This past week has been a week recovering, readjusting and reintegrating into normal life. Even though I was gone for the weekend, it felt like much longer.What I noticed immediately when I got off the bus from Mendoza was how happy I was to be back in Valparaiso. This place is slowly but surely becoming another home for me.
After three days of class, it was the weekend again! After eating so much in Argentina I told myself that this week was going to be a healthier, smaller portioned eating week HOWEVER that's basically impossible here. On friday we went on a day trip to Rabuco in the country side outskirts of Viña with the whole CIEE program.
There are around 45 of us students and almost everyone of us went on this day trip. Upon arrival I went on a quick tour of the place we were at. It was a flower farm that has been in business for only 4 years by a young couple who moved from Santiago what they said, "a better life". I have never been to a flower farm before but it was beautiful, which many different kinds of flowers including a kind of off spin of lettuce, which we got to eat along the tour.
After, a small group of us got to make Sopaipillas which are DELICIOUS. essentially it's a fried pumpkin bread that is very thin that is eating either with powdered sugar or pevre. Pevre is a chilean tomato and onion mixture that generally goes on top of bread like things, it is very fresh and I know Vero is going to be addicted to it when she visits. Sopaipillas are often sold in the street here but I've been told from everybody not to try them because you never know what people put in them. So I was really glad to be able to not only try them, but make them! They are very yummy but extremely dangerous for "la guata" which is another word for belly. After Sopaipillas, we had delicious empanadas of either pino or cheese. Pino is a meet mixture with one olive and pieces of hard boiled eggs. Very delicious but the egg kind of throws you off a little mid bite. The best part about the empanadas are how big they are! They are about the size of an open wallet stuffed with money, if you can picture that. At this point I was full but it wasn't even lunch yet. It was only the appetizer. Lunch was a delicious spread of rosemary chicken, rice with tomato, avocado and corn, salad, more avocado, more tomato, and more corn. It was fresh and delicious and I ate way too much. Of course there was a lemon cake for dessert, along with fresh fruit, tea and fresh baked bread. To work off the food we played games, soccer and made kites. It was a great day, although freezing cold and windy.
After Friday I thought I would never eat again, but somehow on Saturday I managed to eat meat, meat and more meat at the asado (BBQ) of my brother's rugby team. Essentially from 1:30 to 9:00 pm I spent the day with these young families, eating meat, bread, salad, and everything. My host dad Claudio became the asador, or the main man at the grill, which was a HUGE grill. For 3 or 4 hours he was grilling chicken, steak, hot dogs, chorizo, and anything you could think of. It was great to stand by him and watch with the grill keeping all of us warm. After stuffing ourselves with meat and pevre, there was of course dessert. For dessert there was a pineapple tort with a custard filling underneath candied pineapple. A rolled log shaped cake with a manjar filling. Manjar is a caramel spread that I may have already talked about, but it is in every dessert here in Chile. And of course, mil ojas, which I know we've talked about before.
I am in desperate need for some ratatouille or some salmon, green beans. Maybe just some celery at this point.
This Thursday in Chile we had the day off to celebrate Dia de la Virgen and so we (me and Kacey) decided it was the perfect weekend to take a trip to Argentina! AFter a week of preparation booking hostels, looking at things to do and buying our tickets, we left thursday morning for the Valparaiso bus station. In order to enter the country of Argentina as a US citizen you must pay a reciprocity fee of $160 and print the receipt in order to show proof at the border. Unfortunately, Kacey had forgotten the form at her house and they didn't let her on the bus!! Even though she had proof on her Iphone that she had payed, they wouldn't let her on in case they wouldn't let her through at the border. It was a bit of a panic and heartbreaking moment when we realized that she wasn't going to be joining me on the trip that day. Luckily another group of girls from our program were going too and ended up being on the same bus as us and Kacey was able to get a new ticket for the next day. It was definitely a disappointing and traumatic experience but I doubt me or Kacey will ever do something like that again!!
After a BEAUTIFUL day of driving through the Andes Mountains we arrived around 6pm at the Mendoza bus terminal. I ended up following the girls from the program to their hostel to see if there was extra room for me to sleep there one night! My first time traveling alone and the thought of going to our hostel alone was a little daunting. It was a great little place and we met some young Danish men who have spent the past six months WOOFing through South America. WOOFing is the international organization of farms that people can receive food and lodging in exchange for work done on the farm. It is a seemingly great program that I've heard a lot of good things from and am thinking about doing during the few weeks that I have to travel in December and January. We went to a Tenedor Libre which is a buffet like restaurant where you can eat as much delicious food as you want for around $20. it was SOOOOOOO good. I think it was the first meal I've had in South America where there were veggies, veggies and more veggies! It was the best meal I've had in a month and it felt so good to eat fresh foods again. The veggies allowed for me to have devour crepes filled with dulce de leche and pistaccio ice cream on the side. I will never forget that meal. It was so good that I went back the next night with Kacey when she arrived!
