I'm back!

Just letting you all know I made it back to Santiago, safe and sound (in case you were wondering).

This week is going to be crazy busy for me so I will have to update you on everything a little bit later. Sorry!! But you can definitely look forward to pictures!! :)

Hope all is well! Hugs!

Happy Halloween from Chile!

My friends and I went out to celebrate Halloween the other night and here are some pics! I went as an egyptian/fortune teller, lol.


Sara, Miguel, Daniel, Nathalie and Me

Me and the girls!

Count Dracula was thirsty

Me and Miguel

En la micro! :)

Before I take a little break . . .

Its official, I've been in Chile for two months! I seriously can't believe how fast the time is flying. I'm having mixed feelings about it all. On one hand, I miss the US and all the people I care about but, I'm also having a blast here! I've learned so much and met so many wonderful people!! I can truly say that I've finally had the chance to really immerse myself in a different culture and it has been a very interesting, sometimes difficult, yet rewarding experience.

I had a wonderful time last weekend with new friends as well! Lots of good food, wine, DANCING (ooh yea) and conversation. Plus, the great outdoors! I can't even tell you how happy I am about the warm weather here- lovin' it!!! Unfortunately, I also spent quite a bit of time working on my speech for my Lit class. Which wasn't fun at all but totally paid off cause I rocked it!

Meanwhile, I'm finally finished being busy for a little while and I wanted to check in while I have time to keep you all updated on what I'm going to be doing this next week and a half. There is a good chance I won't be writing much during this time (or anything at all) so I'm going to fill you in on at least the first half of my trip to the northern part of Chile!

Friday Oct 29: it all starts at 3AM, when I have to meet my group members to catch a 5AM flight to Calama in northern Chile. From Calama we will take a bus to our final destination: San Pedro de Atacama.

Saturday Oct 30: Padre Le Paige Archaeolocial Museum in the morning. Pucara de Quitor in the afternoon and El Valle de la Luna at sunset.

Sunday Oct 31: Exploring the San Pedro area in the morning and afternoon. Astronomical tour in the evening.

Monday Nov 1: Visit to the mountain village of Camar. Chaxa Lagoon and National Flamingo Reserve in the Salar de Atacama and a visit to the ancient town of Toconao in the afternoon.

Tuesday Nov 2: Spend the morning visiting Las Termas de Puritama (hot springs). Then, returning to the hotel to eat lunch, rest and get ready for our flight back to Santiago!

Wednesday Nov 3 - Tuesday Nov 9: ARGENTINA!! No schedule for that yet, Sare and I are going to make it all up as we go along.

Maybe I'll have time to do a photo dump before we leave for Argentina but I can't make any promises about that! But I can promise to be safe and take lots of pictures to share with everyone! Meanwhile, my host mom is calling me- apparently she's got some fresh piña with my name all over it, yummm :) There is also a HUGE bowl of strawberries in the fridge. I love fresh fruit and warm weather. And my host family too!

And I love ya'll too!

Long time, no write!

Hola todos!! Como estan?

I'm doing pretty great myself. I've got a final tomorrow to finish up the second part of my composition class here and I'm so ready to be done!! Sara and I just studied for a few hours so I'm hoping to do well. I got an A on the midterm (finally!!), so I'm hoping to pull an A for this part of the class. Then, its on to Advanced Spanish I . . . so not ready for that yet!

Other than that I've just been hanging out with friends and having a good time! The weather is finally starting to get nice here so we are having 75-80 degree days with lots of sunshine and nice breezes, too. Also, it means that everyone can stop being SICK and start having fun. I swear at least 5 people in my group are sick at any given time since we got here. I'm hoping the warm weather will be the end of all that! I ended up having to go to the doctor a few weeks ago because I had a bacterial infection. A week of antibiotics knocked that out and I've been feeling good ever since (knock on wood).

Since I last wrote I've gone to visit el Cementario General, which is Santiago's (possibly even the whole of Chile's) biggest and most well-known cemetary. It seems to go on for days and its always filled with people (and flowers too for that matter). They also have a wall there that stands to remember all the people who "disappeared" during the dictatorship of Pinochet. While looking at the wall the girls and I did some math and figured out that somewhere around 2,500 people were on there. And thats only the ones they know about. That doesn't even include the hundreds of thousands of people who were tortured and exiled under his regime. Needless to say, it was a sad and somber visit. Even more sad to think that the US government provided support for his regime.

