After studying like a maniac, some caffeine craziness, writing like a maniac for an hour and a half straight on my test today, and throwing clothes for some drastically different temperatures in my backpack, I'm almost ready to head out to San Pedro de Atacama tomorrow morning, the driest desert in the world! I hope to: sandboard, see the geysers, bike through the valle de la luna, see the salt flat, go to the lagoons, and wander the desert like a nomad. We'll see how much of that I can get done in 5 days!
Psi brothers, I'll be thinking of you all Monday night, especially the seniors who I love so very very much. <3
See you on the flip side!
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Sopping wet adventures through Santiago!
Hellllllllo loyal blog readers! I sit here writing this update nice and cozy warm despite the 30 degree temperatures outside my window because I am curled up in my new fleecey UCLA blanket made and mailed to me by my wonderful mother! School spirited AND warm!
Last Monday, Gina and Lindsey and I went through the Santiago section of our guide books and made a list of things that we had not yet done in Santiago and felt we needed to before we left. The events of this weekend were largely a materialization of that list.
Friday was the original day we set to begin our adventuring, however we quickly realized that since it was a holiday (commemorating the naval battle of Iquique) the streets were empty and everything was closed. (Quick side note and quirk: unlike in the US where everyone is out and about picnicking and traveling and stores have sales and special, longer hours, in Chile everyone seems to stay inside and everything is deserted for the day). So, we decided to postpone our adventuring to Saturday and instead took a frozen pizza that had been neglected in our freezer for the past 2 months due to our lack of ability to use our oven and went over to Lindsey's to cook it for dinner. Lindsey has a Brazilian roommate who is literally ALWAYS cooking every time we go over there, so we got to eat some delicious Brazilian cheese balls (no wonder I'm fatter these days) as appetizers! This roommate, Ylana, is also really fun to talk to as she is from Brazil but speak PERFECT English as she studied abroad in Canada and lived in DC, and is now on her 4th language as she is going to Grad school here in Chile. After dinner, we decided we were going to try and go see Grease the Musical. However, when we arrived it was sold out for the evening so we purchased tickets for the following night, grabbed some quick dessert, and headed home for the night.
Saturday began the day of adventuring. We DEFINITELY did not reach everything on our list, but we certainly saw some really neat parts of Santiago that I didn't even know existed! Unfortunately, Gina was unable to join us since she has strep throat (eek! I'm realllllly hoping not to catch it!). Ariel, Kathryn, Linsey, Ylana and I first went to the Mercado Central and wandered through it, looking at all the restaurants and fish and seafood. I wish I had known about it before so I could have taken my Dad! After that we headed towards Plaza de Armas where Lindsey ate some Pastel de Choclo, a very traditional and delicious Chilean dish of ground beef, chicken, and a corn bread like thing on top. From there, we walked several blocks along the Alameda, or the main street, towards Barrio Brasil. On the way, Ylana took us to a tiiiiiny barrio I didn;t even know existed called Barrio Concha y Toro.
It was only a block from the Alameda but it was literally like stepping into another, very european, very quiet, very quaint world. I absolutely loved it! From there we walked to Plaza Brasil in the center of Barrio Brasil, which if full of very cool, colorful, arquitecturally unique building. We spent some time playing on the swings and climbing trees before heading several blocks up a street through the Barrio to Parque Quinta Normal.
I should mention that at this point it was definitely raining, and had been for quite some time. Although we were sans umbrellas or rain coats, or even hood for that matter, the rain for some reason or another wasn't bothersome at all. In fact, it was really fun to just be walking in the rain enjoying the day and sights. The gloomy weather also added to the very strange part of town we encountered on our walk from the plaza to the park, full of very old and beautiful building scatter between many abandoned or fire-strucken buildings, some of which were huge. It was really strange and eery, but also really cool for reason I can't really explain!
After wandering the park in the rain a bit and literally dripping water from our faces, we headed back to the other side of town to eat at a Mexican restaurant my language partner had told me about before we headed to Grease. The tacos and corona I had was the best Mexican food I've had in 4 months! Definitely no CA Mexican food still, but it certainly hit the spot! Then we headed to Grease, which was impressively good and funny, whatwith the plot liberties they certainly took wherein Bill Gates and Al Pachino apparently attended Rydell High. The dialogue was in Spanish but the songs were all in English, essentially subtitled in Spanish by two television screens on either side of the stage. The singers and dancers were really good and the live musicians were especially enjoyable for me! Especially the saxophone! I miss playing so much, I would almost imagine the sensation of playing my saxophone as I watch the tenor player jam out to Grease on stage. All in all, a very great and successful day in Santiago!
As for today, I have essentially been a lazy bum and enjoyed it very much. I also legitimately cooked dinner tonight and skyped with both my parents and Malia for a very long time which was very nice! Everyone at home is getting ready to watch the last episode of LOST ever, but I will have to wait until tomorrow! Regardless of whether everything is answered or not, it will be over in just a few hours. CRAZY! Can't wait to see what happens!
Last Monday, Gina and Lindsey and I went through the Santiago section of our guide books and made a list of things that we had not yet done in Santiago and felt we needed to before we left. The events of this weekend were largely a materialization of that list.
Friday was the original day we set to begin our adventuring, however we quickly realized that since it was a holiday (commemorating the naval battle of Iquique) the streets were empty and everything was closed. (Quick side note and quirk: unlike in the US where everyone is out and about picnicking and traveling and stores have sales and special, longer hours, in Chile everyone seems to stay inside and everything is deserted for the day). So, we decided to postpone our adventuring to Saturday and instead took a frozen pizza that had been neglected in our freezer for the past 2 months due to our lack of ability to use our oven and went over to Lindsey's to cook it for dinner. Lindsey has a Brazilian roommate who is literally ALWAYS cooking every time we go over there, so we got to eat some delicious Brazilian cheese balls (no wonder I'm fatter these days) as appetizers! This roommate, Ylana, is also really fun to talk to as she is from Brazil but speak PERFECT English as she studied abroad in Canada and lived in DC, and is now on her 4th language as she is going to Grad school here in Chile. After dinner, we decided we were going to try and go see Grease the Musical. However, when we arrived it was sold out for the evening so we purchased tickets for the following night, grabbed some quick dessert, and headed home for the night.
Saturday began the day of adventuring. We DEFINITELY did not reach everything on our list, but we certainly saw some really neat parts of Santiago that I didn't even know existed! Unfortunately, Gina was unable to join us since she has strep throat (eek! I'm realllllly hoping not to catch it!). Ariel, Kathryn, Linsey, Ylana and I first went to the Mercado Central and wandered through it, looking at all the restaurants and fish and seafood. I wish I had known about it before so I could have taken my Dad! After that we headed towards Plaza de Armas where Lindsey ate some Pastel de Choclo, a very traditional and delicious Chilean dish of ground beef, chicken, and a corn bread like thing on top. From there, we walked several blocks along the Alameda, or the main street, towards Barrio Brasil. On the way, Ylana took us to a tiiiiiny barrio I didn;t even know existed called Barrio Concha y Toro.
It was only a block from the Alameda but it was literally like stepping into another, very european, very quiet, very quaint world. I absolutely loved it! From there we walked to Plaza Brasil in the center of Barrio Brasil, which if full of very cool, colorful, arquitecturally unique building. We spent some time playing on the swings and climbing trees before heading several blocks up a street through the Barrio to Parque Quinta Normal.
