In high school, some crazy teachers taught me the importance of reflection.So throughout the semester, I kept this little notebook of funny experiences (or not so funny ones…) that forced me to come to some sort of realization about myself.
Nothing is universal, except the existence of people.To say “we’re all the same” seems to be kind of a lie.I really think people ARE different depending on where they live, and what value system they grew up with.Different doesn’t mean worse or better, however, nothing of the sort.At the same time, I’m willing to bet we can all find at least one thing in common with every other person in the world.It makes the world feel smaller, more homey, no?
If someone can’t pronounce your name, change it! It’s just your name, not your identity.Thus, I am now “Colleens”.
Red does NOT always mean stop.
Being scared, sad, annoyed—it’s okay! I think I’ve learned to not worry so much about how people perceive me, especially when I feel “negative” emotions.But they’re also human.
Skinned knees aren’t embarrassing. It just means you did something fun.And probably fell.
Seize every opportunity, no matter how small, to do something different and new.Even if it’s just crossing the street at a different intersection.Who knows what’s there.
Don’t be too proud to ask for help, even when finding things on your own is more rewarding.
I can’t be frustrated when things are hard.Don’t give up because you can’t do something 100% perfectly.
Bring your own toilet paper
Get one good hug every day.
It sucks to not be the best, but that doesn’t always mean that you’re the worst
Bread can be a meal.Or all meals.Or four meals in a row.
I kind of miss studying sometimes, and feeling like I’m getting something done.I think I was made to be a really competitive person.
I can definitely relax, but I will never be a relaxed person
I need to appreciate things, even when they become normal.The ocean is still beautiful, even if I see it every day.It’s never the same.
I always over-think everything, but it’s the decisions that I think about the least and just do that always turn out best.
I need to tell people that I appreciate them.Or else they won’t ever know, and how sad would that be
I need to act like I take myself seriously.I have a really bad habit of either putting myself down or making comments about how bad my majors are jokes.I can’t do that anymore.No one will take me seriously unless I start taking myself seriously.
It’s hard being a tourist, being foreign.Although the novelty can be fun at the beginning, it wears off, and I’d give anything to just blend in a bit.
I appreciate the US in a way I never did before.I hope I don’t ever criticize my country for being intolerant, for being discriminatory.Which isn’t to say I think it’s perfect yet, not in the least.I think I’ve just learned that it could be SO MUCH WORSE in the US.But you’re allowed to look 100% different, and that’s no big deal.Move here from another country – it’s okay.
So last weekend was my final trip, to Pucon, a small town in the lakes district of Chile. I think it might have been the greenest, most peaceful place that I've visited so far. A good last hurrah, methinks.
We traveled through the night on Thursday for the umpteenth time, and arrived early Friday morning. We settled into our cabanas (note: CIEE paid for this trip, for everything except excursions, thus our accommodations were INSANE. I shared a cabin with four other girls. There were TWO BATHROOMS, and a kitchen. 'Twas the life), and headed out again to a Mapuche community center. We spent the afternoon there, ate their amazingly delicious food, played with their instruments, and then headed back into town. Everyone was exhausted, so we cooked in that night and braced ourselves for the next day...
On Saturday, I went ziplining in the morning!! It's apparently the longest zipline circuit in South America, which was sweet. It's the second time I've flown in South America!
The group getting ready!
Achieving flight... AGAIN
Later that afternoon, I went horseback riding on this cool mountain trail. The people who we rented the horses from matched us up by haircolor.... I mean, that's one way to do it, right? But my horse had brown hair and blue eyes! At the end of the trail, we hiked a little bit to the most impressing waterfall I've ever seen.... I know the picture is sideways, but if you tilt your head and imagine, I think you understand the beauty :)
This is what I look like as a horse.
This is what I look like on a horse
Waterfall!
Another night in, with this sweet card game that I'll have to teach yall when I get home! And then on Sunday, we went to these hot springs about an hour outside of Pucon! However, I was much more intrigued by the river that ran next to the hot springs, and spent most of my time playing on the rocks.... until I fell into the water, and got scared by the rapids and decided that maybe the small pools were a better fit for me.
And today is my last FULL day in Chile. I'm really excited to go back, but at the same time, I don't want to leave. I want to do both at once. I have that awkward, nervous lump in my throat... it's kind of the same way I felt when I came here, which surprises me.
Well, no. Not evil. But I just caught wind of this really cool project that Xerox has undertaken. Every person who goes on this website can choose a postcard, personalize a message, and have it printed and sent to the US troops abroad. For free. You just need to go to http://www.letssaythanks.com, choose your card, and hit send! It's super easy, and it's a tiny gesture.... but imagine how cool it would feel to get a postcard from someone far away, just saying keep on keepin' on? And I know it sounds lame, but being abroad has really shown me just how much I appreciate everything I have in the US. We're truly lucky to be able to experience such a unique freedom.
Later tonight, I'll blog about my last trip that just occurred this weekend.
Flying home this Friday! Craziness.
Lots of love,
(HAHAHA!!! Funny sidenote: I sent out a bunch of emails yesterday to family members, and I sign a lot of them "Lots of love, Colleen". Then I had to send one to someone in the financial aid department at Vanderbilt. So I wrote this long, formal email [formal email? Think about that one] and ended it with.... "Lots of love, Colleen". Hahaaaahahaha. It was one of those things where I hit send and IMMEDIATELY my stomach dropped, and I realized what I did. Oops....)
But it's true. I have ten days left in Chile, and we're all making bucket lists of what we need to get done before we leave. It's a weird feeling, an entirely mixed feeling.
Yesterday was mine and Sarah's last taller de ingles. And I wasn't expecting it to be as sad as it was. The kids were actually upset to see us go, which always surprises me. And they are absolutely adorable children. They surprised us with a bit of a going away party, complete with cookies and crackers. Then, they gave each of us a bag of chocolate covered cookies with a stuffed animal on top. Too cute.
The outside of the school
Inside of the school....
