Gringos

In the past 6 days I have stayed in 6 different hostels in 5 different cities - oye! Keeping all the different places has been tricky especially when they all use the same street names like Diego Portales, O'Higgins, Baquedando etc.  But at last I am in Puerto Natales where I will be spending the next 4 nights.  During the day I will be heading out to the national Park Torres de Paine and also hopping over the border into Argentina to see a glacier - but that is all to come, not what I have been up to for the past several days.

So by the time I was back in Puerto Montt after Castro I was working on my 4th full day without having a conversation longer than 5minutes in English (with my parents to verify that I was alive), entonces I was starting to get a little antsy.  There were 2 gringas speaking in English on my bus ride from Castro to Puerto Montt and I was soooo tempted to just go up to them and say Hi, I have not been in the presence of people who speak English in 4 days can I just talk with you for a while?  In effect I was perilously close to becoming the guy in the plaza de armas who litterally did ask if he could speak to my friends and I in English that´s how bad his withdrawl was!  Luckily when I arrived at my hostel that evening there was a large group of American students who had been traveling through Argentina for a semester and had just crossed over to Chile for the first time.  They were interested to trade stories about the two countries and I ended up watching American movies with them for the rest of the night!  I think if I hadn´t met them I would have started to go crazy, but luckily all my social needs were met.

The following morning I hopped on a plane to Punta Arenas, at the very bottom of Chile.  Another girl, from Germany (who of course is fluent in Spanish and English!), arrived to my hostel at the same time and we spent the afternoon together exploring the town.  We walked down to the coast and looked out at the Strait of Magellan, which is nothing special to look at but still it´s the Strait of Magellan!  We also ventured into the town cemetary which is like a less grandiouse but better maintained Recolleta (in Buenos Aires).  We didn´t have time to do much else but we were able to figure out how to see the penguins off the coast! So when I return to Punta Arenas on Sunday I will definitly be seeing them! 

It was nice to explore a town with someone else for a change instead of just by myself - tomorrow I am going trecking with 2 other people from my hostel and hopefully they will be just as fun as the other people I have met during my travels so far!  People in the south of Chile in general have been very nice, they will bend over backwards to help you.  Maybe they are just used to tourists more than people in Santiago, I have never seen more gringos here than I have anywhere else in Chile and that includes Easter Island!  Today I was in a cafe and there was not a single Chileno in the entire place, I doubt there was even another person from South America in the cafe either!  So wierd that you can speak English all the way down here and be understood almost anywhere but if you were to try to do that in the capital of the country you would probably run into trouble.  Crazy!

****Lo siento, no spell check again. Also its getting dark so I need to head back to my hostel so I am not even doing an eye check on my spelling, yeah I know it is really bad, again lo siento!

¡Sólo viente años!

Being a 20 year old girl traveling alone tends to surprise people - shocking, I know.  My age though was never something I really thought about until others made such a big deal about it.  My sex, lack of directional sense, and cluelessness were the issues I was more concerned about when I decided to travel by myself.  Sure I may be young but considering everything else I have done in my life traveling alone didn´t seem like that big of a leap, I have lived away from my family for quite some time now.  However in Chile, where people live with their parents until they get married, a young girl like me is an oddity.

 I was reminded of how much curiosity I can stir up during my bus ride from Puerto Montt to Ancud in Chiloé.  Everything was going fine, I was on the bus headed the the right direction, when suddenly a man sat down beside me and started chatting with me.  OK that was fine, solo travel can be loney at times so it was nice to chat and practice my Spanish.  My positive attitude slowly began to dissolve as the man grabbed my hands to emphasize points of whatever he was talking about, he also poked me in the stomach when he asked if I liked Chilean food and tried to cup my chin at one point after telling me I was such a chicatita.  That I pulled away from so he didnt try to do that again but he continued to tell me how genial I was and how it was amazing he could confide in me - he told me the reason he was on the bus was because he no longer drove after an accident.  I asked what happened and he said he had been on drugs but that he has been clean since, 3 years now, he even showed me some kind of surgical scar related to the accident.  Things got even more awkard for me as he began to compliment me on being such a great gringa and so linda y hermosa y having ojos celestial.  He also asked if I have a tour guide for my time in Chiloé or if I wanted a companion.  I thanked him for the offer but said I liked to travel alone.  I really wanted to move at this point but I was at the window seat and had my gigantic backpack on the floor below my seat.  Luckily I was saved when the man decided to take a nap for the remainder of the bus ride.  This was not of course before he gave me a kiss on the cheeck and wished me a safe journey!  I was saved further awkwardness when the man did not get off the bus at my stop, hopefully I will not run into him again but Chiloé is a tiny island!