I should mention that at this point it was definitely raining, and had been for quite some time. Although we were sans umbrellas or rain coats, or even hood for that matter, the rain for some reason or another wasn't bothersome at all. In fact, it was really fun to just be walking in the rain enjoying the day and sights. The gloomy weather also added to the very strange part of town we encountered on our walk from the plaza to the park, full of very old and beautiful building scatter between many abandoned or fire-strucken buildings, some of which were huge. It was really strange and eery, but also really cool for reason I can't really explain!
After wandering the park in the rain a bit and literally dripping water from our faces, we headed back to the other side of town to eat at a Mexican restaurant my language partner had told me about before we headed to Grease. The tacos and corona I had was the best Mexican food I've had in 4 months! Definitely no CA Mexican food still, but it certainly hit the spot! Then we headed to Grease, which was impressively good and funny, whatwith the plot liberties they certainly took wherein Bill Gates and Al Pachino apparently attended Rydell High. The dialogue was in Spanish but the songs were all in English, essentially subtitled in Spanish by two television screens on either side of the stage. The singers and dancers were really good and the live musicians were especially enjoyable for me! Especially the saxophone! I miss playing so much, I would almost imagine the sensation of playing my saxophone as I watch the tenor player jam out to Grease on stage. All in all, a very great and successful day in Santiago!
As for today, I have essentially been a lazy bum and enjoyed it very much. I also legitimately cooked dinner tonight and skyped with both my parents and Malia for a very long time which was very nice! Everyone at home is getting ready to watch the last episode of LOST ever, but I will have to wait until tomorrow! Regardless of whether everything is answered or not, it will be over in just a few hours. CRAZY! Can't wait to see what happens!
Friday, 21 May 2010
Quirky thangs!
As a weird, strange, unbelievable fact: this is the last weekend that my apartment will just be Gina and I in Santiago. Next weekend we'll both be traveling, then friends arrive, and then she leaves/I leave. That was an interesting realization on the way home from the grocery store today.
Random list of things I thought about today that will be funny 6 weeks from now, also just funny quirks about Chile are inferred that I've now just gotten used to and forgotten are strange:
-drinking milk out of a plastic gallon/drinking soy milk
-having a tv
-having a microwave
-knowing how to use the oven
-holding/having/using US currency
-not having pesos
-being able to use my debit card without outrageous fees
-lack of Spanish (duh)
-big buys at grocery stores, rather than going every day for a few little things
So there's your list of random quirks. I was thinking today how long its been since I used US currency. And how used to unrefridgerated boxes of milk I've become. It is amazing to think about how accustomed I've become to so many things down here, and how many things remain that are still so foreign nonetheless.
Chile has so many incredible things and experiences left to offer me, all I have to do is live it up as much as possible for the next 6 weeks! And that is what I plan to do. . .well that and a little bit of studying for impending tests I suppose.
Random list of things I thought about today that will be funny 6 weeks from now, also just funny quirks about Chile are inferred that I've now just gotten used to and forgotten are strange:
-drinking milk out of a plastic gallon/drinking soy milk
-having a tv
-having a microwave
-knowing how to use the oven
-holding/having/using US currency
-not having pesos
-being able to use my debit card without outrageous fees
-lack of Spanish (duh)
-big buys at grocery stores, rather than going every day for a few little things
So there's your list of random quirks. I was thinking today how long its been since I used US currency. And how used to unrefridgerated boxes of milk I've become. It is amazing to think about how accustomed I've become to so many things down here, and how many things remain that are still so foreign nonetheless.
Chile has so many incredible things and experiences left to offer me, all I have to do is live it up as much as possible for the next 6 weeks! And that is what I plan to do. . .well that and a little bit of studying for impending tests I suppose.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Un Techo Para Chile: Building a House!
I spent this past Friday-Sunday night 4-5 hours south of Santiago in a tiiiiiny village called Colinto in the region of Pencahue which is closest to the major town of Talca in the VII Region of Chile with a group from the organization Un Techo para Chile (A roof for Chile) building mediaguas (temporary houses) for people who's homes were badly damages by the earthquake in February. Some awesome new friends, 3 days without a shower, some sore muscles, and some torn up/left behind pants later, I have a pretty great story to share!
When I thought of the things I was expecting to do in my time abroad, building a house in a TINY village and peeing on the side of a mountain side looking into an incredibly beautiful valley while a donkey literally stared at my bare booty and working into the night under the absolutely incredible southern hemisphere stars and being able to see the Milky Way definitely would not have been on that list. But, oh man, am I glad that it worked its way into my experience down here!
Not only was it an amazing experience to be able to help out these people who literally have almost nothing now, but I met some really cool people and had a blast (an exhausting, muscle aching, tiring BLAST). We slept in a school and luckily, our group was able to walk to the location of the house we were to build. Our group built a house for a little old man who spoke such strange Spanish I had no hope of understanding him but he brought us snacks and drinks, as did the neighbors including Camila, my new favorite little Chilean girl who was 3 years old and adorable. This town was literally shacks on a hill, and to be quite honestly this mans new mediaguas that we built him is probably way nicer than his house that was damaged by the earthquake, it was one of the nicest on the hill by the time we finished. Chile outside of Santiago is a completely different world. Whereas within Santiago you could almost be in any developed city in North America (almost like a huge LA really), outside of Santiago is a whole different world and way more what I thought about as South America before coming here. It was so incredible to be putting together a house, from the holes for the foundation to putting on the roof, while looking out at an incredible country valley with hills and Andes and listening to the sounds of donkeys and chickens all around the hill.
Our group consisted of myself, Lindsey, Gina, Alma (UCLA EAPer), and then 3 Chilean engineering students Alan, Tomás, and Chotito. Basically, our cuadrillo rocked. Not only did these three guys really know what was going on and how exactly everything needed to be done, but they were hilarious, awesome, super nice, and really fun. These guys have gone to construct almost every weekend since the reconstruction started and are incredibly caring and dedicated 24/25 year old guys that were really a pleasure to get to know. We were the first group to finish our house and we had lots of fun doing it! From climbing the walls to hammer in nails for the roof, to playing baseball with wood pieces and apple cores, to digging 17 deep holes alllll day on Saturday, it was all fun because of the people we got to do it with and the reasons we were doing it for.
How exactly did I actually build a house you ask? Logistics: The Chilean government drops off somewhat ready-made houses that we just then assemble. That sounds way simpler than it was however. Our house was on a hill, which mean in order to make the floor level we dug 17 different holes which we then put these wooden rod-like pieces (called pilotes in Spanish, I'm not sure what that translates to) at different levels on the hillside to result in levelness. These wholes were pretty deep, all over 2 feel and lots of the holes were conveniently right where there were tons of rocks so we used a chuzo (again, not sure of translation, a big metal rod, to stab the ground repeatedly. That took all day Saturday. Then on Sunday, we placed the floor panels on the rods and nailed them together, placed the walls and roof, and finally attached the windows and the door. Yesterday consisted of a lot of hammering and measuring. In the end, our little old señor had a new house with a great view!
So all in all, it was a great experience through which I met some really cool people and was able to help out all the people that suffered from the earthquake a little, even if it was just one house for one little old man. I wish I could do more! The sore muscles and bruised knees are reminders of a great weekend!
