Priceless by Kenny Varner

Priceless…by Kenny Varner

Flight to Chile - $1600

Princess hat - $5

Knowing all the students are with great families and settled in - PRICELESS

Today was a priceless day.  14 of our 15 students started their first full day with the families.  Ken and I started the day with an hour long walk through a new part of the city we had not yet discovered.  We passed bakeries, hospitals, funeral homes grocery stores, and other interesting places.  Before we went to the airport to pick up Samantha, who was supposed to arrive at 1:30, we found out the flight from Dallas was delayed and so she missed her connection.  Luckily a friendly man in Santiago helped her get on a flight that arrived at 3:00.  Before we went to pick up Samantha we drove behind Jordan’s family to Santa Juana (we think) and had a pretty drive.  We then met Samantha at the airport and gave her a crown we bought at the local grocery store where we wrote “Travel Queen” on it, to honor her seemingly endless journey. Samantha’s family is AWESOME!  They were very worried for her, and as soon as she came out from the luggage area they told her “ya estas en casa” (now you are home), which was very sweet.  We know that she will be taken good care of during her stay.  After the airport, with everyone at their families homes, the three of us went to Lenga, a town on a bay near Concepcion that feeds into the Pacific.  The town is known for their seafood empanadas, and these did not disappoint.  We had seafood, abalone, shrimp, crab, and cheese empanadas with pevre, which is a salsa like relish made with lots of onion, cilantro, garlic, a few tomatoes and vinegar (maybe some oil too – I am sure I will get the exact recipe again).  The empanadas were DELICIOUS.  After the empanadas, we watched the sun set on the Pacific and then headed back home, where we are writing this blog post.  Tomorrow will be the first day at the school and we are very excited.  We will add pictures from today when we have a good stable internet connection.  Hasta mañana! 

Gorgeous sunset near Lenga, Chile