The neighborhood (truly a wonderful shot....)
The CHILDREN! With Juan en Serio y Gringa, our stuffed animals
Los ninos y yo
Katherine hogging all the brownies...
Los ninos con la comida!
Preparing the feast
The Hoedown Throwdown (YouTube the original from the Hannah Montana movie)
For example: I am currently sitting in Starbucks in Viña, drinking BREWED COFFEE from a paper (not styrofoam) cup. And they are playing Christmas music. And the Christmas music is English.
When I went downstairs to get more coffee (and show Chile just how much of a consumer I can be...), I heard more English-speaking people than I've ever heard in one place, except when there are reunions with all the other gringos here. Baby it's Cold Outside in English + English speakers + coffee = super happy Colleen.
And it's kind of pathetic that it makes me feel like that. That Starbucks feels like home? Kind of low. But at the same time, it makes sense. It makes sense that something familiar is comforting.
As I'm sitting here, a young boy of about 12 walked in and put rosary beads on all of the occupied table. We all ignored them, pretended they weren't there, and waited for him to come back and recollect them. Then he asked for money, and I said no. And I felt that pang that's become part of everyday life here, the one that reminds me I'm refusing to help people even though I could.
Do I really even have the right to feel so comfortable and at home right now, when I know that right outside the door there are billions and billions of people struggling to get by?
It is Thanksgiving morning. I'm awake finishing up some things for my essay exam today. And then I'll probably go to the beach. Tonight our study abroad program is having that Thanksgiving dinner I think I mentioned in an earlier post. Kind of a bizarre way to spend Thanksgiving, but I'm not complaining. I have nothing to complain about. And though it's super cliche and reminds me of second grade, I'm going to make a list of what I'm thankful for this year. So that when I start being whiny again, I'll remember.
I'm thankful I have family members who love me, however far away I wander. And however dysfunctional we all know we can be (immediate and extended included....), I wouldn't trade it for the world. And I'm thankful for the way my family has grown with the addition of new people, whether by birth or marriage, that I now could never imagine my life without.
I have amazingly wonderful friends who put up with me. My family has to - - my friend s choose to (those crazies). And whether you're back in Andover, have dispersed to various cities from Nashville, or will be sitting at the same dinner table as me in Chile, I appreciate you all. And don't say it nearly enough.
I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to aprovechar all these incredible experiences. Vanderbilt, Chile, Alternative Spring Break, Ecuador..... All things that I've dreamed of doing, and that are finally happening.
I'm thankful that I've always slept warm and full, regardless of the country I'm in or who is there taking care of me.
I'm lucky to be young and healthy. And even luckier to be realizing this while I'm still young and healthy.
I'm thankful that in 16 more days, I'll be drinking REAL COFFEE (okay, you can't expect this all to be serious...)
I'm thankful for Skype. For real. What would I have done without this amazing tool that allowed me to keep in touch with everyone? And now I still get to talk to everyone on Thanksgiving!
There's more. I know there is. And these are the types of things that I need to remember; focus on the amazing things I have instead of getting wrapped up in what I'm frustrated with at the moment.
That is a sentence I utter frequently. Two words, and they can mean A BILLION things depending on the intonation.
"OHhh, Chile." A loving sigh. "OHHH CHILE!" Excited to see what's around the corner. "Ohhhh ho ho ho, Chile..." Slightly disgusted, taken aback or "Ohhhhh, Chile...." Minorly exasperated, but mostly amused. Today (this week...) has been a lot of numero cuatro.
Classes are ending, finals are beginning. Okay, mejor dicho: Classes are ending, finals SHOULD be beginning.... Let's do a rundown of my classes:
Historia moderna de chile: Our other two tests have been in-class essays. We have to write either two or three essays, which need to be pretty long and developed. Makes it hard to get an amazing score, since there isn't too much time. Granted, it is open notes, but that almost makes it harder since he KNOWS everything that you could be including. So for this exam, we convinced him (or really we just asked him) to give us the questions beforehand. Thus, tonight I will write all but one of the essays, so I only have to write one in class tomorrow. Wahoo! Cuentos contemporaneos: Meh, no big surprises here. Still need to turn in my anthology on Monday. Psicologia de la adolescente: Profesora let me use my dictionary on our final today. SCORE HUGE!! Historia de la memoria colectiva: Haha I love this story. Okay, so we were supposed to have a test in October. But it never happened. And instead, we got a take-home essay. So we were supposed to have another test tomorrow, but with all the crazy scheduling conflicts between the rotating professors for the class, it was cancelled. So now I have one grade for this class. Hmm... And it's not that great of a grade. BUT AT LEAST I'm done with this class.
So, with all this mind, I go to my grammar class this afternoon where I had to make up an exam that I missed during my Patagonia adventure. (Sidenote: Profe had already decided to not give one of the exams. Again, another take home thing. Much easier. Mejor) So we walk into class, and profe has forgotten the pruebas.... Sarah decides to ask him if we can just have our first quiz count twice, and not even take the second quiz. I giggled a little bit as she did this, thinking "HOW IN THE WORLD WOULD A PROFESSOR AGREE TO THIS?!"
Then I remembered. I'm in Chile. He said yes.
Ohhhhh Chile......
PS!! I just found out that I got into a program in Ecuador this May!!!!!! So as I complain about living in a foreign country... I'm about to do it again!
Thanksgiving is in three days. Well, less, since Monday is nearly over. And while all of you up north are fussing over pie crust and the weight of your birds, I'm working on my final projects and exams, planning trips to the beach, and winding down here.
Our study abroad program is graciously hosting a Thanksgiving for the gringos on Thursday, and the students were asked to supply the desserts. So what is a New England girl to bake? WHOOPIE PIES, obviously. (Sidenote: I didn't learn these were regional until I went to college in Nashville. SORPRESA!)
However, baking/cooking in Chile has proven to be EXTREMELY difficult, due to the different ingredients, measurements, that whole Celsius things. I've had a few mishaps. Some really gross treats. So my friend Natalie (from New Hampshire-- she knows what's up) and I decided to attempt it anyways.