So aside from enchanting men with my gringaness I have been having a great time in Chiloé.  Yesterday I spent my afternoon wandering around Ancud.  When to a museaum about the churches of the island, the beach, and also watched the volunteer fire department run tests for new recuits in the plaza de armas.  After watching the ongoings for a bit I decided that if a building were on fire here it probably had a better chance of getting put out by the rain then by the fire department!

The rain - it is here all the time!  I am getting used to it now but I miss the warm sun of Santiago! 

Today I am in Castro, the largest ¨city¨ in Chiloé.  Have walked around town quite a bit, saw the church here which has a gorgeous wooden interior plus very graphic depictions of Jesus on the cross - just what everyone wants!  Also walked along the coast line here which has houses on stilts and a lot of abandoned boats.  There are also these wierd birds here that make sounds like monkeys.

Oh yeah and I almost forgot - I saw penguins this morning!  I went to the northwestern coast of Chiloé with the duena of my hostal, we picked up some of her friends along the way who told me all about the history of the area as we drove along and when we stopped at one point to take photos they went over to a plant chopped off a long spikey branch and offered it to me to eat!  I didn´t try any though cause apparently it wasn´t ripe enough.  Once at the beach I took a boat ride out to a group of islands where the penguins live.  I got to see them waddle around, make noises, and I even saw a group swim around near my boat!  I also saw an array of odd looking birds and sea otters eating shellfish!  It was a great time and afterward I got to drive along the 7km beach.  The views made me feel like I was in New Zealand and on location for the movie the Piano.

Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow, maybe take a tour of the national park here - I just gotta be back in Puerto Montt by nightfall, I leave for Punta Arenas the following morning!

***I apoligize for any typos in this post.  I don´t have English spell check right now!

Puerto Montt que fome

I have been very negligent with this blog but it is only because I have been out and about living life!  I hope to be more regular with postings now that school is over and to appease my mother who I some how convinced to let me travel alone in Southern Chile.  Anyone would be hesitant to let their child do this but I have to give my parents extra props for letting me go on my grand adventure.  Not many parents would let their directionally challenged,slightly flaky daughter travel around on her own.  But obviously mine are awesome.
So now I am in Puerto Montt 750miles from the capital.  The plane ride here was fine, only an hour and a half long. I got to the airport super early just in case I had some kind of problem checking in, which I didn´t.  This is Chile after all, I never had to show ID or get rid of my water or take off my shoes or any of the other things American airports constantly put travelers through.  Another benefit of flying in Chile the LAN airlines standard Havana snack pack. Yep, I got 3 snacks and a drink for flight less than 2hrs long! 
The only time I started to get concerned about how my trip was going to be occurred after I arrived at the airport in Puerto Montt.  I didn´t see a taxi anywhere, which was how I planned to get to my hostel.  I walked all around outside, nada.  So I went back in and asked the info desk who informed me that there should be a line for the taxi´s at the end of the block.  I had already checked there and saw nothing but I go back out and still nothing, however, there was a sign saying the area was for taxi´s only.  A couple comes up and asks me if this is where the taxi´s are, we wait together for the taxi´s to decide to show up.  A few minutes later one did show up and the driver knew exactly where my hostel was!  We ended up having a very nice conversation on the ride into town.
Once settled in at the hostel I went to explore Puerto Montt, which only took a few hours hence the title of this post.  For those of you not in the know on Chilean slang, fome = boring.  I first walked along the bay down to the bus terminal where I successfully got my ticket for my bus ride tomorrow to Chiloe!  On the way back I stopped by all the different key sites: artisan craft shops,markets, plaza de armas, the cathedral, the malls, etc.  Aside from the Church and the Bay everything else I had seen in Santiago.  One thing Santiago doesn´t have though is a creepily large statue of two people sitting by the bay together.  Pictures will be forthcoming.  Puerto Montt gets a plus though for not accepting the 80s style so popular in the capital. I have yet to see a mullets with rat tail dreadlocks.


