Monday, August 12, 2013

Week 24 (Buin w/Hermana Irrazabal)



Answers to questions you asked me in your e-mail:

1) We still don’t know much about your companion or any of the sisters you are sharing the apartment with…who are they & where are they from? 
My companion is the bomb she is from Argentina and the next transfer is her last (we´re hoping we stay together for her last cambio) we get along super well; we work hard and have a good time together.  The other sisters are Hna Trujillo from Peru who has one cambio more than Hna Irrazabal left in the mission and her trainee Hna Garcia from Chile.  The other companionship is Hna Jaramillo (or Jarami‘SH’o) also from Argentina but hasn’t lost her accent she has the same time as me in the mission but more time in Chile because she only had 2 weeks in the MTC and she is with her trainee Hna Opazo also from Chile.

2) How often do you get opportunities to just gab away in your native language?
            As you probably figured out from the last answer, I am the only gringa in our house so I don’t ever get to gab away in my native language, but don’t you worry,  I still gab away, just not in my NATIVE language LOL but I’m really ok with it because the few times I have been able to speak English recently, (for example when my DL (District Leader) called for our numbers/statistics) it comes out really awkward.  I get like half way through a sentence before I have to pause and remember how to say something in English, but even then sometimes random words come out in Spanish mid-sentence and it feels really weird and awkward to speak in English.  I feel like I sound like an idiot, SO i just answer most of the time in Spanish or Spanglish when people try to talk to me in English.  The sucky part is that I haven’t MASTERED Spanish yet so I can’t really speak either language... its rather comical

3) Who do you get along best with?
My companion!!!!  She´s awesome!  I tell her at LEAST 3 times a week that she has to come and visit me after the mission

4) Can you or have you ever seen the Andes?  
YESS!!!!! They are SOOOOOOO beautiful! and they are all snowcapped this time of year, the only problem is that I haven’t been in an area really CLOSE to them yet so whenever its cloudy or smoggy you can’t see them well, but on the clear days they are GORGEOUS.  En serio, me ponen feliz! :))))  (Seriously, they make me happy!)

5) Now that you are really getting acclimated, what about Chile has surprised you? 
Ha-ha I still don’t know... EVERYTHING!  But if I have to pick something(s) specifically, the animals in the street EVERYWHERE!  Chile is in SERIOUS need of a pound! there are SOOOO many stray dogs in the street and stray cats, and the dogs are DISGUSTING many of them are missing limbs, missing large patches of hair, have huge nasty tumors, etc., etc. Poor things need to be put out of their misery, not to mention a pound would seriously help with the flea problem here.  And the people here are rightly known for being flojos [laid back/slack], but like everywhere, there are people of all kinds.  Sean como sean les amo igual [They are as they are, I love them just the same].  I´m really not a fan of the food, any of it lol except manjar [a caramel sauce they put on everything].  I LOVE the people here and I love how humble they are.  son de buena onda aca en Buin (alto jahuel).   [they are good people here in Buin]
This week was incredible! The day we finished our fast with Vivi we went over to her house to teach her the law of chastity and afterward we called victor on speaker phone to talk to him about them getting married and well, the phone call didn’t end so well, it was kind of like... "Shoot, that wasn’t exactly the miracle I wanted for our investigator to see upon showing her faith in fasting..." He had said how he isn’t sure about getting married because he’s not sure about how he feels, like her loves her and all but that he´s confused and that after all their time together he sees her more as a friend (ouch). SO my comp and I (mostly my comp  tan capa! [so cool]) talked to him and told him to pray about it and think about his family their kids and everything and let us know.  About TWENTY minutes later as we are getting ready to leave, Vivi is washing the dishes, the phone rings. Victor. Vivi´s hands are soaked so we pick up the phone for her, put it in speaker and hold it up to her.
"Halo" She answers. Victor says something that Hna Irrazabal and I don’t catch because one of their kids screams right as he speaks, but we see the expression on Vivis face change to bright red with an expression of utter shock..."¡¿QUE?!" she says
So Vistor repeats himself............ "¿Te quieres casar conmigo?"  [Do you want to marry me?]
"SI." Vivi answers and the rest of the conversation gets lost amongst mine and Hna Irrazabal’s screams and we hug each other, hug Vivi and start jumping up laughing and squealing for joy in the middle of their living room.  FUN STUFF! SO now we are planning a wedding WOOOH!  For the end of September.  I think Hna Irrazabal and I are going to be the 2 witnesses to sign the certificate in the civil when they get married.  QUE BAKAN!!!! [So awesome!!!]  SOOOO we´re pretty happy.
BUT I’m out of time so fam love yall! Miss you like crazy!!! Have a wonderful week WRITE ME LETTERS AND DRAW ME PICTURES AND SEND THEM TO MEEEE!!!!!  That’s your out of school home work for this week-  XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
[An additional little tid bit Ynez added to a reply one of my letters]:
I’m sorry you were disappointed to see how much you’ve lost your Spanish abilities.  I already have fear of losing mine and I haven’t even learned the grammar well yet, but the ability to get around in everything.  It’s something think about sometimes, like what I’m going to do in the future to never lose my Spanish (ie marry someone who speaks it and teach our children etc. etc.) lol  It’s too bad that Brian gets frustrated with you trying to speak Spanish with him and wants you to speak English!  He´ll regret it when Shane comes home.  Especially when me AND Shane are home AND you are more practiced up and we blab in Spanish and he can’t keep up!  lol   Is the whole family buff and lean from all the mtn. biking or what???   Sounds like you are biking 24/7.   I’m not gonna lie I’m a little jealous lol, but I also know there will be time for all that jazz after the mish.  I love you daddy, you’re my hero!!!

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