Amanda's Birth Story- Part II

To pick up from where we left off, read Part I here. Reminder: What I write may be too much information for some people (it is about a baby coming out of my body after all) so consider yourself forewarned. I include some details that I wouldn't normally tell some people in person in case a mother-to-be is reading and wants to know what to expect.

We left the doctor's office with just an hour to spare before I was due to check-in at the hospital. Since that wasn't enough time to run home first, we got in the car and scooted off to Lider (Chilean Walmart) for shampoo and slippers for me and snacks for mom and Andrés (husband). Then off to the hospital we went. It took about a half hour to get checked-in even though I was pre-registered so we spent the time taking my final baby bump pics. Eventually an orderly came down with a wheelchair and took us up to my fourth floor room.

38 Weeks, 4 Days

In front of the number 1 for our first child

  

Apparently we were already behind schedule because they rushed me to change into my lovely, backless hospital gown and then they started prepping me for surgery. They took my blood pressure (which was at a normal number again and makes me wonder if my OB took it right in his office), shaved me, and got my IV stand ready. Then my midwife showed up and inserted the IV into the side of my lower thumb. And let me tell you, it hurts there. It's pretty much required to have a midwife here and you don't really choose one yourself- you go with the woman your doctor has chosen to work with. I was pretty disappointed with my midwife experience because she really didn't do anything and was very matter-of-fact and not so much bedside-mannerish. I think she would have done a lot more if it was a natural birth instead of c-section but even afterwards she seemed rushed instead of willing to help me with things like how to take care of my incision and breastfeeding.

Continuing on... I was then wheeled down in my bed to the second floor where the surgery would take place. I had been told Andrés would be with my the whole time but I guess they meant only for the actual surgery part because as soon as we got down there they made him wait outside while they took me into the room to start the anesthesia. The anesthetist was a nice man who tried to reassure me right away by telling me he spoke English when he found out  I was a gringa. Usually when Chileans tell me this it means they speak a broken English that is usually more of a hindrance than help in important situations like this (although I definitely applaud them in their effort and level of English because it's hard learning another language)- and that was the case with him. He told me a few times, "It's alright, you're a big woman," thinking he was saying "you're a big girl" instead of insulting my large pregnant body. I guess I wasn't the best patient though because as he was inserting the needles in my back I kept arching away (I couldn't help it, it was an automatic reaction like when someone tickles you- except more painful) instead of pushing my spine towards him. But really, who pushes their spine towards needles? I think he first numbed up some areas with Novocaine and then put in one big needle of the anesthesia. I'm not sure on that though because nobody was explaining much to me. I really wish Andrés would have been let in for that part because of the language barrier.

Well, the drugs started to take effect and I could feel the lower half of me becoming numb and heavy. I kept testing it out, seeing if I could feel myself wiggle my toes. I think I could feel them move. This is where things start to get a bit hazy because the drugs made me tired and my mind foggy. My OB came in the room and he was moving around doing things along with the midwife, anesthetist, and about four nurses. They laid my arms out straight (like Christ on the crucifix, put up the curtain over my chest so I wouldn't be able to see my insides when opened up, and I was disrobed from there down. I noticed my midwife snap a few photos on her phone (I hope it was before I was disrobed)  and remember thinking it was weird. I then felt someone petting my head and saying it was okay. It took me about 20 seconds to realize it was Andrés and that he was in the room with me. That's how out of it I was.

Then the surgery began. From what I know they cut me open using a cauterizer (so you don't bleed as much) and Andrés said he could smell my burning flesh. Nice. Then they put a closed clamp type thing in the incision that has a string attached to it. They yanked on the string and it opened the mouth of the clamp, widening the incision area. Then they tie down the string so that it remained open. I felt no pain but I definitely felt tugging and pulling. I don't know if it was the tugging of them opening me or of them pulling the baby out. And yank her out they did! All of the sudden I heard a little cry and they told us that we had a baby girl. Amanda Rosario was born at 2:22pm on Monday, May 6th, 2013! They cut her cord and brought her around and held her head next to mine so we could see her. I didn't feel sudden euphoria or great feelings of pride and joy (I really think it was because of the drugs), but I remember just thinking "She's here." And that I felt really tired.

