highlights as of late?
well, Chile celebrated its bicentenario (200 year anniversary of independence) recently...which meant we all went out for a week straight (it was one of those weeks where you think you're partying hard because you head home at 4am and realize as you're waiting for the bus that all the Chileans are just *starting* their night...) One night they had a light show at La Moneda (the Chilean White House), so my friends Allyson and Wendy and I tried to meet up to watch it, and wound up in a sea of people, getting shoved side to side by old ladies who would scream at you, "CUIDADO! LOS NINOS!" (Careful! The kids!) and then mercilessly dig their elbows into your stomach as they shoved past you in an effort to get just.one.centimeter.closer. to La Moneda.
At one point, I was standing at an incline, literally suspended diagonally with people all around me. My claustrophobia and my asthma kicked in at about the same time, haha..needless to say we gave up on trying to actually *see* the lightshow and settled for being there and craning our necks to see the two lone fireworks they set off. Sort of anticlimatic because we came expecting a 4th of July type deal, but seeing the entire population of Santiago out in the streets was an experience in and of itself.
Here are some of my friend Wendy's pictures: (check out her blog! https://digitalcommons.georgetown.edu/blogs/studyabroad/2010/09/24/all-dieciochada-huevon/)
(we all met up here and stood on this post waiting for ALL these people to move out before we even attempted to get on a bus)
I also went to a town called Molina last weekend with my friend Landry, who's in a church group here. We went with her group thinking we were going to help out with the earthquake relief effort (Molina was hit pretty bad and a lot of the houses (really, more like shacks) there still haven't been rebuilt). It was a really interesting experience..to begin with, the group we went with had apparently already built a few of the houses there, and the purpose of our trip was to check on the families, see how they were doing, and see if they needed anything. I was a little worried at first because they also said we were going to pass out Bibles, and I didn't really intend on accidentally becoming a missionary, haha..but it worked out, no Bibles and lots of talking with some really awesome families who are amazingly strong. We talked to an 83-year old woman who lived in a tent with her husband for months after the earthquake, while he tried to rebuild their house and fix the roof. The guy (also at least 83) was on the roof when we approached the house. They all seemed super grateful and super happy to see everyone in the group; it was cool to witness. The old lady even gave us eggs from her chickens for us to eat for once (the Chilean version of tea time.) We spent the night watching a lot of soccer (for some reason, the woman's U-17 world cup was on?) and eating bread with cheese and eggs.
Last night, my friend Landry and I made the greatest discovery of our Chilean lives..we've been searching since we got here for a decent Mexican restaurant and we FINALLY found one. They made us extra spicy salsa, they had mole (the last place we went to stared at me blankly when I asked for it), and the waiter was actually from Mexico. Mexican food > Chilean food, hands down, no questions asked.
Today, I went with a lot of people from my study abroad program on a bicycle tour around Santiago. It was a lot of fun, but pretty exhausting too. We road everywhere and almost road into a lot of Chileans (when people walk on the sidewalks here they don't really follow the walk on the right, pass on the left thing..or any other sort of unspoken rule people in the US tend to abide by when walking on sidewalks...it's pretty common to see entire families holding hands, or couples (super intensely..) making out all over the sidewalk.)
Tonight will consist of me attempting to translate my lit quiz so I can try and answer the questions..and then taking Nyquil. Yes, I know how lame that makes me seeing how it's Saturday night and all..it's just that I have my 500th sinus infection since arriving here and my head is throbbing and I can't breathe for 5 seconds without coughing. My host mom's theory about the cause of me being sick all the time? Walking around "exposing myself to the cold," which translates to "wearing sandals when it's sunny and hot out, walking around the house without shoes on (but with socks AND a sweater!!), and not wearing a scarf 24/7." Sometimes her theories make me question her sanity.
Next week, since our tourist visas expire after 90 days, and we have to leave and re-enter the country so that we don't get deported, my friends and are taking a bus to Mendoza, Argentina! I'll let yall know how it goes.
oh hey, I bet you didn't know there were dinosaurs in Chile..
and a new song for you guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0LvSDV5HW8&feature=related
<3
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