Friday was spent walking around the city, looking in leather boutiques and walking around Parque San Martin, which is a park that is about half the size of the city. It took an hour to walk from on end to the other! But it was beautiful and very refreshing to see trees and nature. Valparaiso unfortunately doesn't have any major park areas, although the ocean is just as beautiful, if not more than the park. Kacey arrived around 5:30 and we headed out for dinner a few hours later! We met the nicest couple from a little Chilean mountain town who invited us to sit with them while we ate. They were SO wonderful and we spent almost three hours with them. They ended up giving us their number and email address and invited us to spend the weekend at their place!
Saturday was the best day of the weekend I'd have to say! We took a public bus out to Maipu in the outskirts of Mendoza where all the vineyards are located. We rented bikes for the day and made our way to three different bodegas. Our first wine tasting included the tasting of 5 delicious wines. It was unbelievable how good it was. Kacey got bit by a dog on the way to this place, luckily only bruising her and not breaking the skin! Kacey just was having an unlucky weekend. Our second bodega included a full meal of pasta and a glass of delicious wine all for around $8 dollars. It was a great place and we actually ran into the other three girls that I had spent the first day with. We met some Argentine men who really tried to work their charm with some of the other girls! It was great to talk to locals though about Argentina and Chile, and their perceptions of the US. On to the next bodega, an olive oil farm that also had jams, chocolates, and sweet liqueurs. UNBELIEVABLE. This full day ended of food, wine and laughter only came out to be around $40 dollars including travel, and gifts. It was hard to beat but somehow on our way home we found a cafe that was 50% off and we devoured an entire cake, with drinks as well and only payed around three dollars. Saturday was a day one can only dream about and I'm so, so happy we got to experience this day.
Sunday was another day spent downtown, the park, the markets and several cafe's. It was a magical weekend that ended with a long night chatting with a few Chilean travelers in our hostel over wine and beer. Everything about this weekend was magical and special and I can't believe my luck. It was the best first traveling experience I could have had, besides a few hiccups in the beginning. My first time in Argentina really makes me want to go back and see more of the beautiful countryside and people who were so welcoming and wonderful. Quite a long post I know, but there was just so much good that is worth sharing! I've been here a full month now and it's starting to speed up! Only 5 more and the thought is terrifying. Stay tuned for future adventures :)
To all my dedicated followers (hey mom and dad!) I apologize for my lack in posts! I've been a busy girl, which makes me happy but also so so tired.
Last week was a great week for me, busy and full and exciting. On Monday and Tuesday I rested from the exciting weekend but on Wednesday we played soccer again! However, I was a little less enthusiastic due to the extreme cold and wet conditions. That morning I woke up and it was pouring down rain, and I mean pouring. I splurged on a bus (instead of a 10 minute walk to the metro which is much cheaper) but the walk to the bus stop and the wait got me almost completely soaked! I should have taken an umbrella that was hanging right by the door, but I had never realized or known they were there. Rookie mistake. Something about rainy weather just kills the desire to do anything except curl up in bed and watch american movies dubbed in Spanish. However, after my last class I ended up accompanying my friend Cameron to his house and eating la once at his place. "La once" is what people call the evening meal and generally is eating around 5 or 6 pm but in my house it's usually eating around 8:30. It is not really a dinner but more of a tea party. We usually drink ceylon tea, with bread, ham, cheese, butter, jam crackers, palta (avocado), manjar (a caramelesque sweet spread) and sometimes eggs. In my house we usually have whole wheat bread but the custom is white bread which is delicious and we never have manjar (my whole family has lost a lot of weight recently due to dieting and change of eating habits). At Cameron's house however, we had white bread, manjar, and cheese, all full fat, full everything and it was DELICIOUS. I love la once at my house, but this was just a step above. Cameron's host brother is Benito, who I think I talked about last post, and his mother is Anto. We ended up talking about music and dancing, and from there we actually started to dance! I learned several moves from different dances including the chilean national dance: la cueca. Here is a video that I found on youtube that has a lot of the same things that I learned from Benito!
I absolutely loved learning how to do it, however it is harder than they make it look! Benito's grandmother Coto was also with us during this dance time. She has severe Alzheimer's and says very obscure, random things all the time but apparently she used to be a magical cueca dancer who danced like no one else. Benito got her to dance with him, and it was a beautiful moment watching a grandson and grandmother dance la cueca. Their faces were the exact definition of joy, as they "played" together.
After such a warm and inviting time at their house, going out in the cold to play futbol an hour away on a wet and cold field seemed very unappealing but I was convinced by very persistent friends. I escaped the field when someone else joined later on and I ran to the warm house of the guy who runs the place.