When I thought of the things I was expecting to do in my time abroad, building a house in a TINY village and peeing on the side of a mountain side looking into an incredibly beautiful valley while a donkey literally stared at my bare booty and working into the night under the absolutely incredible southern hemisphere stars and being able to see the Milky Way definitely would not have been on that list. But, oh man, am I glad that it worked its way into my experience down here!
Not only was it an amazing experience to be able to help out these people who literally have almost nothing now, but I met some really cool people and had a blast (an exhausting, muscle aching, tiring BLAST). We slept in a school and luckily, our group was able to walk to the location of the house we were to build. Our group built a house for a little old man who spoke such strange Spanish I had no hope of understanding him but he brought us snacks and drinks, as did the neighbors including Camila, my new favorite little Chilean girl who was 3 years old and adorable. This town was literally shacks on a hill, and to be quite honestly this mans new mediaguas that we built him is probably way nicer than his house that was damaged by the earthquake, it was one of the nicest on the hill by the time we finished. Chile outside of Santiago is a completely different world. Whereas within Santiago you could almost be in any developed city in North America (almost like a huge LA really), outside of Santiago is a whole different world and way more what I thought about as South America before coming here. It was so incredible to be putting together a house, from the holes for the foundation to putting on the roof, while looking out at an incredible country valley with hills and Andes and listening to the sounds of donkeys and chickens all around the hill.
Our group consisted of myself, Lindsey, Gina, Alma (UCLA EAPer), and then 3 Chilean engineering students Alan, Tomás, and Chotito. Basically, our cuadrillo rocked. Not only did these three guys really know what was going on and how exactly everything needed to be done, but they were hilarious, awesome, super nice, and really fun. These guys have gone to construct almost every weekend since the reconstruction started and are incredibly caring and dedicated 24/25 year old guys that were really a pleasure to get to know. We were the first group to finish our house and we had lots of fun doing it! From climbing the walls to hammer in nails for the roof, to playing baseball with wood pieces and apple cores, to digging 17 deep holes alllll day on Saturday, it was all fun because of the people we got to do it with and the reasons we were doing it for.
How exactly did I actually build a house you ask? Logistics: The Chilean government drops off somewhat ready-made houses that we just then assemble. That sounds way simpler than it was however. Our house was on a hill, which mean in order to make the floor level we dug 17 different holes which we then put these wooden rod-like pieces (called pilotes in Spanish, I'm not sure what that translates to) at different levels on the hillside to result in levelness. These wholes were pretty deep, all over 2 feel and lots of the holes were conveniently right where there were tons of rocks so we used a chuzo (again, not sure of translation, a big metal rod, to stab the ground repeatedly. That took all day Saturday. Then on Sunday, we placed the floor panels on the rods and nailed them together, placed the walls and roof, and finally attached the windows and the door. Yesterday consisted of a lot of hammering and measuring. In the end, our little old señor had a new house with a great view!
So all in all, it was a great experience through which I met some really cool people and was able to help out all the people that suffered from the earthquake a little, even if it was just one house for one little old man. I wish I could do more! The sore muscles and bruised knees are reminders of a great weekend!
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Little Things
Today when I was on the metro on my way to soccer from school, I was listening to my iPod on shuffle to Peer Gynt's Suite by Grieg and it was on the final chord when the tone of the metro doors closing sounded and it fit the final chord that my earbuds were playing into my ears perfectly.
I desperately wanted to be around someone who would understand that rarity of this occurring, which quickly made me miss the very very special bond I have with so many of my friends back at UCLA and home through music. I really do think we are able to appreciate a whole nother world that so many people are completely unaware of sometimes.
Later, Jess sent me a really cool jazz renditon of Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter turned into a sweet jazz song. Again, very cool. I'm not sure any of my friends here would think this is cool. But it is, very cool.
Tonight we won our soccer game and tomorrow I have a presentation (eek) in one of my classes.
I desperately wanted to be around someone who would understand that rarity of this occurring, which quickly made me miss the very very special bond I have with so many of my friends back at UCLA and home through music. I really do think we are able to appreciate a whole nother world that so many people are completely unaware of sometimes.
Later, Jess sent me a really cool jazz renditon of Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter turned into a sweet jazz song. Again, very cool. I'm not sure any of my friends here would think this is cool. But it is, very cool.
Tonight we won our soccer game and tomorrow I have a presentation (eek) in one of my classes.
7 de Mayo Celebración, Fanatsilandia, Miscallaneous
Everytime I think I'm keeping up with updating this blog, I quickly fall back behind ahhh!
Okay, so last weekend started out with a 5 de Mayo celebration. . .on 7 de Mayo because that's when we all had time! We did it potluck style at Lindsey's apartment and actually ended up eating probably the best Mexican food I've had in the past 4 months! I made loaaads of guacomole again and brought a chicken from the store, which when combined with refried beans that Gina's mom brought form the US, homemade Mexican rice, tortillas, salsa, and tomatoes resulted in a pretty incredible burrito! Topped off with Lindsey's homemade Sangria (delicious), some spanish language radio station (highlight: Lindsey saying "There's gotta be a spanish radio station. . .oh wait they all are we're in Chile), and dessert of homemade arroz con leche! Super rico!! And a very fun night spent with friends :)
Saturday, I finally went to Fantasilandia with my friend Christine and three of her High School students from her internship. Fantasilandia is an amusement park in a park in Santiago. For some reason, I was under the impression that it was a little kid place and I was going to be goofing off and acting like I was 5 all day: WRONG! These rides were big and scary! Like Knotts Berry Farm or even almost Six Flags status! And these girls who were our tour guides were all about the adrenaline rides! After the initial shock, it was really fun! Rides were definitely more janky than anything in the US and there are definitely a few I would not choose to ever go on again, but it was really fun spending the day at an amusement park with Christine and three crazy high school girls (who I'm pretty sure are chain smokers. . .). The funniest part of the day was when we rode "Piratas del Caribe" which was definitely a shorter, crappier, attempted duplicate of Disneyland. Complete with scenes that were excactly out of the Disney ride. I wonder if Disney knows hahahah!
That evening after skyping with Jess for a bit, I went to a friends 21st birthday party at her apartment themed after a hialrious book entitled "Stuff White People Like". You were supposed to dress up as something of the list, so I went as Outdoor Performance Gear. It was a really fun night and it was great to see a lot of people from my program who I hadn't for a while!
Sunday was spent being very lazy and catching up with friends back home on Skype and seeing a movie (Date Night=Hilarious!) in the evening.
Monday, I went for a run (on what turned out to be a smog alert day that i have no way of knowing about due to the lack of television) and then played catch up on some things I hadn't done the rest of the weekend before returning to classes and projects yesterday and today!
This weekend, I am going south to build mediaaguas (temporary housing) for Earthquake victims. The Chilean government has a goal of constructing 20,000 of these this weekend to get things up before the rain comes (although it's predicted to rain this weekend) so nearly everyone I know is headed south this weekend. I'll be sure to update when I get back!
