Today was a wonderful day. I was a little worried when I woke up since I had a lot of things on my mind, but everything managed to work itself out.
When I was about to leave, I told Carolina the house keeper that I only had a 5.000 peso bill and so she took off and returned shortly with two 1.000 bills and five 500 coins (I dont know where the other 500 went but I was in too much of a hurry to worry).
First class was not very fun, again. Our professor is so professional that he apologized for wearing jeans. He then proceeded to tell a girl to not say "Ok" anymore because she unknowingly says it most times when she begins speaking (sort of like how some people say like or um all the time). I was literally shocked. Who does this man think he is? My friend David and I were talking and he said he'd love to ask him to use equations to prove the effects of magnetism, or something like that (he's an engineer major). It was funny, but I totally understood his point. History is not our subject, and he shouldn't expect us to be masters at it. It took him an hour today to explain one concept that I'm still not quite positive about.
After class, things started to improve greatly. I had two sweet hamburgers for lunch, or at least the Chilean version of a hamburger (bread, burger, cheese). Then I headed to Carlos' class to give my presentation on the band Los Prisioneros. I was a little nervous since I didn't feel too prepared, but it went fairly smoothly and it was really relaxed.
Some of the other students were talking about going to a restaurant Carlos had suggested to get some really good food. Later, the University was putting on a free movie night and Gran Torino was playing. We decided to meet up later and head to the restaurant. I had enough time beforehand to get online and chat with Alyssa for a bit. It was nice to communicate with her for only like the 4th time. Man am I excited to see her when I leave...
At 4:30, we met up and decided to walk the 8 blocks or so to get to the restaurant. It was at the end of a dark alley and had we not known about where to go, we never would've thought to go down it. Inside, the entire place was covered with artifacts and pictures and notes. I guess people can write or put whatever they want up, it was cool. My compañeros all ordered beers that were supposedly some of the best they've had since arriving, and I also had one of the best drinks since I've arrived, water. They just never drink water here, it's so weird. It's either juice, tea, or alcohol. Coffee does exist, but generally only instant coffee. The juice is amazing, especially the peach. I'm definitely bringing back a liter or two of the Watt's peach juice. The tea is great, the British brought it over long ago when they were living here. And the alcohol, I couldn't tell you. My water came in a glass bottle though, and I had to specify that I wanted it without gas (a.k.a. I didn't want sparkling water, just regular). For our main meal, three of us shared (I can't remember the name), but it consisted of a large platter of french fries, covered with eggs, onions, and pieces of steak. It sounds weird, but it was delicious. Even more so since I haven't had papas fritas (french fries) since arriving. An added bonus of the meal was that I was finally able to get rid of my 20.000 peso bill. It's about $36, but they just don't have change here to give to people. Altogether, for five people to eat, get drinks, and give a 10% tip, it was about $40. Definitely cheaper than in the US.
One our way back to the school, I got myself some ice cream. Two scoops of pineapple and something cream for only 850 pesos (~$1.50). I can't believe ice cream costs so much back home, it's ridiculous.
We arrived back at the University and found the theater fairly easily. The theater is actually really nice, and even has a balcony with more seats (the seats were very comfortable). I wish I had my camera to show what it looked like, it was really cool. The man running the film welcomed us when we came in and gave us a pack of some postcards with various films on them that have been played over the years at the theater. Although I had already seen Gran Torino in the past, I knew it was good and was definitely up for seeing it again. Clint Eastwood is just awesome in the movie, his growling just adds so much more to it. Definitely one of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it (be warned, he is supposed to be a retired war vet who is fairly racist so if you aren't down with that, then I'd pass on the movie). The greatest part of the night was that we got to see it for free. Every Friday night they show a movie, then on Saturday they have two showings of family movies. It's really cool, and as long as you're enrolled at the University it's free.
After the movie, I hopped on a micro and headed home. After talking with my family for a bit, Spanglish started on TV (the movie starring Adam Sandler from a few years ago). I had never seen it before but seeing as how I'm in Chile right now, I enjoyed it a lot more than I probably would have otherwise. It was a little confusing at times though since it was in English and had Spanish subtitles, except at times they would speak in Spanish in the movie and so they wouldn't put the subtitles up, and then sometimes I couldn't quite hear what they were saying so I was trying to read the subtitles. It was a mess, but I really enjoyed the movie.
It was a very nice day and I'm glad I finally was able to do something other than just sit at my house after class. Tomorrow I'm going horse back riding for three hours and then we're having a big barbecue. I'm a little worried since it's supposed to rain, but who cares, it'll be a good way to spend the 4th. I also got an email advertising a 'Merica celebration on the rooftop of some bar tomorrow night with all English music. Speaking of 'Merica, today in my culture class my professor was asking the one girl from Canada about her Independence Day (it was the 1st), and I blurted out "Mañana 'Merica!" I think all of us gringos are going to try and do something to celebrate being 'Merican tomorrow after the excursion. I'm down for anything as long as it doesn't just involve going to a bar or something like that, that just aint my thing.