Amanda was taken out to be checked on by the pediatrician and cleaned and dressed. Andrés went with her and I was once again alone. They stitched me up quickly and then I was wheeled into the recovery room next door. I think I was kept there for an hour and a nurse checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes. Again, I was really tired and I didn't mind being separated from Amanda- I wanted to rest. Not normal mothering feelings. Finally I was wheeled back up to my fourth floor room. My mom, Andrés, and his parents were there waiting. They told me how cute Amanda was and how she kept turning her head when the nurse tried to point her face towards them and how she fit her whole fist in her mouth (remarkable since she has shown no interest in doing this again since that time). After a few minutes the nurses wheeled Amanda into the room and left her with us and I held my daughter for the first time. Although still under the effects of the anesthesia, I was able to marvel at her small size and beauty and to breastfeed her. Amanda weighed 2740 grams/5.9 pounds and measured 47 centimeters/18.5 inches.

Super Dad- the man who got us through it all

Getting acquainted

Most people said she looks exactly like me and my mom but I believe her nose and jawline come from Andrés. She has a full head of black hair for now and steel grey eyes that I believe will eventually change to brown. We stayed for three nights in the hospital, of which Andrés was able to stay with us the first night, and then we went home on Thursday at noon. We had many, many visitors including Andrés' whole family and a large number of my gringa friends. Although a little awkward to have to feed her in front of some of them as I was just getting used to it, it was so nice to have their support and visits.

With Grandma Jo. Everything is so big on me!

Hanging out with the abuelita

As you were reading this, some of it might have seemed kind of negative because in a way it was for me. I want to be honest about my experience. It was not the birth I wanted by far and as a matter of fact I don't really feel like I gave birth because I didn't do anything- the doctor did it all in surgery. It's still hard for me to process that Amanda is here in my arms yet I have no idea what labor and pushing a baby out feel like. I'm pretty okay with it but I worry that one day I'm going start mourning the loss of that experience as I hear some mothers do. BUT with all that being said I definitely view my c-section as a SUCCESS and a JOY too because Amanda is here, healthy and safe. I'm very happy with my new life as a family of three. Contento, Señor, contento.

Amanda's Birth Story- Part I

Amanda is already 6 weeks old, so before time gets even further away I need to write down her birth story or else I'll forget even more details. What I write may be too much information for some people (it is about a baby coming out of my body after all) so consider yourself forewarned. Also this is my version of the story- if you ask Andrés or my mom they might remember things a little differently or from another perspective. Because things were so fast and I was under the influence of anesthesia some things are a little fuzzy to me and I don't feel like I was able to process everything that was going on.

Here we go!

6 Months

Up until week 29 we had a very healthy pregnancy. Amanda had been growing well, my amniotic fluid was plenty, the placenta was well attached, everything was good. But when we went in for our third (and I had hoped final) ultrasound my OB noticed that Amanda's abdomen was measuring small. It was in a very low percentile compared to her heart, head, and legs which were measuring larger and at a medium percentile. We were told not to worry and to come back in three weeks to have it looked at again. We tried not to worry and when we went back her abdomen was still small. Went back a week later and STILL small. We were given one more week to see if it would grow. I asked my closest family and friends to pray because I couldn't form the words. At the 34 week ultrasound the OB said her abdomen had grown and everything was fine! 

Photo Credit: Erica Work Gonzalez

We didn't have to go back to see the OB for another three weeks which seemed like a long time after we had been going so regularly. At 37 weeks he did another quick ultrasound and said her abdomen was still looking good. Then he said he'd see us in another week and if anything was wrong he'd do a c-section that day because he was going to a conference the latter half of that week. I was like, "Wait, what? You just said everything was good but are now talking about (what seems like a good likelihood of) a c-section next week!" This is why it's hard for me to wholly trust Chilean doctors because I've heard so many stories (especially birth stories) where they say one thing and mean another. Such as "you're completely healthy and the baby's great so there's no reason you couldn't have a natural delivery" and yet they're planning for a c-section in their schedule. But Andrés assured me after we left his office that the doc wasn't planning anything but rather just covering the bases in case something came up. Therefore I was still in my own little world preparing myself for a natural birth.

