I wake up and I take a shower. Is it going to be too hot or too cold today? I can't figure out the temperature knobs. At first it was don't turn the hot on very much because more water will flow through the pipes, and the pilot flame won't be able to heat that amount water. Then it was turn the hot on all the way. That got the hot water going, but now it's too hot. So I turn the cold on, but it doesn't seem to affect the temperature. I turn the cold knob more, fearing the blast of freezing cold water that will tell me I turned it too far. The water is still too hot, it won't cool off. Finally, I turn the cold knob five or six times. There! Now the water cools off, but of course it overshoots. I dial back the cold knob, but the water is now on the fence, fluctuating between freezing and burning. I try turning the hot knob back a little to compensate. Now the water is just freezing.
A lady stands on the street, hailing a bus. The driver doesn't see her and keeps going. A moment of exasperation. She waits for the next bus.
I am sick. I have a cough, a sore throat, a running nose, and a headache from the congestion. But that is nothing compared to what I cannot see. Inside my body a war rages. The soldiers in my veins fight valiantly. Who was the first one to notice the intruder, to sound the alarm? He didn't last long. After getting the word out, he selflessly sacrificed himself, engulfing one of the enemy, destorying himself for the greater good. Who are the generals of my immune system? They direct millions to their death every hour, genocide on microscopic scale. Who are the NCOs of my bloodstream? Inspiring men to fight in the face of unquestionable destruction, forcing others to follow in the footsteps of their fallen comrades? The biochemist and the doctor say they are white blood cells and red blood cells, T-helper cells, enzymes and catalysts. I wonder if it is so simple.
A student hears a word in a foreign language. He has heard it before, but cannot define it. He asks, and is told its meaning. He knows he will forget it next time, too.
I walk into the building where I have Spanish classes. Which room am I in today? B-18? No, that's Mondays. C... C-something. Yes, that's it. Which hallway was C again? Is C across from D? No, C is below D. Okay, at which end of the building? There's hallway B (why can't it be Monday?), so it must be at the other end of the building. Upstairs... no, D is up. C is down. I take a left, but I don't see my fellow classmates. I must've turned the wrong way. I try the other hallway. Yes, this looks familiar (it all looks the same). There, my classmates. C-12. Remember! Wednesdays, C-12.
A little girl trips on the sidewalk. Her mother helps her up and brushes off her hands. The little girl continues to walk.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Santiago
I should actually start this post by talking about the night before I went to Santiago.
Thursday, Septiembre 24
A group of us went out to a bar called "La Biblioteca" in Chillan. We ordered snacks and drinks and everyone was having a great time. Our group hit it off with the bartenders (well, some of the girls in our group hit it off with them, I should say), and one of the girls got to go behind the bar and make a couple drinks.
After La Biblioteca we went to El Bronco. Apparently the first two nights I had been were not normal, because it wasn't nearly as packed this time. I realize now it's because the first two nights I went were during Chile's Independence week (September 18 is Independence Day), so the students didn't have class. But we still a great time goofing off and dancing. After we'd been there for a couple hours, one of the girls in our group got us together because she had a little surprise for us: the bartenders from La Biblioteca were at the Brocno, and they could get us upstairs into the VIP section! So of course we went!
It wasn't a huge deal, but it was fun. I remembered that when I had been dancing I'd always look up and thought it would be fun to just sit upstairs, drink a beer, and watch the party. So I did just that, and I was right.
As the Bronco was closing down, we got another surprise: the bartenders from La Biblioteca were willing to drive us back into town, which was nice because it saved us the cost of a taxi. So we took them up on the offer. They took us as far as La Biblioteca, and Dave and I walked to my house from there. After getting three hours of sleep, Dave and I got up to go to Santiago.
Friday, Septiembre 25
Dave and I caught a bus to Santiago at 12:45pm. It was about a 5 and a half hour ride, so it was a good time to rest and catch up on some sleep.
When we arrived in Santiago we contacted Dave's friend Paula, the cousin of his tutor at the universidad. Her family was willing to let us stay at their house for the weekend. We found the metro, determined where we were and where we needed to go, and rode the thing all the way across Santiago! I liked the metro a lot. Part of it is above ground, and part of it is underground. There are five main lines that span the length and width of the city. Santiago is huge, if there was any doubt. It took us nearly an hour to get from the bus station to the stop near Paula's house. The metro was packed, but not unbearably so. The whole system was very effecient, and cheap, too. It cost us only 460 pesos (less than a dollar) for the whole ride, including a transfer between lines.
