Feels like Christmas in July

Ok this is the life.

I wake up at 10:30, look up, see the blue cloudless sky and know that after lunch in a few hours I will walk to the beach and spend the day in the sun with friends. Seriously- THAT is something I'm going to miss!
But I could do without the jackhammers as background music to my perfect mornings...

Two nights ago we went out for pizza with some friends from school and Carlos for the last time. It was alright- I think I would have rather stayed in and eaten with the fam. BUT we did see a Christmas parade and I really did tear up at the sight of Santa!
Last night we went to the movies and mall. It was fun but I think we all realized that we are sort of just sitting in limbo now- not waiting to BURST out of here but just ready for action and that action is going home. Or at least that's how I feel.

Lunch was fun yesterday- Balti wrote his letter to Santa at the lunch table. We all ate together (Priscil,Pato,Balti,me, and Octavia in the background sleeping). Priscilla told Balti that he was running out of time and that Santa may not receive the letter! Balti quickly ran to his room and returned with pen and paper.
His letter went like this (but in Spanish of course):

"Dear Santa.
I want a Wii controller. Hi, this is Balti and I am eating pasta with cheese and chicken. This year I have eaten almost all of my food. Bye. I have a sister and I hope you bring her something. I live at Amunategui 1535 Depto 22 Recreo Vina del Mar and Chile."

It was hilarious- Priscilla and Patricio did a good job staying serious and not laughing...I was struggling.

Last night we put lights on the tree- its looks great except I cant look at it for too long or I may start seizing or something...those things flash at 900 MPH. YIKES.

So today its a beach day. I should probably emerge from my room and get some breakfast. Also I know Balti is dying to play a new game that he downloaded on my iPhone last night.

Peace,
lesley

5 days !?

Last night I promised I would update but got a little tired once I sat on my bed and fell right asleep.

We have kept pretty busy since the last time I posted. Since we don't have much time left here (5 days to be exact) it is pretty important that we do everything onnnne last time.

Friday we went to the beach from 11 until 6. It was great. We all got pretty toasty/burned to a crisp but I think the ultraviolet red color that was covering most of my body is slowly turning into brown.

Saturday I woke up early and relaxed for a while and then went to Balti's soccer game with him and his 15 year old aunt, Valentina. It was hilarious. Let's just say that Balti isn't the star of the team...and if he touches the ball its because someone was off target and accidentally punted one into Balti's hands. Ooops! Hand ball! He refused to take off his long pants even though it was about 1000 degrees out and I was even burning to a crisp on the sidelines. In the end, his team lost 6-0 but he was happy.....to leave and go home :) Later that day I enjoyed the house to myself for a while as the fam went to the airport.

Balti :)

Later that night I went to Lauren's casa to celebrate Christmas with her family. I was a special invite and was very happy to have been able to be there- it was lots of fun. We played Christmas music, ate anticuchos, drank drinks with ice cubes (!!!), and had a little gift exchange. I think I saw Glady tear up once of twice- she's going to be a mess when we all leave.

Lauren's family + me

Sunday, yesterday, we got up early after a late night of Christmas partying and went kayaking in Quintero with Lauren's dad- Cesar. He has a new tour company and I think this was like a practice run. We went with Nicole, Simone, Corie, Liz, Brenna (Liz's friend), and Simone's friend. After cruising the coast of Quintero for a while and after I screamed a few times from seeing a random sea-lion pop its head from under the water, we reached land again and went to lunch. After lunch we headed back to Vina where Lauren and I relaxed for a while, watched an Enron documentary (how dorky!) and learned about WikiLeaks.

Its pretty bad- I feel totally out of the loop on what's happening in America right now. I guess there is nothing to worry about...I will probably get over that after about a week back in the states.

Today I'm writing papers (I should be writing right now) and hope to turn them in after lunch. Then....I'm totally free!

Later,
Lesley

It's already December?

So Thanksgiving has passed and WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?

It's already December.

In August I would think to myself (and outloud), "Well, after August things are going to fly by."
...I thought the same things every month from then on and time never really "flew."
Now its finally here- the time to go home- and I'm having ups and downs...moments when I think I never want to leave and moments when I can't wait to get home and see people, take a drive with Maddie (the dog) or run and get a big icy cold coke.

...then again, a drive around town with the windows down, Maddie in my lap, shorts and a tank top, and an icy drink probably don't sound good to anyone at home in Texas right now. I hear the weather is pretty extreme all ready? I guess we will be finding out in less than 10 days, now!

Thanksgiving in Chile wasn't too bad! The Jones family had to return to the USA...which was a bummer...BUT we had a fancy dinner for all exchange students and teachers and administrative persons at UVM that night. It was actually really really well done- the food was good, the talent show was a hit, and the awards were cool.

Since then we have just been hanging out in and around Vina. The beach is going to be my second (or third) home for the next 9 days...the weather is PERFECT! The sun is hot and quick to burn...at least I'll be tan upon arrival in the winter wonderland that is DFW.

Last Friday Lauren came over to my house for dinner. We enjoyed some GOOOOOOD chicken fried steak (who knew Priscilla was a five-star chef?!) and later played video games with Balti.
Suddenly, since summer is here, Balti is allowed to play UNLIMITED video games. This means that every 5.5 seconds he comes in my room and asks me if I can play. Unfortunately, I have a lot to do this week for school and have to reject his offers to be Player 2 over and over....and over and over and over and over again. Next week things will be better.

There is a creepy (but old and nice) security guard who basically worships gringas and runs from his post inside a nearby apartment building when any of us come walking towards his corner. Each day I try to avoid him but yesterday it was impossible. I saw him emerge from afar and thought "I SHOULD TAKE A LONG-CUT!" but didnt. WRONG CHOICE! I received about 10 cheek-kisses, kisses on the hands, hugs, more hugs, and a "I am your friend, please don't go back to the USA" speech. He then proceeded to walk me to the nearest corner while HOLDING MY HAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lets just say its a good thing he is old and cute and looks like a grandpa. I will never walk home that way again. YIKES!

Today Lauren, Liz, and a friend of Liz's from her school names Brenna went to Valparaiso to do some exploring. We didn't get to any of the places that we originally intended to get to BUT we found the BEST lemon pie I have ever had.

is there anything better than this ?!!?!

Tomorrow- BEACH!
The next day- BEACH!!!!!

Later,
Lesley

Jones, that would be "Honess" in Spanish

THE JONES FAMILY IS IN CHILE!!!!!
...and I am 100% sure that they are LOVING it. I'm thinking that since our last vacay to the beach was cancelled, we should make up for it by all traveling together to Chile in January (when it is summer here) and heading back to Alabama as usual for summer in the USA. Good? Okay deal.

The weather has been absolutely PERFECT for the last three days and Matt, Kim, and Randy have seen Vina at its very best. I'm not going to type out the history of their trip because so far its been action packed and is story-licious BUT I will say its been great- places, people, food...they're getting a taste of it all.

Tonight I decided to come home and eat with my family since I hadn't really seen them in a few days. I walked in the door after coming home from Simone's dance recital and the fam was sitting at the table eating dinner...COMPLETOS! We have NEVER had completos for dinner, but as usual when Patricio comes home we eat some sort of delicious and unhealthy food.

completo- an extra long hotdog with a better than usual bun, topped with chopped fresh tomato, avocado, and mayo

yes, I still hate mayo but Priscilla insisted that I put mayo on the completo since it wasn't just the usual Hellman's...it was homemade. She was right- it was very very good.

After dinner I gave a few gifts from Peggy to Priscilla, Patricio, Balti, and Octavia. They all loved the gifts a LOT and we enjoyed a few games of Spongebob Dominoes after dinner with Balti's prize. He loves them! And mom: he even loved the Bottle Caps candy...I think Priscilla loves them, too :)

Finals are coming up and school is winding down. This is so weird!
We have seventeen days left and I plan to spend about 14 of those days laying on the beach doing nothing but  getting sun and relaxing. After all...I should soak up the sun while I can....I cannot believe its winter in Texas already! (winter schminter, I guess it cant be that cold)

Later,
Lesley

20 something days and not counting...

