First Day???

Classes started today, and I was supposed to be going to Chilean and Hispanoamerican Literature, and Italian Language and Culture, but neither of those really worked out. It turns out I was registered for the wrong literature class, so I had the wrong room written down, but I didn´t realize this until I had waited outside of a physics class for 15 minutes. When I finally figured out what room I was, in fact, supposed to be in, the door was locked and, along with abour 4 other students, we knocked on the door for a while before realizing that it was locked and the professor, who was inside, had no intention of opening it.
I then had about 2 1/2 hours to kill, so I walked to the plaza, walked to the beach, walked to nowhere and back, and finally it was time for my next class. I climbed the 5 flights of stairs again (because the elevator can´t ever decide if it´s going up or down, so it rarely makes it down to the first floor) to find my Italian class, but the room was nowhere to be found. I asked some students standing by, and they said they were wondering the same thing. So I went to the secretary´s office, the secretary wasnt there, but the Italian professor was, and she said that the room indicated on our schedules does not exist, so we´re not having class today. My university seems to be fond of phantom rooms, as well as labyrinths, mysterious bathroom schedules, and hidden doors. So, after spending over 5 hours around the school, I have yet to attend one class.

Luckily, God is awesome, and he takes those dull moments of not knowing what to do with myself and puts little kernels of wisdom in my mind for me to chew on. Today he reminded me of a realization I had when I was traveling in Spain -- that for some reason when I travel I forget that I don´t have to fit in. When I´m at home in the States I am comfortable in the knowledge that I am not the norm, that I am not like many of the people my age. But suddenly when I am in a different country I feel like I need to wear the clothes, say the words, and go to the places that people my age are wearing, saying, and going. ¨Carreteando¨(chilean for partying) is really big here in Valpo, and I found my thoughts stumbling down the path of "oh, i´m going to have to learn how to like to go out, i need to get "going out" clothes..." and so forth. I realized today that it´s actually completely ok if I don´t go out, don´t buy "going out" clothes, and all those other things that people my age do. The funny thing is that I already learned these things, but God needed to remind me again today as I was watching the pounding waves against slimy, green rocks. God is pretty awesome. During the month that we were traveling I experienced what it´s really like to practice faith. We would just step off a bus in an unfamiliar place, knowing that God had a place to stay, friends, adventure, and a warm cup of coffee just waiting for us. But now, altough it makes absolutely no sense, it is harder to practice this kind of faith in the midst of plans, schedules, and knowing what to expect from day to day. He showed me that I have made the mistake of thinking that all these things related to living in Viña -- making friends, doing well in school, learning spanish, stepping out of my comfort zone -- are on my shoulders. The difference in our month of travel and now is that I felt like here I had to make it or break it all on my own. But he´s just as faithful here, and I´m reminding myself every morning that He´s taking care of things, He has a plan for every day, and He has new Spanish words, new friends, and new kernels of wisdom waiting for me every day.

So there you go, a little update on school and on my soul.
Please keep commenting, it means so much to me!!! And skype me if you ever have time... it´s great to be able to stay in contact with home!!!

love love love,
catie