Well I have to get up early tomorrow. Today was great, in case you couldn't tell. Hope tomorrow goes just as well. It shall we swell. Alright that's enough, chao amigos.
04 July, 2009
03 July, 2009
Hi Mom
My mom told me she reads my blog. I thought I'd say hi since she may be the only one who does.
Yesterday was a bad-good day. It was bad because I can't stand my first professor. It was good because I love my second professor.
My first professor is a history professor at the University I believe, and let me just say that I know nothing compared to the history professors at Whitworth. So when my professor here is standing in the classroom asking us why we don't know who Touqeville, Max Weber, and about 30 other people are, he should realize that I certainly would not know as much as a history professor from Chile does. And I don't care if he got up and went to school at 4 AM every morning to read for hours before classes started. I didn't. He shouldn't be so surprised that hey, American school systems aren't quite as difficult as most. He just bothers me. I'm counting down the days till the end of that class, no doubt.
My other professor is wonderful though. Class was alright, but afterwards we had our second week of the graffiti workshop, and we were to walk through the city checking out various works. His friend Charquipunk led us up many hills, through small passageways, up and down staircases, and finally concluded with probably the biggest and greatest work he and his friends have done so far. It is absolutely amazing what they were able to do. I'll upload the photos from the day later onto my facebook. It was a tiring day, but I'm really excited to see him work next week.
After, I hopped onto a micro and headed home to eat. My nights are getting less and less exciting these days. My family likes watching TV while eating dinner, and then they usually sit at the table and just keep watching as I awkwardly sit there wondering if I can excuse myself or not. Once they do get up, they either just sit down on the couch and continue watching, or everyone goes to their rooms to watch TV. It makes it difficult to not sit on the computer browsing the internet since I'm not much of a TV watcher...but what can you do right? Unfortunately it gets dark so early here (thanks winter), so I never really feel like going out and wandering around since I may get mugged. Luckily my afternoons are usually pretty busy though so by the time I get back and eat, I only have a couple hours before bed time.
Fun fact: Swine Flu is alive and well here. So much so that one of the other students from ISEP has a certificate to prove it. I guess she was taken in to see a doctor and if you have it, they give you a certificate. Now that'd be something to show your grandchildren! I'm alive and well though, and I never see her so I'm not worried. It's not killing anyone here, just giving them the flu with a cool name. I always find it a little unnecessary though when people hop onto a micro wearing those surgeon masks. If we were in America I'd say "Hey, which of us are you gonna operate on?" then I'd run off the bus jumping and laughing....muahahaha.
Yeah I'm bored. I need to find a way to exchange my 5.000 peso bill for something smaller before I try riding the micro. I'm afraid they wont accept it. Chao amigos y madre.
Yesterday was a bad-good day. It was bad because I can't stand my first professor. It was good because I love my second professor.
My first professor is a history professor at the University I believe, and let me just say that I know nothing compared to the history professors at Whitworth. So when my professor here is standing in the classroom asking us why we don't know who Touqeville, Max Weber, and about 30 other people are, he should realize that I certainly would not know as much as a history professor from Chile does. And I don't care if he got up and went to school at 4 AM every morning to read for hours before classes started. I didn't. He shouldn't be so surprised that hey, American school systems aren't quite as difficult as most. He just bothers me. I'm counting down the days till the end of that class, no doubt.
My other professor is wonderful though. Class was alright, but afterwards we had our second week of the graffiti workshop, and we were to walk through the city checking out various works. His friend Charquipunk led us up many hills, through small passageways, up and down staircases, and finally concluded with probably the biggest and greatest work he and his friends have done so far. It is absolutely amazing what they were able to do. I'll upload the photos from the day later onto my facebook. It was a tiring day, but I'm really excited to see him work next week.
After, I hopped onto a micro and headed home to eat. My nights are getting less and less exciting these days. My family likes watching TV while eating dinner, and then they usually sit at the table and just keep watching as I awkwardly sit there wondering if I can excuse myself or not. Once they do get up, they either just sit down on the couch and continue watching, or everyone goes to their rooms to watch TV. It makes it difficult to not sit on the computer browsing the internet since I'm not much of a TV watcher...but what can you do right? Unfortunately it gets dark so early here (thanks winter), so I never really feel like going out and wandering around since I may get mugged. Luckily my afternoons are usually pretty busy though so by the time I get back and eat, I only have a couple hours before bed time.
