Viva Chile!

Note the stairs in the background

Can't get all the pictures where I want them--sorry!





Example of Valpo graffiti art




This past week has been my most enjoyable in Chile. Although I didn’t go more than 2 hours outside of Vina, we had a lot of adventures…

Wednesday:
The history prof, Rodrigo Moreno, took us to Valparaiso, a port city right next to Vina. The city has a rather tragic history—it was a bustling port in the 1800s, but a huge earthquake in 1906 virtually destroyed the city, and it is still feeling the aftershocks today. We met in Plaza Sotomayor in front of the impressive Armada and monument to Arturo Prat (a marine who died rather than surrender in la Guerra del Pacifico: Chile versus Peru and Bolivia). Rodrigo told us that the Plaza is basically the dividing line between the poor and wealthier side of Valpo…the difference is really felt.




Monumento de Arturo Prat




Armada




One of Valpo’s most noticeable characteristics is the variety of color. Many of the houses up in the “little Europe” district are painted in brilliant tones of blue, green, yellow, and even purple or pink. Rodrigo explained that since many marines from other countries were stationed in Valpo, the colors allowed them to tell from a distance which house was theirs so they could see their wives waving from the balconies.
Almost all the walls in Valparaiso are covered in murals or graffiti—some are really impressive and others are disturbing to say the least (picture maniacal rabbit men). It is truly an experience to walk through the city. When Jess, Alex, Lori, and I went to Valpo to get inspiration for our art papers, we left our own mark. All we had was a pen, but we drew stick figures labeled with our names and USA. Normally I would feel bad drawing on a wall, but it was already covered with graffiti, the pen will wash off when it rains, and it is part of experiencing Valpo in all its fallen glory. (see picture second from top)

Overall, I love studying the history of Chile while I’m here—I can see it all around me. The streets I walk every day are named after people from Chilean history, and as I learn, I’m able to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. For instance, I live on Agua Santa, which means Holy Water, and a shortcut I take home is called Von Schroeder, who was a doctor who promoted the therapeutic baths in Vina—connections!

After the tour, a group of 8 of the girls rode the bus home together…but got off on the wrong stop…a very wrong stop. Everyone knew but the first girl who got off, and we were not about to abandon her. Instead of getting back on a bus, because we had time to kill, we decided to try to walk home. It was a long way and at some points we had no idea where we were, but it was so much fun and quite the adventure. A one-eyed dog followed us the entire way from Valpo to Vina. We ended up cutting through some neighborhoods and started a “Twilight Bark” from 101 Dalmatians. Seriously EVERY SINGLE house we walked by had a dog, and each one of these dogs felt impelled to bark at us, and even throw itself against the fence. As soon as we would pass one, we’d see another. It was ridiculous…seriously went on for 10 minutes. At this point, we were really lost and Katie asked for directions—we ended up taking some stairs behind a neighborhood (stairs that Sarah said reminded her of the Great Wall of China) that led to a little playground and finally to Lori’s house. (see picture at top)

From there, we walked to Entremasas (literally, between dough) for empanadas. Entremasas has amazing empanadas, and almost too many combinations to pick between…including manjar queso (dulce de leche and cheese). We stopped at a chocolateria after for the most amazing chocolate/frambuesa (raspberry) cake I have ever eaten. At that point, the futbol game between Chile and Brazil was about to start, so we walked to Hollywood, a local bar, to watch it. Chile’s chances were not very good because Brazil is the #2 (and, depending on who you talk to, arguably the #1) team in the world. Moreover, it was played on Brazil’s field, and Chile had never scored a goal on Brazil’s field in a regulation game…ever. Not unsurprisingly, Chile ended up losing the game…but scored 2 goals, making Chilean futbol history. After each goal, the bar went absolutely wild— “Chi chi chi le le le, viva Chile!” I LOVE watching futbol here, and cannot wait to go to the Chile versus Ecuador game in Santiago in October.

Thursday:
Pamela and her son Benjamin were visiting from the South, but between her and my busy schedules, we’d hardly gotten a chance to spend any time together. Thursday became our family day. We went to Pica de Martin to eat mariscos (seafood…notably shellfish). Normally, I am not a fan of mariscos, but I do not care how much you think you hate shellfish, you would love this restaurant. I had a huge bowl of chupe, which is a marisco-queso dish—mine had camarones and loco (still have no idea what is it other than some type of shellfish). Basically, you’ve got your mariscos absolutely doused in this delectably cheesy sauce. Absolutely incredible.
After lunch, Pamela and I walked along San Martin near the beach and then stopped at Bravissimo for ice cream sundaes. The rest of the day we just hung out with family because Pamela left that night. It was a laid-back day and definitely something I needed since I’d been spending so much time outside the house.