Photo Credit: Erica Work Gonzalez

On Friday, May 2nd my mom arrived in Chile! With an original due date of May 17 we thought we would have about two weeks to sit in cafes and do touristy things and then two weeks to relax and enjoy the baby once she made her debut. We were just a little off in our calculations. On the morning of May 6th, on grandma's fourth day here, on day four of week 38, we went back to the doctor. We put my hospital bag in the trunk with Andrés thinking there was a 50% possibility of us having to use it that day, me thinking there was a 2% chance, and my mom somewhere inbetween. The first thing my OB did was introduce us to his colleague, another doctor who was going to do a "second opinion" ultrasound (the sixth one we had had now). I was surprised because he had said at the last two appointments that everything was good. They didn't say anything to us during the ultrasound but I could see them repeatedly measuring her head, abdomen, and leg. We then followed the doctor into his office and he checked my blood pressure. He got a worried look but again didn't say anything was wrong but made me wait a couple minutes and then he took my bp again.

He then came and sat down at the desk with Andrés, my mother, and me and explained that both he and the other OB agree that Amanda's abdomen was measuring small again- about five weeks behind the other organs in her body. He said this could mean that the placenta wasn't delivering enough nutrients so they were all going to the important organs (brain, heart, etc.) and skipping over the less important (liver). Also my blood pressure had gone up. While it wasn't high on the charts, I usually have a lower bp so it was a concern. There was also something about the blood flow to Amanda's brain but that still has yet to be fully explained to me. With all this put together the doctor highly recommended we "take her out" that day because she wouldn't grow anymore and to keep her in would just be "risk, risk, risk." When you put it that way how could we do anything but decide...

...Amanda was coming that day!

Photo Credit: Erica Work Gonzalez

Read Part II here.

Introducing My Family!

After a 16 month hiatus, I have decided to return to the blogging world! And boy has a lot happened in the past 16 months. In my last post I shared that Andrés and I got engaged. 

Since then this happened...

And very shortly after this happened...

And then this little one came along!

I know! We were a little surprised too! And so, so happy. Contenta con la vida!

We are now a family of three.


Here's a short recap of what took place over the last 16 months:
I moved back home to MN at the beginning of March 2012 to be with my family, start wedding planning, and to work and save up money for said wedding. The Lord was so kind to provide a job almost right away. I was hired to wash motorhomes. Yes, you read right. It was a good job and I got some exercise and am very thankful for the two months I did that, but washing RVs is just not for me. In May I was able to find other work for the United States Postal Service! I worked as a mail processor in the St. Cloud plant and I really enjoyed my work and co-workers. I got a workout every night (helped me get in shape for the wedding) and my co-workers were so supportive and happy for me when I got married and pregnant. The only downside is that it was the night shift- ugh.

I got to spend as much family quality time as I could when I wasn't sleeping, and everybody chipped in to help the wedding come together. Andrés came up the week before the wedding and then on August 4, 2012 we became man and wife! It was an awesome wedding and reception but the details must be saved for a later post. At the end of August Andrés returned to Chile and I planned to follow him after a few more months of work. On Septembter 13th I found out I was pregnant and Andrés got to learn about it through Skype! Oh the joys. Through the help and support of my parents I was able to move down here at the end of October and join my husband. I found part-time work right away and for months 5-7 of my pregnancy I was blessed with full-time work and again, awesome co-workers. Then on May 2nd my mom arrived and just four short days later Amanda Rosario was born! What a whirlwind. Andrés is now studying and working and I am a stay at home mom for the next few months. It's a blessed life. It's a sleepless life.

Now since I'm a wife, mother, and indefinite expat I'm sure most of my posts will be focused on these new aspects of my life. I hope you enjoy reading about these adventures and I'm so happy to share them with my friends and family- it makes me feel closer to you all across this distance. Also, don't expect posts too frequently (I make no promises to keep up the blog) because I'm still getting the hang of mothering and Amanda is still learning about life on the outside of the womb- which means she's almost permanently in my arms! With that said, I hope to see you here again somewhat soon. God bless!

Our Love Story, Part V

Click on the links to read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV.

On Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at approximately 10pm Andrés proposed and I said "Yes!" Or rather "¡Sí!" Here's how it all went down. First of all, it was very non-traditional and traditional all at the same time. The non-traditional part is that I knew it was coming. We picked out, ordered and paid for the rings together and I knew he was going to propose pretty much right away. Everything else followed a mix of American and Chilean tradtion and I loved that. What can I say? I'm a traditional type of girl.

Andrés and I started looking at engagement rings the first month I arrived in Chile but it wasn't until January that we settled on something. And actually we decided to forego the engagement ring and follow a South American tradition instead. We bought our bands which will double as both our engagement and wedding rings. During the engagement period we wear them on our right hands and then when we get married they will be switched to our left hands. We ordered them the last week of January and they were supposed to come in the 31st, but were a day late. February 1st came and on the way to pick them up (they were late again and we had to wait around a couple of hours) Andrés warned me not to get my hopes up that we would get engaged that day because he still wanted to call my parents first.

So we went home after picking up the rings and I got on Skype right away, trying to locate my parents. Andrés wanted to talk to them together but my mom was heading to a poker game with her brothers (that's right, my mom is that cool) so I made him talk to them separately. He told me I was being Bridezilla before we were even engaged! I didn't hear what they said to him, but when he asked for their permission they both gave their approval.

February 2nd, our 2.5 year anniversary. Andrés had asked me a few weeks before what I might like the proposal to be like. I told him that I wanted it to take place somewhere special to us outside of the house and that he could speak in whichever language he wanted to, but that at least a little part of it was Spanish. I gave him some ideas- the church, the beach, a café, etc. Honestly though, I knew that however and wherever he asked me, I would love it. On Thursday we ended up going to almost all of the places I suggested. He was messing with me! Actually, he was thinking about doing it at those places but then something would come up or there would be construction nearby and so the place at that moment was not perfect enough for him. What a thoughtful guy.

We went to a neat café for lunch, then to a couple of lookouts over the ocean, and also to the beach that evening. None of these were the places. When we left for home after the beach, Andrés did not take me home. Instead we went to a lookout (mirador) over the ocean in Concón. We got out of the car and sat on a bench and talked for a couple of minutes. Then he asked me if I was ready to get engaged... and I was like "heck, yes!" So he sat me down and then he got on his knees and took my hands in his. He asked me a few questions. Do you want to be happy with me the rest of your life? Do you want to start a family and have lots of kids with me? Do you want to go through all of the ups and downs of life with me? And finally, Do you want to be my wife? He asked me in English and I answered with a "¡Sí!" to every question. Then he took the ring and put it on the ring finger of my right hand. Then I took his ring out of his hand and asked him some similar questions, ending with ¿Quieres casarte conmigo? (Do you want to marry me?), and he said yes as I put the ring on his finger. It was perfect, wonderful, joyful.

Then he remembered (or I reminded him, wink wink) of me wanting to be asked in Spanish and he did it all over for me. He actually thought he had been speaking in Spanish the whole time! I love this man. And that's how we came to be engaged.

On March 5th I will be moving home to live with my family and plan the wedding. We will be celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony in early August 2012 in Minnesota. We are happy and so content with life. Thank you so much for sharing with us in our happiness. Contento, Señor, contento! 

So happy on the night of the engagement. This is after going to tell his best friend Carol, who was so excited for us.

The inside of our rings are inscribed. Andrés says God is Love and mine says the same in Spanish, Dios es Amor.

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! ;)

Gringa girls rule! We won the championship!

What we sold for Completomania

Meeting Andres' parents for the first time- I wasn't expecting that!

Beautiful scenery at the cemetery in Zapallar

At the absinthe bar for Jake's birthday. No absinthe for me though! I had to concentrate that night... on Andres!

Out dancing later on

On the couch in Lagunillas- look how cold it was!

Our last group photo together

Our first ever (and unfortunately not the last) airport goodbye

Our Love Story, Part III

In Part I you learned how we met, in Part II how we became friends, and now in Part III you'll get to hear how I bared my soul to Andres.