When we got to Paula's house there was yet another surprise in store for us: the family had brought an electric guitar, a bass guitar, and a set of drums for us to play with! Dave was so happy he couldn't stop smiling. We got everything set up and jammed for about an hour and a half. Dave played the drums, and I switched off between the guitar and the bass with Jorge, the father. We mostly covered songs, including Hotel California, Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle, Hey Jude, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Highway to Hell, Shoot to Thrill, You Shook Me All Night Long, Nothing Else Matters, Bad Moon Rising, and a bunch of songs that Jorge knew and that Dave and I were able to figure out and play along with. Jorge is a great guitar player; he handeled the solos in Hotel California no questions asked. Again, I was amazed at how easily music can bring people together.
Saturday, Septiembre 26
Paula and her friend Catherine took Dave and I to Cerro San Cristobal, where they have a big statue of the Virgin Mary. They also have mass there, and I want to go back sometime to attend it.
On the way to San Cristobal we passed a restaurant. Some of the hosts from the restaurant were outside, joking with people walking by and trying to get them to sit down and eat. Our group got noticed by Ricardo, who spoke very good English. He told us to come back when we were hungry, and he was so funny that we couldn't pass it up, so after San Cristobal we did return. The meal, and Ricardo, did not disappoint. We had a great time, and there are pictures and a video of Ricardo on my Facebook page if anyone would like to see Ricardo in action.
The real highight of the weekend, however, was that night. We went back to Paula's, had dinner, and headed out to a club.
Jorge drove us. First stop was a Hummer parked at a gas station, where they hand out invitations to this dance club to students. Once we had our invitations Jorge dropped us off at the club where we ran into a problem with security. The girl in the Hummer wrote our student ID numbers on the invitations to make sure that no one got more than one. The problem was the girl had written my ID number on Dave's ticket as well as mine. So the security guard wouldn't let Dave in. Paula called her Dad, and he came back, took us to the Hummer where we sorted out the issue, and returned us to the club. This time we got in.
Thursday, Septiembre 24
A group of us went out to a bar called "La Biblioteca" in Chillan. We ordered snacks and drinks and everyone was having a great time. Our group hit it off with the bartenders (well, some of the girls in our group hit it off with them, I should say), and one of the girls got to go behind the bar and make a couple drinks.
After La Biblioteca we went to El Bronco. Apparently the first two nights I had been were not normal, because it wasn't nearly as packed this time. I realize now it's because the first two nights I went were during Chile's Independence week (September 18 is Independence Day), so the students didn't have class. But we still a great time goofing off and dancing. After we'd been there for a couple hours, one of the girls in our group got us together because she had a little surprise for us: the bartenders from La Biblioteca were at the Brocno, and they could get us upstairs into the VIP section! So of course we went!
It wasn't a huge deal, but it was fun. I remembered that when I had been dancing I'd always look up and thought it would be fun to just sit upstairs, drink a beer, and watch the party. So I did just that, and I was right.
As the Bronco was closing down, we got another surprise: the bartenders from La Biblioteca were willing to drive us back into town, which was nice because it saved us the cost of a taxi. So we took them up on the offer. They took us as far as La Biblioteca, and Dave and I walked to my house from there. After getting three hours of sleep, Dave and I got up to go to Santiago.
Friday, Septiembre 25
Dave and I caught a bus to Santiago at 12:45pm. It was about a 5 and a half hour ride, so it was a good time to rest and catch up on some sleep.
When we arrived in Santiago we contacted Dave's friend Paula, the cousin of his tutor at the universidad. Her family was willing to let us stay at their house for the weekend. We found the metro, determined where we were and where we needed to go, and rode the thing all the way across Santiago! I liked the metro a lot. Part of it is above ground, and part of it is underground. There are five main lines that span the length and width of the city. Santiago is huge, if there was any doubt. It took us nearly an hour to get from the bus station to the stop near Paula's house. The metro was packed, but not unbearably so. The whole system was very effecient, and cheap, too. It cost us only 460 pesos (less than a dollar) for the whole ride, including a transfer between lines.
