A trip to Coyhaique for Christmas and New Years

We recently took a very relaxing and beautiful trip down to southern Chile. We went with Rafa’s parents, Rafael and Nancy, along with his sister Fernanda. We flew down to Coyhaique to spend Christmas and New Years with Yenny and her husband Fabián. What a place to live. There are craggy mountains all around, sheep and cow farms, and fields replete of lupines and daisies. Close to town you run into waterfalls, more lush mountains capped with snow, and clear flowing rivers. The temperatures were a frigid and such a shock coming from 90 degree Santiago weather, but supposedly more like a U.S. Christmas.

It was the first Christmas for Jasmyn away from home in California which was sad at first, but the time with family in the south ended up being filled with love and laughter. For Christmas Eve we went to services in the morning where the children dressed up as the characters in the story of Jesus’ birth, the sheep were adorable. Jasmyn had never seen this type of skit live, but in the movies they always show churches celebrating Christmas by presenting its history through the small children. And we sung many Christmas carols and hymns. It was so joyful. In the evening had a turkey dinner, opened presents around the miniature tree and then topped it all with chocolate fondue! As early in the morning came to pass we drove to another family in town’s home where we ate more, talked, and drank “cola de mono” which is a traditional coffee flavored alcoholic drink during the Christmas holidays.

For Christmas day, Yenny and Fabian’s church had a bbq out in the country. They roasted lamb on metal stakes over a fire and everyone brought their own side dishes. Wow, it was delicious! Rafa and Jasmyn had never eaten lamb that way, but it is a traditional style in Chile. The picnic ground was right next to a river and fields of lupines. We took some boys out exploring through the woods and alongside the river. Come to find out later, they were orphans, part of a group from the home in town who were brought by a woman at the church. We immediately wanted to take them home with us, they were dear and they obviously loved our attention.

After Christmas, we took advantage of being in such amazing countryside to rent a 4 wheel drive truck and drive the dirt and gravel roads further south to towns like Cochrane, Chacabuco, Puerto Tranquilo, and Tortel. Below are photos to tell all.

For New Years Eve we had a late meal of fish and potatoes and waited to ring in 2007 with a champagne & pineapple ice-cream toast. The fireworks on the TV were amazing. Apparently, the coastline extending 22 km from Valparaiso to Con-con was snaked with waterfront fireworks for all to see.

It was fun to see Fabian and Rafa’s other older sister Yenny in their home. They are just as newly wed as us, marrying in September 2005, and it was great to spend the holidays with them and see the amazing region they live in.

Fernanda received a doll for Christmas and carried her around everywhere afterwards. The doll could cry and giggle. We told her it was good practice for when her nieces and nephews come. She is constantly asking and Yenny and I when? J Rafa and I are planning to wait until he finishes the university, so about 2-3 years from now, God willing.

One of the neatest stories of our trip, a lesson in the answer of simple prayers:
During the first few days of our trip, Rafael had lost his reading glasses. We looked everywhere in the apartment and even asked in a restaurant we ate in. They had disappeared. Rafael said that the night before our last full day in Coyhaique, during his prayers, he finally mentioned the lost glasses to God. It seemed that they had to be somewhere, but maybe only He knew where. The next morning, his wife Nancy who loves and collects plants for her gardens at home, had an urgency inside to leave the house and dig up some lupines alongside the highway. Coming back with an armful of lupines she came with a glowing smile. She had discovered the lost glasses in their case exactly where she went to dig out the lupines! How glorious. It gave everyone goosebumps. Rafael said that it was more than the glasses that God wanted to communicate, it was his faithfulness to prayers. We should be careful what we pray for because God is listening always.

Our next update should be on our trip to Chiloé. Tomorrow we leave for two weeks for the summer project in the dental school of Rafa’s university.