Busy, Busy . . . Oh! and Busy.

I really need to make a better attempt at this whole blog thing. I’m just extremely busy with my new life here. Anyways, the week after my last post I was in Santiago again for “El Día de Independencia” which is the 18^th of September. Of course, we arrived the day (technically the night) before so as to be well rested. Six hours in car after about 9 hours of school doesn’t leave a person well rested. As Friday came around – this was the 18^th – my host brother and I went to see “Lluvia de Hamburguesas” (English title: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) in the afternoon before the big celebration. When we came back, there was a feast of a lunch waiting for us – all forms of meat, drinks, and who-knows-what. Afterwards we all took a quick siesta to recharge. As night came around, we all headed to a huge fiesta to celebrate. There were all forms of food and tons of people – the majority dancing La Cueca (National Dance of Chile). We entered the main attraction which was a giant building packed sardine-tight with sweaty and inebriated people. Many were bumping into one another carefree as they wobbly danced La Cueca to the various Chilean bands playing on stage. I attempted to dance La Cueca with my host cousin . . . but it didn’t turn out too well. When the majority settled down and took a seat to watch as professional dances took the stage to boogie away the national dance, she and I attempted a far simpler common dance in Chile – which I think is simply the easy part of La Cueca. After the little ones were drunk with sleep, we headed back home to catch some well deserved and needed rest.

Once awake after many hours of shut eye, we got ready to watch La Parada Militar (Military Parade). Well, we got ready for another feast and then to watch the parade. In truth, it was rather drawn out and boring. It was interesting . . . but watching people stand around isn’t really much of a sight. I’m glad we didn’t go in person – although, perhaps it would have been more entertaining if we had gone in person? The best part of the weekend was meeting my mom’s sister and mother – both are from Iquique (a gorgeous beach town farther north).

Sunday was the day we headed back. Thankfully we took a plane to La Serena. A trip which would have taken about 8 or more hours in bus ended up being 45 minutes. However, we did have to take a bus to Vallenar which would take 2 hours. Although the ride wasn’t so bad as they were planning “X Men Origins: Wolverine.” Unfortunately my host brother and I didn’t get to see the end. Since my host dad stayed in Santiago due to his health (which seems to be a lot better), my mom called him up to ask my Aunt Eli if she could buy it pirated. It only costs about US$2.70 and everyone does it. Chile is the third worst South American country for pirated . . . well, pirated everything (movies, games, books – although hardly anyone reads – etcetera). We did have a wait between the plane ride and bus.

First we headed to the mall where my host brother didn’t want to eat anything. So we all took a taxi to a Chinese restaurant which wouldn’t open for another 30 minutes. Thankfully there was a Peruvian restaurant across the street which had opened early. The food was amazing. I ate a huge plate of all kinds of seafood. Afterwards we headed back to the bus station and waited for who knows how long. Finally, we all boarded and left.

End of that weekend.

Other than that I haven’t really done much. October began dully and I should have taken the forewarning as my entire month suddenly looked the same as the start. There were plans made and then changed. Getting used to not having complete control over my life has been rather difficult. It is a good change, but a difficult one. I didn’t do much the first week of October, but the second was much more interesting.

Friday we left for Santiago. It was a long ride like always and we stopped in La Serena to catch a bite to eat. There really isn’t much to say about the ride. Later that day, after everyone was well rested, we went to the mall Alto Las Condes. We attempted to get some “legal” movies from a salon . . . but the guy said he wasn’t selling any more. Afterwards we spent some time in the bookstore. Most books cost about US$27-30. That is rather ridiculous in my opinion. I probably would have bought one of the books I had wanted if only they had the first book in the series. Oh well. Saturday was fast approaching.

With Saturday came the marriage. At about 1pm we all headed for Viña del Mar. The wedding was actually in Valparaíso, but the two cities are connected. For a spell, we visited with one of my cousins before the wedding began. After about an hour of talking we headed for the actual wedding. It was very informal and a small affair – only about 20 people. It was great getting to meet the rest of the family and now the new Peruvian addition. After the very quick marriage of the two, waiters filled the room to serve food and drink as we all began various conversations before the actual meal. When the actual meal began, we all took a seat in a very formal dining hall where the conversations became quite a bit louder, probably due to the majority of the adults being a tad tipsy. At the close, we were all invited to dance at the disco tech, but my family and I didn’t go since it was after midnight and we had a little over an hour’s drive back to Santiago. Plus, my little brother had already begun to fall asleep while eating. And so ends the wedding. Nothing much happened on Sunday as all of us were tired. Monday was nearly a 10 hour car ride back to Vallenar . . . so that too was rather dull – even though we got pulled over AGAIN for not having our headlights on while on the freeway. HECK, it is the middle of the flipping day and everything is heavily lit by the sun. Oh well.

