Finally...an update!
On a Hike to Cerro Morado...brrrr...chilly
Hello!
Wow, it has been a long time since you have heard from us. Sorry. We’ve been having too much fun with many trips and then when Jasmyn started her new job at the U.S. Embassy, she’s kept too busy after work and on the weekends to keep up on the blog.
Happy 4th of July! Jasmyn got the day off at the Embassy so she took advantage of the fact that everything was open (like the governmental agencies) on a holiday. J She hadn’t yet received back Chilean tax return money. Servicios Impuestos Internos showed her that she put 2006 on her return which was incorrect. Here in Chile you put the year in which you declare, not the year for which you are declaring. Ups. Now, that little check should be coming in.
Jasmyn’s job at the Embassy is going well. For those who didn’t hear, after 3 ½ months of unemployment, she started as Mailroom Supervisor in March at the U.S. Embassy Santiago. The atmosphere is great. Lots of events. The people are very nice and people appreciate what you do. It is fun that sometimes she doesn’t know whether to say “hello” or “hola” in the hallways though. There are many Chileans that also work amongst the American diplomats. Jasmyn says, however, that she’s developed an identity problem because in the Embassy she is not considered “American”. Usually the benefits for the “Americans” are said in reference to the American foreign service diplomats. Like the other day, when the regional doctor was in, she was not allowed to see him because she is not an “American”. ;)
Many at the Embassy encourage Jasmyn in that she has great career opportunities at the Embassy especially with an educational background, being American, being fluent in both English and Spanish, and her friendly attitude. Sometimes the idea of an expansive career conflicts with the ideals that Jasmyn has set in her mind about being a stay-home Mom if we have kids. We’ll see. She still needs to finish 1 year probationary period before she can change positions. But for now the job is fun, some days a little too slow, but those daily trips with a motor pool chauffeur to the post office to drop off and collect mail are enjoyable.
Rafa is almost done with this semester! But his finals will be hard. Usually they are distributed throughout several weeks, but next week he has finals for Wed, Thurs, and Fri for his three classes. Ouch! Please keep him in your prayers. However, after finals he has 3 weeks off! He hopes we can make it to the snow so we can go skiing. He’s never been skiing.
He has had a lot of extra time with a lighter load of classes this semester. He has done a lot to help his father improve the family business. They have more employees, a website, advisors, and also new products developing. In fact, in May, Rafa, Jasmyn and his father Rafael took a trip to California to explore product ideas, check out a machine for cutting Styrofoam, and to buy the Sears CarveWright machine. Rafa has been working diligently to create items in wood and Styrofoam with the CarveWright, now we just need to find clients and the market niche.
The trip to California in May was great! It was short, but the boys were able to get a lot done while Jasmyn bathed in the love of her family and the peace of being in her Mom’s house. We even got to spend some time with friends. We arrived on the day of J.D.’s 11th birthday which was lots of fun to be able to celebrate with him. Jasmyn jumped on the trampoline with Hannah and J.D. and went shopping with Mom. Wayne put on a great barbeque dinner like he’s known for too! The only bad part was that Jasmyn got very sick the last day there, so the flight back to Chile wasn’t so pleasant. Good thing was that the Monday following was a day off for Memorial Day so she spent the day in bed to recover.
The days this last month or more have been almost painfully cold here in Santiago. There hasn’t been very much rain because of the cold, but it sounds like it should rain tomorrow, the temperatures have been higher. But we were having days in which temperatures all day barely went above 0 Celsius which is 30 F!! We finally let ourselves turn on the heating system our apartment has. We had never used it before because the costs supposedly are very high. We’ll see what next month’s bill comes out to be.
With all the cold and no rain, the pollution in the Santiago valley has been horrible. Very bad. Most every day is on alert with vehicle restrictions. The winter last year in 2006 was neither this bad nor this cold. Jasmyn has allergies too. Must be allergic to dusts/pollution. She did get a cold back in May, but the congestion in her nose hasn’t gone away yet and there are days that her allergies really act up. Please pray for her health. They also found a mole on her back at the dermatologist which they found to be funny and want to take a biopsy of it just in case.
Our church is getting on its feet where we have a new place to rent rooms in a church for this year. We have some men’s and women’s retreats coming up and they sound exciting. Jasmyn has started back to teaching the little ones of 2&3 years old. We have a small group of other young married couples that meets in each others’ houses every Saturday. This has been such a joy for us and great to make friends and share with those in similar situations. Apart from the church we are reading books on prayer for one’s spouse. They are really good. It makes one realize how important it is to pray. It should really be a part of our list of survival needs along with water, air, refuge, food, rest….prayer.
We are still very much enjoying married life and are becoming more and more like best friends. It is great when we reconcile through miscommunications and differences; when we can support one another in each others different struggles and weaknesses.
Well, suppose that’s all for now. We will start to put in pictures for some of the trips and recent events that have passed since January until now. Thank you for all the support, prayers and emails we receive. And we love packages and cards! :)
Much love,
The Guarins (Rafa & Jas)
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom….All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your might acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Psalm 145: 3, 10-14
Wow, it has been a long time since you have heard from us. Sorry. We’ve been having too much fun with many trips and then when Jasmyn started her new job at the U.S. Embassy, she’s kept too busy after work and on the weekends to keep up on the blog.