After a great night with friends, Andrés and completos, I saw him again two days later for our futbol taller (soccer workshop). About four chilenos came to play with us and make the teams more even and then about 10 more came two watch and make me feel nervous. When I saw Andrés was there talking with his friends I knew I wanted to go start a conversation with him but a) I didn't know what to say to him in Spanish and b) even English I didn't know what to say to him! So I ended up saying "Hola, como estas?" and that was it. We played on different teams and I halfway collided with him once, but that wasn't on purpose but rather due to my terrible futbol skills.


Now we get to more of the good part. On Friday school went super late (to about 8pm when it was supposed to end by 5pm) and the plans I had then had to be cancelled. That ended up with me walking home with John and John mentioned that he was going out with Andrés and some of his friends and he asked me if I wanted to join them. Of course I did! So I continued on home, had dinner with my host mom and got ready to go out. Andrés and the others came to pick me up in the truck at about 11pm and as I hopped in it was pretty full and there was a couple of people I didn't know. John quickly introduced me to Daniela, Andrés' sister, who I had seen before but not been introduced. And then he introduced me to Carol, whom he said was Andrés' girlfriend! It was a little heart-crushing. And even though it hurt a little bit, I thought to myself "this is good, now I can just concentrate on the my Spanish and mission work." Now, when John said this though, he had a smile so I thought maybe he was joking. So during the night I would glance at them sometimes to see if they were actually boyfriend and girlfriend. Conclusion: Undecided. They sat pretty close next to each other, but we all did, and I never saw them hold hands or anything. That Friday night we first joined about 5 other gringos at bar for beer and conversation and later we split off from them and went dancing for an hour or two.


Next comes Saturday. On Saturday I spent the day with my friend Jared's host family (they were so welcoming and fun!) and I enjoyed myself, but to be honest I was thinking about later that night when we had all made plans to go out again. It was finally night time and about 12 of us headed to Valparaiso (a city about 45 minutes away) to go dancing. Except we accidentally left two girls behind! Uh-oh. By the time they caught up with us they weren't in the mood to go dancing anymore so they went back and the remaining ten of us couldn't come to a consensus on what club to go to. So we ended up splitting into two groups and when I was asked which group I wanted to go with I (of course) said I wanted to stay with Andrés' group which consisted of: John, Andrés, his sister Daniela, our friend Daniella, and Carol, his supposed girlfriend. Except by this time I was pretty sure they were not dating. We ended up going to my favorite club called La Locomotora and I had such a good time. The night before we had danced mostly in a group but this night, while we stayed close to each other, we were kind of paired off. So guess who danced with me all night? That's right- Andrés! It was after this night that my heart was pretty much his.


Sunday came I didn't see Andrés this day. But something had happened to me. I constantly had butterflies in my stomach, I couldn't sleep very well and I didn't have much of an appetite. I've never had my body act in such a way before! Oh, being in love. These physical manifestations just deepened throughout the week. On Monday Andrés came to La Escuela after classes and ended up helping me for four hours on a project. Four hours! Just out of the kindness of his heart. On Tuesday I was invited to go to the movies (Transformers II!) with Andrés, his brother Michael, John, Daniela and Daniella. So up to this point I had seen him almost everyday for the past week, and I knew that I liked him a lot but I did not know how he felt about me. On the one hand, he gave me no signs. On the other, he was spending a lot of time with me! I mean, he had danced with me for a whole night and then had helped me one-on-one with my project.


And this brings us to Wednesday, which was a very important day for us. Starting Sunday I had been praying hardcore. In my mind and heart I was talking to God asking what I should do about this situation with Andrés. You see, I wasn't sure how he felt about me, I wanted him to make a move and I am of the persuasion that the man should do the pursuing so if he didn't make a move what should I do? I realized that it was July 22nd and we had only two weeks left. So I asked myself: If I left without saying or doing anything would I regret it? If I said something and it didn't turn out in a positive light would I be embarrassed enough to regret it the last two weeks in Chile? The answers respectively were yes and no- and so I decided to tell Andrés how I felt about him. He was worth the risk. 