Tuesday was spent in preparation for the play the following Monday (tomorrow). I still feel as though we aren’t ready . . . but I can’t do anything about it except worry about my own part. We are performing “El Hombre Desnudo y el Hombre de Frac”. I’m a barrendero (street cleaner) and El Hombre de Frac (Man with Tail Coat). Lots of lines in a foreign language . . . I guess I should have known into what I was getting myself.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent helping little kids learn English. I love teaching them – even if they can be a handful at times. Having ten 9-10 year olds all together in a room full of toys isn’t the best idea. I’m teaching them a question word remembering song to the beat of Jingle Bells that my first Spanish teacher, Señora Tapasa, tought me back in Freshman year: (¿Por qué? Why? / ¿Cómo? How? / ¿Qué? What? / ¿Dónde? Where? / ¿Cuánto? How much? / ¿Cuándo? When? / ¿Quién es? Who is there? / ¿Cuál? Which?). They seem to be enjoying it. Wednesday was also spent at my Aunt’s house here with the newly and happily married couple. They then came over to our house either Thursday or Friday . . . I can’t remember.

This weekend I stayed home and practice my lines, watched some movies, and just relaxed. My uncle, cousin, brother, and I were supposed to have gone hiking today . . . but that got canceled on account of a toppled train. My uncle had to go to work due to it.

I’m going to really try harder to update this thing.

Rain, Soccer, and Buses . . . OH MY! :D

I’m finally back in Vallenar. The bus we took was amazing and really comfortable. My only complaint was how tiny it was for me. I ended up putting the footrest up because my legs were getting squished between the man reclined in front of me and, well, the footrest. It was double-decker and we were on top. I attempted to sleep and was only awarded with random hours of dreams and being wide-awake. This was probably not for the best since I had to go to school immediately afterwards. (Eight hour bus ride and we left at 11pm Sunday.) There isn’t much to say about the bus ride. Thankfully I had found a Rolling Stone magazine in the bus station, so I had something to read. I also had a National Geographic, but I had read that the night before when I had been unable to sleep. (Both magazines are in Spanish) This cold is obnoxious. The coughing keeps me up, my stomach hurts, my body doesn’t know if it is too hot or too cold, and awww. We took the bus since my host dad had to stay in Santiago. We should be going back soon though for the day of independence.

We ended up getting into Vallenar at around 7:30am. From there, we took a Taxi back home. I quickly took a shower and got changed. Through my sleep-deprivation and cold, I had forgotten several things at home (Spanish-English dictionary, keys, et cetera). I ended up calling my host mom and she took me home early. I was falling asleep in class and I don’t think the teachers appreciated my cough. I slept for most of the day yesterday and the same for today. I was woken up at 11am by my host mom since I had not eaten anything at all today. (My “meal” consisted of six saltines and the Chinese tea I brought.)

Not much to talk about between Thursday and Sunday. Santiago was drowning in rain. Several streets were even flooded. I had my first experience attempting to get ice cream in a very busy ice cream parlor. I was rather confused on how to go about getting it. I finally asked my host cousin for help. Apparently, it is customary to pay for the ice cream first before one even knows what he wants. This is true for everything besides Supermarkets where one actually gets to select what he’d like. Other than that, Saturday was the soccer game between Chile and Venezuela.

Saturday was supposed to be the day I went to a disco-tech with some of my new friends from Santiago. However, the plans got changed due to the “partido de fútbol”. It is apparently rather dangerous to be out (especially driving) when Chile is playing because many people get drunk and are doing stupid things. Not to mention, it was raining HORRIBLY. Instead, I stayed home and watched the game. I was having so much fun screaming “GGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL” with my host family and the TV announcer. (Yes, spelled without the A.) Unfortunately, Chile and Venezuela tied (CHILE WOULD HAVE FREAKING WON!!!) with a score of 2-2. And that is about it until next time.

