Mi Hoger Chileno (my Chilean home)

South America. Chile. Santiago. Las Condes. Avenido Luxumburgo. Little three story house with the yellow statue head of Mary by the front door. Up the little stairs, around the corner past the painting of the two horses, second story landing, first little bedroom on your right...mi cuarto!

It is finally begining to feel familiar to wake up here, in my little bed, in my little room. Up the next flight of stairs Kristina and Femi each have a little room too - what a blessing to each have a room to make our own! My things are in the closet, my painting of Mary out on my desk, my books staced beneath, my guitar in the corner...yes I am settling in. I wake up each morning, all cozy with the dark curtains drawn, to the sounds of my host mother, Maria Teresa, talking on the phone a few rooms over, and Irma, the live-in housekeeper, vacuuming the stairs. I couldn't have been welcomed into a kinder home. Ma. Teresa raised three boys, and now she says we are her three little girls, her preciosas. She likes the sound of our laughter and incessant chatter, haha, which is a good thing! She is witty and sharp, precious and generous, and like a good mother makes sure we keep our rooms orderly and don't waste electricity, haha. Irma is quite precious too, she is small and energetic, and laughs constantly...especially when I ask funny questions about how to use the oven, and translate words for her to English. I think the word onion made her laugh the most.

Our home is in a pretty quiet neighborhood. It has safe little streets covered in vines and trees, and a little park with a gravel path and playground. In just five minutes we can walk to Lider, a grocery store, and in a few more we are at a mall.

But the best treasure of our neighborhood is surely the Schoenstatt shrine that lies just around the corner of the block from our house. It is a Marian shrine, one among many and a place of grace. It is the heart of the international Catholic movement called Schoenstatt, that has spread from its birthplace in Schoenstatt, Germany across the world...igniting hearts, uniting youth, families and young adults in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Chile, and countless countries...until finding me in Austin, Texas. In the past year, it has found the way into my home, into my heart. It has been a vital stream of spiritual growth, comfort, challenges and renewal in my life, and surely an everpresent undercurrent in the stream of circumstances that brought me here, now, to live.

It is something entirely different to have been to the shrine in Texas, to live in this spirituality in Texas, and then to travel thousands of miles and find the same home.

We have visited the shrine every day, and almost each time are welcomed by someone new. A friend of ours took us to another shrine in the city, the very first in Chile, built around WWII. There we were welcomed by two more new friends with a lovely tea! But here teas are´t just a cup of something yummy to drink...but plates and plates of little goodies, yogurts, breads and jellies, all set up in the most classy fashion so that you begin to think you walked onto the set of Pride and Prejudice (haha except that instead of proper British English, you hear a mix of Chilean spanish, Spanglish, English, and tons of emphatic hand guestures!).

So even in the midst of the new, even as I am aware of being a total foreigner, even when many, many, things are strange...there is a deeper sense of continuity which reassures my wandering feet, and urges my flighty thoughts to rest, to wait and to be open to the home He is making for me here.