When the countdown reached thirty, I think I might have actually done a dance out of pure excitement...

Now I'm kind of thinking: Colectivo rides, annoying people on the street, frustrating classes about Chilean culture/America...I think I might miss those things. So for the time being I'm content..

I just came home from class and WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? My favorite movie is on: "My Best Friend's Wedding"! The only problem....Balti (my new best friend) and I have a PlayStation date as soon as he gets out of the shower. I do kind of want to beat him at Indiana Jones but I have been WAITING for the day when this movie would finally come on in ENGLISH! Oh well, I'm sure that like with all movie channels, the movie will be on 4 times today :)

Lately things are pretty calm around here and its nice to not have traveling plans or lots of things to do for a change.

But here's a story:

Lauren and I took a little day trip to Renaca last weekend. After a nice couple of hours on the beach, we decided to cross the street and pick up some fries and a coke at Burger King. We waited in line for a little while and there was a line starting to form behind us. As always in a Chilean fast food line I was thinking to myself  "fast food?!?!?" I'm pretty sure I could order a pizza and receive it faster than these fast food people can make a medium fry.

Anyways after about five minutes someone finally took Lauren's order. I was next. Out of nowhere comes this 40-something nicely dressed DUMBY with a coupon in hand. I know exactly what he was thinking:
"I have a free cone coupon, I don't need to wait in line." So he cut.

I was going to let it slip, until he continued to order a complete COMBO! As in...he didn't just want a free cone, he wanted the whopper, the fries, and the coke. I was fuming. I don't really know why that set me off....and before I knew it I was confronting him. I told him I was in line first and then accidentally called him an "imbecil"...not very nice but you know...Chilean men have to learn the lesson at some point.

LADIES FIRST.

The end :)
PlayStation calls.

Later,
Lesley

pictures from Machu Picchu!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lesleymartin4/MetchaMachu#

return of the lentil

Since my last post- a lot has happened.
Last week Lauren, Nicole, Corie, Jemima and I took a week off from school and headed to Peru via bus, plane, train, and taxi. We saw Lima, Cuzco, and Aguas Calientes which led us to Machu Picchu. I could never explain the Machu Picchu trip in a blog post, so I'll have to tell all of my stories later in person....

but I will say that Peruvians have super powers, Incans were unreal, and hiking is officially harder than running.

Today was funny-

The weather was great but super windy, however when the sun finally shines like it was today, you cant let a little wind get in your way. I walked to school and enjoyed the normal amount of beeps and whistles (when will this END), saw the usual dogs relaxing outside of their claimed territories, and even stopped and had a little chat with one of the security guards from a nearby apartment building.

Class was boring, but thats alright. I walked home and dropped in at the camera shop to check in on my camera (it mysteriously had a technical issue and had to be repaired). The camera is fixed! And the camera man and I shared memories from Peru.

Lentils for lunch- I knew it was coming sooner or later. Lentils for lunch means one thing and one thing only: potential lentils dinner.
Okay, maybe one more thing but you don't want to know.

I decided to take a short trip to Lider for some body wash and other items that I have run short on. I caught a bus, made it to the mall in no time, and just in case lentils were for dinner, I decided to stop by Burger King (McDonalds line was way too long) and get a small order of fries. Good thing I did because sure enough- I came home to a bowl of slimy soupy lentils with a hamburger patty plopped right in the middle. Bleh.

But before dinner-
I caught a colectivo home from the mall and what do you know- my driver was the size of a sumo wrestler!!!
His jolly chuckle didnt get old- in fact I was sitting in the back sit squished between two chubby ladies trying to dodge the rear-view mirror. I was cracking up the whole time.

I made it home and ate dinner- not the best but acceptable.
I got to talk to Meghan on skype! But as usual, my computer started to die. I went to plug it into the wall and BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
There went the power. Balti came running out of his room yelling WOO HOOO!!!! and put on his monster slippers (that another gringa gave him).
Priscilla quickly passed Octavia off to me and ran outside (its 10 PM) into the wind to fix the breaker. HOW EMBARRASSINGGGGG!!!!!!

Oh well, it was a bonding moment :)
I think Octavia pulled out a chunk of my hair- shes strong for an 8 pound person!

Later,
Lesley

A+ for Argentina

Long time no write, I know. Im really getting bad at updating this thing but have been pretty busy lately.

Lets see-

Mendoza, Argentina.
It was awesome.
To me, the 7 hour bus ride there wasn't bad and the views were incredible. We drove through the Andes (literally, we went in several mountain tunnels) and rivers, caves, snow, etc. Believe it or not- customs was even on top of a mountain! We all made it through safely...even Nicole's tazer gun passed without problem.

We arrived in Argentina and before we knew it we were trekking to our hostel which was about 30 minutes walking from the bus terminal. After finding and ATM and mentally converting American money to Argentenian money we made it to the hostel which turned out to be THE BEST. Prime location (right next to McDonalds), just like a hotel (nice lobby, lots of people, etc.), good computers with internet, and a huge tv to watch the Rangers on !!!

The first night we strolled around the centro and found a neat restaurant with an outdoor patio. We enjoyed "normal" food and had fun just hanging out and talking for a few hours. The weather was perfect- not too cold. That night we watched the Rangers make it to the World Series. What a game....

I can't believe I'm 5000 away from the Rangers while they're playing in the World Series.
I was just as happy sitting in the hostel watching the game- but I can't even imagine how awesome it must have been to be in the stadium at the end of that game. I cant wait to get to the ballpark next season! Is that crazy? Probably....

Saturday morning we woke up early and sat around for a while to be picked up by the rafting people. After waiting for about an hour and a half extra- the dude finally showed up with a van-full of other foreigners and we were off to the river! Rafting was great- cold and super soaking wet but awesome.

We were totally exhausted after rafting and after resting for a while at the hostel we walked to the central market for some pizza. It was SO good...and the icy cold coke made it even better. I never realized how much difference a few cubes of ice can make...again that's something that sounds really silly and weird to even think about but IT MATTERS! Cant wait to come home and drive through the McDonalds on Randol Mill and get a huge icy Diet Coke.

Sunday was the day that we've been trying to have for the past month. San Alfonso was a total flop- we didn't get to bask in the sun AT ALL but I think el Parque San Martin in Mendoza, Argentina trumped that silly resort. We stopped at McDonalds for a delicious picnic lunch and walked to the famous GIGANTIC park........

I was NOT expecting such a perfect place...it was like heaven on Earth! Roses, fountains, people walking, joggers, rowing, trees everywhere, ice cream, and soooo much more that we didn't get to see. We laid in the sun for a good 5 hours and did absolutely nothing- how perfect.

Completely sunburned, the three of us walked back to the hostel later that evening, took a little nap, and got ready for dinner at a BUFFET! It was awesome, we all ate way more than we should have, AND a bunch of French guys thought we were so cute that they almost chased us out the restaurant. Luckily- the didnt. Good thing though...lets get real- the French are just so...French.

As always, it felt nice to be back in Vina the next day and much to my surprise, class has been exceptionally interesting all week. I am understanding EVERYTHING that our professor says. YES! This is a definite sign of Spanish progress.

Tomorrow we leave for PERU!
Its time to get organized and start packing. Packing is truly an art when you need a week's worth of stuff in a day's space. It can be done, though.

Itinerary coming soon...

Until tonight,
Lesley

presentations, partidos, and packing

A few notable things happened yesterday:

Nicole and I completed our presentation in Antigringo's class- we are GLAD that thing is overwith. It wasn't hard...just a stress-causer which I don't have much of here. In fact...I can't remember another time in Chile when I've been for-real stressed out. How nice is that ?