P.S. I also had Sushi one of those days . . . I think Friday. It was really good and the same to that in the USA. I really enjoyed it. I WANT MOREEEE! :(

First Month

Wow! Where have the weeks gone? It still feels as though I have just stepped off the plane into the frozen grip of winter. Santiago is indescribable. The Andes paint a gorgeous backdrop against the towering sky scrapers, palm trees, and houses. My host father told me during one of these many days, “Santiago es Chile y Chile es Santiago. Vallenar es Vallenar.” When translated it states that Santiago is Chile and Chile is Santiago. The next part about Vallenar being Vallenar is symbolic for both my home town and all other towns in Chile. Each town is unique to it’s self and differs from the others. Santiago is the point where all beliefs, people, places, cultures, etcetera come together to create a pu-pu platter of all of Chile. With that said, it is also going through a sort of Cultural Revolution. Everything has become Americanized. Mayonnaise, salt, and sugar are three condiments which are always found on the table and in the food. Starbucks has found a perfect country in which to releases its coffee craze. Heck! Santiago is also getting a Walmart in, I think 2 months. There is a TGI Fridays at the big mall here. Surprisingly though, for everything being so American, hardly anyone speaks English beyond common phrases.

Although, America is not the only country sinking it’s fangs into Chile. Asia is starting to emerge as well. Chinese restaurants can be found easily along with many people of Asian descent. The school that my host cousin attends is filled with Asians. This is due to many corporations finding Chilean soil ripe for not only the growth of vegetation.

Santiago truly is “Chile” and all the other towns are their own.

Let’s get back to my tale. As I was saying, my first welcome to Chile was not only cold physically but also emotionally. Chile does not care for avellanas (hazelnuts). My bag dinged going through the little scanner (they made me load my own bags and several other peoples . . . which I found very strange). One of the men at the scanner told me to come with him and take my bags. Thus I went off on my first mini-adventure in a foreign country. He started out by filling out paperwork, having me sign countless documents, and finally copying my passport a few times. From there, he told me I had to go in front of a “judge”. There were two in this tiny room and both were busy. I sat outside the little office alone until this very friendly American also got in trouble for nuts in trail mix. We talked and she watched my bags when it was finally my turn. I sat down on the opposite end of the man’s desk. He asked me if I could speak Spanish and I responded with a little. From there, the conversation turned into Spanglish since he didn’t know English. Luckily I knew enough Spanish to communicate what was necessary and understand him. He began filling in various forms popping up on his computer screen with his slow two-finger typing speed and asking me questions. Another person went off to make more copies of my passport. After an eternity went by, he handed me a slip of paper with CLP$277.680,00 written on it. That is about US$500 that they wanted me to pay for a few nuts! I was about to leave to get money for him when a bunch of people came in and started speaking with the man in really quick Spanish. They left, I got up, and then he told me to sit down again and give him the paper. He then told me to go wait outside. I stood next to the door in anticipation for 10 minutes. When he came back out, he handed me several forms, told me I didn’t have to pay anything, and then pushed me out the door to the crowd of people. Rotary quickly found me, I met my host aunt and mother, and then we went off and ate.

After eating they took me back to my aunt’s house. They kept asking me if I was tired which I was, but who wants to sleep when first coming to a new country? I constantly responded with no. Once I finished putting my bags in the room and getting everything in order along with a quick shower and change of clothes since I was dressed very formally, we went out to the mall. After the mall, we had empenadas and then went back to my aunt’s house. I met her husband that night and then we picked my cousin, Andres, up at his school. The next day my host father came and they bought me a heavy jacket because it is “really cold”. After wearing it for a few days I switched back to the lighter one I brought. On Sunday we returned to Vallenar. We stopped in La Serena to look at the beach really quickly and grab ice cream. My first impression of the driest desert in the world was seeing it in pink due to the setting sun. It was simply amazing. Once in Vallenar, I put all my stuff into my host sister’s room since my bed had yet to arrive (they special ordered me one 2 meters long since I’m so tall) and then was dragged to meet all the family in Vallenar. Everything went dandily until Wednesday when I had school.

