on the road again, and in the air

the churning stomach, the scattered brain, the sleepless nights. it's travel time again.

no matter how much i travel, each time my departure is preceeded by an interlude of anxiousness that takes various forms. this week has flown by, filled with final preparations and the first of a large collection of goodbyes. molly's family arrived last saturday, so our preliminary goodbyes have been accompanied by a whirwind of hello's for them. Francisco was in town all last week up until tuesday, so we were cramming in as much Fancy Francy time as we could -- going out for coffee, cooking, sleeping over to watch movies all night. molly and i have truly become members of his family, and i couldn't be happier to count myself as a sister and daughter to these wonderful people. it really is an amazingly wonderful thing to have all the families i have -- my parents, my host mom here in chile, francisco's family, molly's family, maya's family, and the list goes on. i am truly very loved. **contented sigh**

yesterday i went to a nearby beach town to meet up with a couple of the men-in-tights friends for the day to say our final goodbyes. We played with star fish and other curious sea creatures in the tide pools until the grand finale played by the sun in its glorious descent into the ocean. We walked along the rocky beach, steered by the beating winds, until the last hue of orange faded into a deep navy abyss. by the time the stars were filling the sky we had walked to the next town down the road, and laid on the edge of a cliff by the ocean to look at the stars, sharing stories about the imaginary games we used to play as little kids. it was perfect and relaxing and for a few hours my anxiousness subsided into peaceful bliss. we ate pie and talked about everything -- but mostly about God and about Love -- until the wee hours of the night, and I felt as if I were hanging out with old friends rather than with two guys I had only spent time with 5 or 6 times and all in the past couple of months.



so here's the plan, or at least, the vague idea we have as to what we might be doing for the next 3 weeks.

*Friday - fly from Santiago to Arica (the northernmost city in Chile) and take a taxi from there to Tacna, the border city on the Peru side. Then hopefully find a bus to Nazca.
* hang out in Nazca for a day or two or however long seems right
*take some combis and busses and who knows what else through the mountains until we arrive in Cabana with KIMMELA!!!!
*hang out, laugh a lot, love life, love Kim.
*mozy on over in the direction of Cuzco
*maybe go to Lake Titicaca?
*maybe go to La Paz?
*keep on loving life
*make it back to Arica on July 27, fly from there back to Santiago
*hang out in Valpo with MariaPaz for a couple of days, have a despedida with all our friends
*july 30 our plane leaves Santiago in the night, arrive in Dallas early the next morning, July 31.
*hug my family.
*eat mexican food.

i'll be in nac for a week or so, then austin, maybe dallas, maybe nac again... who knows. i'm all chilean when it comes to making plans, it would seem.

and there you have it: a very scattered and only minorly interesting last blog before I leave Chile and head into Peru. Keep us in your prayers for traveling safety, protection from bichos, that we would be attentive to what God's itinerary is for us, and for new adventures. i will have much more limited access to all modes of communication, but it is so refreshing when traveling to read messages from home when i do get a chance to do so. so please, comment away.