Issues: 1. They don't have shortening, so we used manteca. Manteca = lard. 2. Finding marshmellow fluff. The only reason I even attempted this desert was because my friend Sarah had found this while we were in La Serena. So I knew it was in the country. 3. Cocoa powder. Just hard to find. We found it, but it was harder than I thought it would be. It was by the hot chocolate mix, in the coffee and tea aisle. OBVIOUSLY... 4. Sugar granules here are HUGE for some reason. Makes some funny textured things. 5. Confectioner's sugar is not sold in boxes. It is sold in little baggies of 100 grams, because no one uses it. 6. Baking soda is only sold at pharmacies, not in the supermarkets. Not even the GIANT Super WalMart-esque markets. Thus, flour comes with baking soda already in it. So you don't get to choose your proportion or anything. Hmm..
First batch was a bit interesting. Kind of bland. Not chocolately. Not sweet. So we adjusted the recipe...
And we made whoopie pies. In Chile. It's stupid to be that proud of, but it kind of is an accomplishment to be able to cook something correctly here.
Also, I bought salad dressing from the store the other day. They only had Thousand Island, but I was in a home mood and splurged. So tonight, I had salad with salad dressing and whoopie pies.
Alright. So these are going to be incredibly disorganized blog posts, as opposed to how perfectly I normally try to do it. Oh well. Asi es la vida.
TUESDAY Tuesday we arrived in Punta Arenas. Seriously, I was barely functioning. Sarah had to save me from walking in front of cars too many times to count. I wish I was kidding. . . . Recuperation would take more than one night, we quickly learned.
We had a great dinner that night, though. We met up with two of the other girls that Sarah knew, and they stayed at the same hostel and stuff.
We also bought HORRIBLE cookies this day. HORRIBLE. They don't have brown sugar here, which means all cookies = bad.
Good news: Felt really proud of myself/ourselves for the most part of this day. Yeah, we might have turned back a day early. But we still did it.
Bed early. I think. Who knows --- it was still light out.
WEDNESDAY We wandered around the city this morning, to the cemetery (where you'll see the pictures of the awkward-looking trees). We saw some sculptures, and went to a mirador where you can see everything of the city. Beautiful views, everwhere, a la Chile.
We had one penguin tour canceled on us this day. We were going to go to a sanctuary-type place, where they roam free. But the weather was too bad, so we ended up getting rescheduled for a different place. It was probably for the better, quite honestly. The first one had more hiking. I didn't really have the ganas to hike.
ALSO! On this day, Sarah scored some AMAZING stuffed penguins!! Look for them in the pictures!
THURSDAY Today, we took a ferry to Porvenir, which is one of the most accessible cities of Tierra del Fuego, the largest island in South America. Sarah played with a little kid on this boat ride. He was from TdF, which makes him a FUEGINO!!! Baha, funny word to say!
Porvenir is a tiny town. Nothing was open. We had 2 hours there, and it was PLENTY (read: too much). But all of the people there were SO NICE. Well, in the entire southern part of Chile. They said hello. They drove slowly. They let you cross. Kind of the opposite of the rest of Chile...
Ate an awkward lunch on the boat. Bread and cheese. Ohh, Chile. But we had good conversations on the 2 hr boat ride back. It was cool to think hard again, in a way other than linguistically.
At 9:20 pm, the sun was stil up. And I realized that I really didn't want to go back to school EVER.
FRIDAY We went to Isla Magdalena this day. Another penguin reservation. Billions of penguins (legit 100,000). SO CLOSE TO THEM!! Insane.
We also met some cool people from the US. The husband was working in the south on a NASA mission. Cool beans.
Worth getting up at 5:30 for.
SATURDAY This day, we did a tour of the southernmost cities. Puerto Hambre, Fuerte Bulnes. Cool stuff!!
Also, we killed 2 1/2 hours in a cafe before our 1 am flight.
Oh traveling. I'm amazed at how comfortable I've become traveling. Even though it makes me feel nomadic.
So NOW I´m in Punta Arenas (check out a map... last REAL city on the continent, pretty cool!) I survived Torres del Paine. Barely. Man, was that an adventure WAYY out of my league. I´m going to try to do a rough post of what I did. I just tried to load my pictures at this Internet Cafe, but it didn´t work out so well. So I´ll edit it once I get back to Viña.
FRIDAY Friday was when we arrived in Puerto Natales, like my other blog post said. You know, when all our equipment got laughed at? And we rented a ton of stuff, including boots, which turned out to be a HUGE MISTAKE. More on that later... Sarah and I also started noticing the crazy hours of daylight in the south during their "summer." The sun rises before 5:30, and doesn´t set until after 9:30.
SATURDAY The day of my last post. The last breakfast. We made our way to Torres del Paine. On our way there, we stopped at a small cafeteria. As the winds whipped around us, I staretd to realize just how crazy we are for attempting this...
We arrived at the park, grabbed another transfer after paying the entrance, and went to our first campsite. It took us a while to set up our tent. And we forgot a few crucial stakes (oops). Thankfully, the park ranger who ran the campsite set us straight.
We also learned on this lovely Saturday that we essentially needed to scale a mountain to reach the first mirador (lookout). Feel free to refer back to my post on La Campana to remind yourselves about how I feel about mountains...
So we climbed for hours, carrying a smaller backpack (we left our heavier stuff in tent at the bottom). We also got lost on the wrong side of a river, and ended up losing nearly an hour as we attempted to go back to a point where the river was crossable. That was sweet.
After a few hours, we realized that we were going to run out of daylight (I mean, it might set LATE, but the sun does set). It didn´t seem worth it to risk going on when we didn´t know how the sun would set around the mountains. We also didn´t have flashlights (Note: ALWAYS BRING FLASHLIGHTS CAMPING). After we made the decision to turn back, we tried to cook some soup using our little camping stove. Sarah sat on top of a table, using her body to block the wind. Ahh, the wind! I´ve honestly never seen wind as crazy as it is here, especially in TdP. One man estimated 110 kph to me, roughly 70 mph gusts. Apparently, 100 mph isn´t uncommon in the summer (we´re nearly in the summer here).
