Hello everybody! I'm laying in my bed in Valparaíso, tired, sick of traveling, ready to go home, and not feeling so hot (cuban food in Chile = not a good idea). But, I realized I haven't written in a while, my promise to write once a week has been broken, I'm sorry. Once again, I suck at writing blogs. But I will try to fill you in on what has been going on for the past week!
I left Valdivia on Saturday, Cristina and Roberto brought me to the bus station where my bus to Santiago left at 930 PM. That whole day I had the weirdest anxiety. I don't know how to explain it. I FINALLY felt like I was starting to get the hang of everything in Valdi, and then I had to leave! It wasn't fair. We went out on Thursday with from friends from American Corner and had a blast. It was probably the best night out I have had here. We started at our favorite bar, the Clover, and then went to a discotec in the casino called XS to dance. It was the first time I had been to XS, and it's basically the Wayside- for you CMU folks- on steroids. Awesome. I was EXTREMELY hungover the next morning, which sucked because it was my last full day in the house, but I had an awesome night. I had to say goodbye to my maid, Marisol, on Friday afternoon, and I was so sad! She is such a nice, sweet person, makes delicious food AND cleans my room everyday, and it was sad to see her go. Or, rather me go. Anyway, that night we had a little going away party for me, with Lena and Jake and Tia Nana. Once again, Marisol made delicious food, complete with Chilean staples of empanadas and küchen, and she even threw in a special treat: hard boiled seagull eggs! :) They actually taste just like a normal egg, except mini, which makes them even better. And my host mom gave me a necklace, which is a tradition in their house to give each girl as a going away gift. It is a blue stone called lapis lazuli, the national stone of Chile. Leaving Valdivia was bittersweet. I didn't think I was going to be sad to go, but I really was. I cried at the bus station saying goodbye to Roberto and Cristina, and of the gringos, I was the only one. But I blame it on genetics, See's are criers. We can't help it. Ask my dad :p
We arrived in Santiago on Sunday morning, and stayed there until Tuesday. While in Santiago, we went to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, the highest hill in Santiago, with a view of the whole city. It was so amazing, but the view was a little obstructed because of the smog. We took a funicular to get to the top, which is basically a cart that goes up a hill on a track. And on the way up to the top is the National Zoo, so naturally, we stopped to visit! It was soooo cool!! These animals literally live on the slopes of a hill and their view is the city of Santiago and the Andes Mountains. It's unreal. We went on a tour of the city on Monday which was also amazing, because I had no idea of all the history that is in Santiago! Our tour guide, Felipe, was informative and spit when he talked, but super good. He knew every bit of historical information about the city. We got to visit the Moneda (where the president works), the Courts, Museums, and other important parts of the city, and ended our tour at the house of Pablo Neruda, the most famous Chilean poet. He has three houses in Chile, all are converted into museums, and so far we have been to two of them. Neruda was a really strange dude, he was obsessed with the ocean and modeled all of his homes to look like boats. They have low ceilings, circular windows, and you actually do feel like you are in a boat while you are there. He was also an avid collector and his homes are FILLED with off the wall stuff that he gathered throughout his life. They are awesome, and super cheap!
The past two days we have been in Valparaíso, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Santiago. Today we went to the Neruda house here, which I thought wasn't as cool as his house in Santiago, but still pretty amazing. This house is right in the middle of Valpo with views of the ocean from almost every room, but we could hardly see it because it was so cloudy today! We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, which is strange and charming. It's almost like people just plopped houses wherever they felt like it, some are on streets, some are in alleys, some are on stilts off a cliff, some are 5 levels, some are little shacks. It is seriously the most confusing place I have ever been in my whole life. And there are SOOO many houses! I don't think my pictures will do it justice. They are all different colors too, which makes the city seem very bright and artsy. Valpo also has a lot of history, and we might go on a tour if we have the time, but honestly, I am just over traveling.
I don't know how people manage to travel for months on end only living out of their backpack. We always meet backpackers in our hostels, some of them who are on a year long trip around the world, and I think they are insane! I can barely stand living out of my backpack for a week. All I want to do is have a room where there aren't 7 other people sleeping in it with me, have my own personal space, and take a bath. That would be simply amazing!
It's hard to comprehend the fact that in 5 days, I will be boarding my flight to come home. I have loved and hated Chile at the same time (mostly loved :P) but I am really a little sad about leaving. As of right now, tomorrow I will probably be counting down the hours until I can see everyone that I love. Until next time, I can't wait to see you all! And I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs, although few and far between.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
tres semanas
Three weeks left in my trip!! I cannot believe how fast time flies by. It literally seems like yesterday I was struggling to buy my very first bus ticket in Santiago, and although life is still a struggle for me all the time, things have definately started to become normal. Its weird how the definition of normal can change. Four months ago, security guards at Mcdonalds and paying to use a public bathroom (not including toilet paper) would have seemed weird to me, but now, thats my life. Stray dogs running all over the streets might seem scary in the US, but here they are pretty much considered squirrels. I never, ever, in my entire life would have eaten a plate of crudos - raw ground beef on a piece of bread with a lemon juice and a mayonnaise type sauce- but I tried it here, and honestly it wasnt that bad. This whole experience has really opened my eyes to so many different things, and I think that is something that I never would have been able to learn unless I actually lived it. Its easy to look at a book or read an article and see pictures of a place and their people and imagine their lives, but to actually be a part of a culture that is completely different than your own is really a life changing thing. Some days I struggle to understand why cut up hotdogs on anything is a sophisticated meal, or why you have to go through three lines to buy a pencil, but that is just the way of life here. I have for sure had some ups and downs in this trip. Some days I refuse to speak spanish because its just too hard, and quite simply, I dont feel like it, but other days I look around and am so thankful to be in a country as beautiful as Chile, and am so thankful to be able to say that I lived in a foreign country, basically on my own, for almost 5 months, and dont want it to end. Some days it is so cold in my bedroom that when I wake up, I can actually see my own breath. But then there are days like today, where I went to the beach and it was absolutely beautiful, and just sat and listened to the waves crashing against the rocks for an hour, went to a feria and listened to live music and ate empanadas and anticuchos, and I think that there is no place in the world quite like Chile. My trip is winding down, and its starting to freak me out. My life that I am just starting to get used to is about to do a complete 180. I am SO excited to see my family, my boyfriend and my roommates and I hope they are excited to see me too, but I feel like everything is just going to be weird for me once I get there. At least for a while. I wont have the lovely Marisol to clean my room and cook for me, and I wont constantly feel out of place, which now, is my normal. As much as I am dying to get home, I really think I am going to miss Chile.
And enough of my ranting :) I had a pretty good week here, even though it was EXTREMELY cold. Whenever I see a facebook status complaining about thunderstorms or heat I want to slap that person right in the mouth. There is a common misconception among my friends that I am basking in the hot sun of South America getting a tan while I have been down here, and I regret to inform anyone who previously thought that, that it is simply not true. For me anyway. I am pretty sure I am whiter than my sister Lauren in the dead of winter, and that is a very bold statement. If anyone reading this doesnt know her, just know this: she is a 22 year old female who uses SPF 70 all year long. Enough said.
I have been eating red meat for the past 4 days straight, not the healthiest thing in the world, and had the BEST steak of my entire life on Saturday night at a place called el Rincón Gaucho. It was 8900 pesos (about 19 dollars) for an all you can eat meat buffet, and it was sooooo delicious. If anyone ever finds themself in Southern Chile I highly recommend it. It was the best meal I have had thus far. So fresh and flavorful, they dont even give you salt or pepper or sauce or anything. Just the beef. SOOO good. I cant even get over it. Today, I also had some delicious meat from an outdoor market type thing. Its called an anticucho, basically a shishkabob (sp?), with sausage, beef, onions, and of course hotdogs :),all freshly grilled on a stick with a little chunk of bread on the top of it to soak up all the juices. Disgusting but so good.
School (or lack of school) has been interesting. There are protests and riots all over the country, so I actually havent gone for almost a week. This week probably wont be any different, I will keep you informed!
And enough of my ranting :) I had a pretty good week here, even though it was EXTREMELY cold. Whenever I see a facebook status complaining about thunderstorms or heat I want to slap that person right in the mouth. There is a common misconception among my friends that I am basking in the hot sun of South America getting a tan while I have been down here, and I regret to inform anyone who previously thought that, that it is simply not true. For me anyway. I am pretty sure I am whiter than my sister Lauren in the dead of winter, and that is a very bold statement. If anyone reading this doesnt know her, just know this: she is a 22 year old female who uses SPF 70 all year long. Enough said.
I have been eating red meat for the past 4 days straight, not the healthiest thing in the world, and had the BEST steak of my entire life on Saturday night at a place called el Rincón Gaucho. It was 8900 pesos (about 19 dollars) for an all you can eat meat buffet, and it was sooooo delicious. If anyone ever finds themself in Southern Chile I highly recommend it. It was the best meal I have had thus far. So fresh and flavorful, they dont even give you salt or pepper or sauce or anything. Just the beef. SOOO good. I cant even get over it. Today, I also had some delicious meat from an outdoor market type thing. Its called an anticucho, basically a shishkabob (sp?), with sausage, beef, onions, and of course hotdogs :),all freshly grilled on a stick with a little chunk of bread on the top of it to soak up all the juices. Disgusting but so good.