Today I also discovered the plus and minuses to solo travel.  Plus I can go where I want when I want, the same goes for eating.  However, sitting by oneself at a restaurant with nothing to do is very awkard.  Hence, I have bought a book by Gabriel Marquez to minimize my awkwardness, at least to myself!  I also have no one to take awkard photos with and I feel wierd asking strangers to take photos of me acting really goofy.  I don´t like asking people to take my photo in general so don´t expect to see many shots of me from this trip!




Tonight I may be a good girl and go to Church at the Cathedral since I wasn´t allowed in earlier in the day.  However, it is cold and it has been raining on and off so I may just curl up in my huge hostal bed and watch a movie on HBO.

Surprises in San Pedro

Sorry for the delay on San Pedro - I've been busy traveling to tropical islands and what not.  The following is an adaption of the paper I wrote about my trip for my Spanish class with the theme of surprises.

My trip to San Pedro de Atacama was full of surprises.  Starting with the flight to Calama and all the way through to my final day in the north, everyday there were unexpected discoveries awaiting me.  While some revelations were entertaining, others were enlightening, and a few were disappointing.  However, no matter the surprise they have all made for excellent stories.

  The trip was only a little under two hours long so when I saw the television screens I thought they would only be on for the emergency instructions at the beginning of the flight.  However, the televisions stayed on and Toy Story 3 began - in English!  Everyone in the program was shocked when the film started and the characters were all speaking in English, there were not even Spanish subtitles.  I think that only us gringos enjoyed the entire film.  The only time everyone on the plane laughed during the movie was when one of the toys spoke in Spanish.

During the flight, when the attendants came around to serve snacks, I was again surprised.  In the US after September 11th airline companies have had trouble staying profitable.  As a result shorter flights normally do not serve food or beverages and if they do one is expected to pay - and the prices are not cheap.  LAN Airlines, although owned by American Airline, does not seem to share the problems of its mother company because I got a drink and 3 snacks, by Havana no less, for free!  I was very content during the flight.  I had one last plane related surprise while I departed the plane.  I got to walk right out onto the tarmac of the airport.  I felt like I had just gotten off Air Force One! 

That night while walking back to our hotel after a delicious dinner we all became aware of how far away we were from “civilization” when we looked up in wonder at the sky and saw a plethora of stars shining down on us.  I had not seen the stars so clearly since before I left the US.  It was nice to look at all the constellations, although they were trickier to find than normal.  I did not think about the fact that being in a different hemisphere would change the orientation of the stars until Joe found the big dipper facing sideways from how I normally see it.  I could have looked at the stars all night long but I eventually went to bed.  I wanted to have energy for the next morning when we all went sand boarding!

Sand boarding itself did not offer up any surprises.  I knew before hand that I was going have some spectacular crashes and get sand on every inch of my body.  However, on the way to sand boarding something happened that none of us expected.   Our driver had warned us that there was a difficult patch of “road” ahead and that he would have to drive quickly through it.  Apparently he did not go fast enough because the van got stuck in the sand!  Luckily there were enough of us to be able to push the van back onto more solid terrain. 

      While sand boarding was my favorite activity my least favorite activities surprised me as well, but not in a good way.  On our final day in the Atacama Desert we all woke up at four in the morning so that we could see the Géyser del Tatio during its hours of peak thermal activity.   I had thought that this would be my favorite part of the trip because I thought the geysers would be like Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park in the US.  This was not to be.  After traveling on very bumpy roads for three hours we finally reached the geysers.  To the disappointment of all of us the geysers did not shoot up into the air like Old Faithful.  Instead the largest one only shot up about 5ft before the freezing cold air turned the water into steam.  I think that if we did not have to get up so early that we all would have enjoyed the geysers more.  Still they were not what I had expected and I will not recommend them to people traveling to San Pedro.

