A Healthy Dose of Here and There

Meet little Satchel, one of ten pups born to Choco, the Hostetter's lab. If he survives he'll be our new dog as our Delgado never returned...

Who are these good looking people getting ready to eat some steaks in Argentina?? Even missionaries can dine on fine fare in Argentina where my steak tenderloin in raspberry sauce cost six dollars....







The scene that bid us farewell as we boarded our bus to head back to Puerto Montt.....ciao to the land of chocolate and steaks!

Chilean Independence Day!

Better known as "Dieziocho", the eighteenth of September is the independence day in Chile. We got together with our "Grupo de Crecimiento" (growth group) from church to observe and participate in the festivities.

In the states we have fireworks, here they fly kites! Mike, a member of our group and local pro soccer player, got one kite to fly so high that the guys tied on three more strings so it could go yet higher! Here our leader and host for the day, Voni, proudly displays his flag.

After a lunch of grilled foods, beans, and vegetable salad we started the fun...
Mike and Marcella won the couples' race with Ricardo and Eliana coming in a close second. Dustin was disgusted with his wife's performance as she fell down as they were rounding the tree to run back. He initially tried to drag her with him, but her laughing form would not get up. A resounding "YOU WIFE!" only served to further her hysterical immobility. Sarah was heard to comment that "I can't laugh and run at the same time, especially when bound to him." Though no one doubted their affection for one another as they danced together on the lawn to country music of all things. Voni is a fan of country music, making him, in his words, "One out of a million Chileans".

Scenes of Puerto Montt

Down the street in Angelmo where craft vendors, veggie stands, fish markets, and cheese shops vie for space.

The Alerce church; alerce is a protected tree which takes a long time to grow; it's now illegal to cut it, but back in the day it was used liberally for siding on houses and for this unique church.














The view from our dining room; the land to the left is Tenglo Island and the other side is the mainland. I row through this part.


Anyways, hope you have a great day!

Your Devoted,
Sarah

Soccer in the Boat House

To My Most Amiable Readers,

I'm still sore from yesterday, though I'm not sure if it's due to the weight-lifting or the impromptu game of soccer that followed....

I think I watched too much world cup or something.

So we started kicking around a half-flat soccer ball, and there being roughly the same amount of guys as girls, we automatically fell into two teams. Now...the boat house is narrow with racks of boats on either side, and boat parts, and chunks of styrofoam, and random ropes and other hazards all over the place. So we thought it perfect for a game.

There was initially one goal, that being the open door to outside, and one poor guy guarding it. Usually the way a goal was scored would be all of us bull-rushing the keeper until he, the ball, and us erupted through the door in fits of laughter. Though a few times we got clean shots through the goal, and yelling "Goooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaallllllllllll!", we would run, fists shot up in the air through the boat house.

As for me, I rather surprised myself with my aggresiveness (like I said, too much world cup), but it seemed to work because I kept stealing the ball from the guys, and made a few goals too with the warbly music from the stereo nailed to the wall heralding my victory....

Anyways, so much laughter, so much fun; definetely a good workout too. So if I'm sore, at least it was for a good cause. We just got back now from Tenglo Island where we helped with the kid's club. Today I brought art supplies and lead the kids in drawing what they had learned about Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Very fun.

Your Devoted,
Sarah