holy crap, i just got robbed.
(literary technique #2371, catch the reader's attention with a flashy opening. CHECK)
It had been a week filled with fun, friends, and fiestas. (literary techniques #174 and #895, alliteration, flashback. CHECK) In celebration of Semana Novata Molly and I went out every night this week -- from Tuesday to tonight. Tuesday we went to an asado with our friends we met in the bus last week, then accompanied them to a massive beach party with live music. Wednesday we finally managed to get into Huevo, Thursday we went straight from class in the morning to a MASSIVE party -- when i say massive, I mean 20,000 people -- on a beach north of town. I still don't fully understand the appeal of these large beach parties, seeing as how the same sitting around sipping on beverages and playing instruments in a circle with friends could happen anywhere. It was fine though, with the exception of the hour Molly and I spent waiting in line for a bathroom. We came home, ate, napped, then went out again to Huevo, where we made friends with a trio of bomberos and their friend, Katy -- who is studying social work here in Valpo. Dancing with them was very refreshing because they were just a silly group of friends -- like my friends back home. Friday (yesterday) we slept in, thought we were going to leave for Santiago that afternoon, but that ended up not happening so we had friends over to my house to watch a movie and eat homemade kuchen instead. It was truly lovely. We saw our friends Francisco and Marco, who we hadn't seen in a while, and it was nice to have the feeling of seeing old friends who we had missed, even though we've only known them for such a brief while. They're great guys and we are very VERY blessed to be friends with them.
Today was a lazy day that I wasn't sure what to do with, since I had been planning on spending the day in Fantasilandia. I finally forced myself to get out of my pj's and go outside, and much to my surprise it was sunny and lovely out. (It's autumn here, and the chilled ocean air seeps under my skin so that my very bones are cold, even when it's only 50 degrees or so, and the sun seems to have begun its hibernation) So,I walked along the beach for a while, eventually picking a nice spot in the white sand to watch the waves and write in my journal. After 45 minutes or so, I thought I felt my purse move, so I turned around to look. It was strapped over my shoulder and resting on the ground at my side, and when I looked inside the camera was nowhere to be found. I hastily checked my pockets, my lap, my other pockets, my purse again, and it was gone. A couple was walking by behind me, and a nod and twitch of the eyebrow from an observing fisherman informed me that they had taken it. I ran up to them and asked if they saw someone take my camera -- although how I expected them to respond, I'm not sure. "Oh yeah, I have it in my pocket. Do you want it back? My bad." No, on the contrary he told me some little kid took it and that he tried to warn me, but the kid put a knife to his throat so he couldn't. He pointed me in the direction that the kid supposedly ran, and in my state of shock I kind of believed him for a minute. Until I saw the fisherman again, and he walked towards me and told me that it had been the man I was talking to who took the camera, and that he put it in the sand. Four carabineros (policemen) were approaching on horseback, so we rushed towards them in hopes that they might have better luck. They trotted after the theif, and I watched as they searched his bag, his pockets, and his girlfriend. Nothing. I kept giving him dirty looks, hoping that perhaps they might pierce his heart and make him confess, but it was to no avail. The carabineros attempted to look in the sand around the area where I had been sitting and where they had been walking, but found nothing, and the theif continued saying he was innocent. Some more carabineros came after a while with their sirens going, and one of them came to assess the situation, then explain to me what we could do. I could have filed some kind of appeal or something, but chances are it wouldn't go through until after I left anyhow, and I would very likely never get the camera back. I gave him my info, and he drove away with the guilty couple in the back of the van to take their information back at the station. Molly came and met me at the beach so we could dig around the sand for the missing camera, but we found nothing. There was simply too much sand. I finally accepted defeat, sighing with the comfort of knowing that it is, in fact, only a thing. God had his arm around my shoulders, walking me back to the pathway to dust myself off and keep on keepin' on. However, after walking for 10 minutes or so, we passed the guilty couple walking back from the other direction. I stopped and talked to them and he gave me the same old story, and I wished I was gutsy enough to shout "I KNOW YOU TOOK IT! I KNOW ITS IN THE SAND! DON'T LIE TO ME!!!" But instead I told him I was sorry. But instead of keeping on, Molly and I turned around the follwed them back, hoping to witness them dig the camera out of the sand. We had to run to keep up, while at the same time dodging behind small children and sunglasses huts so they wouldn't see us, and sure enough they turned off the path at the spot where it all happened. I hid out behind a grass-roofed hut, watching from around the corner as they kicked around in the sand. I'm not sure if they found it in the sand, got it from some people who were playing volleyball nearby, or if it wasn't there afterall -- I couldn't see well enough from my hide-out and, once again, I wasn't gutsy enough to appraoch them. After all, what would I say? Remember what happened last time I asked if he robbed me? All the same, it was a terrible feeling to watch them hop on a bus and ride away into the distance, knowing that they had just stolen my camera right from under my nose. Fortunately, the last pictures I had taken were of the word "LOVE" written in the sand. Maybe that will touch their hearts -- even if just a little bit. (literary techniqe #2873, hope of redemption following tragic ending)
So, thus ends the saga of the stolen camera.
Still, worse things could have happened, Nobody was hurt, and all the pictures (except, of course, the ones I had taken today) were already uploaded onto my computer. And God is good.
Mar 28, 2009
Mar 24, 2009
si po
It´s amazing how quickly time is flying by... I keep putting off blogging because I think "oh, I just updated the other day..." Well, that was a week ago.
Here´s a brief update on what we´ve been doing since I last wrote:
We ended up putting off the trip to Santiago for this coming weekend so that another friend would be able to join us, and instead Molly and I took advantage of the weekend to carretear. Thursday night we tried for the second time to go to El Huevo, the biggest discoteque and most well known, but Molly forgot her ID and they wouldn´t let us in. Why you need an ID i´m still not sure, since the age thing really isn´t so much an issue here. Anyhow, we made friends with some people on the bus and ended up going out to get drinks and dance in some smaller establishments with them. Friday I met up with Jorge, a new friend from Mexico who I met in my Italian class, and we bought some food and he came to my house to cook delicious mexican food for my host mom and me. It was fantastic, and I´m pretty sure we´re going to make a regular habit out of cooking together -- i mean, him making me Mexican food.