When not out exploring in the desert we spent our time in San Pedro doing what girls (I am excluding Joe) love to do, shop.  San Pedro has become somewhat of a tourist trap and as a result there were a lot of places to shop at selling kitschy tourist goods as well as some places selling products that reflected the culture of the area.  In fact I found that the standard tourist items like t-shirts that say Chile on them were actually more expensive in San Pedro than they were in the Santa Lucia market in Santiago.  The more local products that one cannot find as easily in Santiago turned out to be cheaper at the San Pedro shops.  Many of us bought a lot of alpaca products because the prices in San Pedro were the best we had found.  Especially in comparison to the US where an alpaca scarf can easily sell for hundreds of dollars, in San Pedro I got one for the equivalent of 10 USD!

     The shop owners also shocked me with another line of products they sold coca leaves.  I associate coca leaves with Bolivia because of President Morales strong stance on allowing people the right to use the coca plant for cultural purposes.  The coca plant is also illegal in the US because its leaves are used to make cocaine.  Therefore it never even crossed my mind that I would find coca leaves, tea, candy, etc. in about a third of all the shops in San Pedro.  There even was coca tea in the lobby of our hotel!  Coming from a country with such a strict drug policy it was weird seeing coca, a plant which has lead to strained relationships between the US and countries in Latin America, sold openly for very cheap prices.  The uncompromising stance the US has taken with coca made me think that to ingest the plant in any form would result in even a small narcotic effect.  However I tried the coca tea at the hotel and I felt no different afterward.  I think it is senseless that if I were to drink the same tea in the US I could be put in jail on drug possession charges.

Most of the things that surprised me during my trip to the Atacama Desert centered on the differences between the US and Chile.  I suppose by now I should be getting used to the dissimilarities between the two countries but I like that I have not yet adjusted.  I love being amazed by unexpected sights and slightly confused by cultural differences.  It reminds me that they way I have lived my life for the past 20 years is not the only way.  The number of unexpected events that occurred I was able to experience in four days is a testament that there is plenty of Chile and the rest of the world that I still need to understand.

Asados Galore - Recap Part 2

Those of you who read the first part of my recap may be wondering how I got the time to travel to Argentina?  Chile’s bicentennial of course! Or the bicentenario as they call it here.  I had a week off from school to celebrate the historic event plus the following Monday.  So I spent the week in Argentina/ a bus and arrived back to Santiago Friday just in time for the start of the real celebrations.  There was an asado, Chilean for BBQ, at my house every day for the next four days.  For the next week we only had eggs in my house for protein.  My host parents explanation “mucho carne.”  Chileans eat so much during fiestas patrias (their term for the weekend of patriotic parties) that on average Chileans gain 6lbs and in the aftermath there is a spike in gym memberships like in the States after new year’s. 

Needless to say I ate a lot of food.  Two traditional Chilean foods that are quite good are chorípan and mote con huesillo.  Chorípan is a chorizo, a type of sausage, in a roll, hence chorípan.  One can add peppers, ketchup, etc. to chorípan and it is normally accompanied by a beer.  I was mocked for drinking water while eating a chorípan one day by my host dad.  Mote con huesillo is a tradicional summertime drink in Chile but it is so sugary it is really a dessert.  It is made with dried peaches (huesillo) cooked in sugar, water and cinnamon, and then once cooled mixed with cooked husked wheat (mote).  Normally the peach is left in the glass, which can make finishing the drink difficult because cutting a peach with a spoon is not an easy task.  However, for people like my sister Kelly, who enjoys picking at her plate once she is done eating, the peach is probably the best part.

So aside from eating what did I do during fiestas patrias? Well my first night back from Argentina I watched fireworks from my window that were going off in the park to blocks from my house.  The fireworks were going off so close to my house that it literally shook and all the car alarms in my neighborhood went off.  I also went to a fundo at the park near my house, which is basically a mini state fair.  Also  enjoyed the military parade, and heard the President give a speech, however, with all the cheering I didn’t understand much, or it might just be my Spanish. 

The military parade was going very slowly so my friends and I left to go to the a special Olympic quality light show at the Chilean equivalent of the White House, La Moneda, although the president doesn’t live there.  Anyway along the way, on a street that was completely empty, we heard a sonic boom and proceeded to freak out.  I covered my ears because I knew what the sound was but for some reason I also crouched down.  My reaction freaked out my friend (who shall remain anonymous) who had never heard a sonic boom before and she proceeded to think that the building next to us was falling down.  Once we regained our senses we could not stop laughing.  Then we saw fighter jets with plumes the colors of the Chilean flag and we made the connection that the  sonic boom was part of the military parade.