School (or lack of school) has been interesting. There are protests and riots all over the country, so I actually havent gone for almost a week. This week probably wont be any different, I will keep you informed!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Bus Rides (An Adventure in it's Own)
Our 4 part bus journey home started in Bariloche at 3:30 PM. We boarded a bus that would take us to Neuquen, Argentina, and would take 5 1/2 hours to get there. We sat down grouchy, ready to be home, and dreading the bus rides ahead. About 30 minutes into the ride, Lena, who was sitting next to me, commented on how something smelled like tuna. My nose, which has been clogged with ash for the past 5 days, didn't smell it at first. Then, I got a wiff. It smelled like death. We were both sitting there talking about it, and decided there is no way in hell anyone in their right mind would eat tuna fish in a confined space, with 50 other people around, tainting the air with that wretched smell. Jake looked behind us and confirmed the bad news. Someone indeed was eating tuna fish, and that someone happened to be a backpacker, and backpackers happen to be people who are usually smelly themselves, which made hate the tuna fish eating backpacker more than I normally would have hated him. We were grouchy to begin with, and even grouchier now. But we got over it, which lasted about an hour, until we yet again smelled something bad from the dirty men behind us. The non tuna eater joined the ranks of his gross friend when he decided to eat a salad. Salad, whatever, salad with hard boiled eggs and peppers, not ok. I hated him. And his friend. They stunk up my 5 hour bus ride.
The next bus left from Neuquen and headed to Mendoza, another city in Argentina. This was an overnight ride lasting for 11 hours. We left at 9:30 PM and arrived in Mendoza at 8:30 AM. Usually I don't mind overnight bus rides, people are usually quiet, you can get some sleep, blah blah. This ride started off well, we got some food, a large comfy chair, and a movie that WASN'T dubbed AND made after the year 2000. Score! Just as I started to drift off into my slumber, the snoring started. A few rows behind me, loud, deep, obnoxious snoring. I don't understand how people don't wake up from their own snores, especially when they sound like a cow, as the man behind me sounded. At least he got a good sleep.
Our third bus was finally going to get us to Chile. Yes, it was Santiago, but still Chile none the less. It left from Mendoza at 10:30 AM, and would arrive in Santiago at 4 PM. This pass would lead us through the Andes Mountains, which was amazingly beautiful and almost worth having to ride 1000 km out of the way just to be able to see it. This bus ride was actually the best of the 4, even though at certain points through the mountains I was sure we were going to fall off a cliff. I was sitting in the front of the bus on the second floor. One of the best seats for being able to see the landscape. It was also one of the scariest seats when we were winding down the mountains on a road that literally had 26 curves that were pretty much U-turns on the side of a cliff. Buses have to make wide turns too, so each one felt like we were going to go straight over the edge and fall to our death. But, we made it through, got to Santiago, and only had one more bus to ride.
We arrived in Santiago at 4 PM and went straight for the bus companies to find the fastest ticket out of there. Our favorite company JAC didn't have a bus leaving until 10 PM. We weren't having that. So, we went with shady shady Tur-Bus, who has a history of deadly bus crashes but also had a bus leaving in an hour. That trumped the chance of death. It was also only 16 dollars for a 12 hour bus ride. That should have been a warning sign, but we were too blinded by the thought of being home in Valdivia to care. We got on our bus, a small small crowded bus, and left. Things weren't so bad at first, but about an hour into the ride we were all sweating balls. For some reason, the assistant closed all the vents, the air conditioning wasn't on, and the bus was packed with people. The windows were fogging up from all the hot breath and carbon dioxide. I had a mild freak out. Still no air. Then, the man sitting behind Lena, who I noticed looked pretty awful, started moaning and literally sounded like he was on his death bed. People were trying to take care of him, he was laying on someone's lap. And finally, a man told the assistant who opened the window. I felt the cool air and felt relieved, but also annoyed that a man literally had to start dying for them to open a window for us. The open window lasted about 10 minutes, until 80 year old woman sitting in front of me complained about being cold. Freaking old people are always cold. I don't understand that either. So the windows shut again, the heat creeps in, some little smelly cholo from Talca comes and sits next to me, and I start dying again. I had been going on 30+ hours in a bus and was starting to lose my mind. But, somehow, with my chair that barely reclined and my mini foam pillow, I fell asleep. It lasted for maybe 30 minutes, until the old lady in front of me started dying too. She either a) had an asthma attack, b) had whooping cough or c) lung cancer. I don't know. I really honestly felt bad for her, because you could tell she was trying to be quiet, but just could NOT catch a deep breath. But it was loud. And contaminating the air along with the moaning man behind me. I felt like I needed a mask to breathe. But, FINALLY, after spending too much of my life on a bus, we got to the bus terminal in Valdivia, and I was home! I had never been so elated/relieved/excited in my life!! It was the longest trip I had ever been on.
The next bus left from Neuquen and headed to Mendoza, another city in Argentina. This was an overnight ride lasting for 11 hours. We left at 9:30 PM and arrived in Mendoza at 8:30 AM. Usually I don't mind overnight bus rides, people are usually quiet, you can get some sleep, blah blah. This ride started off well, we got some food, a large comfy chair, and a movie that WASN'T dubbed AND made after the year 2000. Score! Just as I started to drift off into my slumber, the snoring started. A few rows behind me, loud, deep, obnoxious snoring. I don't understand how people don't wake up from their own snores, especially when they sound like a cow, as the man behind me sounded. At least he got a good sleep.
Our third bus was finally going to get us to Chile. Yes, it was Santiago, but still Chile none the less. It left from Mendoza at 10:30 AM, and would arrive in Santiago at 4 PM. This pass would lead us through the Andes Mountains, which was amazingly beautiful and almost worth having to ride 1000 km out of the way just to be able to see it. This bus ride was actually the best of the 4, even though at certain points through the mountains I was sure we were going to fall off a cliff. I was sitting in the front of the bus on the second floor. One of the best seats for being able to see the landscape. It was also one of the scariest seats when we were winding down the mountains on a road that literally had 26 curves that were pretty much U-turns on the side of a cliff. Buses have to make wide turns too, so each one felt like we were going to go straight over the edge and fall to our death. But, we made it through, got to Santiago, and only had one more bus to ride.
We arrived in Santiago at 4 PM and went straight for the bus companies to find the fastest ticket out of there. Our favorite company JAC didn't have a bus leaving until 10 PM. We weren't having that. So, we went with shady shady Tur-Bus, who has a history of deadly bus crashes but also had a bus leaving in an hour. That trumped the chance of death. It was also only 16 dollars for a 12 hour bus ride. That should have been a warning sign, but we were too blinded by the thought of being home in Valdivia to care. We got on our bus, a small small crowded bus, and left. Things weren't so bad at first, but about an hour into the ride we were all sweating balls. For some reason, the assistant closed all the vents, the air conditioning wasn't on, and the bus was packed with people. The windows were fogging up from all the hot breath and carbon dioxide. I had a mild freak out. Still no air. Then, the man sitting behind Lena, who I noticed looked pretty awful, started moaning and literally sounded like he was on his death bed. People were trying to take care of him, he was laying on someone's lap. And finally, a man told the assistant who opened the window. I felt the cool air and felt relieved, but also annoyed that a man literally had to start dying for them to open a window for us. The open window lasted about 10 minutes, until 80 year old woman sitting in front of me complained about being cold. Freaking old people are always cold. I don't understand that either. So the windows shut again, the heat creeps in, some little smelly cholo from Talca comes and sits next to me, and I start dying again. I had been going on 30+ hours in a bus and was starting to lose my mind. But, somehow, with my chair that barely reclined and my mini foam pillow, I fell asleep. It lasted for maybe 30 minutes, until the old lady in front of me started dying too. She either a) had an asthma attack, b) had whooping cough or c) lung cancer. I don't know. I really honestly felt bad for her, because you could tell she was trying to be quiet, but just could NOT catch a deep breath. But it was loud. And contaminating the air along with the moaning man behind me. I felt like I needed a mask to breathe. But, FINALLY, after spending too much of my life on a bus, we got to the bus terminal in Valdivia, and I was home! I had never been so elated/relieved/excited in my life!! It was the longest trip I had ever been on.
Adventures in Argentina
Holaaaaa! :)
I am sorry to those of you who read this, I am honestly the worst blogger in the world. I always think of something else I would rather be doing than updating my life, but my life this past week has been pretty insane, and I definitely need to keep it in writing. I have also made a pact to myself to update every week until I leave!
