Shortest blog so far

Summer vacation is winding down. Students of all ages return to class in the next two weeks, depending on the school and level.
What this has meant is : no one showed up for my English class this week; the streets of Providencia have been almost empty, but will again be filled with students, skateboards, food vendors; buses and metro and sidewalks will be jammed; this first week of temple re-opening after 2-week maintenance break saw fewer workers and more patrons/visitors, so we worked very hard all week. I can't complain, as I relive my fabulous trips and chance to relax and catch upon paperwork, medical appointments, etc.

The sister missionaries are a threesome for this month, as new Sister Isaacson from Alpine, Utah, was reassigned from Portugal to Santiago East to join dynamic duo Araya (Chile) and Gallego (Colombia). They and Sister Umber and the Wallaces came for lunch yesterday. Sister Gallego is really a very polite person! They are teaching 18 people at the moment...that is a lot!

Xiomena, my Pathways English speaking partner from La Paz, Bolivia (who comes to practice English with me every Sunday afternoon) has joined them to help teach occasionally. She is a returned missionary, and an architect who designs McDonalds buildings in Latin America...she loves her job,and is a wonderful person and just called to be in charge of activities for the Relief Society (women's organization) of our ward, Pocuro.

Sunday night as we were out walking, we saw
an interesting sunset (smoke from a fire?)

...and Rappi deliverers (one of many delivery companies)

The angel Moroni beckons to all the world, and maybe to those waiting to live across the street when the crane has finished its work. Hopefully they will feel the spirit of the temple.

Monday afternoon I was so delighted to find Anny and Jorge Olmos ,with whom  I spent a few days in Antofagasta (n. Chile) last September, waiting for the hostel to open. Her mother with Alzheimers passed away in January, so they are now free to come work at the temple. Among the group (above) are Christian and Norma (Relief Society president in Antofagasta, who came to stay with Anny's mom so we could get out to see the city). Norma is receiving her endowment in the temple as I write this. So many special people in this country!



Book recommendations:
I have been reading a vividly told memoir "Across the Mekong River," by Elaine Russell, which has taught me so much about the Hmong who fought, and then fled from Laos as the Pathet Lao communist regime made life unbearable, especially as American troops withdrew, and came to the US, where the culture was extremely foreign. Most had never used a stove, a toilet, a bus, a fridge, attended school, lived in an apartment with bolts and locks on the door, seen a TV or phone, and all had lost family to war or in their desperate attempts to escape. They left behind a warm land of green hills, rice paddies, trees and streams, and family, dead or alive, for poor sections of cold concrete cities.
In Chile the largest immigrant group is now Venezuelan, as the violence, tyranny, and unemployment there make life impossible. They are so willing to work hard in this, their new country.
I also just read "50 Children: the Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus," about the daring and courageous rescue by an American Jewish couple, of 50 Jewish children, from 1939 Vienna. Most countries, including the US, refused or were very reluctant or cited laws that opposed acceptance of most refugees at this time. 
All of God's children need the basics: a safe place to live, food and water, and a future. How can any of us turn our back on them, whether of our own or another culture, when we have the means to help? One of our missionary couples adopted 17 young children to give them a better life. Many still struggle, but the alternative could have been much, much worse. We need to get creative, be more generous, or at least more aware, and open our hearts a little wider. We can't take material possessions with us to the next life, and I believe we will be judged eventually, by the love and kindness we've shown, and the service we've given to others.

Delightful end to Temple Closure vacation

A delightful end to our vacation during the Temple maintenance closure

 Sunday we celebrated Nina Issacson's birthday (and mine) with all the 10 temple missionaries and 6 other senior missionaries. Our fun potluck dinner was held on the fourth floor foyer.
Dan Wallace and Ken Black have discovered they both entered the Language Training Mission (now the Missionary Training Centers in various places throughout the world) in June 1972, to later serve two years in Guatemala and Argentina respectively.

Ralph and Holly Young and I decided to take the bus to Valparaiso on Saturday, February 15, 2019, which turned out to be a very busy almost the end of summer vacation. There were large crowds at the bus station  and rain was forecast. But it all turned out well, though the photos look a little dull, despite the colors of this interesting city located 1 1/2 hours on the coast. Valparaiso used to be the big port, which has recently been upstaged by San Antonio a little to the south. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived it was the stopping off point for transporting gold and other Spanish American products to Spain. It is called "The Pearl of the Pacific" because, before the construction of the Panama Canal in the early 1900's, ships rounding Cape Horn saw only darkness until they finally saw the lights of Valparaiso. Sir Francis Drake sacked it many times for gold.

 This visit I was determined to visit Pablo Neruda's home La Sebastiana, named after the original architect who died in 1949, so it needed to be completed after Neruda bought it in 1953, in order to escape Santiago. (My favorite Neruda home is at Isla Negra). He was looking for a place to write (on the top, the fifth floor, up tiny windy, steep stairs, with a great view). He was such a collector of objects from all over the world. He won the Nobel prize for literature, ran for President in 1969, but threw his support to Salvador Allende, who made him ambassador to France. He died of cancer soon after  Pinochet's coup.

Lucas was a satirist (supposedly paid by Pinochet's regime...made a lot of money), who mocks police and many others. The green toad "sapo"is also a Chilean name for am eavesdropper;"vaca"is a cow, but also the word for someone who "stands you up." We learned a lot of history and culture from our interesting guide Jorge, whose friend Cuellomangui (sp?) painted the below and other murals..