I had heard that there was going to be some kind of free concert put on by our university, and since we didn´t have any plans until way later that night, Molly and I mozied on over to the open-air ampitheatre where the concert was to take place, stopping for a brief while to watch a band of break dancers practicing and teaching each other new moves in the main plaza. We wandered around and randomly picked a seat, which happened to be just in front of a guy I had met my first week of classes at the University. He speaks english really well and had helped me figure out where the heck I was supposed to be. So, fate brought us together again and we enjoyed absolutely amazing music and comfortable, friendly conversation. I am so glad we went to this concert -- it was amazing. A symphony from a university in Germany had come for a week to exchange music with the music students here at La Catolica. In this concert both the german and chilean symphonies played together, filling the starry night with such music that i felt it must have been coming up from the furthest depths of the earth rather than from human bodies. After this group performed, they had a quick break and then the PUCV jazz band took over, playing jazzed-up classic chilean ballads, which the audience responded to enthusiastically, often bursting out singing the chorus.
The concert ended, leaving just enough time to walk home, eat dinner, and change clothes to go out with our friends David and Benjamin. It is common practice for universities to throw parties for its students in a club or discoteque, and Benjamin´s university was doing just that at a discoteque literally just 2 blocks from where Molly and i live. So, we got in free and danced the night away. I feel like it was a big break through for Molly and I both to be able to really appreciate "going out" in all its glory. I think it was mostly because we went with friends -- I don´t know what we would do without David. He tells us the good places to go, dances with us in a completely non-sketchy way, and kept an eye on us when people we didn´t know tried to dance with us -- like a protective brother. When we finally left around 4am he and Benjamin walked us each home.
Saturday we slept in, mozied around Valpo a bit, and spent the evening being lazy.
Sunday was the ultimate in lazy days -- I got up for church, but afterwards I got directly back in my pajamas and stayed in bed for almost the entire rest of the day -- including when Molly came over to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas on my laptop and later when my host mom served us dinner in bed on trays, including brownies.
So, that was the weekend. This week is Semana Novata, which is kind of like a welcome week for freshmen. All classes after 2:00 are cancelled (and aparently several before that time, too) every day this week, and there are live music performances, parties, movies, exhibits, and so forth going on at all hours all week. Yesterday I came out of the main building to find a funk band performing on a stage set up in the middle of the street. Most of the international students are gone traveling this week, which means we only have each other and our chilean friends to hang out with -- which is great. Today Molly and i are going to an asado (bar-b-q) at a friend´s apartment, and Friday we´re finally going to Santiago to visit friends there, see the city a little bit, and then spend the day Saturday in Fantasilandia.
I fully intended for the what i´ve been up to part to be much shorter, and to spend more time on descriptions and less concrete things, but it´s alredy time for me to go to class again. Or, try to go to class, that is. I have a sneaking suspicion that this class might not actually happen -- like the other one I tried to go to this morning.
Oh, latin america.
Also, I´m serious about the comments. If you are reading these words right now, then you should comment. Just say "hi" or something, just so I know I´m not only writing for my mom (not that I wouldn´t still write even if it were just for my mom).
Chau chau!
Here´s a brief update on what we´ve been doing since I last wrote:
We ended up putting off the trip to Santiago for this coming weekend so that another friend would be able to join us, and instead Molly and I took advantage of the weekend to carretear. Thursday night we tried for the second time to go to El Huevo, the biggest discoteque and most well known, but Molly forgot her ID and they wouldn´t let us in. Why you need an ID i´m still not sure, since the age thing really isn´t so much an issue here. Anyhow, we made friends with some people on the bus and ended up going out to get drinks and dance in some smaller establishments with them. Friday I met up with Jorge, a new friend from Mexico who I met in my Italian class, and we bought some food and he came to my house to cook delicious mexican food for my host mom and me. It was fantastic, and I´m pretty sure we´re going to make a regular habit out of cooking together -- i mean, him making me Mexican food.
I had heard that there was going to be some kind of free concert put on by our university, and since we didn´t have any plans until way later that night, Molly and I mozied on over to the open-air ampitheatre where the concert was to take place, stopping for a brief while to watch a band of break dancers practicing and teaching each other new moves in the main plaza. We wandered around and randomly picked a seat, which happened to be just in front of a guy I had met my first week of classes at the University. He speaks english really well and had helped me figure out where the heck I was supposed to be. So, fate brought us together again and we enjoyed absolutely amazing music and comfortable, friendly conversation. I am so glad we went to this concert -- it was amazing. A symphony from a university in Germany had come for a week to exchange music with the music students here at La Catolica. In this concert both the german and chilean symphonies played together, filling the starry night with such music that i felt it must have been coming up from the furthest depths of the earth rather than from human bodies. After this group performed, they had a quick break and then the PUCV jazz band took over, playing jazzed-up classic chilean ballads, which the audience responded to enthusiastically, often bursting out singing the chorus.
The concert ended, leaving just enough time to walk home, eat dinner, and change clothes to go out with our friends David and Benjamin. It is common practice for universities to throw parties for its students in a club or discoteque, and Benjamin´s university was doing just that at a discoteque literally just 2 blocks from where Molly and i live. So, we got in free and danced the night away. I feel like it was a big break through for Molly and I both to be able to really appreciate "going out" in all its glory. I think it was mostly because we went with friends -- I don´t know what we would do without David. He tells us the good places to go, dances with us in a completely non-sketchy way, and kept an eye on us when people we didn´t know tried to dance with us -- like a protective brother. When we finally left around 4am he and Benjamin walked us each home.
Saturday we slept in, mozied around Valpo a bit, and spent the evening being lazy.
Sunday was the ultimate in lazy days -- I got up for church, but afterwards I got directly back in my pajamas and stayed in bed for almost the entire rest of the day -- including when Molly came over to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas on my laptop and later when my host mom served us dinner in bed on trays, including brownies.
So, that was the weekend. This week is Semana Novata, which is kind of like a welcome week for freshmen. All classes after 2:00 are cancelled (and aparently several before that time, too) every day this week, and there are live music performances, parties, movies, exhibits, and so forth going on at all hours all week. Yesterday I came out of the main building to find a funk band performing on a stage set up in the middle of the street. Most of the international students are gone traveling this week, which means we only have each other and our chilean friends to hang out with -- which is great. Today Molly and i are going to an asado (bar-b-q) at a friend´s apartment, and Friday we´re finally going to Santiago to visit friends there, see the city a little bit, and then spend the day Saturday in Fantasilandia.
I fully intended for the what i´ve been up to part to be much shorter, and to spend more time on descriptions and less concrete things, but it´s alredy time for me to go to class again. Or, try to go to class, that is. I have a sneaking suspicion that this class might not actually happen -- like the other one I tried to go to this morning.
Oh, latin america.
Also, I´m serious about the comments. If you are reading these words right now, then you should comment. Just say "hi" or something, just so I know I´m not only writing for my mom (not that I wouldn´t still write even if it were just for my mom).
Chau chau!
