www.thegilmours.co.uk

Rachel returns to the UK today after an Astronomy Conference in Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany. At the conference she presented her work and it seemed to be received very well, since most other presentations were either too long, over-used, under-rehearsed or poorly presented. But then these people are astronomers- woollen jumpers, leaky jeans and T-shirt types! The conference ended with a candlelit dinner held in the impressive dome room of a recently restored telescope at the University of Potsdam.

Back in Chile, is completing some website work (for our church), organising a trip with his parents in October and expecting the arrival of some friends (the Jeffers’, who normally live in Antofagasta but have come south in search of some greenery!).

We have recently confirmed our “home leave” at Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you all back in chilly England and frosty Scotland at that time!

Random… i found this documentary on Chilean TV last night.

Admittedly, it was first shown in the UK two years ago, but it was still very relevant. The spanish subtitles made it all the more interesting.

Its now over two weeks since our car arrived in Chile…. and we are still not officially allowed to drive it. The car will spend its first two weeks in solitary confinement in our garage despite flirting with freedom on the way back from the container!

Today, news arrived that the long bureaucratic chain that occurs inside the Ministry of Exterior Affairs had broken down in the last stages and the papers were rejected because they were legalised copies not originals. Of course… that doesn’t normally stop an approval. But in this case it does. Apparently we’re not magicians or mind-readers.

Once again our holiday plans are thwarted and Doug feels ready to leave Chile! Except we can’t… because the car does not have the relevant permissions to leave with us! Two words come to mind… rock and hard place. If this weren’t publicly readable i’d use a different two words.

Your prayers for magic powers would be appreciated (actually, just for our negotiator, Ivonne, who is doing a splendid job).

There isn’t much news on the job front so this will be quite short.

In Chile, it is entirely normal for HR departments to advertise a job and, after publication, to deny all knowledge of said job. They never, NEVER confirm receipt of your application and rarely still (if that is possible!), contact you to ask more questions, despite being a gringo with more qualifications than they have space for on the wall.

Thus, here is current state of applications. Pray, beg, call on your contacts or just cry.

God has a plan for me, I am sure of it, so I’m not despairing about jobs any more. In fact, I don’t really care that much now, as I’m enjoying working for La Esperanza, a christian charity working with adults with mental and physical disabilities, and I’m getting fairly regular calls to design and build websites (using the same super-flexible platform i’m using here, Wordpress) from various Chilean organisations and churches.

I’m considering enrolling on another postgraduate masters course, either here in Chile (if possible) or in the UK by distance learning. Please pray that I would have wisdom in deciding where and what course to do. I’m meeting with a professor from the Catholic University today to discuss the work of the Economics Department and to enquire about jobs.

I heard today that Cath Townsend, a faithful friend and fine flatmate from St. Andrews got engaged on her return from a 9 week nursing placement trip to Uganda!

Great news “Foxy Lady”! Hope we can speak to you soon by copper wire phone or Skype!