The light show at La Moneda was fantastic, the palace looked like it was falling at times and then at other points there were objects like the heads from Easter Islands being projected out of the building.  Only downside of the show was when a girl next to me threw up.  She told her mom she wasn’t feeling well but mom wanted to stick around for the show – she learned her lesson!  Never have I see so many people clear out of the way so quickly.  The place was packed but in seconds there was a 6ft circle around the girl.

On that note here ends the recapping of my time in Chile! Look out for a post on Atacama by next Wednesday.  I have to write a Spanish paper on my time there!

Only in Chile

Only in Chile can you find all of the below:

• Hot dogs in quiche
• A reporter for a national news station with an eye patch
•  Dogs on the metro and micros (buses)
• People concerned about missing their telenovia because of 24 hour coverage of the miners

OK, the last one would definitely happen in the US too but I don't think a bus driver in the US would let a stray dog on their bus.

Recap of my life abroad! Part 1

I am finally starting my blog!  Now all of you who I promised to write a blog for can creepy live vicariously through my adventures in Chile!  I've been in Chile for over a month now so this post and the next are going to be recaps of what I've been up to south of the border.  This first part is basically an adaption of emails I have sent, hence it is going to be pretty long.  Enjoy!

August 20th

My flight went well and as we neared Santiago I was able to see the Andes outside my window, the left side of the plane.  In fact you can see the Andes, which to me seem bigger than the Pyrenees, from everywhere in the city.  My host mom and dad are nice and I have a 94 yr old host grandmom.  I have not met my host brother yet.  He has exams today and tomorrow.  Zeus the dog is a lab.  After arriving at the house I unpacked and slept until lunch time at 2. Lunch is the main meal of the day so I had soup, a lasagna like dish made with potatoes, meat, and hard boiled eggs, plus bread and a banana.  The water here has a lot of minerals so I have to drink bottled water for the first week so that my body can adjust.  My room is on the 1st floor and has a closet and a desk.  The house is kinda cold like ours is during the winter but it at least gets warm outside as the day goes on.

August 22
My host dad dropped me off at the house of another host student after lunch and I went with her and her host mom to get a cell phone and a metro card.  There are 4 of us who live close together so I think we will all be talking the bus to school together.  After getting my phone we stopped by another girl´´s house and her host mom invited us over later tonight. 

My Chilean family has been keeping my very busy!  Yesterday my host mom took me on the bus I will be using to get to school and we visited a small museum in Provencia, another part of Santiago.  The museum had an exhibit on Russian history, mostly things from the 1900´s and religious.  There was also an exhibit on silver from Peru and those items were very detailed and ornate.  The exhibit had everything from punch bowels to hair combs to miniature furniture sets made solely of silver.  When we got back to the house we found out that my host brother, Christian, who I until then I had not seen passed his final exams so now he is finished school except for 2 yrs of residency, he is a psychiatrist.  Christian reminds me of Steve Torock in appearance, and he has a girlfriend In celebration the family had an asado (BBQ) that lasted from 3:30 till 10.  And then Christian his girlfriend and I went to another party to celebrate the end of exams with other students from the university until 1.  At the party I got to try my first pisco sour.  They are pretty strong so I only had a few sips.  I did not want to get drunk for the first time on my first full day in a strange city.  At the party at my host house I got to meet my other host brother and sister who are married and out of the house.  I am not sure how old my other host brother is but my host sister is 37 and they both have kids.

Then today at 9 my host dad took me and another girl in my program who lives nearby (Meli) to a park in the city that is really a huge hill, Cerro San Cristóbal.  At the top of the hill is a 15m statue of Mary who is the patron saint of Santiago and great views of the city and the Andes.  I am not sure how long the walk was but I think it was 5k.  We got home around 1 and then after lunch I went with Meli, her host mom, and Megan to a community center in las condes that has a lot of home made crafts.  I took lots of pictures but we didn't buy anything because Meli´s mom says it is cheaper in the center of Santiago.  And right now there is a futbol game on TV so I will prob be joining my family soon.