This weekend (which turned into a full week) the other CMU students and I made the trek to the beautiful town of Bariloche, Argentina. We didn't have class on Friday and turned in our homework early for our Monday class, so we could have a full, 4 day weekend relaxing (ha) in Argentina. We bought our tickets beforehand to get there and back, so we wouldn't have to worry about buying tickets to get home while we were in Bariloche (once again, HA). We arrived on Friday and it was gorgeous. Our hostel was on top of a hill with views of the lake and mountains behind it, the sun was shining, we went shopping at an awesome craft market and got steak at a famous restaurant. All of Friday we couldn't stop talking about how much we LOVED Argentina and were so pumped for the rest of the trip.
On Saturday, we were thinking about maybe renting bikes to go riding around the city, but decided to save that for Sunday instead. We wanted to just explore the city, eat good food and relax. We ended up at a nice place for lunch that had views of the lake, and when we were done we walked down by the lake to take some photos. We noticed while we were on the beach that off in the distance it looked like it was going to rain, the clouds were really dark and looked awful. Everyone else cleared the beach, so we decided to follow. As we were walking back, I noticed that white things were falling (I originally thought they were coming from the pine trees we were walking under) and one got caught in my eye, and it stung SO badly. Me and Lena kept feeling them, and could not, for the life of us, figure out what the hell was falling from the sky. We were discussing what this weird stuff was that was falling, and I commented on how dusty my jacket was getting. When I said that, Lena finally figured it out: it was ash. At this point, we were a little curious/scared/thinking WTF and it started getting heavier and heavier. We randomly ran into some Americans on the streets, who told us that it was from Mt. Osorno (which we later found of was Volcán Puyehue) and that it was errupting, but we weren't in any danger. We got back to the hostel, turned on the news, and found out that a volcano in Chile was in fact erupting, and the wind direction had lead the ashes to Bariloche. It continued to fall all night, and when we woke up the next morning, the city looked like a giant sandbox.
As you can imagine, a town covered in ash doesn't present many opportunities for doing fun things. Our bike ride was out, kayaking-out, stores were closed, nobody was around, and we had no way to go anywhere, because the bus station and the airport were closed. We were literally trapped in Argentina. The passage way that we took to get to Bariloche was about 2 km away from the volcano, later in the week we learned that the road was covered in 60 cm of ash. The next closest passage, in San Martín, was also closed. Even the passage we ended up taking in Mendoza was closed due to a snow storm. So, we were stuck in Argentina, had nothing to do and nowhere to go. This was Sunday. Our tickets to leave were scheduled for Monday at 9 AM.
On Monday, we went to the bus station hoping that our bus wasn't canceled. It was. All buses going to Northern Argentina were canceled. Anything going to Chile was canceled. We literally went from company to company asking for buses, nearly everyone laughed and told us there was absolutely no way we were getting home. So, we went back to the hostel to try to wait it out. We were going crazy trying to think of what to do. Wait in Bariloche for the pass to open, go to Buenos Aires and hang out there (my thoughts were if we were stuck in Argentina we may as well do something fun), or try to find a way home. We deliberated for a day or so, and decided the best thing to do was get home. We had already missed three days of class, and with finals week approaching, we thought we shouldn't miss more than we had to. Plus, at this point, we were starting to hate Bariloche, and home sounded pretty amazing. We asked the bus station workers, our hostel workers (who were awesome btw), and even one of our professors what we should do. The Bariloche pass would be closed for at least 20 days. The next pass was closed, and nobody knew when it would open. The only sure pass that we knew we could go through was Mendoza, which was 1000 km north. We had to do it. We bought our tickets, and left on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 PM to start our 4 bus journey home.
I am sorry to those of you who read this, I am honestly the worst blogger in the world. I always think of something else I would rather be doing than updating my life, but my life this past week has been pretty insane, and I definitely need to keep it in writing. I have also made a pact to myself to update every week until I leave!
This weekend (which turned into a full week) the other CMU students and I made the trek to the beautiful town of Bariloche, Argentina. We didn't have class on Friday and turned in our homework early for our Monday class, so we could have a full, 4 day weekend relaxing (ha) in Argentina. We bought our tickets beforehand to get there and back, so we wouldn't have to worry about buying tickets to get home while we were in Bariloche (once again, HA). We arrived on Friday and it was gorgeous. Our hostel was on top of a hill with views of the lake and mountains behind it, the sun was shining, we went shopping at an awesome craft market and got steak at a famous restaurant. All of Friday we couldn't stop talking about how much we LOVED Argentina and were so pumped for the rest of the trip.
On Saturday, we were thinking about maybe renting bikes to go riding around the city, but decided to save that for Sunday instead. We wanted to just explore the city, eat good food and relax. We ended up at a nice place for lunch that had views of the lake, and when we were done we walked down by the lake to take some photos. We noticed while we were on the beach that off in the distance it looked like it was going to rain, the clouds were really dark and looked awful. Everyone else cleared the beach, so we decided to follow. As we were walking back, I noticed that white things were falling (I originally thought they were coming from the pine trees we were walking under) and one got caught in my eye, and it stung SO badly. Me and Lena kept feeling them, and could not, for the life of us, figure out what the hell was falling from the sky. We were discussing what this weird stuff was that was falling, and I commented on how dusty my jacket was getting. When I said that, Lena finally figured it out: it was ash. At this point, we were a little curious/scared/thinking WTF and it started getting heavier and heavier. We randomly ran into some Americans on the streets, who told us that it was from Mt. Osorno (which we later found of was Volcán Puyehue) and that it was errupting, but we weren't in any danger. We got back to the hostel, turned on the news, and found out that a volcano in Chile was in fact erupting, and the wind direction had lead the ashes to Bariloche. It continued to fall all night, and when we woke up the next morning, the city looked like a giant sandbox.
As you can imagine, a town covered in ash doesn't present many opportunities for doing fun things. Our bike ride was out, kayaking-out, stores were closed, nobody was around, and we had no way to go anywhere, because the bus station and the airport were closed. We were literally trapped in Argentina. The passage way that we took to get to Bariloche was about 2 km away from the volcano, later in the week we learned that the road was covered in 60 cm of ash. The next closest passage, in San Martín, was also closed. Even the passage we ended up taking in Mendoza was closed due to a snow storm. So, we were stuck in Argentina, had nothing to do and nowhere to go. This was Sunday. Our tickets to leave were scheduled for Monday at 9 AM.
On Monday, we went to the bus station hoping that our bus wasn't canceled. It was. All buses going to Northern Argentina were canceled. Anything going to Chile was canceled. We literally went from company to company asking for buses, nearly everyone laughed and told us there was absolutely no way we were getting home. So, we went back to the hostel to try to wait it out. We were going crazy trying to think of what to do. Wait in Bariloche for the pass to open, go to Buenos Aires and hang out there (my thoughts were if we were stuck in Argentina we may as well do something fun), or try to find a way home. We deliberated for a day or so, and decided the best thing to do was get home. We had already missed three days of class, and with finals week approaching, we thought we shouldn't miss more than we had to. Plus, at this point, we were starting to hate Bariloche, and home sounded pretty amazing. We asked the bus station workers, our hostel workers (who were awesome btw), and even one of our professors what we should do. The Bariloche pass would be closed for at least 20 days. The next pass was closed, and nobody knew when it would open. The only sure pass that we knew we could go through was Mendoza, which was 1000 km north. We had to do it. We bought our tickets, and left on Thursday afternoon at 2:30 PM to start our 4 bus journey home.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Feliz Cumple a Mi
Today is my 21st birthday!!! I have been waiting for this day to come for probably the past 4 years and happy as I am to be 21, I still feel just a little bit sad that I can't be spending it with my family and friends at home. With that being said, my host parents have been an amazing otra familia for me, and I was greeted this morning with a huge hug and present from my host mom Antonieta, she gave me a cute little hand crafted box and a flower. Our housekeeper also was excited to show me the cake she made for me, and I am excited to eat it tonight with some friends!!
The past few weeks have been amazing, and it's hard to believe that next week it will already be May, and my trip will almost be halfway done! Last week I only went to class one day, due to a cancellation, exchange student meeting, hurricane-like weather (I will explain more later), and semana santa, or Holy Week. It was a nice break not to go to class, but it really turned me off even more to going to school, which isn't so good. The hurricane blew into Valdivia on Thursday, and it was so bad that school got canceled. We actually did end up going to campus for a little bit in the morning, but with 100 km/hour winds and rain at the same time, even with rain boots and an umbrella I was soaked by the time we got there. A tree fell down over a power line around 12pm, and all of Isla Teja (where I live) was powerless until about 1030 PM that night. So me and Lena played cards until it got too dark to see and then hung out with my family for a little while.
