Livin` it up! Patagonia Style

So I made it on to my first summer adventure, FINALLY!!! Right now I´m chillen in Raul Marin Balmeceda in the Aisen region of Patagonia. About a month ago I got in contact with the family who lives and runs a ranch out here in Chilean Patagonia and they agreed to let me come stay with them for a month helping out with whatever needs to be done. They also have 4 tourist cabanas for recieving guests. This place is amazing, I absolutely love it. After the 10 hour boat ride, 5 hour drive down the (dirt highway) carretera austral, 5 min ferry, and 10 min drive to the front gate of the ranch we made it here! (And mind you this was all after i took a 12 hour bus from Santiago) The entrance is really long to the ranch, about 2 miles. First thing you see is lots of trees, greenery and open fields with foresty mountains and hills in the background. The as you continue driving you start to see some of the 100 or so sheep they have grazing. Keep driving and you get to another gate, get out of the car to be welcomed by the dogs barking and wagging their tails. Enter through the garden (biggest garden i´ve ever seen) with carrots, all types of lettuce, spinach, green onions, lavender, other spices, just to name a few of the things I can think of off the top of my head. As you walk through and out the garden gate to the path to the house you see on the left rows of blueberry plants, as well as potatoes growing. And the country style 2 story, 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house in front of you. Walking around the house to the right you get to a sort of backyard where they´ve just built and enclose BBQ area with a table and seats. Keep walking straight and you see 2 of the 4 cabanas. Walk past that and there it is, a strip of ocean (no waves, looks like a lake in that way) and sandy beach. I´ve walked up and down the beach with the dogs now everyday and seen groups of dolphins swimming twice. I have yet to go kayaking but they have a bunch of kayaks that can be taken out too. The first couple days the weather was nice, i did a lot of weeding on the paths and some help with cooking in the kitchen. Then a couple days ago the family i´m with left to go back to the city where I met them to turn in their winter rental house and pick up their sons to come back here for the summer, so I´m left here alone for almost a week!! I´ve spent 2 nights here alone so far. It is nice that the sun rises before I wake up and goes down about 11:00pm when i go to sleep, cause usually I´m most scared when its dark outside. In the house, the electricity runs on a generator that we only turn on for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours at night so needless to say, its been pretty quiet. Probably the most silence I´ve experienced in my life, ever. But I´m taking advantage of it and actually getting pretty used to this life. Ive been doing lots of reading, baking, and long walks on the beach which can probably all three qualify in my top 10 favorite things to do. At night the stars are absolutely incredible, so bright and so many!! I have yet to go star gazing though, not that comfortable outside in the dark quite yet ;). But needless to say, its been a great kick off to my summer, as well as the fact that I improved my grades on all my finals from my midterm grades, which makes me excited to do even better next semester. I´m going to miss my family lots over Christmas, but I´m so glad I found a great family to spend the holidays with and a beautiful place to live the next month. Living on this ranch I am living my dream and am so happy to be here having this experience. I wouldn´t have it any other way and everyday I just feel so blessed to be able to do all the things I´m doing. I wish I could upload some pictures but i haven´t really figured that out yet on this desktop. So for now, Chao and Feliz Navidad :)

Teleton

So I said goodbye to my host family last week and have now moved into the apartment where Favi lived. Its nice, and still in the same neighborhood where I used to live which I like because I've become comfortable here. My room is extremely small and everything barely fits, but it works. I won't be here much during the summer so that doesn't matter anyways. It was strange packing up my old room though. I had lived there for 5 months, which is a pretty long time, I got comfortable there in my room with my little routine. It was also nice always having my host mom and brother around. Also my host mom did EVERYTHING for me, which I got very used to... but it is nice now to have responsibilities again. I had somewhat forgotten what that was like, but I like it. When I was packing up my room and putting all my stuff in the living room as I waited for the taxi to come get me, I was a lot sadder then I thought I would be. I don't think I've ever been so sad moving out except maybe from my family's "old house" on 6030 E. Heaton. When I moved to college I was so excited and ready to go and then when I moved out of the dorms, I was like "alright, get me outta here!" and then when I moved out of my apartment sophomore year I was sad, but excited for the summer and all that was in store for me moving to South America. But from my home with my host family, I was just plain sad. The location was so perfect right by a cute string of restaurants and the municipal building and main plaza, also with the new gym that just opened, I had a great little room, bed, closet, and my own bathroom, when I was bored I watched movies with my host brother or went upstairs to bother Mia, and every day around 2:30pm there was a hot lunch on the table for me. But I guess in life things are always changing, and you can't just hold onto the past but you've got to keep moving forward with your head up ready for the next exciting adventure. So thats what I'm doing.

SO, in about a week, or less then a week, when I'm all done with school and the paper that I am delaying writing right now as I am updating my blog instead, I will be heading down to Patagonia for about a month. For those of you who don't know, Patagonia is the name for the whole most southern part of Chile where it is known for many beautiful landscapes and not a lot of people. There are glaciers, penguins, whales, fishing, horseback riding, hiking, greenery (because it rains the majority of the year), really nice, slow moving, mountain people and much more. I can't wait to see it for myself. Next week I will be meeting up with a family I got in contact with to go to their EcoLodge in the Aysen region to help them out on their property and with guests. I'm not exactly sure what's in store for me, but I'm going to go and find out!!

