The Children...

I've posted about my travels and I've posted about my weird encounters but one thing I haven't posted about is my time at the Children's home. Mainly because I don't know what to say.  We are known as the tia's who speak English, and when I hear from other people that the kids ask where we are when we aren't there, it warms my heart but also breaks it.  When I go to the home I feel like i'm going to fight a battle; earrings are removed and hair is pulled up.  I return home looking like i've lost the battle; hair a mess, covered in slobber and more times than I'd probably like to admit, I've been peed on.  I wish I could share with you my photos of the bright smiling faces of the kids but in order to keep them safe I'm not able to do so over social media.  

I wish I could take them all home with me.  Give them simple things they crave like to be held or hugged.  To be told they are loved and that someone cares.  I struggle with the reality that these kids are being raised in a government system.  Yes, they are getting their basic needs met but to me that's not enough.

When I pick up one child and have the other children pushing, kicking and crying to be next it breaks my heart.  When I try to put a child down so that I can pay attention to as many as possible and they try their hardest to not let me go, it breaks my heart.  Sometimes I just sit in the floor and let them crawl all over me.  Yes I sometimes get a shoe to the face and at times I don't think I'll ever be able to escape from all the arms and legs trying to hold me down.  But its those moments that I don't want to end.  I go to the home to love on the kids but I end up being the one who feels loved, needed and wanted.  My hands are tied as to what I can do for the kids.  I can't take them home, I can't change their situations but I can love on them while I'm here.

One of the biggest questions I ask and will never get an answer for is, Why?  Why are kids born into these situations?  They didn't ask for it, they did nothing wrong, but why are they the ones suffering for other peoples mistakes and mis-judgments.  The only answer that I can find is that we live in fallen world.  Sin enters the picture and everything that God made in perfection is broken.  I try not to look down on the parents of the kids.  If it wasn't for God's grace, I could have easily been in their shoes, having to let the government care for my children until I get my life straight.  That is the hope that I have for the children at the home.  I pray that their parents will be able to take them back, provide a safe home for them and raise them like children should be raised.  For those that are in the system for life, I pray that they will be adopted into a loving, forever family.

Let me share with you a little about these sweet kiddos...of course I won't use their names :)

A is one of my favorites.  I know I shouldn't have favorites but its hard not to.  Some of the kids are happy to entertain themselves and get occasional accolades from you.  Others require more attention and attack you the moment you walk through the door of the play room.  A likes to cuddle.  I love it when he first sees me walk in the room because his eyes light up and he runs right to me.  He likes me to pick him up and carry him like he's an airplane, buzzing through the sky.  Last week I asked him if he was my friend and his eyes lit up, he nodded and then hugged me then just stayed there, with his head on my shoulder.  Another game of ours is for me to hold him and he'll yell "Tia!" and I'll pretend like i'm going to drop him but then I catch him real fast.  He laughs so hard.

B is a sweet little girl.  I have only been there with her once but that brief encounter with her was a substantial one.  She is latino with light auburn colored hair.  I was playing with some of the kids and I felt tugging on the leg of my pants and I looked down and she was looking up at me, crying, screaming "Mamà" all while holding her arms straight up in the air. It caught me off guard I picked her up and she was instantly quiet.  The rest of my time there that day she was glued to me.  Lesley ended up holding her at one point but came over to me with B in her arms and told me that B had told her that she wanted me to hold her.

C and D are brothers.  C is the oldest and won't talk except to call on me and once he told me he wanted some water but that's the extent of his talking.  He follows me around and laughs when I mimic the sounds of monkeys or chickens.  He also laughs when I speak English to Blake or Lesley.  It's the good laugh too, like a big chuckle.  D is the younger brother and he will talk and play.  Both C and D enjoy tossing and kicking a ball around but there is usually a constant battle between D and A for me to hold them.

E is a cute little girl.  When I'm holding her she'll just look at me, smile, and say "abrazo".  I hug her and she laughs and that's the extent of it.  I just hug her over and over.

F is a kid that likes to ride this little fire truck around the play room.  He's pretty content to just ride around and observe but every so often I catch up with him and stick my foot in the path of the truck without him knowing and it brings his ride to an abrupt halt.  When he sees what's stopping him he looks at me and smiles really big and then pedals harder to get free.

I could go on but I hope you the picture...these kids are precious and deserve so much more than the hand they've been dealt.  Pray for these kids and for their families that there will be closure, reconciliation and that the needs of the kids will be put first.  

God is Multilingual!