When we got to Paula's house there was yet another surprise in store for us: the family had brought an electric guitar, a bass guitar, and a set of drums for us to play with! Dave was so happy he couldn't stop smiling. We got everything set up and jammed for about an hour and a half. Dave played the drums, and I switched off between the guitar and the bass with Jorge, the father. We mostly covered songs, including Hotel California, Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle, Hey Jude, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Highway to Hell, Shoot to Thrill, You Shook Me All Night Long, Nothing Else Matters, Bad Moon Rising, and a bunch of songs that Jorge knew and that Dave and I were able to figure out and play along with. Jorge is a great guitar player; he handeled the solos in Hotel California no questions asked. Again, I was amazed at how easily music can bring people together.
Saturday, Septiembre 26
Paula and her friend Catherine took Dave and I to Cerro San Cristobal, where they have a big statue of the Virgin Mary. They also have mass there, and I want to go back sometime to attend it.
On the way to San Cristobal we passed a restaurant. Some of the hosts from the restaurant were outside, joking with people walking by and trying to get them to sit down and eat. Our group got noticed by Ricardo, who spoke very good English. He told us to come back when we were hungry, and he was so funny that we couldn't pass it up, so after San Cristobal we did return. The meal, and Ricardo, did not disappoint. We had a great time, and there are pictures and a video of Ricardo on my Facebook page if anyone would like to see Ricardo in action.
The real highight of the weekend, however, was that night. We went back to Paula's, had dinner, and headed out to a club.
Jorge drove us. First stop was a Hummer parked at a gas station, where they hand out invitations to this dance club to students. Once we had our invitations Jorge dropped us off at the club where we ran into a problem with security. The girl in the Hummer wrote our student ID numbers on the invitations to make sure that no one got more than one. The problem was the girl had written my ID number on Dave's ticket as well as mine. So the security guard wouldn't let Dave in. Paula called her Dad, and he came back, took us to the Hummer where we sorted out the issue, and returned us to the club. This time we got in.
This is the front of the club:
Pretty cool, right? Well, we walked inside and this is what we found:
Fun, but more like a bar than a disco. I think Dave and I were both a little disappointed for a second. But people were having fun, so Dave found an open table and started to sit. But no, the girls pointed to a doorway at the back of the room. We went through it, down some stairs, and turned the corner to find this:
Yes, the dance floor is actually a dance pit. Yes, those are platforms rising out of the pit. And yes, some professional dancers utilized them:
So we spent a couple hours dancing, having the time of our life, thinking the night couldn't get any better, when the girls took us through another door, where we again went down some steps and turned a corner:
A wholly separate dance pit, and in this room they play 80's music (Night at the Roxbury, a song from the Grease soundtrack, ect.). Dave's exact words upon entering this room: "What!?"
At 5am the club was shutting down, so Jorge came back to get us. We slept until 11am.
Sunday, Septiembre 27
Ever since Dave had heard that there was a Starbucks in Santiago he'd been dying to go, so before we got on the bus back to Chillan we got Dave his coffee fix. It wasn't as good as in the States. We discovered that we are indeed coffee snobs.
Another long bus ride, and we were back in Chillan. We had homework and a quiz the next morning to study for, so our fun had come to an end that weekend. But what a weekend it had been! I didn't even get to do as much sight-seeing as I wanted to do, so I think it's safe to say that I'll return to Santiago. I just might try and go to that club again, too.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Language Notes
As I've been getting more accustomed to hearing and speaking Spanish I've started to develop affection for the language.
The primary thing I like about Spanish is that words change meaning based on context. In English the word changes when the context changes. A good example of this is the Spanish preposition "por", which as far as I can make out is most frequently used to mean "for" in English. But "por" can also mean "through", "in", "by", and "per". So in English you would have to say "written by" or "in the evening", whereas in Spanish you can say "escribo por" or "por la tarde". Even more extreme examples would be "por fin", which means "finally", and "por supuesta", which means "of course".
I like this about Spanish because it makes the language a little easier to learn; as long as I can recognize the word "por" in a sentence I can understand it in terms of the verbs and subject. In English I would have to know each of those different words for every context. It gives me a little more appreciation for how difficult English must be to learn.
I'm pretty sure I've always been taught this in my Spanish classes, but it finally clicked last week sometime. Those moments of recognition of understanding are the most rewarding part of learning something.
Of course, just as I like this about Spanish and don't like it about English, there are things that go the other way. My favorite example of this is comparisons. In English if I want to say something is nicer, bigger, or more whatever than something else, I can just use that word, modified with an "er" or est" ending (nice, nicer, nicest). When comparing in Spanish, I have to say "es mas (grande, simpatico, ect.) que (the thing I'm comparing)". It's not a big deal, but it makes me feeling like I have to say a long sentence when I want to compare something, instead of just being able to say "It's nicer".