This weekend was Easter weekend, and many Chilean families go on a mini vacation for the weekend, since there is not class or work on Friday. My family took me on a trip as well, and we stayed in a cabin in the town of Lican-Ray, which is close to Pucón. Lican-Ray is absolutely beautiful and is situated on a huge lake at the foot of a volcano, so the sand is black from the volcanic ash. There are also mountains surrounding the lake and huge waterfalls can be seen coming out of the mountains and into the lake. It's really amazing. My family took me to some thermal springs, which were amazing as well. They were basically a huge pool with naturally heated mineral water in them. I stayed in the one that was about 38 degrees Celsius, which felt so nice on my cold body, the air was freezing!! Even though I am in South America, it is really chilly! I am closer to Antarctica than the Equator so all of you who think I am relaxing in the South American jungle are very wrong :)
For my birthday today, we are heading to the Bunker, which is a restaurant/bar literally down the street from my house. They have really delicious potatoes and hamburgers, and today they have a 2x1 happy hour, which I plan on taking full advantage of!
The past few weeks have been amazing, and it's hard to believe that next week it will already be May, and my trip will almost be halfway done! Last week I only went to class one day, due to a cancellation, exchange student meeting, hurricane-like weather (I will explain more later), and semana santa, or Holy Week. It was a nice break not to go to class, but it really turned me off even more to going to school, which isn't so good. The hurricane blew into Valdivia on Thursday, and it was so bad that school got canceled. We actually did end up going to campus for a little bit in the morning, but with 100 km/hour winds and rain at the same time, even with rain boots and an umbrella I was soaked by the time we got there. A tree fell down over a power line around 12pm, and all of Isla Teja (where I live) was powerless until about 1030 PM that night. So me and Lena played cards until it got too dark to see and then hung out with my family for a little while.
This weekend was Easter weekend, and many Chilean families go on a mini vacation for the weekend, since there is not class or work on Friday. My family took me on a trip as well, and we stayed in a cabin in the town of Lican-Ray, which is close to Pucón. Lican-Ray is absolutely beautiful and is situated on a huge lake at the foot of a volcano, so the sand is black from the volcanic ash. There are also mountains surrounding the lake and huge waterfalls can be seen coming out of the mountains and into the lake. It's really amazing. My family took me to some thermal springs, which were amazing as well. They were basically a huge pool with naturally heated mineral water in them. I stayed in the one that was about 38 degrees Celsius, which felt so nice on my cold body, the air was freezing!! Even though I am in South America, it is really chilly! I am closer to Antarctica than the Equator so all of you who think I am relaxing in the South American jungle are very wrong :)
For my birthday today, we are heading to the Bunker, which is a restaurant/bar literally down the street from my house. They have really delicious potatoes and hamburgers, and today they have a 2x1 happy hour, which I plan on taking full advantage of!
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| My favorite pic from this weekend, even though it was cloudy/foggy, the lake was still beautiful! |
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunday Blues
Hi everyone! These past few weeks have been crazy/busy/lazy/fun/hungover so writing in my blog has been a bit of an issue. But, as I sit here again attempting to do my homework, writing in english sounds a lot better than analyzing a story that I have had over a week to finish, so here I am.
I have met a lot of new people in the past two weeks. We were getting our school IDs a few weeks ago and were talking to the adviser Macarena and she invited us to come get dinner with her and a few other foreign students the next day. At first we were a little hesitant, because we felt like she was inviting us because she had to, and we weren't too keen on making pity friends. But, Lena and I decided that pity friends are better than no friends, so we went, and ended up having an awesome time! We met 2 american girls from University of Wisconsin, 2 guys from the Netherlands who are here on a farming internship, a girl studying in Valpo that goes to Hope college, 2 hispanic exchange students (1 from Colombia and 1 from Mexico) and a few Chileans. After dinner we went to the bar with a few of them and had a lot of fun.
After meeting all of them we made plans to go to the local beer brewery, Kunstmann, that next weekend, which was also a lot of fun. They had traditional German food and 8 different types of beer to try, and for the most part they were awesome -except for the one that was 7% alcohol, woof! We stayed there until it closed, ended up ordering 8 columns of beer and had a great time.
During the week we are usually busy with school and other things, but on Wednesdays we like to go out to a bar at the end of my street called the Bunker, and take advantage of their 2x1 happy hour special :) Lena and I also enjoy going to the town plaza and creep on everyone, especially the high schoolers who chain smoke after school. They are the coolest. The cotton candy man is pretty interesting too.
This weekend was really beautiful, and we had originally made plans to go to a place called Corral, which has old Spanish forts that are supposed to be really cool to see. We were supposed to get there around 3, because you have to take a 30 minute ferry ride to get to Corral, but we got there too late (the Chilean way) and decided to walk around Niebla instead (which is the place where the beach is). We stumbled on a fort we didn't even know existed and went there instead for about 50 cents, and it was so cool! It has a nice little museum and great views of the ocean and river, and at a great price!
Last night our pity friends threw a party at their cabaña, which me and Jake went to-Lena stayed home like a good responsible person to start the buttload of homework that we have due this week. All the friends from La Última Frontera were there, along with 3 Chilean girls I didn't know, and a guy from France that we actually met the night before at a bar. It was a nice relaxing party, mostly sitting around the campfire drinking Cristal (the Chilean Bud Light) and chatting with everyone, and it was the first time that I actually felt like my Spanish was getting better. I had a conversation with 2 Chilean girls (alone) for about 30 minutes, and afterwords I felt awesome! They told me my Spanish was good which was really nice to hear, and made me feel more confident about my speaking abilities. It was good to know that I am actually improving and getting better, and thinking back to my first day here in Santiago, I can already say that I am 100% better from that point. And it has only been a month! :)
Things outside of school here are fantastic, but, the Sunday Blues are kicking in, and my homework is calling. Until next time!
This is one of my favorite pictures so far, these flowers are so unique and EVERYWHERE here. I love them!
I have met a lot of new people in the past two weeks. We were getting our school IDs a few weeks ago and were talking to the adviser Macarena and she invited us to come get dinner with her and a few other foreign students the next day. At first we were a little hesitant, because we felt like she was inviting us because she had to, and we weren't too keen on making pity friends. But, Lena and I decided that pity friends are better than no friends, so we went, and ended up having an awesome time! We met 2 american girls from University of Wisconsin, 2 guys from the Netherlands who are here on a farming internship, a girl studying in Valpo that goes to Hope college, 2 hispanic exchange students (1 from Colombia and 1 from Mexico) and a few Chileans. After dinner we went to the bar with a few of them and had a lot of fun.
After meeting all of them we made plans to go to the local beer brewery, Kunstmann, that next weekend, which was also a lot of fun. They had traditional German food and 8 different types of beer to try, and for the most part they were awesome -except for the one that was 7% alcohol, woof! We stayed there until it closed, ended up ordering 8 columns of beer and had a great time.
During the week we are usually busy with school and other things, but on Wednesdays we like to go out to a bar at the end of my street called the Bunker, and take advantage of their 2x1 happy hour special :) Lena and I also enjoy going to the town plaza and creep on everyone, especially the high schoolers who chain smoke after school. They are the coolest. The cotton candy man is pretty interesting too.
This weekend was really beautiful, and we had originally made plans to go to a place called Corral, which has old Spanish forts that are supposed to be really cool to see. We were supposed to get there around 3, because you have to take a 30 minute ferry ride to get to Corral, but we got there too late (the Chilean way) and decided to walk around Niebla instead (which is the place where the beach is). We stumbled on a fort we didn't even know existed and went there instead for about 50 cents, and it was so cool! It has a nice little museum and great views of the ocean and river, and at a great price!
Last night our pity friends threw a party at their cabaña, which me and Jake went to-Lena stayed home like a good responsible person to start the buttload of homework that we have due this week. All the friends from La Última Frontera were there, along with 3 Chilean girls I didn't know, and a guy from France that we actually met the night before at a bar. It was a nice relaxing party, mostly sitting around the campfire drinking Cristal (the Chilean Bud Light) and chatting with everyone, and it was the first time that I actually felt like my Spanish was getting better. I had a conversation with 2 Chilean girls (alone) for about 30 minutes, and afterwords I felt awesome! They told me my Spanish was good which was really nice to hear, and made me feel more confident about my speaking abilities. It was good to know that I am actually improving and getting better, and thinking back to my first day here in Santiago, I can already say that I am 100% better from that point. And it has only been a month! :)
Things outside of school here are fantastic, but, the Sunday Blues are kicking in, and my homework is calling. Until next time!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
I HATE SCHOOL
I can't believe that in 2 days I will have been in Chile for a month already! Time sure does fly! School is already in full swing, and it's a little annoying that all my friends at home are winding down their school year and mine is just beginning, but then I remember when they were all doing homework and studying for exams I was laying on the couch watching movies. So it's my turn now. As my title implies though, I hate school, because it is frustrating and annoying and I would rather be climbing volcanoes all day than writing spanish papers. My least favorite class (written expression) requires that we read a short story and write a paper about it every single week, and correct the one we had written from the week before every week, so it is going to be a lot of work. But, I came here to learn spanish and that is what I am doing!
Life here is always interesting, yesterday Lena and I were enjoying a nice day in the town plaza and we ran into one of our teachers, who proceeded to talk to us for around 20 minutes. He basically called us out for being losers and not doing anything on a Saturday, but in our defense, ALL of the highschoolers were hanging out in the plaza, so at least we had some company...
