Let me just emphasize how much of a loser I am: I traded in Black Eyed Peas Tickets and backstage passes for good grades on Composiciónes and Examenes. It's pass or fail loser!
My mom probably would have said- That would have been fun.
My dad would probably have said- At least you got your priorities straight!
Oh. My. Goodness.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Hola Hola faithful reader friends and comrades! I am once again realizing why as a child I had some kind of fixation with garlic. Garlic and peperoni... garlic and cheerios (they were gross but my babysitter made me eat them so I wouldn't waste them)... anyway, I am now eating dark chocolate with garlic on my hands. Why? For one thing, chocolate, garlic, pasta, tomato sauce and instant oatmeal are a summary of the things I have in my house I have to cook with. So garlic tomato sauce it is (and chocolate in the mean time). So what was the reason for this garlic etapa? Was it lack of resources or was it because I actually liked it? I think it was both. There's something about something sweet with something spicy, I went to Santiago and had ice cream with Bechara, Andy and Leslie, I had chocolate with pepper and Bech had strawberry with pepper. What crazy people thought of these mixtures? Dunno, but they sure are tasty. Besides my new/old-found happiness of garlic and chocolate, I am definetly looking forward to finishing classes. I do like to do things the extreme way, but there might be a fine line between extreme and monotonus. I need variety! I have to admit though, I have learned a lot, both in school, myself, and life pretty much. My spanish has improved like a million times over even though it still has a little work to do. I need to get to the point where I can understand people who talk really fast and slurr everything. I still have problems understanding Manuel, my trainer at the gym (which is paying off just to let you know). My gym is like a ghetto Rocky era gym, but I love it. The people are great. The hot topic today was the musculosos I saw at an exhibición culturismo en Santiago. Oh. My. Goodness. Some of these people were like monsters. The girls looked like men with womens heads put on top. Now women, why would you want to do that to yourself, it's just not attractive (no offense to my mom who is now a muscle builder... I guess you look pretty any way you are.. Hehe). Anyway, there was this one guy standing in the corner... with a hoody. His fake tan was dripping down his face because of the sweat. It looked like blood. My gosh, he looked like he could have been the devil himself. And then there was the beautiful one... Wow. He was so nice. I think he could have been an angel. Haha. It was great, Andy kept asking me to ask guys if they would take a picture with me. He was just like "He's so cute!" Haha. It was great. After spending a little to much time with muscle builders, we finally went to eat dinner at the "Paris Hilton of the gay society in Santiago." Yes, I would have had no idea beacause this guy was just fun. His apartment was amazing, original works from famous modern artists, furniture from others, Louis Vuitton suitcases as a stand for miniture artwork... We ate in this dining room, with candle sticks and champagne... Wow. I never thought I would be doing that.
Anyway... Since I haven't had time to write in here for a while, here's a recap of everything done in the past month or so...
I really shouldn't be writing a blog right now because I should be studying for my Braille test or writing one of my many compositions or working on my presentation, but yo tengo ganas para hacerlo (I feel like doing it).
I took a Tango class last week, which was fricking amazing! I think I need to find a place to do it in Hawaii! I got to dance with a really great chilean who cut in when I was dancing with my friend, and got cut in by the teacher. Haha, it was great. Josh had to dance with old ladies with bad breath. Whoo hoo!
I'm a dork and study at the beach.
Saw the descended or something like that with Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio... wasn't bad, kind of trippy how corrupt people can be.
Before all this fun of gramatica, composición, historia y culturas en contacto, we went to Buenos Aires and Iguazu. The beginning of the trip starte out crazy. I went to a drag show with Bech, Andy and Leslie. I think that was one of the most confusing/disturbing things I have ever seen. I have to admit it was entertaining, but some of these guys were so pretty. Ah! So I needed to be at the airport before 6am. I got there at like 5ish. No sleep at all for la Charisa. Anyway, we'll skip a little bit forward to the first morning in B.A. Breakfast wasn't very good, toast and watery hot chocolate. I was looking across the street and saw a little boy in with a blanket around his shoulders, calling a taxi for an old lady. I was thinking that it was really good that he wasn't just begging, he was trying to actually work. As he walked away I ran out the door. I asked him if he wanted to come eat breakfast and he was like, Quiero un shogur. Shogur??? I had no idea what he wanted. So I took him back to the restaurant under the hostel. Thomas, what's a shogur? We asked the lady if they had any. She didn't. So we went walking around looking for shogur. No one had it. Finally I figured out that he wanted yogur (yogurt). We ended up bying him something else something even healthier... McDonalds. After that little adventure, we hit up the antique fair. It was amazing, they had such beautiful things, things to wear, things to give, things to put in your apartment... It was heaven.
Iguazu. Three syllabals. A.Ma.Zing. First our taxi driver snuck us into Brazil and Paraguay. Voy a darte un consejo-Paraguay is not worth going to. Just had to get that out. Brazil was cool though, we went to a birdpark and saw birds I've never heard of, and Itaipu, the water damn elecricity builder... Generates the most energy in the world (for that kind of producer). Iguazu though... Ah, that is now my favorite place in the world. We had our taxi driver yet once again, Vito. He was definetly worth it. I forgot to mention the most amazing buffet of my life the night before. Anyway. We took the green passport tour or something like that. We rode through the almost amazon jungle in a open air military-like truck andthen got into a boat. First we went through the rapids with that speed boat. There were people with ponchos on, clothes on, and then a few of us with our bathing suits on. We were the smart ones. Everyone got soaked once we went under one of the waterfalls. First of all, the first view of the waterfall from faraway was amazing. I felt like I discovered the dinosaurs or something. I know, I know, I tell everybody that, but it's true! Anyway, that was the first of many. Many bigger ones, they were so giant! There were so many! It was so beautiful! We have picures, I just need to develop them. When we went under the waterfall it was a little scary because it was so huge! I thought there might be rocks or we might flip over. The video camera guy was on the front though so it was ok, he would have gone over first. That would have been pretty funny. The rest of the day went by, I saw a Tucan flying out in the wild! Vultures! I walked around in a bathing suit and hiking boots! It started pouring when we sat down to eat. Not just raining, pouring like there was a waterfall coming down from the sky. Everyone came into the restaurant and even then the poor harpist hardly got any applause. I figured it wouldn't stop raining anytime soon, so we went off to the garganta del diablo (devil's throat). That passage, the train, the bridges, the marsh, the pouring rain... was amazing. the devil's throat was unbelievable. It was so huge. I could believe why they called this place the devil's throat. By the time we got back, we were drenched. My hiking shoes are only waterproof if I have pants on I guess, and everything in our bags was soaked through. We went to the laundrymat before leaving. Just to let you know, getting the cama class in the bus is worth it especially for five more dollars.
Back to B.A., where I spen to much money, saw an amazing cemetery, museums, ate a four course meal for $5... MALBA museum was amazing. Art by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera... modern artists... amazing. We ended up crashing our friends hotel for lack of money. Good decision. We got free breakfast of media lunas y chocolate caliente (crossaints and hot chocolate) to add to the greatness of it. To top off the trip, we payed $25 ( which is a fortune there and esp. for me) for the most amazing spanish food, probably 20 plates or so of tapas, different appatizers from spain. There was flamenco dancing... $25 was definetly worth it. I think that if anyone wants to come to South America, the lonely planet guide is definetly amazing. Don't just stick to that though, talk with locals, hostels, take advantage of free maps in hostels and airports... Aprovechar. Well gente, I'm going to go to school now! Ah, another long day of school. Well, that is life I guess.
Anyway... Since I haven't had time to write in here for a while, here's a recap of everything done in the past month or so...
I really shouldn't be writing a blog right now because I should be studying for my Braille test or writing one of my many compositions or working on my presentation, but yo tengo ganas para hacerlo (I feel like doing it).
I took a Tango class last week, which was fricking amazing! I think I need to find a place to do it in Hawaii! I got to dance with a really great chilean who cut in when I was dancing with my friend, and got cut in by the teacher. Haha, it was great. Josh had to dance with old ladies with bad breath. Whoo hoo!
I'm a dork and study at the beach.
Saw the descended or something like that with Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio... wasn't bad, kind of trippy how corrupt people can be.
Before all this fun of gramatica, composición, historia y culturas en contacto, we went to Buenos Aires and Iguazu. The beginning of the trip starte out crazy. I went to a drag show with Bech, Andy and Leslie. I think that was one of the most confusing/disturbing things I have ever seen. I have to admit it was entertaining, but some of these guys were so pretty. Ah! So I needed to be at the airport before 6am. I got there at like 5ish. No sleep at all for la Charisa. Anyway, we'll skip a little bit forward to the first morning in B.A. Breakfast wasn't very good, toast and watery hot chocolate. I was looking across the street and saw a little boy in with a blanket around his shoulders, calling a taxi for an old lady. I was thinking that it was really good that he wasn't just begging, he was trying to actually work. As he walked away I ran out the door. I asked him if he wanted to come eat breakfast and he was like, Quiero un shogur. Shogur??? I had no idea what he wanted. So I took him back to the restaurant under the hostel. Thomas, what's a shogur? We asked the lady if they had any. She didn't. So we went walking around looking for shogur. No one had it. Finally I figured out that he wanted yogur (yogurt). We ended up bying him something else something even healthier... McDonalds. After that little adventure, we hit up the antique fair. It was amazing, they had such beautiful things, things to wear, things to give, things to put in your apartment... It was heaven.
Iguazu. Three syllabals. A.Ma.Zing. First our taxi driver snuck us into Brazil and Paraguay. Voy a darte un consejo-Paraguay is not worth going to. Just had to get that out. Brazil was cool though, we went to a birdpark and saw birds I've never heard of, and Itaipu, the water damn elecricity builder... Generates the most energy in the world (for that kind of producer). Iguazu though... Ah, that is now my favorite place in the world. We had our taxi driver yet once again, Vito. He was definetly worth it. I forgot to mention the most amazing buffet of my life the night before. Anyway. We took the green passport tour or something like that. We rode through the almost amazon jungle in a open air military-like truck andthen got into a boat. First we went through the rapids with that speed boat. There were people with ponchos on, clothes on, and then a few of us with our bathing suits on. We were the smart ones. Everyone got soaked once we went under one of the waterfalls. First of all, the first view of the waterfall from faraway was amazing. I felt like I discovered the dinosaurs or something. I know, I know, I tell everybody that, but it's true! Anyway, that was the first of many. Many bigger ones, they were so giant! There were so many! It was so beautiful! We have picures, I just need to develop them. When we went under the waterfall it was a little scary because it was so huge! I thought there might be rocks or we might flip over. The video camera guy was on the front though so it was ok, he would have gone over first. That would have been pretty funny. The rest of the day went by, I saw a Tucan flying out in the wild! Vultures! I walked around in a bathing suit and hiking boots! It started pouring when we sat down to eat. Not just raining, pouring like there was a waterfall coming down from the sky. Everyone came into the restaurant and even then the poor harpist hardly got any applause. I figured it wouldn't stop raining anytime soon, so we went off to the garganta del diablo (devil's throat). That passage, the train, the bridges, the marsh, the pouring rain... was amazing. the devil's throat was unbelievable. It was so huge. I could believe why they called this place the devil's throat. By the time we got back, we were drenched. My hiking shoes are only waterproof if I have pants on I guess, and everything in our bags was soaked through. We went to the laundrymat before leaving. Just to let you know, getting the cama class in the bus is worth it especially for five more dollars.
