Day 2 - Un día tranquilo en Chile (a quiet day)

I slept a little later today, around 9:30. I dressed and went to the dining room for some toast with raspberry jam (homemade) and some coffee. Sr. Justin called to see if I was awake. A few minutes later, she came to the dining room with the music teacher, Paulina to have some coffee and chat for a bit. Sr. Justin told Paulina how I enjoyed the activity last night at the men’s shelter and how I teared up when we were singing. We talked for a bit, and then Sr. Justin got out her guitar and had Paulina sing Happy Birthday to Elsa (the woman who works at the convent and prepares all the meals.


Then Paulina played some Chilean folk songs, and then she played Guantanamera (in honor of my Cuban heritage).After that, the two returned to the school. Sr. Justin said she would come for me later to take me to visit the school.

The rest of the morning I sat in the garden and studied Spanish with my Barron’s Learn Spanish the Fast and Fun Way book. Sr. Luz Irene gave me a beach chair so I could enjoy the sun. It was much sunnier and warmer today than yesterday and I was able to remove a few layers of sweaters. There was also a nice view of the Andes, but I couldn’t get a good picture of them from the grounds of the convent.

Sr. Marie Isabella came out to check on me and we reviewed a few of the exercises in the workbook (she says she wants to learn English). I brought my laptop outside and found that I got excellent wifi access (coming from the school next door.) (I get access in my room as well, but it is spotty…I have to perch the computer on top of my knees to try and get a signal.)


Sr. Justin came to get me around 12:30 to go to St. John Villa Academy to see the youngest students in “PlayGroup” and “Kinder.” They were getting ready to leave for the day, and had their Mother’s Day gifts to take home with them.



We returned to the convent in time to join the sisters for lunch (which I have now learned is the biggest meal of the day). Today’s menu was lentil soup, fried fish and rice, followed by cake and coffee. I learned that Sr. John Marie was responsible for cooking Saturday’s meal. She’s been preparing for the last 2 days and made sure she asked Elsa all she needed to know. Sr. John Marie joked that she would have to call Elsa for advice. I promised to help her and she said good, then she would be in the kitchen, and I could call Elsa.

I hung around in the yard the rest of the afternoon. And then Solange and I went for a walk around the neighborhood before Mass in the convent at 6. We continued our Spanish/English lesson from the day before. The most interesting thing we saw on the walk were the dog walkers…There were three of them in a row, with about 10 BIG dogs each. They sure like big dogs here in Chile. Solange said that people had them for security.
















We returned for Mass in the convent. Sr. Maria Isabella gave me a mass book with the day’s pages and prayers marked so I could follow along (very cute).

After mass, joined the sisters for a sandwich and coffee. And then Sr. Anni, Sr. Justin, Solange and I went to the school for some kind of "Scouts" event they were having at 8pm. It was explained to me in both Spanish and English and I am not quite sure I understand what was going on, but there was a bonfire and 100 girls dressed in costumes and they danced, sang songs and put on a show.

Here’s the video… you decide…
















Finally, I joined the Sisters in the TV room to watch las novellas.