Tía Portabella

This morning I wake up to go to my first day of Chilean class. Cancelled. No prior notice. No big, it's only the first day. Why not cancel the next one too? Don't mention it. And while we're at it, let's cancel all of the classes in the department for funsies. We'll just take the week off. Nope, no worries. Instead I took the micro into Valpo and hung out out on the ISA balcony for a couple hours, chatting with some amigos and enjoying the pasta mamá chilena made me the night before. I really needed the break after my 4 day weekend after my 2 months of break. Phew.

They have a saying here. "Quien se apura pierde el tiempo." It means he who rushes, loses time. I'm pretty sure that all of Chile operates on this principle. Time seems to run in endless supplies here. Life moves a little slower. I'm pretty sure was supposed to be like that. At first, I didn't know how to handle it. In America, we are taught to keep ourselves busy. Free time is associated with boredom. Free time is "I should be doing something else" rather living in the now. American time is measured in productivity and tangible quantities whereas Chilean time is...pure. It took me but a few days to get into the rhythm.

Tonight one of the Chilean girls we met at church invited some girls to an all girl's orphanage that's right up the street from Bailey and I. We walked over their together and stayed and played with the niñas for a few hours or so. God, it was so powerful. In fact, I plan on going back every Wednesday. I didn't really know any of their stories or how they got there, but I could tell their had been a lot of hostility in their past. They needed so much love. During my time there, I kept how much more real and beautiful it is to be spending my days with moments such as these rather than cooped up in my room working on homework or going to meetings. No matter how you look at it, college life is a very "me-oriented" place. Oftentimes, I find myself stumbling through the semester just trying to catch up. How many times have I given myself a guilt trip for spending time on homework or a job when I could have been doing something so much greater with my time? The other stuff is just fillers, right? I find myself playing the cost benefit-analysis game with how I chose to spend my time. I wish I would quit it.

Here's my advice: Stop driving yourself insane. You are exactly where you are supposed to be so live that way. Live free. Live well. Live now, and quit trying to catch up. God gave us life with so much beauty and time to live so don't squander it on lavish entertainment or distractions, or worse compare it to someone else's. I know that wherever I am, there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

If you'll excuse me the sunset is calling my name again and I must go.

Keep it Real

Smo.