Food still is intriguing .. yesterday we decided to try out Telepizza, which we were assuming was like pizza hut or something.. but, alas, we were wrong. It was basically a giant whole wheat english muffin that wasn't toasted with ketchupy pizza sauce and then regular pizza toppings. After that to satisfy our need for something American, we got some ice cream and then hung out around town. About 10 minutes after our ice cream, we both had the most intense stomach cramps of our entire lives and we went back home ASAP. Whether it was the awful telepizza or the ice cream that gave us Montezuma's Revenge we will never know, but I for one am staying away from both for a while. Woof!
My lunch today was also something new, for our appetizer we each had a whole artichoke on a plate. Like usual I had no idea how I was supposed to eat the food on my plate, so I watched others squirt from the mayonnaise pouch a glob of mayo into a little bowl in front of each place mat and then mix it with lemon juice. I did the same. Then, they started peeling off the artichoke leaves one by one and dipping the bottom of them into the mayo mix and scraped the fleshy part of the artichoke off with their teeth. So, I did the same. Surprisingly it was delicious. It tasted like the spinach and artichoke dip my mom makes, and I got over the fact that I was eating straight up mayo (which I despise).
I also got to meet my other 'sister' today, Maria Teresa, and her son Martín, who is 8 months old and adorable. My family is good, school is good, pretty much everything in my life except the occasional stomach issue is awesome right now! See you all in only 4 months now :)
Life here is always interesting, yesterday Lena and I were enjoying a nice day in the town plaza and we ran into one of our teachers, who proceeded to talk to us for around 20 minutes. He basically called us out for being losers and not doing anything on a Saturday, but in our defense, ALL of the highschoolers were hanging out in the plaza, so at least we had some company...
Food still is intriguing .. yesterday we decided to try out Telepizza, which we were assuming was like pizza hut or something.. but, alas, we were wrong. It was basically a giant whole wheat english muffin that wasn't toasted with ketchupy pizza sauce and then regular pizza toppings. After that to satisfy our need for something American, we got some ice cream and then hung out around town. About 10 minutes after our ice cream, we both had the most intense stomach cramps of our entire lives and we went back home ASAP. Whether it was the awful telepizza or the ice cream that gave us Montezuma's Revenge we will never know, but I for one am staying away from both for a while. Woof!
My lunch today was also something new, for our appetizer we each had a whole artichoke on a plate. Like usual I had no idea how I was supposed to eat the food on my plate, so I watched others squirt from the mayonnaise pouch a glob of mayo into a little bowl in front of each place mat and then mix it with lemon juice. I did the same. Then, they started peeling off the artichoke leaves one by one and dipping the bottom of them into the mayo mix and scraped the fleshy part of the artichoke off with their teeth. So, I did the same. Surprisingly it was delicious. It tasted like the spinach and artichoke dip my mom makes, and I got over the fact that I was eating straight up mayo (which I despise).
I also got to meet my other 'sister' today, Maria Teresa, and her son Martín, who is 8 months old and adorable. My family is good, school is good, pretty much everything in my life except the occasional stomach issue is awesome right now! See you all in only 4 months now :)
Friday, March 25, 2011
hi
This thought just came across my mind, so I decided to share it. I love the anything goes rule in Chile. Today, me and Lena were walking around downtown, and a man was on the street singing. But he didnt have just a guitar or something, he had his own speaker, with attached microphone and CD with instrumental music he was singing along to. Pretty much doing some karaoke in the street. And we went back about 4 hours later and he was still there, belting out some tunes in spanish on the streets of Valdivia. He wasnt particularly good at singing, but he wasnt too bad either. Just hoping to make some extra cash on a Friday afternoon. Awesome.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Pucón!
I had the most eventful weekend I have had thus far in Chile, and have many adventures to talk about this post!
This weekend, we decided would be a perfect weekend for a mini trip. We dont have classes on Thursdays or Fridays, and it was the first week of class, we didnt have major homework, so we got our Chile books open and decided to go to Pucón, which is a touristy summer town about 1 1/2 hours away from Valdivia. We reserved a room in a hostel, which if you dont know is almost like a dorm room mixed with a hotel, it costed us 15 dollars each to stay there for the night, and we were put in a room with bunk beds that 4 other people were also staying in. They had a community kitchen and living room, and a very helpful owner named Tanja, who organized our adventures in Pucón. We left Valdivia around 10 on Friday morning, and arrived in Pucón at about 12. After we checked into the hostel, Tanja asked us what we were planning to do while we were there. Originally, we had decided that we wanted to go ziplining, white water rafting, and take a trip to the thermal springs. However, when we got there, Tanja inticed us with a once in a life time opportunity- to climb an active volcano. Me and Jake were all for it, but Lena (or Granny Gertrude, as we started calling her this weekend) was a bit skeptical. We finally convinced her that climbing a volcano would be totally not dangerous and completely fun and not too hard and got her to sign up for it. Volcano climbing took place the next day, but on Friday we signed up to go white water rafting. It was all of our first times going, so we didnt really know what to expect. A van picked us up from the hostel and we got to the river with the group. Three chilenas, three frenchies, the three gringos, and a man from the Netherlands and his wife, who was also American. We split into two groups, the english speaking group (which we decided to go to) and the spanish. After getting our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets, and after a brieft training session, we were on the river. We hit about 10 rapids in all, one mini waterfall, and actually had to get out of our rafts at one point and walk until the rapid was over, because we werent experienced enough to go on it. But, in order to get back into our boats, we had to jump down a little cliff, which was probably about 30 feet high. It was awesome! I think that someone had to push Granny down, but we all made it down alive, and all decided that white water rafting was completely worth is and an awesome time.
We went back to the hostel after that and showered, then grabbed some quick dinner and went to bed pretty much right away. We had to leave for the volcano at 7 the next morning, so we wanted to get some sleep. The next morning, which seemed like night because the stars are still out in Chile until around 730 AM, we got in a van and headed for the volcano. We each got a backback with a helmet, ice axe, wind proof pants and jacket, gloves, crampons, boots, and a mini sled (for sliding down the volcano afterwords-yes that really happened) and got to the bottom of the volcano. We had the option of taking a ski lift up about 1000 meters or climbing, and me and Lena agreed the ski lift was for us, while Jake roughed it with some other group members and climbed the whole way up. Today, our group consisted of the three gringos, two groups of Isrealis, an Austrailian and another Frenchie, and by the end of the trip we were all pretty friendly with eachother. Once we got off the ski lift, it was time to start climbing. The first part was the hardest, the ground was soft dirt mixed with rocks, and we climbed for about an hour and finally got a break to drink some water and eat a little bit of food. The group that didnt take the ski lift caught up to us, and Jake said he was about to die, but after a brief rest we kept going. About 2 hours consisted of dirt, and then we got to the snow. The snow was a bit easier to climb and we learned how to use our ice axe to catch ourselves in case we started falling down the mountain. The wind also started to pick up once we got to the snow, we put on our jackets and gloves because it was getting cold. About every 45 minutes of climbing or so we would take a break, and after 6 1/2 hours we were finally at the summit! The view was incredible!! We went on the most gorgeous day, there wasnt a cloud in the sky and it was about 70 degrees, perfect conditions. We were able to see 2 more volcanoes in the distance, 4 lakes and were surrounded by mountains. The volcano was a bit too smoky on our day, but when the conditions are right, you can actually look into the middle of the volcano and see boiling lava. I tried, but got gassed out by the sulfiric fumes and had to step back. We stayed at the summit for probably 30 minutes, and then it was time to go back down. Going down was much easier than going up, thanks to our mini sleds. Once we got to an area where it was all snow, we actually got to sled down the volcano, which was really fun. There were some points where we got to go pretty fast, and everyone had a good time. We ended up leaving the volcano around 330, so we had spent about 8 hours straight climbing, and needless to say I felt like I got hit by a bus the next day. We left that night, after another quick dinner, and then it was back to reality, with homework and school on our minds.
Another interesting thing on Sunday was my lunch, which was a traditional Chilean-German dish called Crudos. I didnt know this before, but the dictionary definition of crudo is raw, uncooked, unripe, or indigestable. I looked at the food on the table and wasnt 100% sure if it was what it looked like..but I decided to try it anyway and be a good sport, and my Crudos meal ended up being raw beef, spread on a piece of white bread, then you add lemon juice, salt and pepper, and a creamy sauce which apparently is yogurt and mayo mixed together. It honestly didnt taste too bad... but I much prefer my Grandmas Sunday steaks (cooked!) to the Chilean crudos... but hey, at least I didnt barf!
Between the rafting, volcano climbing, and raw meat eating, I had an awesome weekend in South America!