Having thought about this pet peeve of mine I realize it's not that much longer in Spanish, but it still annoys me every time I have to use it.
Language is fun!
The primary thing I like about Spanish is that words change meaning based on context. In English the word changes when the context changes. A good example of this is the Spanish preposition "por", which as far as I can make out is most frequently used to mean "for" in English. But "por" can also mean "through", "in", "by", and "per". So in English you would have to say "written by" or "in the evening", whereas in Spanish you can say "escribo por" or "por la tarde". Even more extreme examples would be "por fin", which means "finally", and "por supuesta", which means "of course".
I like this about Spanish because it makes the language a little easier to learn; as long as I can recognize the word "por" in a sentence I can understand it in terms of the verbs and subject. In English I would have to know each of those different words for every context. It gives me a little more appreciation for how difficult English must be to learn.
I'm pretty sure I've always been taught this in my Spanish classes, but it finally clicked last week sometime. Those moments of recognition of understanding are the most rewarding part of learning something.
Of course, just as I like this about Spanish and don't like it about English, there are things that go the other way. My favorite example of this is comparisons. In English if I want to say something is nicer, bigger, or more whatever than something else, I can just use that word, modified with an "er" or est" ending (nice, nicer, nicest). When comparing in Spanish, I have to say "es mas (grande, simpatico, ect.) que (the thing I'm comparing)". It's not a big deal, but it makes me feeling like I have to say a long sentence when I want to compare something, instead of just being able to say "It's nicer".
Having thought about this pet peeve of mine I realize it's not that much longer in Spanish, but it still annoys me every time I have to use it.
Language is fun!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Pictures
Well, besides pictures for my friend Benny, I haven't uploaded any pictures of myself. But other people on the trip have, and they're on Facebook, so check that out if you're dying to see a picture of me in Chile.
Life
After all the craziness and non-stop nature of last weekend, it's been nice this week to take things slow and start to enjoy living in Chile.
Tuesday, Septiembre 15
I decided that it was high time I figured out how to get around in Chillan, so I walked to the Universidad from my house. It's a solid walk, about 40 minutes at a good pace, but it wasn't unbearable. I think I'm going to walk to and from school each day. The taxis here are not expensive (about 300 pesos a ride, which is less than a dollar) but doing that multiple times a day, five days a week adds up. I'd rather save my money for when I really need a ride; when I'm coming home at 5am, or taking the bus to another city.
I met Casi and Rhett at the Universidad, and we got lost on the way back home. We were actually only five or six blocks from Casi's house, but the neighborhood was so foreign looking that we didn't realize it. Rhett and I went to my house after seeing that Casi was safe at her house, and it was after dark by the time we got to my place. My family was a little concerned because it was after dark, but everything was okay.
That night the conversation around the dinner table was lively. Mi hermana Valentina is home from school for vacation, and my mom's friend Cecilia also joined us. They talk extremely fast, but I found myself following the majority of what was being said. It was an encouraging moment. Words that I recognize are starting to get cemented in my brain so that I simply hear and understand, and I don't have to try and decipher them. I've especially noticed this tendency with tenses; I very quickly recognize the "o", "es/as", "e/a","amos/imos/emos", "en/an" endings to verbs, and I've come to learn that a huge part of understanding a conversation is simply knowing the subject.
The end result of all this is that it allows my mind to puzzle over words I'm not familiar with so that I acquire a deeper understanding of the converstation. It also made me thankful that I'm in a family with several people living at home because I'm used to hearing Chileans talk at full tilt amongst themselves. Rhett lives with just his madre, so he didn't have that benefit. Several times throughout the evening I found myself in the position of translator, which was affirming for me.
After dinner I went to get coffee (how very Oregonian of me, I realize now) with Elisa, one of the Chilean students here. She speaks good English, so it's a nice mix because we can more fully understand each other but I can still ask her questions about Spanish. Most of the converstation was in English that night, but hopefully I can pull even with her and we can have a conversation in Spanish soon. We also went to a bar that reminded me of the Crow Bar in Corvallis, and I have a feeling I'll be hanging out there a lot.