Mar 18, 2009
Veinte vino en el viento a Viña
Well, it seems that week 2 of classes here in Chile will not be much different from week 1, as already I have had cancelled classes, classes scheduled in 2 rooms at the same time but that ended up not happening in either, and professors who show up 45 minutes late for class. But, like I said, I kind of like it, and I kind of think I will miss the disorder when I return to Texas next semester.
Friday night we went out with a group of our friends to get drinks and go dancing, and FINALLY we had a good "going out" experience. We had non-shady friends to dance with, we actually liked the drinks we ordered, and we were the only gringos. Saturday night we opted to stay in and spend 2 hours watching Flight of the Conchords (or fotc, as we nerdily refer to them now) on Youtube. In the afternoon on saturday I went to once with the whole family -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... The grandparents live in a swanky apartment in one of the high rise complexes with a fantastic view out over the city. Grampa (abuelito) is really nice and I can understand his spanish really well. He is the protector of the family, and comes every weekend to bring my host mom groceries and fix things around the house. Grandma (nonna) loves talking and nurturing and sweets. Over once we talked about everything from drama with my host sister´s now-ex-boyfriend, the economic crisis, madonna´s new boyfriend, and at one point they all felt the need to assure me that, despite Danni´s (host sister) and my host mom´s bad experiences with chilean men leaving them, they are not all bad. I think that most chileans get really excited about extranjeros coming, falling in love with a chilean, and staying here.
I still felt really uncomfortable at church sunday, which is really a shame. The bad part is that it is my own fault for making myself feel so out of place among a group of people who are so loving and kind to me. Sometimes I freeze up in large groups of people and refuse to do anything of my own accord, and instead wait for everyone else to introduce me to people, to show me where to go, and so forth. It felt like I came out of myself and saw me, frozen, and just wanted to scream at myself to let go and be a human being. But thank goodness that God is a friend when I can´t find it in myself to meet any.
Sunday I went with my host mom to buy some things for the birthday celebration, and I think she is now officially my mom-away-from-mom because for the first time she got on my nerves. It was that petty, silly annoyance that only moms can achieve, as we walked through the isles of the grocery store with her hand on the grocery cart and her list in the other hand.
"I don´t like hot dogs" I told her.
"You don´t like hot dogs? That´s what all the young people here eat. All the time. When they go out, when they get together. They love hot dogs."
"Yeah, I just don´t really like them. We could do pizza instead?"
"You really don´t like hot dogs? What about chicken hot dogs? Those are good."
"I mean, I´m just really not a fan."
"Well, pizza is pretty expensive. We´ll just get hot dogs. OK?"
I felt like I could be having this same kind of conversation with my real mom, annoyed at her for not listening to me, but loving her all the while.
Tuesday morning (the birthday) I woke up to the smell of bacon, and what should I find but Molly, cooking me pancakes, bacon, and eggs for the traditional breakfast in bed. She served me on a tray decorated with flowers and all things delicious and breakfasty, and we watched Flight of the Conchords that she downloaded from John Boiles´s computer in Austin. It was fantastic. I really do have the best best friend in the world. Later I went to class, then walked over to the open air produce market next to my school to buy ingredients to make homemade salsa. I think in total I spent no more than $2, and it made about a gallon of salsa. And it was freaking delicious. In the evening I went to the beach by myself to watch the sun set, until the night time chill chased me home, where I started getting things ready for the fiesta. We had fresh salsa, the infamous hot dogs, brownies, kuchen, and mimosas. Several of our chilean friends came, along with my host sister, molly´s host sister, and our friend Marcus from North Carolina. It was fantastic, and I really couldn´t have asked for anything more. I was just so happy to have friends here! Friday morning we´re going to catch a bus to Santiago to go to Fantasilandia (like 6 flags) for the day and then stay the night with our friend Marco.
Now I have 2 hours to kill before my next class...
Keep the comments coming, let me know you´re reading!
chau
Friday night we went out with a group of our friends to get drinks and go dancing, and FINALLY we had a good "going out" experience. We had non-shady friends to dance with, we actually liked the drinks we ordered, and we were the only gringos. Saturday night we opted to stay in and spend 2 hours watching Flight of the Conchords (or fotc, as we nerdily refer to them now) on Youtube. In the afternoon on saturday I went to once with the whole family -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... The grandparents live in a swanky apartment in one of the high rise complexes with a fantastic view out over the city. Grampa (abuelito) is really nice and I can understand his spanish really well. He is the protector of the family, and comes every weekend to bring my host mom groceries and fix things around the house. Grandma (nonna) loves talking and nurturing and sweets. Over once we talked about everything from drama with my host sister´s now-ex-boyfriend, the economic crisis, madonna´s new boyfriend, and at one point they all felt the need to assure me that, despite Danni´s (host sister) and my host mom´s bad experiences with chilean men leaving them, they are not all bad. I think that most chileans get really excited about extranjeros coming, falling in love with a chilean, and staying here.
I still felt really uncomfortable at church sunday, which is really a shame. The bad part is that it is my own fault for making myself feel so out of place among a group of people who are so loving and kind to me. Sometimes I freeze up in large groups of people and refuse to do anything of my own accord, and instead wait for everyone else to introduce me to people, to show me where to go, and so forth. It felt like I came out of myself and saw me, frozen, and just wanted to scream at myself to let go and be a human being. But thank goodness that God is a friend when I can´t find it in myself to meet any.
Sunday I went with my host mom to buy some things for the birthday celebration, and I think she is now officially my mom-away-from-mom because for the first time she got on my nerves. It was that petty, silly annoyance that only moms can achieve, as we walked through the isles of the grocery store with her hand on the grocery cart and her list in the other hand.
"I don´t like hot dogs" I told her.
"You don´t like hot dogs? That´s what all the young people here eat. All the time. When they go out, when they get together. They love hot dogs."
"Yeah, I just don´t really like them. We could do pizza instead?"
"You really don´t like hot dogs? What about chicken hot dogs? Those are good."
"I mean, I´m just really not a fan."
"Well, pizza is pretty expensive. We´ll just get hot dogs. OK?"
I felt like I could be having this same kind of conversation with my real mom, annoyed at her for not listening to me, but loving her all the while.