One of the things that has been inhibitive to me during my tenure in Arica has been the language.  I prepared by starting Rosetta Stone before coming here and it helped but my conversational Spanish is far from where it needs to be.  I can understand more when standing on the outside of conversations or when i'm reading.  I have a really hard time identifying what people are asking or saying to me, partly because I can't think in Spanish as fast as they can speak it.

Church is usually the hardest for me, I sing along because the words are projected on the wall and I rarely recognize the song unless its an old hymn.  The times I do recall the words I will sometimes sing the English words just because it's easier for me to do so.  I always felt on the outside of worship services because although I could read the words to the songs, I didn't always know exactly what I was saying.  This Sunday though that changed for me,  during praise and worship we sang a song that I am familiar with and one that I love, "Worthy is the Lamb."  I have this song on my iPod and I am very familiar with the words and message of the song.  I felt that while singing the song in Spanish I was really worshipping because for the first time in 6 weeks I understood exactly the words and message of the song.  During that time though I felt God tell me that he had heard and understood me all along.  It was then that I was reminded that worship is a heart matter and not dependent on words coming out of our mouth, but rather the condition of the heart we approach our Creator with.

"...For the Lord sees not as man sees;

man looks on the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks on the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7

I was reminded that worship isn't just songs we sing on Sunday but the way we live our lives every single day.  It's how we treat others, how we respond to those who speak against us and how we live our life, etc.  God sees our hearts, God understands me whether I'm singing word for word in English with total comprehension or if I'm singing in broken Spanish just grasping the gist of the message of the song.  Entering worship with a heart of thanksgiving, a heart of humbleness and a heart of complete surrender, even if we don't fully understand the words we speak; God sees us, hears us and loves us all the same.

"My son, be attentive to my words; 

incline your ear to my sayings.

Let them no escape from your sight;

keep them within your heart.

For they are life to those who find them,

and healing to all their flesh.

Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flows the springs of life."

Proverbs 4:20-23

July 4th...South American Style

Here's a how-to guide to celebrating your country's independence in a foreign country...

1.  Buy beef imported from the USA...cows from America are happier ;-)

2.  Find a grill and light it up.  Nothing says "Happy Birthday America" than grilled meat.

3.  Give steaks adequate time to cook on the grill, then enjoy with a baked potato and a cold beverage

4.  Find a great nap-time companion.

5.  Go for a walk at the beach

6.  Bake an Apple Pie and enjoy it with some cold vanilla ice cream!  

     Yes, when you don't have a pie dish, you use whatever you have.  

Nothing can compare to fireworks and time with family and friends but this will at least give you a taste of home! 

 Happy July 4th Everyone!!

Naked Mountains, Mummies and Baby Llamas

Week 3 adventure didn't disappoint!!   This week for our "Tourist Day" we drove up through the Azapa Valley, visited the Chinchorro Mummies (the oldest mummies in the world), drove across the mountain into the Lluta Valley and had a visit from a llama.  It was a very fun day.  As we were driving through the mountains and the valleys my brother pointed out something that I guess I had recognized but didn't really know how to express.  He said that at home we are used to seeing mountains with trees and growth on them and that its still kinda weird to see mountains with nothing on them...hence the phrase, "Naked Mountains" was born!

Geoglyphs

   I thought these were rather neat seeing as how they are ancient works of art that are believed to have been constructed sometime between 600 - 1500 AD.  It just fascinates me that these works of art are still around and naturally preserved.  

Chinchorro Mummies

   What a mind blowing fact that the mummies that I was able to view in person have been dated back to as early as 7000BC.  When you think of mummies you automatically think of Egypt, or at least I do! But the earliest Egyptian mummy was dated around 3000 BC...just to put this into perspective!!  It was such as interesting thing to be able to see.

Azapa Valley

   Known for the unique olives of Azapa.

Lluta Valley

   The Lluta river flows right through the valley which makes it ideal for agriculture for the region.  The river is fed by the rainy season in Bolivia and empties into the Pacific Ocean in Arica.  The Lluta valley is also home to the candelabra cactus, we actually parked along the river and since it was dried up this time of year we were able to walk out and get some pictures of a cactus close up.  We also ventured out to the village of Molinos where we found a pretty little church and a cute little man herding sheep.

River bed, black spot on left side of photo is our car! 

The Baby Llama.

   As many of you have already seen on Facebook, I had an interesting encounter with a baby llama.  It all started sweet enough...Here is a photo reel of how quickly things unfolded...

Then the sweet Llama went away momentarily... then came back.  