Back to B.A., where I spen to much money, saw an amazing cemetery, museums, ate a four course meal for $5... MALBA museum was amazing. Art by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera... modern artists... amazing. We ended up crashing our friends hotel for lack of money. Good decision. We got free breakfast of media lunas y chocolate caliente (crossaints and hot chocolate) to add to the greatness of it. To top off the trip, we payed $25 ( which is a fortune there and esp. for me) for the most amazing spanish food, probably 20 plates or so of tapas, different appatizers from spain. There was flamenco dancing... $25 was definetly worth it. I think that if anyone wants to come to South America, the lonely planet guide is definetly amazing. Don't just stick to that though, talk with locals, hostels, take advantage of free maps in hostels and airports... Aprovechar. Well gente, I'm going to go to school now! Ah, another long day of school. Well, that is life I guess.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The Half-Way Mark
I was having a conversation with my mom, who told me about her conversation with Totoro (my dog), which sounded like the same conversation I had with my self... about the half way mark. I've been here for two and a half months. I've done so much, seen so many things, met so many people, learned so many things... My accent sounds more Chilean I suppose, meaning my pronounciation has probably gotten a little worse... or a little better, depending on who you ask. You know, D's aren't really pronounced, the endings of some words disappear... like gracias is pronounced like gracia. That kind of stuff. I am sad though to think that I have a limited amount of time to explore, go to Buenos Aires and Iguazu (the biggest falls in the world), San Pedro de Atacama (huge desert...), Pichilemu (longest left wave in the... world?), Patagonia, and of course, revisit La Serena to surf, Santiago to go to Pablo Neruda's house, and who knows what else.
Today was amazing. After pouring rain yesterday, it was so clear and blue today. Perfect. I woke up and expected gray, but all I saw was beautiful. So... Thomas, Ian, Susan, Will... and... ugh,why can I not remember the other two's names??? Anyway, we went to La Isla Negra to visit Pablo Neruda's house. Beautiful drive, an hour south, we passed trees and vinyards... I just wanted to get off the bus to lay under a tree. But I'm glad I didn't because then I wouldn't have seen Quisco, with the cactus in the middle of the ocean, big beach, and beautiful waves, and I would have missed out on Pablo Neruda's house. His house was amazing. Creative, Imaginative, and everything had some significance.
Si bebes el vino o el agua en una copa de color
Tienen un mejor savor
Pablo Neruda.
Everything was so beautiful, he had things from all over the world, what are they called, the statues carved out of wood that are on the front of the ship??? Anyway, from the way the house was done you could tell that he loved sailing, traveling, and the ocean. It seemed like a fairytale, like he wanted to make you feel like you had been where he had been, in his travels and in his mind.
So after riding in micros and buses, eating apple pie and empanadas, sitting on the beach and walking through a dreamland, I am once again sitting at the computer, drinking green tea, and ready to go to bed. Mmm, sleep...
I was having a conversation with my mom, who told me about her conversation with Totoro (my dog), which sounded like the same conversation I had with my self... about the half way mark. I've been here for two and a half months. I've done so much, seen so many things, met so many people, learned so many things... My accent sounds more Chilean I suppose, meaning my pronounciation has probably gotten a little worse... or a little better, depending on who you ask. You know, D's aren't really pronounced, the endings of some words disappear... like gracias is pronounced like gracia. That kind of stuff. I am sad though to think that I have a limited amount of time to explore, go to Buenos Aires and Iguazu (the biggest falls in the world), San Pedro de Atacama (huge desert...), Pichilemu (longest left wave in the... world?), Patagonia, and of course, revisit La Serena to surf, Santiago to go to Pablo Neruda's house, and who knows what else.
Today was amazing. After pouring rain yesterday, it was so clear and blue today. Perfect. I woke up and expected gray, but all I saw was beautiful. So... Thomas, Ian, Susan, Will... and... ugh,why can I not remember the other two's names??? Anyway, we went to La Isla Negra to visit Pablo Neruda's house. Beautiful drive, an hour south, we passed trees and vinyards... I just wanted to get off the bus to lay under a tree. But I'm glad I didn't because then I wouldn't have seen Quisco, with the cactus in the middle of the ocean, big beach, and beautiful waves, and I would have missed out on Pablo Neruda's house. His house was amazing. Creative, Imaginative, and everything had some significance.
Si bebes el vino o el agua en una copa de color
Tienen un mejor savor
Pablo Neruda.
Everything was so beautiful, he had things from all over the world, what are they called, the statues carved out of wood that are on the front of the ship??? Anyway, from the way the house was done you could tell that he loved sailing, traveling, and the ocean. It seemed like a fairytale, like he wanted to make you feel like you had been where he had been, in his travels and in his mind.
So after riding in micros and buses, eating apple pie and empanadas, sitting on the beach and walking through a dreamland, I am once again sitting at the computer, drinking green tea, and ready to go to bed. Mmm, sleep...
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Spring Break!!!
It is said that everyone has a summer.
I say that everyone has a spring...break.
I also think that since this wasn't actually my spring, it doesn't totally count, so I get at least one more;)
But I will definetly never forget the places I went or the people I've met.
Chandi (my traveling buddy) and I left the night of Thursday, September 14. So I arrived by colectivo by her house, and walked with my pesado (heavy) backpack (huge, huge, huge!). Before I left, Omar me dijo que mi mochilla estaba tan pesado (was too heavy), but I, of course, like to have everything I could possibly need, como, tasa(duct tape), bandaids, neosporin, shirts for every occasion, wet suit, bathing suit, pajamas... you get the point. I did only bring one pair of jeans though! Back to the story. I arrived at la casa de Chandi so that her padre could llevarnos al terminal de bus. Of course, while we're waiting for him to finish playing his new game boy, he teaches me some more garabatos (bad words). Haha, love it this time i learned ... I'm sure you can get it- ¡Conche tu madre!- I didn't understand it at first because he slurrs his words and mumbles a little, but he was like- Es como "Show me the money!"- I love that guy! He is so funny. Y la madre me dijo- Hija! No lo digas! No lo digas! Es un mala palabra! (Don't say that, it's a bad word!) Of course she thinks I'm a gringa who has no idea what that means... They are so great. During the whole car ride with him, he was telling me that Peruanos son sucios (they're dirty), no bebes el agua, they might give us false money( ha, which they did!), and they're malintencionado( bad intentions). And when a peruvian driver drives badly say- Conche tu madre! It was awesome.
Next stop- La Serena. How i love it. We arrived at 6am. i was worried about our hostel guy not finding us, but within about two seconds of waiting, out comes Andrès! We got to our hostel, awake as ever. i couldn't call any of my friends! No one get up till at least 10am! Dios mio! I ended up falling asleep till maybe 10am. You know, when in La Serena... Yes. So I called Juan, who was a little busy at the moment (i thought for sure they didn't get up till 12...) nad he told me that he'd call me in a little bit. From my bad experience with flaky Fabian, I thought for sure that he'd forget or something. No surfing for me. Oh well. We ended up meeting Enrique from Tejas? and his two friends. We ended up having an awesome, cheap lunch at this restaurant, Donde Gallo or something like that. The waiter was so great, he gave us a sample of chicken because we had no idea what he was talking about. He was so great.
We did end up meeting with the guys (surfers), after running all over town to get there. We packed in the car like a can of sardines, and headed off to see the wizard. I mean the olas (waves). After going to the gas station, driving down a dirt road, and riding in a car full of cigarette and such smoke, we arrived at puente teatino. It wasn't really sunny and the waves didn't look perfectly glassy, but this was where we were to surf. It was a right hand break. Damn. So Juan me prestò su tabla, and I headed out with Matias to the point. The channel was great. The first two waves I caught were the worst ever. I thought I had forgotten how to surf. That was twice now. I decided to take off my booties and try again. Back out to the surf. To my suprise, I caught the most amazing wave. I didn't fall. I didn't just kind of stand up again. I was carving and doing cut backs! I didn't forget how to surf! It was the booties!!! I couldn't believe how great it was. Two more perfect waves, another hour, and I went in. I had the biggest smile on my face! I had just surfed the best waves I had surfed in so long! Hugs to everyone! Juan was already ready to go. We watched him surf till the sun went down and we were attacked by mosquitos. Muy impresionante. We taught Matias and Negro the words "Ripper" and "Shredder." I don't remember the words in spanish, but they are pretty classic.
Sice Chandi was tired, she missed out on the all night long asado and pool game. I suck at pool. It's so awesome. What's even more awesome was that i was playing with Mateo (Juan's brother), who also sucked (maybe he was just trying to make me feel better). It was great. I did drink a little too much wine, which made me have a headache more than anything else. Yeah. I think it's time to stop with the alcoholism before it even starts. The next morning, Juan wanted to go surfing. Nope, I was out. Fabian's cousin came to the hostel to take me to the beach- No, no puedo, estoy cansada... No one could wake me up! It was great. Sleeping... Ah...
Pisco elqui!!! If this was all I had for spring break, I would have been totally content. A supposedly two hour long bus ride turned into four. Juan didn't answer his phone. Ay yay yay. What was I going to do? Chandi was sleeping. I called Juan's sister she told me I couldn't get a hold of him because there was no reception. Ay. So when we get off the bus, we looked for a hostal. Thery were all full. Mind you, it was already 9:30pm when we arrived. We walked around pisco elqui, asking to rent floors or couches becuase there was no way Chandi would camp with the guys even if we found them. We did look for them in campings (campsites) but they were no where to be found. If only we had checked the other campsite next door, but Chandi wanted to find a bus terminal even though there were no buses running. We bought pan y queso, and sat on a park bench en la plaza, and ate our bread. Everywhere I went I was hoping to run into one of the guys. We did run into someone from fùtbol, but alas, no one else. As we went to preguntar where the terminal was, we ran into a guy who had some rooms en la piscina(pool). I was a little suspiciosa, but I saw posters in the bus, so off we were. We ended up meeting Andrès (Andy), who was very handsome, stylish, and friendly. Out came three other guys, Bechara, Steve(o), and ... Oh no, what's his name? The other one. I am so sorry if you are reading this!!! Anyway, me encantan. Bechara, mi amore, (Andy's novio), is the most amazing, funniest guy ever! I love him! And Andy! They are so great! Poor Stevo, he was sick. To much pisco and too much sun. We all ended up going bike riding (except for what's his name) and took like a billion pictures. It was so amazing. Ice cream, electro music, bbq, we had our own little independance day party. I wish I went to la fonda though, I really wanted to dance queca (national dance), but sleep called. The next day we were on our way back. We went with the guys, they bought us cute little fruit tarts for breakfast ( they are the best), after they changed the flat tire. Our ride back wit them was great, as was everything with them. Andy said that he loved being with steve and... because they're from Lebanon, went through hard times, and now, they make the most of every second. He said that many of us live in the past or the future, but the most important is living right now. Memories are important, plans and dreams are important, but if we don't live now, we're not really living at all.
