I know Thanksgiving was LAST week but since we didnt even acknowledge it at all...we actually all forgot....here is my thankful list!! Whoohoooo!!!!
I am thankful for...
1. Dogs who are nice enough not to bite me
2. Times when my shower decides to grace me with semi warm water
3. Evenings...when the whole city is enveloped in a cloud of baking bread
4. People who let us in their homes and give us fresh raspberry juice...mmmmm
5. Meals that arent covered in mayonnaise
6. Meals that are not the size of ten thanksgivings
7. People who understand my spanish (or at least pretend)
8. The green mountains that tower around us
9. The taste of sea salt in the air
10. The lime green walls of my casa...it feels like we are inside a leaf!
11. The pet black slugs that crawl out and play during the night
12. The colors of Chile! Vivid green, pink, blue and yellow houses that line the streets and twist into the hills. The colorful giant flowers that cover the roofs, sidewalks, streets, streams, ditches, mountains and bridges of Chillancito.
13. The HUGE roses that grow literally EVERYWHERE!
14. The countless fruit trees that make the air smell like lemons
15. Fresh peach juice
16. Mango juice
17. Strawberry juice
18. The children who walk along the streets with us-holding our hands and saying "hola amigas"
19. Nights when we buy hot empanadas from the panaderias and have little parties in our casa
20. Sopa pies- they are kind of like scones but a lot more chewy and airy. They are amazing with salsa, or jam, manjar. Dont you fret...I got the recipie!
21. Lemon pie- kind of like our lemon merengue pies but 10000x better! The bottom is like a soft sugar cookie, then a creamy lemony custard middle topped with mountains of merengue! Its amazing...and there is a bakery about every ten feet that sells a slice!
22. My essential oils...they have been my best friend these last ten weeks.
23. My mini spanish hymn book-my other best friend
24. The fact that 99.9% of the woman here have the name Maria. So when I forget someones name...I can just guess Maria and I am right 99.9% of the time. Same goes for men and the names Jose and Juan
25. The ice cream here. I thought the ice cream in Mexico was good but here its just a whole nother world of creamy delightfulness! Flavors of fruit I have never even heard of...and why?? Its too good.
26. The fact that almost all the members were evangelical before and spice up the middle of prayers with "hallejulah", "Amen", "Praise the Lord" or just singing, yelling, humming...its always hard to get through without having a laughing attack.
27. The cobble stone streets. They are just so much more fun than regular streets. Little tough to walk on though
28. Days when they dont add sugar cubes to my juice or soda
29. Evening when we happen to be on top of the mountains and get to watch the skys do a little fire dance
30. That I still have teeth in my mouth...That is extremely rare here
31.That every person in Chile has their own rose garden...and that they are all blooming NOW!
32. That fruit cake is a real Christmas thing here. Its really gross but fun!
33. For the lifetime of camping that has prepared me for this 18 month camping trip.
34. For the pills that make my blood taste like garlic so every bug in the country doesnt try and eat me up at night
35. For lavender to rub on my spider bites
36. That I never actually see the spiders biting me
37. For the mice and rats that clean our floors at night
38. That I dont have to sleep on the floor
39. For my plaque- and the opportunity I have to wear it everyday
40. For the heavyduty waterbottle- it is a gread handy weapon
41. For people who send me letters! (hint hint)
42. That Jacob promised to not to marry until my return
43. That as long as I say "permisso" first...I can get away with pretty much anything here
44. For Hermana Lees- not only is she also going through this whole first cambio of change and distress with me but she is also the funniest person ever. She is so blunt and honest and just makes me laugh all the time! She also has fire running through her veins instead of blood...thats always a cool thing!
45. For my planner...where would I be without that thing??
46. For spiders that are dead
47. For any other bug that eats spiders
48. That that one spider which is the largest in the world and originates here in concepcion....has not made an appearance yet.
49. For the friendliness of chilean people. Always ready and wanting to feed us and make us feel at home. For their friendliness in kissing and greeting everyone. For their never ending kindness and generosity and the way they will give away everything they have at a momnets notice. For their complete inability to judge others. They are teaching me who to love and be a real person...totally deviod of all false pretenses or fake faces. I never realized how rude we are in America. Was there really a time when I didnt greet every person I came across...and just ignored people?? These chileans have got the just slow down and love people thing down!
50. The opportunity I have to have a front row seat in the greatst miracle of all- The Atonement as it changes people`s lifes
YEAH!!! Okay. Ciao for now. :)
Hermana Orchard