Fun fact: Swine Flu is alive and well here. So much so that one of the other students from ISEP has a certificate to prove it. I guess she was taken in to see a doctor and if you have it, they give you a certificate. Now that'd be something to show your grandchildren! I'm alive and well though, and I never see her so I'm not worried. It's not killing anyone here, just giving them the flu with a cool name. I always find it a little unnecessary though when people hop onto a micro wearing those surgeon masks. If we were in America I'd say "Hey, which of us are you gonna operate on?" then I'd run off the bus jumping and laughing....muahahaha.
Yeah I'm bored. I need to find a way to exchange my 5.000 peso bill for something smaller before I try riding the micro. I'm afraid they wont accept it. Chao amigos y madre.
02 July, 2009
Day 19
I'm almost halfway done here already. Strange how things went by so slowly the first week, and now they're flying by so quickly. At least I'm able to enjoy it.
Thankfully, there didn't end up being a strike yesterday, or if there was, I didn't notice. Unfortunately, I got out of here late and had to catch a collectivo (a taxi with a set route for up to four people rather than just one). They're a lot faster than micros since they don't have to stop so often, but they also cost more (about $1.15 instead of $.75). Luckily I got to class on time, and then managed to suffer through my Social and Political Themes class. The class is so up and down, hopefully today will be up since yesterday was down.
It was really nice out so we were able to eat lunch outside in the plaza across from the university. Then we went to Carlos' Culture and Conversation class. We finished watching a documentary on Víctor Jara. He was a Chilean folk singer who had an amazing voice and sang about peace, love, and some of the sad truths about lower income families in Chile. He later was murdered during the 1973 coup to overthrow Salvador Allende, and everyone was greatly troubled. Carlos almost cries when listening to his music, it's that powerful. Here's a song entitled "The Right to Live in Peace": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdBMY3R4C0Q&feature=related Amazing.
After class, we had a cultural workshop, and we hopped in a van and headed back to Pablo Neruda's house, the famous Chilean poet. There was a small workshop next to it where we made glass mosaics with a mirror in the center of them. We glued small pieces of glass onto the big piece, then we put cement in between the pieces so when you hold it up to the light, you can just see the light through the colored pieces. I'm stoked to get my back.
Outside, we were able to catch another beautiful sunset with a sky full of reds, oranges, and yellows. It was absolutely wonderful. I uploaded photos of the day on my facebook.
On a completely unrelated note, I'm sick of hearing about Michael Jackson. Sure he was a great singer and an even better dancer/choreographer, but is it really that big of a surprise? I mean look at him... My mom told me his kids weren't even really his. I think Billy Mays needs more publicity, the infomercial guy who sold Oxi Clean. His death is much more surprising. I guess he was on a plane and as it was landing some luggage fell out of the overhead compartment and hit him on the head. Later, he went to sleep and never woke up. This is why they are always telling people to close the overhead compartments...I wish the news would use this to help warn people. Oh well, I guess the news is too busy praising Obama.
That's another thing, how the hell can Obama get away with doubling the number of troops in Afghanistan from the end of 2008 when Bush was still in office, with plans to have four times as many troops by the end of 2011, and yet that was the very thing he continuously ripped Bush apart for in Iraq? Some change...
I'm done complaining now. At least here the people don't worship him. They all ask me how the heck an Arab got elected as the President of the US (they think Obama is Arab I guess). I kindly correct them saying that he isn't Arab and that he was something different than Bush and that's what the people wanted. I prefer not to talk much about politics though since I don't really have political vocabulary, ha.
I need to head to class now though. It's really warm here today, I'm stoked. Chao.
Thankfully, there didn't end up being a strike yesterday, or if there was, I didn't notice. Unfortunately, I got out of here late and had to catch a collectivo (a taxi with a set route for up to four people rather than just one). They're a lot faster than micros since they don't have to stop so often, but they also cost more (about $1.15 instead of $.75). Luckily I got to class on time, and then managed to suffer through my Social and Political Themes class. The class is so up and down, hopefully today will be up since yesterday was down.
It was really nice out so we were able to eat lunch outside in the plaza across from the university. Then we went to Carlos' Culture and Conversation class. We finished watching a documentary on Víctor Jara. He was a Chilean folk singer who had an amazing voice and sang about peace, love, and some of the sad truths about lower income families in Chile. He later was murdered during the 1973 coup to overthrow Salvador Allende, and everyone was greatly troubled. Carlos almost cries when listening to his music, it's that powerful. Here's a song entitled "The Right to Live in Peace": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdBMY3R4C0Q&feature=related Amazing.
