Tango Dancing

One of my most memorable experience in Argentina was learning the Argentine Tango. For my birthday the Lindahls provided private tango lessons for me. My teacher, Ivan and I met twice a week for two, two hours sessions in an event room on the first floor of our apartment building. He had to break a lot of my ballroom habits, but said that I was a good student and learned fast.
On my last day of classes, we did a small recital and filmed us dancing together. It also happened to be the same day that we had the sister missionaries over for a sister conference so they got to enjoy the show too! To see our final product you can click on the following link:

Tango Show
Just so you know, the Argentine Tango that I learned was the social lead-follow dance. That means, that what we are dancing is not pre-choreographed and I can go anywhere and dance with anyone who knows the tango.

Baptism of Tatiana

Right before I left for Chile, I got to witness the baptism of my dear friend in Argentina - Tatiana. I met Tatiana at a stake conference and invited her to come to institute with me. She had been meeting with the missionaries and we instantaneously became great friends.
She invited me to come to her baptism and even changed the date so that I could be there for her on her special day before I left.
I also was asked to speak and I spoke about the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I am so proud of Tatiana and her decision to be baptized. She is the only member now of the church in her family and her friends and family do not approve or her decision and sometimes make it hard for her. I am amazed by her strength and her courage to act of what she knows to be true, I love her.

Elders from Home

Especially for my amigos in Mrs. Armstrong's 6th grade class and those in my singles ward, I thought you would like to see that I got to see Elder Armstrong, a missionary in the Mendoza mission. He is currently training a newer missionary and is serving as a district leader. He is happy and doing well.
For those from my home ward - I got to see Elder Slater. He is currently the financial secretary - a position of much trust and responsibility. He is happy and working hard!

empanadas

One of the things that I wanted to do while here in Argentina was to learn how to make empanadas. Hermana Mallea took a day with me to make some. We did everything from scratch and filled them with the traditional filling: ground beef, onions, spices, and hardboiled egg. I added my own *Sarina touch* by cutting out shapes from the dough.

We also made a pastel de papas traditional plate and the traditional Argentine Salad to serve our "guests"

Bus Ride to Chile

After three and half years, I returned to the place where I served my mission: CHILE!
I took a 5 hour bus ride from Mendoza, through the Andes Mountains to Santiago.
Although the bus ride took longer, it was worth it! The views were absolutely amazing.
From the bus (I sat in the first seat!) You could see the mountain peaks, the river and lots of condor birds circling up in the sky. It was breath-taking!The trip was also dangerous too. At the steepest point of the mountain our large bus had to maneuver through these windy roads. In the winter it is absolutely impossible and too dangerous to cross the border following this road. Along the drive the bus driver pointed out to me a small car that now lay discarded high in the mountain that had slipped on ice and fallen. The driver had not followed the warnings and died as a result.
We, however, DID make it through safely without any problems but I would never dare cross this path in winter.

What is Chile Like?

TRADITIONAL DANCE
The traditional dance of Chile is called the Queca. The girls wear flowered dresses (usually with some sort of apron) and the boys (called Wassos) wear a cowboy hat, boots with spurs and a triangular poncho covering their shoulders. Each dancers has in hand a handkerchief and the dancers circle each other in a cat and mouse type fashion (except they say it is like a hen and a rooster) All the Chileans learn this dance as children and many often compete when they are older in festivals. You can see here that my friends has one many medals and awards for dancing the Queca. To see a video of this traditional Chilean dance you can click on this link.
CUACA DANCE