Yesterday Dec. 3 was the Teleton here in Chile. The past few weeks I had  been seeing signs about it, but was never really sure what it was all about, who they were raising money for, and how many people actually participate. Turns out it is a nationwide thing and people get really involved. I got an email about a 10k for the teleton because of the 10k I had ran before and I decided at the last minute to go and do it. I think the extra push was the fact that we got a free shirt for participating... so I went there and they had a total of about 7,500 participate. It was so cool! We ran down the main street in the town in our red shirts while traffic was blocked off. People all up and down the street honking, waving and smiling at us. Then when I got home and turned on the tv, every channel was synced covering the teleton where they told different stories and had entertainment and encouraged people to go down to the bank or online to donate money to reach their goal of 18,000,000 pesos. Which i believe is just shy of 40 million dollars. (i think...) The goal of the teleton is to raise money for people, children in particular with disabilites. The stories shown on the tv were of some of these kids and their lives. Then starting at 10:00pm everyone headed to the "Estadio Nacional" which is their biggest soccer stadium for a free concert which a bunch of different artists. The tv channels were still synced and they would update about every 20 min to see how close to the goal they were. I watched the whole concert which went to about 1:30am and ended with them making their goal. It was just really cool to watch because they kept empasizing "solidarity" and they would sing their song over and over "Vamossss, Vamos Chilenos...." It was amazing to see a country so dedicated and together on reaching this goal and the national pride that they had. It seemed like everyone was so united on this goal and it was really cool to be a part of it during the 10k. I think after experiencing the teleton, I came to like Chile a little bit more then I already do, it was just a really special thing. Well that's about it for now, I better get back to my essay...:/ but here's some pictures in the mean time.

P.S. I forgot to mention also that since I've moved I have a new address!

Lauren Grazier

Jose Manuel Infante 2520 Depto #203

7750000 Nunoa,

Region Metropolitana, Chile

South America

Me and my host brother at Chinese food

Me and my host mom at Chinese food (she took us out for lunch the day I moved out)

The start of the race in front of the presidential palace. Everyone with their red shirts.

Wrapping up the Semester/ Happy Thanksgiving!

So things with school have been wrapping up. Most people are still finishing up the semester, I'm still going strong. I joined the gym that just opened in my neighborhood for the rest of this month and now attend daily my favorite dance class "balie entretenido." It doesn't really translate well so we'll just leave it at that, but its basically like zumba: latin style. Super fun and a good stress reliever for me. Two nights ago Mia (my friend who lives two floors above me in our appartment complex) came downstairs for the last time. She is done with school and now off traveling. I will see her again but she is definitely moved out. It was really sad cause it seems like just yesterday we both moved in here not knowing anyone, but feeling so lucky to live in the same complex. We used to walk to ILP together in the morning the first month and then would constantly visit eachother or walk home together. It was your classic Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz neighborly friendship. I will miss it alot! But soon I'll be moving out too (at the end of this month) and it will be exciting to start a new chapter here abroad. I will be very sad to leave my host family who have been absoulutely amazing, but I will sure me moving on to more exciting, great things.

Me, my host family, and mom

me and mia in valparaiso

Then on Monday, Favi, Mia, Rachel and I threw a little party for our kids in El Monte to say thank you and do something nice for our last day at the school. We brought chips and "negritas" (the best cookies ever). We also made them a card and said how happy we were to get to know them and have this "taller" or workshop with them. After we played a bunch of games, like 4 corners which was by far their favorite, and different relays and stuff. Then after they all went around the table and said something nice about us as well as their teachers. It was really special for us to have that little celebration and I think it really meant alot to them as it did for us to hear all the nice things they had to say. I will probably go back to visit in El Monte next semester. I had the chance to get to know a lot of really great people there and it was really sad to say goodbye. I would put up a picture from El Monte, but I don't have one and Favi hasn't uploaded hers, so when she does i'll add one ;).

On Thursday for thanksgiving, two of my "gringa" (white foreigner, not derogatory) friends had some people over to their house for thanksgiving. Apparently her host mom has a thanksgiving potluck every year because she always has foreign students. It turned out to be really good food, and desserts!! We actually had pumpkin pie!! I took chips and guacamole and salsa, hahah, I know its not that traditional but it was all eaten!!! But it was a great evening, we had a long table with about 25 people and we all went around the table to say what we were thankful for. It was really special and I'm so glad I got to go. Once again, no pictures are uploaded so I don't have any from that either, but i'm sure they'll be coming soon. :)

Peru!