After class, we had a cultural workshop, and we hopped in a van and headed back to Pablo Neruda's house, the famous Chilean poet. There was a small workshop next to it where we made glass mosaics with a mirror in the center of them. We glued small pieces of glass onto the big piece, then we put cement in between the pieces so when you hold it up to the light, you can just see the light through the colored pieces. I'm stoked to get my back.
Outside, we were able to catch another beautiful sunset with a sky full of reds, oranges, and yellows. It was absolutely wonderful. I uploaded photos of the day on my facebook.
On a completely unrelated note, I'm sick of hearing about Michael Jackson. Sure he was a great singer and an even better dancer/choreographer, but is it really that big of a surprise? I mean look at him... My mom told me his kids weren't even really his. I think Billy Mays needs more publicity, the infomercial guy who sold Oxi Clean. His death is much more surprising. I guess he was on a plane and as it was landing some luggage fell out of the overhead compartment and hit him on the head. Later, he went to sleep and never woke up. This is why they are always telling people to close the overhead compartments...I wish the news would use this to help warn people. Oh well, I guess the news is too busy praising Obama.
That's another thing, how the hell can Obama get away with doubling the number of troops in Afghanistan from the end of 2008 when Bush was still in office, with plans to have four times as many troops by the end of 2011, and yet that was the very thing he continuously ripped Bush apart for in Iraq? Some change...
I'm done complaining now. At least here the people don't worship him. They all ask me how the heck an Arab got elected as the President of the US (they think Obama is Arab I guess). I kindly correct them saying that he isn't Arab and that he was something different than Bush and that's what the people wanted. I prefer not to talk much about politics though since I don't really have political vocabulary, ha.
I need to head to class now though. It's really warm here today, I'm stoked. Chao.
01 July, 2009
Lunes
Woke up to something being nailed into the other side of the wall directly above my head. And I thought dogs howling was a bad wake up call...
Monday I awoke awake and ready to go. The shower wasn't quite as warm, and my towel wasn't quite as dry, but the bathroom wasn't a steam room when I was done so that was good. I had another hot chocolate and some bread and cheese for breakfast, and then Rodrigo asked if I wanted to go walk along the beach by myself for a while until lunch time. It was such an amazingly nice day that I grabbed my camera and took off right away. It was so warm out that I actually was hot in my sweatshirt.
I walked down to the main walkway and noticed a man sitting out on some of the rocks in the ocean, so I decided to go grab a rock of my own. I took some sweet pictures of the waves crashing over the rocks and just watched the ocean for a while, but then I realized the tide was coming in and I didnt want to get stuck out there so I left. I then continued walking along the beach to the larger of the two beachs and noticed what looked like to be people in the water. Surfers. Well they were more like oversized boogie boards, and if they could, they'd stand up on them but most of the waves weren't quite big enough.
I walked a little further and then sat on a bench along the walkway and watched the waves and the people. It was a wonderful morning. I could get used to it.
I headed back to the cafe, and then we hopped in the car and went to Gisena's parents' house for lunch. Had some more great meat, and then watched some TV. After, we said our goodbyes, drove to Rodrigo's parents' house to say more goodbyes, and then went to the cafe to gather our goods and head out. We had another exciting drive home to say the least, and boy is Rodrigo an impatient driver. We were going 110 km/h again on a 70 road when we rounded a turn and saw a micro passing in our lane not too far ahead. He proceeded to honk and flash his lights and throw his hands in the air as if the driver had just committed murder. I thought it was a little uncalled for since he was going 40 over the limit, but at least we lived to tell of it, ha!
We got home, had our once, and then watched Transporter 2. Sweet movie. We had previously seen the first so the family was pretty stoked to see the second. I finally went to sleep way later than I should've, and woke up not ready to go back to class.
I think I should go now. I still dont know if I have class today, sweet.
Chao.
Monday I awoke awake and ready to go. The shower wasn't quite as warm, and my towel wasn't quite as dry, but the bathroom wasn't a steam room when I was done so that was good. I had another hot chocolate and some bread and cheese for breakfast, and then Rodrigo asked if I wanted to go walk along the beach by myself for a while until lunch time. It was such an amazingly nice day that I grabbed my camera and took off right away. It was so warm out that I actually was hot in my sweatshirt.
I walked down to the main walkway and noticed a man sitting out on some of the rocks in the ocean, so I decided to go grab a rock of my own. I took some sweet pictures of the waves crashing over the rocks and just watched the ocean for a while, but then I realized the tide was coming in and I didnt want to get stuck out there so I left. I then continued walking along the beach to the larger of the two beachs and noticed what looked like to be people in the water. Surfers. Well they were more like oversized boogie boards, and if they could, they'd stand up on them but most of the waves weren't quite big enough.
