Arrival

    So, it´s now officially been one week that I´ve been in Chile. Last time I wrote, I was touring around the capital of Chile, Santiago. However, this past Sunday, I finally arrived in Valparaiso, the city where my university is located. Sooo beautiful! When we arrived, the sun was setting over the ocean as we descended from atop one of the many hills in the area down into the city to meet our host families. I´ll do my best to put pictures up soon.
    There´s so much that I´ve already learned about this culture and way of life that it might take me a good chunk of a book to explain it all thoroughly. Rather than do that, I´ll give you a little taste of the highlights.
    Pan (bread) is bought fresh from the market every day! Chileans pride themselves in being one of the top bread consuming countries in the world. It is literally served with every meal just about. Talking about food, their way of eating is vastly different than ours. Breakfast, is incredibly light, if eaten at all, and usually consists of bread, tea, and maybe some oatmeal. On the contrary, lunch is a big meal, the biggest of the day (more like our dinner). Dinner is more like a tea time called "once," which is eaten about 8 or 9 pm at night.
    In regards to the house, things are definitely different here too. Have you ever ignited a "calefont" before taking a shower? Me neither. Basically, a calefont is a heating unit for the water that is lit only when needed. Also, since central heating does not exist, or is terribly expensive, most houses have one or two "estufas" that are essentially portable heating units to warm the house, but these are turned off when people go to bed to conserve energy. So, how does one stay warm at night? Blankets, clothes, and "guateros." A "guatero" is basically like a thermos, which is filled with hot water and placed in your bed to keep you warm at night. I´ve yet to use a guatero because my host mother says that typically girls use them and guys don´t ask for them.
    Transportation is the last thing I´ll highlight. Oh boy, there´s some much to be said about using public transportation in Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. Here´s the different types of transportation: "a pie," "metro," "micro," "collectivo," "funicular," and "taxi." A pie is simple, just walk. I like that one the best, because I know where my feet are going and it´s free to walk. However, going uphill, a very big hill in fact, is quite a workout. I´m expecting an increase in calf muscle by the end of my trip. Metro is fairly simple to use. In fact, it´s now my go to mode of transportation because I just obtained my student metro card which gives me a great student discount on fares. The problem with metro is, it´s not actually that fast of a train, and the trains come like every 10 minutes. So, don´t use it if you´re pressed for time. But for leisure travel, or if you´re ahead of schedule, metro is the best way to go. Okay, here´s the toughest but most interesting one of them all, "micro." The micro is the term the Chileans use for the city bus. Buses are everwhere. They are the most popular method of transportation, and they´re also the most confusing method of transportation. The buses each have a different number, a different color, and a different list of 3 or 4 destinations displayed on it´s side and front window. I don´t yet completely understand all of the different prices or routes of these buses, but I know how to get around on the one I need to use to go to and from school. The coolest thing about these micros is the driver. Micro drivers are champs. First off, driving a manual transmission bus in the heart of a congested city is hard enough as is. Combine that with picking up people and dropping people off constantly, and he also has to accept your fares, give you correct change and a receipt, all while putting the micro into gear and merging into traffic. If you don´t find a seat, you better use both hands to hold on, because, the driver doesn´t necessarily wait until everyone is ready before he guns it back into traffic. Taxis are simple and much like the ones in the US. Collectivos, on the other hand, are basically shared taxis that have typical routes that they run. Essentially, they´re like a combo between a taxi and a micro. Finally, there´s the oldest and most unique mode of transportation, the "funicular." These things are basically inclined railcars that take passengers up and down the hills. Some hills only have funiculars because the hills are too steep. These aren´t necessarily very convenient due to their small passenger capacity, but they´re differently worth the experience and view.
    Like I said, I´ll upload some of these photos soon. I register for classes today, and they´ll begin starting next week. Please continue to pray for me and for energy and strength specifically as I´ve been battling a cold due to the temperature and climate change. Look forward to updating everyone more soon!

Cross Country Paid Off

    Thanks for all the prayers everyone! I've had at least 10 or 15 opportunities so far when people ask me, "So what are you studying abroad for? or… What made you decide to study abroad?" The Holy Spirit's been making me increasingly more bold to just proclaim that I'm going to show and tell people about Jesus and hopefully demonstrate His love and reconciliation to them. From the airport to just telling other students I've met already, Jesus is laying foundations and seeds to be watered and grown. So, thanks for praying.
    You're probably wondering about this post's title. Well…my flight out of GSP was scheduled to depart at 6:00pm and land in DFW at 7:30pm local, giving me almost 2 hours before my 9:25pm depart to Santiago, Chile. Well…due to delays and t-storms, we didn't leave GSP until about 7:45pm, thus landing in DFW at 9:05pm local. Unfortunately, I also had to wait on a gate check bag. And I had to take the skytrain to another concourse. How did I make it in time? Jesus. And, it also didn't hurt that I ran cross-country some years ago in high school, because, yes, I was THAT guy sprinting through the airport. And I was also THAT guy who was the last one to board the plane. Pretty stellar experience for my first time traveling by myself. But, Jesus was sweet to keep reminding me that He was with me the whole time and that He was in control of everything. Had I missed that flight, I would have had to wait in that airport for another 24 hours before another flight to Chile was possible. Which, that wouldn't have been too bad when I consider Jesus being with me through all of it.
    Anyways, I arrived safely and on-time with all of my luggage. I'm currently posting from my pretty cozy hotel room after what has been an amazing day of meeting people in my traveling group as well as just exploring a lot of parts of Santiago. I was able to meet a fellow brother in Christ from amongst our group already, which is such a blessing. I'm excited to see how God brings unity amongst us and grows us to pour out His love continually to others in our group.
    Well, that's about all I have time to tell you folks for now. I'm having trouble getting my power adapter to actually work with these outlets; they've been a bit finicky. So, I'm trying to conserve my battery life on my computer.