Wednesday, Septiembre 16
Rhett, Casi, Ryan, Jimmy and I took the bus to Concepcion, near the Chilean coast. It's about an hour bus ride, and it only costs 3,500 pesos (8 dollars) for a rountrip ticket. Unfortunately we didn't plan our trip at all, so once we got to the city we didn't know what to do. We ended up seeing Independence Square, where the country of Chile first gained independence from Spain, and we went to a park where we discovered the local teens like to sneak off and drink. We ran accross a group of students that were drinking and having a good time, though one of the girls in the group was throwing up because she had drank too much. The kids loved us though, practiced their English on us, and wanted us to give them a high five and a pound. It's been a common experience.
Casi, in fact, got more attention in Concepcion than I've ever seen. People all over would honk and wave at her, and there was a hilarious moment when a group of construction workers on the third story of a building were whistling and blowing kisses to her. Casi takes it very gracefully and just smiles and waves.
I went to bed right when I got home that night. I was starting to get a sore throat, and my lips were still very chapped from snowboarding on the weekend.
Thursday, Septiembre 17
I woke up this morning and my throat was still sore, but it's the only symptom I have. I sat down with mi familia for a nice lunch.
The food here is so delicious! I personally haven't eaten anything that I would consider foreign, or that couldn't be found in the States. But everything here explodes with flavor because they use different spices. Lunch is their big meal, so today we had salad with hardboiled eggs, followed by another type of salad. Again, it's just salad, but the flavors are so different, it's wonderful. Then we had a kind of soup with a turkey leg and a big piece of both patatoes and carrots. A special dessert closed out the meal, which was good though I have no idea what it was. Some type of cobbler is the closest description I can think of.
My family is amazing. I have a father, Juan Carlos, a mother, Wihldy, and a grandmother (I don't know here name, come to think of it). I also have a brother, Francisco Jose, who lives at home. He's 18. My sister Valentina is home from school for the week, and she's 22. My other sister, Carolina, is 26, and I think she's coming home tonight. Carolina is getting married on Noviembre 14 (if I remember correctly), so I'll get to experience a wedding, which I am looking forward to.
Here's a picture of mi familia:
Tuesday, Septiembre 15
I decided that it was high time I figured out how to get around in Chillan, so I walked to the Universidad from my house. It's a solid walk, about 40 minutes at a good pace, but it wasn't unbearable. I think I'm going to walk to and from school each day. The taxis here are not expensive (about 300 pesos a ride, which is less than a dollar) but doing that multiple times a day, five days a week adds up. I'd rather save my money for when I really need a ride; when I'm coming home at 5am, or taking the bus to another city.
I met Casi and Rhett at the Universidad, and we got lost on the way back home. We were actually only five or six blocks from Casi's house, but the neighborhood was so foreign looking that we didn't realize it. Rhett and I went to my house after seeing that Casi was safe at her house, and it was after dark by the time we got to my place. My family was a little concerned because it was after dark, but everything was okay.
That night the conversation around the dinner table was lively. Mi hermana Valentina is home from school for vacation, and my mom's friend Cecilia also joined us. They talk extremely fast, but I found myself following the majority of what was being said. It was an encouraging moment. Words that I recognize are starting to get cemented in my brain so that I simply hear and understand, and I don't have to try and decipher them. I've especially noticed this tendency with tenses; I very quickly recognize the "o", "es/as", "e/a","amos/imos/emos", "en/an" endings to verbs, and I've come to learn that a huge part of understanding a conversation is simply knowing the subject.
The end result of all this is that it allows my mind to puzzle over words I'm not familiar with so that I acquire a deeper understanding of the converstation. It also made me thankful that I'm in a family with several people living at home because I'm used to hearing Chileans talk at full tilt amongst themselves. Rhett lives with just his madre, so he didn't have that benefit. Several times throughout the evening I found myself in the position of translator, which was affirming for me.
After dinner I went to get coffee (how very Oregonian of me, I realize now) with Elisa, one of the Chilean students here. She speaks good English, so it's a nice mix because we can more fully understand each other but I can still ask her questions about Spanish. Most of the converstation was in English that night, but hopefully I can pull even with her and we can have a conversation in Spanish soon. We also went to a bar that reminded me of the Crow Bar in Corvallis, and I have a feeling I'll be hanging out there a lot.