TRANSPORTATION
Most people ride in buses, a lot go by bicycle, some going in special taxis called collectives and the number of people who have cars is growing but still slim. It is not, however, unusual in Chile to be driving down the street and get stuck behind one of these. Horse and carts and still a mode of transportation and a good one for people with large cargos. Unfortunately, they tend to slow down traffic but add to the flair that is Chile.
UNIQUE PERSONS
In our travels we passed by a village of gypsies. Gypsies usually make their living off begging and thievery (stealing from others). They live in colorful circus tents on the side of the road and usually wear colorful clothing. This particular colony has actually managed to steal the right wires from nearby neighborhoods and run cables to their tents in order to have cable television. TRADITIONAL FOODS
While I was in Chile, our host made for us a traditional Chilean lunch. Lunch is the main meal of the day in Chile and it is huge! Dinner is small and usually really like at night (once during my visit we ate at midnight). The traditional meal includes a Chilean salad: chopped tomatoes and onions covered in oil and then lettuce topped with lemon juice and salt. These salads are ALWAYS accompanied by bread. When the Chileans eat the have their silverware in their right hand and a piece of bread in the left. You may also notice in the picture that we were given some asparagus topped with, that is right: mayonnaise!The meal is always accompanied by a soda product drink like Coke, Fanta or Sprite or some sort of juice. You will never see a Chilean drink water with their meal ESPECIALLY with ice. They usually don't like ice and some even say that it will make them sick. One of the traditional foods here is also the same as that of Argentina: the empanada. Both the Chileans and the Argentines have asked me if I like the Chilean empanada or the Argentine empanada better and I can say that they seem exactly the same to me! One thing that I saw more in Chile, though, as a missionary was that the Chilean women would bake their empanadas in large, clay ovens that were outdoors and heated the old fashioned way - fire and wood. CEMETERY
Another thing that you might find interesting are the cemeteries of Chile. The cemeteries are built ABOVE ground and not below. Each casket is placed in the wall and given a window on the end in which the people can adorn with flowers and pictures of those who have died. Many, as you can see, make little windows or monuments for their deceased relative.
STREET PERFORMERS
Do you remember the street performers from Argentina? Chile has them too. Here is one that approached our window. He was a mime and was offering us flowers. He would reach inside his coat and pull out different colors and smile at us. I actually didn't roll down the window to give him money - mimes scare me.

The Sights of Chile

Like any country, Chile has its cities and its country. The Cities are busy with honking car horns, sidewalks packed with people and big buses but where I spent most of my time was in the country. Here life is quieter and, as they say more "tranquilo" (tranquil, calm).
Like Argentina, Chile also has a lot of vineyards for harvesting grapes but they also grow a lot of other crops such as corn and cabbage. As you remember, it is summer there now and everything was beautifully green.
Chile is a very unique country because it is long and skinny - shaped like a Chili pepper. On the east they have the beautiful Andes Mountain range and to the west they the the ocean. Up north there are deserts that hardly never receive rain but down South there is snow and penguins.You will notice in the neighborhoods that most houses are one story and every house is protected by barred gates, windows and doors. Every house is secured by bars because, unfortunately, there are a lot of robberies. Watch for these things in the Video.


Also, the Chileans love to paint their house bright colors both on the outside AND on the inside. Notice the colors of these homes:If you lived in Chile, what color would you paint YOUR home?

It is also really popular in Chile to have what I call cookie cutter homes. They build the same house over and over to save money on architects and designing. That means everyone lives in basically the same house and just decorates theirs differently.

Pichilemu - the Beach

Pichilemu is a small beach town - the only one in our mission. All the missionaries wanted to serve here to be close to the beach. I came here a few times as a missionary but never got to enjoy it or going swimming since I was a missionary. THIS time though, Adri and I enjoyed it to the maximum!We ate at a cute restaurant overlooking the ocean . . .
had a VERY traditional Chilean meal: empanadas, fries and a coke!

Like a Missionary Again . . .

While on the train from Santiago to Rancagua, I met several people and shared with them more about the church and the Mormon beliefs. People were curious why I am here and my explanation tends to lead people quickly into asking about my religion. I felt like such a missionary again since this is what we used to do on a daily basis. I came prepared with a Book of Mormon and pamphlets in Spanish.
This particular family was so excited about what I shared with them and grateful for the gift that they asked to take a picture of me.
When they got off on their stop, someone else who had heard me talking came and sat down to ask questions of their own and that continued until I reached my own stop. Once a missionary - always a missionary!

Thanksgiving in Chile

Thanksgiving is selectively an American holiday. Although the Chileans have often HEARD of Thanksgiving from the movies, the certainly don´t celebrate it as we would. My companion and I, however, celebrated our American holiday by going to the beach!
We went to a famous beach resort called Viña del Mar which is home to beautiful beaches and a world famous music festival. This working clock is made of flowers and is a signature trademark for Viña del Mar.
In honor of our American traditions, Adri I made a turkey in the sand.

We also found a restaurant overlooking the beach and ordered the most American meal we could: cheeseburger, fries and a coke. And of COURSE we had our fill of desserts too! This dessert tray was called "chocolate fun" and I can assure you - it was fun.