Friday:
Seeing as how we were going on a day trip to Pomaire and leaving at 10 in the morning on Saturday, a lot of us wanted to stay in. So, we had a Girls’ (plus Alex) Movie Night at Andria’s. Before meeting up at her house, we walked to Jumbo to buy food. Jumbo is an experience all its own. It is like Fred Meyer on steroids…it is not the size of a store, but is more on par with an airport.

After being awed by Jumbo, we ate massive quantities of food (including the universally-craved frozen pizza—we are all beginning to realize how much we LOVE the US of A) watched 27 Dresses and part of the Little Mermaid (including sing-a-long numbers) at Andria’s. We made our own little oasis of North American culture in the midst of Chile to celebrate our 4th week here.

Saturday:
Day trip to Pomaire, which is a little town a couple hours away, known exclusively for its pottery and traditional Chilean meals. We all love Vina, but were definitely ready to leave the city for a day. The bus ride took longer than anticipated (which is normal in Chile)…but also because the bus drivers did not seem to know where we were going…at each of the toll booths they had to ask for directions. Gotta love Chile.
We got a chance to walk through streets full of venders selling pottery for almost nothing—I spend less than $3 on a Pomaire mug, teapot, and salsa bowl. And it’s quality stuff, too. Everyone was ready to outfit their apartments next semester with cookware until it occurred to us that it’d be impossible to get it all back to the States.
While most of the day was just wandering through the town, we did have a few planned activities. We were served the most massive meal I have ever had the privilege to eat. First course was empanadas and chica (fermented fruit drink served only around the time of Fiestas Patrias). Second course, the servers brought out 6 huge tubs o’carne called parilladas. Each pot had over a dozen pieces of meat in it—steak (bistec), pork, chicken, sausage (chorizo)…I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much meat in one day. Jess, Andria, Alex, and I were working on one together…by the end of the meal, we figured Alex ate about 8 pieces of meat.

After lunch, we went to a pottery studio where we got to work with greda (clay). There was an instructor, but he was really grumpy and no one really listened to him, but went about making our own sculptures with the enthusiasm of kindergarteners. We even got to try out the potter’s wheel!

That night, almost everyone met up to eat at a restaurant close to the sea and then we checked out the casino. It was really expensive, so we pulled some strings and got free passes to the discoteque Goose. Always a good time when the whole group gets together.

Sunday:
Another relaxing day with family. Mama and I went to Miriam’s for lunch and then watched a movie with her and her girls. It was called Heroes, but it was the movie Push. Maria Fernanda insisted on putting on the English subtitles “just in case.” Afterwards, Mama and I walked back home (a fairly long way) and had once together…good host mother/daughter bonding time for sure.

Had to take a break for lunch. I think I ate a bowl of raw fish with onions, lemon juice, and cilantro. Plus a salad with some type of shellfish that was most definitely NOT hiding in a sea of queso. Just kept telling myself “Don’t look, don’t think, it’s just meat like any other.” It’s not bad if you don’t think about it.

Monday:
Seeing as how history was canceled on Monday due to a conference the prof had to attend, Jess and I decided to explore Reñaca. It was basically all my favorite things in one day.
Reñaca is part of Viña and is where all the best beaches are found. The weather is still a little chilly (spring begins the 21st) but we wanted to go just the same. After walking through the town a little, we came upon Don Homero’s, a grocery store where we bought a couple manjar cookies and two types of fruit we had been curious about but had yet to try—pepino (which also means cucumber) and chirimoya. We walked down to the beach to eat the fruit and watch the waves. The pepino tasted like cantaloupe and the chirimoya was really sweet but the outside was prickly and it was full of seeds. Conclusion: Good experience, but we prefer what the US has to offer.
Word was out that the lobos del mar (literally, wolves of the sea aka sea lions) were in Reñaca, so Jess and I went in search of them. They were all chilling on a giant rock a little ways offshore, but we could still see and hear them. Spent a while sitting on a wall eating our manjar cookies (give me chocolate chip any day) and watching the lobos. Most of them were just lazing around on the rock and every once in awhile would raise their heads and speak lobo to each other, but we did see a few flop onto the rock (which was quite an incline for them—a particularly fat one gave up and plopped back into the sea). At the end of our time with the lobos, we felt very connected to them and became excellent translators of the lobo language.
Didn’t take much thinking to decide to stay to watch the sunset. We bought some empanadas de choclo y queso (corn and cheese) and sat on the beach, thoroughly taking in the sunset (which was a little cloudy but still gorgeous) and the waves. We even saw some of our lobo friends swimming in the distance.
Jess noticed some people with Bravissimo cups, so of course we had to go in search of that. We’d both been wanting to try Baño de Chocolate (two flavors dipped in a chocolate bath), and decided that Reñaca was the occasion to do so. I believe this was the point when we decided that heaven must be a lot like Reñaca. In fact, we saw Jesus there—a statue on a rock offshore. A seagull landed on His head as we were looked on (but WWJD? He’d let the seagull be).
Even the bus ride back from Reñaca was cool—a guy jumped on at one stop with his drum and started performing, and he was pretty talented. With the playa (beach), lobos, empanadas, Bravissimo, sunset, and una muy amiga (very close friend), it deserves a place in the running for the Best Day Ever.

