The Perfect Leaf

I have to publish something quick before I'm stuck with the number 13 on the month of August forever. Today I stepped on the perfect dried leaf. Everything about it was ideal. First off, it was a surprise. Second, it's size was impeccable (about the size of my fist). And third, the crunch sound was flawless. I even stopped to look back at its remains because I couldn't believe just how awesome the event was. I'm glad I have this joyous occasion recorded...and I'm even more glad that August will have 14 rather than 13 posts. (14 is my favorite number and I don't like 13 because it's supposedly unlucky!)

Of course the one time I forget...

I love going home from school because I love walking around the neighborhood and I also love walking home to a delicious meal. I was already hungry when I left for my 12:45 class today, and I was excited because I smelled the wonderful chicken meal mi madre was making as I walked out the door. I joke around with other kids in the program how we're like dogs walking home. Let me explain. There is an episode of the Office where Jim trains Dwight to salivate whenever he hears the "ding" sound of Jim's computer. The other students and I laugh about how we start to "salivate" as we walk home. Today I was so excited to just go home and eat lunch. But something stood in the way of my desires: for the first time ever, I had forgot my keys. Normally, mi madre is home, but of course today was an exception. This happens on occasion, and whenever she isn't home for lunch, she makes me a beautiful plate of food protected with saran wrap. It was torture to picture my food sitting alone and delicious. I sat and read for a while waiting for mi familia, but I couldn't hack the wait.

So, today I discovered how difficult it is to break into my house; so difficult that it's flirting with impossible. There is at least a five foot leap of faith to get on the tin-thin roof on one side, and the other side is barred by spikes from heck. At one point I thought about going through the window, but even that is protected by bars. Ugh.

Finally, I plucked up my courage and decided to ask a neighbor for help (after I looked up the words "jump" and "fence" in my dictionary). The neighbor was very friendly, and even though we couldn't understand each other, she did pull out a step ladder to help me get over the fence. Yeah! It was an unexpected adventure that taught me to never, NEVER forget mis llaves!

See what I was dealing with? I think you understand why I didn't want to mess with the spikes.

Decorative bars on the window; and my precious keys that I forgot. Never again I tell ya!

One Month Mark

Yesterday, August 29th, was my "One Month Mark" in Chile. Wow, one month. It seems like I've been here much longer than a month because I feel like I've grown up and learned SO much since July 29th. My growth chart contains struggles, triumphs, laughs (a vast majority of which I share in my head with myself and I), surprises, and valuable life lessons that would be difficult to even begin explaining. *Oh, and I guess I've learned a few things about Spanish as well.*



I had this idea of taking a picture the 29th of every month while I'm here to celebrate and to have a visual representation of time passing. I would hold up one finger for one month, two fingers for two months, and so on. The only problem is that I totally forgot. So, just imagine that Dania is holding up just one finger instead of all of them. This pic is with my sisters in front of our casa enjoying the sun. Ah, what a life.

I Love to See the Temple

On Friday I had the opportunity to travel go to the Santiago Temple with a Vina Ward and do Baptisms. It was a wonderful experience. I did the work for the bisabuela (great-grandmother) de mi padre y I got a very small taste of how much some people have to sacrifice to get to the Temple. The Denver Temple only 20 minutes away, and the Provo and Rexburg the Temples are within walking distance. We went to Santiago via bus, and it took two hours each way, so it's an all day commitment to go to the Temple (I was gone from 12:30 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.). I thoroughly enjoyed the Santiago Temple and I love that I felt the same way inside this Temple as I do others. The Church most certainly is true.

The Santiago, Chile Temple: a small, but beautiful Temple nonetheless.

Before and after pictures of the Ward . As you can see in the lack of sunlight in the second pic, it took a long time to do work for everyone in the group (and I was perfectly happy to spend so much time at the Temple).

They're On To Something Here

I love the dumpsters in town. They are so cool. You don't need to touch the lid to put your trash inside. All you have to do is put your foot at the lever at the bottom which lifts the lid for you. It's brilliant, brilliant, brilliant I tell ya! I'm totally bringing this phenomenon back to the States...

