The only baggage you can bring is all that you can't leave behind.

I blinked and it was over. The best year of my life, thus far, has come to an end. After a final banquet, one last asado, jamming in the airport in Buenos aires, and landing in LA 14 hours later, we are back in the USA for good. I am still in denial that it's actually really over; that I won't be at the casa and seeing the same 65 faces every day or eating dinner with my familia again. Surprisingly, I didn't cry as much as I thought I would. The only time I really broke down was when we landed and were going through immigration, and the immigration officer said "Welcome home, 'mam." I started sobbing partly because I was so happy to be back in the states, but mostly because that's when it hit me that we all were leaving behind our incredible Argentine adventure to become just another memory in our past. I wasn't ready for it to become a memory. I'm still not ready for that. I know that all things in life come to an end and that life actually does get better than this (though at this point, I don't really see how because I can't think of anything that can top this past year). But I'm not ready to be separated from my two new families. Even though the majority of the students in our group will be together again in the fall, it won't be the same. We will all go back to hanging out with our friends that we left behind in September (or December for those who came for a semester) and the 65 of us may not be all together again. And who knows when I'll be going back to BA to see my familia. It could be two years from now or it could be twenty. What a weird thought. You're probably reading this and thinking, "Wow, what a pessimist. She's already going through post-abroad depression and she hasn't even been back for 24 hours." Well, you're wrong about this first part but the second thing may actually be true. That may seem pathetic or silly but to me, that sadness about it being over just shows that I had the time of my life. I traveled South America! I gained two new parents and four sisters! I developed dozens of God-centered friendships and came to love 65 strangers! What an adventure I had! Although it's over and I know that I will be sad about it for awhile, no one can take away the amazing memories of my year in Argentina. The things I did and the people I met will stay in my heart forever.

To my BAer's: Thank you for loving me and loving each other the way that you did. I learned so much about myself, God, and life from y'all and have been changed because of that. I am so grateful for your friendships and for all of the memories we share. Each one of you has a very special place in my heart. Muchisimos besos :)

Fall 2010

Spring 2011

I surrender ALL.

Have you ever been told something over and over again but it takes you until the hundredth time to finally realize the meaning and truth of it? As Christians, we always told to surrender our lives to Christ because of His death and resurrection for our sins. But as humans, we are so caught up in the world and not nearly as caught up in Him. I find myself being swallowed by worldly obsessions: material things, school, friends, boys, looks, etc. This year as been a year of personal growth for me and there is no doubt that I have grown in my faith in the Lord. But even with that growth, I forgot the most important thing of all; the thing that should completely define me as a Christian: fully committing my heart to God. I've tried to convince myself that I have complete faith in God and I have been fooling myself the whole time. I don't have complete faith in God. Despite the incredibly blessed life He has given me, I still doubt that He is in control. Why?! I have no reason to believe that. I'm sick of being blinded by worries and fears that my life is not happening the way I want it to. Even if things don't go according to my plan, things will go according to His plan. In order for me to trust in Him, my heart needs to belong to Him.

An amazing season of my life is coming to an end. Through eight months of joy, happiness, sadness, and heartbreak, I have become a new person. And just four days before I finish the most challenging and fulfilling chapter of my life, I have learned the most important and rewarding lesson of all: to surrender my heart and my life to Christ. "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I live my faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galations 2:19-20).

No more worries. No more doubts. Take my heart. It is Yours.  

Family time

Yesterday I went with my familia to Tigre, a little canal city outside of Buenos Aires. We had the BEST time! We walked around the fair, ate waffles on a stick, and took tons of pictures. This was the first time since Brisa's birthday last semester that all seven of us spent the day together. I think the coolest thing about the day was that the whole time I was with them, I didn't think about Pepperdine or anyone in the group. I just thought about being with my familia and how natural it felt to spend time with them. Then, of course, it hit me that once I leave in 10 days (oh my gosh!) that I won't see them again for a long time (I'm not saying "never" because I WILL come back someday). I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I've spent seven months with this family; they know what I look like in the morning, what I don't like to eat, how cluttered my room can be, etc. Even though the stupid language barrier has prevented us from really getting to know each other, they're still my familia. I hope that I'm not just another student to them, I hope I've somehow impacted their lives,  and I hope they know that I love them so much and that living with them has been one of the best parts of studying abroad.

Te amo much, mi familia Argentina :) 

Crazy, beautiful life.