Here's what I ate for dinner tonight. A "completo" with "papas fritas" "empanadas" and, of course, "coca-cola." Don't be too jealous. Best $2,490 pesos I've ever spent ($5US).

A Few Things...

    So, tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow, I will begin my almost 5 month adventure in Chile. As I spend today just reflecting and remembering all that has taken place in the many months of preparation, I am quite amazed at all that God has already done. Let me walk you through a few things…

• For starters, the decision to study abroad all happened as I felt called by God. In fact, after having the privilege to go on mission trips to both the Dominican Republic and Peru multiple times over the past 3 years, I felt in my heart that God wanted me to study and learn more Spanish. I was slow to respond to this, but I eventually took a placement test back in the Fall of 2011. By God's grace I scored very high and was placed into a 3010 level class exempting and receiving credit for 4 classes (12 hours). This is important to remember. Why? Because, at that point, I was only considering doing a Spanish minor. However, I soon realized that in order to complete the minor I would only need to take 3 Spanish classes. Quickly, I saw that, well for one, 3 classes was not enough time for me to really learn the language. And two, I might have enough credit hours and time left before graduation to do a double major. After loving my first college Spanish class in Spring 2012, I would then go on that summer to once again go to Peru on mission. It was there that a couple of people had mentioned to me the idea of doing a study abroad--So I investigated the possibility.
• In my investigation; I began asking around to Hispanic friends that I knew, "What would be a good place to study abroad?" I knew personally that I didn't want to go to where I had already been (Peru and the DR). A few people recommended Argentina, so I looked into the different programs. But, I also looked into Chile as a possibility. Just when I was pretty set on Argentina, a good friend of mine from school, who had just finished a study-abroad herself, mentioned to me how she had received an e-mail about some mission based study abroad program. With my mind about 90% set on Argentina, I looked into this new program for kicks and giggles. It would have to be really awesome for me to switch what I already had in mind. However, the Veritas program (follow the link at the top of the page for more info) had what looked like a super awesome program in Valparaíso, Chile. And, it's set-up around sharing Jesus with people. I was sold.
• A little snag…this program (Veritas) was not pre-approved through my university. Basically, I then had to do a petition process in order to communicate to my home university the validity and details of this new program that they've never heard of before. Just like 5 or 6 documents to turn in…no big deal. Oh, and did I mention that they could reject the program if I messed up on my documents? Praise God that the program got approved! (Side-note: a Veritas employee would later meet with my university's study abroad office to make the Veritas program essentially pre-approved.)
• Let the paperwork commence. Wow. I have an entire color-coded, sub-divided folder on my desktop entitled "STUDY ABROAD STUFF" that is strictly devoted to any and all paperwork for this process. I know, I'm sounding like a big whiny baby. It really wasn't that bad. You just really had to stay on top of all the dates and deadlines. And meet with like 4 advisors that I didn't even knew existed. And I now know how to effectively scan documents with ease. Also searching and reserving the cheapest rate on a flight. Applying for scholarships. Something called a consortium agreement. Attending orientations (they told us that we were superior students and free food was provided, so that one was worth it). Get a student visa. That one was fun. The only want to know your life history and mail it to them. But then, they want to double check that you're real, so you have to go the consulate in person. Ha! I think before you study abroad, you should have to enroll in a 3 hour Study Abroad Prep course. Because I literally had more homework and field trips for my pre-departure than for most of my classes over the 2012-2013 academic year. Praise God that He got me through all of that and my brain still functions somewhat normally.

    Those are just a few logistical things that I wanted to share with you guys and gals who may be curious about how I even got to this opportunity in the first place. It's really sweet to look back over the past two or three years of my life and just see step by step the hand of God in everything. Honestly, it begs the question, "God where are you leading me? What are you wanting me to do with this one life you've given me? I know you've commanded me to make disciples, but is there a specific place, people group, or part of the world you want me to devote my life to ushering your lost sheep back into your family?" It can be a bit nerve racking at times, not knowing what my life will look like in 5 years, or even 1 year. But, oh, how exciting and heart-racing and pleasing it is to know that the Creator of all things is orchestrating it all out in accordance with His plan. He wants my whole heart. He's been really just teaching me and trying to gently guide me into fully surrendering every part of my life and trust and  allegiance to Him. When trusting God is a mere ideology, most will concur and nod the head of, "Sure, I trust in God." I mean, it makes perfect sense, right? Especially if you believe in God. However, the thought of trusting God with everything and the action of actually trusting God with everything are two completely different things. This is where I keep stumbling. I make up in my mind to trust God, but I have difficulty when it comes to stepping into trust and dependence on Him. I'm excited, curious, and a bit nervous to see how He answers this prayer, but I'm going to start praying that God would show me how trustworthy He is and how untrustworthy I am. How true and strong and faithful He is, and how false and fading and weak I am.

    Keep on the lookout for the next post! Your prayers are greatly appreciated.