Tuesday morning (the birthday) I woke up to the smell of bacon, and what should I find but Molly, cooking me pancakes, bacon, and eggs for the traditional breakfast in bed. She served me on a tray decorated with flowers and all things delicious and breakfasty, and we watched Flight of the Conchords that she downloaded from John Boiles´s computer in Austin. It was fantastic. I really do have the best best friend in the world. Later I went to class, then walked over to the open air produce market next to my school to buy ingredients to make homemade salsa. I think in total I spent no more than $2, and it made about a gallon of salsa. And it was freaking delicious. In the evening I went to the beach by myself to watch the sun set, until the night time chill chased me home, where I started getting things ready for the fiesta. We had fresh salsa, the infamous hot dogs, brownies, kuchen, and mimosas. Several of our chilean friends came, along with my host sister, molly´s host sister, and our friend Marcus from North Carolina. It was fantastic, and I really couldn´t have asked for anything more. I was just so happy to have friends here! Friday morning we´re going to catch a bus to Santiago to go to Fantasilandia (like 6 flags) for the day and then stay the night with our friend Marco.
Now I have 2 hours to kill before my next class...
Keep the comments coming, let me know you´re reading!
chau
Mar 12, 2009
Tranquil Chaos
I have officially completed a week of classes.
Many of my classes turned out similar to the experience chronicled in my last entry, but I think I kind of like the chaos and confusion of life here in Chile. During our month of travels I was reading "In the House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende (which, if you haven't already read, I STRONGLY suggest that you do), which takes place in Chile and spans its history from the days of the haciendas up until the revolution in the '70s. Many of the characters are inclined towards the supernatural, and often spend their times conversing with ghosts or adding on labyrinths to mansions. The overall sense of tranquil chaos that presides in the pages of her book is exactly what I have encountered here -- and I almost expect my daily life within the walls of my university or by the shores of the Pacific Ocean to begin to mirror a piece of fantastical fiction. So it is with this mindframe that I faced a week of classes being scheduled in rooms that dont exist, trying to understand how the libraries, photocopy offices, and secretaries all function together to get materials to students, and diving into the icy waters of that kind of loneliness that can only exist when you are amids a massive crowd of people. It's been an exhausting rollercoaster ride of really beautiful moments and "oh crap" moments, with a little bit of blase thrown in here and there. God has given me a few new friends, hope that my Spanish is - in fact - improving day by day, Molly hugs exactly in the moments when I need them the most, and those little reminders that I have learned to love so dearly that He is here and that I am His. For example, the sunset last night. I had some reading to do for school and I was tired of being in my room, so I walked down to the beach, sat in the sand, and proceeded to read out loud so my mouth could practice making words in Spanish and let my voice be lost in the sound of the crashing waves. There was something unspeakable in the beauty of the colors and in the feeling of damp sand on my toes that brought me back to reality of God's love, and suddenly I forgot all the thoughts of self-pity and fear that had been fermenting in my heart all day. Or today, after my attempts to make it to my art class proved to be a failure of truly epic proportions, as I was leaving the art building in defeat I passed by a trash can filled with last year's art projects. I proceeded to dig through said trash can and pick out some of the less bent drawings and tucked them under my arm to decorate my walls. I also bought Molly some lillies today, because they were too beautiful not to.
So, in a messy pile of word vomit, there's my week. Chaotic, beautiful, painful, fantastical, difficult, lonely, fiction-esque, and fast. My dreams have been confused and wordless as I transition to functioning in English to Spanish, but I hope that soon they will be filled with rolling Spanish.
I've been keeping up a steady routine of skyping, trying not to be overwhelmed by wanting to call every number in my phone to tell them I love them and that I am thinking of them here in Chile. I am amazed by the technology that allowed me to video chat with John Boiles from Chile to Cameroon -- free.
Birthday is coming up in a few days, and I'm not sure what the celebration will look like, but I'm hoping it will resemble a party with new friends and some homemade Kuchen. Some free birthday drinks might be fun too.
Anyhow, I'm going over to Molly's house tonight to watch a movie and snuggle. Keep the comments coming!!! Even just to say "hi" so I know I'm not just writing to the winds....
Ciao,
catita
p.s. - i strongly suggest that you go put a banana and about a half a cup of milk in the blender and then drink it. mmmmmmmmmmm, the deliciousness of simplicity....
Many of my classes turned out similar to the experience chronicled in my last entry, but I think I kind of like the chaos and confusion of life here in Chile. During our month of travels I was reading "In the House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende (which, if you haven't already read, I STRONGLY suggest that you do), which takes place in Chile and spans its history from the days of the haciendas up until the revolution in the '70s. Many of the characters are inclined towards the supernatural, and often spend their times conversing with ghosts or adding on labyrinths to mansions. The overall sense of tranquil chaos that presides in the pages of her book is exactly what I have encountered here -- and I almost expect my daily life within the walls of my university or by the shores of the Pacific Ocean to begin to mirror a piece of fantastical fiction. So it is with this mindframe that I faced a week of classes being scheduled in rooms that dont exist, trying to understand how the libraries, photocopy offices, and secretaries all function together to get materials to students, and diving into the icy waters of that kind of loneliness that can only exist when you are amids a massive crowd of people. It's been an exhausting rollercoaster ride of really beautiful moments and "oh crap" moments, with a little bit of blase thrown in here and there. God has given me a few new friends, hope that my Spanish is - in fact - improving day by day, Molly hugs exactly in the moments when I need them the most, and those little reminders that I have learned to love so dearly that He is here and that I am His. For example, the sunset last night. I had some reading to do for school and I was tired of being in my room, so I walked down to the beach, sat in the sand, and proceeded to read out loud so my mouth could practice making words in Spanish and let my voice be lost in the sound of the crashing waves. There was something unspeakable in the beauty of the colors and in the feeling of damp sand on my toes that brought me back to reality of God's love, and suddenly I forgot all the thoughts of self-pity and fear that had been fermenting in my heart all day. Or today, after my attempts to make it to my art class proved to be a failure of truly epic proportions, as I was leaving the art building in defeat I passed by a trash can filled with last year's art projects. I proceeded to dig through said trash can and pick out some of the less bent drawings and tucked them under my arm to decorate my walls. I also bought Molly some lillies today, because they were too beautiful not to.
So, in a messy pile of word vomit, there's my week. Chaotic, beautiful, painful, fantastical, difficult, lonely, fiction-esque, and fast. My dreams have been confused and wordless as I transition to functioning in English to Spanish, but I hope that soon they will be filled with rolling Spanish.
I've been keeping up a steady routine of skyping, trying not to be overwhelmed by wanting to call every number in my phone to tell them I love them and that I am thinking of them here in Chile. I am amazed by the technology that allowed me to video chat with John Boiles from Chile to Cameroon -- free.
Birthday is coming up in a few days, and I'm not sure what the celebration will look like, but I'm hoping it will resemble a party with new friends and some homemade Kuchen. Some free birthday drinks might be fun too.
Anyhow, I'm going over to Molly's house tonight to watch a movie and snuggle. Keep the comments coming!!! Even just to say "hi" so I know I'm not just writing to the winds....
