One month in Chile whaaat

Hiiii, sorry sorry I know it's been a while since I have updated this, I've been pretty good at procrastinating doing really pointless things, and then hours later remember that I could maybe update my blog or something. Oh well.

This past weekend was excellent! Thursday Allie, Christine, and Allison came over to my house for a bit and got to meet my family. Very nice to have friends over, because we all live so far apart that we tend to just meet up at a certain location versus at someone's house. However, that day we planned to go out to meet some friends at a bar later, and it was easier to stop at my house (yet again, I love living in el centro...so close to everything!). Before going to Bellavista we stopped at a small whole in the wall restaurant (there are A LOT of these especially in my neighborhood, because there are so many hungry university students around). We got completos--basically a hot dog topped with tomato, avocado, and mayo--burritos, and "jugo natural", which is literally a piece of fruit blended with ice/water. We met up with our friends, Carlos (Allie's pololo), Carlos, and Matías and spent a long time at a fun bar in Bellavista befor braving the micros (buses) home. On friday I went to CIEE to watch the movie Machuca. I've already seen it, but it's a really great movie, I definitely recommend it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_p3QAPtdEY). Basically, it tells the story of the coup but from the point of view of two middle school boys--one from the lower class and one from the upper class--which is a really interesting way to view the conflict. Afterwards I was planning to go to a concert, but the movie went really late so I decided to call it a night and go home. However, as I was leaving, my friend Alexandra invited me to go eat Peruvian food with her and her mom. Ashley (from CIEE) and I went with her--it was really fun because we would never have found this wonderful little peruvian restaurant tucked away on the second story of a building, in the middle of Santiago (also it would probably not have been safe to walk there as just two gringas). It was really fun to eat with Ale and her family--felt a lot like going out on a friday night with the neighborhood families (also the peruvian food was so good!).

Saturday morning I met up with 7 other gringas from my program at Estacion Central, which is one of the main connecting metro stations to the bus depot. We bought tickets and 15 minutes later were on a bus headed to Pomaire, a small town about an hour outside of Santiago. Pomaire is known for its traditional ceramic bowls and small "chanchitos". These are little 3-legged pig sculptures; if you give one as a gift, it's supposed to bring luck to the recipient. I found Pumaire to be really touristy, but I had a wonderful time nonetheless, spending the day out of the city and with friends. When we got there we went to lunch at an amazing restaurant, where we all got either pastel de choclo (similar to pastel de papa, but with corn) or a half pound kilo (!!!) empanada, with delicious delicious jugo natural of every flavor you could imagine (melon was the best by far). We walked around a bit. and saw about a thousand ceramic pots and chanchitos. It was a little strange, because the main attraction was about 5 blocks of stores selling the same thing, which clearly runs the economy in Pomaire. However, at the same time if you looked down the neighborhoods past the main shops, there was a stark difference between the bustling artisan streets, and the deserted, more run down residential area. After wandering around and getting completely confused about how to find a bus back to Santiago, we finally hopped onto a micro going to a neighboring town, where we could catch a bigger bus to Santiago. The packed, rumbling bus dropped us off in the middle of a road. None of us quite knew where we were/anything about the bus we were supposed to get on. But not five minutes later, a bus to Santiago pulled up to our group of lost looking gringas. The sun was strong and the day was very warm, making it a lovely day to be outside exploring and away from the concrete of the city.

Waiting at a bus stop somewhere in Chile. Lost? Of couse not...

Here are some snapshots of this week:

• Yesterday I fed Renato his dinner which, although not really remarkable at all, made me feel infinitely more a part of the family. (Also kind of fun because I got to do the airplane trick. heh heh.) It was good to be helping out.
• As I am always on my pursuit of making chilean friends, yesterday was another venture in the long journey. I was supposed to meet Ale, for lunch at the U de chile. I went to the cafeteria at 1:35 to meet her, and didn't see her anywhere, although there were tonsss of people milling around. Being here and trying to make friends/lunch buddies basically launches me back to middle/elementary school/summer camp. Basically anywhere here you don't know anyone, they alllll know each other, and you somehow have to initiate contact. Take that feeling and then multiply it by 20 because everyone is looking at you because you are tall and blond and obviously gringa and lost. To say the least, I have had many experiences where I have to get over the fact that the situation is about to be reaaally awkward and everyone will be staring blatantly at me. Anyway, after going in and leaving the cafeteria 3 times, I finally found Ale and got to eat with her and 4 of her friends. I pretty much couldn't hear anything from the conversation over the dull roar of the cafeteria, so my part often included a ton of nodding, but I'm excited to get to know them all better (and be able to understand them too!)
  
• After my next class, which ended at six pm, I decided to walk home instead of taking the metro (my new fave thing to do). It's about a 30 min walk and it's nice to stretch my legs, join the rush hour crowds, and see people and places. I walk from my U, right by Santa Lucia, an old spanish fort on a hill, past the "White House", and then to my house. Yesterday was cloudy and gross all day, but when I left my class the clouds had mostly broken, leaving amazing streaks of pink and orange across the sky. I walk toward the west away from the mountains, so I had the most spectacular view the entire way back. It was a really wonderful way to end the day.
• Today finally felt like spring! (Although I'm sure it's just teasing.) It was so warm that during the lunch hour, everyone was spread out across the large expanses of grassy area at la Catolica, just enjoying the beautiful day.
• Mi hermanita, Leo, had her one month birthday on August 9th. It's so exciting to watch her grow, she is so much bigger than when I first met her and she was only 6 days old.
  

With everyday I feel more and more at home with my family, at the universities, and roaming the various streets of downtown Santiago. It's hard to think that over a month ago I didn't know Renato and his carshh or the best ice cream place in Bellavista (on that note, I was at Emporio la Rosa the other day and ended up eating chocolate-basil icecream. This is what happens when you order things and have no idea what they mean. I say it's always worth the adventure.)

Much love to all. Happy and safe travels to all the other students who are now on study abroad! Can't wait to here your stories.

Besitos!

Some pictures! Also, I'll leave you with some reggaeton this time (this one suggested to me by Allie). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RKfnvLPdLM

Looking at la Universidad Católica's campus central where I have my lit class. The picture doesn't really do it justice--if you go inside there are numerous, gigantic courtyards always filled with students chatting, playing small partidos de futbol, and stopping at outdoor cafes for a coffee (mmm Nescafe) before class. If you walk down this street, I live about 30 minutes away.

Kalamazoo girls in Santiago! Wishing Jessie farewell before she left last week.

Love this kid.