A FREE BLOG POST HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!

WOW HI SORRY I DON'T WRITE ON THIS.

But I'm here now.

I went camping. With like 35 Chileans. And 1 fellow gringa. And 1 girl from Ireland. IT WAS SO OVERWHELMING. Like I love being with large groups of Chileans and they're so great but it's just overwhelming when you can't speak Spanish (ME.) We hiked around, roasted weenies and mallows, and stayed around the campfire until 4:30 am. Some people stayed until 6am. Chileans don't sleep. Also just a side note: I'm so much more mature in Spanish because I haven't figured out how to make weenie jokes in Spanish. One day. My favorite part was the gal chat at night. All the gals sat in a circle and answered questions and shared stories and giggled together and related with each other and that's just some of the best stuff in life. HOWEVER, 90% of the camping I've done in my life has been with my best gal pals from San Luis Obispo, so this moment also made me real homesick. I shared with them how one of the things I'm most grateful for is my gal group in SLO and how it was LITERALLY JESUS who brought us all together in 2012 when we were ALL PRAYING THE SAME PRAYER for Jesus loving friends to vivir the vida with. On the way home me and 4 friends stopped at en empanada place and I was sitting there in this rickety stone building with a huge kiln cooking the empanadas and there was Latino music playing and Chilean flag banners hanging and we were all sharing a 2 liter bottle of coke with our plastic cups (v typical here) and I was just like lol I'm in Chile and moments like this don't exist in the US of A. It was grool (great and cool @claireshannon.)

Yesterday me and two friends were on the metro just chatting away when all of a sudden I looked down and some man's hand was in my backpack. Luckily I rule and essentially said "excuse me sir but why is your hand in my bag" and then he acted like he hadn't been doing anything and tried to make small talk as if he hadn't just tried to steal from me. So that was the time I almost got robbed.

Finally felt my first Chilean earthquake. They're extremely common here so I'd been waiting. But like it was only a 5 on the good ol' Richter scale. IS THAT ALL YOU GOT CHILE.

Last week I promised the break dancing crew that hangs in Plaza Italia every night that I would do push-ups all week and then come back to begin my b-girl career. Haven't done a single push-up. I can never show my face there again.

I've given 2 presentations in one of my classes since we last talked. The first on modern slavery and the second on harmful charity/giving. The more I learn about these two things the more I realize hey wow I'm extremely ignorant and hey wow I might be part of the problem. Did you know that 70% of the chocolate we eat is made by child slaves in Western Africa? Yeah, I didn't either. So like you bet your ass I'm gonna keep learning and start making changes. Like today when I went shopping because my clothes don't fit me (lol) and I opted for the shirt made in Chile over the dress made in China. If you're wondering why that's a better option, PERFECT. Let's talk about that upon my return. ALSO IF YOU'D LIKE A LIVE PRESENTATION ABOUT EITHER OF THESE TOPICS UPON MY RETURN I can give it to you in your preferred language (English/Spanish). Please send all inquires to jessicarosejansen@gmail.com.

Last weekend I spent my last night ever in Rancagua with my YL family. Very sad to say goodbye to some of my favorites but also one of the greatest nights I've had there. One of the BEST PARTS was that I got to bring my pal Bernardo with me to let him get a better look at Young Life is to see if he might want to be a part of helping at camp in January/starting YL in Santiago.  So special. Before club started Bernardo and Pablo (YL leader) taught me classic Chilean dances and it was the actual best time. My favorite place to be in the world is around a dinner table with my best gal pals but my SECOND favorite place has go to be dancing in Rancagua, Chile in the YL clubhouse. Club was awesome and I just really love everyone and then at the end they gave me a sweatshirt that THEY HAD MADE FOR ME. I've been sitting in my room wearing it and sweating because it's hot here but I love it too much to not have it on my body. Saying goodbye was real hard and sad but I know I'll be back in my lifetime. Cecilia has a room in her house ready and waiting for me so maybe I'll just drop out of Cal Poly and move there in January.

Big fan of the karaoke bars. Big big fan. You don't need to know anything more.

Me and two of my gringa pals are officially recognized at our favorite lunch lugar in La Vega (the beautifully sketchy market that I love to frequent). Our lady calls us her niñas. I WISH EVERYONE IN THE WORLD WOULD CALL ME THEIR NINA BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL SO SPECIAL AND LOVED.

It's a good thing I'm leaving in 3 weeks. Any longer and I'd have to buy new pants. #1 bread consuming country for the win. BUT LIKE I'D SIZE UP IF IT MEANT I COULD STAY HERE FOREVER.

My Irish friend Briony had a big asado (essentially a gathering of friends around an assortment of meats) at her house one night and she lives on the 27th floor of an apartment and it was at night and the entire city was lit up and it was in this moment that I remembered I live in a big ass city. Not much to tell about this night that would interest you blog readers BUT STOP BEING SO SELFISH because I'm including this section so that I can remember this night when I read these posts in 5 years because it was special to me.

Been feeling strangely homesick this week. I think it's just because I'm so close to leaving that I've really started daydreaming about holding my nieces and seeing my sister (who I haven't seen since January). But like even with this homesickness I'm so not ready to leave. Like SO NOT READY.