I take it back. I was stressed out yesterday- I was running from class which let out an hour and half late at 7 PM THANKS to those silly presentations. In fifteen minutes I:

ran out of the classroon at UVM
fast-walked to the Metro station
put 3,000 pesos on my Metro card, got change for my 10 mil (a huge relief)
took the Metro to Laurens (caught a train right away)
hopped of the train and jogged (with backpack, how dorky!) to snack store
they didnt have diet coke, ran to the next closest one
settled for Pepsi, sigh
RAN to Lauren's apartment building
waved to the guard, turned the corner
started sprinting because no one could see me
shoe falls off, Pepsi flies out of the side pocket of my backpack
crawled under the car that it rolled under
IN FIFTEEN MINUTES!

All that because I thought I had missed the Rangers...and come to find out...THEY WERE LOSING!!!
But that's alright- we have two lifelines and I feel pretty good that we will win tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow- Lauren, Nicole, and I leave for Argentina tomorrow morning!!!! Can't wait!!!

Later,
Lesley

Beets, baseball, ballpark hotdog wannabe's, and blogs.

...and I may need some bleach. They should make a dye from beet juice.

To my closest followers- so sorry for the slacking, lately! Not much was happening around here for a while and then suddenly its like I'm rushing around trying to find time to fit everything in my day and before I know it its midnight. I don't think I'll ever get used to the time difference- as small and insignificant as it seems.

The past few days have included:

Baseball- The Rangers are going to the World Series. I just know it. I can't believe that I decided to come to Chile in the same year that the Rangers-my team-finally make it the the playoffs...but when I think about it for more then a second I realize its probably for my own good. If I were in Oklahoma, just 200 miles away, I would probably be standing at Iron Starr working during the games thinking "this stinks. I'm too close to home to not be at that game." But here...I just have to deal with the fact that I won't be traveling 5,000 miles/can't travel 5,000 miles to watch a baseball game. The good news: games are on TV here, now!
Im currently watching the Rangers beat the Yankees 2 to 0 in the 4th inning. There he goes again- Clif Lee strikes out yet another poor poor Yankee.

Priscilla just brought me an interesting 10:30 PM dinner.
Cauliflower, BEETS!, two hotdogs, yogurt, and cherry juice.
If this is as close as I can get to ballpark food...I'll take it. Besides, I love beets and its been too long since I've had them.

Yesterday I ventured to Santiago with a classmate for a concert at the Estadio Nacional. We saw RUSH- it was awesome, and my idea of Chileans was slightly proven wrong. They don't even serve alcohol at concerts, here! I asked Priscilla why...she said that people go too crazy. I should be thankful (as the only gringa in that gigantic stadium filled with dark headed, dark-clothed, Chileans) that things stayed very civil and we encountered absolutely no problems. Concert in Chile: check.

Well...maybe one little problem. I trusted Nick to make the hostel arrangements. He promised that the hostel we would stay at was near the stadium and right by the stadium- can it get more perfect?! Apparently he was dreaming anyway. We walked for about an hour after getting off of the subway (that was fun, though...slightly scary but fun) and landed at a home...not a hostel. The HOMEowners were slightly surprised when we rang the bell and said in Spanish "hi we're here to stay for the night!"...talk about late notice. I guess we rang the right bell, though. The woman who lived in the random house was kind and let us sleep on the floor. They even drove us to the concert!

I should get back to my current jobs:
another blog with a few Spanish classes at Shack (cool, right?)
a presentation due on Wednesday
a test tomorrow
the Ranger game

Later,
Lesley

ooh, and the weather today was shorts-worthy. YES!

Its official.

Octavia is the most perfect thing I have ever seen in my life. Something was just so great about going to the clinic today and seeing her and Priscilla...and I get to be her gringa sister! 
She's teeny tiny, has lots of dark hair, blue eyes, and doesn't look like an alien...a rare quality for newborns, I think. I am actually excited for them both to come home tomorrow night :)


Until then, I'm just chillin' at the apartment with Balty and Patricio. It's 11:49 PM and we're all still awake just hanging out. Today Balty and I really bonded at the clinic/hospital. He discovered the beauty of my iPhone and the games that come along with it. He also told me that he wants to spell his name like this: "Balti" not this: "Balty". NOTED.

Patricio folded my laundry. Wow, having a dad in the house is nice! This is just another new and exciting experience to add to the list. What a great week I'm having.

When Priscilla is gone- I get back into "college" mode. This morning I made my own breakfast and even LIT THE GAS for a hot shower. Props to LJ for showing me how to do that last night when she came over. I'm thinking another Wii party is coming up in the near future.

I think I'll get to sleep- tomorrow we have such an exciting outing planned with classmates. A visit to the National Congress of Chile...

To get some extra Spanish practice in I took Balti's advice and am reading his comics each night before bed. They are really helping!

Balti's favorite comic book

Later,
Lesley

October 13

October 13 was historically great. In fact, it should become a holiday.

Just a little after midnight, two monumental moments occured.
The first Chilean miner to be rescued reached the surface and finally breathed a breath of fresh air within the same three minutes that the Rangers, my team, made it to the next round of the playoffs for the first time in history.

Later that night, the night of the 13, Octavia was born. I hear she's healthy and am going with Patricio and Balty in just a little while to see her and Priscilla...how exciting! The house is never going to be quiet again...I better soak in this last day of minimal noise while I can. Then again...the building that's still going up outside my window continues to flood my room with the sound of a jackhammer each morning. Maybe the jackhammer will drown out the crying ? Or vice versa? We'll find out tomorrow I guess!

Later,
Lesley

ps. 10/13/10...10+13+10=33=the number of miners that WERE trapped.
Thank you Lauren Jones for that insightful observation.

You need a Thums Up.

Class was boring today- but forget that! There is wayyyyy too much happening right now to even think about school!

Tonight we went and saw Eat Pray Love for free thanks to UVM :)
Believe it or not- it doesn't even officially come out until tomorrow. The two month delay really killed us, as we were all super pumped to see the movie and WOW did it live up to our expectations!
It was so great and the message was so analogous to our lives in Chile. The timing was perfect and it was just what I needed to get me back into my "im abroad and loving life" mood. En serio, it was such an attitude changer, and a much needed one at that.

I came home around 9:45 to a tearful Balty...he was crying from nerves and pure joy because tomorrow us the big day! Priscilla is having a baby TOMORROW!
I'm cracking up because they JUST put together the baby bed...talk about procrastination!
There are baby clothes everywhere and Balty is being showered with gifts and new things in his room. This is so interesting to me...just the whole thing. Priscilla is totally calm and has prepared all of my lunches for the next four days. She sure does have everything under control- I'm impressed.

Thanks to Gma's update, I have turned on the news and am watching the live rescue of the miners. This is a huge moment in the history of Chile and I can only imagine the happiness of everyone tomorrow...there will probably be celebrations tonight.

In addition to the screen-full of smiling Chileans and hopeful families of miners...I have on my computer screen the Rangers game. This is the first time in history that the Texas Rangers will move on to the next round of the playoffs.........I can't believe it! As dorky as it sounds, I will be sporting my bright red Rangers jacket tomorrow in honor of my team. And it's very appropriate, considering that Chile's colors are red, white, and blue as well.

I may as well pull an all-nighter. The fam is wide-awake preparing for Octavia, miners are being rescued, and Rangers are winning (right now).

Later,
Lesley

two thumbs down.

I never go this long without posting! There is a lot to talk about after such an interesting weekend away.

To catch up on last week:
We had a few papers and a couple tests, but nothing too major. We (all of my friends here & I) spent most of the week looking forward to this past weekend- as we had planned the trip to San Alfonso and couldn't wait to get to the Worlds Largest Pool (!).

Wednesday night Lauren and I went to see the movie, Wall Street, in theaters to continue our weekly getaway at the movies with a icy coke and "pop con sal"- also known as popcorn WITH SALT.
The movie was  really cool- but the scenario was a little weird since the movie basically explained how money-obsessed UnitedStatesian people are. Its never comforting to be the only two blonde/gringa people in a theater filled with Chileans who already hold a natural grudge against you. The realness of the movie was a little creepy and very eye-opening.

