one hand full - and ready to depart!

the theme of today was, okay nights are over and we have some things to get done before hopping on a jet plane. It always feels good to get stuff (albeit painful stuff like bills, taxes, paperwork etc) done and out of the way. Now all I have to do is hop on the plane tomorrow! Im not packing much at all (one medium sized suitcase). I like it this way, more room to pick up local items and to focus more on the trip and the anticipation/excitement rather than lugging my whole wardrobe and personal goodies with me - I wanna get my shampoo from the same place the locals do! On another note, better to have one handful and one empty and ready to take up what God has in store - instead of having our hands full with junk that we just dont need (I heard a sermon on this yesterday and it was really convicting/and true! Wonderful Justin Schwartz gave me alot of advice tonight about my time in Santiago, since he and Kelli went last year. So I have now procured a metro card and international telephone compliments of Justin - thanks friend!

A shout out for a new Bham restaurtant - el barillo - on 2nd ave north - serves up authentic latin style food so some of us had drinks and dinner there tonight - I highly reccomend it - very hip, affordable, fresh fun! Thank you all for reading this so far - I promise to make it entertaining (well as much as I can, Im new at this!) XOXO marta

the trip becomes real

I love that feeling when you can tell a trip is really going to happen. That's the feeling I got tonight. I have been signed up for a month in Santiago, Chile for a year now, but the way residency goes, we kinda live month to month. So after sleeping the day away after my night shift, I woke up and it hit me, "Im leaving the country in a couple of days!" I will say, its hard to beat the excitement of the unknown. Yes, it can be scary but knowing nothing about the area you are about to embark on definitely brings a sense of romance and anticipation (dont worry everyone Im not going to chile to look for romance lol! ...although i wont run away from it either :-)

anyhow, the trip is only a couple of days away, Jennifer and I will be spending the month together and the residents who came to UAB this past fall are back in Santiago and it will be so fun to see them. This is my first blog and I am by no means a pro - I will try not to ramble all too much but I really want to keep all my loved ones updated on the adventures. Jennifer and I will be making regular posts and keeping yall up on our month in Santiago.