It's been awhile since my last post. When the long weekend ended, it hit me that the semester is coming to an end. And let me tell you: it hit me hard. Thankfully, we still have 22 days left and even though that may seem like a lot, I know that it is going to fly by. You may be wondering, "what are you going to do during those 22 left in Argentina?" And here is my answer:

1) Go to Tigre (little city outside of BA) with my familia. At dinner tonight, the girls asked if I had ever been and when I said no, they got very excited and said that they are going to take me there next Sunday so that we can "take lots of pictures!"
2) Take a tour of Teatro Colon.
3) Hop on a bus with some friends and see where we end up.
4) Go to La Bomba (a huge drumming event on Monday nights).
5) Eat too many empanadas.
6) Buy some leather boots or a leather jacket.

I wanted to make my list practical because I knew if I made one with 20 things on it, I wouldn't get it all done. So hopefully I can stick to the things above and leave BA feeling like I did most of what I wanted to do.

On a more serious note, one of the biggest lessons I've learned this semester is how short and precious life is. As cliche as this is, time really does fly by and I've learned that the older we get, the more real that cliche becomes. It feels like I got on that return flight back to BA yesterday but that was almost three months ago. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this semester... no, this YEAR has been incredible. The best one of my life, and it's hard to believe that life actually gets better than this. God has blessed me tremendously. There are days when I just praise Him for that and wonder why in the world He thinks I'm deserving of a life as great as mine. But because of that gift, it is my responsibility to live this life to the fullest and give Him all of the glory.

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.

In the boredom and pain of it,

no less that in the excitement and gladness:

touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, 

because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, 

and life itself is grace." 

- Frederick Buechner

Carpe Diem!

Today is the beginning of the second long weekend of the semester and for the first time since being abroad, I'm not traveling. It's not that I don't want to. In fact, the only place in the world where I want to be right now is back in Patagonia. But I wanted to do something different that involved stepping out of my comfort zone... and saving money. So I have decided to go to Adulam for a few days then come back to BA and explore the city! Going back to Adulam has been something that I've wanted to do but something that I have also been skeptical about. Spending 3 days speaking only spanish, doing manual labor, playing with children for hours (okay, I love that... but sometimes hours and hours of it gets rough), and not showering until I get back (!) were some things that made me think I was making a big mistake. Then I remember this quote that I read on someone's blog a few days ago: "Do one thing a day that scares you." Speaking spanish for hours on end scares me. Staying in BA with most of my friends gone scares me. Exploring the city scares me. But why do all of those things "scare me"? I honestly couldn't give you a logical answer. God has blessed me with this incredible life and sometimes I feel like I just take it for granted. So I'm going to do it all! I'm going to step... no, leap out of my comfort zone and enjoy everything that comes my way this week. Life goes by way too fast to be afraid of things, especially little things that have the potential to make me happy.

"The one thing we owe absolutely 

to God is to never be afraid of anything." 

-Charles de Foucauld

Besos xoxo

It's the little things.

While sitting in house church today, one of my friends was talking about the mountains and glaciers in Calafate and how that was such a great way for us to see the Lord. It dawned on me that we so often talk about how we see God in majestic things like nature and beautiful scenery, but not in the little things. It's a wonderful thing to stand in awe of His creation, especially things you've never seen before that take your breath away. But it is also important for us to see God in the little things in life that we might not think twice about: cold fronts, laughter, smells, music, feelings. It's funny that I'm writing about this now considering the fact that my last post was all about nature and how majestic it is. I guess this is more of a reminder for me to find God in small, sometimes mundane things because I can't always see gorgeous mountains or spectacular beaches. He is present in everything... which is actually cooler than any view I've seen.

Song suggestion: I Can See You by Jonny Diaz




Besos xoxo

The most epic EFT in the world.

It's almost 2 am and I realized that if I didn't update the blog now, it was never going to happen. So I am going to try to explain how incredibly epic this last week was, because that is exactly what it was: epic.