HOLA blog followers! The semester is starting to wrap up which means a lot of work to do and not a lot of time, hence why you haven’t seen a blog post in a while. BUT after my mom left to go home I headed off (the next morning) to spend about 12 days in PERU, which by far was not enough! I was taken aback by how beautiful it was there, I had no idea. We had a few days off of school, which is why I got to spend so much time there. I had been anxiously waiting in anticipation for this trip for so long cause we had planned it very early on. This was because me and 5 other friends from my EAP program signed up to do that classic 4 day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu which you have to book very early cause it is so famous, books up really fast and you have to do it with a guide company. Before the Inca Trail we all landed in Lima, Peru where I spent a couple days exploring on my own as the others headed to Cusco, the town most people stay in who are visiting Machu Pichu. Most people don’t stay in Lima for more then a night because there are so many other things to see in Peru other then the huge metropolis capital, but I wanted to give it a chance. I stayed in the young, bohemian-feel area called Barranco with pretty colors (especially with all the spring flowers) and tons of cute bars and restaurants. I also spent some time in the area called Miraflores, which right next to Barranco. I fell in love with these parts of Lima for all the beautiful flowers and the amazing views of the ocean. In Lima I went paragliding one day, which was short but so beautiful and the next day went surfing. The water felt so nice and I actually caught a few waves, despite being very out of swimming shape (my arms were killing me after). After that I was off to Cusco to start the Machu Pichu adventure. After a few days in Cusco, we all headed to the start of the trail with our guides, five other people, and 11 porters, who were amazing! The porters would carry all of our stuff besides our own personal belongs like food, tables to eat at as well as chairs, cooking supplies, and tents. Their backpacks were about just as big as they were and these guys would do the trail so fast to make sure and arrive to have everything ready at our campsite before we got there and then would leave after us to clean up and put all the tents down. Not to mention about half of them were in sandles. As we were hiking whenever a porter was coming up behind us someone would say “PORTER” and we would all move to the side for them to pass. The hike was so beautiful, but so hard. I was definitely pushed to my physical limits with the difficulties breathing because of the altitude as well as the long/steep inclines up and down the mountains. The most rewarding part though, was on that last day walking the last 6km of the 43km and getting to Machu Pichu to see the clouds clear and the sun rise, from up above at the “sun-gate”. It was absolutely incredible. It wasn’t just the Machu Pichu itself that was so beautiful but the mountains and greenery and bright blue skies with white puffy clouds around it. That is the problem with the pictures is that you can see one part, but when you are there you see everything around you and get this feeling of awe and amazement that such a place exists and you have access to it, despite it being in the middle of nowhere. How the Incan’s chose this place and were able to construct this huge city is beyond me and it’s no wonder it took so long to discover and for the world to  realize it was there. Especially because when it is not groomed since the climate is rainforesty the greenery grows in and can completely cover the ruins in a matter of just a couple months. We happened to be there, actually, on the 100^th year anniversary of the “re-discovery” of Machu Pichu, which was cool even though some of the indigenous people don’t like to call it the discovery because there were some indigenous living there when it was found and they people from the area knew it was there. After Machu Pichu it was back to real life in Santiago. As great as the traveling in October was, it was so nice to finally be back “home” and into my normal grove. Yes, I said “home,” it never felt more like home here until I was gone on and off for basically a month. The only bad part was that meant the beginning of final tests and papers which I am still going through right now and will be officially finished with in  3 weeks. I know this was an extremely fast re-cap of an incredible trip and definitely doesn’t do it justice, but if you ever have any questions or want to talk more about Machu Pichu I can talk your ear off about how amazing it was, so just ask :)

Walking along the coast of Lima, stopping to smell the flowers.

View from Paragliding!

Start of the Trail!

Me, after climbing up the hardest hill of my life. (Paid a porter to carry my bag that day :/)

Porter

Llama friends on another Inca site, or alpacas? can't really tell the difference.

Finally at MACHU PICHU!!

View the top of Wayna Pichu (thats Machu Pichu behind me)

 

Bolivia/ Atacama/ Mom's visit

So October has just flown by! Hands down busiest month here in Chile, but definitely one of the best! It started out with me traveling to San Pedro de Atacama, which is in the north and one of the driest deserts in the world, then to Bolivia and the salt flat of Uyuni, and back to San Pedro. I went with 6 other girlfriends and we had all planned this trip together mainly to see Bolivia. We booked 4 day tour of Bolivia up to the salt flat from San Pedro through a company called "Cordillera Tours" through Chile before hand and met up with them in Atacama. Bolivia was absolutely amazing, and I don't even know where to begin. I saw some of the most beautiful sights I have seen in my whole life. The tour was with  a total of about 25 people in 4 toyota land crusiers with guides from Bolivia. The 4 days we were there I think the only time we were on a paved road was in the small town at the end of the tour. The most amazing thing to me was that the drivers knew where they were going and how we didn't get lost. Literally we were in the middle of nowhere the whole time, it was so crazy, and we would just drive into nothingness. It was also insane cause I'm pretty sure our driver was no more then 24 or 25 and he said that this was just his 3rd year doing the tours. He was amazing. The first day we saw several lagoons and went to a hotspring. Also, we saw some geisers. At the lagoons there were flamingos! More flamingos then I've ever seen, i didn't even know they come from the desert. At night we got to this little "hotel" in the middle of nowhere. All us girls got to stay in the same room, we shared beds to keep warm because it was so cold at night! That first night our elevation was approximately 15,000ft. The highest I have ever been in/slept in. None of us slept that night. At one point we all woke up in the middle of the night at like 1am and said "Oh my GOSHHH, this is the longest night ever!!!" We couldn't breath, couldn't sleep, felt sick, were thirsty, so pathetic. ... but it was hilarious. One of the problems was that we went to be so early because we were so tired, but then couldn't sleep. I kept saying it felt like we didn't have any oxygen in the room because it probably didn't have good ventalation and we were at an extremely high altitude. I was literally was having trouble breathing and felt like I was suffocating, while sharing a twin bed, now who can get a good night sleep like that?! haha. Well they next day we got up bright and early and were off again to see more lagoons and other desert sights. We drove and sight saw all day and landed at a hotel made of salt (because of the obvious excess) in the afternoon. Even the ground was salt, which made changing your clothes difficult, but I guess that what the bed is for. That night the sunset was amazing and then the moon was so bright that you couldn't see any stars. It lit up the whole sky. The only other thing I saw in the sky was Venus, which was shining so bright. It was beautiful. That night we slept better and the 3rd day left to get to the salt flat. We got to the salt flat and it was just forever and ever of while nothingness. It wasn't like anything I had ever seen before except maybe like looking at the ocean and how far it goes, but with the color white, and salt instead of water with mountains in the background. Especially then I had no idea how the drivers knew where they were going. There were definitely no gas stations or subways off the path. At one point we were in the middle of the salt flat taking pictures and our friend who always has to go to the bathroom asked her driver, "so is there a good place to pee around here?" he looked to the left, looked to the right, and said "nope". So she found a nice rock to go behind at the next stop. After the salt flat we went to the "train cemetary" near the small town where they dumb the old trains they can't use anymore and we got to play on those. It was pretty cool. Then after the town we were the only ones who were going to be heading back to Chile, because the rest of the people were heading up higher into the north of Boliva. So we all squeezed into one jeep and drove half of the way back that day and half the next. It was about 4-5 hours BOTH days. And our new driver only liked to listen to his cds, which I can't even try to describe how the music ways, lets just say you can only take so many times of the same songs with the same beat over and over. When we got to where we were staying we decided not to bring our stuff down from the top of the car cause we had to leave from the place at 4:30 the next morning. So we slept in our clothes and didn't brush our teeth. The next morning, he played the same 2 cd's again all the way to the border. This time it was 4:30am, so even better. But I have to say the sunrise in the car was absolutely amazingly beautiful. Also with Venus shining so bright and the full moon. It was beautiful. So we eventually made it back to Atacama and spent some time relaxing in the desert. I went sandboarding one day, which is just like snowboarding but on the sand and you have to climb up the hill. It was pretty fun, but extremely tiring and, well... sandy. We also went horse-back riding one day which was great as well. Then I headed back to Santiago for about 8 hours until I was off in a bus to Buenos Aires to meet my MOTHER!!!