That night I slept over at Lauren's. Since we had to wake up the next morning at approximately 5 AM to trek to the airport in Santiago and help Nicole pick up Russ- we thought it would be best if we all stayed the night together at one house and walked to bus station together. We made it to the station by 6:20 AM, got on a bus to Santiago right away, and before we knew it we were on the way back to Vina with Russ! It was awesome getting to see him for a while- and we all knew that Nicole was so so so happy to see him :)

I slept in on Friday thinking: if I get up at 11 I'll have plenty of time to showr, pack, eat, and be ready at 2.
Change of plans: the hot water heater was broken- no shower. That was okay, though...I shower too much anyways.
We (me, Lauren, Nicole, Russ, Jemima, Corie, Nikki, Kelly, Ahzha) all met up in Valparaiso and quickly hopped on a bus to San Alfonso- the most beautiful, heavenly resort anyone could ever see.....we thought.

We arrived to find out that:
1) we werent in the sea-side buildings...our hotel was about a mile away and inland.
2) the pool at our hotel was not the worlds largest pool...and it was EMPTY. no water. not a drop.
3) all chileans hate all gringos.

okay, the third point isn't really true but after this weekend I show no mercy for Chileans who will try and argue the fact that we are instantly judged in South America as rude, ignorant people.

We felt like the workers at the hotel were trying to scam us, and they even joked around with us at times because the amount of money that we ended up paying to stay in the nicer resort with the gigantic pool was a significant amount more. We were all bitter and hesitant to spend any more money.

The pool that we had traveled to just to float in and lay by for a solid three days was too cold to enter. We didn't get in once. The sun didn't shine- no tans. Too bad we only packed summer resort clothes...this felt more like going to the beach in the winter.The hot tub cost us 20 dollars. Why ? Im not sure- it wasn't anything special AND it was completely filled with American-haters. Whatever.

The good parts about the weekend:
Lauren and I discovered we are, in fact, totally normal. Thank you, Jesus.
I did feel very relaxed for a while- and the condo was really nice.
I got to know each person on the trip WAY more.

I am a little bitter- but you live,  you learn.
The lesson: never stay at a resort in Chile.

I came home today around 2 and could not WAIT to crawl into my bed for a while and finally get some quiet time. No one was home, so I was a little relieved that I could be in total relaxation mode for a while. About five minutes after i walked in the door I heard someone come in the house. I got up to go see who it was but missed them- they had already left. I think it was Patricio- and for some reason...he decided to be extra secure and deadbolt the door shut.

This was a problem. A major problem.
Because I do not have the correct key to unlock the second lock on the door- I was literally trapped inside the house and could not escape.
About an hour and half later, they came home and all was well. But seriously! Nothing is wierder than being trapped in your own house!

Later,
Lesley

30

...is the number of days of classes that we have left. CRAZY!

I have finally organized a calendar of events for the remaining two months of this trip and time sure is going to fly!
Order of events:

Girls Trip to San Alfonso (the largest pool in the world): October 8-11
Visit to Congress: October 15
Cabalgata (horseback riding): October 16
Peru Trip: October 29-November 6
Paintball: November 20
Jones Fam!: Thanksgiving
Last days of classes: November 29-December 2
Travel to Argentina?: December 3-December 8ish
Depart from Chile: December 11

And somewhere in there we would like to maybe try and get to Brazil. WOO!

Ok, back to the real world.

Today the sun finally came out after a week or so of pure gloominess. The sun really did make a difference, and we are all feeling more chipper. After classes, Nicole and Lauren and I went to the mall to try and find some good sales on winter clothes and/or find a bathing suit. The only problem is...the sales aren't quite to their cheapest yet and bathing suites are just soooooo hard to find here! I guess you could say that South Americans are a little more revealing when it comes to beach-wear. We better find something soon, since we have a 4 day vacation to the worlds largest pool coming up...

What was I thinking when I took the bathing suit out of my suitcase at home? Horrible planning on my part.

Tonight we had homemade pizza for dinner. It was actually pretty good- but different. Instead of tomato sauce...ketchup. Instead of pepperoni...HAM. I was able to eat the ham...that was an accomplishment as weird as it sounds. For dessert, fruitcake! Apparently "pan de pascua" is popular year-round here. Suits me!

I'm going to spend the rest of the night just getting organized. Marking my calendar, sorting papers, putting away clean clothes....

Patricio called a few minutes ago. I think he must be coming home for good tonight, because Balty and Priscilla literally FLEW out the door giggling and squeeking with excitement. They haven't come back yet but they should be here any time. FINALLY! Patricio will live with us and not on a ship.

Later,
Lesley

Update:
Patricio is home, Priscilla is laughing, Balty is prancing around in a weird hat that Patricio just gave him, and Saxophone Boy who lives upstairs is tooting away. Good night. Good night.
Oh, and I'm watching Friends!

This could get long.

Monday morning goes as follows:
Wake up at 6:30
Get up and brush teeth
Priscilla hears me (how could she not- the bathroom that we all share is literally 4 feet from her bed)
She goes to the kitchen to light the gas and make my breakfast of ham and bread
The hot water doesnt work right away, so we have to go through a process that takes about 5 minutes
I take a five minute shower
Priscilla puts my breakfast on my desk
I cross the hall to my room in my towel- half frozen
I quickly dress myself and then spend 15 minutes trying to untangle my hair
I peel the ham from my breakfast sandwich and eat some bread with butter
I check my emails, finish homework, gather my things
Comb hair one more time
Put away breakfast things
Run out the door at 7:30
Hop on a bus and meet Lauren usually at 7:48ish.

Today, we mostly just graded papers at the school. The grades were horrendous. If I were a teacher in this country I would show no mercy. Seriously, it's ridiculous. These girls are on the verge of being complete adults and they can't sit still for more than 10 minutes (that would be most of them, not all. some are really cool.) We got the chance to talk with Janet about some of our always-annoying encounters with Chileans who want to prove to us that we really are just stupid Americans. She thought it was silly, too. It's sure nice to have someone NOT from the US on your side!

I came home to an empty house. Because I thought we had a test today, I spent my relaxation time reading over and over a paragraph a million times before Priscilla and Balty came dashing in the door at 1:30. I thought that since I have class at two I would just eat lunch at 6 when I finished class...but she thought I could eat and make it to class in thirty minutes. That was not a good idea.

I made it to class to find out (as did Lauren) that the test is actually tomorrow. That's alright though- its just ortofonia. Easy easy easy easy class.

After ortofonia came two classes with Antigringo. I was called out once but in a good way- for once Antigringo put the Chileans to shame. But it was short lived...five seconds later he basically dissed our culture once again. I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo over it. Couldn't say it enough.

Tonight I think my Chilean family has reached a turning point. Priscilla looks like she could burst any moment...because really....SHE COULD! The official due date is the 13th and today is the 4th. Its getting too close for comfort. Balty has been sobbing all night. I think hes 1)stressed out that in just one week his life will completely change and 2) sad that Patricio is coming home tonight as he had promised.

For dinner....bread and butter. Well...there was ham on the table but of course I was unable to even make eye contact. YUCKO! Priscilla didn't eat, so it was just Balty and I at the table. I tought him the concept of "ice in your drink." He now knows that in Texas, it is so hot in the summer that it's impossible to enjoy a drink without ice cubes. He thought it was interesting!

So now, I'm getting lots of homework done and catching up on some reading. I'm excited for tomorrow- we are going to the mall to browse the sale racks and try to find bathing suits for this weekend. WE CANNOT WAIT.

Later,
Lesley

IT'S OCTOBER

Its a Sunday night, and as usual I'm wasting the night away doing nothing when I should probably be studying and getting some homework done.