Ciao,
catita
p.s. - i strongly suggest that you go put a banana and about a half a cup of milk in the blender and then drink it. mmmmmmmmmmm, the deliciousness of simplicity....
Mar 9, 2009
First Day???
Classes started today, and I was supposed to be going to Chilean and Hispanoamerican Literature, and Italian Language and Culture, but neither of those really worked out. It turns out I was registered for the wrong literature class, so I had the wrong room written down, but I didn´t realize this until I had waited outside of a physics class for 15 minutes. When I finally figured out what room I was, in fact, supposed to be in, the door was locked and, along with abour 4 other students, we knocked on the door for a while before realizing that it was locked and the professor, who was inside, had no intention of opening it.
I then had about 2 1/2 hours to kill, so I walked to the plaza, walked to the beach, walked to nowhere and back, and finally it was time for my next class. I climbed the 5 flights of stairs again (because the elevator can´t ever decide if it´s going up or down, so it rarely makes it down to the first floor) to find my Italian class, but the room was nowhere to be found. I asked some students standing by, and they said they were wondering the same thing. So I went to the secretary´s office, the secretary wasnt there, but the Italian professor was, and she said that the room indicated on our schedules does not exist, so we´re not having class today. My university seems to be fond of phantom rooms, as well as labyrinths, mysterious bathroom schedules, and hidden doors. So, after spending over 5 hours around the school, I have yet to attend one class.
Luckily, God is awesome, and he takes those dull moments of not knowing what to do with myself and puts little kernels of wisdom in my mind for me to chew on. Today he reminded me of a realization I had when I was traveling in Spain -- that for some reason when I travel I forget that I don´t have to fit in. When I´m at home in the States I am comfortable in the knowledge that I am not the norm, that I am not like many of the people my age. But suddenly when I am in a different country I feel like I need to wear the clothes, say the words, and go to the places that people my age are wearing, saying, and going. ¨Carreteando¨(chilean for partying) is really big here in Valpo, and I found my thoughts stumbling down the path of "oh, i´m going to have to learn how to like to go out, i need to get "going out" clothes..." and so forth. I realized today that it´s actually completely ok if I don´t go out, don´t buy "going out" clothes, and all those other things that people my age do. The funny thing is that I already learned these things, but God needed to remind me again today as I was watching the pounding waves against slimy, green rocks. God is pretty awesome. During the month that we were traveling I experienced what it´s really like to practice faith. We would just step off a bus in an unfamiliar place, knowing that God had a place to stay, friends, adventure, and a warm cup of coffee just waiting for us. But now, altough it makes absolutely no sense, it is harder to practice this kind of faith in the midst of plans, schedules, and knowing what to expect from day to day. He showed me that I have made the mistake of thinking that all these things related to living in Viña -- making friends, doing well in school, learning spanish, stepping out of my comfort zone -- are on my shoulders. The difference in our month of travel and now is that I felt like here I had to make it or break it all on my own. But he´s just as faithful here, and I´m reminding myself every morning that He´s taking care of things, He has a plan for every day, and He has new Spanish words, new friends, and new kernels of wisdom waiting for me every day.
So there you go, a little update on school and on my soul.
Please keep commenting, it means so much to me!!! And skype me if you ever have time... it´s great to be able to stay in contact with home!!!
love love love,
catie
I then had about 2 1/2 hours to kill, so I walked to the plaza, walked to the beach, walked to nowhere and back, and finally it was time for my next class. I climbed the 5 flights of stairs again (because the elevator can´t ever decide if it´s going up or down, so it rarely makes it down to the first floor) to find my Italian class, but the room was nowhere to be found. I asked some students standing by, and they said they were wondering the same thing. So I went to the secretary´s office, the secretary wasnt there, but the Italian professor was, and she said that the room indicated on our schedules does not exist, so we´re not having class today. My university seems to be fond of phantom rooms, as well as labyrinths, mysterious bathroom schedules, and hidden doors. So, after spending over 5 hours around the school, I have yet to attend one class.
Luckily, God is awesome, and he takes those dull moments of not knowing what to do with myself and puts little kernels of wisdom in my mind for me to chew on. Today he reminded me of a realization I had when I was traveling in Spain -- that for some reason when I travel I forget that I don´t have to fit in. When I´m at home in the States I am comfortable in the knowledge that I am not the norm, that I am not like many of the people my age. But suddenly when I am in a different country I feel like I need to wear the clothes, say the words, and go to the places that people my age are wearing, saying, and going. ¨Carreteando¨(chilean for partying) is really big here in Valpo, and I found my thoughts stumbling down the path of "oh, i´m going to have to learn how to like to go out, i need to get "going out" clothes..." and so forth. I realized today that it´s actually completely ok if I don´t go out, don´t buy "going out" clothes, and all those other things that people my age do. The funny thing is that I already learned these things, but God needed to remind me again today as I was watching the pounding waves against slimy, green rocks. God is pretty awesome. During the month that we were traveling I experienced what it´s really like to practice faith. We would just step off a bus in an unfamiliar place, knowing that God had a place to stay, friends, adventure, and a warm cup of coffee just waiting for us. But now, altough it makes absolutely no sense, it is harder to practice this kind of faith in the midst of plans, schedules, and knowing what to expect from day to day. He showed me that I have made the mistake of thinking that all these things related to living in Viña -- making friends, doing well in school, learning spanish, stepping out of my comfort zone -- are on my shoulders. The difference in our month of travel and now is that I felt like here I had to make it or break it all on my own. But he´s just as faithful here, and I´m reminding myself every morning that He´s taking care of things, He has a plan for every day, and He has new Spanish words, new friends, and new kernels of wisdom waiting for me every day.
So there you go, a little update on school and on my soul.
Please keep commenting, it means so much to me!!! And skype me if you ever have time... it´s great to be able to stay in contact with home!!!
love love love,
catie
Mar 7, 2009
Normal is a relative term...
Now that our month of adventure is over, the events of this past week have not seemed especially blog-worthy, but they are adventures of a different variety, so I'll give it a go.
Orientation happened this week and, like orientation in the States, it mostly involved a lot of waiting... waiting to fill out papers, to take pictures, to sign up for things, to go on tours.... Registering for classes proved to be an utterly frustrating experience, not only because we are trying to figure out a completely different system of credits and hours, but because the study abroad program I am with has imposed some ludicrous restrictions on what classes we can and can't take. About half of the classes I wanted to take were off limits, which means I had to pull some strings, but I eventually got the classes I wanted. They seem like they will be really interesting. My classes are: Theory of Translation, Chilean and Hispanoamerican Literature, Man and the Social Doctrine of the Church, Human Experience in the Ideas and Art of the 20th Century, Living and Habitat, and Intro to Italian. And I don't have any on Fridays, which is awesome, and all of my classes will be taught in Spanish. I will have no choice but to really and truly learn the language, which is exactly what I wanted.
