Bienvenido a Chile!

Well, I have arrived safely to Quillota, Chile!! After a few days of prep and training with the other WHM Intern teams in Philly and half a days' worth of traveling, I am SO excited to finally be here! I'm definitely feeling overwhelmed, but in a good way. Just from the drive to Quillota from Santiago, I can tell this country is so beautiful and has so much to teach me.

But, despite the good attitude I wanted to have this morning, something happened right off the bat that challenged my ability to maintain control of my perspective. As we walked to get our bags from baggage claim, each of us found all of our checked bags, except for - of course, my most treasured possession - my guitar. I had a feeling that it was possible that it would happen, but I had a 50-pound backpack and two other bags to carry, so I really wanted to cut down on the amount of things I had to drag through the airport. So I checked it. That was a mistake. THANKFULLY the missionaries we will be working with this summer came to pick us up and they were so encouraging and helpful, and one of them took me to find the airline's office and we spoke with someone who let me know that it is currently in Atlanta. I am so thankful that I at least know where it is! The airline is going to ship it to the mission family's house in Quillota later this week. Please be praying that it travels here safely!!

So, although that is not how I was hoping my arrival would go, the day definitely got much better from there. We went with our team back to their home and relaxed and ate lunch while we talked about, well, lots of things! We began to get to know each other and discussed the culture, the friends they've made in Quillota, and the plans for the next few days. We will be going on some excursions to Los Andes - the mountains - and Valparaiso, a coastal city, tomorrow and Friday. I cannot wait to see some more of this country's beautiful land!

After lunch, the three interns departed for their host homes. Erin, Meredith, and I are staying with different Chilean families while we're here, and these families are good friends of the mission team we're working with. I arrived at my home this afternoon and I already feel like part of the family! My brain has been going a mile a minute as I've tried to listen as quickly as I can to their Spanish and attempt, often miserably, to form some coherent response, but I've been able to communicate much better than I anticipated! I know my conversational Spanish can only get better from here on out :)

I am so incredibly grateful that so many of you are keeping me and my team in your prayers. It is so encouraging to know that so many are praying for God's work to be done here, and I am so humbled to be a part of it! If you would like to email me, my email address is laurissa.dragan@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you and how you're doing as well!

en Cristo,

Laurissa