SO, like i said i bussed to to Buenos Aires which doesn't seem to bad on paper, but it was needless to say, 24 hours! But totally worth it of course. It was snowing at the border which was beautiful. My mom's plane ended up being late but I eventually met up with her and we stayed at a fancy hotel that had the most amazing bed and pillows ever which was great coming from where I had been staying just a few days prior. We did a lot of exploring in the city. We didn't have much time cause I had to be back for school Tuesday but saw a lot. We went to Caminata, where the tango was born, and did some shopping as well as got to tour the soccer stadium where the Copa America Final was played. It was really cool. The section for the visitors was in the corner and fenced with barbed wire. My mom and I thought that was interesting and funny. Then on our last night we went to a tango show! It had a 3 course meal and was followed by the dancing, singing, and band playing of indigenous music. It was awesome!! It was small and intimate and I was right by the stage. At one point, I had turned around and asked the man behind me to bring us somemore water cause my mom kept bugging me to get some more and it happened to be a DANCER about to go on stage. He laughed and winked at me and I was so awefully embarressed, it was hilarious. Then we headed back to Santiago.

In Santiago, my mom and I got our own apartment where we've been staying for the past 10 or so days. She met my host family and has been coming to school with me which has been great. We also went to my internship together in El Monte 3 times and did Armenian dancing with them. It was really fun and everyone loved her. It was funny because everyone kept saying how young she looked and that she could be my sister and there is no way she is my mom. They went on and on and on. haha but i don't think she minds. She also cooks for me and we've got to spend a lot of time together, its been great. Last weekend we went to Vina de Mar and Valparaiso which are by the beach. It was beautiful and we got to stay in my mom's friends place right on the water. It was an amazing view from their apartment. Now it is her last night here... :( I'm going to be so sad when she goes home, its been such a great visit and I had really missed her. There is nothing that can compare to a hug from your mom and that is one of the things I missed the most. That was the longest I had ever gone without seeing her and it is going to be even longer after she leaves. Now we are just trying to get my dad to plan a trip ;) But, after she leaves I am heading to Lima and Machu Pichu in Peru because we have a holiday. So that will be a good thing to help me get over her leaving. After that its crack down on the studying because my finals will be coming up and the end of the semester! So soon it seems like. Hopefully I can get it together and do well on my final assignments and tests. School is tough as ever and I am having a really hard time with the tests. Its more difficult then I could have imagined. It is also weird cause I am not used to the semester system and it seems to be so dragged out. But anyways, I'll just have to do my best. Until next time!

 

The Group at the border

The Geiser

One of the lagoons

Flamingos in the "Red Lagoon"

Our driver!

The gals again

Driving in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere

At the train cemetary

Heading to the hotel the last night, sunset out the back of the car with the full moon

Made it to Atacama! ...spent a lot of time on this hammock :)

Spring has Sprung in Chile!!

Hello all, it is finally springtime, I thought the cold would never end! I technically had two winters, coming from winter in the U.S. But the weather has finally decided to warm up and flowers have started blooming which has been a nice change despite the horribly hot and miserable bus and metro trips. So, I've realized that it has been about 3 whole months since I've been here in Chile!! Sometimes it seems like it has flown by so fast and others that it has really been a long 3 months. I'm pretty sure this is the longest time I have gone without being home, and without seeing my family and I know it will just continue, even though I am going to see my mom in about 3 weeks! I decided to write this post tonight, because it seems that all of my previous post have been about all the new things, exciting adventures and travels, and all the crazy and fun things I've been doing. I decided to write this post now, to show you it is not always all about the new things, the traveling, and the adventures. Eventually things start to settle in, a routine is formed and here I am on a tuesday night dreading my quiz and super long day I have tomorrow with a class that I don't particularly enjoy for 4 hours and my internship (that I have to travel over an hour and a half to) immediately after. I wouldn't say I've necessarily been homesick, but there have been times when I have been sitting around, missing my parents, my brother, seeing the rest of my family at events and such, as well as my friends that I am used to seeing and talking to a lot. I know that there is no where else I'd rather be but here right now, in Chile, having this experience, but these days are bound to come around, as they always do, when I'm just in a "funk."

