ESCUELAS
Each morning we see parents taking their children to school. Several forms of transportation are used. Not pictured are the many children on scooters.
School is in session from 8:30am to 1:15pm when parents and children meet at home for the main meal of the day. School and work resume at 2:45, although, since COVID-19 many children have virtual school in the afternoons. Pre COVID, children went back to school from 2:45 to 5:30. Parents work until 6:00 or 7:00 pm when the family meets again for a light meal of juice and bread. (FYI- what they call juice, we would call nectar.) School will adjourn for a three month summer break beginning mid-December.
These parents are picking their children up from school. It gives new meaning to the ‘car pick up line’ our children navigate each day to pick up our grandchildren from school. Whether it’s a truck making a delivery or parents picking up a child from school, they park at the curb (backing up traffic for blocks), put on their emergency blinkers, and do what they need to do. No honking, no stress. Others wait patiently while parents form a long line to collect their children to go home for lunch.
FYI for our teenage grandchildren; In Chile, students are required to finish Primary School (for ages 6 to 14) after which at 17 ½ they can get a driving permit and at 18 apply for a drivers license.
Our church youth program is held on Friday nights at 8pm (as opposed to 7pm on a weeknight in the US.) Seminary (a daily scripture study class for high school students) is held from 6:00 – 7:00am like in the US. In the ward (congregation) we visited we were told that pre-COVID students ate breakfast with their teacher after class each morning before they went to school.
EMBASSIES
We found three more embassies on our morning walks this week. Cuba, Japan, and Korea – not shown.
Springtime is in full bloom here, even on rooftops.
City employees and business owners keep the sidewalks and streets clean.
ENTREPRENEUERS
We see all sorts of entrepreneurs as we travel. We purchased our blueberries and strawberries at a red light through our car window this week.
EXPEDITIONS TO HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS
On Monday we began our week with an on-site visit to Hospital Comunal in Quilpué. We toured the pediatric unit where the donation will be given. These medical facilities are so humble, and the health care providers are so proud of the work they do in them. We noticed a woman standing by a child’s bed asking him questions. As we listened and observed them interact with the objects she had placed there, we knew immediately that she was teaching him math. When we inquired, we were told that she is a full-time teacher in the pediatric unit and that in the new hospital they are building there will be a free-standing school for 20 children. What a progressive idea.
Parallel parking is a sweet spot for Élder Lamb. Speed bumps “humps” are no joke. If you don’t slow down you will take out the undercarriage of the car.
The hospital was 20 minutes from the coast, so we drove home through Viña del Mar and had lunch there at a Peruvian restaurant. The ocean was lovely!
We bookended our week with site visits and Peruvian meals. Our Friday date with Élder and Sister Lindquist was at a Peruvian restaurant down the street from our apartment. Delicious food! These pictures make it look like we are on vacation. Not shown are the hours spent in our office on the computer or making phone calls to move our humanitarian projects along. Our friends, the O’Bryant’s, told us that a mission is like a second honeymoon. It’s true- it is a blessing to be together 24/7.
Our Friday on-site visit was to Pirqué to deliver the elusive gas cylinders. It has taken us weeks to find them. We met with the director of the center and the wife of our local church leader, who volunteers there weekly along with other members of our church. The Pirqué Neighborhood Council came together to construct this building. They currently use it to make lunches for residents experiencing economic instability, focusing their efforts on children and the elderly in this rural sector in the outskirts of Santiago. At the height of COVID, neighborhood volunteers worked together to prepare and deliver lunches to 200 people every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Volunteers brought utensils from their own homes to prepare the meals. This humanitarian project provided these good people with a stove, refrigerator, and industrial size food preparation implements that will help them in their weekly service. The very name of their community, “Agrupacion Ollas Communas,” or Common Pots describes the unity that exists in this neighborhood.
ELECTIONS
We have stayed close to home this weekend as today national elections are being held and the possibility of demonstrations is high. The only evidence we have seen of the tension between the two main candidates is in the large flags hanging out of cars honking their horns promoting land rights equity for the indigenous Machupe people. Byron and Kathy Dare (Debbie’s brother and sister-law) are sending us English news articles about the political climate here. We are grateful for their connections and knowledge that keep us informed and safe.
During this Thanksgiving week, we feel grateful for good people all over the world who do their small part each day to make the neighborhoods they live in better places.
With love, Élder and Sister Lamb (aka Ed & Debbie, Mom & Dad, Pop Pop & Tu Tu)
Lambs in Central Europe 