Happy 4th of July! Jasmyn got the day off at the Embassy so she took advantage of the fact that everything was open (like the governmental agencies) on a holiday. J She hadn’t yet received back Chilean tax return money. Servicios Impuestos Internos showed her that she put 2006 on her return which was incorrect. Here in Chile you put the year in which you declare, not the year for which you are declaring. Ups. Now, that little check should be coming in.
Jasmyn’s job at the Embassy is going well. For those who didn’t hear, after 3 ½ months of unemployment, she started as Mailroom Supervisor in March at the U.S. Embassy Santiago. The atmosphere is great. Lots of events. The people are very nice and people appreciate what you do. It is fun that sometimes she doesn’t know whether to say “hello” or “hola” in the hallways though. There are many Chileans that also work amongst the American diplomats. Jasmyn says, however, that she’s developed an identity problem because in the Embassy she is not considered “American”. Usually the benefits for the “Americans” are said in reference to the American foreign service diplomats. Like the other day, when the regional doctor was in, she was not allowed to see him because she is not an “American”. ;)
Many at the Embassy encourage Jasmyn in that she has great career opportunities at the Embassy especially with an educational background, being American, being fluent in both English and Spanish, and her friendly attitude. Sometimes the idea of an expansive career conflicts with the ideals that Jasmyn has set in her mind about being a stay-home Mom if we have kids. We’ll see. She still needs to finish 1 year probationary period before she can change positions. But for now the job is fun, some days a little too slow, but those daily trips with a motor pool chauffeur to the post office to drop off and collect mail are enjoyable.
Rafa is almost done with this semester! But his finals will be hard. Usually they are distributed throughout several weeks, but next week he has finals for Wed, Thurs, and Fri for his three classes. Ouch! Please keep him in your prayers. However, after finals he has 3 weeks off! He hopes we can make it to the snow so we can go skiing. He’s never been skiing.
He has had a lot of extra time with a lighter load of classes this semester. He has done a lot to help his father improve the family business. They have more employees, a website, advisors, and also new products developing. In fact, in May, Rafa, Jasmyn and his father Rafael took a trip to California to explore product ideas, check out a machine for cutting Styrofoam, and to buy the Sears CarveWright machine. Rafa has been working diligently to create items in wood and Styrofoam with the CarveWright, now we just need to find clients and the market niche.
The trip to California in May was great! It was short, but the boys were able to get a lot done while Jasmyn bathed in the love of her family and the peace of being in her Mom’s house. We even got to spend some time with friends. We arrived on the day of J.D.’s 11th birthday which was lots of fun to be able to celebrate with him. Jasmyn jumped on the trampoline with Hannah and J.D. and went shopping with Mom. Wayne put on a great barbeque dinner like he’s known for too! The only bad part was that Jasmyn got very sick the last day there, so the flight back to Chile wasn’t so pleasant. Good thing was that the Monday following was a day off for Memorial Day so she spent the day in bed to recover.
The days this last month or more have been almost painfully cold here in Santiago. There hasn’t been very much rain because of the cold, but it sounds like it should rain tomorrow, the temperatures have been higher. But we were having days in which temperatures all day barely went above 0 Celsius which is 30 F!! We finally let ourselves turn on the heating system our apartment has. We had never used it before because the costs supposedly are very high. We’ll see what next month’s bill comes out to be.
With all the cold and no rain, the pollution in the Santiago valley has been horrible. Very bad. Most every day is on alert with vehicle restrictions. The winter last year in 2006 was neither this bad nor this cold. Jasmyn has allergies too. Must be allergic to dusts/pollution. She did get a cold back in May, but the congestion in her nose hasn’t gone away yet and there are days that her allergies really act up. Please pray for her health. They also found a mole on her back at the dermatologist which they found to be funny and want to take a biopsy of it just in case.
Our church is getting on its feet where we have a new place to rent rooms in a church for this year. We have some men’s and women’s retreats coming up and they sound exciting. Jasmyn has started back to teaching the little ones of 2&3 years old. We have a small group of other young married couples that meets in each others’ houses every Saturday. This has been such a joy for us and great to make friends and share with those in similar situations. Apart from the church we are reading books on prayer for one’s spouse. They are really good. It makes one realize how important it is to pray. It should really be a part of our list of survival needs along with water, air, refuge, food, rest….prayer.
We are still very much enjoying married life and are becoming more and more like best friends. It is great when we reconcile through miscommunications and differences; when we can support one another in each others different struggles and weaknesses.
Well, suppose that’s all for now. We will start to put in pictures for some of the trips and recent events that have passed since January until now. Thank you for all the support, prayers and emails we receive. And we love packages and cards! :)
Much love,
The Guarins (Rafa & Jas)
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom….All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your might acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Psalm 145: 3, 10-14
posted by Rafael and Jasmyn | 8:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home