Anyways, we gave up cooking and made our way back to our campsite, and cooked inside our tent (Note: NEVER COOK INSIDE A TENT). We really had no other choice, though. All the wind blew our any flame that we attempted to use to heat up water. Also, we had huge issues with our rental shoes. They legitimitely started bruising our feet, making that first mountain adventure uncomfortable. Horribly uncomfortable, downright painful.
So we passed out in our mummy sleeping bags, trepidatiously awaiting the next morning....
SUNDAY
We cooked in our tent again. Oatmeal. Deliciuos.
Then we took a shuttle to another lake (by the way, we realized there was a cheating way to hike the W by using all the park transportation available, which would allow you to set up tent, put your ridiculous backpacks in there, and then walk around a bit more free. The hikes were still intense, but it was SO MUCH EASIER without 15-18 kilos of gear each). On this shuttle, it started snownig like CRAZY. Sarah grew up in FL, then moved to GA, and now goes to school in Nashville. I think it was quite an experience for her... I, however, was PUMPED.
The shuttle let us off at a lake, where we would take a catamaran later that day to our next campsite. So we hid our backpacks behind a shed, and went on a hike to Salto Grande and Mirador Los Cuernos. Salto Grande is a crazy waterfall in the park, and Los Cuernos are some of the more famous mountains there, that kind of look like horns. The waterfall was absolutely INCREDIBLE. And the walk to the mirador was beautiful. It had cleared up by now, and was sunny (they say that the south of Chile gets all four seasons in one day. It is not a lie). However, RIGHT when we got to the mirador, those blizzard-like conditions kicked back into high gear. Kind of disappointing, incredibly ironic. We also got incredibly close to these animals called guanaco, which are a type of Chilean deer. This hike was not in vain.
We awlked back to thelake, where we now had 4 hours to wait until the catamaran. The winds were still fierce, so we decided to cook in the bathroom (Note: TdP had the BEST PUBLIC BATHROOMS I´ve seen in Chile). After a super classy lunch of soup and instant coffee, we decided to brave the weather and wait for the boat. And it was worth it. The catamaran had free coffee. Life is good.
We set up camp on the other side of the lake MUCH FASTER this time, since it was snowing again. Snow in Torres del Paine doesn´t actuallly fall down, I´ve learned. Oh no. Since the winds are so intense, it legitimitely blows 100% horizontally. Weirdest thing Ivé ever seen, and us New Englanders know crazy weather.
That night, Sarah and I made fantastic lentils in our camp stove. Delicious. We also met up with some people she knew from her theater class, traveling in a group of 6. The world is TOO SMALL. We all camped there that night (this time, under a blanket of snow... thank God for our rental tent).
MONDAY
We had decided that we were going to leave that night, and cut our trip short by a day. We defintiely kind of felt like we were quitting, but the weather was SO crazy, and our clothes not entirely appropriate (I don´t have a jacket in Chile...), and we were seriously in so much pain from the rental boots that it didn´t make sense to stay. It seemed dangerous, quite honestly, to be hiking around just the two of us when we were so far less than 100%. My ankles are still awkwardly bruised and deformed, almost a week later.
This morning, we cooked in a shower room. Keeping it classy and interesting.
Began the hike. AMAZING VIEWS. Our destination was Glacier Grey. We got there after about 3.5 hrs of trekking. And getting to see it, there was a moment of "It was worth it. This is why I came."
Sarah also convinced once of the kids from the group of 6 we met up with to use his hiking stick and fish a piece of ice out of the lake. And he did. And we licked it.
I repeat---- we licked a piece of the glacier.
The hike back was maybe the most painful thing I´ve ever done (Note: Earlier this day, I stubbed my foot HARD into an awkward rock wall, and I´m pretty sure my toe is broken. Not pretty. BUT DONT WORRY--- it´s just a toe!! And the baby one. Expendable).
Got back to campsite. Tore our tent down. Made coffee. Went back. Fell asleep.
My time is abuot to run out at this Internet cafe, and I dont want to pay more! Ill finish updating and add pictures in a few days!
I'm sitting in my hostel right now in Puerto Natales. We arrived yesterday morning around six in Punta Arenas, the last truly habitated city in South America before Antarctica, and took a three-hour bus up here.
In about ten minutes, another bus is coming to pick up me and my friend Sarah. And we're going to Torres del Paine National Park to hike around and camp for about four days, three nights. GAH!!
And thinking we were prepared (okay, I thought we were prepared) with this sweet tent we bought for 7 mil from Lider (AKA $14 from WalMart) and some fun socks, we quickly learned otherwise once we got here. Apparently it snows a lot of the nights. Or rains. Or is just FREEZING
After renting maybe $60 of camping equipment, and packing our bags, we're ready!
Today, I was eating lunch upstairs (potatoes and I found barbecue sauce---SCORE!). Fabiola was cutting onions, and her eyes were watering something fierce. And I said, "Don't worry. It happens to me, too."
And for some reason, I needed that today. I needed reassurance that, despite whatever negative experiences and emotions I've been having recently (and trust me, there have been PLENTY), I can find at least one thing in common with every other person I meet. Just one thing. That's all I need.
So this said whirlwind weekend actually took place last weekend, but I was too lazy to upload pictures and fill people in. Oops. Well, my excuse is that my camera doesn't have a zoom button, so I was waiting for other people to load their pictures so I could steal some of the better ones. But I think we were all being a bit lazy on the picture side....
Anyway. It was another travel-though-the-night trip, starting on Thursday and getting back to Viña on Tuesday morning. Thursday, though, I had been kind of sick, and for a while wondered if I'd even make the trip at all. THEN! After Juegos Mapuches, I started feeling better . . . woohoo!! So we got on an 23:15 bus and headed out of Viña, towards the north. We got to La Serena at about 5 in the morning, but took another bus at 6 a little futher east to the small, sleepy town of Vicuña.
