Chilly in Chile

I really should have listened more when people told me it was Winter in Chile. I figured that:

1. I was born and raised in Colorado and
2. I've been attending school at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, aka Iceburg, for the past two years, so
I know all about being cold.

No. Winter is winter, and just because I was complaining about how hot it was not even a week ago does not mean I should try to wear my Chacos here. So really I've got two battles going on here: the language and maintaining a normal body temperature, and let me tell you, I've got my work cut out for me in both categories...

So It Begins...

You know, it didn't seem to matter that I had known and was planning on going to Chile for about eight months (since about November of 2008), the change still hit me hard. But what I find interesting is that my scariest moment was not when I walked off the plane in Santiago, rather, it was sitting at DIA waiting to board for Toronto, Canada. I was terrified. I kept questioning myself, "Why am I doing this? Why did I want to do this? Why did I ever think Spanish or going abroad was so cool!?!" Thankfully I had a book to calm me, and one passage talked about how people can do many things if they just have courage. Courage. The word struck a chord in me. I can do this, yes I can, I simply need to apply the courage I know I have somewhere, and whatever courage I lack (which is a lot), I know I can get from other sources like family, friends, and the Atonement. Once I ran these thoughts through my head, I was fine. Seriously. I felt so much better. I actually enjoyed my remaining flights (kinda), and now I really got a kick out of not understanding anyone. So, on the brink of my new adventure, I like to say that yes, it's hard and totally different, but I can do hard things, and I know that I can do all things in the strength of the Lord.

The Denver International Airport before I had time to sit down and freak out. So young, so naive...

Toronto, Canada Airport and I'm excited to see Chilean pesos. I couldn't believe it. I gave the lady at the Currency Exchange $30, and she gave me 11,000 pesos, which sounded like a lot to me (sucker!).