This weekend, we decided would be a perfect weekend for a mini trip. We dont have classes on Thursdays or Fridays, and it was the first week of class, we didnt have major homework, so we got our Chile books open and decided to go to Pucón, which is a touristy summer town about 1 1/2 hours away from Valdivia. We reserved a room in a hostel, which if you dont know is almost like a dorm room mixed with a hotel, it costed us 15 dollars each to stay there for the night, and we were put in a room with bunk beds that 4 other people were also staying in. They had a community kitchen and living room, and a very helpful owner named Tanja, who organized our adventures in Pucón. We left Valdivia around 10 on Friday morning, and arrived in Pucón at about 12. After we checked into the hostel, Tanja asked us what we were planning to do while we were there. Originally, we had decided that we wanted to go ziplining, white water rafting, and take a trip to the thermal springs. However, when we got there, Tanja inticed us with a once in a life time opportunity- to climb an active volcano. Me and Jake were all for it, but Lena (or Granny Gertrude, as we started calling her this weekend) was a bit skeptical. We finally convinced her that climbing a volcano would be totally not dangerous and completely fun and not too hard and got her to sign up for it. Volcano climbing took place the next day, but on Friday we signed up to go white water rafting. It was all of our first times going, so we didnt really know what to expect. A van picked us up from the hostel and we got to the river with the group. Three chilenas, three frenchies, the three gringos, and a man from the Netherlands and his wife, who was also American. We split into two groups, the english speaking group (which we decided to go to) and the spanish. After getting our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets, and after a brieft training session, we were on the river. We hit about 10 rapids in all, one mini waterfall, and actually had to get out of our rafts at one point and walk until the rapid was over, because we werent experienced enough to go on it. But, in order to get back into our boats, we had to jump down a little cliff, which was probably about 30 feet high. It was awesome! I think that someone had to push Granny down, but we all made it down alive, and all decided that white water rafting was completely worth is and an awesome time.
We went back to the hostel after that and showered, then grabbed some quick dinner and went to bed pretty much right away. We had to leave for the volcano at 7 the next morning, so we wanted to get some sleep. The next morning, which seemed like night because the stars are still out in Chile until around 730 AM, we got in a van and headed for the volcano. We each got a backback with a helmet, ice axe, wind proof pants and jacket, gloves, crampons, boots, and a mini sled (for sliding down the volcano afterwords-yes that really happened) and got to the bottom of the volcano. We had the option of taking a ski lift up about 1000 meters or climbing, and me and Lena agreed the ski lift was for us, while Jake roughed it with some other group members and climbed the whole way up. Today, our group consisted of the three gringos, two groups of Isrealis, an Austrailian and another Frenchie, and by the end of the trip we were all pretty friendly with eachother. Once we got off the ski lift, it was time to start climbing. The first part was the hardest, the ground was soft dirt mixed with rocks, and we climbed for about an hour and finally got a break to drink some water and eat a little bit of food. The group that didnt take the ski lift caught up to us, and Jake said he was about to die, but after a brief rest we kept going. About 2 hours consisted of dirt, and then we got to the snow. The snow was a bit easier to climb and we learned how to use our ice axe to catch ourselves in case we started falling down the mountain. The wind also started to pick up once we got to the snow, we put on our jackets and gloves because it was getting cold. About every 45 minutes of climbing or so we would take a break, and after 6 1/2 hours we were finally at the summit! The view was incredible!! We went on the most gorgeous day, there wasnt a cloud in the sky and it was about 70 degrees, perfect conditions. We were able to see 2 more volcanoes in the distance, 4 lakes and were surrounded by mountains. The volcano was a bit too smoky on our day, but when the conditions are right, you can actually look into the middle of the volcano and see boiling lava. I tried, but got gassed out by the sulfiric fumes and had to step back. We stayed at the summit for probably 30 minutes, and then it was time to go back down. Going down was much easier than going up, thanks to our mini sleds. Once we got to an area where it was all snow, we actually got to sled down the volcano, which was really fun. There were some points where we got to go pretty fast, and everyone had a good time. We ended up leaving the volcano around 330, so we had spent about 8 hours straight climbing, and needless to say I felt like I got hit by a bus the next day. We left that night, after another quick dinner, and then it was back to reality, with homework and school on our minds.
Another interesting thing on Sunday was my lunch, which was a traditional Chilean-German dish called Crudos. I didnt know this before, but the dictionary definition of crudo is raw, uncooked, unripe, or indigestable. I looked at the food on the table and wasnt 100% sure if it was what it looked like..but I decided to try it anyway and be a good sport, and my Crudos meal ended up being raw beef, spread on a piece of white bread, then you add lemon juice, salt and pepper, and a creamy sauce which apparently is yogurt and mayo mixed together. It honestly didnt taste too bad... but I much prefer my Grandmas Sunday steaks (cooked!) to the Chilean crudos... but hey, at least I didnt barf!
Between the rafting, volcano climbing, and raw meat eating, I had an awesome weekend in South America!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Life
Hi all! It's taken me a while to update once again, but still, I have no internet at my house. My host sister keeps telling me that someone is going to fix it, however each day comes and I am still left without a connection to the outside world other than my lovely PC. But, it is a new week, and I am hopeful that something will happen now, mostly because I was messing with the internet while my host family was away visiting relatives and am pretty sure I broke ALL the internet in the house, including the PC.
I start my classes tomorrow at UaCH and am starting to get a little nervous about it. We literally just 'scheduled' them (if you can even call it that) on Friday, and they begin on Monday. As of now, I am signed up to take 2 grammar/writing courses and a journalism class, which I think is going to be a challenge. One of the class requirements is to make a mock interview/mini movie (in Spanish, of course) and present it to the class! It will probably be very difficult and I may have a slight panic attack, but I think I can do it. Luckily my gringo classmates will be with me in all of my classes, so I at least will be able to have them to help out. We are actually supposed to take a history class, but for some reason the teacher wouldn't allow us into it. So we are on the hunt for another class...
Life in Chile is good. We have spent the last week exploring the town and getting to know our area, and I'm pretty confident in saying that I now know my way around Valdivia, and have a pretty good idea of the Chilean lifestyle. It is very, very different than at home. The whole shopping experience here is so weird. Based on the stores that we have gone to, I will say as of right now, that Chileans have the most insufficient form of checking out I have ever seen! Lol. For example, we went to a store to buy school supplies downtown, I thought there was two counters to go to, so I walked up, put down my things and the guy behind the counter rang them up, gave me a receipt, and then gave my things to the other girl at the cash register next to him. Then, I had to give HER my receipt that the other guy just gave me, and then SHE rang it through her register and I paid her. It was very confusing. At the pharmacy, you have to take a number like you are at the deli in order to have someone check you out. And if you miss it then they just skip over you and you have to just mosey your way up and make them ring you up (as you can imagine may or may not have happened to us...). And the grocery store line moves slower than molasses. But, I have also learned here that time is not an issue in Chile. When you go to a restaurant, expect to be there for a while, because the service is not fast. It's not bad service, the waiters/waitresses are friendly and nice and helpful, but time is not accounted for down here. It's just the way of life I guess. Which for me, actually, is awesome because anyone who knows me knows that I have no regard for time, or being on time, or waking up on time, ect. Thinking about that now, it's hard to believe I have been here for almost 2 weeks!
This upcoming week should be interesting, I'm sure I will have lots to talk about. We are planning on visiting the Kunstmann Brewery at some point this week and maybe planning a trip somewhere this weekend!
P.S. The earthquake didn't affect us in Valdivia at all, there was a little damage in northern Chile and Easter Island, but I was safe and sound down here :)
I start my classes tomorrow at UaCH and am starting to get a little nervous about it. We literally just 'scheduled' them (if you can even call it that) on Friday, and they begin on Monday. As of now, I am signed up to take 2 grammar/writing courses and a journalism class, which I think is going to be a challenge. One of the class requirements is to make a mock interview/mini movie (in Spanish, of course) and present it to the class! It will probably be very difficult and I may have a slight panic attack, but I think I can do it. Luckily my gringo classmates will be with me in all of my classes, so I at least will be able to have them to help out. We are actually supposed to take a history class, but for some reason the teacher wouldn't allow us into it. So we are on the hunt for another class...
Life in Chile is good. We have spent the last week exploring the town and getting to know our area, and I'm pretty confident in saying that I now know my way around Valdivia, and have a pretty good idea of the Chilean lifestyle. It is very, very different than at home. The whole shopping experience here is so weird. Based on the stores that we have gone to, I will say as of right now, that Chileans have the most insufficient form of checking out I have ever seen! Lol. For example, we went to a store to buy school supplies downtown, I thought there was two counters to go to, so I walked up, put down my things and the guy behind the counter rang them up, gave me a receipt, and then gave my things to the other girl at the cash register next to him. Then, I had to give HER my receipt that the other guy just gave me, and then SHE rang it through her register and I paid her. It was very confusing. At the pharmacy, you have to take a number like you are at the deli in order to have someone check you out. And if you miss it then they just skip over you and you have to just mosey your way up and make them ring you up (as you can imagine may or may not have happened to us...). And the grocery store line moves slower than molasses. But, I have also learned here that time is not an issue in Chile. When you go to a restaurant, expect to be there for a while, because the service is not fast. It's not bad service, the waiters/waitresses are friendly and nice and helpful, but time is not accounted for down here. It's just the way of life I guess. Which for me, actually, is awesome because anyone who knows me knows that I have no regard for time, or being on time, or waking up on time, ect. Thinking about that now, it's hard to believe I have been here for almost 2 weeks!