It was really strange to be around so many gringos (nearly 80% of my university's international students are from the US) and around so much English, and I'm really ready for school to start so I will actually start meeting Chileans and begin the painful process of having to speak/understand Spanish all day. In this strange limbo stage I'm in I often lose any concept of what language I am functioning in, and find myself responding to English with Spanish, thinking certain thoughts in Spanish and others in English, and many other odd combinations of language overlap. It's kind of sweet, though, to see how our thoughts are independent of language; that words are simply the canvas on which our ideas are expressed.
Wednesday night we met up at a bar with a few friends from school, but it turned into a group of about 20 gringos. Molly and I don't really know how to "go out" anyhow, not only because we cannot do so because of our age in the States, but because the concept of fun that we have grown accustomed to with our friends both in Nac and in our prospective cities is quite different than the universal image of what young people do to be social. Maybe we're just antisocial. Sitting among this large group of people, Molly and I found ourselves just talking to one another, suddenly aware that we were wearing frumpy sweaters to a club and that we didn't actually have any idea what we were ordering when we got drinks. The good news is that we are both secure enough to laugh it off and just make the most of it. We ended up having a good time, dancing later on, and most importantly just letting go. It was an extremely strange experience, and it will be interesting to see how our opinion of this whole "going out" thing evolves throughout the semester. I think it will be much better as we start meeting more Chileans who know the good places to go, but more importantly who we can get to know on a deeper level.
We did call up our friends from hitch hiking, who are from Valpo, and the three of them along with three of their friends met up with us just to walk along the beach at night and chat. It was really nice, and all of them were really fun to be around. Hopefully we will be spending more time with them. We also met up with Marco the next morning and he showed us around Valpo -- we went on the acensores and explored the twisted streets of the cerros around Pablo Neruda's house. He showed us one of his favorite cafes, called Colores Cafe, and took us to eat Chinese food. God blessed us SO much with all three of these guys; they are all complete gentlemen and really eager to show us around Vina and Valpo. Marco is like an older brother -- in fact, he even wears the same cologne as my real older brother.
My host mom is fantastic -- I am beyond a doubt exactly where God wants me. She is eternally happy, when she talks it is like a song, and she loves Jesus a whole lot. Several times over lunch or dinner we end up talking about the Church and God, and how awesome He is. She listenes to the Christian radio station all day, to which she often sings while she's cooking or cleaning. When I came home at 2am the other night I found her laughing hysterically at her computer, and we proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes or so watching funny videos of babies laughing. She tells me how much of a gift it is for her to have this time off working so she can do things around the house -- and she loves it. She loves being able to cook, clean, decorate, invite friends over, and just enjoy being in her home. She loves reality tv, dying her hair, and chocolate cake. Today she made me Chop Suy and fresh peach juice, and tomorrow we're going after church to hang our at her daughter's house for lunch, then at her parents' house for once (once is snack/tea/dinner substitute sometimes). Starting next week people from her church will be coming over to our house every tuesday for the sole purpose of prayer. When I sleep past my alarm she comes and knocks on my door to wake me up. In short, she is fantastic.
Last night molly spent the night after we went to see Slum Dog Millionaire (which was beyond amazing). At the movie theatre we saw a couple who we met in Ancud. They were staying in the same hostel in Ancud as us and went to the Pinguinera with us, then we saw the man several days later just walking in the streets in Castro, AND when I was in a photo center in Valparaiso getting my picture taken for my ID card there was a picture of them at their wedding on the wall. Valparaiso and Vina are big cities. What a small world we live in!!
It is really convenient (and miraculous) that Molly and I don't get tired of each other. The only thing that happens when we spend too much time together is that we run out of things to talk about, since we're experiencing everything together.
I've been skyping pretty regularly lately, which has been fantastic. I love being able to talk to friends back home, and for so cheap!!! If you don't already have it, download skype and add me!!! i'm catie.johnston on Skype.
Anyhow, I'm going over to Molly's house this afternoon to hang out with a bunch of her host sister's friends and eat hot dogs and watch horror movies. It should be interesting.
Keep the comments coming!
Besitos, abrazos, y mucho carino,
catita
Orientation happened this week and, like orientation in the States, it mostly involved a lot of waiting... waiting to fill out papers, to take pictures, to sign up for things, to go on tours.... Registering for classes proved to be an utterly frustrating experience, not only because we are trying to figure out a completely different system of credits and hours, but because the study abroad program I am with has imposed some ludicrous restrictions on what classes we can and can't take. About half of the classes I wanted to take were off limits, which means I had to pull some strings, but I eventually got the classes I wanted. They seem like they will be really interesting. My classes are: Theory of Translation, Chilean and Hispanoamerican Literature, Man and the Social Doctrine of the Church, Human Experience in the Ideas and Art of the 20th Century, Living and Habitat, and Intro to Italian. And I don't have any on Fridays, which is awesome, and all of my classes will be taught in Spanish. I will have no choice but to really and truly learn the language, which is exactly what I wanted.
It was really strange to be around so many gringos (nearly 80% of my university's international students are from the US) and around so much English, and I'm really ready for school to start so I will actually start meeting Chileans and begin the painful process of having to speak/understand Spanish all day. In this strange limbo stage I'm in I often lose any concept of what language I am functioning in, and find myself responding to English with Spanish, thinking certain thoughts in Spanish and others in English, and many other odd combinations of language overlap. It's kind of sweet, though, to see how our thoughts are independent of language; that words are simply the canvas on which our ideas are expressed.
Wednesday night we met up at a bar with a few friends from school, but it turned into a group of about 20 gringos. Molly and I don't really know how to "go out" anyhow, not only because we cannot do so because of our age in the States, but because the concept of fun that we have grown accustomed to with our friends both in Nac and in our prospective cities is quite different than the universal image of what young people do to be social. Maybe we're just antisocial. Sitting among this large group of people, Molly and I found ourselves just talking to one another, suddenly aware that we were wearing frumpy sweaters to a club and that we didn't actually have any idea what we were ordering when we got drinks. The good news is that we are both secure enough to laugh it off and just make the most of it. We ended up having a good time, dancing later on, and most importantly just letting go. It was an extremely strange experience, and it will be interesting to see how our opinion of this whole "going out" thing evolves throughout the semester. I think it will be much better as we start meeting more Chileans who know the good places to go, but more importantly who we can get to know on a deeper level.
