Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving
from the Flinck family.

Technical Difficulties....

Please forgive our lack of posting on the blog in the last few weeks. We have been experiencing some serious technical failures with both of our laptops. We have purchased a new laptop and we hope to have it up an running during the first week in Dec. We have much to catch you up on with the ministry here in Temuco, so come back again soon to read those posts.

In the meantime, please keep the following in prayer:

*The end of the BI school year. There are several BI events during the next three weeks that David (and the family) will be participating. Pray that the students will finish their semester strong.

*We have some important field meetings in the next two months. Please pray for wisdom, clear direction, and sensitivity to God's will in our lives and ministries.

*Pray for our family as we are pursuing moving to a new ministry location in the early part of 2011. We will post more details about this in the coming weeks. We are excited, but we need your prayers, since the process of moving always has it's challenges and setbacks.

Oh, so THAT'S what your name is!

When I first met our neighbor, he told me his name was Pancho. I thought to myself, "Pancho? That's a weird name." A few days later, I was talking to Kristi about this "Pancho" and she told me that Pancho is the common nickname for Francisco. Who knew? I sure didn't. Then it hit me. I was going to have to learn a long list of common Chilean nicknames if I was going to continue to work towards fitting into the Chilean culture as a missionary.

What was (or is) your nickname? Most people have one that was either given to you (Red, Hot Shot, Gunner) or based on your first name (Bobby, Jimmy, Ginger, Tina, etc). Growing up, my nickname was "Flincker". What was your nickname?

Chileans LOVE to give people nicknames. Nicknames based on a person’s given name, for the most part, fall into one of three categories: 1.) “Shortened” 2.) “Younger sibling” 3.)and “Imported”

1) Shortened: These nicknames are easy to connect to their full name counterpart, since they’re usually just the first one or two syllables of the name. They may sound confusing at first to foreign ears, since male nicknames can end in “a” and female nicknames in “o”. Examples: Fran, Manu, Pau, Rafa, Seba. In the case of compound names such as Juan José or Carmen Luz, the shortened form will usually be made up of the first syllable of each component name, producing Juanjo and Calú, respectively.

2) Younger sibling: These nicknames sound vaguely like the original, though they never have more than two syllables, and they simplify complex sounds, in much the way a child learning to talk might pronounce her older sibling’s name. For example:

Jorge changed to Coke: the /j/ is replaced by the easier-to-pronounce /k/, and the adjacent /r/ is removed.

Gloria changed to Lola: the /g/ is removed from the first consonant cluster, /r/ is replaced by the easier /l/ and the diphthong /ia/ is reduced to /a/.

3) Imported: These are Anglo-sounding nicknames, like Paty and Naty

Here is a list of common name-based nicknames. As you’ll see, several have both shortened and younger-sibling forms.

Alberto: Beto
Alejandra: Ale, Jani
Alejandro: Ale, Jano
Andrés: Andy
Antonia: Anto
Carolina: Caro, Carola
Carmen Luz: Calú
Claudia: Clau
Daniela: Dani
Eduardo: Lalo
Enrique: Kike/Quique
Felipe: Pipe
Fernanda: Feña
Fernando: Feña
Francisca: Fran, Panchi
Francisco: Fran, Pancho
Gabriel: Gabo
Gabriela: Gaby
Gloria: Lola
Ignacio: Nacho
Isabel: Chabela
Jorge: Coke
José: Pepe
José Miguel: Cote
Josefina: Jose (not José)
Juan Claudio: Juancla
Juan José: Juanjo
Leonardo: Leo
Luis: Lucho
Manuel: Manu, Manolo
Manuela: Manu
María Elena: Mane, Mae
María Eugenia: Kena/Quena
María José: Coté, Jose (not José)
María Luisa: Malú
Mauricio: Mauro, Mauri
Natalia: Naty
Paola: Pao
Patricia: Paty
Patricio: Pato
Paulina: Pau
Rafael: Rafa
Rebeca: Rebe
Roxana: Chana
Sebastián: Seba
Sergio: Checho
Sofía: Chofi
Verónica: Vero

Then, of course, there are always the nicknames that come not from a person’s given name, but rather from a physical characteristic of theirs.

The most common of these are:
Chascón (needs a haircut)
Chico (short)
Chino (Asian-looking)
Flaco (skinny)
Gordo (fat)
Guatón (fat)
Pelado (bald)
Negro (dark).

These are generally pejorative terms, but always used with some kindness (con cariño). The nicknames are often assigned by peers in primary or secondary school and can never be shaken. They stick so fast to their owners that they can often be spotted in mainstream media, followed by a surname, as though they were official.

(the majority of the above information came from THIS helpful article)

Sept 18 - "El Dieciocho"

This year for the 18 of Sept (El Dieciocho"), our family traveled down to the Lican Bible Camp to celebrate Chile's 200th anniversary of their independence.

We had an enjoyable day of relaxation, food, fellowship, and some work around the camp property.

Our family, Dan & Liz's family, and a few Chileans were around the large table that day. To view the rest of the pictures from our time at camp on the 18th, click HERE.

Kid's Edition (Sept '10)

Typical scene after church...Lukas being passed around and hugged by church members

Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee participating in a SS class skit
about King Solomon and the two mothers.

Lukas playing with firewood.

Lukas at camp.

Kaylee at camp.

Benji playing at camp.

Jordan swinging at camp.

Uncle Danny giving "the cousins" a ride.

Ben turned 8 on Sept. 27th.