Juan called as soon as I got reception. So sweet. He makes me feel great. Ended up having lunch with him and Cris. Chandi had beans.
So longs and fare the wells were so sad. Ah... Te extrañarè Juan.
We rode for 22 hours to Arica. Met Peruanos who claimed that Pisco was peruano. Alejandro was our attendant, and since the bus was pretty much empty except for us, he just kept us company.
Arica. Slept at las palmas hostal, with crappy water pressure and stingy bread services. If someone's not in the kitchen and breakfast is supposedly provided, I will take, toast, and eat the bread. Oh yes, and drink the tea.
Train to Tacna, Peru. Everyone wants to get past the border!!!
Tacna to Ariquipa. "Ariquipa, Ariquipa, Ariquipa!" yelled a burly man with a loud voice. I will never forget him. Haha. Everytime I hear that name, I will think of him- Ariquipa!
We had lunch with a Japonese couple. They were so sweet. Miki and... I can't remember her name. Què lastima!
I was really sad that we couldn't see Ariquipa as we went through it on our way to Cusco. It was supposedly a beautiful city, "The white city," with volcanes. Ah. So sad.
Cusco. A city with great achitecture and great style... I mean there are so many people wearing their native dress, it's great. We went to Qoricancha, which was originally an Inca temple and then was taken over by the Spaniards. It was so beautiful. Can you imagine having the most important part of your culture being taken over by foreigners though? It must have been devastating. The architecture was a mix of Inca and Spanish design. It was so beautiful. There were paintings done by the spanish of the saints. They were so inspiring. so romantic. I know that maybe Christianity shouldn't be romanticized, but I love the stories and paintings, and everything that makes it beautiful. I wish that there was more of that now days, people dedicating their lives to make beautiful cathedrals, paintings, writings...
Bargaining at the mercado central was an adventure. I love how everyone tries to make you feel sorry for them and when hustling, they try to get even one Sol (like a quarter) out of you. -Es solamente un sol mas... It's awesome. I made some lady very rich that day.
I gave in. I signed up for a tour. Luckily we were the only ones in the tour(me and Chandi). We had an amazing tour guide, Alexis. We went mountain biking to Machu Picchu!!! Well almost, it was so beautiful. My hands were brused from all of the shock though. As I was waiting at the bottom of a hill... Along came Alexis... we waited... No Chandi. Five minutes more... No Chandi. So I biked up the hill as fast as possible. And there she was. lying on the ground, surrounded by the mountain people. They were preparing a fire, cutting up onions, and getting ready to eat her. I ran with my knife in my hand and started attacking them! I finally got her out of there even though we were being chased by mad indigenous people! Ok, ok, back to the part where she was on the ground. What really happened... she hit a rock and fell, dislocated her elbow, and the peopld didn't know what to do. Alexis went to the town, 15 minutes away, and I entertained her, singing "The ghost of corporate future" very strangely. I think the village people were confused. When we got to the hostal, I took pictures of Chandi's wounds before cleaning all the dirt off of her body. she didn't really want to be cleaned because it hurt, but I thought it was really important. Who know's what's in that dirt??? A bone doctor came to relocate her elbow. She was not happy. I wouldn't have been either, but it was for the best. She kept telling him to stop, and I'm sure that it seemed like forever to her, but he was fast and gentle.
The next day was strange, no one was really in a good mood because they were so stressed out, Chandi because of her arm, and me because I felt like I couldn't make her happy in any way. The journey was long to Aguas Calientes, and we walked the whole way. After lunch and getting some food in us, I was in a better mood, and fell behind, taking pictures and such. We walked for about four more hours to Aguas Calientes. Didn't have enough money to go to the hotsprings, sadly, but we ran into Charlie, Thomas, Raul, and Amanda while we were eating in a restaurant! I was so happy. Even though I supposedly renounced alcohol, I had a sip of sangria. Mmmm, so good. Like fizzy fruit punch... Spagetti was awesome. Food.
3am. It's time to get up. The time is three o'clock. Ugh. Alarm. Ran to the plaza because Thomas said he's leave if we were even 5 minutes late. They were 10 minutes late. I thought they had already left us. I was super stoked to go to Machu Picchu. I was again left behind, climbing the steps of the Incas because I couldn't breathe. I was so sick. Coughing all night long for three nights didn't do me any good. Oh well, just me and God and my dying flashlight. It was actually really nice. Very peaceful. Had the lamp to my feet and the shadow of death scriptures going on in my head at first... why didn't I pay more attention to those before, I can't even remember the whole verse! When I got to the top an hour later... at 5ish am, The guys were super bummed because they thought that M.P. opened at 5am. Sorry boys. I guess I was the only one who knew. Ha. It was great. So we had vanilla galletas, kind of likt vanilla wafers, but way better. There was no sunrise to see that day, even though that is supposed to be the most magnificent sight ever. It just rained. Lleve sobre mojado ( It doesn't rain, but pours). We found a path, a strange one, out of the way. I kept climbing, just a little more, just a little more, I told Chandi. We ended up climbing for over an hour and a half more. The view was increible. We were climbing Wayna Picchu, the highest peak in the area. We didn't make it to the top, though I wish we had. Only 45 minutes more and we would have made it. I guess I'll have to save that for another trip. M. P. itself was amazing, it was so huge! Way bigger than I had imagined it. I didn't mind the rain so much, even though I was pretty much soaked. I am so grateful for my waterproof hiking boots (thanks mom). Those and my pashmina have been life savers, the best things that I have brought on this trip.
Back to Cusco. Problems with the agency and changing our tickets, and having enough money to get back(since I stupidly forgot my debit card in the atm- thanks again mom for helping me out with that). But after going to the hospital (too many visits there on this trip for my taste), everything worked out really smoothly. We met some Columbianos and crossed the border with them (after riding on a bus for like 18 hours and being the only gringas on the bus). They were great Djs and Vjs on tour. Bus ride for like 40 more hours... altogether over 50 hours straight. I was so happy to be home. I've had amazing meals ever since I got back, and my bed doesn't move ( like the bus)! Yay! So now I'm off once again, tomorrow to Santiago for a day, to visit my love, Bechara and we are going to share music, photos, and tear apart the city. Bacan. Ya po. And then Thursday back to La Serena to take more photos, see my honey, Juan, and surf. Maybe go to San Pedro. Don't know, but that story will be for another time.
That's all for now folks!
Over and out.
It is said that everyone has a summer.
I say that everyone has a spring...break.
I also think that since this wasn't actually my spring, it doesn't totally count, so I get at least one more;)
But I will definetly never forget the places I went or the people I've met.
Chandi (my traveling buddy) and I left the night of Thursday, September 14. So I arrived by colectivo by her house, and walked with my pesado (heavy) backpack (huge, huge, huge!). Before I left, Omar me dijo que mi mochilla estaba tan pesado (was too heavy), but I, of course, like to have everything I could possibly need, como, tasa(duct tape), bandaids, neosporin, shirts for every occasion, wet suit, bathing suit, pajamas... you get the point. I did only bring one pair of jeans though! Back to the story. I arrived at la casa de Chandi so that her padre could llevarnos al terminal de bus. Of course, while we're waiting for him to finish playing his new game boy, he teaches me some more garabatos (bad words). Haha, love it this time i learned ... I'm sure you can get it- ¡Conche tu madre!- I didn't understand it at first because he slurrs his words and mumbles a little, but he was like- Es como "Show me the money!"- I love that guy! He is so funny. Y la madre me dijo- Hija! No lo digas! No lo digas! Es un mala palabra! (Don't say that, it's a bad word!) Of course she thinks I'm a gringa who has no idea what that means... They are so great. During the whole car ride with him, he was telling me that Peruanos son sucios (they're dirty), no bebes el agua, they might give us false money( ha, which they did!), and they're malintencionado( bad intentions). And when a peruvian driver drives badly say- Conche tu madre! It was awesome.
Next stop- La Serena. How i love it. We arrived at 6am. i was worried about our hostel guy not finding us, but within about two seconds of waiting, out comes Andrès! We got to our hostel, awake as ever. i couldn't call any of my friends! No one get up till at least 10am! Dios mio! I ended up falling asleep till maybe 10am. You know, when in La Serena... Yes. So I called Juan, who was a little busy at the moment (i thought for sure they didn't get up till 12...) nad he told me that he'd call me in a little bit. From my bad experience with flaky Fabian, I thought for sure that he'd forget or something. No surfing for me. Oh well. We ended up meeting Enrique from Tejas? and his two friends. We ended up having an awesome, cheap lunch at this restaurant, Donde Gallo or something like that. The waiter was so great, he gave us a sample of chicken because we had no idea what he was talking about. He was so great.
We did end up meeting with the guys (surfers), after running all over town to get there. We packed in the car like a can of sardines, and headed off to see the wizard. I mean the olas (waves). After going to the gas station, driving down a dirt road, and riding in a car full of cigarette and such smoke, we arrived at puente teatino. It wasn't really sunny and the waves didn't look perfectly glassy, but this was where we were to surf. It was a right hand break. Damn. So Juan me prestò su tabla, and I headed out with Matias to the point. The channel was great. The first two waves I caught were the worst ever. I thought I had forgotten how to surf. That was twice now. I decided to take off my booties and try again. Back out to the surf. To my suprise, I caught the most amazing wave. I didn't fall. I didn't just kind of stand up again. I was carving and doing cut backs! I didn't forget how to surf! It was the booties!!! I couldn't believe how great it was. Two more perfect waves, another hour, and I went in. I had the biggest smile on my face! I had just surfed the best waves I had surfed in so long! Hugs to everyone! Juan was already ready to go. We watched him surf till the sun went down and we were attacked by mosquitos. Muy impresionante. We taught Matias and Negro the words "Ripper" and "Shredder." I don't remember the words in spanish, but they are pretty classic.
Sice Chandi was tired, she missed out on the all night long asado and pool game. I suck at pool. It's so awesome. What's even more awesome was that i was playing with Mateo (Juan's brother), who also sucked (maybe he was just trying to make me feel better). It was great. I did drink a little too much wine, which made me have a headache more than anything else. Yeah. I think it's time to stop with the alcoholism before it even starts. The next morning, Juan wanted to go surfing. Nope, I was out. Fabian's cousin came to the hostel to take me to the beach- No, no puedo, estoy cansada... No one could wake me up! It was great. Sleeping... Ah...