I walked a little further and then sat on a bench along the walkway and watched the waves and the people. It was a wonderful morning. I could get used to it.
I headed back to the cafe, and then we hopped in the car and went to Gisena's parents' house for lunch. Had some more great meat, and then watched some TV. After, we said our goodbyes, drove to Rodrigo's parents' house to say more goodbyes, and then went to the cafe to gather our goods and head out. We had another exciting drive home to say the least, and boy is Rodrigo an impatient driver. We were going 110 km/h again on a 70 road when we rounded a turn and saw a micro passing in our lane not too far ahead. He proceeded to honk and flash his lights and throw his hands in the air as if the driver had just committed murder. I thought it was a little uncalled for since he was going 40 over the limit, but at least we lived to tell of it, ha!
We got home, had our once, and then watched Transporter 2. Sweet movie. We had previously seen the first so the family was pretty stoked to see the second. I finally went to sleep way later than I should've, and woke up not ready to go back to class.
I think I should go now. I still dont know if I have class today, sweet.
Chao.
30 June, 2009
Domingo
Who needs Billy Mays when you have crazy Chileans who pitch "How to Learn English" books while on the micro? I'm telling you, this guy was good. He had two buyers after a couple minutes. Afterwards, I was graced with another guitar playing singer. Oh how I do love the micros. Speaking of which, there's supposed to be a strike tomorrow involving the transportation system. My professor doesn't know just how many micros and collectivos will be involved, but it may result in classes being cancelled (again) since it's our main way of getting around. Fun stuff.
Sunday morning I woke up and laid in bed till about noon. Then I hopped in the shower (it was much bigger than my one in Viña) and had a nice, hot shower. After, the bathroom wasn't extremely steam-filled and I had a completely dry towel (though it was one of those kid towels with a hole in it for their head). What a great start to the day. Unfortunately, the day itself wasn't that great, weather-wise at least. It rained for most of the day, and when it wasn't raining it was cold and cloudy.
After a great breakfast of hot chocolate and some bread and cheese, we headed to Gisena's parents house for lunch. We had another huge meal and I had some really good meat. I didn't mention yesterday that not only did I have access to a cafe, but her dad is a butcher so I had great fresh meat every day. After eating my parents took little Nico and I for a drive to Zapallar. Oh Zapallar, how I love thee so...
This beach town was unlike any I've ever seen before. It was large mountains with a few houses up the sides overlooking the coast, covered with forests of green trees like the west side of Washington. Add in the fact that it was a small and fairly private beach town with beautiful houses and nice restaurants right along the beach, and I think I figured out my retirement plan. If I could afford it, I would definitely buy a house here. Such a beautiful place. I made sure to take lots of pictures and posted them on my facebook in case you want to check it out. http://www.facebook.com/matthewluttrell
While we were on our way there, Nico suddenly said "No quiero ir, prefiero ir a casa" (I don't want to go, I prefer to go home). It was the cutest thing and although we didn't listen to his request, he did end up getting a small ceramic tortuga del mar (sea turtle) out of it. After leaving the main beach, Rodrigo drove us to a lookout point on a cliff overlooking the ocean and told me that when my girlfriend comes and visits with me during the summer, I'll have to bring her there because it's really romantic. Ha, oh Rodrigo, always looking out for me =)
Next, we headed back to Gisena's parents house and I got to watch part of one of the greatest movies ever, Corazón Valiente (for all you gringos out there, corazón = heart, and valiente = well, I'll let you figure it out). Afterwards, I started to fade and got a little overwhelmed with all of the speaking going on around me. It was really hard to speak yet alone listen to what anyone was saying to me due to exhaustion from lack of sleep and continuous use of my Spanish brain. This was the longest I've ever gone without having any English in my life and it really is a lot of work to translate and think for that long. I managed to play a few card games with my sister, her boyfriend, and his sister until Rodrigo came to get us to take us to the cafe. Thankfully, he let me head straight to bed and I slept so wonderfully.
Another day of discovering beautiful beaches, eating great food, and being completely dazed by the conversations going on around me. Thankfully, the nearly 12 hours of sleep I got helped me for the next day.
And I leave you with that until next time. Chao mis amigos (if anyone even reads this).
Sunday morning I woke up and laid in bed till about noon. Then I hopped in the shower (it was much bigger than my one in Viña) and had a nice, hot shower. After, the bathroom wasn't extremely steam-filled and I had a completely dry towel (though it was one of those kid towels with a hole in it for their head). What a great start to the day. Unfortunately, the day itself wasn't that great, weather-wise at least. It rained for most of the day, and when it wasn't raining it was cold and cloudy.