This upcoming week should be interesting, I'm sure I will have lots to talk about. We are planning on visiting the Kunstmann Brewery at some point this week and maybe planning a trip somewhere this weekend!
P.S. The earthquake didn't affect us in Valdivia at all, there was a little damage in northern Chile and Easter Island, but I was safe and sound down here :)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Chile :)
I am finally here!! Sorry it took me so long to update, but I have not only been super busy with everything going on, but my internet on my laptop doesnt work right now, so I am using the computer at my homestay that is about 15 years old! I have only been in Chile for 3 days now, but already so much has happened to me! I have a whole new Chilean family, a new house, a kitten, sister, and basically life. But, since it has been 4 days since I have been in the States, I will start my story from when I left, and trust me, a there is a LOT to tell.
My trip started at GR International Airport, where I was a mix of excitement, nerves, happy, sad, and pretty much every other emotion there is. As I was leaving to go through security and looked back at my parents and Stephen walking away, I started to cry. I think at that moment I finally realized that I wasnt going to see the people that I love for a whole 5 months, and the reality set in that I was actually leaving. So, I stood in the security line with all my stuff, and the cranky biatch who searched me whips out my expensive maple syrup that I was giving my host family for a gift (its from Blandford Nature Center) and my huge container of Ponds face moisturizer and tells me I cant have them with me, but I could take them back to the American Airlines counter where they can go in the back and find my checked bags and shove them in there if I want. So, naturally I say yes, and I go back to where I started to put a fricken syrup and lotion in my bags. Then, the woman there says to me, -I put your syrup in between a pair of jeans, but since its glass it might break and spill all over your clothes, and American Airlines isnt responsible for damages.- So with that wonderful thought in my head she then says to me,- and your suitcase is pretty much about to burst at the seams, and if it breaks mid flight and all of your stuff goes everywhere American Airlines isnt responsible.- So now Im walking back to security where I have to be re-searched, worrying about having sticky clothes or no clothes at all by the time I actually get into Chile.
The flight from GR to Dallas was awesome, I had a nice window seat and could pretty much see scenery the whole time I was in the air. My 12 hour flight to Santiago was a different story. I didnt have a seat assigned by my travel agent, so my classmates Lena and Jake got assigned together, and when I got to the boarding gate they assigned me a seat alone. And by alone, I mean in the middle of two strangers against a wall so that my seat didnt recline and I had the most uncomfortable sleep of my life resting my head on my tray. I wasnt really that upset, I mean I was on a plane to Chile how unhappy can you possibly be, but then there was a child who was coughing the entire plane ride, so that even if by some means I could sleep on my tray, I didnt, because of the cough monster a few rows ahead of me. But finally, after 17 hours of traveling, our plane landed safe and sound at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. I still wasnt done traveling though, because in order to get to Valdivia from Santiago, you have to take a bus ride, which takes about 10 hours. And the busses from Santiago to Valdivia only run either first thing in the morning or at night, otherwise you get to the bus terminal at a weird hour. So we used our broken Spanish and managed to buy tickets that left Santiago at 930 PM. We bought them at 11 AM. So we had all day to spend hanging around Santiago, and had no idea where we were, didnt know anyone, and hadnt really spoken Spanish since December. We were basically thrown into the belly of the beast. In Santiago we went to the mall, walked around the markets, and tried to talk to people but it didnt really work out. We went to a fast food place called Doggis, where they serve completos, which are Chilean hot dogs. In Chile though, a hot dog comes with avocado, tomatoes, mayo and sometimes other toppings. They are VERY popular and weird. We all stood back for a little while before actually ordering, thinking of what to say, and I had a script already written out in my head of exactly what I was going to say, so I couldnt mess it up and wouldnt look like an idiot. Well, I did end up looking like an idiot, the girl at the register had no idea what I was talking about, and I ended up ordering a completo, fries, empanadas, soda, and chocolate ice cream. Before I got my massive amounts of food she asked for my name, so they could call it out when my order was ready. I told her Kaylea, she stared at me, started laughing, then shooed me away. But eventually, we made it out of Santiago and onto our bus, which took us to our new home of Valdivia, Chile :)
We got to the bus station in Valdivia, and our contact at UaCH, (Universidad Austral de Chile), Amalia, came to pick us up and take us to our host families. Our bus ended up getting into town 2 hours earlier than expected, so we surprised our families when we showed up at their doors at 8AM instead of 10. I was the first to be dropped off, and we pulled onto my street and stopped in front of a cute little house with trees everywhere I got the first look at my new home for the next 5 months. I was very nervous looking at that house. What was I going to say, were they going to be weird, would they like me, was my room nice, did it smell, you know, normal things to wonder going to a house where you have absolutely no idea what to expect. I walked up to the door looking a little rough, didnt smell the best, and had a bad case of jet lag, but when my host dad opened the door I instantly felt better. He introduced himself, Roberto, and led me to my new room, which was freshly cleaned with a twin bed, tv, desk, and comfy chair, all for me. I saw my host mom hiding in the corner and said hello, well hola, (she was embarassed that she was still in her PJs, lol), and put all my stuff in my room. My host parents are an older couple, probably about 60, with two daughters Maria and Cristina. Cristina still lives at home, but Maria is married and has a baby. Roberto and Antonieta made me feel welcome from the first second I walked in their home, they showed me where the shower was and gave me towels, and when I got out they had breakfast sitting on the table waiting for me. My first authentic Chilean meal was little round circular bread, served with butter, jam, cheese and ham, coffee and tea, and fruit. I was a little nervous to have to talk to my new parents, but they spoke slowly and if I didnt understand what they were talking about, told me in a different way until I understood. I was then introduced to their housekeeper, Marisol, which apparently is normal here to have. She cooks and cleans everyday except the weekends and is almost like a part of their family. I still havent gotten used to having my meals served to me or having a clean room every day, but I am NOT complaining about it :)
The actual city of Valdivia is a beautiful little resort town resting at the point of two rivers and is very popular with tourists in the summer. We had a Chilena named Margarita show us around the campus of UaCH and Valdivia, and it was awesome. Today, Lena and I went walking around downtown and went window shopping and wandering. We ended up in the town square, which is always busy, and noticed two people screaming at the top of their lungs and hitting each other. We looked over wondering if this was normal, and saw a crowd of people surrounding them watching too, so we knew something was up. It turns out the people screaming were part of some sort of street performance, and we went over to watch. By the time we walked over there was a pretty decent crowd, probably 100 people, and literally the second Lena and I walk up, the performer looks at me and says, -¿Ayyyy de donde eres? Which means -Where are you from? And I tell him Estados Unidos (USA), and then he starts spitting out Spanish 100 miles per hour and the whole crowd starts laughing. Clearly he said something funny about my gringa-ish ways, and then asks Lena if she was a Chilena!! So obviously, I am very easy to pick out of a crowd here, but at least I am with someone who looks like a local. After a few minutes listening to him we left, and now are on our way to our first bar in Valdivia. Dont worry Mom, Antonieta told me to make sure to tell her if I am going to be gone so she doesnt worry about me :)
Sorry this was so long, but a lot has happened to me in 4 days! Nos Vemos!
My trip started at GR International Airport, where I was a mix of excitement, nerves, happy, sad, and pretty much every other emotion there is. As I was leaving to go through security and looked back at my parents and Stephen walking away, I started to cry. I think at that moment I finally realized that I wasnt going to see the people that I love for a whole 5 months, and the reality set in that I was actually leaving. So, I stood in the security line with all my stuff, and the cranky biatch who searched me whips out my expensive maple syrup that I was giving my host family for a gift (its from Blandford Nature Center) and my huge container of Ponds face moisturizer and tells me I cant have them with me, but I could take them back to the American Airlines counter where they can go in the back and find my checked bags and shove them in there if I want. So, naturally I say yes, and I go back to where I started to put a fricken syrup and lotion in my bags. Then, the woman there says to me, -I put your syrup in between a pair of jeans, but since its glass it might break and spill all over your clothes, and American Airlines isnt responsible for damages.- So with that wonderful thought in my head she then says to me,- and your suitcase is pretty much about to burst at the seams, and if it breaks mid flight and all of your stuff goes everywhere American Airlines isnt responsible.- So now Im walking back to security where I have to be re-searched, worrying about having sticky clothes or no clothes at all by the time I actually get into Chile.
