al dedo

well, it´s been quite a trip this past week and a half. Tom and i have hitched from Santa Ines all the way down to Temuco, where we currently are spending a couple days. rides in the back of pickup trucks, squished in backseats, beds of vans with music blaring, an old man, several couples, a man selling bread, couple students, and more to count. we have been so blessed in these people as many have told us things to watch for when hitching, and my spanish has been surprisingly good, able to carry conversation for the car rides, ask pretty much what i want, get most of the jokes, interpret some for Tom.
san fernando, curico, linares, past talca, villa alegre, chillan, concepcion, talcahuano, lota, laraquete, cañate, argol, parque nacional nahuelbuta, and now temuco. plus some ground in between. many beautiful places and beautiful ppl. each day seems like a week in itself. it is amazing the contrast in location that can take place in only a few hours, or few days. it is not something that can be reduced to words, and i won´t try to here.

Tom and I have become fast friends, and have realized how rediculous the odds are of finding such good traveling companions on a farm in the middle of nowhere Chile. for me it is an answer to prayers. we are good for each other and i believe are helping each other in a process of life that is important, important for growing and reaching, believing and trusting. it is beautiful and i am blessed to be a part of this.

the future holds another farm next, near Temuco, near a town called Melipueco, with some friends i met on the first farm. nestled between two national parques and volcanoes, i don´t know what to expect but am sure it will be beautiful. i´ll see what comes my way, how long i´ll stay before heading further south.

i also am understanding the importance of relationships back home, their strength and significance in my life, and how much a part of me they are. family, friends, and loved ones, it would be foolish of me to think i could leave that behind in another place. i am very much a part of something special, and i know this more as i am separated from it.
i am well, and continuing this process that will not end when i leave chile, and did not start when i came. it is a process of living and of taking things as they come. letting plans and expectations go as life continues to be. to be and come and go and turn, shake, rattle and roll. choices and control and learning to laugh at myself for being such a stranger in a foreign place. i am humbled everyday. and it goes on...
thanks for your thoughts and prayers, they are felt
-joshua