Day 15 - Un dia en El Campo

Today was a public holiday, Navy Day. It Commemorates the Battle of Iquique (which is apparently a battle that Chile lost to Peru.) Sister John Marie says only in Chile would you celebrate this kind of thing. The schools are closed today and tomorrow.

The sisters decided to have a day in the country and make a trip to the Sanctuary of St. Teresa of the Andes (the first Chilean Saint). At 10am, all 8 of us piled into the car, with poor little Sr. Justin sitting on a footstool in the middle of the van’s second row (later, we figured out a way for her to share my seat with me).















The sanctuary is about 1 hour north of Santiago. It is run by the Carmelite sisters, the congregation that St. Teresa belonged to before she died. It has a beautiful chapel where you can attend mass, a small museum that tells about the life of St. Teresa, a room where you can visit the Tomb of St. Teresa and pray, and offers beautiful grounds to walk around. The sisters went to mass and I toured around the grounds. Sr. Anni joined me, and we enjoyed the beautiful views of the Andes. (I saw abrigos amarillos (yellow jackets)...actually they are really called "avispas")…and realized I didn’t have my kit in case I was stung, so I stayed away from the flowers).

There was one thing I wish I would have gotten a better picture of...it was a wall where people would leave their special thank you's to St. Teresa. There were plaques with house keys, report cards, diplomas, and family photos thanking the saint for her help. Some were home-made and others were professionally crafted. It was all really precious and shows how loved St. Teresa is here.
















After we spent some time at the sanctuary, we went to a restaurant for lunch. I had a salad of tomatoes and avocados, followed by Salmon with papas fritas. The food was good, but nothing like what I have been having at the house. Sr. Justin collected everyone’s scraps in napkins for Guaton (they don’t seem to have Doggie Bags here).














After lunch, we were headed to the house of the school psychologist Lucia. She invited me and Sr. Anni to visit her when we were at the school for the class trip. When Sr. Annie told her we were going to be on the trip to the Sanctuary, she said, “That’s near where I live.” and then when Sr. Anni said that there would be 8 of us, she said, “Great, all of you come to the house.” So that’s what we did.

We arrived around 4pm. We met Lucia’s mother, father and youngest of 5 children. She showed us around her property which included a hostel (bed and breakfast). We toured the grounds, tasted the fruits and vegetables growing in the yard, and enjoyed the beautiful quiet of the country. We had something to eat followed by coffee and cake.
















We headed back to the city around 7:30 pm and were back at the house in time for Las TeleNovellas!