Christian hipsters are alive and thriving in Santiago. I went to a church on Sunday that was full of them. It was incredible.

My latino music game IS SO STRONG RIGHT NOW. I could not be more pleased and all I can think about is getting back in my car and blasting really surprising music with the windows down.

Hung with a DELIGHTFUL human this week and he told me his story. WOW Jesus is teaching me SO MUCH through him. Main lesson: God walks with hurting people through the worst imaginable situations. And then works through those same hurting people and their experiences to do incredible things later. And NO ONE is beyond reach of God's love. No one. Even when we don't even know we are ready for it. Ugh, go Jesus.

One of my best friends Julia Core and her mom Barbs Core are coming to Santiago in 5 days. There are actually no words to describe how excited I am.

This might be the most blabby unorganized non proof read post I've written yet. COOL.

IT'S MID NOVEMBER HOW

Here's just like some things that have happened these past few weeks in chronological order:

I spent Halloween weekend with my YL family. On Friday they had a mega-club for all 4 of the clubs across Rancagua. At one point there was some misunderstanding because I don't speak Spanish and I accidentally ended up with 3 other leaders performing a zumba dance in front of everyone. Also my favorite part of the whole night was making friends with a gal at club and then leaving with her to walk around her barrio to pick up her friends to come to club. Gabriel, the area director, saw it happening and thought about stopping me (idk I guess maybe gringas shouldn't walk around the sketchiest barrio in Rancagua or something like that) BUT I'M SO GLAD HE DIDN'T because we walked arm in arm and sang "Bailando" by Enrique Iglesias and now every time I hear that song I am reminded of that special special memory. On Saturday they had a celebratory 8 years of YL ministry in Chile buffet dinner at Latin America's largest casino which also turned out to be a bowling alley an arcade a small amusement park a restaurant a mall a discoteca and a five star hotel. I ate so much I hurt myself and then all of a sudden I was on a ride that was launching me up and down over and over again. Not sure why that happened. Had another one of those big "how did I get here" moments when I was eating my third plate of dessert in the middle of a table with 18 Chileans that I didn't even know existed three months ago. Life is so weird. 

Just to give you a snapshot of my weekly routine: I usually wake up around 9 everyday (YUP CHILE HAS TURNED ME INTO A LATE SLEEPER @CAROLINEDOZIER), make a fried egg and pan @lillianbussel and nescafé (can't tell you how much I miss non-instant coffee), leave for class at 10:15 in order to get to class via bus and metro by 11ish, go to class (lol study abroad though), and then I usually meet up with a pal or go dancing or do something kewl after class. So that's pretty much what Mon-Thurs usually looks like. For all 2 of you that were wondering. This week especially I've had some really special one-on-one hangouts with some very special people and I am just so thankful that we don't do this thing called LA VIDA alone. 

On Thursday night my friends in Rancagua held the first YL interest meeting here in Santiago to try and get the ball rolling on YOUNG LIFE SANTIAGO. I have never felt so privileged to attend anything in my life. To be able to be apart of the very first step in starting YL in Santiago AND being able to invite 5 of my Chilean friends to the meeting and into the Young Life story (a story that has had an incredible impact on my relationship with Jesus) was just 2 kewl 4 words. The meeting was small but the leaders here have incredible faith and I have no doubts that God's going to provide the right people to make YL happen here. So like get ready Santiago.

On Friday I spent the day in the immigration office trying to renew my visa. It was incredibly overwhelming. I walked into the building and thought OH MY GOD I'M GONNA BE HERE FOR 14 HOURS I DIDNT BRING ENOUGH WATER. But don't worry I was only there for 3. There were people from all over the world there. Literally the entire world. I was reminded once again how 100% ignorant I am of how diverse our world is. 

Friday night I performed both Spice Girl's Wannabe and Luis Fonsi's Yo No Me Doy Por Vencido in a karaoke bar. After each performance my pals were in the back corner shouting "GRINGA LOCA GRINGA LOCA GRINGA LOCA". Getting closer and closer to Latina pop stardom. 

I went on a date on Saturday. THE ONLY THING SCARIER THAN YOUR FIRST DATE IN 3 YEARS IS YOUR FIRST DATE IN 3 YEARS IN SPANISH. I think I'd be ok with waiting another 3 years before going on another one. 

And last night we made friends with street break dancers. THEY WERE THE COOLEST GENTE EVER. And they're coming to the salsateca with us tonight. 

Also. When I'm speaking English I find myself using the Spanish "ehhmmm" instead of the English "uhmmm" and I say "y" instead of "and". But I use "like" when I'm speaking Spanish. THIS IS SUCH A PROBLEM AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO STOP ANY OF IT. 

THAT'S ALL BYE

"Es muy fácil andar por el camino que lleva a la perdición, porque es un camino ancho. ¡Y mucha gente va por ese camino! Pero es muy difícil andar por el camino que lleva a la vida, porque es un camino muy angosto. Por eso, son muy pocos los que lo encuentran." 

Mateo 6:13