Home South of the Equator

After months of waiting, my dad and Jeff finally made it to South America. With no prior Spanish experience I was worried conversing might be a little overwhelming, not to mention driving or little things like reading the menu. Yet they fared pretty well. It didn't hurt that they had a personal translator a majority of the time.

After reuniting at the airport we drove to Santiago. We successfully drove to our hotel (except for driving in the bus lane for a time) and settled in before venturing into the city to explore. We walked around and eventually found a cafe where we could sit and catch up. dad and Jeff had their first empanadas, and Jeff Pisco Sour. After, we decided to climb to the top of Cerro San Cristobal (a giant park situated on top of a hill). From the top we could see the entire city and had a good glimpse of the mountains, which are about twice the size of ours at home.

The next day we spent a good three hours driving around trying to find the mall (yes, the mall). After an hour and a half it was clear that it was a complete waste of our time, but we refused to give up. Our quest took us all over the city and gave us the opportunity to get to know the locals. Jeff and I stopped to ask a couple of friendly-enough road workers for directions but changed our minds when we realized that the jumpsuits they were wearing may have been prison uniforms. Eventually we found the mall. We did some shopping, had some lunch then decided it was time to head out.

On our way to Vina we drove through beautiful vineyards and later stopped by the apartment so that I could introduce dad and Jeff to my familia-chilena. My mama-chilena and my sister Fransisca (Franci) were home. After awkward cheek-kissing, (I forgot to mention it is a common Chilean custom) we were all in the living room eating Rocky Mountain Chocolate. A little small talk and the ice was broken. My mama-chilena was already cracking jokes and demanding pictures. A little while later Gonzalo came back from work and visited for a while. At about 11:30 dad, Jeff and I were too hungry to talk anymore so we made plans to come back for dinner later that week and left for the hotel.

The next day I took dad and Jeff on a tour of Valpo, starting with a ride on the micro. We took a micro from the hotel to Errazuriz, one of the main streets in Valpo. The bus was crowded, and the driver drove like most micro drivers do, fast. Luckily my dad and I found seats, but poor Jeff was left pressed against the wall with random Chileans pushing to get past him. Once we reached the city we took a furnicular (like an outdoor elevator) up into Cerro Concepcion. We hiked up and looked at all of the graffiti, street dogs following us the entire way. Unlike Chileans, my dad and Jeff didn't mind the company. Instead of shooing them away they called them over whenever they started to stray.

We walked a good 20 mins until we reached the plaza. Then we took a colectivo (like a taxi) to another cerro and to Pablo Neruda's house, La Sebastiana. Probably THE most famous person in Chilean history besides Pinochet (over the past fifty years), I felt it was important for my dad and Jeff to learn more about Neruda and his life. The house wasn't too shabby either

From La Sebastiana we headed to an old cemetery to explore. The graves were overgrown with weeds and crumbling in places. Some had more severe damage as a result of the latest earthquake. It was peaceful and beautiful in a morbid way. Afterward we headed back to our hotel for a break, exhausted.

Thursday we had a family meal at the apartment. It was odd to have both families eating together at the same table, in the same country. But nice. Language wasn't really an issue, Franci and my friend Laine helped me translate everything. It still got a little confusing. I would speak Spanish to Anita then try and speak Spanish to my dad, then try and speak English to my Anita. Each time receiving confused looks, then laughter. Even with the slight confusion we ended up sitting for over three hours, laughing hysterically and talking.

Our last adventure was to Casablanca for a wine tasting. We drove about 45 minutes East to a vineyard called Casas del Bosque. We had a private tour of the vineyard, followed by a wine tasting. Jeff and I sampled three types of wine, mostly white (since it's Casablanca's specialty) then we had lunch at the winery's cafe. 

Saturday I left to see Dave Matthews in Santiago. A few friends and I explored Santiago then went to the concert that night. It was Dave's first show in Chile, and the last of the tour, so he made sure to leave a good impression.

After a farewell breakfast with Anita at the hotel and a nice morning around town dad and Jeff left. It was sad to see them go, but at least I know I'll be seeing them (my dad at least) in a couple months. This weekend I'm making the trip up to San Pedro de Atacama, it's supposedly one of the driest places on Earth! More to come. Love to all at home!

Over the Andes and to Mendoza

Last weekend I found my way to Mendoza, Argentina. Naturally Ali and Abby came with me, as well as a few new European friends we've been spending a lot of time with.

The bus left on Thursday night, and being South America, was an hour and half late. We drove for seven hours through the Andes, stopping about three hours in for customs. Customs at the Argentinian/Chilean border was a less than desirable experience. We stood outside in the cold (at 3 am) for almost two hours while we were shuffled from one side of the cargo area to the other as we waited to have our passports stamped. Once our bags were scanned and we were cleared to get back on the bus we curled up into our seats and did our best to sleep through the windy voyage over the mountain.

The view at the top of the Andes was absolutely breathtaking. In the middle of the night with no lights we could see almost every constellation. Never in my life have I see so many stars.

When we arrived in Mendoza we went on a tour of the city (complete with chocolate factory). The city was more metropolitan than I had imagined it would be, yet reminded me a lot of Boulder. There were lots of cute boutiques and restaurants and a beautiful view of the mountains. There were also vineyards.