Wednesday was to be the day I talked to him, but it wasn't so easy getting him alone. On Tuesday I had asked him if he would mind taking me on a tour around Concon since I hadn't had a ton of opportunity to explore the city I was living in. He said yes... but then invited others with! We were to go after school Wednesday in between classes and a folkloric dancing taller. Unfortunately I had to cancel because we had to do something for La Escuela instead. I was bummed because I had worked myself up into telling him and then I wasn't even going to see him. But it turns out he had been asked to come to the taller because we were short on men for dancing partners. The one dance we had together that night was the Cueca, Chile's national dance. I sucked at it! It was interesting making a fool of myself in front of him with his national dance yet I had fun with it. After the taller, even though it was already 10:30pm, Andrés asked me if I still wanted to go on my tour- he would take me driving. I said "yes!" and thought this was my opportunity but then again he invited John to go. John said no because I had asked his advice earlier in the day about this whole situation. While I got my stuff together I guess Andrés kept asking John to go and finally John told him that I wanted some alone time to talk to him. So John was out of the picture but then another friend, Laura, stepped in. She heard us talking and said she wanted to go too! Again, my alone time with Andrés was shot down.


Andrés took us on our tour and it was interesting but I wasn't very into it by that point. I had let Laura sit in the front seat because I had pretty much given up. While I sat in the backseat I think I only said a couple of words the whole time and I was praying saying, "Lord, if you want this to happen, it's up to You. If he drops Laura off first, I'll tell him. But if he drops me off first I'm not going to tell him ever." Well, God worked his little miracle and Andrés dropped Laura off first. As soon as I had climbed into the front seat and shut the door he turned to me and said "So John says you have something to tell me." I was shocked! And I knew that this was it. I told him first that I really grateful for all the times he had helped me (Colmo, school project, dancing) and that I was thankful to God for having met him and his friendship- then I told him that I liked him first in Spanish and then in English so that he would know that I knew what I was saying.


Now it was his turn to be surprised! I mean, who wouldn't be surprised when someone says something like this to them, but it was a double shock because when John had told him I wanted to talk with him he had assumed I was angry with him- but it was exactly the opposite! We ended up talking for about an hour and he started off by saying how great (and full of surprises) I was but he never said how he felt about me. I was wondering, is this the gentle let down or is he saying this because he feels the same? Well by the end we had worked out that we wanted to keep getting to know each other and we'd take it from there. I was content with that and happy that he hadn't laughed in my face. I went home that night in a good mood and yet I still couldn't sleep! My goodness.


Coming up in the fourth and possibly final post find out how we went from "I like you" to dating!

Warm-up for futbol

Friday night having fun with John and Daniella

Good memories

The girls learning their part of a folkloric dance

La Cueca- thankfully I'm hidden and you can't see how bad I was. Instead you can see how great Kayla and John were!

Our Love Story, Part II

As I look back on this post after writing most of it, I don't want to write under false pretenses anymore. Consider yourself fair-warned/forewarned that these posts about how we started dating are going to be longer than normal. You can just skim through them or skip over them, but I don't want to leave out details that are special to us! Thanks for understanding. :)


In Part I of our story I left off with our night at El Huevo and Andrés not wanting to dance with me. Well, as I said, we left the club at around 4:30 I didn't get home until about 6:30am. I got a little bit of sleep but then I got up and was excited to go... because I was getting a tattoo!!! I mean, who doesn't go to a foreign country to get their first tattoo? It turns out that seven of us got tattoos together that day (a few weeks later two of the seven got another one and one other gringo got his first. I guess it's true what they say about tattoos being addictive), which just happened to be the 4th of July. It was my way to celebrate my independence! John was one of the gringos to get a tattoo and when he got home he showed it to Andrés and told him the names of the seven of us who all got tattoos. Andrés has since told me that although he's not a big fan of tattoos, he was super surprised (in a good way) that I was one of the gringas who got one. It's one of the things that made me stand out in his mind.


Our next big opportunity to spend time together and really where we got to know one another was a week later on our one-day mission to Colmo. La Escuela is not your average immersion school, rather it was a Catholic school for those of us who needed to learn the language to do missions in a foreign country or to do ministry with the millions of Hispanics in our own country. And so not only were we immersed in the language but also the culture and the Hispanic way of being Catholic. During our six weeks in Chile we went on two missions to learn how to do them the Hispanic way- the first mission was for one day in a little town of Colmo and the second was for five days in a little town called Lagunillas. The mission to Colmo happened when we had been there for about two weeks. For the mission we went door-to-door evangelizing! Oh my goodness, that took a lot of courage, not only to walk up to a stranger and say "Hey, I'm a Catholic missionary, can I share a Scripture passage with you?" but also to do it in Spanish!


