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.