Okay, so last weekend started out with a 5 de Mayo celebration. . .on 7 de Mayo because that's when we all had time! We did it potluck style at Lindsey's apartment and actually ended up eating probably the best Mexican food I've had in the past 4 months! I made loaaads of guacomole again and brought a chicken from the store, which when combined with refried beans that Gina's mom brought form the US, homemade Mexican rice, tortillas, salsa, and tomatoes resulted in a pretty incredible burrito! Topped off with Lindsey's homemade Sangria (delicious), some spanish language radio station (highlight: Lindsey saying "There's gotta be a spanish radio station. . .oh wait they all are we're in Chile), and dessert of homemade arroz con leche! Super rico!! And a very fun night spent with friends :)
Saturday, I finally went to Fantasilandia with my friend Christine and three of her High School students from her internship. Fantasilandia is an amusement park in a park in Santiago. For some reason, I was under the impression that it was a little kid place and I was going to be goofing off and acting like I was 5 all day: WRONG! These rides were big and scary! Like Knotts Berry Farm or even almost Six Flags status! And these girls who were our tour guides were all about the adrenaline rides! After the initial shock, it was really fun! Rides were definitely more janky than anything in the US and there are definitely a few I would not choose to ever go on again, but it was really fun spending the day at an amusement park with Christine and three crazy high school girls (who I'm pretty sure are chain smokers. . .). The funniest part of the day was when we rode "Piratas del Caribe" which was definitely a shorter, crappier, attempted duplicate of Disneyland. Complete with scenes that were excactly out of the Disney ride. I wonder if Disney knows hahahah!
That evening after skyping with Jess for a bit, I went to a friends 21st birthday party at her apartment themed after a hialrious book entitled "Stuff White People Like". You were supposed to dress up as something of the list, so I went as Outdoor Performance Gear. It was a really fun night and it was great to see a lot of people from my program who I hadn't for a while!
Sunday was spent being very lazy and catching up with friends back home on Skype and seeing a movie (Date Night=Hilarious!) in the evening.
Monday, I went for a run (on what turned out to be a smog alert day that i have no way of knowing about due to the lack of television) and then played catch up on some things I hadn't done the rest of the weekend before returning to classes and projects yesterday and today!
This weekend, I am going south to build mediaaguas (temporary housing) for Earthquake victims. The Chilean government has a goal of constructing 20,000 of these this weekend to get things up before the rain comes (although it's predicted to rain this weekend) so nearly everyone I know is headed south this weekend. I'll be sure to update when I get back!
Friday, 7 May 2010
¿Dónde se va el tiempo?
Tonight as I sat at a 5 de Mayo fiesta on 7 de Mayo eating some incredible burritos that we made and talking with friends about what we're doing after finals, I realized how freaking fast almost 4 months has gone by and how little time it seems I actually have left after looking at the various trips and things I have planned until July 1st.
Por ejemplo:
This coming weekend, I am going down south to build mediaaguas (temporary shelters) for people who's homes were damaged in the Earthquake.
The weekend after that I will be studying for my 3rd of 4 tests in one of my classes.
The weekend after that I will be in San Pedro de Atacama and BAM it's June.
Then Karen will be here and we will explore Santiago and travel somewhere.
Then I will go snowboarding one weekend.
Then I will take 3 final tests.
Then I am done.
What?! Fluency in Spanish is no longer a realistic goal at this point. I can honestly say that I speak Spanish, but not that I'm fluent in Spanish and that will have to suffice.
Tomorrow I'm going to an amusement park called Fantasilandia with a friend and her students from her internship! I'll be sure to take tons of pictures and update about it!
Por ejemplo:
This coming weekend, I am going down south to build mediaaguas (temporary shelters) for people who's homes were damaged in the Earthquake.
The weekend after that I will be studying for my 3rd of 4 tests in one of my classes.
The weekend after that I will be in San Pedro de Atacama and BAM it's June.
Then Karen will be here and we will explore Santiago and travel somewhere.
Then I will go snowboarding one weekend.
Then I will take 3 final tests.
Then I am done.
What?! Fluency in Spanish is no longer a realistic goal at this point. I can honestly say that I speak Spanish, but not that I'm fluent in Spanish and that will have to suffice.
Tomorrow I'm going to an amusement park called Fantasilandia with a friend and her students from her internship! I'll be sure to take tons of pictures and update about it!
Dad in Chile Part 2: Valparaiso, Santiago, back to reality
(An ascensor in Valparaiso, Chile)
On Monday morning, my Dad and I hopped on the metro/bus and took a quick trip out to Valparaiso, Chile. Valpo is a really old port city on the coast that is built on more than 40 hills and famous for its eclectic and colorful arquitecture and houses built all over these hills. It is also famous for its street art that is all over the streets of the hills.
(Street art in the Museo al Aire Libre (Open Air Museum) in Valpo)
On Monday, after a bus adventure through the hills of Valpo and eventually grabbing a quick taxi to our sweeeet apartment we had rented for the night high on Cerro Alegre with a view of the port and getting settled there by oooo-ing and ahhhh-ing at all of its glory, we headed out to explore. We ate a delicious set menu lunch at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant and then walked down the hill and over to a neighboring hill where we took our first ascensor (apparently these were on the Amazing Race this season!) up to the Museo al Cielo Abierto (Open Air Museum) and wandered the streets looking at some very incredible and amazing street art amongst the colorful houses. We walked WAYYY up the hill (I think I gave my Dad a workout) to try and visit Pablo Neruda's Valpo house but it ended up being closed on Mondays (for future reference, lots of things are closed in Valpo on Mondays and it's probably not the best day to go there, but we made it work!).
After a full day of exploring, we headed back to our apartment to shower and get ready for dinner. After realizing that our restaurant of choice was closed because it was Monday, we settled on a cute little pizza and Italian joint called Alegretto. It turned out to be delicious and very cozy inside! After dinner we headed back to the apartment and watch some television before crashing (which happened very quickly thanks to the glass of wine I had with dinner, I think I'm related to my mother in that sense).
On Tuesday morning, we slept in and then awoke to our delicous little tray of breakfast that had been left outside our door by the Hostel staff. After a slow and relaxing morning of getting ready, we headed down to hit the last of 3 viewpoints we ended up going to, wandered the city a bit more, and opted for heading back to Santiago a little bit earlier than planned since the weather in Valpo was gloomy that day.
Back in Santiago, we spent the day relaxing in our hotel and ended up going to the grocery store for some quick lunch fixings while beginning to pack and get things together for the following day. That evening, I took my Dad to my favorite restaurant in Santiago, Tiramisu, with my friend Lindsey. As always, it was absolutely delicious (mmmm trout and salad, yes I did just say trout)and it was fun that my Dad got to meet one of my good friends down here. I think he really enjoyed the restaurant, not only is it delicious but the environment is also really cool and it's always booming with people. When we got back to the hotel, we skyped with my Mom and hung out a bit before hitting the hay.
On Wednesday, we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, did some final packing, stored our bags at the front desk of the hotel, and headed out for some last day Santiago errands and hanging. We headed over to the medical clinic where I will be getting the shots I need to have to do Machu Picchu and took care of some business and then went to the mall and shopped for a bit and ate one last meal together. My Dad bought a great La U fútbol polo shirt and I got a new fleece for winter! We ate at a very Chilean sit down restaurant and ate oodles of palta (avocado). Then, we headed back to the hotel for some couch cuddling before the transfer service showed up to take Dad to the airport. Saying good-bye was harder this time than it was in January I think, because I knew how much I had missed him and knew what was coming more so than in January. It was absolutely incredible that I got to see him down here for this past week and show him all about my life for the past 3.5 months and the next 2 months (little less). I'm so glad he got to come down here and am so thankful to my parents and my Grandma for helping to make it happen. It was fabulous and a week I will always remember and cherish, especially as a boost to power through until July 1st!