They split us gringos into groups of two and then put a native Chilean with each one of us. I was placed in a group with my close friend Stephanie and then Andrés joined us as our native speaker. Stephanie already had a pretty good handle on Spanish but she wasn't feeling too well that day and so Andrés did most the speaking to la gente (the people) and then I got to read from the Bible! I was so excited that he made sure I got to participate even though my Spanish was pretty bad at that point and seeing the Holy Spirit work through this guy who I had thought was shy but was now willingly extroverting himself to share God's love with others was amazing. I actually wrote in my journal that he was a rock star that day, hehe. Also, as we would walk from house to house, which usually took a few minutes since we were in the country-side, he seemed really interested in getting to know me. He asked me where I was from, what the land was like, what I did for work, etc. And he was very kind to explain words to me I didn't know and to speak slowly so I could understand. It was this day that I started to develop a crush on Andrés.


We did the door-to-door in the afternoon and then we had the evening to hang-out, eat dinner, have a prayer service and then play around with the guitars and practice music. During this time I paid a little extra attention to Andrés but at the same time I was telling myself to NOT DO IT! I mean it was just a little crush at this point but I kept reminding myself that I was there to learn Spanish and be a missionary and not to find a boyfriend. But I guess my heart would just not listen to my head.


Our time in Colmo took up Saturday and Sunday and then Monday we had only a couple of hours of school in the afternoon so we could relax (also, I think half the teachers were sick).  After getting out of school early I went to the sand dunes on the edge of Concon with John and my friend Kayla and then we went to the market in neighboring Viña del Mar for a little bit and then afterwards to a prayer service in Reñaca. It was a glorious afternoon/evening which would get even better. One of the great things about hanging out with John, besides that John in and of himself is awesome, is that I would usually get to hang out with Andrés and that Andrés had a truck. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the public transportation in Chile, but at night it's nice to have a ride. After our prayer service Andrés came to pick John, Kayla, Daniel and me up and instead of going home we decided to go out for completos. Yum. My yum is half sincere, half sarcastic. You see, completos are like giant hotdogs (ok) on homemade buns (yum) slathered with avocado (yum), ketchup (ok), tomatoes (yum), sauerkraut (yum), and a HUGE amount of mayo (nasty). 


We went to the Sibaritico in Viña to get the completos and while we were waiting for them, even though I was wearing two jackets, I was freezing. Andrés, being the perfect gentleman that he was, offered me his sweater. I tried to say no at first but he insisted. On the inside I was saying "Don't accept it!" because I knew my feminine heart would be greatly effected by this gesture and it would grow my crush on him rather than help me suppress it. Anyhow, we got our completos and sat together talking. One of the guys asked me what the men in Wyoming were like. I replied something like there weren't a whole lot of good guys for me (please don't take offense Wyomingites, notice I said for me). Well then John says something similar to "Here's one sitting right in front of you" while pointing to Andrés. As I write this, I'm starting to think that John was possibly the mastermind matchmaker behind all of this...


In post number three learn how we picked up the pace when I realized we only had two weeks left together and how I confessed my undying love (or something like that) to Andrés.

Grimace of pain during tattoo. Thankfully I had support from Jenna and Sarah- and my rosary!

Francisco and I showing off our awesome Marian tattoos.

With la gente of Colmo, after Mass.

Covert picture I took of Andres. Hehe.

View of Concon from the top of the dunes.

John and Kayla sliding down the dunes.

Having fun and freezing while waiting for completos. It's hard to believe I wasn't even seriously thinking about dating him yet.

Look at those giant mayonaise covered hot dogs. Also notice that Andres is now sweaterless. Que hombre!

Sardines squished into the truck.

*Note: I would like to say the aforementioned tattoo was well thought out on my part and not a rash decision. I had been wanting and planning to get one for awhile and to do it in Chile seemed like a great opportunity and adventure. Plus it cost less than half of what it would in the U.S.! Win-win-win.