Well, you´re probably thinking... hey, long time no blog! After 2 months, wanted to get you all caught up on the goings on in Maipu Chile.
For Easter week Matt´s folks came to visit. We had a wonderful time and they absolutely loved Chile. We were so spoiled and tried a new restraunt each night and got to experience some amazing Chilean (as well as Italian) cuisine. We made a trip back out to the Cajon de Maipo so Barb and Mike could see some of the Andean Cooridor scenery. Our other day trip was out to the Chilean coast to a little town called Isla Negra. We visited one of Pablo Neruda´s homes which was such a treat. Neruda is Chile´s most famous poet, and a Nobel Laureate. He was quite the excentric man, with a taste for the unique, a love for the sea and also for a good party.
Barb and Mike got to spend two afternoons with us at the Home in Maipu and to get to know the girls. They were a great hit. All the girls wanted to know what they did, what it was like in Tacoma, and of course, what movie stars they knew personally. The girls loved the Easter gifts and the donations of books and medical supplies. They have been put to good use these last few months with all the trouble that 36 active girls can get into.
Mid April brought another big change for us. We talked with the sisters here about the work we´ve been doing and decided that we could be more helpful working with the younger girls than with the Middle aged girls. It turns out that 4-9 years olds are quite a bit more forgiving of language struggles, as well as child management slip ups, and they´re more likely to believe you when you tell them you know what you´re talking about. Another factor that made it better for us to make this move is that there have been a lot of changes in staff over the last 6 months at the Middle girls´ house. The end of March they had another change in Tias (or house marm). The move over to the little girl´s house has really decreased the pressure, and created more stability for us as we continue to get settled in to the culture of Chile, the intricacies of community living, developing more language skills, and learning about child management.
We´ve been here now for 3 months, which means we won a trip to Argentina to renue our visas. The pass across the Andeas was amazingly beautiful with steep and dramatic peaks. Climbing up to the pass is dessert shrub land, and as you get higher, there is absolutely no vegetation in this section of the Andes. After a short stop at the top for customs (it was a good thing we brought our winter coats) we scooted on over to Mendoza Argentina. Mendoza is known for it´s wine country, it´s olives, walnuts and Italian influence. Matt swapped olive recipies with an Italian-Argentinian shop owner, we had the best Calabres Pizza south of Chicago, and caught a ballet in the evening. All in all a successful weekend trip.
We´ll have more anecdotes from the Home, along with more pictures soon. We had a glitch in internet connection at the home so it´s been a bit more difficult to stay up on this. Fall, which starts in March here, is usually rainy but we´ve been blessed with mostly sunshine up until now. Hope you all are having a wonderful May and enjoying the Spring and all the blessings that it brings with it. All our love, Matt and Janelle.