Pisco elqui!!! If this was all I had for spring break, I would have been totally content. A supposedly two hour long bus ride turned into four. Juan didn't answer his phone. Ay yay yay. What was I going to do? Chandi was sleeping. I called Juan's sister she told me I couldn't get a hold of him because there was no reception. Ay. So when we get off the bus, we looked for a hostal. Thery were all full. Mind you, it was already 9:30pm when we arrived. We walked around pisco elqui, asking to rent floors or couches becuase there was no way Chandi would camp with the guys even if we found them. We did look for them in campings (campsites) but they were no where to be found. If only we had checked the other campsite next door, but Chandi wanted to find a bus terminal even though there were no buses running. We bought pan y queso, and sat on a park bench en la plaza, and ate our bread. Everywhere I went I was hoping to run into one of the guys. We did run into someone from fùtbol, but alas, no one else. As we went to preguntar where the terminal was, we ran into a guy who had some rooms en la piscina(pool). I was a little suspiciosa, but I saw posters in the bus, so off we were. We ended up meeting Andrès (Andy), who was very handsome, stylish, and friendly. Out came three other guys, Bechara, Steve(o), and ... Oh no, what's his name? The other one. I am so sorry if you are reading this!!! Anyway, me encantan. Bechara, mi amore, (Andy's novio), is the most amazing, funniest guy ever! I love him! And Andy! They are so great! Poor Stevo, he was sick. To much pisco and too much sun. We all ended up going bike riding (except for what's his name) and took like a billion pictures. It was so amazing. Ice cream, electro music, bbq, we had our own little independance day party. I wish I went to la fonda though, I really wanted to dance queca (national dance), but sleep called. The next day we were on our way back. We went with the guys, they bought us cute little fruit tarts for breakfast ( they are the best), after they changed the flat tire. Our ride back wit them was great, as was everything with them. Andy said that he loved being with steve and... because they're from Lebanon, went through hard times, and now, they make the most of every second. He said that many of us live in the past or the future, but the most important is living right now. Memories are important, plans and dreams are important, but if we don't live now, we're not really living at all.
Juan called as soon as I got reception. So sweet. He makes me feel great. Ended up having lunch with him and Cris. Chandi had beans.
So longs and fare the wells were so sad. Ah... Te extrañarè Juan.
We rode for 22 hours to Arica. Met Peruanos who claimed that Pisco was peruano. Alejandro was our attendant, and since the bus was pretty much empty except for us, he just kept us company.
Arica. Slept at las palmas hostal, with crappy water pressure and stingy bread services. If someone's not in the kitchen and breakfast is supposedly provided, I will take, toast, and eat the bread. Oh yes, and drink the tea.
Train to Tacna, Peru. Everyone wants to get past the border!!!
Tacna to Ariquipa. "Ariquipa, Ariquipa, Ariquipa!" yelled a burly man with a loud voice. I will never forget him. Haha. Everytime I hear that name, I will think of him- Ariquipa!
We had lunch with a Japonese couple. They were so sweet. Miki and... I can't remember her name. Què lastima!
I was really sad that we couldn't see Ariquipa as we went through it on our way to Cusco. It was supposedly a beautiful city, "The white city," with volcanes. Ah. So sad.
Cusco. A city with great achitecture and great style... I mean there are so many people wearing their native dress, it's great. We went to Qoricancha, which was originally an Inca temple and then was taken over by the Spaniards. It was so beautiful. Can you imagine having the most important part of your culture being taken over by foreigners though? It must have been devastating. The architecture was a mix of Inca and Spanish design. It was so beautiful. There were paintings done by the spanish of the saints. They were so inspiring. so romantic. I know that maybe Christianity shouldn't be romanticized, but I love the stories and paintings, and everything that makes it beautiful. I wish that there was more of that now days, people dedicating their lives to make beautiful cathedrals, paintings, writings...
Bargaining at the mercado central was an adventure. I love how everyone tries to make you feel sorry for them and when hustling, they try to get even one Sol (like a quarter) out of you. -Es solamente un sol mas... It's awesome. I made some lady very rich that day.
I gave in. I signed up for a tour. Luckily we were the only ones in the tour(me and Chandi). We had an amazing tour guide, Alexis. We went mountain biking to Machu Picchu!!! Well almost, it was so beautiful. My hands were brused from all of the shock though. As I was waiting at the bottom of a hill... Along came Alexis... we waited... No Chandi. Five minutes more... No Chandi. So I biked up the hill as fast as possible. And there she was. lying on the ground, surrounded by the mountain people. They were preparing a fire, cutting up onions, and getting ready to eat her. I ran with my knife in my hand and started attacking them! I finally got her out of there even though we were being chased by mad indigenous people! Ok, ok, back to the part where she was on the ground. What really happened... she hit a rock and fell, dislocated her elbow, and the peopld didn't know what to do. Alexis went to the town, 15 minutes away, and I entertained her, singing "The ghost of corporate future" very strangely. I think the village people were confused. When we got to the hostal, I took pictures of Chandi's wounds before cleaning all the dirt off of her body. she didn't really want to be cleaned because it hurt, but I thought it was really important. Who know's what's in that dirt??? A bone doctor came to relocate her elbow. She was not happy. I wouldn't have been either, but it was for the best. She kept telling him to stop, and I'm sure that it seemed like forever to her, but he was fast and gentle.
The next day was strange, no one was really in a good mood because they were so stressed out, Chandi because of her arm, and me because I felt like I couldn't make her happy in any way. The journey was long to Aguas Calientes, and we walked the whole way. After lunch and getting some food in us, I was in a better mood, and fell behind, taking pictures and such. We walked for about four more hours to Aguas Calientes. Didn't have enough money to go to the hotsprings, sadly, but we ran into Charlie, Thomas, Raul, and Amanda while we were eating in a restaurant! I was so happy. Even though I supposedly renounced alcohol, I had a sip of sangria. Mmmm, so good. Like fizzy fruit punch... Spagetti was awesome. Food.
3am. It's time to get up. The time is three o'clock. Ugh. Alarm. Ran to the plaza because Thomas said he's leave if we were even 5 minutes late. They were 10 minutes late. I thought they had already left us. I was super stoked to go to Machu Picchu. I was again left behind, climbing the steps of the Incas because I couldn't breathe. I was so sick. Coughing all night long for three nights didn't do me any good. Oh well, just me and God and my dying flashlight. It was actually really nice. Very peaceful. Had the lamp to my feet and the shadow of death scriptures going on in my head at first... why didn't I pay more attention to those before, I can't even remember the whole verse! When I got to the top an hour later... at 5ish am, The guys were super bummed because they thought that M.P. opened at 5am. Sorry boys. I guess I was the only one who knew. Ha. It was great. So we had vanilla galletas, kind of likt vanilla wafers, but way better. There was no sunrise to see that day, even though that is supposed to be the most magnificent sight ever. It just rained. Lleve sobre mojado ( It doesn't rain, but pours). We found a path, a strange one, out of the way. I kept climbing, just a little more, just a little more, I told Chandi. We ended up climbing for over an hour and a half more. The view was increible. We were climbing Wayna Picchu, the highest peak in the area. We didn't make it to the top, though I wish we had. Only 45 minutes more and we would have made it. I guess I'll have to save that for another trip. M. P. itself was amazing, it was so huge! Way bigger than I had imagined it. I didn't mind the rain so much, even though I was pretty much soaked. I am so grateful for my waterproof hiking boots (thanks mom). Those and my pashmina have been life savers, the best things that I have brought on this trip.
Back to Cusco. Problems with the agency and changing our tickets, and having enough money to get back(since I stupidly forgot my debit card in the atm- thanks again mom for helping me out with that). But after going to the hospital (too many visits there on this trip for my taste), everything worked out really smoothly. We met some Columbianos and crossed the border with them (after riding on a bus for like 18 hours and being the only gringas on the bus). They were great Djs and Vjs on tour. Bus ride for like 40 more hours... altogether over 50 hours straight. I was so happy to be home. I've had amazing meals ever since I got back, and my bed doesn't move ( like the bus)! Yay! So now I'm off once again, tomorrow to Santiago for a day, to visit my love, Bechara and we are going to share music, photos, and tear apart the city. Bacan. Ya po. And then Thursday back to La Serena to take more photos, see my honey, Juan, and surf. Maybe go to San Pedro. Don't know, but that story will be for another time.
That's all for now folks!
Over and out.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Con Con
So this is how my weekend started out... I was really stoked on going snowboarding for my first time ever in Chile all of last week. Ah, you have no idea how stoked I was. I was having dreams of snowboarding again... Even though I didn't know how to stop... Anyway, I was really stoked. Thursday I found out that no one else had paid for the trip. So, I planned on going with a different group. But no one paid from that one either. Ah, I was so bummed. So bummed. I was like in a depression for like the whole day. So after attempting to have company to go to Reñaca and surf by waking up two of my compadres... I went sòla. The waves were small, so I didn't rent a board. As I walked to the mall, some guy (very proud to be in the chilean marines) thought I was some Agentinean model or something. I wish I knew who she was but I think he might have been making things up. After pretending I didn't know much spanish (què terrible), I went to the mall to buy some yarn to attempt to make a blanket for my soon to be cousin. Yay! One successful thing done. I thought the funk would pass, but the next day, saturday, I was still down. Running helped, helps. Porque necesito liberar mis... se me olvidè. stress. Yes.
So Saturday after the run was wonderful, good oatmeal, good bbq... And then it happened. I go the call that i'd been waiting for... Thomas! Yay! Camping was on! So we met at Cafè Journal and headed off! Kind of. We had to wait for someone else, look for provisions, and make a pit stop at Nuts4Nuts to get me some mani (pronounced like money but really means peanuts). Ah, so wonderful and fresca. By that time Thomas' friend was a little, ok, a lot irritated because we were already doing more running around than he bargained for. We also got off at the wrong stop on the way to Con Con, took advantage of the supermarket, and had no idea where we were going. So he had it, told Thomas to feel bad, and called his friend who lived down the road to have a cup of tè. Very interesante.
Let's get back to the journey though. Con Con is about maybe an hour away, but a whole different world. It's totally country. I love it. The dunes, the horses... Ah. Lovely. Instead of meeting Charlie and Sarah like we were supposed to, we stumbled into a rodeo! Just to let you know, I've been dying to go to a rodeo like my whole life! This one wasn't huge, but it was so festive, with typical chilean cowboy music and cowboys and family cheerinng them on. It was wonderful. We go to talk with a bunch of the locals and take a bunch of pictures (which I will be posting as soon as possible).
After watching the stable boy ride away on his horse to fetch Charlie and Sarah, we were off to see El Mono, which has the best empanadas ever! Back to el supermercado, where I distracted a security guard while Charlie got some crates for firewood, and off to the dunes. The dunes were wonderful, great view, we had a great fire, sommores (how do you spell that?). I think we had the first sommores ever to be had in Chile. Very makeshift, but very wonderful. The night was freezing, so I couldn't move into the tent, slept by the fire, and got a nice burn hole in my sleeping bag. But hey, I bought a chilean flag patch to cover it up! So it's all good.
Horse riding the next day. Again, it was perfect. Riding as fast as the horse could take me down the beach, sea air in my hair. Wonderful feeling. And then... back to Viña, back to classes... Ah... But soon, more adventures to come during the Chilean independance day and our spring break.
