En Buenos Aires

Just a quick ¨hola¨ for now...

We're enjoying B.A. immensely thus far! Very different from both Santiago and down south. But very enjoyable. One of the few places around the world where the American dollar still holds some weight. A little place around the corner did 2 loads of laundry (washed, folded, etc.) AND ironed 3 of Josh´s shirts for about $13. Not too bad. And now I won´t be swimming in laundry quite as much when we come home this weekend. And also Josh now has clean undershirts and boxers again. Today was a ¨repeat¨ day on both of those fronts.

Back to eating steak and buying purses (both of which are big activities around here).

Tell Me Your Name Horsemaster...

..and I'll tell you mine.

Lord of the Rings Anyone?

Today it felt like we were dropped onto horses and into The Two Towers (the movie). At one point I even told Josh I felt like a rider of Rohan. Ha! I'm not usually that much of a nerd. The resemblance of our surroundings to the set of the movie was just that uncanny. But we were going a little slower than the Rohirim do in LOTR.

I'll explain. We went horseback riding today in Bariloche, Argentina. Lush Andes mountains in every direction. Blue sky, green trees, clear streams, and grassy plateaus... and all seen from the back of a horse called Muñeca. What a great way to experience this area! They even let us run through a field on the horses, which was exhilerating. Man, I need to try and ride horses more often! Josh, although he had a bunch of fun today, isn't quite as enthused for riding in the future. We DID return to the hotel very sore and covered in dirt.

We're now clean. The feeling in our backsides will remain for a few.

How in the world is it NOT well known that this has to be one of the most beautiful places on the entire globe? I've never seen such an awesome, jaw dropping display of God's beautiful creation. And I already love Carmel, CA and Summit County, CO and a bunch of other places. This is still better.

We have heard that this place was actually a finalist for the set of the Lord of the Rings movies. I can certainly see why.

And yesterday was more incredible splendor. A 10 hour boat cruise (and a couple bus rides) through the mountains from Chile to Argentina. Pure deep blue and green waters (yes, as green as that link!), surrounded by trees and mountains and volcanoes and very little civilization. I can't wait to post pictures, although they won't do it justice.

Sorry for the gush-fest. I'm just in awe again and again on this trip. What a blessing.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Now we're off to explore the town. Surprisingly enough, there is significant Swiss and German influence here and the town looks quite a bit like Vail, CO, complete with trendy shopping and the log cabin ski lodge look. Plus chocolate shops everywhere. There was even fondue on the menu last night... who knew we'd get a taste of Switzerland in southern Argentina? From what I understand, this place doubles as a ski resort in winter, which does help to explain the Vail similarities.

Puerto Varas

Hola de Puerto Varas, a quaint resort town in southern Chile!

Tonight we´re staying in a fabulous hotel - Mom Brown would love it! Up on a bluff overlooking the second largest lake in Chile. And across the lake? Snow capped Andes Mountains.

White water rafting, although not overly challenging due to water levels this time of year, was truly incredible. Clear teal-ish water, with views of the Andes everywhere set against trees and a blue sky. Amazing. I was reminded of God´s majesty, might, beauty, and creativity at every turn.

Wow.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Psalm 8:1

Seriously.

We bought a picture CD from the rafting place so I´m able to post some here. Check out my cannonball into the river!

Some Things That Have Surprised Me About Chile

But first the daily recap:

Today Josh and his group had some actual school work to do... way back the class divided up in groups to study certain aspects of business in South America. His team chose the soccer industry - right up Josh´s alley. And yes, a very serious topic. Before his 11am meeting this morning we went up a big hill and got to see great views of all of Santiago... way fun. Then Josh´s team met with executives from a local soccer team, which they found super helpful, informative, and interesting. My friend Kendra and I hit a nearby mall to kill time, but met up with the boys later for a tour of the staduim, which was very interesting. After lunch Josh and I headed off on our own and visited a VERY cool city park - Cerro Santa Lucia. What makes it extra special is that it consists of a steep hill in the middle of the city. We climbed past little chapels and arches and such and found ourselves higher than most buildings from the top. More great views of the city, as well as the hill we were on earlier. So much to explore around here!