This weekend was fun. Friday we went to El Carnaval de Mil Tambores....what I would consider to be the most eccentric thing that I have seen yet, here in Chile. Lauren, Nicole, Jemima, Corie, Manuel, and I went to Valparaiso to the top of a cerro for this parade that we (or maybe just I?) really knew nothing about. I was thinking "oh, drums! like a drumline thing ?" WRONG! This was a human-rights, totally hippy parade. Body painting, dredlocks, painted flags, people on stilts, etc. It was pretty neat to experience and be a part of whatever these people were celebrating.

...

After the parade, I went home with Lauren and we watched The Rear Window (shout-out to Gma and Pa for opening our eyes to the world of Alfred Hitchcock).

We woke up pretty early and met the international group at the school on Saturday morning. From there, we took an hour drive to the poet Pablo Neruda's sea-side abode. We got to tour the house...it was SO cool. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the house. The water around his house and in that region in general is SO blue and pretty. We got to spend some time at the beach after the house tour and lunch.

Today was just another Sunday- gloomy outside, so it was a perfect day for Starbucks with Lauren and Nicole. We were all a little bummed, but hopefully the sun will be shining tomorrow.....we need warm weather!!!!

Its Monday tomorrow- ALREADY!- so we will be waking up early to teach English. I'm looking forward to it...it seems to get better and better each week.

Later,
Lesley

Lunch was...

This morning, we had a kind of debate in AntiGringo's class.
It was pretty much a flop, as no one really wants to participate in a debate about the death penalty in spanish at 10 in the morning. I did get to thinking though, and the lesson actually turned out to be pretty interesting.

Lunch was....unforgettable.
Eating cow stomach/tripe soup was worse than I could have ever imagined- but I somehow managed to eat the entire bowl of that horrible horrible rubbery stuff.
Can't think about it any more.

Priscilla's mom and friends were over today for lunch. As I've said before, I really like Claudia. The other friend- not as much. His name is Fernando and he's really nice but very....outgoing.
Claudia is one of those people who has become like a character on this trip. Today, I found out that she is 40 and divorced but has a boyfriend who is 33. The conversation was light-hearted and funny until Fernando told Claudia "jokingly" that she could use a "lift" here and there. GOSH!

Then, they were talking about Priscilla's mom's weight and how she eats so much....while she was sitting at the table! People don't get as offended about being considered chubby here but MAN! They asked me if I eat a lot...I said no (because I really dont in Chile).

Tonight Corie, Jemima, Nicki, Nils, Lauren, Nicole, and I went out for the BEST dinner at the very best Italian place near the plaza. It was cheaper than normal, delicious, and non-stomach-ache-producing. Can't get any better than that! We stayed for a few hours and had fun talking about lots of things. Poor Nils- he had to be in on a lot of girl talk that he probably could have done without.

Tomorrow, we all get to sleep in :) Nothing like a late night of movies and a good 12 hours of sleep! Tomorrow we are all getting back together and going to some sort of drum festival in Valparaiso. I CANT WAIT!

Until tomorrow,
Lesley

Hamophobic.

.Lunch today matched perfectly with the kind of day that I had.

There's nothing like coming home hungrier than ever to a big plate of! Drum roll!

cold shredded lettuce, cold soggy cauliflower and broccoli and two pieces of rolled up ham sitting on top.
its not a salad- we're talking separated dressingless veggies.

I'll admit it- while Balty wasn't looking I slipped the ham into the napkin next to my plate and later threw it away. Seriously- I am a hamophobic.

I woke up at the exact moment that my last class of the day began. I rushed out the door, caught a colectivo blah blah blah......
Priscilla had to go somewhere with Balty- not sure where. She told me that she would leave me my dinner. After walking home for the second time today I was pretty hungry again considering the fact that I ate nothing but calorie-free foods for lunch.

Cueckkkkkkkkkkk. Another plate of sopping vegetables.

Since no one was home I hopped on a bus to Lauren's house. She's home alone with Cesar tonight so in an effort to save her from extreme awkwardness and to save myself from ham and lettuce attacks...I thought it would be best to come over.

(2 hours later)

SUCCESS! Nothing can turn around your day like a world-history talk with Cesar Olmos (Lauren's dad).
Later,
Lesley

264...

That is the number of uphill steps that I must survive in order to summit the hill and reach our apartment building on Amunategui. Every day I time myself...I get about a half second faster every single day!

This morning Priscilla left at 7:30 for her doctor's appointment. Though she left me some breakfast, she forgot to light the gas for hot water. I, being a scared wimp who can't stop thinking of the possibility of igniting the house and burning down the building by accident, was unable to light the heater myself and had to make-do with freezing water to wash my tangley ratty hair. As I dried my hair and ate my breakfast, I got to watch Runaway Bride. I think it just might be my favorite movie.

I caught a colectivo to school but experienced something new- the driver asked me how much I normally pay? It was a little embarrassing- he asked me about four times before I could decipher what the heck he was saying. Too bad Chileans speak faster and more blended Spanish than any other Spanish-speaking people in the mundo.

I thought I felt better when I woke up this morning but actually felt 200 times worse at school. Lauren and
I are both sounding horrible...but both of our moms have been making us their own tea/lemon remedies.

Lunch (and dinner) was DE-LI-CIOUS...somethingo somethingo italiano with rice. YUM.

Lauren, Nicole, Liz, and I went to Starbucks for a good while tonight. It's almost too good o be true- as soon as I walked out the door to go home I had to remind myself I was in Chile. How did I suddenly remember to remember? The dog parade that never ends was going on right outside the door. SO MANY DOGS EVERYWHERE!

Balty drew me a picture tonight...he's really obsessed with this Crayola magic marker thing that he just found in his room today. He's going to be the best big brother EVER!

Balty's gift to me :)

Something I can't wait to do when I get home- cook. I'm creating a mental note of each meal we eat and writing a recipe book in my head. Something I probably won't be adding to the list of delicious foods I can't wait to share with the fam back in the States.....COW STOMACH. Apparently we are having it for lunch tomorrow. I'm seriously nervous.

Later,
Lesley

Monday's are the busiest.

Lauren and I met at Plaza Vina at 7:45 this morning to walk towards our lovely Liceo Vina del Mar where we teach each Monday from 8-12.

The first of three classes went pretty bad- we were both feeling useless. Then again- it could have been the fact that Lauren, Janet, and I were all feeling a little/a lot under the weather. Janet even had to leave early!
The second class was better- we were able to help the girls through an activity and they actually understood and participated! Not to mention, I don't think I saw any dreadlock creations in the making.
The third class ROCKED! We dominated the lesson (modal verbs) simply by writing on the board exactly how we would have done it back in the States. Its not hard to learn if you can just remember the formulas!

I had from 2 until 6 and came home right away via colectivo. Its been a while since I have NOT walked home, but today I was feeling exceptionally tired and decided to flag down a driver. Priscilla had to leave right away to go to a mass for her friend who died just yesterday. Its sad- she's getting phone calls left and right but I think she's doing good.

Tomorrow she has her LAST doctor's appointment before she has the baby in 16 days.

Pizza for dinner- couldn't have been better.

Luego,
Lesley

oh, and its raining!

I've spent the entire day in bed, slightly bummed that I'm losing my voice and sounding like a croaky frog...but suddenly my day has turned around.

Its almost 9 PM and I just woke up from a 5 hour nap (yikes). I went to brush my teeth and came out to find Priscilla who asked "Como te sientes?!" I really did feel a little better, so I said "mejor" but....it came out as "crooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak" and we both shrieked. She said "PEOR!" and ran to the kitchen to make me some kind of remedy.

She brought me two sandwiches, one palta (avocado) and one egg (scrambled) accompanied by the most delicious honey and lemon tea I have ever had in my life. I'm currently on mug #2.

THEN I flicked on the TV to the best selection of movies yet. My Sister's Keeper, Shallow Hal, Remember the Titans, Across the Universe, something with Meg Ryan, and Miss Congeniality (the winner, always). In the sports section, no baseball but FOOTBALL! The Jets and the Dolphins. I've never been so happy to see those two teams!

The rest of my day...