So this is how my weekend started out... I was really stoked on going snowboarding for my first time ever in Chile all of last week. Ah, you have no idea how stoked I was. I was having dreams of snowboarding again... Even though I didn't know how to stop... Anyway, I was really stoked. Thursday I found out that no one else had paid for the trip. So, I planned on going with a different group. But no one paid from that one either. Ah, I was so bummed. So bummed. I was like in a depression for like the whole day. So after attempting to have company to go to Reñaca and surf by waking up two of my compadres... I went sòla. The waves were small, so I didn't rent a board. As I walked to the mall, some guy (very proud to be in the chilean marines) thought I was some Agentinean model or something. I wish I knew who she was but I think he might have been making things up. After pretending I didn't know much spanish (què terrible), I went to the mall to buy some yarn to attempt to make a blanket for my soon to be cousin. Yay! One successful thing done. I thought the funk would pass, but the next day, saturday, I was still down. Running helped, helps. Porque necesito liberar mis... se me olvidè. stress. Yes.
So Saturday after the run was wonderful, good oatmeal, good bbq... And then it happened. I go the call that i'd been waiting for... Thomas! Yay! Camping was on! So we met at Cafè Journal and headed off! Kind of. We had to wait for someone else, look for provisions, and make a pit stop at Nuts4Nuts to get me some mani (pronounced like money but really means peanuts). Ah, so wonderful and fresca. By that time Thomas' friend was a little, ok, a lot irritated because we were already doing more running around than he bargained for. We also got off at the wrong stop on the way to Con Con, took advantage of the supermarket, and had no idea where we were going. So he had it, told Thomas to feel bad, and called his friend who lived down the road to have a cup of tè. Very interesante.
Let's get back to the journey though. Con Con is about maybe an hour away, but a whole different world. It's totally country. I love it. The dunes, the horses... Ah. Lovely. Instead of meeting Charlie and Sarah like we were supposed to, we stumbled into a rodeo! Just to let you know, I've been dying to go to a rodeo like my whole life! This one wasn't huge, but it was so festive, with typical chilean cowboy music and cowboys and family cheerinng them on. It was wonderful. We go to talk with a bunch of the locals and take a bunch of pictures (which I will be posting as soon as possible).
After watching the stable boy ride away on his horse to fetch Charlie and Sarah, we were off to see El Mono, which has the best empanadas ever! Back to el supermercado, where I distracted a security guard while Charlie got some crates for firewood, and off to the dunes. The dunes were wonderful, great view, we had a great fire, sommores (how do you spell that?). I think we had the first sommores ever to be had in Chile. Very makeshift, but very wonderful. The night was freezing, so I couldn't move into the tent, slept by the fire, and got a nice burn hole in my sleeping bag. But hey, I bought a chilean flag patch to cover it up! So it's all good.
Horse riding the next day. Again, it was perfect. Riding as fast as the horse could take me down the beach, sea air in my hair. Wonderful feeling. And then... back to Viña, back to classes... Ah... But soon, more adventures to come during the Chilean independance day and our spring break.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Las Adventuras Nuevas de la Charisa!!!
Ok, Charisa (pronounced como karisa since everyone seems to have such a hard time with it) means Grace en greco. Ok? Ok.
So... mi madre used to call me "Graceful." I think she cursed me from the beginning. She had to think 8 extra days what she would name me... so I could be a clutz! Ah! Don't get me wrong, I love my name, even though it is not your normal name... And... That's why I like it;)
Ok, anyway, So... While I was on the phone with Mr. S.S., I rested my leg on a shelf...estante en español... which fell (se cayò), se rompiò, se rompiò un cigarrette ash tray de Barcelona, y decapitated a sailor (decapitò un marinaro). Next clutzy thing... I went to go fix them. And with what? Super glue!!! The super glue was glued tight. (I think they should start making one time use super glue. They're wasting glue and container making trees!!!) So what do I do??? I pry it open. (Charisa's so smart!!!) And then what happens??? I get glue all over my hand, my pants and the floor. None whatsoever on the sailor's decapatated head. So... despite my overuse of the spanish language, I start speaking french! Does that count as speaking in toungues??? Haha. I just had to sound like the sailor to make up for his inability to speak wile his brain was disconnected from his cuerpo. I forgot what the other clutzy things I did today because I just got so engrossed in my story. So... I'll save the rest for next time. Just thought I'd let you know. Hopefully entretenar te un poquito. Ya po. Besos. Hasta lavista. BEBE.
Ok, Charisa (pronounced como karisa since everyone seems to have such a hard time with it) means Grace en greco. Ok? Ok.
So... mi madre used to call me "Graceful." I think she cursed me from the beginning. She had to think 8 extra days what she would name me... so I could be a clutz! Ah! Don't get me wrong, I love my name, even though it is not your normal name... And... That's why I like it;)
Ok, anyway, So... While I was on the phone with Mr. S.S., I rested my leg on a shelf...estante en español... which fell (se cayò), se rompiò, se rompiò un cigarrette ash tray de Barcelona, y decapitated a sailor (decapitò un marinaro). Next clutzy thing... I went to go fix them. And with what? Super glue!!! The super glue was glued tight. (I think they should start making one time use super glue. They're wasting glue and container making trees!!!) So what do I do??? I pry it open. (Charisa's so smart!!!) And then what happens??? I get glue all over my hand, my pants and the floor. None whatsoever on the sailor's decapatated head. So... despite my overuse of the spanish language, I start speaking french! Does that count as speaking in toungues??? Haha. I just had to sound like the sailor to make up for his inability to speak wile his brain was disconnected from his cuerpo. I forgot what the other clutzy things I did today because I just got so engrossed in my story. So... I'll save the rest for next time. Just thought I'd let you know. Hopefully entretenar te un poquito. Ya po. Besos. Hasta lavista. BEBE.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Sunday Morning...
I just had the most amazing Sunday.
I was walking down the road, thinking to myself that since I can't find a church that I might as well kind of start something myself. So... I have to remember to talk to Tori about it mañana.
Super stoked about that.
I was really sad though, this morning as I was getting ready to go out, I heard sirens. I didn't think anything of it until later, when I was walking dow the street. There was a migro flipped over on it's side (migro=bus), and two cars that were pretty beaten up. I took some pictures with my film camera and an old man came up to me and asked me what happened. He thought I was with the diario. I didn't tell him I wasn't, so he kept talking to me really fast in Spanish. I ended up asking a lady what had happened. I guess the migro hit the cars somehow and three students died. I'm not sure if the driver did as well. It was really sad. There was a girl on the side of the rode by her car crying. Què terrible.
On a lighter note... The day was beautiful and perfect for pictures. Chris and I went to Valparaìso to take photos. It was so much fun. Beautiful street art. We also went to this tiny cafè named cafè color. Ah, amazing hot chocolate. So many different kinds. Of course I got the classic chololate caliente, so nice and thick, you don't know if it's hot chocolate with milk, or a little milk with hot chocolate. Ah. So beautiful... Can't wait to develop my photos. The only problem is the roll of film keeps going and going and going... shoot.
I just had the most amazing Sunday.
I was walking down the road, thinking to myself that since I can't find a church that I might as well kind of start something myself. So... I have to remember to talk to Tori about it mañana.
Super stoked about that.
I was really sad though, this morning as I was getting ready to go out, I heard sirens. I didn't think anything of it until later, when I was walking dow the street. There was a migro flipped over on it's side (migro=bus), and two cars that were pretty beaten up. I took some pictures with my film camera and an old man came up to me and asked me what happened. He thought I was with the diario. I didn't tell him I wasn't, so he kept talking to me really fast in Spanish. I ended up asking a lady what had happened. I guess the migro hit the cars somehow and three students died. I'm not sure if the driver did as well. It was really sad. There was a girl on the side of the rode by her car crying. Què terrible.
On a lighter note... The day was beautiful and perfect for pictures. Chris and I went to Valparaìso to take photos. It was so much fun. Beautiful street art. We also went to this tiny cafè named cafè color. Ah, amazing hot chocolate. So many different kinds. Of course I got the classic chololate caliente, so nice and thick, you don't know if it's hot chocolate with milk, or a little milk with hot chocolate. Ah. So beautiful... Can't wait to develop my photos. The only problem is the roll of film keeps going and going and going... shoot.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
No Time To Sleep...
Ay, Dios mio, I'm so tired!!!
Wake up early, stay out late.
I'm living like it's the last days of la Charisa.
Haha.
It's so funny when people here refer to someone as "la person" or "el person"
It's like the Charisa or the Ricardo or something.
Already went to one party today...
La cumpleaños de Tata... my grandpa here...
It's really interesting, being part of a family that I've never known.
It's kind of difficult really, I mean the language alone is hard enough to understand.
And there's the inside jokes...
I was really bothered by one of the comments I got from my "Uncle," He assumes that all americans are rich and can do whatever here. He doesn't understand that it was expensive enough to get here and attend school... I can't just buy plane tickets to anywhere I want to go whenever I want. Anyway...
It was cute being with everyone. They're all so different! I mean being with them all explains a lot about why my family is like the wasy they are. The culture is so different here! I mean family is very important, but the man is like all powerful, and the kids even more so. It's like there's no discipline here! Yesterday when me and el Charlie went out to eat Mexican food, this kid on the table next to us dropped a dish of guacamole. He just looked at it and his mom was like- just leave it. I was so suprised. My mom would have been like- You better clean that up! So... Charlie cleaned up the broken dishes and all the nice green stuff on the floor. Everyone looked suprised. So weird.
Oh so while I'm on the topic of the Mexican Restaurant... Why did we go there? Duh, cause we were hungry... But why did Charlie treat me to lunch? Because some Puta Gypsy detroyed my money... supposedly... Haha. We were walking down the beach walk and some lady comes up to us and ask us where the hospital was because she was like pregnant or somethng. I mean she kind of looked like it because she was kind of fat. I don`t know. She wanted to bless us, but I wanted to go. Charlie wanted to stay and talk with her. Practice his español or something I guess. So what do I do? I sat down with the other ugly lady. Anyway, she like told me my "fortune" which I don't even believe in, and showed me her money. I was so confused. So I first took out a coin and then a bill, which I thought there was only one... but it was two. damn it. She ended up like grabbing it from me. I got mad so she gave me one back. I was like where's my other one?! Charlie came over and we mad a big scene, and then she took out a bone and holy water or something and started rubbing the money together with them. I was super mad by this time, and was really confused, and wished that I had dragged Charlie away like my gut originally told me. But... they got away with my $10, and we later learned that they hadn't destroyed it, they destroyed another paper. Chucha. Why the hell am I so gullible? I thought only stupid tourists got robbed. I guess it doesn't really take much to be stupid. Oh well. That's the spice of life I guess. I almost thought they took my phone too, but when I found it, I was like the happiest person in the world!!! Ah!!! So much for that experience. Hopefully I got my share of bad luck (besides the men), and I'll be covered for the rest of the time.