FRIDAY
We had barely slept the night before, and I still wasn't feeling 100%. Regardless, I really wanted to go explore the city (instead of slowing down, like a normal sick person), to see the museums and things that the 3-block down had to offer (it was a 4x8 grid. Tiny!). The main sight of the town is Gabriela Mistral's house. So that was our first stop, and it was..... CLOSED. GAH!!! We came to this teeny town for essentially nothing! Oh, the irony...
After that, we went back to our creaky hostel (might be the sketchiest hostel I've stayed in yet. But at $10 a night, I guess I can't complain? I will anyway), and got the rest of the group, and went to tour the Capel Pisco Factory. Funny sidenote: we somehow ended up on the same tour of a bunch of retirees. Then, we went out to lunch. I got sick again. The flu is no fun, especially not when you're in crazy dry heat and you're traveling, and supposed to be enjoying yourself. But I finally gave in, and went back to the hostel where I slept for about 3 hours straight.
That night, we went to the Mamalluca Observatory. This area of Chile is known for exceptionally starry skies, skies that did not disappoint. This observatory is located on a hill maybe 20 minutes outside of Vicuña. We were treated to a short presentation that made me feel insignificantly small, and THEN we got to use their telescopes! We say Jupiter and its three moons, and then we zoomed in on our moon, and were able to see all the craters and things. At the end of this photo slideshow are some of the photos that were taken (courtesy of Sarah) through the telescope. All in all, a good day!
SATURDAY
Saturday was a cool day, mostly because of how we chose it. We knew that we had exhausted the city of Vicuna, and wanted to go a little further west into Pisco Elqui. So we legitimitely just looked on a map, and said "THAT ONE!" and went to Monte Grande for the day. It's the home of Gabriela Mistral's first house, her burial site, and.... that's it. It's amazing, though, to see the hills. It stil never ceases to amaze me, and I hope it never does. To see these HUGE dry hills, covered with cacti, but irrigated by man to create small fertile patches... I don't understand how they do it. Saturday afternoon, we headed back to La Serena, and explored the Japanese Garden there. We also went down to the beach for a little bit, a HUGE long sandy beach :)
SUNDAY
Sunday was nothing short of amazing. We booked an excursion through our hostel to go visit Humboldt penguins! The Humboldt current is a bizarre current along South America that brings with it exceptionally cold water in comparison to the rest of the ocean's temperature. THUS! Pinguinos!
It's hard to see the little penguins in my pictures (they're about 20 inches tall), but they exist. I promise. We also saw sea lions (lobos marinos) and dolphins (delfines). Matthew would have LOVED IT! There are also some videos below of those two creatures, which shows how close we were able to get in our little boat.
MONDAY
Monday, we hung around La Serena a bit more, and explore the artesanias there. I bought a llama wool sweater. No big deal. We went to some of the museums and churches the city has to offer. La Serena is cool, because it's the second oldest city in Chile (after Santiago), and has kept with the colonial tradition. All of the buildings look like they would have in the 1600s. No skyscrapers here! One of my friend's host sister lives in La Serena, and she took us to a lookout in Coquimbo (one town over). We had a lot of time left over, so we went back to our hostel and did some homework (lame). Got back on a bus, got back to Vina around 7:30, wrote a paper, and went to classes!
I'm okay with being confused. I mean, I'm Colleen. I spend the vast majority of my life a bit lost... either because I don't understand something, or because I think about it too much and then just confuse myself. But this time, it wasn't me. I promise.
I was walking to my class yesterday morning, and I always walk past this one micro stop where there are a few men who hang out there, selling newspapers and listening to the radio and stuff. This fine morning, one of the guys was throwing bread from one side of the sidewalk across to a few pigeons on the other side. Mind you, it was about 9:45 in the morning, so there was a decent amount of hustle and bustle in this street. Which is also one of the main streets in Vina, connecting Vina and Valpo.
I get closer to said homeboy, who is still doin' his thing and throwing the bread at the birds. I stop in my tracks, and hesitate a bit, because I don't really feel like walking through his line of fire. We make eye contact, and he drops his hands down to his sides, which I interpreted to be a "Go ahead, gringa! I'll let you pass through!"
I continue, get right in front of this guy, and suddenly, feel a chunk of bread hit my torso..... really? Did that just happen? I turn around, and give him a questioning glance, and he just kind of shrugs his shoulders, as if he's saying "Yeah, I don't know what just happened either."
But seriously. Who wastes their bread on a gringa?
I didn't have a bad day, persay. It was just one of those "I-dont-wanna-get-out-of-bed-fine-I'll-get-out-and-go-to-class-ARE-YOU-KIDDING-ME-class-is-canceled-anyways" type of day, you know? When you drag yourself up and somewhere, and it was ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY?! It was one of those days.
So, I got home around 7 today after leaving my house at 9:30, and after skipping half of my trabajo voluntario (shh). And I WAS STARVING. Couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, or drink, or whatever.
And then I remembered something that had soothed my soul only a few weeks before: Mocafe. A mocha, made with Nescafe. Sounds disgusting. Is a bit disgusting. Yet is somehow, at the same time, delicious and refreshing. So I turned on the hot pot & boiled some agua, added the Nescafe mix, a bit of hot chocolate mix, and a drop of milk. Viola! Happiness!
When I first got here, I found comfort in speaking English, Skyping my family, and being around people I was 100% comfortable with. A little later, it was my routine of classes and micros, and walking through the city that I knew. And now? All I want are Mocafes. Who AM I?!
"There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be a uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb"
And "climb" is precisely what we did yesterday, when we ventured to Parque Nacional La Campana about an hour away from Vina. However, these Chileans call it "Cerro La Campana." Cerro, as you may remember, means hill. THIS. WAS. NOT. A. HILL. For all you New Englanders out there, it was about 45 meters shorter than Mount Washington, but the route to get there was about 3 km longer. That said, my body is kind of sore today.