It is cold here in the morning and at night but during the day it is warmer in the 60s or 70s.  Like spring at home.  I don´t have an adapter yet but I am planning to go to the local version of a superwalmart/home depot tomorrow after school to get school supplies and see if they have an adapter there.  My house does´t have wifi so I have not needed to use my computer.  Luckily the university has wifi. 

 

August 25

I have been sooooo busy the past few days!  Monday was my first day of class, I walk 5 minutes to my bus stop then take the bus to the metro and walk about another block after the metro.  Altogether I takes me about an hour to get to school everyday but I don't mind the commute because Megan and Meli (2 girls in my program) ride with me the whole way.  Public transportation here is also really well run and cheap.  It costs me a dollar to use the metro and transferring to the bus is free. 
Everyone in the program is getting along really well.  After the first day of class a bunch of us walked around central Santiago.  I can't find a city to compare Santiago to.  It has the Spanish feel to it with the plazas and the churches but it doesn't have an overall European feel.  The fashion isn't the same here and the dogs wander around all over the place (including the ones with owners).  All the houses in the city have gates and high walls around them and most have 1 floor. 
Right now we are in the orientation phase of the semester so we have Spanish class from 9 to 12:30 and this week we have activities to do around the city in the afternoon. Besides visiting the central of the city I have also seen the Cathedral and Library of Santiago.

Sorry if this email is a bit random.  I am using a computer at a friend's house and other ppl are here so I am a bit distracted.  Some more randomness, I get to light a pilot light every morning for the water heater to take a shower!

*My dad´s response ¨¨I am sitting here imagining you lighting the pilot.  Don't get too close!  I almost lost some eyelashes that way lighting the pilot on a big water heater.¨¨

August 27

It has been a busy week for me!  I have been in Chile for a whole week now! Last night I got 10 glorious hours of sleep and I still didn’t want to get out of bed this morning! Every day there is something new for me to do and yes I have had homework to do as well.  Class has been interesting.  My Spanish teacher is very enthusiastic and has a penchant for say “sexy” and “super sexy” which in Chile are used as slang words for cool and/or sexy.  Kinda like how guys will sometimes say “that’s a sexy car” except with many more objects.  All of those books that told me about how much slang Chileans use is true, luckily though our Spanish teacher explained many of the key phrases and I am beginning to notice them in conversation.  For example the word “bacán” means cool and people say “Como estai” instead of “Como estás.” Spanish class is also a cultural class so we have also been learning about Santiago and Chile while practicing different types of grammar rules.  Our homework assignments also take us around the city.  On Monday I am presenting with a group our thoughts on the Biblioteca de Santiago, which has an awesome children’s section.  Yesterday in the afternoon one of the directors of the program took us to Pablo Neruda’s house in Santiago.  Everyone was joking around that Neruda was my man because I knew a good deal about him unlike everyone else in my tour group.  All of Neruda’s houses were built to resemble ships.  The ceilings are low and the windows and lights were bought from ship yards.  One room even has purposely uneven floors.  Neruda was terrified of the ocean but loved ships nonetheless.  Since Neruda was a rock star in his day and a collector of random things his house was awesome.  There are secret doors just because the are fun, 4 bars and only 2 bedrooms, a small stream, paintings by his friends Vargas, Picasso, and Sisquiera.  There is also simply stuff.  The man collected over 4,000 bottled ships, creepy dolls, 10,000 bottles, paintings of watermelons, 8,000 books, seashells, mastheads, etc.  The sad things that our tour guide kept impressing upon us was that we were only seeing a small portion of what had once been in the house.  Under Pinochet the army ransacked the house.  All the paintings were torn, almost the entire library was burnt down, and many other objects were smashed to bits.  Since then much of the place has been restored but there are not the complete collections they once were.  Our tour guide was highly critical of the army saying that they did not have the capacity to understand the cultural loss they created when they destroyed the house (we were very surprised to hear him say that b/c we didn’t bring up the topic and he said in the same sentence that he was conservative).  The house was so damaged that the stream that used to run through the house had to be diverted underground and a second floor walk way from one part of the house to another no longer exists.  Our guide said that the best place to see Neruda’s collections would be to visit his house, Isla Negra, which my I will get to see along with his other house in Valparíso when my program takes an overnight trip there on Tuesday.  We are all excited to compare Neruda’s other houses.  Oh and fun fact, the graffiti outside Neruda's house was painted by the communist party - apparently they have a branch that just creates murals around the city.
Today we took a bus tour of the city in the morning. We all thought it was an odd thing to do after spending a week here. 