So... Two more parties to go, I think a stop light party and another birthday party at some Mexican guy's house. Please please please God, don't give me any more weirdos tonight!!! I'm so fed up with strange guys hitting on me!!! I don't even care if they're good looking! I told Chandi that I have built up an anymosity towards chilean... what was that word I used? It was something really good. I'll use scumballs for now though. The word keeps evolving. Dooshbags, scumbags, scumballs, sleeze bags... Sleezeballs! I think that could be close. Yes. So not into that. So what do I do? Um... haha, drink a pisco, dance, get over it, catch a migro, fall asleep on it, and get waken up by the bus driver at my stop, catch a collectivo, walk up my hill, climb the stairs and finally, crash in my lovely bed. Wonderful. You would think this happened late at night, especially since the party doesn't start till midnight here, but by time I fell asleep, it was only 1:30 or 2am. Ahhh...
These are the best days of our lives...
Planning a trip to Machu Picchu... It's going to be rad. I wish we had a video camera to document it. I wish there was somewhere to snowboard up there! Dream... dream dream dream dream dream... Sorry, that's a song. And that's like all it says. Yeah. Good stuff. Ok then, I think I'm going to go take a 15 minute nap before I go party my butt off. Yay!
Ay, Dios mio, I'm so tired!!!
Wake up early, stay out late.
I'm living like it's the last days of la Charisa.
Haha.
It's so funny when people here refer to someone as "la person" or "el person"
It's like the Charisa or the Ricardo or something.
Already went to one party today...
La cumpleaños de Tata... my grandpa here...
It's really interesting, being part of a family that I've never known.
It's kind of difficult really, I mean the language alone is hard enough to understand.
And there's the inside jokes...
I was really bothered by one of the comments I got from my "Uncle," He assumes that all americans are rich and can do whatever here. He doesn't understand that it was expensive enough to get here and attend school... I can't just buy plane tickets to anywhere I want to go whenever I want. Anyway...
It was cute being with everyone. They're all so different! I mean being with them all explains a lot about why my family is like the wasy they are. The culture is so different here! I mean family is very important, but the man is like all powerful, and the kids even more so. It's like there's no discipline here! Yesterday when me and el Charlie went out to eat Mexican food, this kid on the table next to us dropped a dish of guacamole. He just looked at it and his mom was like- just leave it. I was so suprised. My mom would have been like- You better clean that up! So... Charlie cleaned up the broken dishes and all the nice green stuff on the floor. Everyone looked suprised. So weird.
Oh so while I'm on the topic of the Mexican Restaurant... Why did we go there? Duh, cause we were hungry... But why did Charlie treat me to lunch? Because some Puta Gypsy detroyed my money... supposedly... Haha. We were walking down the beach walk and some lady comes up to us and ask us where the hospital was because she was like pregnant or somethng. I mean she kind of looked like it because she was kind of fat. I don`t know. She wanted to bless us, but I wanted to go. Charlie wanted to stay and talk with her. Practice his español or something I guess. So what do I do? I sat down with the other ugly lady. Anyway, she like told me my "fortune" which I don't even believe in, and showed me her money. I was so confused. So I first took out a coin and then a bill, which I thought there was only one... but it was two. damn it. She ended up like grabbing it from me. I got mad so she gave me one back. I was like where's my other one?! Charlie came over and we mad a big scene, and then she took out a bone and holy water or something and started rubbing the money together with them. I was super mad by this time, and was really confused, and wished that I had dragged Charlie away like my gut originally told me. But... they got away with my $10, and we later learned that they hadn't destroyed it, they destroyed another paper. Chucha. Why the hell am I so gullible? I thought only stupid tourists got robbed. I guess it doesn't really take much to be stupid. Oh well. That's the spice of life I guess. I almost thought they took my phone too, but when I found it, I was like the happiest person in the world!!! Ah!!! So much for that experience. Hopefully I got my share of bad luck (besides the men), and I'll be covered for the rest of the time.
So... Two more parties to go, I think a stop light party and another birthday party at some Mexican guy's house. Please please please God, don't give me any more weirdos tonight!!! I'm so fed up with strange guys hitting on me!!! I don't even care if they're good looking! I told Chandi that I have built up an anymosity towards chilean... what was that word I used? It was something really good. I'll use scumballs for now though. The word keeps evolving. Dooshbags, scumbags, scumballs, sleeze bags... Sleezeballs! I think that could be close. Yes. So not into that. So what do I do? Um... haha, drink a pisco, dance, get over it, catch a migro, fall asleep on it, and get waken up by the bus driver at my stop, catch a collectivo, walk up my hill, climb the stairs and finally, crash in my lovely bed. Wonderful. You would think this happened late at night, especially since the party doesn't start till midnight here, but by time I fell asleep, it was only 1:30 or 2am. Ahhh...
These are the best days of our lives...
Planning a trip to Machu Picchu... It's going to be rad. I wish we had a video camera to document it. I wish there was somewhere to snowboard up there! Dream... dream dream dream dream dream... Sorry, that's a song. And that's like all it says. Yeah. Good stuff. Ok then, I think I'm going to go take a 15 minute nap before I go party my butt off. Yay!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
Ah, I've been here for almost a month. It's definetly different, I'm getting to know more about cultural things and people (here and in general). It does make me sad that it's rare to have just guy friends anymore. I mean even if you're straight up with them the whole time you're hanging out, they still keep this little hope until something happens, they get the guts to say something and then wish they never did. Ay yay yay. My mom here cooks crazy things to utilize what we have here, she just like throws whatever in a pot and it turns out to be dinner. I have definetly eaten some very interesting, but some very good things. Dinner last night for her birthday turned out well, I had just enough, due to my "malcalculato," and my family had never eaten shrimp scampi or oriental chicken/apple/cilantro...salad before, but I guess they really liked it because they kept saying "Qué rico, qué rico..." Every time I'm with my "cousins" here I feel like they're like making fun of me over everything I say of something, because suddnley it gets really quiet and they just look and each other, but it could just be me.
Ah live music at "La Playa" last night, typical chilean I guess. I had a lot of fun besides the fact that my chilean friend got kind of drunk and stupid. Everyone laughs whenever I have tea at a pub. I'm the abuelita. Ha. Yeah right, I don't thin abuelitas go to bed at 6 in the morning. So I lost half the day waking up at 12ish and went to el centro today with Kevin Dalit, one of my buddies and neighbors here. Poor guy, stressed out because there's another student moving into his house. I wouldn't want to have classes and live with anyone especially if that meant I had to be with them 24-7. I woulsn't be a happy camper either. So what did we do??? We drowned his sorrow in empanadas and fries. So healthy. When we looked at the time, it was after 4! Such a lazy day today! For some reason I've been constantly hungry and craving sweets since Santiago when Chandi gave me that peice of rich and moist chocolate with majar cake. It's probably because I keep looking for it's equal. Now we have to go back just to find it.
Oh yes, I have a lot to say about Santiago. You know, just in case you want to visit. I have a lot of pictures, but I have to figure out how to connect my laptop to the internet.
Santiago is the capital of Chile wonderland of 4.8 million people, 1,739ft abovesea level, and has an average of 47 degrees F this time of year. Santiago is only 50km from the ski slopes, and 100km from la playa (beach). Santiago is also know as Santi-asco (asco= gross) because of the polution compared to the rest of Chile. But there is definetly less polution there than Tokyo, Katmandu, and Bangkok. There is a magnificent view of the Andes mountains from pretty much every part of the city, and if you'd like to call anyone, the country code is 56, and the area code is 2. The city was founded February 12, 1544 by Spanish Conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia. The archetecture is european influenced and has a lot of histoy.
Places to go, people to see...
La Chimba Hostel in Bellavista, the happening part of town. $12 a night, super cute, top hostel in Chile.
Recoleta Bar, mid-priced for Chile, super cheap for everyone else. Super good Seafood Spaghetti with cream sauce. Watch out for the suchi though, there's cream cheese in it.
The Victoriana, Peruvian restaurant for the locals. Hole in the wall.I had an amazing seafood platter for $5,000 ($10) that could have been split between two people. Try the Ceviche. Amazing!!!
Le Pot Pouri de Gourmets, international food. Good, mid-priced. Very close to hostel.
La Vega Farmers Market, a vegetable China town.
El Mercado Central, fish market. Get a girl to buy your fish, it'll be cheaper.
Cerro Santa Lucia, the heart of the city. The most wonderful place, probably my favorite part of the city.
Museo de Bellas Artes, great exhibits. Free on Sundays.
Muestra Vida, salsa dancing, bring a partner unless you want to dance with strange old men (35-60ish).
Antonia Lopez de Bello calle, one of the only places to buy your oriental cooking staples and get good oriental food.
Jo!-Tul, cool, strange vintage shopping. if you want ot buy a fanny pack, there are strangly a lot of strange ones.
Zoo, San Cristobal, not as unimpressive the lonely planet guide said it'd be. Go with someone fun, bring change for cotton candy.
Tip- Bring your student id card everywhere!!! It will save you money!!! Get an ISIC card!
Journal entry from Santiago-
8/20/06
Ah, SAntiago, Santiago, mi amor. I have decided that I'm pretty much a city girl. I love the city. As soon as we got into Santiago from the train station, I fell in love with it. The first thing we walked into was some sort of protest, something about segregation, I'm not really sure. It was very interesting. The directions I wrote down for the hostel were perfect, and I'm glad it wasn't confusing, besides crossing river, dodging colectivos, and reading all the street names. As soon as we stepped into the hostel, we were so happy that we chose it instead of the one with the free bikes. The atmosphere was amazing and colorful, very artsy. Lots of photos and paintings. We got to meet so many cool people there. We ended up going out and exploring the City, Santa Lucia, El Centro Artesanal, and the other indigenous art place below the cerro. Pretty much everything the vendors sell are very touristy and typical. There were some things I wanted to get like gifts and postcards. The Cerro was definetly my favorite part of the whole city. I walk around it and it just seems so magical, like anything could happen. My imagination just runs wild, thinking about how it was bult, who was here, trap doors... The sculpture and the architecture is beautiful around the city, but especially here, with its many pools, plants, staircases, and everything else in it. There's tons of couples here. Crazy. I guess they like the atmosphere too. Fabian came over and we went out to eat at Le Pot Pouri or Gourmets. He was adorable, with his vintage Argentina fútbol jersey... Ok, enough about that...While we were watiting for him to get some beauty sleep before going out, we met a bunch of cool people at the hostel bbq, Oliver from London, Martin from Sweden(?), Jen and Rachel from Oregon, and a couple others. It was super cool, we played Rummy, talked, saw a few pictures from a tour that we're thinking about taking to Northern and Southern Chile. It's going to be amazing!!! We ended up going to Maestra Vida Salsa Club with Rachel and Jen. Fun but tiring since I've never danced salsa before. A Greek lady from the table next to us asked me (in spanish) if I would ask her friend to dance because he was shy.
To be continued... when I wake up...