I also went to a birthday part last saturday night with my friend Diego and his family. It was a very big and fun celebration. I got to practice my Spanish a lot and even tried my first Pisco Sour since arriving here, which was pretty good! Then, on Sunday, my host mom woke me up with an invitation to join her and her daughters for an afternoon asado. So we went to eat, drink and talk with the family for a few hours. Then, I came back home and got ready to meet my Chilean friend, Sintia for ice cream. Which ended up turning into an afternoon walk around the city. It was lots of fun!

Thats really all for now I guess. I've got my test tomorrow, I'm giving a speech in my Lit class on Mon (absolutely terrifying) and then I'm pretty much just sailing along until Thursday, when my vacation starts!!! I'm so excited :)

Love you guys! Hope you all are well!

SERIOUS PHOTO DUMP!

Are you ready?!? My wonderful friend Nathalie has been smart enough to bring her camara with her almost everywhere we've been recently and she was nice enough to share all her photos with me (she's the bomb)! I'm gonna post them in order from least to most recent . . . Enjoy!

First up: La Fonda en Parque O'Higgins- el 17 de Septiembre


Me and little miss Sara! She is a sweetheart!

From left to right: Sara, Me, Pablo, Cristóbal, Sebastián , Marco, Miguel

Me and my best friends from the program: Sara and Nathalie

Me and Miguel

Me, Nathalie and Miguel

Second: Cerro Santa Lucía- no me acuerdo la fecha . . .


But what a view, huh?! Next up is Cerro San Cristobal which boasts the greatest view of Santiago

Third: Valpo & Viña- el 8 hasta el 11 de Octubre






Castillo Wulff


Trista, Nathalie, Marco, Sara and I at Castillo Wulff in Vina

There was also a ton of art everywhere:











And lastly: Concón- el 8 y el 9 de Octubre


Me, Sara, Nathalie and Trista


Getting ready to descend from the top of the sand dune


Horse back riding on the beach!

WHEW! Ya'll better have enjoyed that!!! My friend Diego is actually going to send me some pictures of our day at an amusement park in La Reina, so look out for those soon!

And, as I'm sure most of you know, THE CHILEAN MINERS ARE FINALLY FREE!! Yesterday was a very emotional day in Santiago. Everyone was glued to the TV and the radio all day in order to keep up with the rescue efforts. Once the last miner had made his way to the top, the whole country burst into celebration. I opened my window to hear church bells ringing, people singing, cars honking and all sorts of celebration. And, of course: "¡CHI-CHI-CHI-LE-LE-LE VIVA LOS MINEROS DE CHILE!" This is the second big event that I've gotten to be part of here. First the bicentennial and now this. Its so surreal when I think about it all. I am so lucky!!

In other news, I GOT MY FIRST A+ here, in my Literature class nonetheless. SOOO exciting!! And that was the one I was worried about from the beginning. OH! I also start my fall break in 2 weeks (Oct 29 - Nov 8) and, besides taking a trip up to Northern Chile for a few days, Sara and I just booked our flight to ARGENTINA. Oh yeah, thats right, I'm going to Buenos Aires for 6 fabulous days ya'll!! Our friend Marco might come too. So yeah, lots to look forward to in the coming weeks! Then, in December, my sweetie pie is coming to travel with me for a whole month! :) But I will tell you all about that later on . . . Tengo que irme porque necesito dormir!

I hope everyone is doing well! Don't forget to keep me updated about your lives too- I miss you guys!

I'm baaaack! Y tengo fotos!

Hola!

I swear I haven't forgotten about you all- I've just been really busy! Last week we had midterms so I had a bunch of tests and a big paper due in my literature class as well. And, we had a four day weekend so I decided to take advantage of it and headed to the beach with some friends from my program. We went and visited two of the most popular coastal towns here: Valparaíso and Viña del Mar.

As most Chileans would say, "Valpo," is the second biggesty city in Chile. It was also declared a World Heritage Site in 2003 because of its importance as a major port city, its architecture and layout, and its beauty. Although, I'm not sure how many people would call it beautiful today. It definitely has its nice areas but overall its just like any other big city. The only difference is that everything is built over rolling hills so that gives quite a different impression when looking out over the city.

On the other hand, "Viña," is my new Chilean paradise. It is only 5 miles north of Valpo and it is soo much different. It is a much more fashionable and suburban area of Valpo with beautiful beaches and gardens. This is where we spent our weekend. We rented out a little apartment for the 5 of us and had a blast taking in all the sites and activities the coast had to offer. We visited Neruda's third house in Valpo, checked out some museums and castles in Viña, rode horses and climbed sand dunes in the nearby town of Concón and experienced some of the craziest bus rides of our lives. We also spent a lot of time aimlessly walking around discovering new bakeries, cafes, and bars :)

And here are some pics!