They told me "Karla, kneel down beside him..."

He bit my arm...and this photo captured my raw 

emotion of how my brain processed what was actually happening.

I guess he got offended by my facial expressions and laughs because he decided to walk away... 

poor little llama.

Hot Water From Around the World

If my travel in South America has taught me anything, it is that I take advantage of how we come by hot water in the States.

When I was in Ecuador they used electrical contraptions referred to as "Widow Makers" appropriately named because if you touched them, you would be electrocuted and you would die.

The above photo is the widow maker, it heats the water as it passes through the shower head.  Since water is an excellent conductor, if you touch it, you die.  

Here in Chile, the process is a bit safer.  It works much like a gas stove or gas logs.  You light the pilot light using a match...

Then turn on the water and the heater ignites, heating the water as it passes through the lines.  

Needless to say, having continual hot water is nice but having to light a fire every time you need hot water can get rather old!  I'm not complaining though, I just happy to have the option of hot showers :-)

Playa Corazones

Today we took a "tourist day" and did some sightseeing.  We went to this remote mountainous beach area that was just simply amazing.  We were hiking along the side of the mountain, down the coastline, and I spent the entire time simply speechless and in awe of our mighty Creator.  Today was definitely one of my favorites of all time and I hope to be able to spend some more time here!  I'll let the photos speak for themselves!

Sea Lions!!!!

1 week down

I have been in Chile now for 7 days and I have enjoyed every single day here...

Here's some of what i've learned the past 7 days:

- Chileans love sandwiches and they love hot dogs.  To those of you that know me best, hot dogs aren't one of my favorite foods.  To be honest this is not really what I expected when I came to Chile but it works.  The Chilean sandwich typically is either a hot dog or thinly sliced beef topped with tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, avocado, and your choice of specialty sauce.  They have a variety of sauces and the selection varies by the food vendor you visit but the only one i've tried is called salsa verde which is a cilantro sauce.  It's rather tasty!  

- Chileans also love rotisserie chicken.  Yes, I said rotisserie chicken.  I had rotisserie chicken for lunch the first day I was here and I didn't think anything about it besides that it was an easy lunch.  But since I have found that it seems more of a phenomenon.  While visiting the agro, which is the farmers market, there were two rotisserie vendors, side by side, selling chickens.  Walking through downtown I have seen numerous signs for "pollo asado" with numerous chickens turning in the cooker and people lining up to buy them.  I don't mind this at all, I also like chicken, and I'm relieved that I've not been met with many strange foods upon my arrival in Chile.  

- Arican's are proud of the history of their town.  Arican's love the Morro and they love the mummies.  The Morro de Arica is the site where the Chileans defeated Peruvian forces to win Arica from Peru.  The new people that we have met here have always asked us if we have seen the Morro or if we have been to the Morro.  In all reality, you cannot be in Arica and not see the Morro.  It is a huge rock mountain cliff that jets out toward the Pacific Ocean.  Below is a picture of the Morro.  

The battle that was won here actually occurred on June 7, 1880 and it known as the Battle of Arica.  It's a huge holiday for Arica and actually as I sit here and type these words I can hear cannons firing and trucks driving by the house with people shouting victoriously.  There will be fireworks at midnight as part of the celebration to usher in June 7 so I'm hoping to be able to stay awake long enough to enjoy the fireworks :-)  Now onto the mummies, the Chinchorro mummies are the oldest mummies in the world, dating back to 7020 BC.  I haven't had a chance yet to visit the museum where the mummies are housed but I will and I'm sure I'll have lots more to say!  

- The sound of feral cats running around on the roof of the house sounds oddly similar to someone trying to break into the house.  I have learned to tune it out and not freak out so I worry that upon my return to the states I will think that actual burglars are just feral cats...

- Desert winters aren't as bad as I thought they would be.  It gets rather chilly at night and the days are pretty short but after the sun burns off the morning haze, the weather is pretty perfect :-)

- Chileans really want to learn English.  I have been able to be at the children's home for one afternoon so far.  It was a tad bit overwhelming and the language barrier makes it hard to communicate with the children at times but to my surprise one of the first things asked of me was to talk to them in English...because the kids thought it sounded funny.  I guess its the small things :)  After my first experience at a Chilean church I was cornered by a lady asking if I could teach her daughter English and I was also approached by a young gentleman who was currently taking English courses at the university and he told me that he wanted to talk to me but that he was shy and nervous about making mistakes while speaking in English.  I thought it was rather precious!  

I'm excited to continue learning more about this beautiful city!!