MSIA travel staff are currently in South America, providing MSIA Services (Innerphasings, Polarity Balances & Aura Balances) as well as MSIA events in various locations. Staff member, Angel Gibson, provides this update of days 13 through 16 of the trip:
DAY 13 – Buenos Aires
Services start at 11am today. There is a buzz of activity as we sign up for who is doing what balance, find all the translators and head for the elevators. Vincent is setting up with the able assistance of Roberto Brenlla for the Evening of Blessings Workshop. At lunch we head across the street to a little parrilla–most of us have steak and a few have chicken–and then back to the hotel. We are focused because we have 8 ordinations to do starting at 6:10pm. Since Services are due to end at 6pm, there’s no lollygagging. We take turns doing the ordinations. It is such a blessing to be in on an ordination and share the blessings that are brought forward from Spirit. And how much more wonderful to continue with the blessings theme by going afterwards into the Evening of the Blessings Workshop. Over and over John returns to the theme of finding, being grateful for and uncovering hidden blessings in our lives. The workshop ends at 10:30pm and some of us more adventurous types head out with Claudia this time to Puerto Modero–a restaurant row on the river. Many of the restaurants here are classy and trendy. Ah, this evening once again we find ourselves at Sotto Voce — Puerto Modero style. Our evening dissolves into great laughter as we find ourselves trying in many ways to convey and have delivered our food without onion and garlic. It’s amazing to see how many different ways an onion can appear in food or the oil in which the food is prepared. The saving grace is that none of the desserts have onion, so we end in joy and a sweet taste in our mouths. And it’s looking like the restaurant got a taste of a cleaning by the Traveler too. By now it’s after midnight and our little band is definitely ready to catch a later night train. Buenos noches!
DAY 14 – Buenos Aires
We have a different kind of a schedule today with a Breakfast and Q&A for Ministers and Initiates with the Traveler, followed by a full day of Services. But first there are initiations and ordinations to do. Nothing like rising and shining with initiations at 8:00am in the morning, followed by some ordinations. Then again what a way to start the day! Ani somehow gets me an espresso during our breakfast and I’m ready to go at sound log as John goes front and center to respond to the Initiates and Ministers that have come to be with the Traveler. Vincent is manning the sound board and Lesley and Celia take turns behind the camera. I’m tickled at how the girls have stepped forward to do camera–a new era for us travel staff. No matter how many times there is a question and answer event, the questions always seem to bring forward yet another way to get to us the message to love ourselves and others no matter what. John goes from the Q&A to doing a baby blessing while staff is packing up the equipment. And soon it’s 2pm and our Services day starts. We take a meal break around 5pm and head down the block to dine. Just going outside is a nice break though it’s over in a flash. Services end at 9pm and some of us are undaunted by the length of this day and are wanting to experience more of Buenos Aires’ dining treasures. Claudia takes us to the Palacio du Hau at the Hyatt. This is a beautiful old mansion that has been restored and enhanced and houses the Hyatt hotel. We walk through the mansion, down the garden stairs into a lovely dining room. The food matches the tasteful decor. Claudia educates us in some of the history of society in Buenos Aires. Claudia appears on several TV talk shows during the week–she’s a celebrity, so it’s fun to notice her natural glow and beauty being recognized by people as we go with her around town. Well, though the evening’s meal seems to be over quickly it is well after midnight and once again I’m reminded how Buenos Aires seems to come alive right around midnight. But for us, it is time to retire to a few emails and bed.
DAY 15 – Still in Buenos Aires
Today is our last full day in Buenos Aires. From morning through the evening we are doing initiations, Services and more initiations. As a special treat we go for lunch at Elsa’s favorite restaurant to celebrate her birthday. It is a few blocks walk and on the way we pass the Israeli center that was bombed. Light is placed. I notice how lovely the purple jacaranda and soft green trees are; the varying architecture lends such grace to this city. Lunch is a little riotous. Delicious food yet we have about 30 minutes in which to eat it. We thank our hosts and chefs as we gulp the last of our espressos before returning to our hotel for Services. The bemused look on the waiters faces makes us giggle. Our day finally finishes around 9:30pm. We just find out that there are more initiations and an ordination to do before we go to the airport tomorrow. Celia and I can’t resist walking to the Recoleta. The window shopping is magnificent and though we wish we could have some more shopping time, we realize that God is sparing us having to deal with a tab that might take a lot of paychecks to balance out. We grab some Cheetos, potato chips and real cokes in bottles for a late night snack as we turn on the TV in hopes of catching a bit of Claudia on TV. Later we find out that she was only taping this evening and her show will be shown perhaps next week. We pack, do emails and finally get into bed. It’s around 3am.
DAY 16 – Finishing Buenos Aires and onto Santiago
For a special treat we return to the Palacio du Hau and have breakfast overlooking the garden. Oh, I like this kind of life, feeling the gentle wind, hearing the fountain rippling down the grassy hill to the lower part of the garden, smelling and tasting that espresso, and enjoying the sweet fellowship with our staff team and John. These are the special moments that make our staff travel so rich and rare. During breakfast, Ani collects our tickets and passports so that she can go ahead of us to the airport and check us in. We return for some final packing, do the last minute initiations and ordination and then pile into our cars, heading for the airport. Elsa, Cate and friends hug and play with us all the way to immigration waving goodbye as we go behind closed doors. We love and appreciate so much all the many ways Elsa and Cate have looked after us this trip, with Irene, Julio, Nora, Angelina, Juan and many others assisting them too. Travel days are always fun to me as we share laughs waiting in the security and immigration lines. Once on board our plane it is all we can do to stay awake and soon all of us are snoozing and/or talking with God as we fly into the clouds.
I wake up and as I look out the window I see the awesome and majestic view of the snow-capped Andes mountains as we descend into Santiago. This is one of my most favorite sights in South America. Once at the airport we glide through immigration and customs into the welcoming arms of Maria Eugenia Ducci, Jose Caraball and Paty. We are bustled into cars and within minutes are heading for the Vitacura area of Santiago. Once at our hotel we unpack and prepare to go to dinner with Maria Eugenia, Veronica Zarate and our happy band of staffers. We dine Italian-style at Da Carla with no onion and garlic, but tasty Italian food. It is fun to catch up with our Santiago family and go over logistics at this good meal for the next day’s Services and seminar. Then it’s back to the hotel, settle in, a few more emails and oh, how good bed is feeling. Hasta manana!
Click here to read Days 1 through 4 with Angel Gibson.
Click here to read Days 5 through 8 with Angel Gibson.
Click here to read Days 9 through 12 with Angel Gibson.