My friends have other photos of our weekend that I have to wait for so I will hopefully be updating with some more photos later this week!!

Hope you all are well!

Hola mis gringitos! Espero que todos estén bien.

Everything is going purty well here. I got my second test score back- another B+! So its looking like I will pull a B+/A- for my first round of advanced spanish, which isn't bad at all! We've already started on the next section and we're going over one of my favorite tenses- subjunctivo! If you've ever listened to a spanish love song, it is most likely full of subjunctivo. So, in a sense, it is the "romantic" tense! :)

Last weekend, Jaime (my host dad) and I enjoyed a few very relaxing days by ourselves because my host mom and sister were out of town taking care of family things. It was soooo nice because he is so laid back and easy going- he isn't always up and flitting around like tiny Paloma. So anyways, on Monday night, he walked in after work and surprised me with a piece of my favorite cake! Sweetest thing ever!! Even better, I took a picture to show you what Torta Mil Hojas really looks like:



YUMMY!!! Right?!?!

Everything has gotten so much better here. I finally talked to the housing coordinator at school about the noise issue and she helped bring the issue up with my family. My host mom was super sweet about it and told me she understood completely and she is a light sleeper too, etc. They are much quieter now and I am sooo grateful for those extra hours of sleep! I also talked to my host mom about food, because apparently she thinks I don't like her food. I explained to her that the portions she gives me are too big for what my stomach can handle and re-assured her that I do like her food (most of the time . . . but thats beyond the point).

Sara also introduced me to one of her Chilean language partners the other day and we all had a really fun time together. His name is Rodrigo and he speaks hardly any English, but he is the master of Spanglish, haha. And he is just so super silly and friendly. The three of us spent tuesday afternoon together climbing Cerro Santa Lucia, which is a beautiful hill/park with a lot of pretty gardens, fountains and an amazing view of Santiago at the top. I'm definitely going back there with my camera soon so I can take pics for you guys!! We also visited La Feria Artesenal Santa Lucia, where you can buy pretty much anything and everything you'd ever need/want. OH, and someone found Sara's phone (remember she dropped it the other night on her way to the concert) and called her to tell her. So Rodrigo helped us out with that situation and we all ended up having dinner together at a cafe along with some great conversation. Hopefully we will be seeing more of him in the future!!

And, I have to break the bad news to you guys . . . and don't go freaking out on me because I promise everything is okay: I was robbed yesterday. BUT, the only thing that was taken was my bookbag, which is more or less easy to replace. AND, I wasn't assaulted or anything of that nature. Someone literally just up and took my bookbag. Honestly, I was being a stupid tourist so I am just as much to blame as anyone else. The story: I went to eat a cafe with my friend Sara on our way home from school. I put my bookbag at my feet (but not in-between) and we were yapping away in English, eating and messing around, etc. Near the end of our meal a few different couples and a man came to sit at the cafe as well. The man (who was wearing a suit) sat down at the table next to Sara and I and all that good stuff. He took off his jacket and put it on the chair next to me and started messing around like he was looking for something in his pockets. Meanwhile, I was getting a little weirded out because the situation just didn't feel right. But at the same time, the guy was wearing a nice suit so I thought I might be over-reacting. But either way, I picked my bookbag up, made up some excuse to rifle through it, and put it down closer to my feet than before. Next thing I knew, I looked down and my bookbag was gone and so was the man! Luckily, my wallet was in my lap so he didn't get anything important. Although, he did get off with my prescription sunglasses and my favorite jacket :( And there isn't much I can do about it either. I've already alerted the office here and rented all the books I need for the rest of the semester. And my host family has given me another bookbag to use. So, the situation has been taken care of. But that was definitely a learning experience for me. And I'm a pretty seasoned traveler too! I let my guard down because I thought just because I was in a nice area that I didn't have to worry . . . dumb mistake # 1!

GOOD NEWS though!! I have a fun weekend planned :) Tomorrow night I am FINALLY going to an ACTUAL disco with my friends (*crosses my fingers*, pretty please!!). Sara, Rodolfo (her Chilean boyfriend), possibly Rodrigo, me and some other peoples are gonna go partay in the city tomorrow night. Then, on Saturday, I am meeting up with my friend Nathalie to go check out La Feria Los Dominicos again to see what pretty things we can find for ourselves! Then, on Sunday, I've been invited to my friend Diego's house for some kind of dinner/party/I don't even know. We'll have to see what that turns into . . . there is no telling!!

So yes, todo esta FANTASTICO. I love and miss you all!!