Ah live music at "La Playa" last night, typical chilean I guess. I had a lot of fun besides the fact that my chilean friend got kind of drunk and stupid. Everyone laughs whenever I have tea at a pub. I'm the abuelita. Ha. Yeah right, I don't thin abuelitas go to bed at 6 in the morning. So I lost half the day waking up at 12ish and went to el centro today with Kevin Dalit, one of my buddies and neighbors here. Poor guy, stressed out because there's another student moving into his house. I wouldn't want to have classes and live with anyone especially if that meant I had to be with them 24-7. I woulsn't be a happy camper either. So what did we do??? We drowned his sorrow in empanadas and fries. So healthy. When we looked at the time, it was after 4! Such a lazy day today! For some reason I've been constantly hungry and craving sweets since Santiago when Chandi gave me that peice of rich and moist chocolate with majar cake. It's probably because I keep looking for it's equal. Now we have to go back just to find it.
Oh yes, I have a lot to say about Santiago. You know, just in case you want to visit. I have a lot of pictures, but I have to figure out how to connect my laptop to the internet.
Santiago is the capital of Chile wonderland of 4.8 million people, 1,739ft abovesea level, and has an average of 47 degrees F this time of year. Santiago is only 50km from the ski slopes, and 100km from la playa (beach). Santiago is also know as Santi-asco (asco= gross) because of the polution compared to the rest of Chile. But there is definetly less polution there than Tokyo, Katmandu, and Bangkok. There is a magnificent view of the Andes mountains from pretty much every part of the city, and if you'd like to call anyone, the country code is 56, and the area code is 2. The city was founded February 12, 1544 by Spanish Conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia. The archetecture is european influenced and has a lot of histoy.
Places to go, people to see...
La Chimba Hostel in Bellavista, the happening part of town. $12 a night, super cute, top hostel in Chile.
Recoleta Bar, mid-priced for Chile, super cheap for everyone else. Super good Seafood Spaghetti with cream sauce. Watch out for the suchi though, there's cream cheese in it.
The Victoriana, Peruvian restaurant for the locals. Hole in the wall.I had an amazing seafood platter for $5,000 ($10) that could have been split between two people. Try the Ceviche. Amazing!!!
Le Pot Pouri de Gourmets, international food. Good, mid-priced. Very close to hostel.
La Vega Farmers Market, a vegetable China town.
El Mercado Central, fish market. Get a girl to buy your fish, it'll be cheaper.
Cerro Santa Lucia, the heart of the city. The most wonderful place, probably my favorite part of the city.
Museo de Bellas Artes, great exhibits. Free on Sundays.
Muestra Vida, salsa dancing, bring a partner unless you want to dance with strange old men (35-60ish).
Antonia Lopez de Bello calle, one of the only places to buy your oriental cooking staples and get good oriental food.
Jo!-Tul, cool, strange vintage shopping. if you want ot buy a fanny pack, there are strangly a lot of strange ones.
Zoo, San Cristobal, not as unimpressive the lonely planet guide said it'd be. Go with someone fun, bring change for cotton candy.
Tip- Bring your student id card everywhere!!! It will save you money!!! Get an ISIC card!
Journal entry from Santiago-
8/20/06
Ah, SAntiago, Santiago, mi amor. I have decided that I'm pretty much a city girl. I love the city. As soon as we got into Santiago from the train station, I fell in love with it. The first thing we walked into was some sort of protest, something about segregation, I'm not really sure. It was very interesting. The directions I wrote down for the hostel were perfect, and I'm glad it wasn't confusing, besides crossing river, dodging colectivos, and reading all the street names. As soon as we stepped into the hostel, we were so happy that we chose it instead of the one with the free bikes. The atmosphere was amazing and colorful, very artsy. Lots of photos and paintings. We got to meet so many cool people there. We ended up going out and exploring the City, Santa Lucia, El Centro Artesanal, and the other indigenous art place below the cerro. Pretty much everything the vendors sell are very touristy and typical. There were some things I wanted to get like gifts and postcards. The Cerro was definetly my favorite part of the whole city. I walk around it and it just seems so magical, like anything could happen. My imagination just runs wild, thinking about how it was bult, who was here, trap doors... The sculpture and the architecture is beautiful around the city, but especially here, with its many pools, plants, staircases, and everything else in it. There's tons of couples here. Crazy. I guess they like the atmosphere too. Fabian came over and we went out to eat at Le Pot Pouri or Gourmets. He was adorable, with his vintage Argentina fútbol jersey... Ok, enough about that...While we were watiting for him to get some beauty sleep before going out, we met a bunch of cool people at the hostel bbq, Oliver from London, Martin from Sweden(?), Jen and Rachel from Oregon, and a couple others. It was super cool, we played Rummy, talked, saw a few pictures from a tour that we're thinking about taking to Northern and Southern Chile. It's going to be amazing!!! We ended up going to Maestra Vida Salsa Club with Rachel and Jen. Fun but tiring since I've never danced salsa before. A Greek lady from the table next to us asked me (in spanish) if I would ask her friend to dance because he was shy.
To be continued... when I wake up...
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Day 1, July 29, 2006
Day is spent getting all of my stuff packed, minimizing luggage, and saying my goodbyes. I unexpectedly, yet gratefully received some very generous gifts from many friends and family. I will miss… my dog. Totoro! My most prized possession, if you can call him that. Him and my guitar. Ok, I will miss other people too. Me and dad went to church, on our way, picking up honey roasted peanuts and a plum, and sat in a very decorated service. Qué interesante. So, after I said bye to dad and Michael, I was off to the check in counter. This was one of the more challenging experiences that I have, well, experienced. Even though I was told I didn’t need a visa to stay in Chile and go to school, I guess I did. So after about 45 minutes or so of waiting at the counter by myself, feeling my stomach growl, and watching my spaghetti growing colder by the second, the Delta representative told me that I couldn’t get on the plane till I got one. But I had to catch that plane! So I asked if I could change my reservations temporarily and then get my visa or written permission to stay over 90 days and then get my former reservations back. Eventually, everything worked out. I just kept praying for patience and tried to give all my worries and anxiety to God because I knew he would take care of everything. I knew that if I didn’t catch that plane that there was a reason. I guess in my endeavor to become all that I can be, I have tried to work on my patience, but I guess I’m getting more practice than I bargained for. I got to sit next to some very nice people from Florida though. Shared some gum and talked a little bit.
Day 2, July 30, 2006
Sitting down now, again, after watching 16 Blocks and borrowing some toothpaste from the charming flight attendant. I think he was from Australia? Not sure. I should find out. Snack time now!
Ok, I was wrong, “Lenny,” the nice flight attendant, is from England. So hard to tell when they speak quietly. He made sure everything went well for me, brought me a bunch of water and stuff. Very sweet, I gave him one of my mango bread.
So Lenny came back and introduced me to a flight attendant who was from Aiea Heights. She was pretty stoked about the mango bread too. I’m stoked that I meet cool people all over the place. I’m trying to live like every second could be my last. I don’t know how that’s supposed to work sometimes when I’m tired and I want to sleep or if I have a headache and just want to be left alone though.
I got off the plane, down the escalator, and through the tunnel in the train, and then I went to go check in and get my ticket. I guess I already had it. I left my paper (napkin) rose Lenny made me in the bathroom and was pretty bummed as I sat down to eat my hospital-like chicken parmesana with spaghetti. I knew I should have gone with the chicken mcnuggets and super yummy fries. Oh well. No electricity in the eating area! The only outlets that work are taken up by some businessmen’s laptops. So, back to the terminal to wait for five more hours. This would be a good day to want to stay on myspace forever and want to do nothing else.
Day 3, July 31, 2006
It’s 4:10am, Chilean time, and I’ve just watched two movies, Take The Lead, and She’s The Man. I’m listening to Good Charlotte, of all people, the song, Seasons. I feel energetic; I’m excited about this trip! I feel like anything can happen, I’m inspired. I’ve met so many cool people so far, and I haven’t even arrived yet! I love having to step outside of my shell. I met two people from Santiago, Sophia, who is eleven, even though she looks and acts older, beautiful girl, and her father, Julian. The wife/mother is sitting a few rows in front of us. Both Julian and his wife are professors, he teaches math, and she teaches children with special needs. They went to Boston to visit Sophia’s abuelo. I guess she has two older sisters back in Chile. She wants to move to Boston even though she doesn’t speak English yet. She’s adorable; she was cold so I offered her my coat. “No importa,” she said, but ended up using it anyway. Julian is very kind. He says his English is bad, but it’s pretty good. I say my Spanish is bad, but he says esta perfecto. I’m really stoked to be here so far, just hoping that Richard will be at the café when I get there. It’s crazy, I though speaking and understanding Spanish would be a lot easier, but I might have been wrong. Oh well.
So anyway, I want to learn French next, and go to med school, and I really want to be a traveling doctor. I can see myself living in a little village either by myself or with family, and just helping people. I don’t need to be rich; I just want to have enough to be content. I don’t know. We’ll see… I want to take a dancing class when I get back, and maybe perform in a musical. I wish I could go to sleep though; I’m going to be so wiped out when I get there. I need to be alert so that I can talk to the customs guys and find my way around. So stoked, so so stoked!
Dia 4, 1 de Agusto
Me gusta mucho mi familia. Ellos estan muy amables. Ayer fue, en un restaurante chino. Mi papa, Omar, habla inglés, y cuando yo no puedo comunicarme o encontrar una palabra, el me ayuda. Mi hermanito, Naim, esta timido, pero el me encanta. Yo se el esta travieso. Naim tiene una guitarra, y a eso, me gusta mucho. Mi mama, Rosy, esta muy simpático, pero hoy, ella esta inferma. Ellos estan muy estrecha y cariñosa. La casa esta muy cuco y todo aqui e en la ciudad es más moderna que yo pensé. Mi español es muy mal ahora porque estoy tímida y yo no quiero hacer alguna cosa estupida.
I like my family a lot, they’re very friendly. Yesterday we ate at a Chinese restaurant. My “dad,” Omar, speaks English and he helps me if I have a problem communicating or can’t find certain words. It’s sad though, he left about half an hour after we got home. He’ll be gone for a month. Naim, my little brother, is a little shy, but I like him. I know that he is a rascal. My “mom,” Rosa, is very nice, it’s a bummer though, she’s sick today. Everything is kind of different than I thought, more modern. My Spanish is really bad! I’m having a hard time understanding people, and it’s hard for me to speak because I’m afraid I’ll say something wrong. I’m stoked though, they have a guitar!