It is so interesting being here in Chile for me. I have learned so much about South America, that I would have never learned in a textbook or from taking a class. You can really learn a lot spending time somewhere, living with natives, taking classes with the students, and immersing your self in the everyday life. I guess this is one reason why I particularly wanted to stay the entire year, because I see the potential for how much can be learned after you get past the "tourist" phase where everything is new and foreign. My friends from California have helped be so much to become comfortable here and supported me when I felt lonely or when I needed a piece of home. I spend a lot of time with them and am creating strong friendships with them. I started to feel nervous or anxious for when they leave, and I am still here, but I also think it is a good thing, cause after the 6 months I will be more comfortable here with the language, the culture, and more prepared to really make friends in Chile and establish myself here. In addition to getting more from my classes from having more experience with reading, understanding lectures, and writing. I have been asked by many different people, "why did you choose to come to chile?" and every time I am asked that question I find myself stuck.  I came here because it is somewhere I never imagined myself coming, a place that is different from where I am from, it is a bonus that they speak Spanish and that is what I'm studying, but I came to discover a place I new little about besides the fact that it is a really skinny country in South America. I have come to love and appreciate this country for its uniqueness and the people I've been able to meet who have shown me great hospitality and kindness. The land outside of the city is absolutely beautiful and there is so much to discover.  It is interesting for me to compare the US and Chile  and see what works and what doesn't work so well in terms of the government and politics, our differences in how we go about certain problems, and how we are dealing with them, sometimes with similar things or other things very distinct and unique to our own country, Something changes in you when you have the opportunity to see another place and how another world functions the good things and the bad from politics and poverty to the norms of families and friendships. You see that all systems have their faults and if it is not one thing then it is another. One last interesting fact I've encountered while here and thought about several times is the people who are born and grow up here are Chilenos. When someone asks me what am I, or where I am from, I am "Estadounidense" or American. In the U.S. someone asks you what ethnicity you are, it suddenly becomes a laundry list of countries where your parents and parents parents are from. I have come more to appreciate the fact that I am an American, and even though we all may have lineage from different places, we all have this one thing that binds us and makes our "American Community" unique and something to fight for and be proud of. Being here has inspired me and made me want to learn more about our country and the problems we face, as well as what I can do to do my part in making our country a better place for all Americans as well as visitors who are trying to learn about our culture and history.

Fiesta Patrias!

Feliz Fiestas Patrias Todos!! (Happy Independence Day Everyone!!)

Sunday September 18th was Independence Day in Chile, so Monday we had a holiday!! The whole week before and on the weekend there were parades, carnivals, and lots of barbeques with families and friends. People did traditional Chilean things, just like we do on the 4th of July, from eating asado (BBQ) to dancing and watching the Queca (national dance). It was so cool to see the city decorated in red, white, and blue. Each day I would see more Chilean flags pop out from hiding and it was a really festive environment in the city. My host mom even decorated the house, I blew up the balloons :). Last Wednesday I went to my internship in El Monte in the afternoon to celebrate at the coorporation with the elders who go weekly. They had a big asado, and I helped cook and serve (what I could do). There was one point when the ladies were slicing onions, in the air without a cutting board, and I felt useless and told them I could do it, then I started slicing and lets just say that didn't last very long.... Then as they were cooking the chicken thighs on a grill that they had made on the ground, every time the coals would catch on fire, this man would throw drops of water to put it out so the chicken didn't catch on fire and the ladies would yell "NOT TOO MUCH" so that the coals wouldn't become cold. Lets just say it was a pretty entertaining display of cooking. THEN as I was standing there not doing anything, the boss lady Magdelena called me and her daughter and we walked up the street, down an ally, and into a random looking house which had about 7 older people sitting around a television watching the Simpsons on an old fuzzy tv in spanish and she said "HEY WHO WANTS TO COME TO THE PARTY" and one lady said "ahhh Magdelena, its been so long, i want to go!!" and the other said "I'll go if my sister goes"... and her sister wanted to go, so we got them in their wheel chairs and the 3 of us pushed them to the party, up the alley, down the street, over a few curbs and brought them to the party. I think my wheel chair had a flat tire and when a car would wait for us to pass, the ladies would say "Hello, excuse us!". hahahha it was pretty funny. 

Then, the weekend before that Bladimir, who is the guy who is evaluating us for our internship invited us to go horseback riding in El Monte with a friend he has who has horses and we all woke up early sunday morning, headed to el monte and got to ride past the dirt roads and into the mountains! It was awesome, there were a few prickly bushes we had to duck and dodge but other then that it was great. We got to the top of this little hill and they BBQ'd choripan, which is chorizo (or sausage like meat) in side a piece of bread.... we eat a lot of that. But it was really good and they were really nice! And I was talking to the man who took us and he was telling me about how we could go again anytime which was great for me :) I think Bladimir wanted to do it as a sort of thank you because they appreciate us so much going and helping in their schools because the kids there don't see much outside of El Monte. We were surprised to find out that a good number have never even been to Santiago, which is just an hour by bus which comes by about every 10 min. On that bus, I've been getting a lot of reading done which is great. A few of my friends here really like to read and we all rotate books which is really fun. 