I woke up late feeling pretty crumby but had another delicious breakfast of fruitcake and fruit.
Soon after, the entire family came over for lunch/to help make lunch:
Christian and Maura (Priscilla's brother-in-law and sister), Crazy Abuelita and Victor (Priscilla's mom and step-dad), Fernanda and Christiansito (Maura's kids), Benjamin and Estella (Balty's other cousins)

Added together, they are quite the crowd. They knew I wasn't feeling to hot so they didn't make me talk more than normal. THANK YOU.

We ate anticuchos, the delicious kabob-like things. They were good.
After lunch, Priscilla got some bad news. Her friend Pili who lives in Mexico and is her age...died. Victor told me that she was very overweight and had a heart condition. It was pretty sad but I think Priscilla is doing alright. Good thing the whole fam was here :)

Lately it seems like all I do is eat, because that's all I've really been talking about. No worries- there is usually a lot more to my days but lately it hasn't been super exciting. That's going to change soon! Lauren and I have looked at the calendar several times and are very aware of the fact that we have only a few (3 or 4) free weekends left! On the agenda we have:

Pablo Neruda's house (he's a famous poet)
horseback riding on the beach
somewhere in Argentina
Kim and Randy and the fam are coming!
Santiago
Peru and Machu Picchi
and more......

WOO!

I'm already feeling better thanks to this tea. Tomorrow we get to be back at the school teaching english, YAY!!!

Later,
Lesley

que bueno,el dia.

yesterday was dull- today was AWESOME!

I got to sleep in and was served a delicious breakfast (at 11 AM) of fruit and FRUIT CAKE!
Normally, fruitcake is something that I only convince myself to enjoy around Christmas time...Uncle Tim normally brings a good one. However- today it really hit the spot. Those questionable candied apples and crunchy cherries were all I needed to kick off a great day.

Priscilla, Balty, and Fernanda (12 year old neice of Priscilla who comes over all the time) left for Balty's futbol game at 11:30. Once again, I had the house to myself for a while which means TV volume was on high, I took a longer than normal shower, and I even had the nerve to cut myself another slice of fruitcake. I must be going crazy!

Shortly after getting ready to go, I found my lunch in the kitchen. IT WAS SHEPHERD's PIE! I felt a little disappointed when I first saw the little bowl of what looked like mashed potatoes but after one bite I was pleasantly surprised to find that Priscilla and The Red Oven make identical Shepherd's Pies. Que rico.

A little while later I was on my way to Lauren's. We chilled for a while and they ate lunch. EVEN THOUGH I told Glady I had already eaten...she still made me eat an empanada. Don't get me wrong- it was super delicious, but MAN these people eat a lot.

Liz, Lauren, and I eventually left for the sand dunes in ConCon. I've only been to any kind of sand dune once-a very long time ago, but I don't think I'll ever see anything like this again. It was too cool. We rented little sand-skateboard things and sand-surfed down the dunes, watched the sunset, froze from the icy-cold wind, and completely covered ourselves in sand by the time all was said and done. I'm still digging sand out of my ears and can't seem to get my feet back to normal- but it was so worth it.

I didn't take pictures but will be sure to steal some from Lauren or Liz and post them soon :)

Patricio came home for dinner tonight- which means we had another gourmet meal. Picture lasagna.
It was in the form of lasagna but only had three layers. On the bottom, ground beef and bacon from the grill. In the middle, a thick pile of super cheesy (real cheese) pasta. On top, another layer of extra crispy bacon. It was delicious. Maybe Pato should give up the demanding marine merchant job and become a chef!

Now I'm drinking Priscilla's remedy for my collapsing lung (not really- just a cold but its sounding pretty bad) and browsing the channels on TV for a good movie.

A five-star day, for sure. Not to mention the Rangers are officially in the playoffs. The cherry on top :)

Later,
Lesley

boring day.

This morning I woke up to Priscilla standing in my room staring at me. I'm not sure how long she had been talking to me- but I must have looked like a complete weirdo as I squinted so hard just to see that it was her (no glasses or contacts). I was basically sleep talking and told her that I was planning to spend the day in Valparasio. That is not true at all- I spent the entire day doing absolutely nothing. I must have been dreaming or something. Also, the building that's going up outside my window has really gotten on my last nerve. I have to sleep in earplugs. Nothing like waking up to jackhammers each morning. 

My head really hurts and I'll admit I'm in a pretty bad mood if you can't tell. My eyes hurt and I'm really tired. Hopefully this won't last long! Lauren's Chilean dad and sister are sick as well...I think something is going around.

Lauren and I were hoping to make chocolate chip cookies this evening but it never happened. That's alright- maybe next time. It sure was nice to see the fam on skype :)

:)

We suuuuuuuuuuure wished we could be joining for dinner at Joe-T's!

Later,

Lesley

sun poisoned ?

I woke up this morning slightly nervous for our test in Antigringo's class but excited that I would have the house all to myself today. That might sound a little wierd...but every once in a while you really do just need a chance to crank the music, open the windows, and take a break from everything. We all do it here, I think.

The test was what I thought it would be- writing and writing and more writing about the most popular subject in the world- language and reality. I wrote until I got too annoyed/tired/confused why I was writing what I was writing and left for volunteer work. I wasn't too pumped about going to the children's home today but did anyways, and it all worked out in my favor. There were other volunteers there so I agreed to come back tomorrow.

In that case, I took a short trek to the beach and met up with Lauren and Nicole. Thankfully they were there- its interesting living without a cell phone. I've been out of minutes for a while now...need to take care of that tomorrow.

Later, I cleaned my room, talked with good friends in Oklahoma for a while (much needed), and just kicked back and relaxed....

....until I noticed that the construction workers next door can see into my room. AWKWARD!

Jemima, Corie, Nicki, Nicole, Lauren and I went out for Mexican food. It was super delicious and a definite attempt at a taste of home...but still no Fuzzy's tacos or Joe-T's. Also, I have a stomach ache which only means that I have become accustomed to the much different Chilean food. Going back home and eating super-rich American food will be tough on our lentil-trained stomachs.

My head hurts, I'm guzzling water, and I can't keep my eyes open. I think I may have had too much sun today.

Until tomorrow,
Lesley

Define music...

There's no better time to refrain from doing homework and post the latest and greatest in my life than when the annoying wannabe Bill Clinton is honking away on his saxophone. I really am thinking of standing on my bed and jabbing the ceiling with my hairbrush if this unwanted concert of out of tune squeaks doesn't end soon. When it does- I might even clap.

:)

Classes weren't very good today- more talk about what reality is...
Let's get real. Reality is reality. It's what's happening. We each might have our own, and we might make our own...but what's the problem with that? Profesor Antigringo should really move on, it's time. Not that I'm not interested, but you can only spend so long on one single topic. We have a "test" tomorrow over two papers that explain the relationship between language and reality. Two papers (about 10 or so pages) wouldn't be that bad at all in English....but its a different story in Spanish. It isn't easy when you think you're on a roll and all of the sudden you come to a sentence that you can only understand one or two words of.

After class today, Nicole, Lauren and I made it to the movies. As usual, it was great. Drew Barrymore, a cold Diet Coke, and salty salty salty popcorn can really make a gringa feel at home again.

Balty is staying with his crazy abuelita tonight since tomorrow Priscilla has to go to Santiago to sell/buy clothes (still kind of a mystery). This means....I have the house to myself tomorrow! But that's not really too exciting...just means I can blare my music and take a longer shower :)

Until tomorrow,
Lesley

Fiesta Food Fiesta Food Fiesta Food Food Food....

This weekend was HUGE for Chile. September 18th marked the 200th anniversary of Chile's independence. Just like we celebrate the 4th of July, they celebrate September 18th every year, but this year was exceptionally partyish. Let just say Chileans really do go all out. Friday night, the night of the 15th, Lauren, Liz, Liz's school friends/our new pals, Simone (Lauren's super great Chilean sister), and I went out to a cool dancing club on the beach to begin celebrating. It was fun, we all had a good time.

with Simone :)

The next day, the 18th, Priscilla, Balty, and I went to Priscilla's sister's house (her name is Maura) to eat infinite amount of churipan, empanadas, steak, pork, rice, potato salad (!), soda, cake, etc. There were about 10 people over, and I'm familiar with all of them, so its a comfortable situation when I'm around them and I am able to communicate well with them. I tried chicha for the first time. Its a type of carbonated wineish drink, but its better than it sounds. I think its a traditioanly celebratory drink for the Fiestas Patrias.

