No Luggage, No Problem!

What an amazing trip this has been so far. I left for Chile yesterday from Nashville, via Dallas and arrived here today. I had a hard time sleeping on the plane. You know what it's like having you knees brushing your gums. I just couldn't get comfortable. I woke up this morning to American Airlines breakfast service and had the pleasure of a bath in golden firebrand sunlight. The sky was a brilliant orange from the peaks of the snow covered Andes mountains to the apex of the sky. I was, and still am, in absolute awe of God's magnificent creation. I witnessed first hand the awesome height of Ojos del Salado, the America's, tallest mountain at 22,572 ft.
I flew down with, Tyler and Jamie, two great fellas from Nashville. We met in the airport and were immediate and fast friends. Tyler is a drummer and a darn good one. Jamie is a professional voice coach who travels the world teaching singing. We laughed the entire way to Chile and have not stopped since.
When we were almost in Chile they informed us that we would need to pay an entrance fee of $131.00. That was a nice surprise that I couldn't afford. I had transfered money to my account, but I could not access the funds yet because they has not posted. I had to get some help from Tyler. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't had extra money from his trip. Thank you Lord.
When we got to the baggage claim I found out they had lost my luggage and that they did not know when I would see it again. Who knows where my suitcase went. :) It became a joke that everyone shared that if anything started to stink it would more than likely be me.
Breakfast was great. We drove through Santiago and came to this beautiful house with a quaint garden and a small guest house. We had an incredible breakfast of breads and cheeses and juice. It was like being back in Europe for breakfast.
We spent the day at the church setting up and talking, sharing meals and laughing. I made everyone laugh for hours and hours. I love that. I got to practice my Spanish and met a you man who spoke French and we talked for about twenty minutes in French. It was the first time that I realized I could actually speak French.
I met a girl Christiana. She is the pastors daughter and we spent some time talking about Chile and America and life and it was great. She told me that I needed to go up on the roof and look at the mountains. I went up and was not disappointed. I sat gazing at the Andes, and the people below me talking, walking, loving, eating. There was on couple on a cement wall and I think that the guy was breaking up with her. It was sad because she buried her head in her hands and was crying. He was trying to be consoling, but she really didn't want anything to do with it.
I feel such a peace here. A closeness to God and the freshness of a new begging. I love how he seizes me in His awesome arms and squeezes the begeezez out of me.
After the events of the day I was taken to the home of Ruth Pillars and her son Exxe something or other. They are great people. Exxe is a 20 year old student enrolled in the aeronautical physics in Santiago. He and I became friends and share the evening talking. He was practicing his English and loved the chance to speak it with me. In return he worked with me on my Spanish, which is paltry to say the least. He bought me a tooth brush, underwear, and some clean socks.
I spent the evening talking with his mom and dad over lemon pie and hot tea. What an amazing day.