For those of you who are thinking, "man does this girl do any school work at all?!?!" ....This morning, I had my first, semi-big test! I studied a lot the past weekend and filled out the study guide we were given on Friday (over the holiday). I was really nervous cause the readings were pretty tough but my teacher said I would be able to do the test in English which was great for me. When I got to the test it was all pretty much the same things that were on the study guide so I was so happy I took the time to fill it out and I think the test went well!!! So stay tuned, and I'll let you know how I did ;)

Well I think thats about it for now, I'm getting ready for my mom to come visit me in a couple weeks so I'm starting to get really excited about that!!! :D Talk to you all soon!

I forgot to mention, we visited South America's largest copper mine, which was kinda cool, but it was a realllllllly long day. I think from the picture, you can tell what was Favi and my favorite part of the day... :)

This is our table decorated for Fiestas Patrias, sorry to have to flip your head. My host mom put little flags in the oranges, it was really cute! Her mom keeps giving us more oranges then we can eat so we got creative putting them to use!! 

Cultura Chilena #101

In most homes in order to use hot water you must turn on the "calefon" (not sure if thats the right spelling, but its how you say it) by lighting it. They used to be in bathrooms but a lot of people were dying from carbon monoxide poisining if there was a leak and they were in the shower, so they were moved to a different part of the house and now are newer and safer. Ours is behind a door that has a window to the outside and my host mom turns it on if I need to use it. 

Hi :)

First off, I hope the background change didn't freak anyone out but I started getting sick of the other one and  felt like something more happy so I went with the flower. It could change though, so I'm warning you now. So in the past couple weeks I have been going to school on the days I have school, started going to my internship, traveled to the snow, Valparaiso (the beach), and Villarrica (a city about 10 hours south). Recently the spotlight has been somewhat removed from the strike because a few days ago there was a tragic plane accident with an airplane in route to a small island off the shore of Chile. All 21 people in the plane died, including a popular man from one of the news stations here in Chile. Someone explained the significance of the death to me as if Oprah had died in the US. The city is slowly starting to be more and more decorated with flags and other patriotic things for the "Fiestas Patrias" coming up September 18th. This is the independence day of Chile and it is full of fiestas and dancing of the national dance "the cueca."

For my internship I have been traveling to a small city outside of Santiago called "El Monte." It is very poor because of the lack of jobs because of the agricultural influence. Many people have jobs during the harvest, but for the rest of the year are out of work. The only down part about the internship is because I have to leave 2 hours before I have to be there in order to arrive on time. To get there i have to take the public bus, or "micro" to the metro, where I take Line 5 then transfer to Line 1, to get to Estacion Central, where I walk to get on the 50 min bus to El Monte. (If you don't get on a bus that says "autopista" or freeway it can take 2 hours) Luckily I haven't made that mistake yet. The second time we went there, my friend Favi and I went to the school where we are going to work to observe the students workshops and just see the school when it is in session. Today, Favi and I returned and after getting to the school the teacher brought about 6 out of the 10 kids we are going to work with who are between the ages of 14 and 18, them in a circle and said "go ahead" (but in spanish of course). And Favi and I looked at eachother with wide eyes cause we had no idea we were supposed to have something prepared!!! Something there was lost in translation. BUT it ended up being fun because we did a little English workshop where we went over some words and conversed about words they wanted to know and practice. So, it looks like Favi and I are going to be running a class for an hour two times a week where the objective is to work on the social skills of these timid and reserved kids who are getting ready for the working world. Although I'm pretty nervous I'm also really excited, because it is a really good opportunity to get to basically do anything I want in a class room for about 10 weeks. Favi and I have already brainstormed activities, games, presentations, and ice breakers. Its going to be a challenge, but really fun.

Another thing I wanted to mention, if you all didn't already know is that I have officially decided that I am going to stay the whole year here in Chile. Lucky for you all, my blog will continue for an entire year ;). I realized that 6 months wasn't going to be enough time for me to gain everything I want to gain from this experience and now is the perfect opportunity to spend the whole year here. I hope that after this year I will feel more confident living on my own in a foreign place with a greater sense of independence and ability. I want to continue to volunteer and gain more experience through internships as well as become completely confident with my Spanish. I also hope to read and learn with more ease in my classes and be able to express myself better with an expanded Spanish vocabulary. I hope to continue to feel confident when traveling and see more of South America. After this trip most of all my goal is to be proud of my accomplishment with the feeling that there is nothing I can't do and that I have the skills be a candidate for any job that interests me.

Me at the hotsprings "Los Pozones". You can't really tell but all the pools are below down a bunch of stairs. 

Artwork at the lake. Water comes out of the center of the eye. 

Me in front of the lake in Villarrica. This is a different day, i'm just wearing the same thing....

The group at the Hotsprings. 

- Stay Tuned for pictures of El Monte...

Also I forgot that in my other posts I was writing more about Chilean Culture. 

Cultura Chileana (Forgot what number I'm on): Most kids in Santiago live at home for a lot longer then those in the U.S. Usually until they are married, especially for the men because in most situations the women do the cooking and cleaning. 

I can't believe its been 2 months already.