The next day the fam and I went to Priscilla's dad's house. There, we had more steak, lots of beans, and lots of cucumber salad. Just when I thought I could take a break from eating a few hours later, Priscilla and I had to peel ourselves off of the couch to eat MORE. She and I were both really tired- good thing I don't have a fakemom who expects me to eat the world and then be as active as the rest of the talkative loud family. We ate empanadas with mariscos...

as much as I like seafood...I really just cannot take these shellfish empanadas. It was not good, but I downed it thinking "this will be the last sellfish anything that I eat."

WRONG! The next morning (yesterday morning) I was served a shellfish empanada in bed, for breakfast. EW! I almost tossed it out my window to the annoying dog in the courtyard below, but somehow found the strength inside to eat it. NEVER AGAIN.

After empanadas, Priscilla and I went to watch the Parada Militar- a military parade that they have every year. We sat outside our apartment, as we can see the water from our house, and watched the planes and boats go by. Parades aren't the same here- no floats. It was a series of really really scary cool airplane tricks and flyovers, then a naval parade of giant ships slowly floating by. Cool, but not too exciting. The most exciting part about it was the Patricio and Balty were on a boat! That floated by! Balty was SO excited to get to go with his dad on the boat, it was so cute. Priscilla was crying when their boat went by, she's really emotional lately. Must be due to the fact that OCTAVIA IS DUE IN EXACTLY 3 WEEKS, AHH!

Balty at his dance recital last week, before spring break

 After the parade, we had a refreshing lunch of rice and tomatoes. It was heavenly after such a foody weekend. Later, I went to Lauren's house and relaxed with her family for a while.

As much as I love being on vacation, I'll admit it was nice to get back into the habit of class today. Being in Vina again is nice and it was a relief to see the familiar faces of our classmates today. Classes were pretty dull, but that's alright. Lots of homework, too.

Until tomorrow,
Lesley

spring break continued...

Day 3:

After a day on a deserted island and a free facial (wind+salt+salt water+sun+sand), we decided to have a somewhat more chill and inexpensive day and explore the town of La Serena and its neighboring city, Coquimbo (pronounced Cokeembo).

We slept in, showered, had a nice breakfast of bread and jam with hot tea as usal, and got ready to catch a bus to Coquimbo. As we were just about to leave, we met a really cool girl, Rebecca, who became another character on our trip- won't forget her. She's here in Chile to live and work, teaching English at a respectable institute in Santiago that basically teaches Chileans how to be North-Americanized. She travels alone and lives differently than we do because as she explained it, she is here to start her career and begin her adult life- we are here for one semester to see as much as we can and experience as much as possible in such a "short" period of time. I think we all learned a lot from her. As we were just about to leave for Coquimbo, Rebecca asked if she could join us, so she came along and stuck with us all day.

In Coquimbo, we got off the bus and saw some more neat artsy markets. The nice thing about jewelry-selling vendors here is that they REALLY make their stuff. They don't buy chains and string beads...they twist and mold the wire into a chain, cut beautiful rocks to fit the copper that they have hand-shaped into intricate designs, then put it all together to sell for relatively cheap prices. Also, its special to buy copper jewelry here in Chile since copper is a main export...THE main export that all Chileans are proud of.

From La Serena- a few miles away, you can see a huge cross on the top of one cerro(hill) in Coquimbo. We climbed that cerro, from bottom to top, and reached the gigantic Cruce Milenio III. It was really cool and we had a great outlook over both Coquimbo and La Serena from the top of the cerro.

HUGE.

After the cross- we walked back down the cerro, stopped for lunch in the fish market, and made our way back to La Serena.

view from the top.

Interesting thing about restaurants in general: The restaurant has workers who stand outside and FORCE you into their place. Literally, they grab you and try to make you eat there. In the case of the fish market, this woman probably would not have let us say no. She took us to our table and sat us down, recited a special and mothing else, and that was it. We weren't even that hungry but you know- we might as well eat as much seafood as we can while we're here. Although....as much as I like seafood I DESPISE the seafood soup they love here. Its awful- like someone took a net and scooped out whatever swam in they could then boiled and served it. Lauren ordered some (not intentionally, I don't think). I steared clear and just ordered a shrimp empanada....it was alright.

Back in La Serena we stopped for some coffee (Cafe Helado- coffee and ice cream YUM) and walked around through more artesenia markets. We found the nicest, most genuinely talented lady selling jewelry...she was making something when we walked up to her stand. She didn't try to force us to buy anything, just explained how everything was made by her from start to finish- each earring or bracelet or ring completely unique. I wanted a bracelet but they weren't just the right size. Lauren got some really pretty turquoise earrings :) That was cool- she was another character who I think we both learned from, hard to explain.

Later, we talked for hours about lots of things then went to bed exhausted yet again but looking forward to the next day...bike riding through the Andes!

Day 4:

We woke up at the crack of dawn, literally. By 7:00 we were walking towards the bus station in our workout attire, ready to take on the Andes via mountain bike. Our bus ride was cool- we rode through grape-growing-paradise in the valleys of the mountains...I've never seen anything like that before. Rows and rows and rows or carefully aligned plants- what a tedious task it must be to take care of.

Two hours later we were in Elqui Valley where we quickly were paired with bikes and fitted into helmets. Before we knew it we were in the van riding up into the mountains...the ride was much longer than I expected it would be...IT WAS A LOOOOOOOOOONG BIKE RIDE!

....but probably one of the coolest things I'll ever do in my whole life. The van driver left and the four of us (Lauren, Nicole, Ahzha, y yo) took our time on the dirt roads. It was kind of scary at times- my tired were a little skiddy but I never fell (yes!). We went down near the river that runs through the valley, rode through a pueblo or two, saw a REAL cowboy hearding horses, bought some raisins from the coolest little dried fruit place, and finally made it back to the starting point several hours later. I'll admit- at some points during the bike ride I felt like I was in a movie or something- flying as fast as a car down a mountain just smilling hugely...I couldn't believe what we were getting to do! And I think we all felt the same way. Nicole and Ahzha were bursting into song every once in a while- pure euphoria!

A mango ice cream and diet-coke later I was revived and relaxed. The bus ride back was beautiful and the day was completey incredible. Couldn't get better.

But it did. We met up with Nicole's Chilean family after a delicious dinner of NOT pb&j. We had completos- like hot dogs but with avocado and tomato (I'll make them when I come home). Nicole's brothers and the four of us girls left La Serena around 10 and drove to Vicuna where we scaled another mountain, this time via car, and reached the top where we found the Mamalluca Observatory. It was awesome. We were there around 11:30, and it was completely 100% dark- the clearest sky ever. We got to look at the moon through a HUGE telescope...the light blinded us, that's how bright the moon was. Something else that I may never see again!

WHAT A GREAT DAY.

And that was the end of Spring Break. By the next day, we were ready to get back to Vina. La Serena was great, but Vina might be better ;)

islands,andes,desert,beach,bus,boat,bike

Where to begin.

Spring Break was this week...and it was awesome. I think I may still be in shock that we actually accomplished that insanely loaded trip.

Ahzha, Lauren. and I left early Sunday morning from Vina. We took a double decker bus and had the best seats in the house- front row, top deck. It was like a video game, just a huge window right in front of us.

this doesnt really prove my point- but the view was great.

We made several stops in small towns to pick up fellow travelers and about 7 hours and an empanada later, we arrived in La Serena. I didn't have a clue what to expect really- for some reason I couldn't get Salado, Texas off my mind (Serena statue in the creek, there).