I had to wake up at 6, so we could leave Vina by 7. Let's just say I really haven't seen hours like that here..... We arrived at the park station at about 9 in the morning, to give ourselves about 5 hours for the climb up and 3 for the climb down (which really just turned into a fall down... my legs hate me). The first little bit wasn't too much fun, since it was incredibly foggy and we couldn't see anything - neither where we were going, nor where we'd been. That provides little motivation, since you become convinced that you won't be able to see anything from the top.
BUT! We hit a point about 2/3 of the way up when we suddenly emerged through the fog and were on top of the clouds, which was a trip and a half. Being above the clouds makes you feel like you're a billion times higher than you actually are. The sunshine provided some additional motivation, and we kept going. To la cumbra we were headed!
The last km or so was all rock, and may or may not have kicked my butt. At one point, I had fallen a bit, but was resting in between these two rocks that cradled my body perfectly. There were definitely a few moments where I thought "I fit so nicely right here. Is it a sign? Should I not keep going?" But I gave into peer pressure, and we all made it to the top.
I'd say it was more than 100% worth it. Even with the clouds, the view was astounding. We could see the Andes in the distance, and apparently you can see the ocean when it's slightly less foggy.
We got back to Vina at about 9:30 last night. I showered, collapsed into bed, and slept for a straight 12 hours. True insanity. Still kind of sore today, but an accomplished-sore, not a KILL ME NOW-sore. Some bruises (okay, lots of bruises... I don't claim to be coordinated), some scrapes, a blood blister on my hell (SURPRISE). Would I climb this mountain again? No way. Would I be willing to do another? In a heartbeat.
When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable. -Clifton Fadiman
Firstly, and most importantly, Chile just beat Ecuador!! (sorry Matthew...). So I can hear lots of yelling and sirens and happy clapping and chanting from my window... pretty exciting!
Yesterday morning, I got back from another four-day adventure, this time to Argentina. It still seems crazy to me that I could just buy a bus ticket for about $27 USD and hop the border into anther country. Insanity.
We left Valpo last Thursday at about 7:45, and got to Santiago a few hours before we had to leave for Mendoza. Finally were REALLY on our way at about 10:30. (Sidenote: Had a super sweet bus. It reclined WICKED far, and had this thing for your feet, too. Fantastic. If only I could sleep on buses....). Bus trip wasn't horrible. What WAS horrible, however, was waiting at the border for about four hours. No joke. But I got another stamp on my passport, so I really shouldn't complain.
FRIDAY
We finally got to Mendoza at about 7:30 on Friday morning. Marathon travel sessions are the only way to get it done. The first thing we needed to do was find tickets back, which was suprisingly difficult. It was a holiday weekend (apparently Christopher Columbus is a big deal here, too), so a lot of the better bus companies had Mendoza - Santiago booked out for a while. But then we stumbled upon this hole in the wall company that had space. It should have been a sign. But the price and the time were right, so tickets were bought. More on O'Higgins later...
Navigated ourselves to the hostel. Meaning we took a taxi. Got there, checked in. I was with a group of five, and we were in a room for six. With one other stranger. Super bizarre, but she ended up being the sweetest lady in the world. She had been two over 100 countries, speaks French and Italian, is learning Spanish, and wants to go to Antarctica. If she were a male about 20 years younger, I'd say we were soulmates. Well, not that we have anything in common; this was my second country, I'm learning Spanish, and I want to go to Antarctica, too.
Moving on.
Friday was our day for wandering, exploring, eating, and napping. Nothing too exciting.
I LIED!!! You guys. I tried meat. For the first time in five-ish or whatever years. Argentina is known for its cattle/beef, and I had been thinking about trying it anyways, so I decided... why not? But probably won't be doing that again anytime soon.
SATURDAY
Saturday was maybe one of the best days I've had since I've been in South America. We went to this place a little outside of Mendoza Center, where you can rent bikes for dirt cheap. And all up and down this one road, and off the little side roads, are vineyards and chocolate shops and olive oil factories and other cool things like that. So we rented bikes, and rode for hours, just stopping to taste wine or buy chocolate or picnic in the grass. And the entire time, we had a fantastic view of the Andes, which just added to the experience. It was nothing less than surreal.
SUNDAY
Actually, Sunday was really sweet, too. We booked a rafting trip in Rio Mendoza. Plus side: Super fantastic suits and helmets. Down side: Our guides thought it would be fun to get our boat stuck under a waterfall/rapid-y thing and "play" while the water rushed over our bodies and into the boat. Super down side: I fell out halfway, with the entire upper half of my body in the water, and just my legs in the boat. Plus side: I am now 100% positive that my heart beats, because it almost jumped out of my chest that day.
Also, my group's boat definitely won "Most Festive." It was just the five of us and our guide, who didn't mind that we sang songs at the top of our lungs while going down the river. Our group favorite for the weekend was definitely the theme song to Arthur. For memories, click below :)
Once we got back to the city, we showed, made lunch, and then went to the AQUARIUM!
Coming from a girl who grew up with the New England Aquarium at her disposal, I was expecting big things. Sharks. Turtles. Jellyfish.
Not at all. It was super tiny. But they had some cool stuff, including a decent sized sea turtle. But it was like, three rooms total. Still, I'd say it was worth the 79 cents admission fee. And true to form, I spent too much time looking at the rather grande sea turtle tank, moving closer and further away, and started to feel sick. So I had to skip the serpent museum. Sad story.
We also, on our walk back into the center, found a pretty fantastic playground/sculpture park! I think the theme for this day was "Re-live Your Childhood," with extra emphasis on the life part.
MONDAY
Monday was the day we went PARAGLIDING. My gosh, absolute craziness. Firstly, we were supposed to go at 9 am, but got a phone call saying we'd leave at 11 instead. That's okay; losing two hours was no big. We'd get back at 3 instead of 1, and still have time to shop in the town center and take advantage of Argentina's insanely low prices on EVERYTHING.