We did a wine tour on our last full day and were able to see why everyone is so obsessed with Argentinean wine. The wine tastings took place in two small vineyards, one family owned, the other not. We learned the art of wine making: everything from how long grapes need to cultivate, when they need to be picked, to what type of barrels need to be used in order for the wine to acquire the right flavors. Quite a complicated process. Compared to my (lack of) knowledge and experience with wine, Argentinean wine tasted pretty good.

The next day we headed home and back to reality. The views from the bus made the 7 hour ride totally worth it.

the three F's: Friends, Food and Fiestas Patrias

The culture shock finally seems to be wearing off and life is becoming more normal. I've come to accept the fact that I stand out, I'm going to be stared and I'm going to have an accent. Yet, I feel more like a Chilean everyday. I've made friends with the local Starbucks baristas, know the best bar to go to on Wednesday nights, have mastered public transportation and have a favorite local coffee shop that has the best chocolate cake. I even go to class in a truly Chilean fashion...meaning a majority of the time.

My friends Ali, Abby, Laine and I made the trek to Buenos Aires for four days to have the most random yet fun trip of our lives. First of all, we ate our way through the city. We managed to spend more on food than even our hostel. The best was a place called La Cabrera: we shared a bottle of red wine, salmon ceviche with ham and cheese, four steaks with over 12 different sauces/sides, along with a chocolate volcano, caramelized strawberries, a lemon champagne frozen smoothie and free glasses of champagne: all for about $25. After that we weren't sure we'd ever be satisfied with Chilean food again.

The hostel was rough but made the trip more interesting. We survived mostly by sleeping in our clothes, showering with our shoes on and drying our wet clothes (since there was no ceiling in the courtyard and it rained 3 out of the 4 days) on the roof w our makeshift clothesline, all while trying to avoid our neighbors across the street who we were pretty sure were living in some sort of crackhouse.

We saw Eva Peron's grave, visited el Ateneo, a theatre-converted-bookstore and went to the infamous San Telmo market on Sunday. We also managed to do a Pub Crawl. Our time spent sightseeing and familiarizing ourselves with the local cuisine gave us a taste of the city, and at least for me, made me realize that I need to go back.

Our trip ended with Abby being detained in customs for over an hour for not declaring an orange she'd brought back accidently. Just another funny, yet random setback. One thing is for sure, we will never forget BA.

The next day Fiestas Patrias (like our 4th of July) began. From Monday to Monday we did nothing but prepare, celebrate and recover from Fiestas Patrias. The entire city shut down from Thurs. to Sun. and most of our classes were cancelled. The celebration was especially crazy this year because of the fact that it was Chile's Bicentennial. The city honored the holiday with two nights of fireworks along the coast in Valparaiso and Vina. Sunday morning there was a boat parade in the harbor and an absolutely amazing air show. From our balcony, my family and I could see everything!

One aspect of South America I will never get over is the attitude people seem to have. Accept the minor flaws that you can't avoid and just enjoy. For a country that seems so disorganized at times, it's really a wise philosophy to live by. And a healthy one.

This is my life. I eat constantly, go to class-in spanish, walk everywhere, talk to Chileans, meet new Chileans, spend every waking moment with friends, spend hours practicing spanish with my host family and wonder how this can all possibly be real.

Valparaiso and Vina del Mar are beautiful. The life-style is slow, and everything is colorful. The people here are shy, but behind closed doors have nothing to hold back.They always make time to celebrate.

Family is a top priority, friends included. Anita, my Mama-Chilena brings me breakfast in bed almost everyday, we have 'once' (tea/coffee) with her friends and talk for hours when it's just the two of us. Her laugh is infectious and we usually find ourselves singing to the radio or sharing funny stories. Anita is clearly loved by all, for she always has friends over and her circle of friends is always expanding. My 25 year-old host-sister Fransisca is busy, she works in the trauma center at the Vina del Mar hospital and is gone for random hours at a time. She keeps to herself because she's either exhausted from working or studying for her residency exams. My Papa-Chileno Gonzalo works around 12 hours a day but is the happiest person on the planet. He always has Mondays off so we celebrate every week by drinking Pisco Sour and Chilean wine followed by a gourmet meal. He works as a chef part time, needless to say I'm spoiled.

As a group we've been lucky enough to go on a few excursions. We've been to two of Pablo Neruda's (a famous Chilean poet) houses, la Isla Negra and la Sebastiana. Both beautiful. Last Saturday we went to Curacavi, Pomaire and La Isla Negra. We took a tour of a chocolate factory and sampled over 12 different kinds of chocolate...my kind of tour. Better yet, there's still a lot to look forward to: next month we'll take a tour of Santiago, and La Serena in November. Not to mention my dad and Uncle Jeff's visit/ trip to Santiago to see Dave Matthews in October!

As of now I'm getting excited for my trip to Buenos Aires this weekend! I can't WAIT to see one of my best friends, Natalie, and live as a crazy Argentinian for a few days. More updates to come. For everyone at home: love and miss you all.