Our Chilean adventure is over and we want to say thank you for your encouragement, prayers and support. We had an unforgettable time! We cleaned a lot of toilets, ate a lot of empanadas, saw a lot of lizards (but caught none), climbed a lot of trees and learned a bit of Spanish. We will miss working alongside the Sandvigs and being a Tio, Tia and friend to so many kids. We are spending a week in California before we get home. Thank you for following our adventure with us!

Goodbye Gifts

We were sad to finish up at the boarding house for the local Mapuche school that we spent a lot of time at. We used the S`s gift of money to buy goodbye gifts for each kid.

School Supplies

We really enjoyed our time at the inner-city school in Temuco. The teachers and administrators found ways to put us to work and the boys made some good friends. This Assemblies of God school has some government funding but it struggles with finances. We were so glad to be able to give them a gift of school supplies, including a gift from the R family.

Isaac's blog

I love Tia Sharon and Tio Tim. They took us to the airport when we left. They gave us trading cards to play with on the airplane. Tia makes good chutney and she let me help her make it.

Simon's blog

I like Erik. We miss him. He is a good mountain climber. He found a snake for me to see. He played with Phoebe and Chloe (the cats) with me. I am glad that we could be friends with him.

Almost as High

We couldn't handle the 6hr trek to the top so we climbed a smaller summit instead.

Out and About

We had so much fun touring Pucon this weekend! Pucon is an adventure-tourism center of Chile and is situated on a beautiful lake and the active Villarrica volcano so there was lots to see and do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villarrica_(volcano)

Journey to the Center of the Earth

We enjoyed the unique experience of travelling 400 meters into a cave created long ago by lava flow. The tour is on the Villarrica volcano.

Warm Weather, Cool Water

The black volcanic sand at this Pucon beach made the day warm enough to take a quick dip in the lake.

Forever in Bloom

We visited the beautiful city of Pucon this weekend. These flowers are works of art, made out of wood by craftsmen in Pucon and they look just as real up close. They welcome travellers on the way into town.

Get on the bus, Hus

Isaac and Jeremy took the bus into Temuco today to teach English. Buses going into Temuco come to our bus stop every five to ten minutes and cost our family 700 pesos (less than $2). The trip to downtown takes about 30 minutes. It can get pretty crowded on the bus, especially with the five of us and all our groceries!

Nuevos Amigos

A family from our church had us over for "once" (OWN-say) yesterday evening. "Once" is Spanish for "eleven" and it is the name of the light evening meal (bread, cheese, meat, avocado, jam...) that Chileans typically eat around 6pm or 7pm. Nobody really knows why the evening meal is called "eleven" but there are some good stories. Chileans eat their larger, hot meal during the day. And I thought it was hard to pack school lunches every day when it is just sandwiches!

Temuco

This is the city where we are spending a lot of our time. The school that we help out at is at the upper left hand side of the picture and we're staying really close to the large hill on the horizon just left of center.

Colo Colo or "U"

There are two popular soccer teams in Chili. Colo Colo and "U" are bitter rivals...but when the "U" fan can't make the craft (in the colours of his favourite team), the Colo Colo fan is still able to help. Las ninas just picked colours that they liked.

In Local News

This weekend, the volcano we visited a few weeks ago (~60km to the east) sprung to life! http://www.smh.com.au/world/fears-of-major-eruption-at-volcanic-hotspot-20090406-9tuf.html The sky was overcast so we didn't get a glimpse of it but the pictures are amazing! The affected area was evacuated safely.

Going to Sev, Southern Style.

It was back to nice weather today and we stopped by this Minimercado (mini market) for a drink. We went to two schools today and started working on a painting project here at Koyamentu.

Roaming Animals

These are some of the animals we saw wandering freely on our way into town. The cows are finding green grass on the sides of the road and the chickens are using the local soccer field (which doubles/triples as a horse pasture) to find their food.

Burning Garbage

Every now and then we burn our garbage here at Chile. We like to help our Dad or Mom to do it. Yesterday we did it first thing in the morning so my brothers were still in their pyjamas. The burning barrel is down by the compost so there are lots of yellow jackets (a.k.a. wasps) there. Simon and Isaac and I get to help put the fire out with water at the end. It is neat to live in the country.
Adios garbage!
By Ben

Dinner Guests

We had some new Mapuche friends over for dinner tonight. It was fun to visit and play UNO, the game without borders, with them. Their youngest boy won both hands we played.

Teaching English

The children that we are getting to know are so joyful and eager to share their world with us. We spent most of today teaching English in Temuco.