After my Dad pulled away, it was a quick smack back into reality as I grabbed a taxi back to my apartment, finally had a brief skype call with Jess after 2 weeks, and ran off to meet with my language partner before going to my soccer game that night. Soccer went WAY better than the last game I went to! We won 8-2 and I stopped a goal from going in when it was only about 6 inches away and the goalie was far from the goal! Woohoo! Our record is now 2-1 with a winning streak of 2, go Barcelocas!
Yesterday was pretty great since the whole Geography department of La Católica had a field trip this week for the actual Chilean students so all of my classes were canceled until my 5pm culture class. Also, as it had rained the night before, we woke up to the Andes outside our window having been dusted with snow! So pretty! I spent the day playing a lot of catch up, taking my laundry to be done, catching up/having my heart stomped on by Lost, and other things of the sort. After class yesterday I went over to my group-mates house in Vitacura (ritzy part of town) to work of a presentation on a summary of a text we have next week. It was definitely in a very nice part of town, and it was fun to experience hanging out in a Chilean families house and working on a project. It was also really funny because I showed up having read the entire article already, whereas none of them (or the 3/5 group members that were there) had read it yet and were kind of reading it as they go. It was kind of a confidence booster because I'm pretty sure I understood the article just as well if not better than them, and it was not written in my native language. Definitely nice to get that little boost after feeling inapt at communicating so often. Also, it was kind of a rude awakening that my Spanish has a loooong way to go as far as conversation is concerned. Overall, it was really great and the two guys I was with are both very nice, one even walked me to the bus stop and waited with me to make sure I knew how to get home!
So, it's been fairly effortless falling back into routine after my Dad's visit besides missing him being here with me. He took back several things and souveneirs and gifts I had acquired for me and my pink flower alcohol from Mendoza, Argentina and Medio Medio (wine beverage only sold in Uruguay) were taken from him due to the high terrorist alerts which sucks, but such is life there's nothing I can do about it now. In the past few days I also purchased a ticket to go to San Pedro de Atacama, the driest desert in the world in the North of Chile, May 28th-June 1st, and have been talking with Karen about when she will be in Chile at the beginning of June! I have also (almost) officially changed my return date to the US to July 2nd, leaving here July 1st so get those 4th of July plans going because I will want to do some celebrating about being back in America!
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Dad in Chile Part 1: Santiago, Cajón de Maipo, and Santiago
Thursday afternoon after regurgitating all the knowledge I had crammed into my brain over the previous 3 days about globalization, census's, and so much more on to 6 pieces of paper on 2 different tests, I nearly skipped off campus towards the metro feeling perhaps the most excited I ever have in my life. Not only had I just finished the two tests that had been looming in he future for quite some time, but I was enroute to see my Dad who I had not seen for over 3 months! Needless to say, the hour long metro trip was pretty painful, so close but so far. When I got to the hotel, I told the receptionist I was there to meet my Dad and she told me he had stepped out for a bit. Knowing that he knew we were meeting at 1:30, I knew he'd be back soon so I just took a seat on the lobby couch to wait. Sure enough, after less than a minute I saw him through the glass lobby door on the other side of the street. I sprung off the couch, ran out the door, ran across the street, and ran into my Dad's hugging arms to give/receive one the greatest hugs ever while I tried to hold back tears of joy and love. I had told myself I wouldn't cry, but quickly gave up on that. Needless to say, I was inexplicable happy to be embracing someone I love and had missed so much!
Ever since then, we've been adventuring and sightseeing. Commence recap now.
Thursday:
Thursday was a pretty relaxed day after our reunion since he was obviously exhausted from the flight and I had another class late in the afternoon and had yet to pack to move into his hotel for the week. We went to lunch at a very popular Chilean restaurant called Schoppdog and both got Completos, a very common Chilean food (basically a hot dog with lots of stuff on top). Well, he was interested to Chilean food right since it was not exactly delicious, haha, but don't worry, our eating has improved. Afterwards, we wandered around Providencia before he returned to his hotel and I went to class. After my class we met outside the metro stop for my apartment which I had told him how to get to and gotten him a metro bip crad and headed to my apartment for me to pack. We finished the day by eating some pasta at my apartment and of course feeding my avocado loving dad Chilean palta, I packed, and then we went to our hotel and crashed for the night, both exhausted from travel/studying.
Friday:
We Friday sightseeing and hanging out aorund Santiago. After a much needed morning of sleeping in, I showed my Dad Campus Oriente of La Católica, where I had language classes in January/February and where the EAP campus is since I also had to go there to pick up an incredible package of goodies from my parents. By goodies, I mean legitimate goodies (swedish fish, sour patch, postcard from Jason, etc) and new found cherished items such a pillowcases, tums, advil, cetaphil lotion, etc. Then we headed to the center of the city and saw Plaza de Armas, attempted to go to the National History Museum but it was closed due to earthquake damages, ate lunch in Bellas Artes (another barrio of Santiago), walked through Parque Forestal (big park along the river in the city) back to the metro, returned to the hotel, and tackled our plans for the weekend to the Andes (Cajón de Maipo and Valparaiso). After addressing almost every possible way of getting to Cajón de Maipo, we finally made reservations for the "Maipo Valley Wine Tour" involving private transportation transfer to a winery tour, hiking, lunch, and ziplining in the Andean canyon, although ultimately we ended up horseback riding in place of the winery. That evening, we went to Parque Arauco (very nice mall/dinner location/movie theater) and bought me new hiking boots to replace my Patagonia battled boots, ate a delicious pasta dinner at Pasta Basta with a live Chilean Beatles cover band in the background that was actually not half bad and wore wigs, and then saw Iron Man 2 (subtitled, spoken in English). Overall, a very successful day. :)
Saturday:
My dad being who he is, there was no way we were not getting him to the Andes somehow while he was down here. Our transfer service for our Maipo Valley Wine Tour picked us up bright and early and we headed out of the city into the foothills to one of Chile's most renowned wineries, Concha y Toro. Unfortunately when we arrived, the winery was closed and our driver just told us "Vamos a Cascada ahora y vemos", meaning we'll just keep going to Cascada de las Animas (the resort/nature reserve we had made this tour reservation through) and we'll see what happens when we get there. While my Dad was a little sketch out by this, I just attributed it to classic Chile having gotten used to things like this and figrued things would be sorted out when we got there. Sure enough, within 10 minutes Cascada had called us and told us we could replace the failed winery tour (which happened to be because it was in fact Labor Day, a National Holiday, and thus the winery as well as pretty much everything in Santiago as we would later discover was closed) we could either horseback ride for 2 hours, raft, or go for a longer hike. We opted for the horsies. So, we started our beautiful day of adventuring in the Andes with a very steep and beautiful horseback ride to a lookout with a crazy guide who spoke no English at all, and all I ever heard him saw was "Vamos Vamos" to the horses, not us, while smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone while riding up an Andean cliff. That and play with a taranchula with his horse's whip. Crazy old man. But a beautiful and incredible ride, especially since it is fall and all of the leaves are multi-colored and gorgeous! Dad definitely had a lazy horse, which at times was quite entertaining with our very impatient caballero guide. After the horses, we ate lunch at Cascada's riverside restaurant with a tree growing in the middle of it and then set out on a brief little hike to two different waterfalls back in a small canyon with a guide (the only way you were allowed to do the hike). After the hike, we did a zip-line across the river and back before heading back (absolutely exhausted) to Santiago. That evening, after showering from our day of horses and dirt, we discovered almost everything but Pizza Hut was closed so we got a small pizza to go and brought it back to the hotel where we relaxed, updated blogs/journals, and crashed early after an active, beautiful, and wonderful day in the Andes.