I wanted to get all of this down because tomorrow evening begins Fiestas Patrias, Chile’s patriotic festival. It commemorates the establishment of the first junta, but is not the actual independence day. The following weekend the group goes to Santiago, and then begins October, my whirlwind travel month (Buenos Aires, South to visit Pamela, futbol game in Santiago, Chiloe, and Mendoza). Basically, I am going to have a ton to write about but not much time to do it in. Will keep you updated as much as possible, but life is going to be even busier than usual—can’t wait! Time is going by so quickly, but honestly I don’t mind because I feel like I’m taking advantage of everything, have no regrets, and am thoroughly enjoying many new experiences! Of course I miss everyone, but know that I’ll see you in what feels like no time at all.

Chao, un besito!

Una mezcla

As an ex-English major and student of the 5-point paragraph, I feel like all of my blogs need to have some sort of theme. However, there are a lot of random anecdotes or thoughts that don’t quite fit any one topic, so here is my mixed-bag blog…so good-bye formal rules of writing, hello William Faulkner.

Chile is great. I love the food, I love the ocean, I love my family. But there are a few things that I do not love. One of those is street dogs, and the other is powdered coffee.
There are stray dogs everywhere. Usually they don’t do anything except follow you around. Alex has a theory about this: they are used to being treated well (even fed) by Americans, so when they hear English spoken, they follow. Thank you, Pavlov. Again, usually there aren’t any problems, but I’ve discovered a new shortcut to school; only problem is, there’s a very vocal street dog. He came up to me barking…and I was not about the challenge him. Was just getting ready to turn around when this old guy sticks his head out the window and tells me that the dog “Es muy carinoso.” The dog’s loving? And I can pass for Chilean. Did end up walking down the street, but feared for my life the entire time.

The street dogs can be entertaining, though…one time as we were sitting tranquilly at a table outside Café Enjoy, these two guys come running by, all red in the face and looking absolutely petrified, and a dog is running alongside them, barking the whole time. This whole motley group just runs on by, and all of the sudden one guy picks up a napkin dispenser and chucks it (at the dog, I think). Now, there are several interpretations of this event, and we were never actually sure who was chasing who…I thought the dog was going after the guys, but Jess thought that one guy was chasing the other and the dog was along for the ride.

Also, I miss real coffee, from Kokopelli Café or O’Connell’s especially. I brought coffee (thanks, Kim!) with me as a gift to my host family, but they only use it for special occasions or like as dessert because it’s so good. Most of the time, we have powdered coffee…and it is not the same. A Starbucks just opened up Friday…and all of us gringos were there. I was all ready to get my drip coffee with hazelnut…but they didn’t have any the first day. Today was miraculous, though--Mama brewed some of the Olympia Coffee Roasters blend after dessert…I was seriously on Cloud 9.

Last week, I got on a kick of pretending I didn’t speak English. The thing is, you can spot a gringo from a mile away here…but sometimes we get tired of people approaching us and speaking in English. Jess, Lori, Alex, and I were wandering around Valpo discussing what other language we could pretend to speak and actually maybe get away with, and settled on German. Not more than a few minutes later, this guy comes over and asks me if I speak English…without thinking, I say “Spreken ze deutsch” (which clearly I do not—have no idea how to spell it). I was so surprised when the words left my mouth—I was not planning on actually doing it, but because we’d just talked about it, that was the only phrase I could think of. The beautiful thing was, the guy left us alone, despite the fact that Jess told me it was the worst German accent she’s heard. Thrilled with this success, when some British creeper (he stood—but did not dance—right next to us, and he and his friend would try taking pictures with us every once in a while—with no pretension of subtlety) in the club tried talking to me in English and asked me if I was from the States, I just shrugged, looked confused, and kept responding, “Que??” (What?) He looked really frustrated but it was really rather entertaining for me.