The flight from GR to Dallas was awesome, I had a nice window seat and could pretty much see scenery the whole time I was in the air. My 12 hour flight to Santiago was a different story. I didnt have a seat assigned by my travel agent, so my classmates Lena and Jake got assigned together, and when I got to the boarding gate they assigned me a seat alone. And by alone, I mean in the middle of two strangers against a wall so that my seat didnt recline and I had the most uncomfortable sleep of my life resting my head on my tray. I wasnt really that upset, I mean I was on a plane to Chile how unhappy can you possibly be, but then there was a child who was coughing the entire plane ride, so that even if by some means I could sleep on my tray, I didnt, because of the cough monster a few rows ahead of me. But finally, after 17 hours of traveling, our plane landed safe and sound at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. I still wasnt done traveling though, because in order to get to Valdivia from Santiago, you have to take a bus ride, which takes about 10 hours. And the busses from Santiago to Valdivia only run either first thing in the morning or at night, otherwise you get to the bus terminal at a weird hour. So we used our broken Spanish and managed to buy tickets that left Santiago at 930 PM. We bought them at 11 AM. So we had all day to spend hanging around Santiago, and had no idea where we were, didnt know anyone, and hadnt really spoken Spanish since December. We were basically thrown into the belly of the beast. In Santiago we went to the mall, walked around the markets, and tried to talk to people but it didnt really work out. We went to a fast food place called Doggis, where they serve completos, which are Chilean hot dogs. In Chile though, a hot dog comes with avocado, tomatoes, mayo and sometimes other toppings. They are VERY popular and weird. We all stood back for a little while before actually ordering, thinking of what to say, and I had a script already written out in my head of exactly what I was going to say, so I couldnt mess it up and wouldnt look like an idiot. Well, I did end up looking like an idiot, the girl at the register had no idea what I was talking about, and I ended up ordering a completo, fries, empanadas, soda, and chocolate ice cream. Before I got my massive amounts of food she asked for my name, so they could call it out when my order was ready. I told her Kaylea, she stared at me, started laughing, then shooed me away. But eventually, we made it out of Santiago and onto our bus, which took us to our new home of Valdivia, Chile :)
We got to the bus station in Valdivia, and our contact at UaCH, (Universidad Austral de Chile), Amalia, came to pick us up and take us to our host families. Our bus ended up getting into town 2 hours earlier than expected, so we surprised our families when we showed up at their doors at 8AM instead of 10. I was the first to be dropped off, and we pulled onto my street and stopped in front of a cute little house with trees everywhere I got the first look at my new home for the next 5 months. I was very nervous looking at that house. What was I going to say, were they going to be weird, would they like me, was my room nice, did it smell, you know, normal things to wonder going to a house where you have absolutely no idea what to expect. I walked up to the door looking a little rough, didnt smell the best, and had a bad case of jet lag, but when my host dad opened the door I instantly felt better. He introduced himself, Roberto, and led me to my new room, which was freshly cleaned with a twin bed, tv, desk, and comfy chair, all for me. I saw my host mom hiding in the corner and said hello, well hola, (she was embarassed that she was still in her PJs, lol), and put all my stuff in my room. My host parents are an older couple, probably about 60, with two daughters Maria and Cristina. Cristina still lives at home, but Maria is married and has a baby. Roberto and Antonieta made me feel welcome from the first second I walked in their home, they showed me where the shower was and gave me towels, and when I got out they had breakfast sitting on the table waiting for me. My first authentic Chilean meal was little round circular bread, served with butter, jam, cheese and ham, coffee and tea, and fruit. I was a little nervous to have to talk to my new parents, but they spoke slowly and if I didnt understand what they were talking about, told me in a different way until I understood. I was then introduced to their housekeeper, Marisol, which apparently is normal here to have. She cooks and cleans everyday except the weekends and is almost like a part of their family. I still havent gotten used to having my meals served to me or having a clean room every day, but I am NOT complaining about it :)
The actual city of Valdivia is a beautiful little resort town resting at the point of two rivers and is very popular with tourists in the summer. We had a Chilena named Margarita show us around the campus of UaCH and Valdivia, and it was awesome. Today, Lena and I went walking around downtown and went window shopping and wandering. We ended up in the town square, which is always busy, and noticed two people screaming at the top of their lungs and hitting each other. We looked over wondering if this was normal, and saw a crowd of people surrounding them watching too, so we knew something was up. It turns out the people screaming were part of some sort of street performance, and we went over to watch. By the time we walked over there was a pretty decent crowd, probably 100 people, and literally the second Lena and I walk up, the performer looks at me and says, -¿Ayyyy de donde eres? Which means -Where are you from? And I tell him Estados Unidos (USA), and then he starts spitting out Spanish 100 miles per hour and the whole crowd starts laughing. Clearly he said something funny about my gringa-ish ways, and then asks Lena if she was a Chilena!! So obviously, I am very easy to pick out of a crowd here, but at least I am with someone who looks like a local. After a few minutes listening to him we left, and now are on our way to our first bar in Valdivia. Dont worry Mom, Antonieta told me to make sure to tell her if I am going to be gone so she doesnt worry about me :)
Sorry this was so long, but a lot has happened to me in 4 days! Nos Vemos!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sour Cream
Since I don't have classes this semester until my semester in Chile starts (March 14), I have had absolutely nothing to do with my time. My on campus job didn't want me to come back for only a few weeks, so I spent the better half of 2 months watching movies, sleeping and basically being a bum, while my roommates started their semester. A few weeks ago my mom recommended me as a babysitter for anther Metro employee and now I am babysitting 3 little girls on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Emma is 4, Olivia 3, and Zhoey 6 months. They are absolutely adorable and cute and funny and perfect and today Emma said something that made me laugh, so this is that story.
Zhoey was off in her own little world bouncing away in her chair, and I was trying to get the girls to watch a movie with me but they decided they want to play 'waitress' instead. Basically, waitress is a really fun game where Emma and Olivia sit at a fake restaurant table and boss the waitress (me) around and make me get them pretend food, while I also serve their hungry imaginary friends, Jack and Jenny. So I came up to take their order and Emma decided to take charge for the whole group and order for everyone (totally an older sister thing to do, make Olivia think she is being nice when really she just wants her to do exactly as she says. She reminds me of my older sister Lauren). She orders herself a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup, piece of pizza, chicken nuggets and a diet coke to wash it all down. Jack and Jenny also both got bowls of chicken noodle soup and waters, then she looked at me like she was done, skipping out on Olivia's order. So I asked her what she was going to order for Olivia, and she said, "Oh... ummm she'll just take some sour cream".
I have no idea what made her think of sour cream, or why that would be a suitable lunch for Olivia, but a good waitress never questions her customers, so I diligently went back to the kitchen to pour bowls of soup and sour cream.
Zhoey was off in her own little world bouncing away in her chair, and I was trying to get the girls to watch a movie with me but they decided they want to play 'waitress' instead. Basically, waitress is a really fun game where Emma and Olivia sit at a fake restaurant table and boss the waitress (me) around and make me get them pretend food, while I also serve their hungry imaginary friends, Jack and Jenny. So I came up to take their order and Emma decided to take charge for the whole group and order for everyone (totally an older sister thing to do, make Olivia think she is being nice when really she just wants her to do exactly as she says. She reminds me of my older sister Lauren). She orders herself a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup, piece of pizza, chicken nuggets and a diet coke to wash it all down. Jack and Jenny also both got bowls of chicken noodle soup and waters, then she looked at me like she was done, skipping out on Olivia's order. So I asked her what she was going to order for Olivia, and she said, "Oh... ummm she'll just take some sour cream".
I have no idea what made her think of sour cream, or why that would be a suitable lunch for Olivia, but a good waitress never questions her customers, so I diligently went back to the kitchen to pour bowls of soup and sour cream.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Freaking Out
I titled my blog 'Freaking Out' because in the midst of making this, not only did I realize that I only have 15 more days in the US before I jet away for half a year, but I also heard a large crash in my basement (or what I assumed to be a crash, I'm not really 100% sure there actually is an intruder plotting my murder right now), and I am sitting in my house alone. Anyway, for any randoms reading this or if you just haven't talked to me in a while, I am studying abroad this semester in Chile and I will be gone for 5 months, which is why I decided to document my travels via the internet. I will be living in Southern Chile in the city of Valdivia, where I will be attending La Universidad Austral de Chile (Southern University of Chile), taking classes with local students and living with a Chilean family. As excited as I am for this adventure, I can't help thinking of all the people and things that I am leaving behind for 5 months: my family, boyfriend, friends, comfort, familiarity. I'm even leaving behind my coveted 21st birthday celebration (I'm not sure what Chile's legal drinking age is, but I know 21 isn't a big deal), which trust me was a hard thing to give up. I keep having to remind myself how much of a once in a lifetime opportunity this is for me. How many people can say they have gone to college in a foreign country? How many people have that chance to be submerged in a culture 100% different from their own, and how many people are actually brave enough to do it? It is going to be hard to be away from everything I know and everyone I love, but it is going to make me a stronger person in the long run. So, this blog is going to serve as my virtual diary, where you can come and find out what is going on in my life, even though I will be 5,000 miles away. Hope to see you before I leave :)
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