Día 7, 4 de Agusto
Of all things… my adaptor broke. Ah, so now I’m going to go find a new one in el Centro, and I think I’ll go find a USB cord while I’m at it. I’m so stupid… I forget everything… I hope my parents don’t throw away that medicine bottle with my nice earrings in it (hint hint) it only has one pill left hahahahahahahaha!!! Ok. Need to reserve battery… dying…dying…ding… dy…d…
Día 9, 6 de Agusto
It’s been almost a week, living in Chile, and it’s been pretty interesting so far. I just learned that what I meant to say… was totally something else. Embarazada means I’m pregnant, and is not Avergonzada, which means I’m embarrassed! Ah, everyone is very entertained my strange antics. It’s B-E-A-utiful. We had dinner (cenar) at Rosi (my mom here)’s sister’s house, two apartments down from ours. We had un torta de caremela, some german cake or something, blond vanilla chocolate chip brownies, el pan con mantequilla, jamón y queso. Qué Cenar! It reminded me of that one time we had ice cream at our house a few years ago. Ha, I was so happy! Today was el día de los niños, so I guess that’s how they eat dinner here… once a year. Ah, I’m so tired, but I need to write, because later… I just won’t. I’ve been going strong since Friday. We had a four hour orientation, which was long as hell, and then after we went home to eat dinner, around 10ish, we went to Café Journal, which is all the way down the hill, about 20 minutes walk. I went with Kevin D. and Jonatha, who live right next door to Rosi’s sister. It’s so awesome to have people to walk with whenever. We made a pact to never take the bus (el migro) a la Universidad. Yes, altogether, we’ll save like slose to $100. Anyway, we walked to there, and Jonatha bought three picsos. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so bitter. Ah, so I had tea. Ha, I’m such a dork. It was crazy, everybody had their beers and piscos, and there I was with my tea. Ok, well I wasn’t the only one, Chris and Tori had like Jugo naturale y agua. It was superdivirtido, we were all dancing and talking, and losing our voices (I don’t know if I’m getting sick, or if I’ve just been talking and screaming too much). So after the craziness, we had pollo and queso empanadas, and walked home at about 2ish. It was nice, it’s cold here, but after walking up hill for 20 minutes, gosh, I was so hot! Oh yes, and tired. I went right to bed after brushing my teeth, which was a mistake, because when I woke up at 7:30 (so early!), my pillow smelled like smoke. So after me duché, I fell asleep watching the munsters in español. Later, I waited for like an hour, waiting for my gringa amiga, while she got lost in Viña. Craziness.
So yes, later we went on that superlargo tour. It was fun, ah, but so long!!! We went on ascensores, which are like vertical elevator/train things. Valparaíso is awesome, beautiful architecture and street art everywhere. I spent way too much on a painting, but me encanta!!! Haha. We went on a crazy boat ride in the middle of the night to look at seals, which was crazy. First time ever I had to pay to go to el baño. Y despues, yo fui a la casa con Jonatha y Nikos.
Today! Finally we are on this topic, although, frankly, I am way too tired to type much about that right now. Kevin, Kevin, Chris, Tori, Jonatha, and I went to Reñaca to surf... will write more later...
Day is spent getting all of my stuff packed, minimizing luggage, and saying my goodbyes. I unexpectedly, yet gratefully received some very generous gifts from many friends and family. I will miss… my dog. Totoro! My most prized possession, if you can call him that. Him and my guitar. Ok, I will miss other people too. Me and dad went to church, on our way, picking up honey roasted peanuts and a plum, and sat in a very decorated service. Qué interesante. So, after I said bye to dad and Michael, I was off to the check in counter. This was one of the more challenging experiences that I have, well, experienced. Even though I was told I didn’t need a visa to stay in Chile and go to school, I guess I did. So after about 45 minutes or so of waiting at the counter by myself, feeling my stomach growl, and watching my spaghetti growing colder by the second, the Delta representative told me that I couldn’t get on the plane till I got one. But I had to catch that plane! So I asked if I could change my reservations temporarily and then get my visa or written permission to stay over 90 days and then get my former reservations back. Eventually, everything worked out. I just kept praying for patience and tried to give all my worries and anxiety to God because I knew he would take care of everything. I knew that if I didn’t catch that plane that there was a reason. I guess in my endeavor to become all that I can be, I have tried to work on my patience, but I guess I’m getting more practice than I bargained for. I got to sit next to some very nice people from Florida though. Shared some gum and talked a little bit.
Day 2, July 30, 2006
Sitting down now, again, after watching 16 Blocks and borrowing some toothpaste from the charming flight attendant. I think he was from Australia? Not sure. I should find out. Snack time now!
Ok, I was wrong, “Lenny,” the nice flight attendant, is from England. So hard to tell when they speak quietly. He made sure everything went well for me, brought me a bunch of water and stuff. Very sweet, I gave him one of my mango bread.
So Lenny came back and introduced me to a flight attendant who was from Aiea Heights. She was pretty stoked about the mango bread too. I’m stoked that I meet cool people all over the place. I’m trying to live like every second could be my last. I don’t know how that’s supposed to work sometimes when I’m tired and I want to sleep or if I have a headache and just want to be left alone though.
I got off the plane, down the escalator, and through the tunnel in the train, and then I went to go check in and get my ticket. I guess I already had it. I left my paper (napkin) rose Lenny made me in the bathroom and was pretty bummed as I sat down to eat my hospital-like chicken parmesana with spaghetti. I knew I should have gone with the chicken mcnuggets and super yummy fries. Oh well. No electricity in the eating area! The only outlets that work are taken up by some businessmen’s laptops. So, back to the terminal to wait for five more hours. This would be a good day to want to stay on myspace forever and want to do nothing else.
Day 3, July 31, 2006
It’s 4:10am, Chilean time, and I’ve just watched two movies, Take The Lead, and She’s The Man. I’m listening to Good Charlotte, of all people, the song, Seasons. I feel energetic; I’m excited about this trip! I feel like anything can happen, I’m inspired. I’ve met so many cool people so far, and I haven’t even arrived yet! I love having to step outside of my shell. I met two people from Santiago, Sophia, who is eleven, even though she looks and acts older, beautiful girl, and her father, Julian. The wife/mother is sitting a few rows in front of us. Both Julian and his wife are professors, he teaches math, and she teaches children with special needs. They went to Boston to visit Sophia’s abuelo. I guess she has two older sisters back in Chile. She wants to move to Boston even though she doesn’t speak English yet. She’s adorable; she was cold so I offered her my coat. “No importa,” she said, but ended up using it anyway. Julian is very kind. He says his English is bad, but it’s pretty good. I say my Spanish is bad, but he says esta perfecto. I’m really stoked to be here so far, just hoping that Richard will be at the café when I get there. It’s crazy, I though speaking and understanding Spanish would be a lot easier, but I might have been wrong. Oh well.
So anyway, I want to learn French next, and go to med school, and I really want to be a traveling doctor. I can see myself living in a little village either by myself or with family, and just helping people. I don’t need to be rich; I just want to have enough to be content. I don’t know. We’ll see… I want to take a dancing class when I get back, and maybe perform in a musical. I wish I could go to sleep though; I’m going to be so wiped out when I get there. I need to be alert so that I can talk to the customs guys and find my way around. So stoked, so so stoked!
Dia 4, 1 de Agusto
Me gusta mucho mi familia. Ellos estan muy amables. Ayer fue, en un restaurante chino. Mi papa, Omar, habla inglés, y cuando yo no puedo comunicarme o encontrar una palabra, el me ayuda. Mi hermanito, Naim, esta timido, pero el me encanta. Yo se el esta travieso. Naim tiene una guitarra, y a eso, me gusta mucho. Mi mama, Rosy, esta muy simpático, pero hoy, ella esta inferma. Ellos estan muy estrecha y cariñosa. La casa esta muy cuco y todo aqui e en la ciudad es más moderna que yo pensé. Mi español es muy mal ahora porque estoy tímida y yo no quiero hacer alguna cosa estupida.
I like my family a lot, they’re very friendly. Yesterday we ate at a Chinese restaurant. My “dad,” Omar, speaks English and he helps me if I have a problem communicating or can’t find certain words. It’s sad though, he left about half an hour after we got home. He’ll be gone for a month. Naim, my little brother, is a little shy, but I like him. I know that he is a rascal. My “mom,” Rosa, is very nice, it’s a bummer though, she’s sick today. Everything is kind of different than I thought, more modern. My Spanish is really bad! I’m having a hard time understanding people, and it’s hard for me to speak because I’m afraid I’ll say something wrong. I’m stoked though, they have a guitar!
Día 7, 4 de Agusto
Of all things… my adaptor broke. Ah, so now I’m going to go find a new one in el Centro, and I think I’ll go find a USB cord while I’m at it. I’m so stupid… I forget everything… I hope my parents don’t throw away that medicine bottle with my nice earrings in it (hint hint) it only has one pill left hahahahahahahaha!!! Ok. Need to reserve battery… dying…dying…ding… dy…d…
Día 9, 6 de Agusto
It’s been almost a week, living in Chile, and it’s been pretty interesting so far. I just learned that what I meant to say… was totally something else. Embarazada means I’m pregnant, and is not Avergonzada, which means I’m embarrassed! Ah, everyone is very entertained my strange antics. It’s B-E-A-utiful. We had dinner (cenar) at Rosi (my mom here)’s sister’s house, two apartments down from ours. We had un torta de caremela, some german cake or something, blond vanilla chocolate chip brownies, el pan con mantequilla, jamón y queso. Qué Cenar! It reminded me of that one time we had ice cream at our house a few years ago. Ha, I was so happy! Today was el día de los niños, so I guess that’s how they eat dinner here… once a year. Ah, I’m so tired, but I need to write, because later… I just won’t. I’ve been going strong since Friday. We had a four hour orientation, which was long as hell, and then after we went home to eat dinner, around 10ish, we went to Café Journal, which is all the way down the hill, about 20 minutes walk. I went with Kevin D. and Jonatha, who live right next door to Rosi’s sister. It’s so awesome to have people to walk with whenever. We made a pact to never take the bus (el migro) a la Universidad. Yes, altogether, we’ll save like slose to $100. Anyway, we walked to there, and Jonatha bought three picsos. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so bitter. Ah, so I had tea. Ha, I’m such a dork. It was crazy, everybody had their beers and piscos, and there I was with my tea. Ok, well I wasn’t the only one, Chris and Tori had like Jugo naturale y agua. It was superdivirtido, we were all dancing and talking, and losing our voices (I don’t know if I’m getting sick, or if I’ve just been talking and screaming too much). So after the craziness, we had pollo and queso empanadas, and walked home at about 2ish. It was nice, it’s cold here, but after walking up hill for 20 minutes, gosh, I was so hot! Oh yes, and tired. I went right to bed after brushing my teeth, which was a mistake, because when I woke up at 7:30 (so early!), my pillow smelled like smoke. So after me duché, I fell asleep watching the munsters in español. Later, I waited for like an hour, waiting for my gringa amiga, while she got lost in Viña. Craziness.
So yes, later we went on that superlargo tour. It was fun, ah, but so long!!! We went on ascensores, which are like vertical elevator/train things. Valparaíso is awesome, beautiful architecture and street art everywhere. I spent way too much on a painting, but me encanta!!! Haha. We went on a crazy boat ride in the middle of the night to look at seals, which was crazy. First time ever I had to pay to go to el baño. Y despues, yo fui a la casa con Jonatha y Nikos.
Today! Finally we are on this topic, although, frankly, I am way too tired to type much about that right now. Kevin, Kevin, Chris, Tori, Jonatha, and I went to Reñaca to surf... will write more later...
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