September 2

So we finally figured out how to get the wifi to work on campus so now I will be better able to stay in contact with all of you!  Our tour through Valparaiso was very weird.  Our tour guide arrived late, covered in cat hair, with his fly down, and called himself a rock star of Valparaiso.  We didn't visit Neruda's house or parliament, instead we wandered through a lot of back streets full of graffiti (very good graffiti mind you) and construction jobs.  On one block a huge building was being erected that filled the entire side of the block and the construction workers in the building cat called and yelled as we walked by, all of us girls loved it.  We were also accompanied by one of the stray dogs of Chile that gives the country a bit of the Indian flair.  When cars would pass by the dog would literally attack the car and even bit the bumper of a few.  During the tour we stopped by a museum about the cartoonist Luckas who wrote for a lot of the papers in Chile.  It was a very cool place and I will have to take you there.  After our tour we went to a traditional Valpo restaurant and had a traditional meal of a huge plate of french fries with eggs, onions, and meat piled on top.  Each plate is supposed to feed 2-3 people.  It was sooo good but sooo unhealthy too.  While we were at the restaurant there was a news crew from Mega News who were doing a story on the restaurant, whose walls and tables are covered in writing and pictures from guests.  They interviewed 2 girls from our group and filmed us eating.  Apparently the story is going to run sometime in the evening on Sept 9th so you have until then to figure out how to get that news channel.  *Apparently we did end up on Chilean TV but sadly I have not been able to find footage of it on the internet.

I want to visit Valpo again in the summer and I expect it will be very different from this trip.  Since it is the winter the place is basically a ghost town but during the summer it fills up with ppl from Santiago.  The water will still be very cold even though it is the summer b/c of the Humboldt current but there will be plenty else for us to do besides visit the beach.  Aside from Neurda's house at Isla Negra, we never set foot on a beach.

Now onto some random observations about Chile.

Like I mentioned earlier there are stray dogs everywhere, much like in India but more well fed.  People also let their pet dogs wander the street unaccompanied.  As a result of these two things there are frequently permanent dog footprints in the cement of the sidewalk and one has to be careful not to step in dog poop.

While houses to have garbage cans there are also these metal baskets that are off the ground and can be used to place one's trash for the garbage man.

I have seen people mix soda with beer and also soda with wine.  I was disgusted and I am not even a big wine or beer fan.

Chileans really like their mayo which they will but on everything from hot dogs (another fav dish) to salad.  They also make a dip by mixing mayo and kettsup together.

I will send more random culture things as I think of them.

Last night it rained and today when I went outside I was amazed by how much closer the Andes looked.  All the Chileans had been telling us this but you can't really imagine the difference until you see it.  It is amazing!

 

September 3

Today was my first day of classes!

I had three classes today and while the first teacher spoke a little to fast for me at times the other 2 teachers were great and I understood almost everything they said.  And no, they did not speak English, I am pretty sure only one of them is fluent in the language.  I am also very fortunate in that it seems I am not going to have to write any extensively long essays in Spanish.  Although I do have a 1pg essay due on Monday :(. 

 I feel bad for my dog here, Zeus because he has to stay in the yard all day.  Even last night when it was pouring rain he wasn't allowed in until after 11 and his paw prints into the house were pure mud!  He is also a lot skinnier than our puppies, I almost want to sneak him food but I feel that people would notice when he starts to gain weight!

 

September 8

Not much to report from Chile.  Yesterday on our day off from school everyone in the program had to be at school by 7:45 so that we could go to two different government buildings, wait in lines that lasted over an hour each, and apply for our Chilean ID cards.  Thankfully the line to go pick up our cards, which we have to do in 15 days, is much shorter!  We didn't get done everything until after 12 so a bunch of us went out and got Chinese food/sushi (which I had for the 1st time).  Then I went home and took a 4 hour nap and did some homework.  All and all a very exciting day.

Another random tid bit about Chilean culture - mullets and dreadlocks are in style.  The weird part about the dreadlocks is that people have only one or two strand of hair dread locked or only the bottom half of their hair.  Neither hairstyle is very flattering.

