Pine Trees

Dear God,

Thank you for listening to my prayers, even when I forget to address them to you. Also, thank you for being wise even in my stupidity. I think you're great.

See you soon,

Catie





Last friday Molly and I had made plans to visit Pablo Neruda's other house that's here in Valpo, but the night before our friend Francisco invited us to an outing in the country, so we eagerly ditched our plans for city-ing in exchange for wide open spaces, beach, pine trees, and bonding time with this Francisco character, who we've come to realize lately is a really awesome guy and a great friend. As tends to be the case with chileans, we didn't really know what we were doing, but we hopped in the car and scanned the radio for some classic rock ballads to belt out our open windows as we kicked the city dust and grime off our heels. On the other side of a tunnel (that was too lengthy to hold your breath all the way through) we found ourselves immediately in the midst of nature-y goodness and pine trees. did i just say pine trees? yes, that's right. Just like east Texas. We zig-zagged down the side of a sheer cliff into the sleepy town of Laguna Verde, then bumped along the red dirt road leading to a cabin that Francisco's family has. My senses were overwhelmed with reminders of home -- the way the sunlight bounces off of the golden coating of red dirt on everything, the smell of fallen pine needles, the taste of clean air mixed with warm sunshine, even the smell of cow poop contributed its bit to the sensation.
The cabana looks out onto a vast valley of hills upon hills of pine trees pouring down into a skinny puddle after which Laguna Verde is named, and not too far out to the west you can see the ocean -- that is, the mysterious glow of ocean mist that one can see of the ocean from a distance. After the short tour of the cabana and a few necessary photo-opps, we hopped back in the car for the next destination.
Next thing we knew we were in some sort of "educational farm"(?) so we walked around and hung out with some bunnies, bigs, donkeys, and turkeys. it was a good time.
Finally we parked the car on a cliff, got out our things, and headed down the rocky slope to the beach. The pebbly sand massaged my feet and in between my toes as we explored the rocky crevices, played a table-less version of ping pong, took silly pictures, and dozed in the solar radiation. The frigid ocean water tickled our toes and sent us running and giggling, then we enjoyed a truly delicious picnic of ham'n'cheese sammiches.
Molly got a brief driving lesson in Francisco's manual 4x4, which was entertaining if not productive. We drove a little ways further to a big cliff with a light tower where the ocean wind was enough to knock us off our feet. Francisco even brought us coffee and sweets to snack on the the setting sunlight. Standing on the jagged, rocky cliff with my arms spread wide, I felt like I was standing on the edge of the earth. The surreal blue ocean waves faded slowly into tangible light that hid the horizon, giving the impression that perhaps Heaven's gates were just a bit further. Molly reminded us of Lewis's beautiful imagery in one of the Chronicles of Narnia, where the children are sailing on an ocean of light, where lillies grow up from the invisible depths to dance on the brilliant surface.

Anyhow, we headed back as the sun was disappearing into this brilliant white endlessness, sighing contentedly at our decision to ditch our previous plans.

Saturday was the big Despedida de David before his departure for NY on tuesday, so Molly and I headed over to his house early to have a quick once with him and his sister and cousins before everyone arrived. Mostly, Molly and I feel awkward at large gatherings of people, especially when they're in Latin America. We didn't really know most of the people there, so we sat awkwardly to ourselves hoping that our pina coladas might loosen our tongues enough to not feel awkward. It seems that everyone has to have at least one instance of drinking too much in order to realize that they don't want to do it again (or perhaps that they do?), and I'm just glad that I was in the house of a friend where I could be brought safely to a bed with Molly to sleep it off and not worry about being around non-trustworthy people. Our friends Marco and Francisco made sure we didn't make fools of ourselves, and our friend Karenth brought us in to her bedroom to sleep in her bed when it was time for us to retire. And hopefully it will never happen again.
David is a very good friend and we were sad to see him off (his despedida extended into monday and tuesday in the afternoons), but now he's in New York getting settled in before starting graphic design school. We will miss him dearly, but, if all goes well, Molly and I will be visiting him within a year.

Wednesday I had a test in my literature class, which was more difficult than anything academic I have ever done before. The night before my host mom had her prayer meeting here at the apartment, and they prayed for me in my test. It had been so long since someone prayed directly and intentionally for me, and I was amazed at how much more relaxed it made me feel. After that I was able to spend 5 solid hours studying the material before going to bed. The test was 4 essay questions (all in spanish, mind you), over material that I only vaguely understood. I can only hope that my professor will have mercy on my little extranjera brain and not completely fail me.

So, there's the past week. Uncensored (and unedited) for your reading enjoyment. But, you know, my writing is not free. It costs you ONE COMMENT. Now pay up, friend!