Get picked up at 11. Drive a bit away to a piece of the Andes, and wait. And wait. And then an instructor comes up to us, and tells us that since the wind is so fierce, he's going to have to take some of the heavier people first before he can take us, since we were, according to him, small girls.
No big deal, my friend. Let them do their thing. Come find us later.
These people land. He waits a bit. It's now 1/1:30. He comes up and says the wind is still too strong. He needs to take another group of heavier people. So he takes four other girls. Really, my friend? Are they actually bigger than we are? Or are you just playin' us?
Whatever, dude. Take them. As long as I get my go.
(Mind you, I'm pouting a little bit by now, thinking "WHY CAN'T I GO?!", even though my feet didn't touch the ground when I was sitting on this chair....)
Blondie comes back. (Oh, by the way--- Argentines are super European-looking. It was actually striking. I think I found a South American country where I could seriously blend in...) Tells us it's our turn. We cheer a bit, get in the van, and start the ascent up the mountain. Actually, this was kind of the scariest part. We were literally inches from falling off a cliff. Oh, and we were singing Arthur again. You know, just to prove to them that we weren't little kids.
Get to the mountain where we'll "take off" or whatever you do when you paraglide. And we wait. Because of the wind. It's about 5 pm by now. And I'm hungry.
FINALLY! We strap on suits! And we unravel our parachutes! And we buckle our helmets!
And we wait.
And suddenly... the wind dies down a little bit. Could it be... could we be so lucky as to actually get to go?
But then we waited.
FINALLY FINALLY. After 6 1/2 hours of waiting, the first of our group is able to go. Within the next couple of minutes, the other three go. And I'm sitting on the mountain, fully strapped in, watching them fly around the cordillera with the city in the backgound.
And I wait.
My guide explains to me that we need to wait for the next round of tail winds, because if we take off in a tail wind, it will just drag us up the rocks and gravel, instead of pulling us off the mountain. Then the windsockets on the poles change ever so slightly, and he yells at me "THIS IS IT!" The parachute opens up... I begin to go up... and then the wind suddenyl slaps me in the face, grabs my parachute, which is now moving behind me instead of over me. I fall to the ground, get pulled along the gravel up the mountain (this sounds familiar.....isn't this what we were preventing by waiting for six hours?), and finally get up in the air somehow. Not necessarily a smooth takeoff.
But the ride was absolutely beautiful. Entirely serene and peaceful, very calm. Did a few flips, no big deal. Felt a bit sick once I landed on the ground. But Mission: Flight was accomplished.
I flew.
Below, are some videos and pictures of what the world looked like from up there!
Oh, this is a video of a man who was hangliding off the top of the same mountain that we departed from
Following two are videos that I took in flight. The wind kind of makes them sound awkward, and they're not the most stable videos in the world, but it captures what it looked and felt like a little more
Bus ride home was QUITE the adventure. We only had to wait an hour at the border this time, which was sweet. But. Remember that cheap bus I mentioned at the beginning? It was because it was essentially a city bus. Seats did not recline. There was no bathroom. I'd like to remind you this was an eight hour ride..
But. We got back okay. Maybe things didn't 100% the way we imagined, but it's not like that ever happens anyway.
Now I have a weekend with no travel, and then I think I'm off again next weekend!
I was never really a doodler. I knew it was just a talent I did not possess. End of story. So I learned early that my way of dealing with classroom boredom was with markers. I could make my notes all colorful and pretty, whilst keeping myself entertained and relatively in-tune with what was going on in the lecture.
I brought my markers with me to Chile, obviously. All who know me will not be surprised that I bought a planner in the US (to ensure it fit with my expectations), and my markers came with me. Everything is still color-coded. Same schema to my note-taking. The big change? I've become a Class-A doodler.
The best example is my Gramatica por extranjeros, or as I lovingly call it, "Grammar for Gringos." It's an intermediate class, and though I'd never say I have a decent command of the language, a lot of the things seem pretty basic. And it's at 5:20 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, when the sun is setting and the last place I want to be is stuck in a chair watching the afternoon pass me by from a window (or, in some cases, without windows. Because our Wednesday classroom has. no. windows). However, I digress. I would like to share below the progression of my doodling, from the first day of class to the most recent. I realized today just how RIDICULOUS it has become. Hopefully yall will understand by the end.
Okay, now we're talking. Notice, however, that the notes are still pretty and organized and lengthy. Clearly I was still paying attention. But the pretty flowers and animals foreshadow the coming storm...
THERE WE GO! I mean, graphing adjectives and their changing connotations depending on the verb used is important. However, we all know the orange elefante in the corner is what I truly went to class to accomplish. Landslide starts NOW.
Some random day when I didn't date my notes? That is a sign.
Started out relatively strong! Digressed towards the end, and truly made myself laugh out loud in class over my "Gram-ants." It's actually really funny, if you speak Spanish. To me.
CHECK IT OUT! These class, I realized I needed to pay attention. So I used as MANY colors as I possibly could, thus forcing myself to focus on the lecture. And still entertain myself. Might this be a turn-around? Could I be changing my ways, and recognizing that though I'm abroad, I still need to focus in class in order to maintain a decent GPA? These were a few days filled with hope for the future.
There were no notes taken today. None. My professor knew. He knew it was a penguin. He saw it. Multiple times. I almost told him "It's Pedro the penguin!" (His name is Pedro). Eventually decided against it.
So that is my scholastic life in Chile. Filled with some notes and doodles, ultimately culminating in nothing but doodles. Such a change from what I'm used to.
You guys. I peaked. For real. I am currently atop of this mountain called life, and the only way to go is down. It will never, ever, EVER get better than this night.
I just met the Harlem Gospel Choir.
It doesn't end there. They sang a Michael Jackson tribute.
And they hugged us.
And it only cost $12 USD.