Overall, my sentiment right now is that I am completely spoiled in Chile—life is really good and I’m loving it. I am incredibly blessed to be experiencing all of this. I’ve gotten to do a lot of really cool things, have eaten some amazing food, and have developed some great friendships really quickly. A group of us had an American Binge night on Friday, commemorating our 4th week here (yes, it’s been over a month!) and as I looked around the room, I realized that I did not know most of the people very well (and some not at all) before I left, and yet we all act as if we’ve been friends for so long. The group is wonderful overall, and for the most part, everyone really gets along and takes care of each other. I’ve also been fortunate with my family. Octavio has been visiting Pamela in the South, so Mama Cecilia and I have had a lot of one-on-one time lately, which has been really great. She told me yesterday that I’m like one of the family now, which means a lot to me.

Well, it’s getting late, so I should turn in for the night. This past week has been my favorite week in Vina so far, and I’ll have to recount the highlights soon. But for now, Buenas noches! Chao (most people don’t spell it “ciao” here), un besito!

Current soundtrack to mi vida Chilena: Manos al Aire--Nelly Furtado. Escuchala (listen to it)

Mi vida tipica en Chile

So far, I’ve blogged about all of my major adventures here, which I think has led to the misperception that every day in Chile is a trip to the Andes. Contrary to popular belief, I do study here :) So what does my typical week look like?

I have class every day of the week, but usually only one or two a day, they are always over by 12:15. I have history of Chile, Ethics Seminar (a St. Ben’s/St. John’s requirement), Art and Identity of Latin America, and Linguistics. In addition, I will have service learning on Wednesday mornings and either Tuesday or Thursday afternoons. Not a very demanding schedule most of the time, and for the most part, I’m enjoying my classes.

Even though it is at 8am on Friday, art is by far my favorite class, thanks to Jorge Salomo. He is hilarious and not only does he get us free tickets to Teatro Municipal, but he’s very easy to understand (partly due to the fact that he acts out our lessons half the time…makes for an interesting experience when we discuss venusillas, which are amulets that honor motherhood). He combines art with history, culture, and even linguistics (actually, we learn more linguistics in his class than our actual linguistics class…more on that later), so his classes are extremely interesting and help us to understand Latin American identity in more than just art. The class’s favorite lesson so far was when he explained that the large carved heads made by the Olmecs in Mexico and on Easter Island were meant to scare away potential invaders because from a distance, they looked like giants with the body hidden. An interesting idea made even more so by his acting out seeing a giant head and then running away. Never a boring day with Jorge.

My history prof is laid-back and really nice. He’s planning on taking us on several field trips--for instance, tomorrow we’re going to Valparaiso for a few hours on a guided tour. I’m excited because I’ve wandered around Valpo a few times with friends, but feel like I don’t know everything that the city has to offer. The Ethics Seminar is taught by Eleonora, my program director. While the class is in English, its topic is justice and impunity in the different dictatorships in Latin America—so the articles we read are extremely interesting to me. It’s also nice to have a class in English because I feel like I can understand and express complex ideas much more easily…and I’m a nerd, so that’s a must. Finally, linguistics. Not gonna lie, I was excited to take linguistics because language is so interesting to me. However…so far it’s just been a communication class because we’ve discussed models of communication. Don’t get me wrong, I love Comm (it’s my major after all), but it’s like an intro level comm class…not only that, but we’ve drawn the same diagram countless times in our notes…we’re all ready to move on but she’s got a million powerpoint slides about the SAME TOPIC...and we have this class at 8am for almost 3 hours (but only once a week…thank goodness). We’ll see what next Thursday brings, though. At any rate, the professor herself is very interesting...think Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter. She has bright reddish/purple hair, and is VERY passionate about what she’s teaching. She is also very passionate about color coordination. The first day of class she wore all purple. Second class was orange day, and third was leopard print. Her nails always match her outfit. We have to wonder if she does her nails every day, or if she picks one color a week and sticks with it.