Thursday was a fun night, and it was almost puro chileno! The bar was cheap and fun, and I met a girl named Nicole who everyone called pollo (chicken). She was so welcoming and excited to talk to me, and it was the first chilena I've met who was so open. We quickly made plans to do a girls night out with her and her friends, and me and Kacey. ALSO! almost forgot, my nickname has become kikiriki which is the sound they make when a chicken crows. I think one of the first night's I hung out with this group of people animal sounds came up and kikiriki ended up being my favorite sound and I said it a lot that night. It stuck and now I am called kikiriki. Nicknames are a big thing here and everyone has one, it shows cariño or that you are cared for. Sometimes nicknames are weird and have no reason like mine, or sometimes they are description of a physical aspect of a person. For example it is very common for overweight people to be called "gordito" or "guaton" which are synonyms for fat or chubby. In the US, being called fatty by your family, your friends, everyone you know is a recipe for low disaster. However in Chile it happens all the time with no resulting disasters. There is no sentiment behind the nickname, it is simply a remark on someone's physicality.
On Saturday Coty had her first communion which was a fun and fairly quick ceremony in which I understood nothing, again. Afterwards, we went home and had 20 some people in the house and we ate ALL DAY. From morning till night I ate nothing but carbohydrates. For breakfast: bread, for lunch: lasagna and pasta, cake, ice cream, la once: bread, peanuts, and palta. I've never felt so stuffed in my whole life. Mi mami promised me that on Sunday we would have good healthy food but we went to Papa Johns's for lunch!!! I don't know how I'm going to survive here. It was Dia de Niños or Kids Day and so of course we had pizza for the kids. Kids day is like mothers and fathers day and we spent the whole day at las Dunas de Con Con, or the dunes of Con Con. We went up and down, up and down for hours, with rented snowboards and sleds that we had to wax with candles. It was a fun time and I got to sand board, albeit slowly (the sand was wet). All in all, a great week and a great weekend! Here are some picture from the weekend
Well I realize it's been a while since I've written, and I'm sorry for that, but it's because I've been so busy! My classes started, and I have a pretty good schedule and mixture of classes. On mondays and Tuesdays I have a Spanish literature course with a professor with an extremely German name: Adolfo de Nordenflycht. I can barely understand him but I'm pretty sure he is a cool dude. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I have a Spanish Communicational and Chilean Culture class which is SO fun. My professor has lived in the US for over 15 years, just recently she got back from a year long stay in Portland teaching at Lewis and Clark College. She is super fun! On our second day of class we talked about slang and swear words that are particular to Chile. It's a fun space where we can talk about the differences between our home and Chile, and look at the reasons for these differences. For example, here, PDA is a HUGE thing. On a ride in the metro the other day I saw a couple make out for the whooooooole ride. There was no shame whatsoever. I can't really wrap my mind around it yet, but in class we talked about how it happens because of the conservative culture in a lot of Chilean families. My other class is a Spanish grammar class which seems to be really helpful and very clear which is just what I need. On Wednesday I have a class called Modernity and Social Problems which I am not quite sure yet about but it sounds good. I then have a class taught by the program I am studying through, which is called CIEE. It is a history, literature, and movie class about Valparaiso and we will be doing a lot of excursions around the city which seems like it will be a lot of fun. And that, my friends, are the classes I will be taking this semester. It's a higher number of classes than I'm used to but less of a work demand in them than I'm used to so I don't think it will be too bad. The credits all worked out and I'm 98% sure I'll be able to transfer them to K so that's really all I care about right now!
This week was the first time since being here that I felt a little lost and lonely. Mostly I think it's because I spent a lot of time alone as I would travel to and from school alone, be in class alone, and a lot of times I ate alone. My mom here is very busy too during the day so I usually ended up being here alone during the day time. I also felt a struggle between wanting to be friends with the gringo people in my program and make new Chilean friends. I had thought that I would be taking classes with Chilean students but because of students strikes they are all still in their first semester of the year, and we just started the second. I had been banking on having that access to Chilean young people to make friends, but with that out, I was feeling really frustrated since the only friends I could make were gringos. Which is great, but that wasn't really what I was looking for when I came here. I know that it's still early to have met all the people I think I will meet, but it feels like I've been here forever! Even though it's only been about two weeks, I feel like I have been here for months. Luckily the weekend came around and things turned around a little bit.
On Thursday night I went and played futbol with my friends host brother and "his crew". I am still very sore from this game, even though to them it was just a game for fun. If I even touched the ball it was pretty much a guarantee that I would mess up and kick it out of bounds, or lose it to a defender, however I still managed to have fun! Benito's crew is a bunch of young, poor students who live together in a three bedroom apartment above Benito's moms place. They live in bunk beds and spend hours jammin out together playing music, drinking cheap wine and just spending time together. If I ever had an image of what Chilean youth are like, it is this group of people. They are a great group of people and I'm realy grateful to have met them! Afterward futbol we went to a bar near my house and had terremotos, which is pineapple ice cream and wine. The sweetest most delicious drink ever. On Friday me and Kacey tried to make it out to Viña to have lunch and do some browsing of the stores but halfway through Kacey got sick and we had to go home! What a stressful situation. Riding a bus was surely going to make her sick again, but she could barely walk to where we needed to catch the metro because she was so feverish. It turned out to only be a 24 hour bug that she caught from her 6 year old sister here. Luckily I haven't gotten the bug, at least not yet!
It's been a good week I'd say, even with a little dip in the middle and I'm even more excited for next week's adventures.