Sunday:
Though the tentative original plan had been to head to Valpo thus afternoon for the evening and night, we ended up pushing that plan back to tomorrow evening since it seems the weather will be much nicer for heading to the coast than it would have been today. So, after making a reservation for Vaparaiso tomorrow night, we headed out to do some more Santiago sightseeing today. We metro-ed into the center of the city again and walked to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia for some great panoramic views of the city as the clouds started to lift. Afterward, we walked over through Plaza de Armas again to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbino (Chilean Museum of Precolumbian Art) and wandered the museum for a while before grabbing some Bravissimo, the most popular Chilean ice cream joint. After that, we walked over to see La Moneda (the presidential palace) and the plazas around it. Then, after realizing it was probably the only time we'd actually be able to see them, we headed down to the La Moneda culture center that currently had a museum on China with part of the Terocata Army there! It was so cool to see some of the actual soldiers of that incredible archeological discovery! In my dad's words, "I never expected to see this in Chile!". But hey, the opportunity presented and we went for it! Great decision. Then, we headed back to my apartment to grab some of the things (gifts) I'll be sending home with my Dad and then headed back to the hotel. I google chatted for a little while with my friend Karen, who is currently teaching English in Ecuador but will be moving to Chile in June and I will be meeting up with in about a month, which is incredibly exciting! The thought of seeing a good friend from the US is exactly what I need to push through these 2 months I have left! So excited! She will be in Santiago for a little while so I will see her then, and then hopefully we will get to travel a bit together as well! After this, I took my Dad to the California Cantina. He was dying to see what Santiago Mexican food was like and ultimately, I think he was impressed. He agreed that walking into that restaurant is like walking into a little pocket of California, all the way down here in Santiago. Tonight, our waitress even had friends that went to Poly! Now we're just relaxing and getting ready for our quick trip to the coast tomorrow!
I'll update more on my adventures with my Dad as they come, although I refuse to believe it's already Sunday and dread Wednesday evening. It's wonderful having him here. :)
Ever since then, we've been adventuring and sightseeing. Commence recap now.
Thursday:
Thursday was a pretty relaxed day after our reunion since he was obviously exhausted from the flight and I had another class late in the afternoon and had yet to pack to move into his hotel for the week. We went to lunch at a very popular Chilean restaurant called Schoppdog and both got Completos, a very common Chilean food (basically a hot dog with lots of stuff on top). Well, he was interested to Chilean food right since it was not exactly delicious, haha, but don't worry, our eating has improved. Afterwards, we wandered around Providencia before he returned to his hotel and I went to class. After my class we met outside the metro stop for my apartment which I had told him how to get to and gotten him a metro bip crad and headed to my apartment for me to pack. We finished the day by eating some pasta at my apartment and of course feeding my avocado loving dad Chilean palta, I packed, and then we went to our hotel and crashed for the night, both exhausted from travel/studying.
Friday:
We Friday sightseeing and hanging out aorund Santiago. After a much needed morning of sleeping in, I showed my Dad Campus Oriente of La Católica, where I had language classes in January/February and where the EAP campus is since I also had to go there to pick up an incredible package of goodies from my parents. By goodies, I mean legitimate goodies (swedish fish, sour patch, postcard from Jason, etc) and new found cherished items such a pillowcases, tums, advil, cetaphil lotion, etc. Then we headed to the center of the city and saw Plaza de Armas, attempted to go to the National History Museum but it was closed due to earthquake damages, ate lunch in Bellas Artes (another barrio of Santiago), walked through Parque Forestal (big park along the river in the city) back to the metro, returned to the hotel, and tackled our plans for the weekend to the Andes (Cajón de Maipo and Valparaiso). After addressing almost every possible way of getting to Cajón de Maipo, we finally made reservations for the "Maipo Valley Wine Tour" involving private transportation transfer to a winery tour, hiking, lunch, and ziplining in the Andean canyon, although ultimately we ended up horseback riding in place of the winery. That evening, we went to Parque Arauco (very nice mall/dinner location/movie theater) and bought me new hiking boots to replace my Patagonia battled boots, ate a delicious pasta dinner at Pasta Basta with a live Chilean Beatles cover band in the background that was actually not half bad and wore wigs, and then saw Iron Man 2 (subtitled, spoken in English). Overall, a very successful day. :)
Saturday:
My dad being who he is, there was no way we were not getting him to the Andes somehow while he was down here. Our transfer service for our Maipo Valley Wine Tour picked us up bright and early and we headed out of the city into the foothills to one of Chile's most renowned wineries, Concha y Toro. Unfortunately when we arrived, the winery was closed and our driver just told us "Vamos a Cascada ahora y vemos", meaning we'll just keep going to Cascada de las Animas (the resort/nature reserve we had made this tour reservation through) and we'll see what happens when we get there. While my Dad was a little sketch out by this, I just attributed it to classic Chile having gotten used to things like this and figrued things would be sorted out when we got there. Sure enough, within 10 minutes Cascada had called us and told us we could replace the failed winery tour (which happened to be because it was in fact Labor Day, a National Holiday, and thus the winery as well as pretty much everything in Santiago as we would later discover was closed) we could either horseback ride for 2 hours, raft, or go for a longer hike. We opted for the horsies. So, we started our beautiful day of adventuring in the Andes with a very steep and beautiful horseback ride to a lookout with a crazy guide who spoke no English at all, and all I ever heard him saw was "Vamos Vamos" to the horses, not us, while smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone while riding up an Andean cliff. That and play with a taranchula with his horse's whip. Crazy old man. But a beautiful and incredible ride, especially since it is fall and all of the leaves are multi-colored and gorgeous! Dad definitely had a lazy horse, which at times was quite entertaining with our very impatient caballero guide. After the horses, we ate lunch at Cascada's riverside restaurant with a tree growing in the middle of it and then set out on a brief little hike to two different waterfalls back in a small canyon with a guide (the only way you were allowed to do the hike). After the hike, we did a zip-line across the river and back before heading back (absolutely exhausted) to Santiago. That evening, after showering from our day of horses and dirt, we discovered almost everything but Pizza Hut was closed so we got a small pizza to go and brought it back to the hotel where we relaxed, updated blogs/journals, and crashed early after an active, beautiful, and wonderful day in the Andes.