After a great breakfast of hot chocolate and some bread and cheese, we headed to Gisena's parents house for lunch. We had another huge meal and I had some really good meat. I didn't mention yesterday that not only did I have access to a cafe, but her dad is a butcher so I had great fresh meat every day. After eating my parents took little Nico and I for a drive to Zapallar. Oh Zapallar, how I love thee so...
This beach town was unlike any I've ever seen before. It was large mountains with a few houses up the sides overlooking the coast, covered with forests of green trees like the west side of Washington. Add in the fact that it was a small and fairly private beach town with beautiful houses and nice restaurants right along the beach, and I think I figured out my retirement plan. If I could afford it, I would definitely buy a house here. Such a beautiful place. I made sure to take lots of pictures and posted them on my facebook in case you want to check it out. http://www.facebook.com/matthewluttrell
While we were on our way there, Nico suddenly said "No quiero ir, prefiero ir a casa" (I don't want to go, I prefer to go home). It was the cutest thing and although we didn't listen to his request, he did end up getting a small ceramic tortuga del mar (sea turtle) out of it. After leaving the main beach, Rodrigo drove us to a lookout point on a cliff overlooking the ocean and told me that when my girlfriend comes and visits with me during the summer, I'll have to bring her there because it's really romantic. Ha, oh Rodrigo, always looking out for me =)
Next, we headed back to Gisena's parents house and I got to watch part of one of the greatest movies ever, Corazón Valiente (for all you gringos out there, corazón = heart, and valiente = well, I'll let you figure it out). Afterwards, I started to fade and got a little overwhelmed with all of the speaking going on around me. It was really hard to speak yet alone listen to what anyone was saying to me due to exhaustion from lack of sleep and continuous use of my Spanish brain. This was the longest I've ever gone without having any English in my life and it really is a lot of work to translate and think for that long. I managed to play a few card games with my sister, her boyfriend, and his sister until Rodrigo came to get us to take us to the cafe. Thankfully, he let me head straight to bed and I slept so wonderfully.
Another day of discovering beautiful beaches, eating great food, and being completely dazed by the conversations going on around me. Thankfully, the nearly 12 hours of sleep I got helped me for the next day.
And I leave you with that until next time. Chao mis amigos (if anyone even reads this).
Sabado
I woke up to dogs howling, footsteps moving back and forth, and large objects banging against the walls. My shower never got quite warm enough, and once I was out my towel somehow got soaked before I could ever use it. (Since they don't use dryers, my towel never is fully dry. It's always cold and damp from the previous day's use, but today it somehow was just soaked) My cereal is soggy, and it's supposed to rain today. It's going to be one of those days...
On a lighter note, this last weekend in Papudo was spectacular. To make things easier, I'll break it into a different entry for each day, starting with Saturday (Sabado). I woke up and met Gabriela's boyfriend Carlos. He's a really nice guy and as her (host) older brother, I definitely approve. I finally figured out how he's related too. It's as if I were to date my mom's brother's (my uncle's) wife's little sister. Fair game in my opinion. I guess they met at the wedding of the uncle and his wife and she initially didn't like him but now they've been dating for 16 months. Cute.
Anyways, we hopped in the car with Rodrigo and went to get a crapload of bread for his sister's cafe. Afterwards, we went to get some fish and seafood from this market. It turns out I ate clams with parmesian cheese the night before, but the cheese was so overpowering that I couldn't even taste the clams. The eggs of a large fish, however, I wasn't a fan (I don't know what fish, they just said a fish).
We finally got on the road way later then they wanted, and after filling up with gas Rodrigo told me to buckle up because it was going to be like Speed Racer. He wasn't lying either. We were passing people in places where I didn't think it was possible. I almost got nervous at one point (this is a lot coming from someone who has ridden with Andrew for years of his life) but not quite...ha. But seriously, we were doing 110-120 (km/h mind you) on 60 & 70 km/h roads. The views were amazing once we reached the coast, and the family made sure to point out each and every thing we passed (it got a little annoying after a while being told to look every three minutes, but what can you do right?).
When we arrived we went to Cafe Moca'ss, Rodrigo's sister's cafe (he late told me all four kids bought it years back so they could have extra money, but she's the only sibling who actually lives in Papudo year round and works there all the time). Oh how I loved that cafe...I basically got anything I wanted for free. I raked up a tab of easily over $20 during the time I was there. I had great hot chocolate, chicken and pesto empanadas, juice, ice cream, and hot dog & chicken skewers. I definitely will miss the luxury of basically living in a cafe. They have a small cabana they called it down behind the cafe complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen/dining room area. I shared a room with Rodrigo Jr. and my parents took the room with the one big large bed. It was a surprisingly comfortable Mickey Mouse bed (once I got past the lingering smell of kid) and the house was all around warmer than what I was used to here in Viña.
