"Soberano"

Manos que fueron clavadas por mi
Heridas que hablan de tu inmenso amor
Por eso te llamo mi Cristo
Por eso te canto

Díos del universo
Salvador eterno
Rey de toda la creación
Redentor divino
Díos a ti me rindo
Gloria te doy

Santo Díos plan soberano es
El enviar tu hijo por la humanidad
Por eso te llamo mi Cristo
Por eso te canto
Díos del universo
Salvador eterno
Rey de toda la creación
Redentor divino
Díos a ti me rindo
Gloria te doy

Santo Santo Santo Díos
Santo Santo Santo Díos

Manos que se entregaron por amor
Lo que soy siempre te daré Señor
Por eso te llamo mi Cristo
Por eso te canto...


* This is one of my favorite songs by a group called Hillsong... the original song is called "Sovereign Hands", and this (obviously) is the Spanish version of it, "Soberano."

Thoughts

it's been three years since i've seen you
and really seven years since we've talked
and i find myself thinking you're one of the kindest guys i've ever met
and why weren't we better friends in high school
and why didn't we talk more
and you listen as i tell you about my adventures in Chile
and you ask about my boyfriend and if he has a cute accent
and i want to tell you how nice you are
and how refreshing it is to be in the company of someone like you
someone who is genuine
and genuinely kind
but i feel awkward so i hold back
and you remember my brother's name!
maybe you had a class together once
my thoughts come in a rush
i'm so glad i came tonight
to this impromptu class reunion
people i haven't seen in seven years
and you're the nicest person in the room
i drift away toward another group
thinking i should mingle more with others
it's like a slow waltz, the dance i do
gliding across the room
pirouetting around tables
(as if i had the grace for that)
and what do i find myself coming back to
but you
and not because of any romantic notions
i have a boyfriend, i told you about him right?
but because you're like a breath of fresh air
like breathing in cold, crisp, autumn air
in the midst of a smog-choked city
fresh air in the form of kindness
even if you wanted to hide it, you couldn't
it's permanently etched into your face
permanently illuminated in your eyes

I Love...

- The smell of pancakes and coffee when I wake in the morning
- A fire in the fireplace on a wintry day
- Babies. Everything about them. Everyone should be made to spend some time with a baby, or maybe just my nephew, who is the sweetest thing God has made in awhile
- Flannel sheets with snowmen on them, and electric blankets
- My family... 5 people who love me and care about me no matter how much or how badly I mess up. I can always come home
- Reading and writing. Or just words in general
- Spanish
- Music. What would I do without music? My life would be dull, I think.
- The mountains, the ocean, summertime, the sun, palm trees
- Finding beauty in the little things
The list goes on, and on, and on...

I Made A Mistake

They say first impressions are everything, but they're wrong. I have proof. I recently met someone who I grossly misjudged. And the worst part is, it was all based on 2 minutes of conversation. Think about it. Out of 20 some odd years, what percentage of a life is 2 minutes? How representative can it really be? And to write someone off based on that... I must be a horrible person.

Especially now because I realize my error. I discovered that not only does this person have a blog, but they write BEAUTIFULLY. In fact, they seem like an amazing person, and I feel about 2 inches tall right now. Every once in awhile I discover a writer who seems to articulate the beauty in this world in a form that I find breathtaking, and who describes things in such a way that they seem right there, tangible, for the taking. This girl is one of those people. For hours I've been trying desperately to think of who she reminds me of, and it finally comes to me: another blog writer I found last year, and then promptly lost when she stopped blogging. But I tucked away one of her descriptions, and I still remember the night I read it for the first time, and trying to tell D about it later. She was talking about a beautiful night spent with friends, and she wrote that she wanted to "take this night and break it into little tiny pieces and give one to everyone I know." Something about that just struck me... maybe because I've had nights like that, many of them in Chile, when I wish I could just infuse the indescribable beauty into everyone I meet. Either way, The Girl I Misjudged is much like Blog Writer Number One.

I feel ashamed, and I honestly hope she hasn't read my blog. If you do read this, just know that I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. And also thank you, for inspiring me and providing me with some of the best reading I've had in a long time. It makes me think of Donald Miller, and I like to think we are kindred souls, he and I. To my fellow bloggers, if you haven't read "Blue Like Jazz", you are severely missing out.

I Don't Really Know What to Call This...

This blog entry, that is. But here I am back in North Carolina, and while the overwhelming part of me is very happy, there is also a part of me that already misses Chile, and most importantly, D. (I know, I'm only going to be gone for 2 weeks, but still). But what I want to write about right now is the former...

It seems I have developed a love affair with Chile. Only, now that I type that, I think it's not quite an adequate term. Because most love "affairs" are short-lived, it seems, and I certainly don't want mine to be so. I don't know what it is, but each day as my feet hit the blazing-hot pavement, I gaze up at the blue sky and palm trees (I have ALWAYS loved and wanted to live in a place with palm trees), and look around at the flowers and fruit stands and think, "wow, I love living here." Even that sentence doesn't even begin to capture it. In fact, the more I try to capture my feeling, the more futile it seems. Now, lest you think I am still in the "honeymoon" stage of culture shock, I have spent time in Chile before. And yes, I've spent an entire winter here. I know the realities of life without central heating. It sucks. But it seems a small sacrifice to pay to be able to be part of a beautiful culture.