Sunday:
Though the tentative original plan had been to head to Valpo thus afternoon for the evening and night, we ended up pushing that plan back to tomorrow evening since it seems the weather will be much nicer for heading to the coast than it would have been today. So, after making a reservation for Vaparaiso tomorrow night, we headed out to do some more Santiago sightseeing today. We metro-ed into the center of the city again and walked to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia for some great panoramic views of the city as the clouds started to lift. Afterward, we walked over through Plaza de Armas again to the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbino (Chilean Museum of Precolumbian Art) and wandered the museum for a while before grabbing some Bravissimo, the most popular Chilean ice cream joint. After that, we walked over to see La Moneda (the presidential palace) and the plazas around it. Then, after realizing it was probably the only time we'd actually be able to see them, we headed down to the La Moneda culture center that currently had a museum on China with part of the Terocata Army there! It was so cool to see some of the actual soldiers of that incredible archeological discovery! In my dad's words, "I never expected to see this in Chile!". But hey, the opportunity presented and we went for it! Great decision. Then, we headed back to my apartment to grab some of the things (gifts) I'll be sending home with my Dad and then headed back to the hotel. I google chatted for a little while with my friend Karen, who is currently teaching English in Ecuador but will be moving to Chile in June and I will be meeting up with in about a month, which is incredibly exciting! The thought of seeing a good friend from the US is exactly what I need to push through these 2 months I have left! So excited! She will be in Santiago for a little while so I will see her then, and then hopefully we will get to travel a bit together as well! After this, I took my Dad to the California Cantina. He was dying to see what Santiago Mexican food was like and ultimately, I think he was impressed. He agreed that walking into that restaurant is like walking into a little pocket of California, all the way down here in Santiago. Tonight, our waitress even had friends that went to Poly! Now we're just relaxing and getting ready for our quick trip to the coast tomorrow!
I'll update more on my adventures with my Dad as they come, although I refuse to believe it's already Sunday and dread Wednesday evening. It's wonderful having him here. :)
Saturday, 1 May 2010
School, Tests, and Santiago Life, and THURSDAY!
The days between returning from Buenos Aires and my Dad's arrival on Thursday were absolutely INSANE. I had two tests pretty much equivalent to midterms (or more) as far as amount of content on Thursday morning, with only 10 minutes between the two. Because of this, between getting home on Monday night and running into my Dad's arms on Thursday at 1:30PM, my life was consumed by class, studying, interning, and a quick skype session with my parents on Tuesday evening to iron out some details.
In a very confidence boosting and perfect timing, I found out Wednesday evening that I had actually done very well on my first test in Political Geography, having received a 5.4 on the Chilean grading scale of 1-7. Chilean professors are notorious for their hard grading and I did better than the other 4 Gringos in the class, and ultimately only 12 people did better than me in a 59 person class of almost only Chileans! Needless to say, I was VERY excited about this discovery. Taking classes in a foreign language is hard and sometimes I feel like I have no idea what is going on, so it feels good to know that apparently I do know what's going on!
Besides studying like a mad woman, including a study session on Wednesday evening, I mainly spent the week anxiously awaiting the minute I'd be finished with the tests and rush up the metro to meet my Dad (info to come in the next entry).
I will end this post/teaser trailer the next by saying that Thursday afternoon was the best post-test present/feeling anyone could ever ask for. I arrived at the hotel, waited in the lobby for my Dad, saw him walking up the street, ran outside, into his arms, and gave/received one of the best hugs of my life with tears of joy and love in my eyes. :)
In a very confidence boosting and perfect timing, I found out Wednesday evening that I had actually done very well on my first test in Political Geography, having received a 5.4 on the Chilean grading scale of 1-7. Chilean professors are notorious for their hard grading and I did better than the other 4 Gringos in the class, and ultimately only 12 people did better than me in a 59 person class of almost only Chileans! Needless to say, I was VERY excited about this discovery. Taking classes in a foreign language is hard and sometimes I feel like I have no idea what is going on, so it feels good to know that apparently I do know what's going on!
Besides studying like a mad woman, including a study session on Wednesday evening, I mainly spent the week anxiously awaiting the minute I'd be finished with the tests and rush up the metro to meet my Dad (info to come in the next entry).
I will end this post/teaser trailer the next by saying that Thursday afternoon was the best post-test present/feeling anyone could ever ask for. I arrived at the hotel, waited in the lobby for my Dad, saw him walking up the street, ran outside, into his arms, and gave/received one of the best hugs of my life with tears of joy and love in my eyes. :)
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Vida, Cultura, y Tango!
(La Casa Rosada in Plaza de Mayo)
On Friday morning, we caught a (ritzy and thus ticket price explaining) bus/ferry combination over to Buenos Aires, Argentina via Colonia, Uruguay. After grabbing a taxi to our hostel from the boat station (and not being ripped off this time!) we quickly got right to the BA experience by consuming some very incredible empanadas at a hole in the wall bakery near our very cool hostel. We then got straight to the sightseeing. We went to Plaza de Mayo and saw La Casa Rosada (white house equivalent for Argentina) and then spent 5 hours(eek!) shopping along Florida street which is the cheapest, most famous boulevards for shopping in BA. After some leather boots, a scarf, and a sweater all of which cost under $50 combined, we called it a day and headed back to get ready for dinner. Everyone in BA dresses very well, so some actual getting ready was involved as opposed to when I usually say "get ready" meaning take a nap and then leave. We actually wore make up and such on this trip, imagine that! Then we ate the cheapest steak dinner ever and it was delcious; our wine was 75 cents a cup and good!
(Puerto Madero, part of our bike ride)
(Eva Perón's grave in Recoleta Cemetary)
(At a bar after dinner with Mari, a friend from High School)
Saturday, we rented bikes and rode ALL around the city for 6 hours seeing all sorts of things and eating all sorts of incredible food. It really was the PERFECT way to see a lot of the city in a quick, fun way. We went to tje ritzy port area called Puerto Madreo, the nature reserve, ate the biggest and best sandwich of my life from a sandwich cart of parrilla, rode down a huge street to the many markets we encountered and saw all sorts of things along the way. We went to the Recoleta Cemetary and saw Eva Perón's grave (pretty much the main attraction of this stunning cemetary) and a lot of other incredible graves. It was really interesting to see cultural differences even in this, as the incredibly wealthy families buried in this cemetary have crypts that they continually add family members to and here are often clear windows in to where you can see the caskets. We saw on crypt that had to have had over 30 caskets inside of it! We then road down the widest street in the world, 9 de Julio, and managed not to be killed by traffic in the meantime. For dinner, we went to a hughly recommended restaurant with one of my friends from high school and one of Gina's friends also, both of whom are currently studying abroad in BA. The food was absolutely incredible and afterwards we headed to a bar with Reese and Mari and had a few happy hour drinks before heading to Mari's friends apartment where we hung out with some of Mari's American, Argentinian, and Ecuadorian friends until almost 4AM, which is technically still early as far as South American standards go.
