DAYS “ALONE” IN PICHILEMU

 ¡Hola! 🦋

Since Friday evening, April 12, I have been staying at Residencial YUTTY, and my schedule has been much slower than when the team was here, which is good because I haven’t been feeling well physically.

Some rooms have ocean views, but mine doesn’t 

These shots are the view from my room

This is the view from the front yard

Residencial “Yutty”

This shot is taken from the beach. Yutty is the bright blue building. 

Super close to the beach La Caletilla. Notice how dark the sand is in Pichilemu!

On Friday evening, I had tea with Ruth and her mom, and went to bed around 10:30. 

Saturday morning I got up around 9:00 and had breakfast. Then I went to the Feria (Farmer’s Market) with Ruth and her mom. There we ran into Ludy, who is the sister of Gladys, who worked for us as a housekeeper in the ‘90s, starting when she was in high school. I asked Ludy to tell Gladys I was here.

This Farmer’s Market is huge! There was nothing like this when we lived in Pichilemu.

Pet supplies. When we lived here, they didn't even sell dog food!

Giving flu shots

Selling cochayuyo - seaweed, kelp

This is as close as you get to pumpkin, but much more dense, and sold by the chunk

pantuflas

When we got home from the feria I went back to bed. Ruth called me from downstairs at 4:00, telling me that Gladys was here to see me. We had a nice visit, and Gladys invited us to visit her church the next day. Her husband (who was not a believer when they married), has been pastoring the Evangelical church Nuevo Pacto (New Covenant) church for 2 years, and the service she was inviting us to was a special service to celebrate the second anniversary of the church, with a lunch afterwards. Ruth is very close with Gladys and Ludy, as they have supported each other through very difficult times in each others’ families.

After Gladys left, I watched Bryan Smith’s Celebration of Life service on Facebook before I took another nap!

On Sunday Ruth and I went to Nuevo Pacto. We enjoyed the service, where all 15 people in attendance, including the two of us, were invited to share and greet the congregation. (Not a short service!) The lunch afterward was abundant and delicious!

This is Gladys’s family, minus their daughter Anita, who is in college in Rancagua. 

Her sons are Israel and Hans, and her husband is Marcelo

Gladys’s sister Lydia, brother Nehemias, Gladys, and her papá

 in their corner store Las Araucarias

When I got home from church and lunch (at 4 p.m!) I took another nap! Then Ruth called me down around 7 p.m. for a special onces celebrating the third birthday of her grandson Samuel, son of Andrés. (If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember that Andrés preached at El Faro, the church I attended the previous Sunday at Pura Vida. He was 10 years old when he came to Pichilemu, and we played a big role in his spiritual development. He now has 4 sons with another child coming soon.)

Pedro (with balloon), Gabriel, Samuel, and José

Tuesday, April 15 (¼ of the way through my whole trip):

I got up very late. The siren rang while I was having morning tea, announcing it was noon! I took the morning easy but went out for a walk on the beach later to enjoy the beautiful, warm day and soak up some Vitamin D, hoping that would help cure my cold.

Yes, they are building houses all along the coast, just like California!

Even though tsunamis have occurred here.

Surfers waiting for a set

Dogs everywhere and no owners in sight

I ran into Jessica Anderson as I was walking back up to the road, but I forgot to take a picture of her. That was the first time I’d seen her on this trip.

When I got back to Yutty’s, Gladys and her sister Ludy were there for tea time. Ruth and I enjoyed another long visit with them.