amigos!!!

God hears our prayers -- all of them. And not just those that we begin saying Dear God with our hands folded, but those that we write in journals, those that we unknowingly think, and those that rise up from conversations with friends. He hears them all and He loves to answer them!

The night before last Molly and I were talking about how much we wished we could make some friends. We really hadn´t met anyone to hang out with since Pucon about 2 weeks ago, and really the people you meet traveling make the whole experience. So, the next morning (that´s yesterday) we got up with a vague plan to visit this look out point then catch a bus to Cucau, the town from which you enter the National Park of Chiloe. The look out point turned out to be really lame (with the exception of one especially funny moment that had to do with a dead end road, too much coffee for breakfast, and an unexpected vehicle) so we decided to head back to the highway to find a bus to take us to a nearby island that I had read was pretty cool. After walking for a while without seeing the bus we needed (or maybe we did, but we didnt know it was the one we wanted) we decided to give hitchiking a try again. After a quick prayer for safety we stuck out our thumbs, and literally within seconds a car pulled over and opened the door. We got in the car with three guys around our age who were going to Dalcahue, the departure city for the island we wanted to go to. After a couple of minutes of silence I figured I should try to start some conversation, so I asked where they were from. Turns out they are all from Valparaiso (the city where we will be studyding) and they are friends from scouts, gonig on vacation for a few weeks. We chatted all the way to Dalcahue, and when we got out we all kind of wandered around together, unsure if we should say our goodbyes or ask if they wanted to accompany us to the island. Before we could even ask them, they invited us to ride with them across the ferry to the island. Before we knew it, we were touring the whole island with our new friends, Esteban, Francisco, and Marco. We taught them english words (such as "shady", which has become our favorite english word to teach people. it is very useful. for example, "hitch hikers are usually very shady") and they taught us Chileanismos as we drove from town to town, taking pictures, getting out at the look out points, and checking out the various artesan markets. We ended up spending the whole day with them, letting them drive us around the island to see what there was to see -- which turned out to be the best thing that could have happened because it would have been much more lame and much less fun to try to do the same thing using the bus system. They were miraculously not shady, and very friendly. Also, it was very refreshing to be able to understand their spanish. The accent in Chiloe is especially difficult to understand, so we were starting to be discouraged and thinking that we could not, in fact, speak Spanish at all. However, we held an entire day´s worth of conversation with our new friends.
On the way back to Castro they were talking about going kayaking with their friend who is in the Navy stationed there, and we realized that if we joined them we wouldn´t make the last bus to Cucau. So we decided to stay another night. That´s the joy of not actually having plans and of knowing that God actually has our entire itinerary planned out for us already. So we told them we were going to find a hostel to stay in for one more night, and they mentioned that a bunch of people had just left from the house where they were staying. So we stopped by to ask the señora if there was room, and there was -- and it was cheaper and ten times more awesome (and included breakfast) than the place we had been staying. So we got our stuff, made ourselves comfortable in our room, and changed into kayaking clothes. We went kayaking (for free) with their friend, Marcello, out in the bay, and took a break on the beach on the other side to walk around and talk about life, sea lions, and funny words in Spanish. When we got back we ate stale cereal out of the back of their car and chatted -- another answer to a prayer, because Molly and I had been talking about how much we had been craving cereal. It was fantastic. We changed clothes and went out for dinner, then they drove us out to a look out point just outside of town where we could see the whole city twinkling in the reflection of the sea. It had the potential to be the ultimate in shady experiences -- going out into the dark with three guys we just met hitch hiking today -- but we could tell they are good guys and didn´t want to do anything bad. Plus our God is taking care of us and He let us know it was ok. It was beautiful, and afterwards we came back and played pool before retiring back to the house to chat over tea with the señora. Then Esteban got out his guitar and played beautiful, wonderful music on his guitar that was missing a string, then we taught them how to swing and two-step. It was the best day ever, and God answered so many prayers. Today they dropped us off in town where we said our goodbyes and made plans to get together in Valparaíso so they can show us the good places to go out and so we can get to know each other more.
So, here are just a few of the prayers God answered just in one day:
-making new friends
-cereal
-listening to/playing/singing along with a guitar
-give us a plan where we had none
-kayaking
-showing us that we can, in fact, speak Spanish
-eating real food
-having friends to hang out with back in Valparaíso

All of these are things that I journaled about or talked to Molly about or prayed about or just reflected on in the quiet moments.
PRAISE GOD!!!! He is awesome.

So now we are waiting for the bus to Cucau, where we will stay for a night or two, see the Park, then start making our way back up north and we start orientation on Monday. I can hardly believe that we only have 5 days of traveling left!!! It has been a great time and I´m excited to make the most of the last bit of time, but it will also be great to settle down with our host families and keep our clothes in a dresser instead of a backpack, to eat cereal and cold milk for breakfast, and to begin to establish patterns and friends in the place that we will call home for the next 5 months. And I am very excited to see the new ways that God shows me His mercy and grace and EXTRAVAGANT love.

p.s. - i have sent some post cards, and i am curious to see how long it takes to get there. so if you get one in the mail let me know.

also, i know i say it every time, but please comment! its so comforting just to know that people are reading this, even if you just say "hi".

love love love,
catie