(La Boca)
(Tango Show at Café Tortoni)
Sunday, we wandered the San Telmo Fair (neighborhood our hostel was in) which is a huge artisan's market right outside our hostel every Sunday. Afterwards, we hailed a taxi to take us through the ghetto to La Boca, the most famous tango district full of street dancers and colorful buildings. It was a really cool part of town, but unfortunately the street performance presence was particularly low on this day. It was however, to see everyone decked out in Boca soccer gear for the game that was that night. Argentinians take their soccer VERY seriously! Then, we walked through a park and all around the city once again, ate ice cream in the park, took the subway back to Plaza de Mayo and chilled a bit before heading into the Cathedral (after using 3 maps to locate it) where mass was happening. Then, as the excitement just kept coming, we almost got robbed but our paranoid vigilance saved us and we hopped in a taxi for 3 blocks to get out of the situation. That evening, after getting dressed up in dresses and boots, we headed to a TANGO SHOW! at the oldest cafe in Argentina called Cafe Tortoni. It was one of the coolest things ever, complete with a live orchestra, 6 great dancers, once incredible singer, and great entertainment in a fairly small salon which made it even greater! While the tango show was incredible, the food and waiter service definitely left something to be desired but our purpose for going was the tango and that DEFINITELY came through!
On Monday morning, we caught the boat/bus back to Montevideo, wandered the streets of Montevideo and ate lunch one more time in the Mercado del Puerto, bought some Medio Medio, looked like crazy people with all our luggage, and then grabbed a (much cheaper) taxi to the airport and headed back to Santiago after and incredible and amazing trip around these cities.
Next time: OUTDOORS!
Montevideo, Uruguay and some thoughts
Last weekend, Lindsey, Gina, Magda (Gina's Mom) and I headed to the other coast of South America to Montevideo and Buenos Aires. While there were some frustrations and lack of traveling compatibility, and even a close robbery escape, a lot was learned, newly appreciated, and it overall was an absolutely incredible trip of a lifetime. Both cities are absolutely gorgeous and very European influenced, and I am fairly certain that Buenos Aires is my favorite big city I've ever been to. Sorry for the complaining in this entry, I split the weekend into two mainly so the BA portion will have none (or very limited) of said business!
(Street in Montevideo, Uruguay)
The trip started dark and early with a 5:15 AM shuttle to the airport and what turned out to be a very brief (less than 2 hour) flight to Montevideo. The general thought after stepping off the plane was somewhere along the lines of "Who the heck would ever have guessed I would be in URUGUAY?" I honestly didn't even know this country existed until we sang about it in a 10th grade Spanish song where we listed all of the Spanish speaking countries in the world and still couldn't place it on a map probably until very recently, so to be walking off a plane onto Uruguayan land was a pretty insane feeling!
After getting ripped off by a taxi driver into the city of Montevideo (is it bad that I'm kind of used to this sort of thing?), I was shocked at what Montevideo is! I don´t really know what I expected, but it is a really incredible city, at the time definitely my favorite city so far in South America (BA quickly beat it out, but still great). I think I would describe it as a mix between Mazatlan, Waikiki, and a big city, all with a HUGE European influence. The buildings are all gorgeous European high rises and the part we stayed in was called Ciudad Vieja (Old City) and thus was particularly cool and full of old colonial buildings. We spent the day walking ALL around the city, attempting to see all of Montevideo in approximately 12 hours an on about 4 hours of sleep.
We, of course, ate some MEAT (their specialty) in el Mercado del Puerto and drank some Medio Medio (typical Uruguayan drink of half wine and half sparkling wine. The Mercado was really cool, it was like a South American spin on the farmers market at the grove and our waiter, David, was absolutely hilarious as we sat at the counter and chowed down. Then, we walked some more, bought bus/boat tickets (I could go on and on about my feelings of frustration towards this event but I will opt not to) for tomorrow, and prepared to head out a to a great dinner involving the best arroz con leche of my life with our Mexican hostel roommate.
One obstacle I quickly encountered on this trip was that the original reason we came to Montevideo was to avoid the $130 entrance fee to Argentina, but then we ended up purchasing the bus/boat to BA that ended up costing $120 and paying a surprise exit tax at the airport before leaving that actually made this way MORE expensive. Lesson learned. However, we got to see a whole nother city that turned out to be REALLY cool for no more than we would have had to pay to just fly to BA. And I´m sooo glad I came to Uruguay, who would have thought it was such a hidden gem? Also, as it turns out I think it may have been necessary since apparently Argentina is upset with Uruguay for environmental reasons and people are boycotting and blocking the bridges that are used to get into Argentina via Uruguay via bus anyhow. Regardless, money quickly became somewhat of a worry but I sorted it out and opted to just go along with the ride of the trip as much as possible, while maintaining enough of my way of traveling to ensure we didn't miss anything important because of slow movement. Needless to say, I found an entirely new appreciation for the way my family and friends back home travel as well as treat me. In all honesty, I was treated rather poorly at times throughout this trip and, although I wouldn't have though it possible, grew to love and appreciate (and miss) my friends back home even more.
(Street in Montevideo, Uruguay)
The trip started dark and early with a 5:15 AM shuttle to the airport and what turned out to be a very brief (less than 2 hour) flight to Montevideo. The general thought after stepping off the plane was somewhere along the lines of "Who the heck would ever have guessed I would be in URUGUAY?" I honestly didn't even know this country existed until we sang about it in a 10th grade Spanish song where we listed all of the Spanish speaking countries in the world and still couldn't place it on a map probably until very recently, so to be walking off a plane onto Uruguayan land was a pretty insane feeling!
After getting ripped off by a taxi driver into the city of Montevideo (is it bad that I'm kind of used to this sort of thing?), I was shocked at what Montevideo is! I don´t really know what I expected, but it is a really incredible city, at the time definitely my favorite city so far in South America (BA quickly beat it out, but still great). I think I would describe it as a mix between Mazatlan, Waikiki, and a big city, all with a HUGE European influence. The buildings are all gorgeous European high rises and the part we stayed in was called Ciudad Vieja (Old City) and thus was particularly cool and full of old colonial buildings. We spent the day walking ALL around the city, attempting to see all of Montevideo in approximately 12 hours an on about 4 hours of sleep.
We, of course, ate some MEAT (their specialty) in el Mercado del Puerto and drank some Medio Medio (typical Uruguayan drink of half wine and half sparkling wine. The Mercado was really cool, it was like a South American spin on the farmers market at the grove and our waiter, David, was absolutely hilarious as we sat at the counter and chowed down. Then, we walked some more, bought bus/boat tickets (I could go on and on about my feelings of frustration towards this event but I will opt not to) for tomorrow, and prepared to head out a to a great dinner involving the best arroz con leche of my life with our Mexican hostel roommate.
One obstacle I quickly encountered on this trip was that the original reason we came to Montevideo was to avoid the $130 entrance fee to Argentina, but then we ended up purchasing the bus/boat to BA that ended up costing $120 and paying a surprise exit tax at the airport before leaving that actually made this way MORE expensive. Lesson learned. However, we got to see a whole nother city that turned out to be REALLY cool for no more than we would have had to pay to just fly to BA. And I´m sooo glad I came to Uruguay, who would have thought it was such a hidden gem? Also, as it turns out I think it may have been necessary since apparently Argentina is upset with Uruguay for environmental reasons and people are boycotting and blocking the bridges that are used to get into Argentina via Uruguay via bus anyhow. Regardless, money quickly became somewhat of a worry but I sorted it out and opted to just go along with the ride of the trip as much as possible, while maintaining enough of my way of traveling to ensure we didn't miss anything important because of slow movement. Needless to say, I found an entirely new appreciation for the way my family and friends back home travel as well as treat me. In all honesty, I was treated rather poorly at times throughout this trip and, although I wouldn't have though it possible, grew to love and appreciate (and miss) my friends back home even more.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