 

September 11

I have made it to Argentina with only a small hiccup at customs ( other ppl had issues not me). Although I slept most of the time I think I witnessed a meteor shower and saw a big comet go by!  I also got a small glimpse of the Andes up close aka the rock was so steep on the side of the road I couldn't see the sky.  I am writing from the bus terminal which has free wifi but makes you charge for everything in the bathroom.  Meeting up with my friend Ali cousin in a bit and then we leave for Buenos Aires at 2.

 

September 12

I made it safe and sound to Buenos Aires!  Right now I am in the hostel which has computers and wfi so I will easily be able to keep in touch.  Today we are checking out the market in San Telmo.  We didn't do much in Mendoza but Ali s counsin showed us around town and had breakfast and lunch with us.  I got to have an alfajor which jimi will love.  It is a chocolate cookie covered in chocolate with dulce de leche in the middle.  He will also love how they make hot chocolate here.  Hot milk that you then drop a chocolate bar into and drink.  The ride to BA was not direct so we got to go through a lot of small towns, also watched planet earth and the bucket list in Spanish.

Fun Fact for the day fresh water  is agua dulce literally translated sweet water.
 

September 13

The weather here in Argentina has not been on my side today. :( it has been rainy all day today! We found a good solution to our problem though, we took a bus tour around the city and got to stop at some places and take photos.  It also gave me a good idea of what I want to check out.  Tomorrow night everyone is getting back together to take tango lessons and enjoy a tango show!
 Went for a walk through the San telmo market which wasn't what I expected, much more touristy than antique-y but it did get a custom sized leather belt for less than  $10 ( my old belt was too big).  Then a group of us went for a walk down to the river front where we got to see the bridge that is in all the photos of BA.  In the evening we went to a nearby bar with a group of Brazilians from our hostel. We taught them how to do the macerena (sp?).

This morning some of us looked into visiting Montevideo but we found out that you couldn't visit the capital as a day trip only a small coastal town so instead on Wednesday I am going gauchoing! Basically going to the Argentinian country side, horseback riding and having an asado ( BBQ ).

 

September 15

I have had a jam packed time in Argentina and tonight I leave the capital for Mendoza and will arrive in Santiago on Friday morning at 7.  Yesterday I had a tango class and then dinner and a 2 hr show. It was amazing!  The dancers were fantastic and I know several steps to the tango.  By far my favorite activity so far since I have been in South America.  I wish you all could go to it!  Several of us liked it so much we plan on taking tango classes when we get back to AU!  Earlier in the day I went and visited the cemetery where Evita´s grave is, recolleta, and even took a tour of it in Spanish!  I also visited two museums, Bellas Artes and one that I can´t remember the name but it use to be a mansion that only two people lived in. Bellas Artes had a great exhibit of Argentinian artists and a surprising number of well known painters like Pollock, Van Gough, Degas, Renoir, and Monet. The mansion museum was basically just all the art work and furniture of the couple that owned the house, which was a lot, very reminiscent of the king´s palace in Spain, but smaller.

Today I went gauchoing, basically visiting the country side of Argentina.  I went horseback riding and even got to gallop with one of the gauchos.  We had a delicious asado and enjoy a show.  I just wish we had gotten back to BA earlier, we were supposed to get back around 2 or 3 but we didn't get to our hostel until 6.  Still I had enough time to get some yerba matte tea.  It's a special tea here that apparently is an acquired taste.  I have yet to try it. 

September 16

Arrived safely in Mendoza and found myself a fabulous pair of leather boots!  They even match my DSW fake leather bag. No boots for Kelly though, her feet are too tiny. Basically walked around the city for the day window shopping.  About to hop on the bus back to Santiago, not looking forward to 1am customs.

September 17

Back in Santiago!  Arrived hours ahead of schedule which was nice, got to shower and crawl into bed before I had to talk to the host family about my trip.  Patricio (host Dad) woke me up at 2pm because the extended family was coming over for the first asado of bicentenatrio weekend.  Ate a lot of meat and danced the cueca.

 *****

Alright, well if you made it through all that I applaud you.  In the coming days there will be a recap of the bicentenario weekend and what I have been up to since!