Wednesday, Septiembre 16
Rhett, Casi, Ryan, Jimmy and I took the bus to Concepcion, near the Chilean coast. It's about an hour bus ride, and it only costs 3,500 pesos (8 dollars) for a rountrip ticket. Unfortunately we didn't plan our trip at all, so once we got to the city we didn't know what to do. We ended up seeing Independence Square, where the country of Chile first gained independence from Spain, and we went to a park where we discovered the local teens like to sneak off and drink. We ran accross a group of students that were drinking and having a good time, though one of the girls in the group was throwing up because she had drank too much. The kids loved us though, practiced their English on us, and wanted us to give them a high five and a pound. It's been a common experience.
Casi, in fact, got more attention in Concepcion than I've ever seen. People all over would honk and wave at her, and there was a hilarious moment when a group of construction workers on the third story of a building were whistling and blowing kisses to her. Casi takes it very gracefully and just smiles and waves.
I went to bed right when I got home that night. I was starting to get a sore throat, and my lips were still very chapped from snowboarding on the weekend.
Thursday, Septiembre 17
I woke up this morning and my throat was still sore, but it's the only symptom I have. I sat down with mi familia for a nice lunch.
The food here is so delicious! I personally haven't eaten anything that I would consider foreign, or that couldn't be found in the States. But everything here explodes with flavor because they use different spices. Lunch is their big meal, so today we had salad with hardboiled eggs, followed by another type of salad. Again, it's just salad, but the flavors are so different, it's wonderful. Then we had a kind of soup with a turkey leg and a big piece of both patatoes and carrots. A special dessert closed out the meal, which was good though I have no idea what it was. Some type of cobbler is the closest description I can think of.
My family is amazing. I have a father, Juan Carlos, a mother, Wihldy, and a grandmother (I don't know here name, come to think of it). I also have a brother, Francisco Jose, who lives at home. He's 18. My sister Valentina is home from school for the week, and she's 22. My other sister, Carolina, is 26, and I think she's coming home tonight. Carolina is getting married on Noviembre 14 (if I remember correctly), so I'll get to experience a wedding, which I am looking forward to.
Here's a picture of mi familia:
That's all for now. I wish I could make the football game this Saturday! Go Beavers!
Monday, September 14, 2009
No Pictures
I spent an hour uploading pictures and it would only display the last one I loaded. I think I'll just post them on Facebook, so check there.
Dancing, Snowboarding, Dancing, Snowboarding
Have you ever had a moment where you stop and realize exactly where you are and what you’re doing, and you wonder what makes you so fortunate to be there? This weekend was full of those moments for me.
Friday, Septiembre 11
At 9:30pm Casi, Ashley, and myself met up with Jimmy and Elisa (our Chilean amiga) to go to El Bronco, a local discotheque (club). All the kids down here love El Bronco. We first went to Fran’s apartamente and spent some time there before finally going to the discotheque at midnight. Everything in Chile starts about 4 hours later than things would start in the U.S., so we had to wait about half an hour before they even opened the doors.
Once inside, El Bronco did not disappoint. First on the bill was a guy playing his acoustic guitar. He played popular songs that everyone knew the words to (excepting the Americans), and we all had a good time drinking and watching him perform.
Once he was done the real party began as the DJ spun it up and everyone hit the dance floor. The music they play in clubs here is so much better than anything I’ve heard in the states. The majority of it is called “reggaeton”, a cross between hip-hop, rap, house, and some type of latin. It’s frequently in ¾ time. They also mix in songs from all over the world. For example, that night they played Billie Jean by Michael Jackson and Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses. The other thing that makes the club so much fun is that they don’t play a single song for more than a minute or two at the most, so the feel of the dance is constantly in motion. It makes for a fantastic atmosphere.
Saturday, Septiembre 12
We stayed out dancing until 5am, and I didn’t get home and to bed until 6am. I woke up at 7:30am because our group was taking a bus to the mountains to go snowboarding at 8am. The ride up was quick, only an hour and a half, and before we knew it we were on a mountain in the Andes. Everyone got their snowboarding/skiing equipment and hit the slopes.
I promptly dislocated my right shoulder. And I mean right away, on my first ride down, on the bunny slope. I braced myself for the consequences of what had just happened, but to my surprise it didn’t hurt that much.
I realized at that moment, sitting in the snow with my shoulder out of its socket, why dislocating my other shoulder during the play had been such an ordeal: I had gone in to shock. This time, I assume because my body knew what to expect, I didn’t experience that at all. My shoulder was out of its socket, and I felt my body say “So what, I’ve been here before.”