Back to the Past

If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to be a little kid again, or how it would feel to be back in middle school, then sign up to be a foreign exchange student. Really. I feel like I’ve relived the ages 3-19 since I’ve come to Chile. The first couple of days I felt like a toddler because I never knew what was going on. My life consisted of sleeping (recovering from a month of AFY and jetlag), eating, and more sleeping. My familia would explain where we were going before our outings, but all I understood was, “vamos.” I totally felt like a little kid again just getting in the car because everyone else was and sitting content in the back seat looking around. It was fun because every destination, whether it was the market or bank, was a surprise to me.

More recently I feel like I’m in elementary or middle school. I (try) to tell mi familia everything about my day: school, friends, activities. The other day Emily, Holli and I wanted to make cookies and didn’t really know how to go about it. We didn’t know which of our madres would be the most “okay” with it. The next day Emily said, “I asked my mom, and she said you can come over on Friday to make cookies!” I just had to laugh out loud at this. I’ve been away at college for the last two years, and I totally forgot about what it was like to ask mom if and when I could have friends over.

Another change I went through upon arrive in Chile is going without a cell phone because Verizon doesn’t work down here. *I have a secret confession. One of the things I’m most excited for when I return to the states is listening to what I call the “Mystery Voicemail.” I received a voicemail on my phone when I was waiting in the Toronto Airport, but I couldn’t open it for some reason. Ten bucks says it’s my dad saying, “Abby. This is dad. Call me.” But all the same, I look forward to when I can listen to the mystery message…*

But, back to Chile, it felt so strange to have no way to call anyone or for them to call me unless I gave them mi madre’s number. The first week or so I kept getting “phantom vibrations” thinking someone was calling me. But my sister Giselle got a new phone, and mi familia presented me her old phone. I was so excited! I felt so cool to have a cell phone. Granted, I only have six numbers in my phone and I keep forgetting it in my room, but it’s a phone nonetheless. It gives me flashbacks because there is no T9 texting, and I can’t figure out basic things like sound setting. I actually don’t call people much because I pay for the calling card, and every call I make costs me money (but it doesn’t cost money to receive calls, so we always say, "you call me," catchi).

Giselle presenting me with my very own cell phone. It was a joyous moment that the everyone (even the cat) gathered for. Happy day.

The times that I feel like an adult are when I talk about traveling. I tell mi familia about possible trips to Argentina or Peru, and they listen to me and take me seriously. I know I can do it and I do have some solidified trips lined up, but I can't believe they take me serious enough to trust me traveling around South America. They've heard my Spanish. They know how bad I am. So, even though I may feel like a kid around them most the time, I love that they treat me like I'm adult that has things all figured out. Bacan!

Palacio Rioja and Quilpue

Last Friday Emily, Holli, and I set out for some adventures in Vina. We began with the Palacio Rioja, which is just down the street from the Stake Center. It was neat to see the fancy interior of the early 1900s building, but my favorite part was the information packet's English translation. Being an editor and perfectionist at heart, it truly made me cringe to read sentences like, "he was the found of this area in 1907." Ugh. Simply dreadful. But it made me wonder if English to Spanish translations were just as bad. After the Palacio we went to the Mall, and I was quite impressed. It's pretty big and I thought it was interesting how there was a grocery store inside. That evening we went to Quilpue via Micro (the cheap bus) with our Chilean friend Raul and I have to admit that we feel really cool having an authentic Chilean around us gringas. It was a day full of learning and laughs.

I was just thinking about how much I wanted to play my violin when I saw a man at the Metro Station with one. He was kind enough to let me play his violin, but now I lose sleep at night because I forgot to give him some money as a token for my gratitude...

Holli and I in front of the Palacio Rioja.

Me, Holli, and Emily



On our way to the mall we walked past a huge Catholic church with open gates. There was an opera type song playing and the church was full of people. We had no idea what was going on. Holli and Emily felt uncomfortable and went to stand outside, but I went to a pew and discovered that it was was a funeral service. We were the only ones that we not dressed up, oops.



We went to a Karaoke activiy at a church in Quilpue, which was a 30 minute ride on the Micro. We were there about an hour early, and about two hours early in Latin time. To pass the time we all played the piano for each other and tried to teach Raul some songs. It was quite entertaining.