Allan and I went to Vina Del Mar, Chile for about a week and a half from December 15th to December 24th. Allan served his mission there and finally got to go back 6 years after. We went with a companion of his, Brandon Lott and Tiffany, Brandon's wife. We stayed in a hotel right off of the coast. It was so much fun but also a very busy vacation. We traveled all over to see some sights, friends and to visit Allan's and Brandon's areas from the mission. Fortunately, we had some time to spend at the beach too. There were about 5 significant earthquakes and about 10 little aftershocks while we were there which was fun at first but after the 2nd one, we were really scared and anxious about a huge one hitting. According to the Chilenos, a huge devastating earthquake is supposed to happen anytime and is overdue 10 years. We rode the buses everywhere and walked the rest of the time. All in all, Chile was lots of fun but also was a reminder of just how blessed we truly are to live in the country we live in and to have the things we have like cars, houses, hot water, jobs, and italian, chinese and mexican food, etc.
Companions Again! Allan and Brandon got to go back to the area where they were companions during their mission. We went to their ward's sacrament and then afterwards, we walked around to see some of their friends. They were in their white shirts and ties again so it was really cute to see them walking through the streets of their old area.
My Chilena Companion! I got to see my favorite comp from my mission, Soledad Araya who lives in Santiago. She is so great!
We went to the little pueblo where Gabriela Mistral was born and raised. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her poetry. Allan studied a lot of her work for one of his majors, Spanish.
This a picture we actually took with our camera through a telescope. We went to an observatory and learned a lot about the stars, constellations, and galaxies. It was cool.
The Catholic church built this really really big cross in the middle of a really poor area. It's actually kind of sad because the people talk about how with the money they spent on the cross they could have built a hospital or a school or something more useful. We took an elevator to the top which was about 20 or more stories.
We spent a lot of time in the buses traveling from place to place or just going to the beach or going shopping. Public transportation is a lot of fun...It was nice to go back to driving our own cars at home.
This was the cutest little kid. We brought some things to give away to the kids and the members and we gave this kid a backpack filled with school supplies. He loved it! It was so cool to see the look on his face.
This is the Vera Family, some good friends of Allan from his mission. We ate breakfast one morning with them and then we went to the beach together. They are very nice and hardworking people.