The other day I went to barrio Concha y Toro by myself, and just wandered through the streets, admiring the architecture and stopping at the little fountain for a rest. It feels like a different world there. I went to what is quite possibly one of the coolest cafes in Santiago, and couldn't concentrate on the book I had brought to read, because my mind was flooded with thoughts of "I am so blessed to be in this place." I don't know if it was that day or another that I had the thought, "I could stay here for quite awhile." And by stay, I mean live, in Chile. How long is quite awhile? I don't know... I used to be scared by the idea of living in Chile for a number of years, but now I begin to think I could. Again, I'm aware I still haven't been here for a very long time, but each day renews my love for this place, and that is something I'm not going to argue with.

Why I Love My University...

Cuz we´ve got spirit! And we´re occasionally pretty crazy, as evidenced by the video I´m about to link (actually I´m not sure how to link, so I´ll just copy the URL).

¨On Dec. 9th, 2008 in order to break up the stresses of fall semester exam week, UNC-Chapel Hill students flash raved their Undergraduate Library. Without warning to those that were unaware, hundreds of students packed the library lobby and brought it hardcore for over 8 minutes.¨

Indeed. Final exam week has been known to bring out the craziest in college students everywhere, and students at my alma mater, Carolina, are no exception. Impromptu rave parties in the UL? Rock on. You don´t have to watch all 4 minutes, but fast forward to the end where the students show some Tar Heel spirit in the form of our alma mater and favorite game-day chant:

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and true
Singing Carolina´s praises
Shouting NCU (N C U!)
Hail to the brightest star of all
Clear its radiance shine
Carolina, priceless gem
Receive all praises thine

And the chant...

I´m a Tar Heel born
I´m a Tar Heel bred
And when I die
I´m a Tar Heel dead
So it´s rah rah, Carolina-lina
Rah rah, Carolina-lina
Rah rah, Carolina-lina
GO TO HELL DUKE!

Can you tell I´m feeling just a little nostalgic at the moment? ;) Here´s the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruEMaDZWRcs

Shameless Plug Time

That´s right, I´m not above a little shameless plugging every now and then. Especially right now, since it concerns my lovely pololo. As it happens, D is the singer for a rock band here in Santiago. Aaaaand I´m betting you haven´t heard of them... BUT I hope a lot of people will soon, because (and I´m biased, but still) they´re pretty darn talented. Seriously, I really do think it would be hard to find many people more talented at guitar then D´s brother Felipe. Anyway, on to the point... if you have Thursday night free (yes, THIS Thursday, as in December 11), you should come to their concert!! Oh yeah, his band is called Los Hermanos Sì. They´re on Facebook and Myspace if you feel like looking them up. The concert is at Club Mist, which is conveniently located on Avda. Suecia 152, in Providencia. :) There are 4 bands total that will be playing, and the concert starts at 9:00, but Los Hermanos Sì will probably be playing around 11:00... but get there earlier just in case! I´m pretty sure it´s free to enter if you get there before 11:00. So... PLEASE come and support D´s band if you can! They are working very hard and I´m excited to see where they´ll go...

Carnet! And Other Assorted Randomness

After running around the lovely city of Santiago, I am now DONE with all my tramites, thank the Lord. The adventure started on Wednesday, when I had to go to El Centro to get my visa stamped into my passport. Miraculously, I only had to wait 45 minutes and it was done. Score. Yesterday, I went to the Policìa Internacional, conveniently located (note the sarcasm) on Calle Borgoño. I´m sorry, what? Where is this street I have never heard of? Luckily, I got D to go with me, so that made it a lot better. It was actually kind of a fun day, because we took some time to walk around the markets over there (near metro Puente Cal y Canto), and walked through the Mercado Central. We didn´t stop and eat lunch at one of the many restaurants, but we did swing by and get an empanada with queso y camarones. Yummy! At the Policìa Internacional, I only had to wait 2 hours to get my Certificado de Registro. Aaaaaand the final step today, I went to the Registro Civil (I think that´s it, I´ve been to so many places lately I´ve lost count) to get my Carnet. The good thing about this step is that the Registro Civil has many different locations, so I was able to go to one in Ñuñoa that is only about 10 minutes from my house. Again, I only had to wait about 45 minutes! The guy who helped me was super nice, too... he put all of my information into the computer, which assigned me a R.U.T. (finally!), took my picture (I think it turned out pretty well, miraculously!), and then put a crap ton of ink on every single finger. I mean, is that really necessary? But whatever, he gave me some lotion afterward to clean it off so it wasn´t really that bad. And now I´m done! So I just have to wait about 2 weeks and I can go pick up my Carnet. Let me tell you, it´s such a relief to have all this mess done. And.. knock on wood... this whole process has been incredibly smooth, which is surprising. :)

In other news, I met a teacher at the Institute the other day, and one of the first things she asked me was, ¨Where are you from?¨ Now, up until this point, she had been really friendly, so I wasn´t prepared for what was coming. I replied, ¨North Carolina¨, and she responded by smiling and saying, ¨Awww, that´s cute ... I´m from Chicago.¨ Hold on just a minute now... CUTE? The fact that I´m from North Carolina is cute? You may think I´m exaggerating or reading too much into things, but believe me, the way she said it (and the words themselves) were a bit condescending. It was as if she was saying, ¨Ohhhh, North Carolina... well fancy that, what´s a little country girl like you doing in a big city like this? I´m from CHICAGO.¨ I mean, give me a break. Sorry if I´m a little sensitive about this subject, but that´s one of my pet peeves. I can´t STAND it when people think they´re better than me just because they´re from a big city.

Alright, enough ranting. Have a good weekend everybody!