Next stop was my mom Ginesa's parents' house. Boy was I welcomed there! Her mom and dad both gave me huge hugs and right away called me their son. During this trip I realized all grandparents are pretty much the same. My host grandma kept trying to feed me and give me stuff to drink, and my mom and her sister kept trying to do stuff in the kitchen so my grandma wouldn't have to, but she kept trying to help. Totally reminded me of my past Christmases...
After a nice lunch and meeting Gisena's two brothers and parents, we headed on over to Rodrigo's parents' house. Much of the same when I entered here. His mom gave me a big hug and his dad was very friendly as well. I was offered food once again and then I talked with some family for a while. One of the funniest things I've seen so far: a boy about 6 years old had a small rock and tossed it at another kid and it hit him in the butt. The kid didn't notice but the 6 year old saw that I noticed, and he proceeded to laugh with this sneaky grin on his face for the next five minutes.
Next, we headed to the cafe to drop off our stuff and my parents and I went for a walk along the beach. This is where I fell in love. It's such a small yet beautiful beach town. Sure I've seen beaches like it before in the past, with long walkways right up along the beach and numerous restaurants and bars right next to that. But all of those cities have been 5 or 10 times as big. Papudo has around 4.000 people, and many only live there during the summer. We were able to catch the sunset and walked the entire distance one way and then back the other along the walkway. They pointed out lots of cool buildings and even showed me the church they got married in. I took lots of pictures and you can check them out on my facebook if you'd like. Oh how I want to come back during the summer...
We headed back to Gisena's house after our walk for our once. I was taught how to play a few card games and played with some cousins and Carlos. I really liked Gisena's family, they were so friendly and one of her brothers has a three year old son Nicolas who is adorable. He is super smart for a three year old (or maybe I thought he was so smart because he could say phrases that I only learned last year), but seriously, I want one. I wanted to take the Spanish speaking child home with me, but I figured that would just be weird and I'd probably be shunned from the family for good.
The main reason for our trip to Papudo other than to show off what Rodrigo called the 8th Wonder of the World was because there were three or four birthdays in the family this past weekend. So later in the night, there was going to be a suprise party for one of my cousins at the cafe. They had it all decorated up nicely and had a bunch of family and friends over. I met some of her friends from school who were all pretty friendly to me and called me super macho for coming to Chile by myself, but they just weren't my type of people. All they did was drink and smoke, drink and smoke.
The party was a little awkward since I'm not much of a party guy in America, yet alone at a party where I barely speak the language of everyone attending. I did manage to have an old partially toothless man who spent half the night smoking mumble to me in Spanish for five minutes about his son and that was all I was able to catch. After everyone stood around talking and eating for a couple hours, they dimmed the lights and put on some music for dancing. My mom eventually had me get up to dance with her, and that's when all of friends of the cousin started cheering for me and yelling my name. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy dancing, just not when it's only 10 kids or so and all of them are grinding with each other while 20 older family members just stand around watching and talking.
I went outside with my parents and Rodrigo and his brother-in-law talked to me about classes in Chile compared to racism in the US and I actually learned quite a bit from them and how things in the country work. It's a little sad that your last name can determine what kind of job you can get, but they're used to it after hundreds of years.
After everyone started leaving, I finally decided I couldn't stay awake any longer and headed to bed at an unknown time. (It was way later than I'm used to) I slept wonderfully, though I smelled of nasty cigarette smoke.
And with that, I must be going to class. Hope the day gets better and the rain doesn't come. I'll let you know how the rest of my weekend went later.
Chao.
On a lighter note, this last weekend in Papudo was spectacular. To make things easier, I'll break it into a different entry for each day, starting with Saturday (Sabado). I woke up and met Gabriela's boyfriend Carlos. He's a really nice guy and as her (host) older brother, I definitely approve. I finally figured out how he's related too. It's as if I were to date my mom's brother's (my uncle's) wife's little sister. Fair game in my opinion. I guess they met at the wedding of the uncle and his wife and she initially didn't like him but now they've been dating for 16 months. Cute.
Anyways, we hopped in the car with Rodrigo and went to get a crapload of bread for his sister's cafe. Afterwards, we went to get some fish and seafood from this market. It turns out I ate clams with parmesian cheese the night before, but the cheese was so overpowering that I couldn't even taste the clams. The eggs of a large fish, however, I wasn't a fan (I don't know what fish, they just said a fish).