Hello Everyone!! I'm sorry I haven't updated my blog in a while. At first I hadn't updated it cause, I didn't do much and thought it would make a boring blog post, and then I didn't update, because I got really busy and didn't have time. haha. Last Wednesday and Thursday there was a 2 day national strike. I heard that they played it on the news in the US and wanted to clairify somethings first hand since I know some of you have been worried. It is true that is was a big strike and a lot of people participated. Some police and civilians were hurt in the action. The people in Chile mean buisness when they say that they want the constitution to be changed for more affordable education without business profits. They have been on strike many times in the past but usually the promises from the government are not followed through with and things end up the same as they were in the past, so now they are not settling with the proposals that they are getting and want action. I have learned that the situation is different then the U.S. because protesting and striking for your rights when you are unhappy with the government is more a part of the culture. If the people are unhappy the cause disruptions to be heard and make change. The socialist movement of elected president Salvador Allende and then military dictatorship of Agosto Pinochet are political events of the very recent history that the country is still dealing with and healing from. The protests have been somewhat violent and dangerous in certain areas, but with that said it is very easy to avoid the protests. We always know when there is going to be a big protests because the word is out and we know what areas to avoid at those times. I have been completely safe. My family also supports what they are fighting for but avoids all major protests and doesn't agree with the destruction of kids who just want to cause destruction. We have agreed that that doesn't solve any problems and makes things worse because then the city has to pay for the repairs. I have been emailed that our classes are going to resume this week so that is good, but also I am aware there is a chance for them to be cancelled as in the past, because in reality  noone knows what the following days will bring. The protests are always full of surprises.

With that said, I have had a fun past few days. On Thursday I went up to Valle Nevado, which is apparently the best ski resort in South America. I went snowboarding with the international club on my campus. The day was beautiful and I had a great time. On Friday, we had a field trip to Villa Grimaldi, which was a torture center in the 70s during the military dictatorship of Pinochet. It was very interesting, and really sad. Also, the man who gave us the tour was someone who suffered in that camp and then was forced to leave the country for 15 years. He moved to New York and then San Francisco and when Pinochet died he moved back to Santiago. His story was really sad and he was very emotional showing us that place. There they did horrendous, tortourous things to the people similar to how i would imagine a Nazi concentration camp. He said there are other ones also, and he had been to 3 at the time. He was a university student about the same age as me. After, he took us to the Cemetario General where President Allende was buried in addition to other important people, as well as regular citizens. The whole trip was very informative and helped me understand the recent history a little bit better. I had been confused because I heard about people who supported Allende and others who opposed him and didn't know if he or his policies were good or bad, the same with Pinochet. And it was then I realized that I am always thinking of history and people of the times in black and white. They were good or bad. But that is not the case and there is more to this story, and after Friday that all became more clear. I enjoy learning these types of things and being able to see them first hand, and the people who were effected is just incredible and more valuable then any cancelled class at my university.

On Saturday, some of my best friends and I got up early and left for Valparaiso! This city is about an hour and a half away and right on the ocean. It is known for its uniqueness with its large hills, vibrant colors, small streets, stairs, murals, the harbor, and much more. It was amazing. We were only there for one night but it was one of my best trips. The group I went with was so great and we had a really relaxing time. It was a beautiful place. At night we went dancing to one of the famous discoteques, it was really fun! They played all spanish music and it was pretty much all Chileans which was really cool.   The only bad thing is that when I came home I realized that my wallet was either lost or stolen. So I have been dealing with that process which is no fun at all :/ I realize that these things happen even if you are extra careful.

Finally here are a few pictures of the past couple weeks....

driving to Valle nevado, if you look close you can see the windy road!

Me and my friend Cammy, who so kindly waited for me all day as I snow plowed down the mountain :)

lorena vs. the andes

view from the chair lift, there are no trees!!!!

Harbor in Valparaiso!!

MIA!!! my bestest friend in Chile/ big sister/ neighbor/ coolest girl ever 

Valpo

It was such a beautiful day

There is artwork all over the city. Here is a little taste.

I love these girls, best traveling buddies!

Chilean Education Strike Updates

Week 2 of school down. Slowly figuring out how things work, but one major problem… the strikes/ marches for free education are growing and my school is starting to join in. On Tuesday, there was a “Paro Nacional” which means the whole country was on strike in support of the students. Both of my Tuesday classes were cancelled. I had class Wednesday, and then Thursday one was cancelled. Every week the students and faculty are going to vote if they want to be on strike or not. This is called “paro indefinido” meaning that each week can be different after the vote that week. Every “facultad” or major votes for itself, so for example the school of political science can be on strike, while chemistry is still in school. This is all at Campus San Joaquin which is where all of my classes are. There are 3 main campuses. Campus Oriente which is by my house, and where our ILP program was, is completely “En Toma” right now. Which means its taken over by the students. They put the desks in the gate blocking all the entrances except for one where there are always students so that no one can enter. It is completely closed down and has been for the past week. They are going to vote again next week to see about the next week. The problem with that is, our EAP office where the advisors for our program work is at Campus Oriente and they haven’t been able to get to their office. So in addition to all this confusion, we haven’t been able to contact our EAP advisors. SO basically this means at this point, I have no idea what is going to happen, if classes are going to continue or if San Joaquin is going to end up En Toma as well and if it does, for how long? It is all very exciting to be here at this historical moment but at the same time very frustrating because I came here to study and get credit. So that’s basically the recent news on school other then that things have been great.  I went hiking with a couple friends last week which was really fun and this thursday I'm going snowboarding at Valle Nevada with the foreign exchange group on campus!! And its supposed to rain all week which means FRESH POWDER!! Also, last weekend, I went with my host family to their grandparents house for their weekly family lunch and it was really nice. We just spent the day eating, relaxing, and playing cards and dominos. Very much like my family gatherings at home which was nice. 

