Life in Chile

time is flying by

I don't know if I like that or not

I am so so so looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone

I actually miss being stressed out about test

living in a dorm room

and having to go to class 5 days a week

WEIRD 

yes I know that but its always the weird things you miss the most

like tootsie rolls 

I hardly ever eat those at home but I crave them constantly here

But on the other hand

leaving in 2 months kind stresses me out

there is still so much to do

and so many places I want to go before I leave

and besides that

leaving my wonderful friends down here

that really breaks my heart even thinking about it

what am I gona do when I can't see them everyday

it makes me so so so sad

like really sad 

thank goodness for Skype so I will at least still get to see their faces!

anyways 

those are my feelings right now

Im heading off to the hogar to play with some sweet little ones

It All Started With A Bus Ride

so we left really late on Wednesday the 14th 

we climbed onto a bus from Vina to Santiago

It’s about a 2 hour ride 

got to the bus station found a taxi and headed off to the airport

we got to spend 8 lovely overnight hours in the airport hanging out at Dunkin Donuts 

(I tried a Boston Manjar yesterday and it was just pure joy in my mouth)

so our flight left Santiago at 7 AM

we flew PAL airline from what I can understand it like the last choice of Chileans 

but I think it was pretty nice besides the face that the cockpit door would sling open when we took off

and we took off like 3 times it stopped like in 3 cities on the way up to Arica

Once we landed in Arica we grabbed a taxi and headed off across the border

It takes about an hour and a half to get across the border and to the next destination Tacna Peru

In Tacna we grabbed the first bus out  

we also grabbed some food because by this time it was like 1 and we still had not eaten yet

our bus left at like 1:30 Peru time (3 PM Chile time) 

this bus ride was about 7 hours long to Arequipa Peru

it was a pretty smooth bus ride through the desert of Peru

we got into Arequipa around like 9ish or so 

our next bus left at 9:30 

it was an overnight bus to Cuzco

this is where all the action took place

about 4 hours into the 12 hour ride I woke up really sick

I woke Tawni up because I was kind of freaking out a bit

I never get sick and I just knew that the food we ate earlier made me sick

So I proceed to the restroom on the bus

and at the same time I get up to go Phil wakes up really sick to

but he was really dizzy 

Tawni was passing out drugs to us and Phil was not responding 

so she just forced this pill down his throat

I somehow manage to get back to the seat after laying in the floor the of the bus in the back 

and then the floor next to our seat

I climb up in the seat with Phil and we sit in misery for a few minutes

I made it back to my seat and was miserable the rest of the bus ride

We make it to Cuzco and by this time it’s Friday the 16th 

we head off to get our tickets into Machu Picchu and our train tickets there

our train was from a town about an hour and a half away so we had to grab this taxi van thing 

it was so pretty driving through the country side of Peru

our train left from a really cute town called Ollantaytambo

we made out train and headed out to Machu Picchu city

as soon as we stepped off the train we were swamped with people wanting us to stay here or buy this

it was super overwhelming but we found a cute little hostel along the river

Macchu Picchu city is really small and literally the only thing to do was shop

so when did we do? 

well we shopped for hours

we all got some really fun stuff

Peru is really cheap compared to Chile

this was the most stressful part of the trip

we were rushing to get to Machu Picchu because this was the main thing on our to-do list

we made it 1904.8 miles in less than days
It was defiantly the most tiring part of the trip but still super fun!

Peru

this past week I got the opportunity to travel around the country of Peru

I feel so blessed to have gotten the chance to see the things we saw and do the things we did

during this trip I really feel in love with Peru 

(I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up back there someday)

Peru such a totally different place compared to home and even Chile

 words and pictures really can't even begin to describe it

there are places that don’t have running water or electricity

they still uses mules and cows to plow their land

kids have walk long ways to school on empty stomachs

or they may not even have the opportunity to go

the women take trips down to the nearest creek to wash their cloth

Peru is full of culture

It’s beautiful

It’s old

It’s full of poverty 

but the people their love their home

they take pride in where there from and who they are

I really feel guilty for everything we got to do and see

I spent my time in tourist towns and on buses 

I never once got the chance to step off the bus into those villages along the highway

I never got to walk around those small towns

I only saw the way they lived through a window

but it was through that window on those long bus rides

that God gave me the chance to really see Peru

He opened my heart and my eyes to a different side of life in Peru

and I hope one day He gives me the opportunity to return

and serve in the Sacred Valley of Peru 

over the next week or so I am going to tell you about my trip to Peru day by day

so stay tuned!

Wake Up Call

So last night I was resting oh so peacefully

when at about 4 AM I'm woken up 

by what you may ask

a EARTHQUAKE

yep that's right.

it was such a weird experience at first I didn't really know what was going on. It was 4am and I was kinda out of it. But then once I woke up a little bit I instantly knew it was an earthquake and not just a dream.

I woke up to my bed shaking a lot and the whole time I just stared at my mirror. It was rattling so much i could just see it being jolted around. The quake lasted about maybe a minute or so. I'm not quite sure and there was defiantly some aftershocks. My heart was racing the whole time I seriously could calm down for like 30 minutes after it was over. It was such a weird feeling I don't know if I could ever explain it.

It was just yesterday that some friends down here said that there was a tremor earlier that day and Tawni and I didn't feel it. We were bummed for some reason and talking about how we wanted to feel a real earth quake. I guess you could say we got our wish 

 Now that I'v experienced one I could live without another one the rest of my life. 

Earthquakes are a natural thing here in Chile so I wouldn't doubt if we didn't feel a few more the rest of our time here!!