Day Uno (Saturday)
The whole group had lunch at the Casa then left for the airport at around 1pm. We get to there with about an hour to spare (keep in mind that there were 60+ people in our group) and we all waited in line to get checked in. Nate, Cody, and I were the last ones at the check in and when I went up to the counter, gave the guy my ticket, and was soon told that the plane was full and I had to take the next flight out to Calafate... the next morning. By this time, Nate and Cody had already been checked in so they came over to see what was going on. Luckily, the guy spoke english so I could express my anger and frustration easily. I told him that I was in a group of 60 people and that flying out the next day was not an option. He then told me that it was "impossible" to fly out with the group and to that, I responded with "impossibility is not an option." I thought that was pretty good. When I realized that this guy was not going to let me on the plane, I told Cody to run and get Rafa (everyone else was already at the gate). Rafa sent our travel agent and director of this trip, Sylvina, down to fix things and she must have threatened the guy or something because the next thing I know, we're running to security trying to make our flight. Oh, but wait. There's more. We get to security and Cody and Sylvina show their tickets and Sylvina asks me where mine is. I told her that I thought she had it and she said she thought I had it. OH. NO. Sweet, sweet Cody literally sprinted back downstairs to the counter and got my ticket. Literally an angel. After all of the commotion and confusion, we all FINALLY got on the plane (with an hour delay, I might add) and landed in beautiful El Calafate 4 hours later.

After we landed, we took a 3 hour bus ride to El Chalten where we spent our first 2 days and we stayed at a beautiful 5 star hotel:

Day Dos (Sunday)
This day was by far the best day of the trip. We got up early and began a 8-9 hour hike up to Fitz Roy. The first 2 or 3 hours were very easy, mostly flatland hiking. But then we got to a spot and our guides told us that the hour long hike up to the top was going to be very steep, very windy, and very cold. I was pretty reluctant to go but with the nagging of some friends, I began the long trek up to the top. Of course, I ended up being one of the people in the back of the group and if it wasn't for my two friends Lauren and Paige, I would have stopped and gone back down. Lauren and I kept repeating, "Lord give us strength" the whole way up and let me tell you, He definitely did. When we got to the top, I my jaw literally dropped. I couldn't believe the majestic beauty that was right in front of me. Right before my eyes was the most beautiful blue lagoon I had ever seen and in the background where snow covered peaks.

beginning of the hike 

Fitz Roy

at the top!!!

We did it! (me and Lauren)

me and Paige!

Seriously, God? You are too cool.

We spent a little over an hour at the top, just soaking in the beauty before we began the long trek back to the hotel. I had no idea that the hike down would be harder but it was! My body was in SO much pain within the first 30 minutes and I had serious doubts that I was going to make it back in one piece. About halfway down the mountain, I started to have some chest pain. But I just brushed it off, assuming it was change in altitude. After the 3 hours back to the hotel, it started to get worse but again, I kept telling myself that it was the altitude. When I got to the restaurant for dinner, I was in serious pain and Rafa could tell. I told him that I had chest pain and he thought for a few minutes then called an ambulance. Of course, I was freaking out because Rafa never makes a big deal out of things and I didn't even consider the fact that it could be serious. When the ambulance arrived, Rafa and I got in and took the 3 minute drive (literally) to the hospital where I was led to an empty room with nothing but an operating table and a large oxygen tank (yeah, totally freaking out). The doctor came in and told Rafa to wait outside while he asked me some questions. Luckily, he was an American doctor so I began to feel a lot more comfortable. He asked me a bunch of questions and then did an ECG (echocardiogram). When he got the results of that, he said my heart looked good but he still wanted to do a chest X-Ray. After that was done, he called Rafa into the room and told both of us that the chest pain came from muscle spasms due to the altitude, the heaving breathing, and the wind. I'm still not sure exactly what that means because as soon as he said I didn't have a heart attack, I was filled with relief and stopped listening. Within 30 minutes Rafa and I were in a taxi headed back to the restaurant. I told Rafa that I felt really dumb for complaining and going to the hospital but he reassured me that chest pain is not something that you take lightly and that it was better to be safe than sorry. At least I got to keep the X-Ray :) 

Day Tres (Monday) 

Despite being sore in every part of my body, I decided to join the group on another hike. Thankfully, it was much shorter but the view was beautiful. 

amazing

Me and Kendra

After the hike, we left our beautiful hotel and headed back to El Calafate to stay at another wonderful hotel. That night, we went to a super nice restaurant and had INCREDIBLE steaks! Lucky for Nate, he sat by two girls who couldn't finish their steaks so he ended up eating a ton of carne.