We did call up our friends from hitch hiking, who are from Valpo, and the three of them along with three of their friends met up with us just to walk along the beach at night and chat. It was really nice, and all of them were really fun to be around. Hopefully we will be spending more time with them. We also met up with Marco the next morning and he showed us around Valpo -- we went on the acensores and explored the twisted streets of the cerros around Pablo Neruda's house. He showed us one of his favorite cafes, called Colores Cafe, and took us to eat Chinese food. God blessed us SO much with all three of these guys; they are all complete gentlemen and really eager to show us around Vina and Valpo. Marco is like an older brother -- in fact, he even wears the same cologne as my real older brother.
My host mom is fantastic -- I am beyond a doubt exactly where God wants me. She is eternally happy, when she talks it is like a song, and she loves Jesus a whole lot. Several times over lunch or dinner we end up talking about the Church and God, and how awesome He is. She listenes to the Christian radio station all day, to which she often sings while she's cooking or cleaning. When I came home at 2am the other night I found her laughing hysterically at her computer, and we proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes or so watching funny videos of babies laughing. She tells me how much of a gift it is for her to have this time off working so she can do things around the house -- and she loves it. She loves being able to cook, clean, decorate, invite friends over, and just enjoy being in her home. She loves reality tv, dying her hair, and chocolate cake. Today she made me Chop Suy and fresh peach juice, and tomorrow we're going after church to hang our at her daughter's house for lunch, then at her parents' house for once (once is snack/tea/dinner substitute sometimes). Starting next week people from her church will be coming over to our house every tuesday for the sole purpose of prayer. When I sleep past my alarm she comes and knocks on my door to wake me up. In short, she is fantastic.
Last night molly spent the night after we went to see Slum Dog Millionaire (which was beyond amazing). At the movie theatre we saw a couple who we met in Ancud. They were staying in the same hostel in Ancud as us and went to the Pinguinera with us, then we saw the man several days later just walking in the streets in Castro, AND when I was in a photo center in Valparaiso getting my picture taken for my ID card there was a picture of them at their wedding on the wall. Valparaiso and Vina are big cities. What a small world we live in!!
It is really convenient (and miraculous) that Molly and I don't get tired of each other. The only thing that happens when we spend too much time together is that we run out of things to talk about, since we're experiencing everything together.
I've been skyping pretty regularly lately, which has been fantastic. I love being able to talk to friends back home, and for so cheap!!! If you don't already have it, download skype and add me!!! i'm catie.johnston on Skype.
Anyhow, I'm going over to Molly's house this afternoon to hang out with a bunch of her host sister's friends and eat hot dogs and watch horror movies. It should be interesting.
Keep the comments coming!
Besitos, abrazos, y mucho carino,
catita
Mar 1, 2009
Men in Tights!
Tight tights!
It all started with a pair of earrings.
After several failed attempts in Futrono to visit an island with indigenous communities, we decided to leave earlier than we had originally planned, then realized that we would much rather spend the night on a bus back to Vina than in a hostel in Valdivia, as we had originally planned. "It would be one thing if we had friends here who we could go out with and see the town, but with just the two of us it will just be the same ole' same ole'" I said. **foreshadowing**
So, once in Valdivia, we bought our pasajes to Vina and headed out to walk along the river as we awaited the hour of our departure. We got to see wild sea lions who like to hang out near the fish markets -- one of them was dozing on the warm sand and from time to time growling to scare off a too-corageous dog who thought he was ten times bigger than he actually was. (did you know how big sea lions are? they're huge!!!) Bored with the sea lions and aware of the steady scalding of our blinding white skin, we mozied towards the center plaza to see what there was to see.
Molly was attracted by a pair of feather earrings, the likes of which she had been admiring for practically the entire trip thus far. The street vendor was very friendly and we chatted for a minute or two about the most beautiful parts of Chile. Molly bought the earrings (for the low price of 2,000 pesos = $3.50usd!) and, since we were already in the plaza and couldn't think of anything else to do, we headed towards a bench to sit down.
"Maybe we have friends in Valdivia," I said, "who we just haven't met yet. Maybe we'll sit down for a while and something will come our way." **foreshadowing** Little did I know that both of these statements would soon come true.
After we had been sitting there zoning out for a while, completely without plan, a troup of men in Renaissance attire carrying instruments rounded the corner and approached our perch. "Woah, look at them." we said. "I hope they'll come play a song for us," I said. "I bet they will. We'll give them money if they play us a song." They did come our way, but did not play a song. They came to take a seat and rest from the hot summer sun (hah! it was actually hot on a summer day in chile!) We scooted down a bit to make room for all four of them with all of their things and I struck up casual conversation with the on sitting next to me, whose name is Esteban (aka El Hombre Equis). Turns out our birthdays are one day apart, and we will both be turning 20. I don't wait long before asking why they are dressed as they are: black tights, short black poofy shorts, and velvety black jackets with poofy sleeves, decorated with regal looking sashes across their front. He explains to me that they are a group of students who are part of a larger organization that began back in the day when these clothes were actually in style (about 800 years ago). It originated as a group of students who had scholarships to pay for school but who could not afford to pay for lodging and food and so forth because as students, we all know, they were very poor. So they get together, dress up in their little black tights, and travel all over the area performing at events as well as on street corners and in restaurants to make money to pay for their travels and for their living expenses as students.
Anyhow, we chatted for a bit and they invited us to go grab a cerveza with them and, seeing as how we still had 2 hours to kill until our bus left, we accepted their invitation and started walking down the street escorted by a troup of men in tights.
Over a pitcher of cerveza we talked about modismos from Chile, about politics, about music, and so forth. We even taught them how to swing dance, much to the amusement of passers by. (Molly and I seem to have made a habit of doing dance demonstrations in public places with people who are almost strangers) As the hour for our departure was creeping nearer and nearer, I was trying to push it farther and farther from my mind. What a shame to have to leave our new friends after just a few hours. "Hey, why don't you guys stay another day in Valdivia and you can come around town with us" they offered in Spanish. Molly and I exchanged unsure glances. We already had our tickets home, we didn't have a place to stay, we didn't know these people, and we didn't really understand what it was they were doing tomorrow that we were going to follow them around for. But really, how many chances does a person get in a lifetime to spend the day with a band of traveling musicians wearing poofy short shorts and black tights? I couldn't say no to such an offer, so before we knew it the two younger guys were dashing off towards the bus station to try to sell our tickets back. When they couldn't sell them back and it was 15 minutes until the bus was supposed to leave we were already too invested in this rennaissance adventure to turn back, so we ate the tickets (not literally, of course) and began what would become one of the most unforgetable memories of my life.