Once I had that epiphany I was able to calm down and find a solution. I remembered what the doctor in the emergency room had done to fix my shoulder during the summer, so I tried to repeat that. And with a snap my shoulder was back in. I had to spend a few minutes recovering before I felt comfortable snowboarding again, but after that I never looked back. The line between a complete disaster and an interesting story is a fine one. It never ceases to amaze me.
Once I had that epiphany I was able to calm down and find a solution. I remembered what the doctor in the emergency room had done to fix my shoulder during the summer, so I tried to repeat that. And with a snap my shoulder was back in. I had to spend a few minutes recovering before I felt comfortable snowboarding again, but after that I never looked back. The line between a complete disaster and an interesting story is a fine one. It never ceases to amaze me.
After the lifts closed we all got our swimming suites on and jumped in to the hot springs. There was some trouble with getting our rooms in the hotel ready, so we received complementary drinks (pisco sours). A small group was playing some music and there was an MC who walked around the pool with a microphone, encouraging guests to sing along to the songs.
Dinner was at 8pm, and it was delicious. My friend Dave and I officially went toe-to-toe for the first time that night. For those who don’t know, that means we drink exactly the same amount of alcohol throughout the course of the night. It’s a thing my friend Liz likes to do, and it’s quite a bit of fun, or as she would say, “rad.”
Everyone else drank quite a bit as well, so when the dining room became a dance floor (complete with two emcees and a DJ) we were all ready to goof off. We were the only people dancing for most of the night. They were giving out free pisco sours for the best dancers, so every time someone in our group won a drink (and we won them all), it was usually shared with everyone else. David won four or five drinks, which sounds like a lot, but if you knew Dave you’d know that’s just par for the course.
They stopped the dancing at the hotel around midnight. Of course, we were nowhere near finished, so we walked to a discotheque in another building at the resort. Again, our group was for the most part the only people dancing, though a few Chilean men already at the club were visibly stoked on the chance to dance with some American girls.
I went to bed at about 3am that night. I wanted to go to sleep early because I wanted to snowboard the next day.
Sunday, Septiembre 13
By noon thirty Dave, Kayla and I were on our way back up the mountain. It was very windy on Sunday, and cloudy too. We were fortunate that the weather on Saturday had been perfect; clear and warm. It was not to be on Sunday, but we still had a great time. Late in the afternoon some clouds rolled in, covering the middle of the mountain. Dave and I took a lift above the cloud layer and got to snowboard down through the clouds. Visibility was very low, around 20 feet at times, so we had to take it slow, but we made it down safe.
At 5pm it was time to head back home, but there was a little surprise waiting for me when I got back home: mi hermana Valentina was home from school for the week, along with her boyfriend (he’s from Argentina!). It was nice to meet another member of mi familia de Chile. Valentina, her boyfriend, and Francisco (mi hermano) played games and drank a little more that night. We played one in particular that was a lot of fun: we wrote down the names of a few dozen movies and took turns acting them out. Francisco and I were on a team against Valentina and her boyfriend. I was a little surprised that they were familiar with every popular movie in the states, including some of the more niche movies like Fight Club. It’s the same with music; Chileans are very in-tune with American pop-culture.
Music has been on my mind a lot for the past three days. I’m repeatedly impressed at how easy it is to get along with people through music. Even in our own group, where we can talk and understand each other perfectly, music and dancing has brought us together faster than years of conversing. There is something beautiful in everyone’s soul that simply understands music. I can’t clarify that thought any further, and I don’t think I’m supposed to. I can add an additional thought: there is no other medium that accomplishes what I’ve seen music do.
Of course, there is another side to this coin. While music has brought people together, I’ve also found it to be the only place where I can go back home if I need to. The music on my iPod sounds the same in Chile as it did in the U.S. Remarkable that the single thing I use to escape is also one of the best things for creating friendships.
Honestly, this duality doesn’t surprise me. This principle exists everywhere in the universe. It’s not one way or the other; it’s both. How else can we hope to understand anything? Time at work helps us appreciate the time at play. Time awake is good because we spent time asleep. It’s not God as a single entity or God as three separate beings; it’s both at the same time. In fact, every rule, law, theological argument, and piece of advice can trace its roots back to this: find the point where the two balance.
Hasta luego for now, I will seriously try and post pictures later today.
Friday, September 11, 2009
First Days in Chile
Wow! So much to write about it's hard to find a place to start. This is going to be a long post.