Bridget, me, and Kendra at dinner

Day Cuatro (Tuesday) 

This day was our chill day. We woke up later than usual and went into the small downtown of El Calafate and shopped around. Later that afternoon, we headed to the first ever ice museum in South America. It wasn't made of ice so to be honest, it was kind of boring. After that we were picked up by 4x4's and were driven to the top of the mountain to see even more amazing views. We are so spoiled!

standing in awe of His creation

breathtaking

me and Rafa (:

Day Cinco (Wednesday)

This was the day that we walked on a GLACIER! When we got off the bus to begin our trek to the glaciers, it was super rainy and super cold. Sweet Kendra decided to have our whole group stand in a circle and pray for sun. Within a few minutes after our prayer, the sun began to shine through the clouds and for most of the day we stayed dry! Oh, the power of prayer. Walking on a glacier was an amazing experience. Although I was completely terrified that at any moment the ice could break and I could fall to my death (okay, I'm exaggerating a little) I couldn't help but think about how blessed I am to have an experience like this. If someone told me a year ago that in my lifetime I was going to walk on a glacier in Patagonia, Argentina, I would have laughed in their face. But there I was, with ice clamp-ons on my shoes, trekking through the ice! 

before the sun

yay for sun!

standing on a glacier with Lauren! 

Day Seis (Thursday)

I woke up that morning almost in tears because my last EFT was almost over. We ended our incredible trip by watching sheep get sheared! It was weird but kind of interesting and also a relaxing way to end the week.

sheep hearding

shearing the sheep

This EFT was by far the most incredible trip I have ever been on. I was pretty reluctant at first because last semesters EFT was so great, but this one definitely topped it. I have never felt God's presence more than I did on top of Fitz Roy or on the glacier. Standing before His creation every day that week is something that I will never forget. I have been immensely blessed by this opportunity to study abroad for a year and go on life changing trips with incredible friends. Lord, THANK YOU for everything you have given me! I am undeserving. 

Besos xoxo

BARILOCHE!!

I don't even know where to begin. Bariloche was AMAZING! Simply beautiful and definitely the most amazing place I've been to in Argentina so far. Lucy, Kendra, April, Brandon, and I left Tuesday afternoon  and got on our 20 hour bus ride that arrived in Bariloche on Wednesday afternoon. My padres gave me something to give to my abuelo who lives in Bariloche, so when we got to the bus terminal he was there waiting for me. He asked me where we were staying and how many people I was with, and then he offered to drive us up to our hostel! It was so kind of him and he also gave me his phone number and said, "Si necesitas algo, me llama a cualquier hora, no importa si esta tarde," ("If you need anything, call me anytime, no matter how late.") So we got to our hostel, settled in, and hung out with the other group that was there too.

view from our hostel

On Thursday, we woke up early and headed into the mountains to go horseback riding. I had been riding many times before, but this was a completely different experience. Not only were we trotting and galloping, we were basically scaling mountains. Needless to say I was a bit scared, but the views and the AMAZING asado at the end made it totally worth it. 

 delicious asado

 incredible

my horse, Betty

On Friday, we woke up early again and went white water rafting with our group and the other group from Pepperdine that was in our hostel. I was literally TERRIFIED because I had never gone before and all I could think about was falling out of the raft and dying. Dramatic, I know. We squeezed into a van and drove about an hour and a half down Route 40 (which is breathtaking, by the way). We got to the river, put on wet suits, and got in our rafts! Rafting down that river was so incredible. The water was crystal clear and so blue and the trees and mountains surrounding us were beautiful. Despite my fears, the rapids weren't too bad and we even jumped out of the raft at one point and floated in the freezing water. After about 2 hours of rafting, we got out of the raft and our guide, Julian, said "Bienvenidos a Chile!" I couldn't believe that we had rafted all the way to the border! Now I can say that I've been to Chile :) 

Then we changed clothes, hopped back into the van, and headed back to a little cabin where another amazing asado was waiting for us. 

 please notice the expression on my face.

 Rafting!

 We're in CHILE!

ASADO. 

The rafting excursion lasted from 9am until 7pm so when we got back to our hostel, we were exhausted. Saturday, a few of us went into town and bought some amazing chocolate that Bariloche is famous for.

 The best chocolate store.

amazing helado

Saturday afternoon, we got on another 20 hour bus and headed back to BA. 

This long weekend was truly incredible, not only because of the amazing experiences that we had, but also because this was a place were we could really see the beauty that God created. Everywhere we went I just stared in awe at how beautiful everything was and how much fun God must have had creating it! It was so great to get out of the city and appreciate His creation.

One more week of classes and then our EFT! We are so spoiled :)

Besos xoxo 

My mind is running at 500 mph!

