Although it might not be much, be thankful for what you have got.

Mauricio and I have designed our own little house for construction in Laguna Verde, a coastal town close to Valparaiso.  It is on the same plot of land as Mauricio's mother's house with a spectacular view of the mountains and close to the sea.  We have hired a maestro to make our dream a reality.  Although it will  be very small, we will finally have somewhere to call our own and I am getting excited at the thought of having something which is an amalgamation of our ideas where we can focus our love and energies.  We are going to name it hummingbird house, or casa picaflor, as we are blessed with having these beautiful visitors to our garden.

Our maestro Hugo is doing a cracking job, he lives with his older daughter and her children in Laguna, Verde but is currently staying on site in one of the spare rooms.  Mauricio and I went to drop some things off at his house the other day, and when I arrived my heart sank.  A one roomed cabin on the beach with a kitchen in the open air outside.  With a tear in my eye, I pondered, how could it be that this man is constructing something so beautiful for us, yet he has so little?  I got told by Mauricio's mum that  in his own house he sleeps on the floor as he doesn't have a bed there.  The injustice of it all is just heartbreaking.  Slowly I have got to know him, he is hardworking and extremely talented, but due to his social status he has never had opportunities to flourish.

Due to the beauty of his craft, and thanks to the neighbours that come to have a nose at the work, he has been offered other jobs after he has finished our house.  He has even mentioned that he has plans to build a house for himself.  Such happiness I felt when I heard this.  The message I want people to take from this  entry is that for one, sometimes you just have to give people a chance, and two, feel very lucky for the life that you have got.  There is no welfare here in Chile and little social housing so you have to work to make a living.  Here the Chileans will do anything, from selling fruit and vegetables to cleaning shoes and looking after your car while you go about your business.  Chileans are very proud people and we can learn a lot from them.