But now for my list:

-Eating is relatively easy, even for my somewhat picky husband. He always finds items on the menus to suit him, and not just cheese and bread types of things. We´ve had excellent meals of Chilean sea bass, mahi mahi, and shrimp. And then today we found a place that served such authentic local meals as lasagne and pizza. But it was yummy.

-We haven´t been stuck in traffic yet.

-There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE. I can´t think about them too much or it makes me cry. But I´m super surprised that they aren´t dead on the sides of roads, because Santiago is a big city with lots of cars. I guess they have learned to avoid roads if at all possible. Also, they´re not agressive and can mostly be found sleeping in the sun. And they aren´t even that skinny - people must kind of take care of them, feeding them scraps and putting out some water from time to time. Otherwise I don´t know how so many could survive. But seeing them makes me miss Riley.

-There are a lot of things in English here. Several TV channels, as well as signs advertising sales and such at department stores. Much more English than I would have expected.

-American brands are very popular here. Haagen Dazs, Pantene Pro-V, Dasani, KFC, etc. All very available and easy to find.


Tomorrow will start BRIGHT and early, as we´re leaving the hotel at 6:30 am. We fly to Puerto Montt right away and then immediately go white water rafting there. We´ve heard that the water is ice cold... should be interesting!

Now we´re off to spend our last night in Santiago.

Happy Birthday Mom Brown!

First Full Day

Yes, family, we´re still alive!

Today Josh and I took a day trip , along with 9 others, to the beach at Viña Del Mar - beautiful and right on the Pacific. And about an hour away. Praise the Lord for a super sweet and helpful driver, along with a schoolmate of Josh´s that is fluent in Spanish. Otherwise the trip may well have been a complete disaster.

Since right now is the equivalent of early September for Chileans it was too cold for swimming and such, but we enjoyed the view. Sadly I can´t post pictures but we enjoyed lunch at a great place RIGHT on the water. Then explored and shopped around some nearby areas, then loaded up in the big van for the trip home.

And now it is early evening and we´re up for more adventures, this time in Santiago. We´d like to try some Peruvian food, so we´ll see what we come up with...

Adios!

Hola De Santiago!

We´re here. Safe. Excited. And now even rested up for tonight´s activities.

Here are some things we´ve done in the last 24 hours...

-took a bus from Bloomington to Indy
-flew from Indy to Dallas
-ate gross-ish airport food in Dallas
-flew for 9.5 hours to Santiago
-slept for a lot of the time (thank you Tylenol PM!)¨
-ate lots of pre-packed gummy bears and twizzlers and goldfish crackers
-finally arrived in Santiago
-took a bus to our hotel
-TOOK A SHOWER - YAY!
-toured a popular Chilean winery (oh so beautiful!) and tasted some yummy samples
-NAPPED - aaahhh

.. and now wer´re ¨bright eyed and bushy tailed and excited for a seafood dinner

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Today is the day! We're off on our South American adventure.

And thousands of details are running through my head, such as:

-Did I remember to pack enough socks?
-Should I bring snacks for the plane?
-Is my selection of books sufficient?
-Note to self: don't forget to pull Josh's sweatshirt out of the dryer and pack it before you leave.
-Will our bags make the weight limit?

But we're super excited and I'm trying not to let the details of it all overshadow that.

My very sweet friend Amber got me and some of the other girls who are going a passport cover in one of our favorite colors as a surprise gift. I love the Tiffany blue! We are clearly going to be in style.

So there we have it. There are a couple of people I've been meaning to call (Rebecca, Jamie, etc.) who I know read this from time to time. I'll take this time to apologize and say we'll have to catch up when I return!

I'm off for more adventures in packing and organization. No promises on how often I'll get to post when we're down there!