One of the reasons I have not been very good about updating this thing is because there is so much on my mind and I can't seem to figure out how to put it all into words. So far, this semester has been great. Girls bible study, house church, family time, my familia, our group, and everything else has made these past few weeks wonderful. But I can't help but feel like there is something missing from my life. If you asked me to give you an idea of what it was, I couldn't tell you. I can't even figure it out myself. My mind is constantly racing and I can't seem to keep up with it. I am zoning out more than usual and sometimes my thoughts trail elsewhere when I'm talking with friends which usually NEVER happens. I am a very focused person when it comes to talking with people. Despite the frustration of it all, I have never had so many conversations with God than I have had over the last week. I think I've talked to Him more than anyone else here in BA and back home. We talk on my way to school, to and from class, on my way home, ALL THE TIME. And when I say "talk" I mean I'm mostly doing the talking and then patiently waiting for a response (which doesn't happen all the time). I'm not saying this is a bad thing. In fact, I love it. I love that I can literally not say a word out loud and have a raw and honest conversation with God. My prayer is that my thoughts will eventually begin to unfold and I will be able to see what God is trying to reveal to me. At this point, I'm open to anything.


We are off to Bariloche tomorrow until Sunday so let me leave you with a few pictures from Adulam this past Saturday. It was so good to be back there!

Precious children

 Sweet Rosia who fell asleep in my arms for 30 minutes.

 Completely melted my heart. 

Finally reunited with Deborah! Love this sweet girl.

Besos xoxo

Check this song out: None But Jesus by Hillsong United

I have been listening to this song everyday to and from school. We serve the most incredible God who loves us more than we will ever know. Remind yourself of that daily.

In the quiet, in the stillness 

I know that You are God

In the secret of Your presence

I know that I am restored

When You call I won't refuse

Each new day again I'll choose

There is no one else for me 

None but Jesus

Crucified to set me free

Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion

I know you're sovereign still

In the moment of my weakness

You give me grace to do Your will

So when You call I won't delay

This my song through all my days

There is no one else for me

None but Jesus

Crucified to set me free

Now I live to bring him praise

ALL my delight is in You, Lord

All of my hope, all of my strength

All my delight is in You, Lord, forevermore

Last few days

On Sunday I went to the Recoletta Cemetery with my friend, Bridget. It's a really neat cemetery because it is all above ground. The graves are huge and really beautiful and reminded me a lot of the ones in New Orleans.

Last night we had a Valentines Day formal at the casa. I had been planning on asking a guy in our group, Nate, but he was at the beach for the weekend so I was going to do it on Monday morning. That day, I got to the casa and as I was leaving to go get the supplies to ask him, I happened to check my facebook and he had posted on my wall:


"I've met a lot of girls in my travels, but this Valentines day, I was hoping to get a little more PERSONAL with you. Will you come to formal with me?" (and then posted a picture of him under the "Personal" cell phone store sign! 


I found him around the casa and told him that he beat me to it and that I was supposed to ask him first, but of course I said yes and we had a great time. In fact, we had such a great time and looked so good that we won the "Cutest Couple" award!

 photobooth that David put together

lookin' fine!

One week left until the first long weekend!

Besos xoxo

p.s. God has blessed us SO much! We've had awesome turnouts to house church, girls bible study, and family time :)

Pi Phi/ATO mixer!

Thursday night the beautiful Pi Phis and handsome ATOs had a mixer! We all met up for dinner, the guys paid (aww!), and then we went bowling! There were six girls and six guys so it worked out perfectly. We had a great time and we are so blessed to have such amazing guys with us here in BA.
Thanks for a wonderful evening, boys! Y'all are awesome :)

 Thank you Mateo for not smiling...

 The enemy team!

So much love for this group :)

Besos xoxo

Nada mucho going on...

Not a lot has been going on around here. We finally got into the full swing of classes which is... nice. In two weeks, we have our first long weekend of the semester! And then a week after that, we go on our EFT! Ah, what a life.

First long weekend I will be going to...

BARILOCHE!

Our EFT will be in....

CALAFATE!!

I am SO excited to do some traveling :)

Besos xoxo

Lujan Zoo!

7 friends and I got on a bus and headed to Lujan Zoo! After about an hour and a half, we entered what is known in Argentina as the "World's Most Dangerous Zoo." This place has lions, tigers, bears, OH MY! (sorry, I couldn't resist). We got to pet tigers, lions, and elephants and hold lion cubs. It was kind of sad because all of the animals were heavily drugged but it was definitely an amazing experience to see them up close and personal.

 precious cub

 petting a lion!

 holding a lion!

 seriously freaking out!

 our fabulous group :)

Tiger!

Besos xoxo