Cultura Chilena #3: No one buys textbooks for their classes. Here there are no copyright laws, so on each syllabus there are lists of books and what chapters we will have to read for the semester. There is a photo copy place for each “facultad.” For each of my classes I just go to the photocopy place and tell them what class I’m in and which reading I need and they print it for you. Each reading, depending on how long it is, is about 50 cents. I got all the readings for one class and it cost about $6. Pretty cool. (when I said its been difficult figuring out the systems at school, this is one example in particular… but I got it now!)

Cultura Chilena #4: about $470 Chilean Pesos = $1 US Dollar (This Fact= Lots of Fun Math)

Hike up to Cerro San Cristobal (a huge hill in the middle of town)

View from the top of the Cerro, oh hey Santiago! The clearness of this day is very rare. We went the day after it had been raining on and off for a few days. That low brown looking cloud is smog.

This is at the top of Cerro San Cristobal, when your in town you know where you are by which way the statute is facing.

Hike in La Reina at the bottom of the Andes. This day was not as clear as the day before, and yes I'm wearing the same thing....

The Front of Campus Oriente.

If you look close you can see the chairs in the gate blocking the entrance.

Another First Day of School.

August 5, 2011

The first week of school has passed. I’ve been sick for the past few days, which has made things difficult but I’m feeling better each day. I went to a lot of different classes to try and figure out my schedule and I think I now finally got it. I’m only taking 3 classes and working on getting an internship, which also counts for units. I originally wanted to get an internship helping in a school either tutoring or teaching English, but since all the schools are on strike (including elementary and high schools) it doesn’t look like that is going to be an option. But I emailed a place that works with children in bad situations with their families and what not so hopefully they get back to me soon. I am excited because I was able to work my schedule to only have class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which is going to be really nice for traveling and internship stuff. My school is really nice and has been extremely welcoming to foreign students. There have been so many times that I have felt like a lost puppy wandering around a big campus but some how I’ve figured things out. I’m going to take an education class, which should be really interesting with everything that’s going on right now. That class is good because there aren’t a lot of foreign students, there is just one other from Spain, which forces me to speak Spanish. Also some Chilean girls already came up to us to be in their group for our group assignment, which was really nice and comforting. My other classes are a sociology class and a psychology class both with a lot of foreign students with topics about Latin American Society and Culture. Hopefully they will be a challenge but not to difficult. I’m not really too sure how the tests and quizzes are going to go, but I guess we’ll just see what happens. There is a group on campus specifically to help foreign students. They set up a table on campus to help us if we have any questions. They also have a BBQ planned tonight and have a program called “Tandem” where we can get paired up with a Chilean student to just talk and work on our Spanish while helping them work on English. Everything is still going good at home, the first month has gone by really fast. I paid my first months worth of rent since the very first month was paid for by our study abroad program. It’s crazy that I am paying the same I paid in Irvine, but have my own bedroom and bathroom and get all my meals and laundry done. Plus the whole experience of being a part of a family, which is great. I guess that’s it for now, no big trips planned at the moment but I’m sure there are many to come J

~ Lauren

Cultura Chilena 101

#1: There is no toilet paper in public restroom stalls. If you plan on using toilet paper you have to make sure to grab some on your way in, that is if they provide any at all. This fact has got me into some trouble….

#2: When greeting someone, whether its meeting for the first time, seeing an old friend, or saying good night to your family always give 1 kiss on the cheek. 

Mendoza

Well, since I was able to change Universities I had a week off between ILP and the start of my classes at my new school, La Catolica. So last week I decided to visit Mendoza, Argentina with a few friends. Mendoza is located in the western central part of the Argentina just right over the mountains. It was only a 7 hour bus ride and also a very pretty one with all the snow in the mountains. Mendoza was a really cool small town. The people were very nice and I loved the way it was set up with the main plaza in the center with a promenade and all the houses and apartments around the center. Every night there were tons of people strolling and hanging out. There was also an arts and crafts fair where I was able to talk to some locals and buy some fun souveniers. In Mendoza we stayed in a hostel for 4 nights. There were a lot of people staying there and it was fun talking to everyone and going to the social events. The bedroom I stayed in had 8 twin beds in the walls, like cubbies, with a little "privacy" curtain. Although you don't get much sleep through all the hustle, it was still a really fun experience. The first day we walked around the town, had dinner and then ate some really good ice cream! Argentina is known for its beef, and I don't think I've eaten that much consecutively, ever. The next day we went on a horse back riding excursion for the whole day. In Mendoza there were all sorts of out door excursions to choose from which was really cool. I'm so glad we went horse back riding though because it was soooo fun! We got to ride in the middle of nowhere for the whole day and got to hear about the political and economic history of Argentina, which is really fascinating. The history is very rich and recent and it was so fascinating to hear about it from someone young who lived through it. It was an amazing day and I never wanted it to end. The next day we went for a long walk to this huge park and hiked up a small hill where we were able to see the town and the stadium where some of the Copa America games were played. After we went wine tasting, because Mendoza is known for all of its wineries. We went to two places and then a place where you try different olive oils. Now I'm back in Santiago and classes start on Monday so I'm working on trying to figure out my schedule. It was difficult enough to figure out all of the UCI systems and now trying to learn a new one in Spanish is even worse! It will be nice in a couple weeks once all of that gets settled. Other than that things are still going great and I'm having an awesome time.

The bus ride

Lots of parks and plazas!

Driving into Mendoza

Cabalgatas (Horseback Riding)