chile Associates and returned to the United States, leaving just Natalie and me to live by ourselves and finish out the program (pictured right: Ryan, Natalie, and me at the airport.) I never thought I would be able to say this, but I do feel like a second year Associate. I am more comfortable with my life here, more than ever before, especially with the incredibly difficult Chilean Spanish. I find myself truly enjoying work and no longer constantly frustrated with the culture. Recently, five new 20-somethings from the United States arrived to teach English at the high school I work at; they are in the exact same position I was in a year ago, struggling to understand what is being said to them and trying so hard to make this culture their life. They have truly provided me the perspective of how much I have grown and become accustomed to this place. It makes me smile when they ask me how to get some where, how to say something in Spanish (and I know the answer), or simply where we can go for a nice bite to eat on a Friday night.

Caitlin, Roy, and Ryan were such a part of my life. Despite fun times and living this experience together, they truly helped me through a very difficult first year. Without their constant support, I know my experience would not have been the same. They will be missed. Now it is Natalie and me, willing to take on this experience for as long as we can.

With the three of them gone, things are a bit more quiet than usual (hard to believe with me I know.) Natalie and I are both crazy busy at work each day and usually tired when we get home. I laugh when I realized the other day that Natalie has adapted to my “old woman” 9:30-10:00pm bed time. If we do have the energy after work and dinner, we usually pass the time by playing cards, watching movies, or watching our favorite telenovelas. Life is simple here but with the sunny days, there is not much to complain about.

Yet, we do have a new community member to keep us company and constantly on our toes: Nacho. Natalie and I found our two month old kitten while walking through the weekly vegetable market. He crossed our paths as the dirtiest, scrawniest, malnourished, and wet kitten we have ever seen; clearly a kitten of the street with no home. He was so cute, pouncing around on what looked like little stilts for legs. We watched him for a few minutes, oohing and awing, and he walked right up to us; I knew at that moment he had to be ours and after a few minutes of convincing Natalie, we walked away with our new community member.

He has grown tremendously in the last few weeks as it is our goal to fatten this little kitty up. Here are a few pictures that Natalie has been able to take:

It is funny how the basic events in life still manage to provide Spanish vocabulary lessons. Taking Nacho home and giving him his first bath, I realized I never considered the possibility that this street cat would have bugs...and boy did he have them. Thus, I learned the word for bugs (bichos) and fleas (pulgas) when I went to go buy the flea shampoo and collar. I have also learned the word for cat litter (arena higiénica – which translates into hygienic oats) and litter box (caja de arena higiénica – which translates into box of hygienic oats). These words, I can guarantee you, I never expected to learn in my lifetime.

Nacho is a baby kitty, and thus, has a regular bed time, wake up time, and meal time, especially in the morning. Because I am the early to bed, early to rise person in the house, I have the morning shift with the kitty. Unfortunately for me, Nacho can be clocked to wake up at 4:30am in the morning wanting to be fed, meowing at the top of his lungs begging for someone to listen to him. Reluctantly I always get out of bed, feed him, and hope that he falls asleep. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn’t. Either way, I just don’t care and attempt to get three more hours of sleep while he runs around my room and jumps on my bed, occasionally stopping to sleep on my face. Oh the joys of motherhood…yep, I am definitely not ready for real children yet.