Vacation!!!!

As I sit here in my friend's 12th story apartment, sipping my Vanilla Rooibos tea (thank you Phillip!!!) and gazing out at the Santiago landscape beneath, I can't help but thing about the many "what if's" of life. What if I had gotten a job after college and stayed in San Diego? What if I hadn't gotten accepted into this program and ended up staying in Simi Valley? What if I had stayed behind because it was too hard to leave? What if I hadn't been purposeful about nurturing relationships before I left home to come to Chile? What if I let fear run my life? What if I didn't trust God to always take care of me and keep me in His will as I daily pursue following Him? I honestly don't have any answers to these questions, but sometimes they have my stomach in knots. Most days however, I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now. The opportunities that have presented themselves in this past month have made me wonder what my life might look like 6 months from now. If you had asked me before I left, I would have said that after my 7 months here, I'd return home to "real life". Now, I see that this IS real life; maybe not real for most people, but very real for me.

I met some people out here who have moved from the US to work down here (corporate jobs, not teaching). It is so interesting to here about South America from their perspective. Not only are they able to experience a different of Chile because they are being paid, but many also don't look at it from a foreigner's perspective. They have Chilean credit cards, phone contracts, apartments, furniture, cars, etc. How different this mindset is from someone who is here for only a set amount of time. I don't consider purchasing things because I don't have room for them in my suitcase. I spread my prepaid phone minutes as thin as possible so I don't have to refill. I try to use every last drop of my hair products to avoid spending money at the store. The more I think about it, this is kind of the mindset we as Christians are supposed to have about earth. It's all temporary. We don't have permanent residence here on earth. We were sent here to do a job, and although we don't know how long we have here, we need to constantly remind ourselves not to store up our stuff here on earth as though we have eternity. I'm daily working on keeping my life simple and not complicating it with drama or pain. This is difficult, but I'm feeling the weight of it being lifted off my shoulders as I strive to do the best I can. God's also been teaching me to not fault others for their choices when they are just trying to do their best with the knowledge and experience that they have. I'm not going to be a doormat, but I need not hold onto baggage or create bitterness to burden my heart and my mind.

As of last Friday, I have finished my intensive Spanish courses and begun my vacation. Lacking any desire to spend extra time in Santiago (which, by the way, has so much smog right now that I can't see any surrounding mountains), I'm working my way towards the beach. Not only am I looking forward to the cleaner air and the smell of salt water and the pigment of my skin looking as though I live in Hawaii, but I'm also very excited to meet some new people and practice some of the Spanish that I've learned! As of right now, I am planning to leave tomorrow between 8-11:30 am to take the 2 hour bus to Valparaiso. From there, I will stay in a hostel as close to the water as possible and as cheap as possible.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read these posts and for the comments you post. It's so nice to be able to keep people updated and share how God is blessing me and working in my life.