We finally got on the road way later then they wanted, and after filling up with gas Rodrigo told me to buckle up because it was going to be like Speed Racer. He wasn't lying either. We were passing people in places where I didn't think it was possible. I almost got nervous at one point (this is a lot coming from someone who has ridden with Andrew for years of his life) but not quite...ha. But seriously, we were doing 110-120 (km/h mind you) on 60 & 70 km/h roads. The views were amazing once we reached the coast, and the family made sure to point out each and every thing we passed (it got a little annoying after a while being told to look every three minutes, but what can you do right?).
When we arrived we went to Cafe Moca'ss, Rodrigo's sister's cafe (he late told me all four kids bought it years back so they could have extra money, but she's the only sibling who actually lives in Papudo year round and works there all the time). Oh how I loved that cafe...I basically got anything I wanted for free. I raked up a tab of easily over $20 during the time I was there. I had great hot chocolate, chicken and pesto empanadas, juice, ice cream, and hot dog & chicken skewers. I definitely will miss the luxury of basically living in a cafe. They have a small cabana they called it down behind the cafe complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen/dining room area. I shared a room with Rodrigo Jr. and my parents took the room with the one big large bed. It was a surprisingly comfortable Mickey Mouse bed (once I got past the lingering smell of kid) and the house was all around warmer than what I was used to here in Viña.
Next stop was my mom Ginesa's parents' house. Boy was I welcomed there! Her mom and dad both gave me huge hugs and right away called me their son. During this trip I realized all grandparents are pretty much the same. My host grandma kept trying to feed me and give me stuff to drink, and my mom and her sister kept trying to do stuff in the kitchen so my grandma wouldn't have to, but she kept trying to help. Totally reminded me of my past Christmases...
After a nice lunch and meeting Gisena's two brothers and parents, we headed on over to Rodrigo's parents' house. Much of the same when I entered here. His mom gave me a big hug and his dad was very friendly as well. I was offered food once again and then I talked with some family for a while. One of the funniest things I've seen so far: a boy about 6 years old had a small rock and tossed it at another kid and it hit him in the butt. The kid didn't notice but the 6 year old saw that I noticed, and he proceeded to laugh with this sneaky grin on his face for the next five minutes.
Next, we headed to the cafe to drop off our stuff and my parents and I went for a walk along the beach. This is where I fell in love. It's such a small yet beautiful beach town. Sure I've seen beaches like it before in the past, with long walkways right up along the beach and numerous restaurants and bars right next to that. But all of those cities have been 5 or 10 times as big. Papudo has around 4.000 people, and many only live there during the summer. We were able to catch the sunset and walked the entire distance one way and then back the other along the walkway. They pointed out lots of cool buildings and even showed me the church they got married in. I took lots of pictures and you can check them out on my facebook if you'd like. Oh how I want to come back during the summer...
We headed back to Gisena's house after our walk for our once. I was taught how to play a few card games and played with some cousins and Carlos. I really liked Gisena's family, they were so friendly and one of her brothers has a three year old son Nicolas who is adorable. He is super smart for a three year old (or maybe I thought he was so smart because he could say phrases that I only learned last year), but seriously, I want one. I wanted to take the Spanish speaking child home with me, but I figured that would just be weird and I'd probably be shunned from the family for good.
The main reason for our trip to Papudo other than to show off what Rodrigo called the 8th Wonder of the World was because there were three or four birthdays in the family this past weekend. So later in the night, there was going to be a suprise party for one of my cousins at the cafe. They had it all decorated up nicely and had a bunch of family and friends over. I met some of her friends from school who were all pretty friendly to me and called me super macho for coming to Chile by myself, but they just weren't my type of people. All they did was drink and smoke, drink and smoke.
The party was a little awkward since I'm not much of a party guy in America, yet alone at a party where I barely speak the language of everyone attending. I did manage to have an old partially toothless man who spent half the night smoking mumble to me in Spanish for five minutes about his son and that was all I was able to catch. After everyone stood around talking and eating for a couple hours, they dimmed the lights and put on some music for dancing. My mom eventually had me get up to dance with her, and that's when all of friends of the cousin started cheering for me and yelling my name. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy dancing, just not when it's only 10 kids or so and all of them are grinding with each other while 20 older family members just stand around watching and talking.
I went outside with my parents and Rodrigo and his brother-in-law talked to me about classes in Chile compared to racism in the US and I actually learned quite a bit from them and how things in the country work. It's a little sad that your last name can determine what kind of job you can get, but they're used to it after hundreds of years.
After everyone started leaving, I finally decided I couldn't stay awake any longer and headed to bed at an unknown time. (It was way later than I'm used to) I slept wonderfully, though I smelled of nasty cigarette smoke.
And with that, I must be going to class. Hope the day gets better and the rain doesn't come. I'll let you know how the rest of my weekend went later.
Chao.
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