Contenta con la Vida: Our Love Story, Part IV

You can read Part I, Part II and Part III by clicking on them.

Okay, we left off with me telling Andrés how I felt about him and then I thought we left things at the mutual agreement of getting to know each other better. Now remember, we had seen each other pretty much everyday for the last week. So imagine my disappointment when I didn't hear from him the next couple of days. I know, I know, you're probably thinking "Two days? That's nothing." But when I only had a total of six weeks in Chile and the first four had flown by and now I'm sitting with two weeks left to get to know this guy and build a relationship- two days was a long time for me! I immediately started doubting what we had talked about and thinking he hadn't understood me and that I had probably misunderstood his intentions. Also, I wasn't going to call him because I wanted to give him the chance to pursue me. Also during these two days pretty much the entire Escuela- both students and professors- knew something was going on between the two of us. I don't know how that happened. I think I had confided in two people and I don't think they would have told anyone. It was a little embarrassing having everyone knowing my business but at the same time I had grown pretty close to them so it was okay. One thing I did NOT like though was having one of my professors going around singing to me "estas enamorada, estas enamorada!" (You're in love, you're in love!) Because I wasn't in love (yet)! I didn't know Andrés well enough to be in love.

This brings us up to Friday. The parish in Concon had a futbol tournament for their Confirmation kids and asked us to participate. Andrés was organizing the whole thing so I knew I would see him there. He says this is the reason why he hadn't called me to do something yet- because he was busy organizing the whole event and he knew he would see me there. Once again though I was so nervous! I couldn't even eat beforehand- my stomach physically would not allow me. When we first got there I think I said "hola" and that was it because what do I say to the guy I had bared my heart to and hadn't contacted me since? It turns out that our gringa team won the championship! And after that Andrés must have been so impressed with my super-slick soccer moves that he stepped up his game (haha, not). However, a huge group of us were going out that night to celebrate Sarah's, one of the gringas, birthday. So before I left the tournament (the boys were still playing, all of us girls were finished) I went to say goodbye to Andrés and he asked if I was going out with the group. I said yes and he said see you there. My heart soared!

That night we all met up on the micro (bus) and it was packed so I wasn't anywhere near Andrés but we saw each other from afar and smiled at one another. Once we got to the club I didn't know what to do. Do I make sure I sit by him or what? Also I doubt they really were but I felt like everyone's eyes were on us. Thankfully Andrés took the lead and made sure I sat by him. Then he offered to get me a drink (I asked him if he wanted money for it, hehe, and he gave me a weird look and then said no). He came back with the drink and let me take a sip of it and then took it away and took my hand and led me onto the dance floor. Then we danced together all night! While we had all arrived together, people were leaving in small groups. Andrés and I left with two others and took the micro back to Concon. As we were leaving he took my hand and put his arm around me on the micro. At that point all my doubts were wiped away and I knew he liked me too! My heart was happy.

Plus... when he dropped me off at my house that night he kissed me! Our first kiss and my first kiss EVER! That's right folks, I was 23 and never been kissed. But hey, the right guy and the right opportunity had never presented itself before so I was okay with it. But now the time had come. It turns out though that I was a pretty bad kisser. I'm pretty sure my lips turned into stone and I was a bit mortified. Also I'm pretty sure that after he kissed me I turned away to go inside the gate while saying something stupid like "thank you" or "buenas noches." Oh my goodness. But then he said "Tammy," grabbed my hand and swung me back to him and kissed me one more time. Still bad but the way he took me back to him could have been right out of a movie.

The following Saturday and Sunday we had what we called "Completomania." It was kind of a nightmare being surrounded by those giant hot dogs covered in mayonnaise for two straight days. The deal is that in a week we were going on a mission trip so we had to fundraise for it. How did we fundraise? That's right, by selling completos! Honestly, I had liked the things, but after Completomania (which was two years ago) I have only been able to eat one of them since. The upside of Completomania is that I got to sell them with Andrés- we had lots of time to talk and get to know each other as we went around Concon asking la gente if they wanted a completo. And I mean we really talked. Andrés asked me some of the hardest questions I've ever been asked (no small talk for us), such as what is my viewpoint on war and torture. Also at night he would "kidnap" and take me driving (I said driving, not parking. Although I'll admit at first I also thought he might have ulterior motives) to see more sights and to talk. It was lovely.

Monday of the next week we got the day off from school to relax after the madness that was Completomania. So Andrés, John, Kayla and I first went to see a beautiful cemetery in Zapallar, close to Ventanas, that is right on the ocean. Then Andrés gave us a guided tour of his favorite city Valparaiso. Tuesday I didn't see Andrés and on Wednesday we had our first official date of just the two of us. It wasn't totally date-like because we ended up running a ton of errands getting ready for the mission but it was still really good. You'll also be happy to know (because I sure was!) that this was the first time we shared a good kiss- meaning my lips did not morph into cement. Thursday night we went out to celebrate another gringo's, Jake's, birthday. We had fun having a couple of drinks and dancing. Then Friday it was off to the mission.

We were on mission in Lagunillas from Friday through Tuesday. On the way there was the first time people saw us publicly acting like a couple (meaning they saw us holding hands) and I guess it caused a little stir. I was told recently that Stephanie was freaking out- I'm assuming it was a good freaking out, hehe. During the days and evenings we tried to immerse ourselves as best we could in the group activities and the mission work and then at night when most had gone to bed Andrés and I stayed up on the couch talking. It was nice to have some privacy yet to know there was accountability too. On Sunday morning (because I was leaving in two days!) I told Andrés we needed to talk soon about what we were. He thought I meant that I needed to put a label on us but I just needed to know where we stood for when I left. That night on the couch we started out talking about our relationship and then we got onto other subjects. I kept praying, "Lord, I really want him to ask me to be his girlfriend but I don't want to outright ask him to do it. Please let him read my mind!" And guess what? The Lord worked that little miracle for me! On that Sunday night (technically Monday though because it was about 3am) Andrés said, "I don't know how they do this in the U.S.... but will you be my girlfriend?" That was good enough for me and we have been together ever since!

On Tuesday we left straight from Lagunillas to the airport. Thankfully Andrés was able to come with and we got to spend a last couple of hours of quality time. That first airport goodbye was the easiest one we've ever had. I think it's because we had just started dating and neither of us knew where it was going to lead. It was sad at the actual goodbye but I didn't cry (every time since I've bawled my eyes out) and afterwards I just felt kind of numb. I wasn't much into laughing or hanging out with the other gringos and I slept the entire 9 hour flight back to the U.S.

That was August of 2009. Since then I've been back to Chile twice- once for eleven days and once for three weeks- and Andrés has been here once for two months. Other than that we keep our relationship strong through lots of communication using Skype, gchat and MSN Live. God bless technology. Thanks for tuning in to read our story. Coming soon... Part V: Engagement! ;)