Our stomachs were growling by this time, as it had been over 8 hours since we ate our meagre little sandwiches of meat and cheese, so they told us we would head to the store to get food to cook for dinner. However, before we could buy food, they had to earn the money to pay for the food, so we stopped in several bars and restaurants with them where they would perform a few songs, explain their attire and their pupose, El Guapo (Julio) would do a little jig with his little tambourine, and then he would pass it around and collect money.
I suppose I will go ahead and introduce the band of troubadours:
*Esteban/El Hombre Equis -- we have almost the same birthday. He is from La Serena and is a musical genius despite the fact that he developed some kind of disease in his hands so he can no longer play the contra bass as his concentration in the university, so he plays guitar and piano instead. His thumbs bend backwards way further than normal, which he told us is his super power like in X-Men. Hence, el Hombre Equis.
*Adrian/Hombre Sin Nombre -- We couldn't remember his name for the entire time we were hanging out with them (hence the nickname) until we got him to write it down before we said out goodbyes. He is the leader of the group and enjoys being in charge. He cooked us pasta with one sauce made from apples and tomatoe sauce, and the other using tuna and sour cream. and somehow they were both delicious (maybe because we were starving)
*Juan/JuanNoPants -- I think that out of all of them, Juan enjoyed the short shorts the most. He looked like he might be a creeper, but it turns out he's a really nice guy. He is studying to be an elementary school teacher, and he likes to dance, even when he's not good at it. He's got a very soft inside under his kind of rough looking outside.
*Julio/El Guapo -- El Guapo is the handsome one who they send into the restaurants to charm the owners with his dashing good looks to let them come in and play. For this reason he's always trotting off ahead and disappearing, soon to reappear with a thumbs up or thumbs down, his broad shoulders loaded down with an instrument case and sometimes a backpack too. While the others play stringed instrumets, he plays the tambourine. But not only does he play it, he does a crazy little jig with it that involves him jumping around, hitting it with his head, shoulders, knees and toes (no joke) with it. They also take advantage of his dashing good looks to make him ask for the money. Who could say no to that face? Basically, his job is to be guapo, and he does it very well. He also sings really well and plays stringed instruments very well.
Anyhow, we did this for several hours, despite the fact that they kept telling us that our next stop was the grocery store. Finally we got our bags from the bus station, bought some groceries, and after getting lost and walking in a huge circle, we made it to the hospedaje where they were staying, dumped our stuff, and waited for HombreSinNombre to cook us his magical concauction. It was delicious. Ah, the life of a musician. After dinner we sat around talking about music, getting them to play us our favorite songs, introducing them to Sufjan on the ipod, sipping on cheap wine with pepsi, and laughing at the ridiculocity of the day.
We finally parted company, and molly and I fell asleep in our shared double bed to the sounds of guitars in the other room. I really like that they play those guitars all day to make money, then to relax and have fun in the evenings they play those same guitars. Awesome.
In the morning (i mean, at noon when we woke up) I made us a delicious American breakfast of eggs and pancakes, they got their tights on (which, by the way, are called "panties" in spanish), and we headed out. They played in a few places around the main plaza, then we hopped on a bus to a little town called Niebla. Niebla means fog in spanish, and the entire town was, in fact, in a cold fog the entire time we were there. Thanks, Chile. Gotta love it. Anyhow, there was some kind of culture festival there (they always seem to be having cultural festivals everywhere here) with foods, traditional dances, music, and so forth. We enjoyed the festivities for a while, stopped by the beach where Molly and I almost froze because we were dressed in tank tops and shorts for the hot weather we had just left in Valdivia. The men in tights are true gentlemen, though, and El Guapo and JuanNoPants gave us their poofy-sleeved velvety jackets to keep warm as we walked up the highway to find a restaurant to play in. Chilean men are generally very chivalrous, and I still don't think Molly and I have really gotten used to them always offering to help us down from the bus or to serve us first at dinner or to always offer to carry our heavy backpacks despite the fact that they had their various bags and musical instruments to carry. We were quite a sight, and many people in cars passing by pointed, stared, laughed, and some even took pictures.
We went around to a few restaurants, one of which contained a woman who was incredibly drunk (even though it was 5 in the afternoon) who proceeded to dance all up on El Guapo. He just can't help that he's so stinking guapo.
...Another side note here, we taught the men in tights about the word "awkward", which doesn't really exist in Spanish. We showed them awkward turtle (as well as the variations: awkward turtle mitosis, awkward giraffe...) the day before, so as they were playing and the crazy drunk lady was singing and dancing with El Guapo in the middle of the restaurant they each at different times shot us side glances and quick awkward turtle hand gestures. It was awesome. ...
We finally left from the fog town and came back to Valdivia, where we got our bags from the hostel, had another dance lesson in the middle of the plaza (by then we had really gotten used to people staring at us all the time), met up with another man in tights who came to join them, then got some sandwich makin's at the store. We all sat together in the grass eating our sandwiches, reveling in the absurdity of the image of two american girls sitting on the ground among a troup of musicians wearing tights (panties) and short, poofy shorts. Molly and I bought an entire kuchen from the grocery store (it was like $4usd) and a package of plastic forks, so we all sat around eating at the kuchen with our hands and the occasional help of the forks. It was so awesome. Then we got our own private concert -- complete with the entire row of 5 men in tights doing the booty train while playing -- and Molly and I each had our turn to dance with El Guapo as the sun was retreating behind the horizon. Best moment of the trip might have been there on the lawn in Valdivia with our kuchen, our men in tights, and their music. Thanks God. He really does hear everything and He had a lot of fun answering those prayers that we didn't even know we said.
So, we said our goodbyes, got in a taxi, and rushed at the last moment to catch our bus back home.
There it was, the month of traveling that we had not only been planning for for half of a year, but which I had been anticipating and dreaming about since my sophomore year in high school. It is so strange for something that was preceeded by such anticipation to be coming to an end, to realize that what was once a scrambled collection of hopes and dreams is now just a memory. We were ready for the end of this chapter, though, and we were so relieved to be back in our host homes where unpacking our suitcases that have been stowed away all month was like Christmas morning after wearing the same 2 pairs of pants and 4 shirts for the past month (and only doing laundry 3 times!) It feels so good to be here, and already I feel like this is home. I am overwhelmed by school things, but it will be ok. In many ways I think that the normalcy of being a student here is going to be much harder than the constant flux of our time traveling. But God is good, and He is faithful ALL the time.
More will come soon about life in Vina, but this is already too long, and it will take a very brave soul to make it all the way to the end.
Besitos.
catita
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