Schools here are rather disorganized and the students can behave worse than they do in the USA. There are about a million breaks between classes and I have a different set of classes everyday (12 classes in total and 13 if you include the “homeroom” period on Monday). My school starts at 8am and ends at 4:20pm except on Fridays when it gets out an hour early. Most of the students study religiously during the week and then finally get a little crazier for the weekend. In my opinion, schools here are easier than the ones in the USA and most of the other exchange students agree with me. It seems as though most of the stuff we are doing here I have already learned. However, not all schools in the USA are the same and that is also true for Chile. I don’t really care for the classes most of the time, but the social aspect is great. All the students are wonderfully nice and the school is very open to the outdoors. Sitting in a tree during one of the recreos (breaks) eating an orange or some cookies is one of my favorite things to do. Other than that, we stay in class the whole time and teachers change classes (as most know) unless we are going to art – right now we are panting a mural – or need a science room.

The second weekend of being here was at my family’s beach house. It was gorgeous. The main beach has white sand and crystal clear blue water. My family wouldn’t let us swim because apparently it is still “too cold”. It is so strange stepping onto desert and then from desert onto beach. There are cacti everywhere along with little foxes. My little brother and cousin kicked around a soccer ball for most of the time and dug in the sand. It was so beautiful. I also found a sea lion shoulder bone and my host dad found a vertebrae. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. The coolest thing about Punto del Lobo (the location of their house) is it is in an ecological community. The houses are designed to fit in the area, the environment isn’t harmed, and the houses only use electricity at night by a generator. I had a great time . . . even if we weren’t allowed to swim.

The following weekend I went to a BBQ at Trygve’s host house. He is also an exchange student, but from Denmark. (There are 4 exchange students at my school in my class: Trygve [Denmark], Laura [Switzerland], Olivia [New York/Rotary], and me [Oregon/Rotary]). It was a ton of fun. We ate a ton of food. Watched soccer, played soccer on an XBOX360, and I taught him how to throw an American Football. His host brother was an exchange student to the USA and had brought back a football. Afterwards we ate more food and watched some more soccer. Sunday I stayed home.

This last weekend past I was and still am in Santiago. We left last Wednesday and so I’ve been here for a week. The original plan was only to come for a few days, but my host dad ended up having to stay in the hospital until Tuesday. He had a hernia. Now, it sounds as though he is all better. My host family isn’t really telling me much about how he is doing. I only found out he had a hernia due to my older cousin who asked her mom. While here though, I’ve done quiet a bit. I went and saw Harry Potter 6 in theatres. I love the movie theatres here! The seats are comfortable and recline, tickets and food are dirt cheap, and the quality of picture is superb. Unfortunately the movie was in English with Spanish subtitles. This seems to be the same for all other movies in theatre as well. Besides that I also went bowling. THEY HAD SHOES WHICH FIT ME!!! That is a first. NOTHING fits me in Chile. I’d have to order shoes online and I can’t buy clothes in stores. It is horrible. My host family had to special ordered me my uniform and PE outfit. They are so nice. (Seamstresses are actually really cheap, but it still is a sort of a hassle.) Two of the most fun things I’ve done while here have been Zip-lining (called Canopy here for an obvious reason) and bobsledding. How many people can say they have zip-lined over the top of trees indigenous to the central region of Chile? At first it was rather scary, but I ended up really enjoying it. Bobsledding was also amazing. On the way up to the top of the hill thing, there were signs warning that this is not a game, but a sport and it is possible to die. At first I was rather freaked, but after the first time I wanted to go again – and I did!

Monday I went to see a British school in Santiago. Well, I sat in on a class for an hour and half. Everyone was so nice and I had a ton of fun. It was similar to my class in Vallenar in regards to chaos, but the course work was harder. After that I went with my aunt to one of her friend’s houses to have Once (what tea time is called). There were three girls a year older than me there too with whom I hung out. We had a bunch of fun just talking (between mouthfuls of chocolate!!) and then played Volleyball after eating Once.

Oh, and I’ve also baked 8 batches of M&M Cookies for everyone here because my older cousin loved them when she was in the USA and the cookies here aren’t all that great. They are good, but aren’t anything special . . . like cookies from scratch. My little brother and cousins thought it weird when I said it is common to eat cookies by dunking them in milk. After trying it though . . . they are hooked. As told by the amount of cookies I have made.

And that is about it. I have tried Chinese food and Sushi here. The Chinese food is a little different than in the States and isn’t as good in my opinion. Sushi is the same. Other than that, I’ll probably be in Santiago until Monday. The thing I hate the most about Chile is there are no clothes here which fit me. I have no idea what I’m going to do about clothes if I happen to need some.