I am overflowing in awe of the abundant generosity of my friends Andres y Ale, who have graciously put me and my friend May up for five days, including spending a heart-warming Christmas with their extended families (actually, it was their immediate families…but these are so large that it felt extended :)!

They are simply gold as far as friendship goes…every need is anticipated and catered to and they are just so much fun to boot! I feel like I am in a luxurious spa of emotional nurturing!

Yes God is so good…putting me in a place of restoration from the depleting, materialistic, in-your-face atmosphere of Buenos Aires: the smoky, humid, stressful, congestion, trauma and pretense of that sprawling metropolis-with-an-attitude have been replaced by a vast, restful, loving, peaceful sense of familiarity and warmth and ease. Chileans aren’t trying to prove anything and they don’t need to because they have it all: beauty, family, friends, wealth and infrastructure. It is tempting to pursue Ale’s offer to beseech St. Anthony, the patron saint of “lost causes”, for a chilean man (or even better and perhaps my preference, San Expedito, aptly named for his reputation of answering prayers swiftly :). We even got to see the church in Regnata in the Valparaiso area where Expedito’s supplicants go. After stuffing ourselves with (of course) Chilean seabass for lunch.