Haulqui - A Quaint Little Town

On our way back from the ward campout, we stopped in Hualqui. It is a small town, about the size of Rigby, and they were having an outdoor bazaar. This is one of the beautiful flowering trees that we parked by.

These are just some random pictures taken in Haulqui.

This is a picture of the cobblestone in the street in front of our apartment.

This is another street in Concepcion. What a great adventure!

Ward Campout

February 1st was the ward campout. Some of the people came up Friday night and set up tents and had a campout. We arrived with the Kimballs the next day. They hired a bus to bring those without transport and some of the members brought their cars. A brother from the ward who is wheelchair bound, traveled with us in the van.

The campout was held close to the mountains in a pasture. It even had a swimming pool.

This is Elder L and I tasting matte, only he really didn't taste it. I found out later that I was drinking out of the community straw. We are not in Kansas anymore Dorthy!

Matte is a mixture of dried weeds and herbs that they put in the bottom of the cup. Then they pour boiling water on top and add some liquid sugar. My advice is don't try on an empty stomach and if you have a full stomach it might make you empty it anyway. It is a drink only for the brave and strong, but the people just love it here. Kind of like fruit cake, you have to be raised on it.

One of the sisters was crocheting a purse out of plastic grocery bags.

Sister Kimball looking at a completed purse.

One of the sisters cooking meat on the grill.

Just hanging out and enjoying being here.

Playing water balloons, luckily I did not get wet.

They even had an outdoor sink. We are living in style.

Even the really old grandmas went into the pool. They wore the clothes they came in and just took off their shoes and waded into the pool. They went in chest high and then splashed water in their faces and heads. The little kids sure got a kick out of it.

I was happy to see that they had flushing outdoor toilets.

They even had running water to wash the hands and . . .

. . . take a shower. Life is good.

Luckily nothing or no one was hiding in the rafters. We had an enjoyable day getting to know the members of our ward and just having fun being outside in the sunshine.

Hot dogs, the national food, who would have thought. This is the Friday special that I wrote about in my email a couple of weeks ago. A huge hotdog, actually two very long hotdogs in a roll type of a bun. The bun is also filled with chopped tomatoes, mashed avocados and mayo. The Friday special also included 2 large orders of fries, a large piece of chocolate cake and a drink all for about $6. We loved it.

The rest of the gang with our yummy hotdogs.

Elder L standing with the Baldens in front of the hot dog place. Sister Balden is the nurse for our mission and the south mission. Elder Balden is over the apartments and does some of the finance. They are kept very very busy.

1st Weekend in Chile

Our 1st weekend in Concepcion. 1/25/14. Elder L and I are standing in front of the gate that opens up into the site of the future Chile, Concepcion Temple. I am sad to say that the temple ground gates are now gone, someone stole them last week. Pretty lame!

Elder L standing by a huge morning glory that is growing all along the fence at the temple site. And we thought morning glory was a weed.

Continuing our travels,with the Kimballs, we drove over to Langa beach. They had some outdoor shops that we browsed through and just enjoyed a nice sunny day with a little ocean breeze to keep the temperatures just right.

Langa beach.

More Langa beach.

It was really beautiful.

We had lunch at one of the small restaurants by the beach. We all had salmon and it was very good.

The served sopapia's with our lunch. They are like a scone but instead of honey and butter you put a mixture of onions, chopped tomatoes and cilantro in them. It tastes a lot better than it sounds.

Oh What A View

This is the view from our bedroom window. It faces southeast.

This is a really interesting park that we can see out of our living room window. It is usually locked up to keep the hobos out.

You can also see this brand new building going up outside our living room window. It will soon block part of our view. I love looking out across the city at night and seeing all of the bright lights.

This is outside our apartment building with the Kimballs. They have been so good to us and have been excellent trainers.

The small lobby by the elevator that goes up to our casa.

This is a warm office welcome. It is so nice to be appreciated!

More welcome signs in the office windows.

We are going to love it here!!!!!

I'm learning at least 100 different ways to cook chorizo - we really like but please do not tell me what is in it.

Hermana Kimball had a birthday and we celebrated in style.

Home Sweet Casa

Home sweet casa for 18 months, but who's counting?

We are on the 11th floor but luckily we have an elevator. The stairs are super creepy.

The entryway to our apartment is filled with our luggage, we are really here.

The dining room table with new green placemats and fresh flowers - I love it already!!!

The living room/famly room/dining room so cute and so cozy.

More of the living room.

The laundry room is at one end of the kitchen. You have to vent the dryer out the window. I was just happy to have a washer/dryer in our apartment.

A brand new stove with other new kitchen equipment, bananas, bread and other food in the cupboards. It was nice to already have a few supplies.

This is the same size of fridge that we had when Elder L was going to school. The stove is also the same size.

No dishwasher for the next 18 months, my how spoiled I've been!

Cute mirror over the couch - love it!

Bright cheerful bedspread with bright yellow pillows. It just made me smile and makes me smile every day since then. It is such a happy color. The only downfall is that I think it is just a double bed. We had a double bed when Elder L was going to school. Somehow it just doesn't feel the same. It is a much tighter squeeze and a lot less room.

Ample closet space for me, wonder where Elder L will put his clothes?

Another room becomes our home office, complete with desks, an iron and ironing board and yes another closet.

The extra closet and it even has a step stool.

Home is not complete without the el bano. Our is cute and bright just like the rest of the apartment. Our apartment has been freshly painted with new wooden floors. I just love it, I really didn't expect it to be so cute.