Now do you understand? Peaked. The HGC, earlier this year, was performing in Harlem, and Barack Obama was in the audience. After the show, they hugged him. And then they hugged me tonight. ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION. I've hugged Barack Obama by proxy.
And we spoke English with people other than exchange students!! So rare for that to happen. Well, at least fluent, entirely coherent English.
So here's how it went down: we saw the banners for the show hanging around Vina for a few weeks now, and decided it was a must-see event. Harlem Gospel Choir singing Michael Jackson in Chile? It sounded like too perfect a trifecta to be true. But it was. Bought some tickets. Got to the shower 45 minutes early, a la Americana. Sat down. Got ready. Got excited. And then they came out, and the guy was speaking ENGLISH. For some reason, that was SO cool to hear, at least for me. I'm not used to going to events in English anymore. And then he told us all to stand up! So we did! But the lady behind me (clearly not an English speaker) didn't understand what was going on (uhh, nor did the rest of the audience), and she poked our backs until we sat. So sat we did.
But I danced in my seat.
However, when the busted out with the Michael Jackson, I couldn't sit anymore. We stood up and danced for real (as did most of the theatre, including the Grumpy Guses behind us). Our mission had been decided: get REAL hugs from the people singing on stage. We were willing to stake out their hotel, their bus. I seriouslsy miss hugs more than you could imagine. It would have been worth it.
But when the concert ended, and we went downstairs, THERE THEY WERE! We got hugs, and photos, and they even took photos of us with them on their own cameras! So much excitement. Can't even explain it! We were kind of hovering around one of the guys, waiting, talking, and suddenly he looks at us and goes "You guys are from the States, aren't you?"
"Yes, we are...." we responded.
"I could hear it! I could hear it in your voices! Come here!"
He did not have to tell us twice.
So that was my night! Quite possibly the best night I've had in Chile. In my life. Thus, I've peaked. And I'm okay with it.
Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed. -Joseph Addison
(FYI....This post was supposed to be uploaded on October 1st, but something happened and it didn't submit correctly. Lo siento!)
Today is Thursday, October 1st (rabbit rabbit). When I wrote something down in my planner today, and I saw that the months had officially changed, I honestly was filled with a sense of panic (however minor). I'm officially halfway done. This journey is halfway over. And yet, I still can't speak Spanish as well as I'd like. I still get overwhelmed in this city/country. I still have miscommunications with professors, host family members, etc. 72 days have passed, and 72 remain. It's amazing that this day is truly the halfway point for me. I was also talking to Bobby the other day, and he was telling me that he couldn't believe how much I've changed. I'm not entirely sure I know what he means by this, but I definitely feel like I'm more willing to try new things. It's almost a new-found sense of bravery, but not invincibility; it's more of a competency and confidence. It'll be interesting to see what he has to say about me when I get back to Boston... I've also had CRAZY focus issues here when it comes to school work. I mean, we joke at school that I'm the ADD child who doesn't sit still so well. Here, it's about a billion times worse. I hate having to sit down and focus on schoolwork... so I usually just don't (not that it's an issue here.... most of my exams never materialize anyway). I've never been as unfocused as I am here. But at the same time, I like to justify it by saying I'm just incredibly focused on other things - like travel. I can spend HOURSE on the LAN airline website, looking for round trip tickets to destinations for under $120 (mission accomplished many a time). I guess I'm just prioritizing? Additionally, I've learned that I will never EVER be a "relaxed person." I don't think it would matter how long I lived here. I can definitely relax. And I have relaxed a lot here. But I'm still not a relaxed person. It's a fine line (for Spanish speakers, think ser vs estar :] ), but I've accepted it. I just don't think I'll ever slow down enough to truly assimilate. And I'm okay with that.
I have ten weekends left. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Santiago for a night. And then! Next week, on Thursday, I leave for Mendoza, Argentina for four days!! We're hopefully going to get to ride bikes through vineyards, go rafting, paragliding, and lots of other "adventure"-type activities. I'm also still hoping to make a trip to Arica (the northernmost city in Chile) for a little bit, then hop the border into Peru for a bit. And I'd love to make it to the South, the Patagonias, and play with penguins. A few other weekend trips are planned, and then I'm home. 1000% insane.
AND! On Tuesday, October 6th, Harlem Gospel Choir is going to be playing a tribute to Michael Jackson in the Vina Theatre. GUESS WHO'S GOING!!!!
Last Friday, after deciding that we knew Vina pretty well but really didn't know ANYTHING about Valpo, a group of five of us went there for the day to just wander around some of the cerros and explore. We went to a museum that used to be this famous Chilean cartoonist's house, and it was seriously the best 600 pesos I think I've spent here. It's cool to see how some senses of humor are universal. We also went to a few cool cemetaries in Valpo, looking for graves of famous people. Though most people are buried in Santiago, we were able to find family members and things like that. The way they make cemetaries here is completely different, as you'll see in the pictures below. Families have entire tombs, but they're not just headstones like we're used to; these are huge, elaborate shrines. They were eerily beautiful, and peaceful. Valparaiso is a fantastic city, and I'm so lucky to be able to spend time in it. All of the music on the streets, the ferias (fairs where artisans go to sell their works), the crazy colors of the houses... it creates an unforgetable environment that's entirely different from Vina.
I also had a fun experience today in the grocery store. I forgot my lunch today (and got chastised by Fabiola, our nanny, when I got home), so I went to the store to get Coca Cola Light and something small to eat before my next class. While I was wandering the aisles trying to decide what I wanted, I saw this brightly colored package of peanuts, complete with a sombrero. Intrigued, I went over to investigate further. Could it be true? Could this package of peanuts have SPICES and FLAVOR?! No. Way. (Chile is known for its rather bland food. Everything kind of starts to taste the same after a while, in the land of salt- NEVER pepper) I think it might have been the most satisfying lunch in a while...
And those little things like that keep me going! I love surprises, reassuring reminders that I made the right choice. I'm learning, adapting, and beginning to trust myself and my instincts in a way I never had before.