Inky Castro is another famous muralist who depicts the declining  morals and confused mentality of Valparaiso by painting his subject sideways with upper and lower body separated. Below is a lovely hillside (there are 3 UNESCO protected hills of the many which are accessible by "ascensore"or elevators). The well-to-do live below, the poorer inconveniently on the top of the steep hills. Much of the city was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, and fires are always a threat as it is almost impossible to access many of the wooden buildings because of the tiny narrow, steep streets and walkways.

Chileans are still on vacation...school starts in 2 weeks, so the bus stations are packed with people trying to travel.

 I have tried to take advantage of every minute of the last week of temple closure for maintenance, by catching up on paperwork, etc., but mostly visiting a few more interesting places in such an interesting country!(above and below)

 Friday after teaching my class, Alma and I went downtown to La Moneda (Presidential palace) which has a wonderful "Cowboy" of 19th-21st centuries exhibit, tracing the origins of cowboys and their culture and traditions from North Africa to Spain (jinete), to Mexico (charro) and Argentina (gaucho)  Peru, and Chile (huaso) where the Mapuche and other indigenous cultures blend and sometimes remain distinct from Spanish influence. The saddles, stirrups, bridles, spurs, ponchos, etc. are gorgeous, and the literature, art and lore that accompany these  men, whose values of justice, equality, honor, hard work are portrayed as noble efforts.

 After the exhibit we found a colorful passageway...

 And then we went to the National Library to enjoy learning about "Mampato", a monthly magazine founded by Eduardo Armstrong, talented painter and illustrator, to teach Chilean children disappearing values, history, an appreciation of nature and culture. He died an early death in 1973.

 

Thursday, February 14, Ralph and Holly Young and I took a small group van tour to Portillo, one of Chile's popular winter ski resorts in the closer Andes. We passed through more agricultural acreage, especially vineyards on our way to and in the small village of San Esteban, east of Santiago. We learned about local and national history and Chile today from an excellent guide, Sebastian, as we visited petroglyphs, ate fresh empanadas, and then headed up the bare and rocky mountains.

 On the way we passed (the statute commemorates the victory) through Chacabuco, where San Martin, very sick, crossed the mountains from Argentina, to defend the Chileans in the final battle for Independence in the north/center. September 18, 1823, was final battle in the south. Chile's hero is Bernardo O'Higgins, Father of Chile.

Holly and Ralph Young enjoy their "pino" (beef, onions, oregano,cumin, oil, olives) baked empanadas.

Portillo lodge is the site of world ski championships, has lifts from below, was an area of mining and train transport (until 1989), and is so steep that some skiers are flown in by helicopter. Inca Lake is a gorgeous clear turquoise-blue and is only about 15 km from the Argentine border. Pipelines carrying petrol and natural gas come into Chile, which does not produce these, but which has the advantage of water run-off, which Argentina does not have. Also, since winds blow from the Pacific Ocean, ash from any of Chile's 95 occasionally erupting volcanoes blows into Argentina.

 The Polish woman and I walked as far as we could until it was blocked off, as too dangerous with lots of loose rocks and boulders. 

There are 29 curves; this is from #23. The yellow "cobertios" or snow covers protect cars and trucks from falling rocks and avalanches, but are covered in snow in winter.

 

Tuesday our 10 temple missionaries crammed into a school van intended for 27 small kids (no leg room!) and spent a delightful day 1 1/2 southwest in small pottery town of Pomaire. The red clay, "greda" comes from the surrounding hills and is formed, fired and painted into useful or decorative pieces sold in commercial or family run shops on the two main streets.

The surrounding hills are covered in vineyards and fruit trees, especially citrus.

Grapes (table and wine) are almost ready to harvest.
The small chapel stands at the entrance to Pomaire. The Chilean version of our "horn of plenty" is a clay bowl of grains, corn, and seeds.

We ate a delicious lunch: pastel de chocla (corn pie baked in clay pots), empanadas (Pomaire holds 1995 Guinness World record for largest empanada (turn-over,either baked or fried and filled with cheese, chicken beef, vegetables, or other things

 The red (fired) or black (smoked) "greda" is glazed or painted.

Youngs, Isaacson,Sisters de Schweinitz, Wallace, Umber, and Elder Wallace and Marchant back at the temple.

On the way home we stopped at "Nina Hermosa", a pile of thousands of teddy bears, placed along the highway. A father felt very sad and guilty when the motorcycle he gave to his 22 year old daughter caused her death 20+ years ago. Other parents who had lost children began putting stuffed animals at the shrine in sympathy, and many people experienced miracles as they commemorated the loss of this beautiful victim, Astrid.

I tried to order this chronologically, but once again it is chronologically backwards (most recent trips/activities first). But what a wonderful week to end the vacation. Tomorrow we are back at the temple.The workers have been putting in long hours to get everything ready. With laundry done, food in the fridge, medical appointments arranged, taxes in progress, and so many wonderful memories made of trips and excursions, I'm ready to get back to the Lord's errand I've been called to. How grateful I am to have the wonderful opportunity to serve Him with my time, limited talents, energy, and conviction that His plan for each of us will be fulfilled. Through prayer and personal inspiration, I know He loves us and knows what is best for you and me.

He takes extra good care of the young missionaries serving around the world. This week it was announced that they may communicate once a week on their preparation day, with their families through video communication, text messages, and phone calls in addition to the up until now emails and letters. The purpose is to allow families to be more involved in the missions of their children and siblings.