Celebrating 47 Years of Marriage

December 27th was our wedding anniversary. To celebrate ,we decided to get out on the town without any Spanish speakers as companions. It is always an adventure to go sight seeing in Santiago but even more so when you have so little Spanish that you know you won't be really understood or really understand anywhere to go. But we went anyway and had a great time.

We took a bus and then the subway to the Aviation Plaza which features this amazing fountain. It is operated with over 100 water pumps. It was exhilarating to watch the tremendous water show that it is. We went in the early evening before sundown and noticed that a large group of youth with dyed black hair, face jewelry and black clothing were congregating in large numbers. There was also a large number of police officers. So we decided not to stay after sunset to see the fountain lit for nite. We will return on a week night with a group of friends for safety. We did see many examples of PDA (public displays of affection). This is very common in Chile and seems strange to us North Americans but any place is a place for love in this country. We have even seen a couple kissing very warmly in church! If you want a better view of this behavior just click on the picture and it will enlarge it for you!!

We don't want you to think that this is all the young people do so we have included some picture of kids in the same park doing gymnastic tricks. You see lots of gymnastic teams doing tricks during the red lights at busy intersections. They then run among the cars collecting donations.

Interestingly, there was a couple lying on the grass almost in the middle of these athletes entwined in each others arms as if they

were alone. Oh well, I guess in a city of 7 million you just get use to crowds.

I have included two pictures of street dogs. They are a curious breed. They are everywhere in Santiago. The strange thing is that you never see a puppy or even a toddler dog anywhere.
We wonder where they keep their babies. They are so smart that
they always seem to cross streets with the light and they are always aloof of people. Never rude. You never touch or talk to a street dog however. You ignore them if you can and watch where you step. They all appear fairly healthy but a little dirty and rough.

The fountain and park are adjacent to the Mapocho River which runs out of the Andes chocolate brown. The bridge you see is as steep as it looks and takes some energy to climb. It is for pedestrians only. You get a great view of the park and the city and the mountains.

The blue bell flowers grow on a lacey leafed tree here that blooms in spring and early summer. I don't know that name so my son in law has to look it up and tell us all about it.

The first day of our celebration is complete but tomorrow the fun will continue.

Christmas has come to Santiago quietly for us who are serving missions. We have not worried about meal preparations, shopping, gift wrapping or holiday parties. Our focus has been more on staying focused on our individual missions. That is difficult as we think about all that lovely snow in Idaho and all those loved ones having festivities without us. But it is also comforting as we hear their plans that include taking care of each other in our absence.

Christmas in Chile is a religious celebration. There is no controversy here about the political correctness of manger scenes on government property. In fact these pictures are of our municipal plaza and they certainly celebrate the birth of our Savior. On Christmas Eve at about 11 pm we walked down to this plaza to see how the locals celebrate Christmas. It was a lovely warm evening with cool breezes blowing. Families were milling around the plaza talking and laughing. Little girls were in white dresses. Vendors were selling popcorn from little carts. The children were up on the steps of the municipal building playing and sliding down the steps. The building was lit with changing colored lights at night so it would change from pink to purple and other shades of the rainbow. Beautiful light classical Christmas music was playing offerings such as the Nutcracker Ballet. The trees were all a twinkle with white lights among the lush green leaves. We sat for about an hour and loved Santiago and its happy people.

This past week Bryce has been working in the Santiago Temple welcoming young families who have been coming to be sealed together in eternal family units. I have shared that with our young missionaries who sometimes feel discouraged when people are too busy to hear about the Savior's plan for us. The church is growing in Chile again after a time of reorganization. We are happy about being a part of this growth. We are so thankful for the birth of the Savior but are even more thankful for his atoning sacrifice that makes it possible for us all to reach our divine potential.