The Chile program offers the option of service learning, and almost everyone in the group is taking advantage of that. I’m helping teach at an English Immersion school called Saint Peter’s. Can’t yet say what my schedule there is, because it has literally changed every week; I have not helped the same class twice. They have two weeks of vacation, so hopefully within that timeframe, I’ll finally get a schedule. (Quick anecdote for Mom—the director asked Lori if she was sunburned because her face was pink, but Lori said that her face is always pink…in response, the director said, “Oh, your face is always pink” then she turns to me and says, “And your face is always pale.” Then she walked away.) At the volunteer breakfast they had for us the day before vacation, we watched the students perform traditional dances, which was super cute, and I talked to a couple teachers and came up with a tentative schedule. If that all works out, I’ll be helping with 1st and 2nd grade math and field hockey (which I loved in PE, but have no clue about the actual rules). I’m actually pretty excited about this, because not only are the 1st and 2nd graders extremely adorable, but I’ll also get more practice with Spanish (since the school is English immersion, the upper grades only speak English). But the best part of working with them is being showered with hugs, besitos (little kisses), drawings, and being called “Mees Angela.” I have to say, I really miss hugs here. You kiss people on the cheek (even Salomo when he greets us at theater events—super weird), but that’s it.

I have to admit, at first I was really frustrated with my changing schedule at St. Peter’s, and in a larger sense, the lack of schedules here. I’ve discovered that while I love spontaneous adventures, when it comes to things I’m required to do, I like to know when, where, and what I should prepare. Americans in general are really schedule-oriented, but here, people arrive late (which is normal—my history prof says that to make sure someone arrives at the appointed time, you need to say “hora inglesa” (English time)). At first, I thought I’d be working with upper level English classes and was brainstorming activities to do and getting excited about that, and I thought I’d be doing volleyball, which I’ve played before and love recreationally…and then it all changed. The day this all occurred was just an all-around frustrating day for a bunch of people in the group…the newness of Chile had worn off, and we were discovering that there are things here that we’re not so fond of, and missing our American ways of life. So we vented to each other and went out for ice cream…and things have been fine overall since then! We’re learning that planned events are always subject to change, but that things turn out just fine—asi es la vida (such is life). Definitely hoping Chile will help me become a more flexible person.

Mornings are pretty busy between classes and service learning. I walk to and from school, and basically everywhere I can (coming back home is uphill…VERY uphill…I better have some amazing legs after all this). Most afternoons after lunch with my host parents, I end up walking down to the Centro to do homework or hang out with friends at Café Enjoy or Bravissimo, which are close to the beach. After the sun sets, I head home for once, homework, watching movies with my “nephew” in the program, and getting caught up on blogging, Skyping, or e-mailing. Usually a few people will meet up to go to Valparaiso, the beach, or explore some part of Vina on an afternoon. Wednesday nights, a group usually meets up to eat dinner or grab dessert and then hang out at Café Journal, the gringo bar. Fridays and Saturdays are also days to hang out in the afternoon and then go out to a discoteque (dance club). It’s always more fun when the group goes together. This past weekend was a girl from our group’s birthday, and she had the idea that all the girls dress up in crazy leggings. Mine were bright green zebra-striped, and I bought a layered black tank with slashes in it…I looked like a hunted zebra. Interestingly enough, Sarah got the exact same outfit without planning it…we laughed pretty hard when we saw each other and had a great time being twins. Everyone met up at Hollywood and watched the futbol game and then went out dancing—ended up being a great weekend.

Sundays are lazy days, for Mass and homework. One girl says her family calls them “fomingo” (fome=boring + Domingo=Sunday). I am definitely enjoying the balance between new adventures, relaxing, studying, hanging out, spending time with family, and going out.
The girls that I generally meet up with and I were discussing how we finally, in our first month here, feel like we’ve adjusted to living in Chile. Now that we feel comfortable, we’re beginning to plan weekend trips to Argentina and other cities. I love Vina del Mar, but feel like I’ve seen and experienced most of it, so am ready to explore other parts of Chile and South America!

The Best of the Past Two Weeks

I blinked and two weeks passed.
Honestly, I felt like I wrote in this blog just the other day, and then people started asking me what I'd been doing lately...I told them to check my blog and then realized that I was directing people to something that hardly reflects my experiences anymore. Granted, I will always be a foreigner here, but I feel like instead of a constant influx of adjustment, I've settled into more of a routine...as much of a routine as you can have in Chile, that is.