There were a few problems catching a colectivo driver who knew what hostel or street we were talking about. Vincua? Vicuna? Vicuaa?
...We probably should have studied up a little more. I guess it would have been nice to know where we were staying for the next few nights. But it all worked out and we found a cab that took us straight to Aji Verde, our hostel.

Never judge a hostel by its smell. 
There was a fish market one door over which made getting some fresh air out of our window kind of difficult...but the hostel was awesome. I love the fact that when you stay in a hostel- you meet people coming from and going to the coolest places. A totally international scene. Mexico, Holland, USA, Canada, UK...you name it, they've got it.

the kitchen in our hostel...not many pics of the place.

The first night in La Serena rocked, literally. We ran to the sunset as fast as we could after a quick stop for some peanut butter at the local Jumbo store. It was deceiving- we thought we were close to the beach but in reality, it was a 30 minute trek. I'd say it was definitely worth breaking a sweat to get there in time:


worth it.

After seeing a beautiful sunset, we made it back into town on foot and made a pit-stop at Telepizza for a much-needed meal. Something about pizza sounded delicious and even though it wasn't much more than a slab of dough with some cheese on top- at the moment I think we would have all given the pizza two thumbs up. As soon as we demolished to pizza, we headed down the street to the most intense, Chilean concert EVER! Los Jaivas- apparently I should know who they are. Ahzha tells us that they are like Pink Floyd to Chile. They were around when Pinochet was in power and were very involved politically...
They were SO good. We stood the whole time, smooshed smack dab in the middle of a HUGE crowd. It was uncomfortable at times i.e. jumping, swaying, etc.

Los Jaivas

After the concert, we made it home quickly and packed up some peanut butter and jelly for the next day. I called Priscilla to let her know I was alive and safe in our destination city...she told me there had been a tremor in La Serena! We didn't notice- the concert was too crazy. Actually- the concert was probably the cause of the tremor :)

Day 2:

I was super excited to see Isla Damas but again- since we have never been to Chile...we had no idea what to expect.

tubleweeds and roadrunners missing from this picture

We woke up super early, filled our packpacks with lunch etc and at 8:45 the bus driver rang the bell at our hostel. How cool! We got in a bus that seemed to stop every five seconds until we made it out of town. And by out of town I mean we were so far out of any town that we were in the desert. The real desert.

We finally made it to Punto de Chorros, where we would wait for two hours to get on the boat and head towards Isla Damas, thanks to unsafe boating conditions. The waves were HUGE and there were a few times when I thought: maybe this isn't a great idea? While we waited for the sea patrol's approval, Lauren and I experienced the most delicous empanada I have had to date. The woman who made them was a character- similar to the mom on My Big Fat Greek Wedding..."Digame chiquitas que quieren?"

shrimp and cheese- never had better

you know the food is good when you want a pic with it.

Finally, after several hours of waiting and waiting, we were able to board a boat. I was pretty scared for my life, but trusted that the boatman knew what he was doing. After an hour of being doused with freezing water and smacked in the face by cold strong wind, we made it to the island and rounded another island where we saw penguins, sea lions (gross), and cool birds. Look in my album for lots of pictures :)

As we paid the "tourguide" on the island...we received notice from two fellow travelers that OUR BUS HAD LEFT. The problem: there is only one bus per day that goes to this particular location...in the middle of the desert. Long story shortened....we caught a ride home with a guy who someone knew and called to come get the three gringas and our two new best friends from Santiago (who knew English, thank goodness).

Senor Lifesaver


What a great day. We made it home with a layer of salt on our faces, terrible wind/sun/salt burn on my face, and lots of good times that I could never have the time to write all about. Peanut butter and jelly was for dinner, and we went to bed pretty early.

just beach bummin'

I went for a much-needed run this morning but didn't make it anywhere near where I hoped to...the beach looked too good. I sat on the sand for a while and people-watched...until I looked at my watch and realized an hour and half had passed.

The fast-walk home along the highway was accompanied by the usual series of car beeps and bus honks, but my loud Brazilian music helps to drown out the annoyingness of those sounds. I am still smelling the scent of something dead when I walk by a certain spot each day...I really am convinced that Chile's version of the FBI may be searching the area next time I pass. Its that bad.

I'm noticing more pelicans and seagulls around every day, probably since spring is alllllmost here. It's definitely getting warmer- or at least its warm enough to unzip my jacket for a few hours during the day. As soon as the sun sets its a different story- winter returns.

After a healthy lunch of rice and vegetables with a tomato stuffed with tuna (?) I went back to the beach for some more deep relaxation. I have to note the juice that we drank with lunch today. I've never drank poison, but whatever that green liquid in my cup was surely seemed close to it. Cucumber was the closest thing that I could come up with- definitely not a fruit flavor. Lettuce, maybe? NO TELLING.

Everyone else went skiing today, but I chose sand over slopes- thanks to the horrible experience I had in Colorado a few years ago. I know its THE Andes, and I'm positively sure that I missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime thing...but for my own good, the beach was probably the smarter idea.

Shiloh? what a little cutie.

While sitting on the beach, I looked around and could count a total of 18 Chilean flags. Every day there is some sort of new celebratory item on the streets to prepare for next Saturday, Chile's 200th birthday. People suuuuuure are getting excited! A little while later I looked around and counted a total of nine beach-dogs on the beach, all very close to me. One was really cute, but scared the heck out of me when he dashed over and took a seat directly behind me...I thought it was a person at first, yikes!  A little while later the sun began to set. I looked around and saw 13 couples...I knew it was probably time to leave. The beach becomes romance-city around 5:45 each day. I got out of there QUICK. It was cold by then, anyway.

how romantic.

I'm home now, just relaxing and watching some BASEBALL! The Braves and the Cardinals...too bad no Rangers. Maybe tomorrow the since its the Yankees? But most likely, it's never going to happen.

Patricio is coming home tonight and Fernanda is over...which means a gooooood dinner tonight! YES!
And tomorrow I get to go watch Balty dance the cueca. How will I ever manage to hold in the smiles !? I hope I don't make him mess up...he has a costume and everything!

...

dinner was excellent, probably the best yet. Patricio made "anticocha?"...like kabobs with salchichas, carne, and cebollas. YUMMO. Afterwards, the five of us played a card game that I can't wait to show to the rest of the world when I come home...Nervioso :)
A good night.

Until manana,
Lesley

We're American, and we're over it.

ALERT!
Pictures have been updated- there was a slight technical difficulty and I didn't realize my recent pictures were not being posted. Have a look, there are some new things in there.

Class was interesting AGAIN today, but we have all decided we are tired of talking about and comparing North Americans to South Americans. I could talk about the American Dream all day and ponder the psychological issues that we face...but it's gotten old. I/we are over it. En fin.

Directly after class today, the "International Volunteers" including myself took a bus to the main University of Vina del Mar campus which is located on the very very top of a mountain-like hill that overlooks the entire city of Vina del Mar. There, we participated in a sort of pat-yourself-on-the-back meeting/orientation for volunteers and saw/met several of the chairpersons for the organizations which we are helping this year. Afterwards there were empanadas!

A little while later, UVM had a huge party right outside, on campus. It was awesome. There was food, people were dancing everywhere, they were selling cokes, water, beer...

this is inside the main UVM campus. cool, right ?

...maybe I should suggest to President Boren that he could have these kinds of parties at OU and soooo many more people would want to participate in on-campus events! This is just the beginning of next week partying for the 200th anniversary of Chile. I'm PUMPED.

I came home for a late late late lunch and will relax and organize my room, clothes, thoughts,papers, etc. before my completely free day tomorrow. I hope to spend it on the beach- the whole day.
Priscilla just came into my room and invited me to watch Balty dance the Cueca at his school on Saturday, YES! This is going to be hilarious.

a gooooood meal.

We leave Sunday for La Serena and its looking like it may be the best trip ever. Can't wait, and can't believe its spring break.

Until tomorrow,
Lesley