WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO SINCE MY LAST REAL ENTRY IN ..err...OCTOBER :)
--I went to Mendoza, Argentina 1.because my visa expired and I never got a student visa, so I had to leave Chile and re-enter in order to avoid being deported, and 2. because it's right across the border, beautiful, and full of nice people, delicious, cheap food, and lots of vineyards:
The view from the bus crossing the border...I still can't get over these mountains.
In Argentina, they have real coffee...I had one sip and was more awake than I've been since I left the US :)
We went on a bike tour of the vineyards--best way to spend a sunny day :)
love them! ...clearly we enjoyed our wine tour, hahah :)
On our way back to Santiago, our bus broke down, and we were stranded for a few hours in this random town. We took a walk to the local grocery store and chilled in the parking lot, while every thirty minutes our bus driver came back to tell us "don't worry chicas, we'll be back to Santiago at 10, way before the metro closes!" (it's worth noting that he told us this at 10, when we were still sitting in the parking lot..) We made it back eventually, around 1am. Oh Chile..
(waiting for the bus, haha)
I also got to go to the south of Chile with my study abroad program--we went to a city called Teumco to learn about the indigenous people of Chile, the Mapuche. This trip was awesome-we got to help paint a school for some of the kids there, and we taught them how to play capture the flag and cook s'mores :) The next day, we visited a traditional Mapuche community and learned about how they dye and knit their textiles, about their herbal medicine and their religion. Something I thought was really cool: when they performed their harvest dance for us, they took off their shoes: they believe that you should be barefoot to be connected to the Earth. Not so cool: they're not exactly progressive when it comes to gender relations: they taught us about their traditional game (sort of a cross between soccer and field hockey) and then informed us that girls were not allowed to play. That night, we stayed in cabins on the beach, and I got to go for a run in the morning along the ocean. Me encanto :)
painting the school
Temuco!
(WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?? West Wing fans, I'm channeling Amy here, imagine how much she'd yell at Josh if she saw this...)
Harvest dance
The Pacific <3
we love the beach :)
for Halloween, my friend Landry and I dressed up as Chileans. The keys to this look are: dark hair (genetics helped us out there, lol), palestinian scarves, flower barrettes which we bought from a street vendor for 1,000 pesos, bright red lipstick (Chilean girls rock some crazy shades of red..), braids in your hair, and as many bracelets as possible on your wrists.) We were super successful, because we went dancing and the people we danced with kept freaking out when they found out we weren't Chilean. Gringas for the win, jaja.
Harry Potter 7 came out here a day before it came out in the US, but tickets sold out too fast for me to go to the midnight showing, so my friend Allyson and I went on Thursday night with her host dad. We had a minor freak out when we got there because the guy told us it was sold out, but turns out the other cashier still had cupos left...we did have to sit on the floor in the aisle..but I'm not complaining, SO worth it..I'm still freaking out 2 days later.
I pre-registered for my last undergrad semester ever...scarrryyy! I'm excited to take Portuguese! I've been looking for songs so I can start learning it now..listen to these, they're beautiful:
Also, it's finally summer here :) I've been listening to reggae and writing in the park and loving my walk home from the metro after class. (I've even dared to shock my host family by walking around inside the house with no shoes or socks on..trust me, this is about as unorthodox as it gets here..) Going home to winter is gonna be a shock. Speaking of going home, I kind of don't want to...
Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! I've got 2 final essays left and then I'm free from the Chilean education system, keep your fingers crossed for me. <3