So, in answer to the question of what I've been doing these past two weeks...here are the highlights:

Mama Cecilia's Birthday:
My "sisters" Miriam and Claudia and their kids came to our little apartment to celebrate. Octavio made sopapillas, we had several types of pastries, champagne and pisco sour, and of course, cake. Definitely a LOT of food for a typical "once"...I think I must have been getting used to the meal schedule here because you all know how much I can eat if I put my mind to it, but I had a hard time eating everything! The celebration was a lot of fun, everyone was laughing together and making jokes (sometimes I had a hard time following...this was only a few days after I'd arrived). But playing the dumb gringa came in handy when they started joking about me being the future "cunada" (daughter-in-law). Sometimes, ignorance is truly bliss. Aside from that, it was one of my favorite experiences of Chile so far. My family is so welcoming, warm, and inviting, and I feel truly blessed to be living with them. Another thing I really loved about the celebration was when everyone went around the table and told Mama Cecilia how much they love her and what she means to them. I'm not sure if this is a traditional Chilean custom or if it's just my family, but it was definitely special.

Beach Adventures:
I am incredibly spoiled. The beach is a mere 30 minute walk from my house. After linguistics one day, a group of us walked down to the playa (beach) to take in the gorgeous view (there are some pictures on Facebook). We ended up exploring an old dock which was absolutely covered in graffiti. Though I am not a proponent of defacing of public property, I have to say that I love the graffiti here. Perhaps this is my inner Olympia speaking, but it is so artistic and some pieces are particularly impressive and expressive. We ended up crossing a very narrow ledge that no one felt like crossing again to go back, so we piled up some rocks and just climbed over the barrier next to the sidewalk...crazy gringos.
Another day, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset, which was absolutely amazing because you can watch the sun sink all the way down into the water.

Concierto de Musica Andina:
My art prof has connections. He got us tickets to attend a concert of Andean music at the Teatro Municipal (Municipal Theater). Before the show, he gave us a personal tour of the theater and even got us seated so we could watch the student group rehearse their entrance. Two groups performed, one was university students from Santiago who played more traditional Andean music. Second was a more contemporary artist named Elizabeth Morris. Then the two groups performed together, and it was absolutely incredible. The final song "Pescador" was so upbeat and joyful, all the musicians just looked like they were having the time of their lives onstage. Needless to say, we gave them a standing ovation and demanded an encore. However, they hadn't rehearsed another song together, so they ended up playing "Feliz Cumpleanos." Actually, they re-played one of the songs they played before, but it would have been hilarious if they'd played "Feliz Cumpleanos" instead.

Skiing at Portillo:
Perhaps one of the best bragging rights I will ever have in life is that I went skiing in the Andes (and I didn't fall once). I wish that I could fully express to you all how amazingly gorgeous it was. I know that there are some pictures circulating on Facebook because everyone was snapping a million pictures a minute (I'll get mine up eventually...updating one thing at a time haha) but pictures don't really do justice to the actual experience because you aren't completely surrounded by towering mountains, a postcard-perfect blue sky, and sparkling snow. It wasn't cold, either...quite the contrary--underneath my snowpants and jacket all I had on was a tank top and shorts. A lot of people got sunburnt, too (not me though--thank you 70+ Spf!!!)
So there I was, all ready to go...but having not skiied in 3 years. And the blue runs in the Andes are a little different than the blue runs at White Pass. I remember pausing as I looked down a lot steeper than I'd expected...like a LOT steeper...rather petrified. But then I was flying down the mountain, completely exhilarated...I forgot how much I love skiing. Really, words fail to describe what an awesome experience it was.

Discoteca Goose:
Saturday night was a blast. Almost everyone in the group went to a dance club called Goose, and we had a ton of fun together. Chile is absolutely wonderful and I can already tell that this will be one of the best experiences of my life; in all, I'm having an amazing time. But it can also be stressful trying to figure out an entirely different language, culture, and way of doing things--Goose gave us a chance to cut loose and, as Lady Gaga would say, Just Dance.

Those are the highlights, and I'm super stoked that I've had all these experiences...and this is only Week 3. But being immersed in Chilean culture also means having a regular life here, too. I have my daily schedule of classes and service learning (will blog about those later), the typical spots where I hang out like Bravvisimo (BEST helado/ice cream) and Enjoy Cafe, the same walking routes (I spend 1-2 hours a day walking from place to place), eating meals with the family, and doing homework. Speaking of which, I should probably make my way down to a new cafe we're trying today and start cracking down on my homework.

Please keep me updated on your lives, too--I always read e-mails even if I don't respond right away or only a quick reply. And remember, as always, I love love love you all!