A giant hello to Hannah Webster's giant fan base!!!! I am very honored to have been given the task of "guest blogger" on the ever-exciting, highly humorous, and never disappointing 'traversing through chile' blogspot.

I have been in Chile for one week. My experiences have been full and colorful, meaningful and exciting, new and thought provoking, and....all in a fast, beautiful language that I, unfortunately, do not understand. It's a good thing I speak 'dance'.

The joys of my trip have been contained in many choice moments, a few of which I will recount for you here....

Hannah and I were able to catch each other up on many months of passed time in the morning sunlight on the porch of Hannah's house in Santiago. (She has several families and several houses across the Chilean landscape...none of you who know her are bewildered by such a feat, considering her nature of extreme and sometimes excess friendliness.) We drank tea and ate breakfast and sat and laughed in the sun, our feet up on the table and our eyes blissfully taking in the sights below. We felt like queens, rocking in our patio chairs, laughing, anticipating the coming day's adventures.

The adventures included day trips to surrounding areas...beautiful towns not too far from Santiago. Hannah has already told of these trips, but I must include the lasting impression the town of Valiparisio had on me. This town is full of intense color and perfectly situated houses on hills, and with skillful, thoughtful graffiti placed in unsuspecting places. I am inspired to mimic this town in my art. Oh, the colors!

Don't get me started on the handicrafts.

The prize moment of my trip so far has been the privilege of meeting Hannah's familia de Chile. These people are full of love and life and a desire to share it with anyone who crosses their doorway. Though it would be nice to speak Spanish just to know what is going on around me, I am more motivated to learn this language than ever before, just so I can communicate, learn, and relate to this family.

Last night, however, we were all speaking freely in a language commonly known as 'dance'. Everything was understood. (except for how Mata's hips can move.) I believe this language is similar to other universal languages such as music and smiles. Jorge and Lorna had been out until 8 pm or so. They came back from a long day and were sitting down to eat some dinner when Jorge heard the word 'dance' come from someone's mouth. Within minutes, Jorge had some Cuban music blaring, and the living room rugs had been pulled aside, transforming the room into a dance hall. Lorna gave Hannah and I a Salsa lesson, and we proceeded to have a full-on dance party for nearly an hour before we all ran out of steam and remembered our dinner.

Muy bacan! (cool)

Sincerely, Kristin