Awesome kids

We're enjoying our friendships with the kids at the schools that we work at. Whether we are teaching English, doing crafts, playing games or trying to have a conversation, these kids are so kind and friendly. We are having lots of fun with them!

Weatherproofing

Jeremy was busy sanding and staining doors this morning to protect them from the winter wind and rain.

That was then, this is now

It's autumn in the southern hemisphere which usually means lots of rain but we've had hot, sunny days since we arrived. The colder weather this week (10-20C highs and overcast) means that drying laundry is not so easy anymore.

Care Package

We had a rainy weekend, which was good for the farmers around here who are dealing with a drought. It was also a perfect time for us to open our care package. Thanks for all the treats L, C, Z, D&C-A!

Lots of soccer

This soccer ball has been well-used since we got here! We've spent lots of time kicking it around with our boys and other kids. Thanks T,K,J&A!

Story time

Tia Sharon (a.k.a. Sharon Sandvig) brought over a stack of Berenstain Bear books and the boys are loving them. We have had lots of time to read to and with each other here which is great!

Resting

The forecast for the weekend is rain and we're looking forward to some quiet time as a family, with a few short trips into town to visit the market and go to church.

Star of Bethlehem School

This is the street front for the inner-city school where we take turns (one parent and one boy each time) to go to help teach English. It's a church-sponsored school set in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Temuco. The doors and windows are barred and locked and the teacher with the key wasn't there today when it was time for us to leave. :) At the school there are not enough desks for the children so some of them share and some work on the floor. The kids are adorable and so eager to speak English to us. Instead of trading cards, some of the kids are collecting and playing with old valentines cards which they always share with our boys. Escuela = school, Estrella = star, Belen = Bethlehem.

The Road to Koyamentu

All forms of transportation are taken on the gravel road from the retreat centre to the highway. This is the half-hour walk that we take to get to one of the schools or to catch the bus into the city. We saw about eight stray dogs on the way today which kept the trip exciting!

Dedication

On Saturday, we attended and helped out with the dedication service for this new building. It sleeps over 30 people, has a kitchen, two bathrooms and a big meeting room. This building is used for retreats and as a training center for local indigenous pastors.

Shiny floors

We spent this morning working at camp. Simon did a great job of sweeping and mopping.

Climbing

No need for a playground.

The Andes

We spent the past two days at Conguillio National Park. We stayed in a cabin on a lava bed from the Llaima volcano, ate empanadas, saw a beautiful waterfall, did some good hiking and found lots of lizards. It was a great holiday! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llaima

Snake Charmer

Our guys really liked having the chance to see and touch a snake!

Feliz Cumpleanos!

We stayed at Koyamentu today and did some odd jobs and cleaning. We also had a party! Happy birthday Jeremy!

Thank you B boys!

The kids at the Metrenco school get so excited about the simple crafts that we plan for them. The group of 30-40 girls and boys about ages 5-14 make such amazing things with the supplies that we bring. Today we built popsicle stick boxes. A big thank you to sweet Z,W&J who saved up from their allowance to help us buy tons of supplies!

Wildlife

We've seen some pretty interesting birds here. This one sticks its long beak into the ground to find food.

It Fits!

The focus of our day was going to an inner-city school where we are helping with English classes. The children who go to the school are bussed in from poorer areas of Temuco. They were learning colours and were so proud to show us their work.

This evening we started a puzzle which looks like it will be a long project despite all the eager help.

Mas Espanole

Miriam and her family just got back from Minnesota where they lived for 4 years while they helped establish a Spanish-speaking church there. She is helping us with Spanish lessons once a week. She was well-prepared and fun to work with.

Green Eggs and Ham

We visited the kids at the Metrenco school again, making a craft and playing some games. In the evening we ate at our Mapuche co-worker's house and were able to have a pretty good Spanish conversation, thanks to their patience. Our boys had lots of fun playing outside with their boys and the chickens. We left with a gift of a dozen "campo" (country) eggs which have green shells. Happy St. Patrick's day!

Frogger

Arelio, who works here full time, told us he eats frogs, but larger ones than the boys found. This has us worried because we're going to his house for dinner tomorrow night! He promised we would be eating something else.

Back to Work

Today we were cleaning cabins, washing windows and chopping wood - actually three of the five of us spent most of the afternoon catching frogs. Tomorrow we return to the Metrenco school.

Cook-out

Nothing like roasting tube-steaks over an open fire to end off a beautiful weekend.

Oceano Pacifico

The ocean was cold but we had a fun time on the shore. We also ate at a seaside restaurant and had yummy seafood empanadas. We move our clocks back an hour tonight. When we got here we were 4hrs removed from MST, but now are only 2.

Smiling Simon

We're glad about two seasons of summer fruit this year. Here's Simon enjoying dessert this evening.

Mapuche Museum

We took the bus into Temuco today to go to the Museo Regional de la Araucania to learn more about Mapuche (indigenous to Chile) history and culture. The walk to the bus was long on such a hot day but we made it there and back and only had one unleashed dog try to chase us down.

Building Shelves

Today we did some more work at the camp and then got the opportunity to visit a second school. It looks like we'll be doing an after school program at the rural school twice a week for the (35) kids who live there and helping out with the K to 3 english class at an inner city school.

First Chilean friends

Three of the friends that our boys are really fond of here are the Sandvig's big old German Shepherd and their two small kittens.

The Sandvigs

Tim and Sharon Sandvig are the amazing people who administer the retreat center that we are staying at. Fluent in Mapudungun, Tim helped to translate the Bible into the local Mapuche language in the 1980's. The Sandvigs have very kindly welcomed us here and we are so glad for the opportunity to spend these six weeks with them.

Isaac teaches ESL

We visited our first school this afternoon. The kids were excited to see us. We did a craft and played soccer with them. Some of the older kids got their English books out and Isaac taught them to pronounce different articles of clothing. This is Isaac in a less serious moment.

No snow...

...but there are bugs! Ben spotted this tarantula yesterday and got stung by a wasp today. We're 50 degrees warmer than we would have been in Calgary though, so we're not complaining.

We're here!

Southern Chile is a long way from Canada! Our flights were uneventful and the boys were wonderful, despite very little sleep on the overnight from L.A. to Santiago. We took a short flight from Santiago to Temuco, where we are staying for the next few weeks and were welcomed by Tim and Sharon Sandvig who are SIM missionaries here.