01 April 2013

Kami Letter from Iquique Chile (dated 4/1/2013)

GmailToby Severtson <severtson@gmail.com>


Hola familia!


Kami SevertsonMon, Apr 1, 2013 at 1:13 PM
To: Toby Severtson
CHILE!!
I LOVE IT!
It´s hard for sure, but amazing! i didn´t have much time last time to write about the travels, so i´ll do a little more now. i have an hour today. so yeah, ended up not having any time in LA to call you, we had to go through a lot of security through the international part of LAX, so you were smart to have me call in SLC instead!! ;) anyways, that was a long flight. we did stop in lima for a while, which was cool too. the international flights are so cool! they had televisions on every seat, with almost anymusic, movies, games, etc you could imagine. buta s missionaries, we weren´t supposed to use them. the lady next to me kept watching shws like cinderella, tangled... so it was hard! but i slept and read ;)
we landed in Santiago and had to go through immigration and customs (btw had to use my credit card for the tax!) which took a long time again, so we missed our flight to antofagasta. luckily a member in santiago served his mission in antofagasta, so he helps mis. pres with helping us find our way ;) so we werent too lost! he helped us get a new flight and everything. remember how on the phone i said it was hard to pack because my carryon could obly be 17lbs? yeah, never NEVER did they weigh it. i could have packed SO much more!! oh well. i guess i learned what mypriorities are ;)
finally in antofagasta, like the presdient sent you pics of, we had a meeting, dinner, took pics at the ocean... then went on our way! 6hr bus ride to iquique later, i met my comp, hma garbin. she´s pretty cool. it´s hard to communicate with her sometimes. but she´s learning english too, so we help eachother. she lost her dad 3 years ago, so that´s kinda neat to share that experience with her. except her mom is less active and her dad wasn´t a member. so it´s amazing that shes here on a mission! ;)
the people here are super nice. they talk super fast, but i´m slowly startign to get the hang of it. they´re so different than i expected. the houses are reallysmall, cement, barely a door or window--small. but they all have nice cell phones and cars. apparently the cars in iquique are super cheap. most people are missing teeeth, and here up north they´re darker, not white. so there are SO many people that love me because i´m blanca and blondie. haha it´s so weird, and i don´t really like it, we walk down the street and people awww and whistle and look at me... ;P then my companion laughs and wants to keep talking to them, but it makes me uncomfortable, because they´re creepy men like 50,60,70 years old....but i odn´t know how to tell her i don´t like it. haha
i´m starting to learn spanish. i can speak, and read. and everyone tells me i have a good accent and speak really well, so that´s nice. i just can´t understand them when they tell me that! ;)
the missionaries are cool. we meet with our zone a few times a week, so that´s fun. there are a lot of latinos. but it´s cool, they´re usually a little older, because they went to school. our assistant to pres is a DOCTOR. like if we have problems, we can call him and he can write perscriptions and such. and he´s only like 25 or something.
the food here is way different. salad has no dressing, just oil, lemon juice, and salt. kinda weird. then the food is bland, lots of rice, mashed potatoes (like a half a plate stakced!), fish (eww we ate fish that still had the bones in them the other day, and apparently you´re supposed to eat thebones too..but i couldn´t. luckioly my comp eats EVERYTHING, so ate it for me!) umm... yeah. that´s about it for the foodnow. the bread is super good. we had completos today with our zone, basically a sorta chorizo hotdog, delicious bread, ketchup, chili sauce... good!
it´s super hot!! like closer to the sun. i´ll send a pic of my foot..i think it´s from teh sun. it doesn´t hurt or anything, but it´s kinda weird looking. red and splotchy. the pic was a few days ago, and it´s better today. i hope it´s nothing. and goes away soon. but if it´s not, i´ll have to call the AP ;) haha
did you get my packages i sent? keep all i sent, especially the letters i got. i wish i could have brought them with me, but i just had no weight and room..or so i thought ;)
so i`´m the first and only 19 year old here in iquique..that´s pretty cool ;)
we had a baptism!! hma garbin taught this guy (pedro) for 2 weeks, but he got baptized on saturday. and it´s sorta considered "my" baptism! ;) itw as cool, also the other day, i told her, we should talk to that guy (named manuel), she was kinda reluctant, but since i´m unable to communicate, she did. turns out, he was looking for a new church, quit smoking and drinking recently. he came to church with us yesterday, and saw the confirmation of pedro, and asked for a priesthood blessing because he can´t walk verywell. after, we asked if he wanted to be baptized, and he said yes! 13 abril! ;)
i keep typing Ñ= for a smiey on accident, because the keyboard here is different, and i´ts habit! ;)
we use taxis and walk. the taxis remid me of that game, crazy taxi, becaus the drivers here really are loco! they swerve around each other, don´t wear seatbelts, ... kinda scary. but its cfasteer.
tell everyone i´m allowed to email anyone! so can you put my email on my blog? and the mailing address is different too.. it´s in my call packet. but just have people email ;)
we´re supposed to read the whole BofM in april. americans in spanish! so i´m putting to the test the promise from pres hinckley that if we read the bofm in a diff lenguage, we´ll be fluent! ;)
churhc was cool, i was able to understand most..kinda. my mind wanders a lot when i don´t understand Ñ= lots of people wore jeans and tshirts. i had to introduce myself. luckily hma richins (the sister of the hma richins in my mtc district) is brand new too and in my same area. we share a ward. so she had to introduce herself too.
one thing i need to get used to here is the greetings. lots of kisses ;P haha it´s weird!! mostly form the women, but sometimes the men too. it´s way different from the US and i hope i get used to it soon. but not a habit, because that´s be an awkward habit in the US ;) haha
ok, well i´ll writ emore next week!
love and miss youall!!!
PS my house, my foot, some from the mtc
today eating completos
my companion and i
i think that´s it ;)

love an dmiss yaaa!!!

PPS if you think you know whats wrong with my foot, let me know ;) haha i think ti´sf rom walking and from teh sun, but i´m not sure! 
¡adios!










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