Feb update

This is part of an update I sent to the others in my program. Sorry if it is repeating information I've said before:

Everything is going well. I'm finding myself falling in love with Iquique and very aware that God has a reason for me to be here. I'm trying to stay open to that.

I haven't actually started working yet. I'm going to be doing programming for an after-school program called SEREIMI, but it doesn't start until March b/c the kids are in their summer break right now. So, in the meantime, I've been attending the church that hosts SEREIMI.. It's more conservative (theologically) than I'm used to, but I love the people and am focusing on building relationships. There are two gringo volunteers here building windows for a new church building, so I go eat lunch with them a few times a week which is prepared by church members. That has enabled me to build relationships with the Gringos as well as the church members. I've also helped at the work site with painting and other things.

I've been taking Spanish lessons three times a week which has been a HUGE help since I'd been preparing to speak Portuguese. And my Spanish teacher is not from Iquique or Chile but she's lived here for eleven years so she's able to teach me a lot "Chilenismos" and other cultural things that have helped with my adapting, since she had to learn them too.

I've been trying to get to know the area better, now that my Spanish is improving. I've been "shown" around, but I feel much more comfortable venturing out on my own now. I can actually give a taxi driver directions verbally and answer their questions for clarification which is a huge accomplishment b/c it requires understanding them, and Chileans talk fast. And I'm starting to get used to tuning out the whistling, horn honking, and commenting of Chilean men as I walk down the street. I even know what those slang comments mean now thanks to some of the people from church giving me a class on "Chilenismos" (words used only in Chile).

Social life is picking up. I've been hanging out with some of the young adults from church. I also hang out at Becky's house a lot. She's my supervisor-UM Missionary person. She's been a huge support and is a really cool person.

I've been living with an elderly guy from church-renting a room-for the month of February. I just got an apartment! I'll be moving in for March. I will be traveling with Becky to Santiago Feb. 27-March 2 for a conference on the Social Institutions of the Chilean Methodist Church. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more. Love you all!

lets see how much I can write about taxis...

So here in Iquique there are a few ways to get around if you don't have a car. One is the Micro, which is the bus. I haven't tried to use that yet. Most people use taxis. There are two types of taxis. One is a called a "colectivo," and the other is the "Radio Taxi." Colectivos are cheaper (about a dollar) and you have to flag them down. I've been advised not to take them alone at night but they are fine during the day. I think they get paid per customer maybe, because they are very eager to pick people up. For example, when I'm walking down the street, colectivos will beep or flash their lights at me to see if I need them to stop. Sometimes though, it takes a bit to find a driver going where you want to go. One time I was going fifteen minutes across the city and I had to ask five different drivers before I got someone who was going in that direction.

To get a "radio taxi," you call a number, tell them where you are and then they send a someone to get you. Radio taxis cost 2-3 dollars. I have used these a lot because I usually need a taxi at night-I walk a lot during the day. I think these drivers are on a salary. There's one company I use often and when I call they know me by name. They're probably thinking "That crazy gringa..." I get one driver often, named Juan. He talks to me a lot in slower Spanish, which is very encouraging. He always asks me questions about the US and tells me how he wants to take his family there to visit. And to Italy.

Taxi drivers crack me up. They each decorate their dashboard differently like people in offices decorate their desks. Becky commented recently how a coffee table book could be made out of pictures of taxi drivers' dashboards. From pictures to rosaries to air fresheners. Stickers, homemade stuff and carpet. Each taxi interior is different. One guy had two vent air fresheners, a scented tree, vanilla flavored, hanging from his mirror, a can of potpourri spray in the cup holder and two more car air fresheners sitting on top of his dash board. And he had a rosary stuck to the front of the dashboard.

I've had two taxi rides that were very scary. The first one was the crazy air freshener guy. He picked me up from Becky's house which is on the other side of the city from where I live. He drove SO fast it seemed like we were a high speed chase. I had to close my eyes. If it weren't late at night, I would've asked to get out. And then when we got to my place, I was locked in. He had the child safety locks on. I didn't like that ride at all. Just this evening, Nina, Jack and I went to Alto Hospicio to have dinner with some friend, Pilar and her family. That SAME guy picked us up. Alto Hospicio is the next town up into the high desert. Well he drove us to Alto Hospicio with no problem, he didn't even speed. But he couldn't find the address we gave him. He drove around for 30 minutes stopping to ask random people on the street where to go. We had Pilar on the phone and he refused to talk to her and continued to ask random people on the street if they knew where he should go. I asked him a few times if he wanted to talk to Pilar, whose house we were going to. The last time he snapped at me so I shut up. He finally went to a police station and asked for directions and at the same time Pilar stood in the street so we would see her. Grrr....

The second scary ride was this evening on the way back from Alto Hospicio. And it was scary simply because the guy was driving SO fast and we were going down hill, descending into Iquique. If we had hit someone, if we didn't die first, we would've flipped over and fallen WAY down off the side of the road. AND there were no seatbelts in the back seat where I was sitting. But...at least this driver knew where he was going.

Most of the Taxis I've ridden in have not been as bad as the above two described. Many of the drivers are nice and conversational. But it's always an adventure, for sure.

That thar was an earthquake...

So I experience my first earthquake. Not a "first" I wanted to experience. It was a 6.3 on the Richter scale, so not too bad, I'm told, and it was short. My Spanish teacher was still here, my class was about over. Luckily, she's lived in Iquique for awhile, so she's used to them. She pulled me into the hallway of the apartment building-we just happened to be sitting next to the door so it was easy for us to do that. The ceiling lamps were swinging, things were rattling. It felt like I was standing next to a speaker at a rave. The feeling of bass, pumping through my body. But without the loudness of the music. Maybe some music would've been nice. Hmmm...