Wednesday, Septiembre 9
Traveling to Chile wasn't bad at all. It was about a 3 hour flight to Dallas, then a 9 hour flight to Santiago. From Santiago we took a bus to Chillan, and that was 5 hours. I can sleep anywhere, so I got plenty of it on the plane and the bus. When I wasn't sleeping I listened to music or read or wrote in my journal. Not a bad way to spend 24 hours.
We arrived in Chillan around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the families that everyone is staying with were there to greet us. One family had a sign for their student (Ryan), and the kids were jumping up and down with excitement. I was one of the first people to get off the bus, but I didn't see my family. A women approached me and asked if my name was David, so of course I told her "no", but I knew who David was so I pointed him out to her. He was in the back of the bus so it took him a minute to get out. While she was waiting for him, she told me that she hosted a student last year and that he taught their family how to play beer bong. Truly a game that transcends all cultures.
I saw my mom a few seconds later and introduced myself. Women greet each other and men with a hug and a single kiss on the cheek, so we embraced for several moments. Her name is Whildy. I then shook hands with my father, Juan Carlos. And just like that, I had a Chilean family. We packed my stuff into their car, along with my friend Casi's things. Her host-mom had to take her daughter to the airport that day, so Casi was going to be with my family until her mom got back that night.
Having Casi with me turned out to be a huge blessing. Not only was it easier to be with someone I already knew, but we were also able to help each other understand and speak in Spanish.
The language-switch has definitely been the most interesting and difficult part of the trip. At first I was able to communicate better than I thought I would be able to. That feeling disappeared after 5 hours and I'd exhausted almost everything I knew about Spanish. I spent some time writing down new words in my journal that night. But that was when I had that first "what-have-I-gotten-myself-into?" moment.
Thursday, Septiembre 10
Our group met at the Universidad del Bio Bio at 11am, and Florencia (the leader of the program) introduced us to our instructors and to the program. After this introduction we met our tutors for the first time. They were all just as excited to meet us as our families had been. My tutor, Ximena, was late to the meeting, but I bumped in to her as I was walking around campus. Her friend, Elisa, recognized me, and the only reason she did was because we had been friends on Facebook since the begginning of summer. Thank you, Facebook.
With our new Chilean friends, we all went to the mall downtown for lunch. The Chilean students spoke some English, some of them better than we could speak Spanish. So when push came to shove we spoke in English because it was easier. Florencia had told us that that was okay for the first day, but it was frustrating for me (and others I imagine) because I just couldn't converse in Spanish. It was a strange duality: after being in Chile for only a day I felt like I knew twice as much Spanish as the day before, and yet that still wasn't enough.
At 5 o'clock that evening the Universidad held a welcoming ceremony for us. We each got a nice keychain from the Universidad, and our tutors each got us a gift. A group of students played some music and danced for us, and then we had a small reception with some food. But the big party was outside, behind the school.
It's called a "la peña", and it was so much fun! Hundreds of students were there, and they had a small stage set up for bands to play. Around the perimeter of the event were booths selling food and drink (including wine and taquila). I spent most of the evening with David, Rhett, and Casi, and our tutors and some of their friends. We all tried our hand at dancing, which we were terrible at because we didn't know the dance, but no one else seemed to care, and we certainly didn't.
In fact, the dancing quickly endeared us to dozens of Chilean girls. I lost track of how many times I was asked to have my picture taken with a group of cute girls. I was told I'm "very handsome" and that I'm a "good dancer." David's tutor told me that the guys were "very famous" that night. I had my ass pinched at least twice. All the other guys I talked to had similar experience. Jimmy came away from the evening with the phone numbers of 5 different girls.
The other thing I realized about dancing was that it's one of the only activities that doesn't require verbal communication to experience it with another person. As I've mentioned, my speaking ability is very poor right now, but that didn't matter at all when I was dancing, jumping in a circle with my friends, or just goofing off in general. Having a good time is a universal experience, and language isn't really required for any part of it.
Friday, Septiembre 11
Those are the basics of what I've been up to the last couple of days. There's about a hundred other thoughts I want to share, but they'll have to wait. My brother just told me that in "cinco minutos" we'll be going to the bank to exchange my dollars, and rent ski equipment. We're going to the mountains to snowboard tomorrow. Pictures of the last few days will be posted later.
Hasta luego!
Wednesday, Septiembre 9
Traveling to Chile wasn't bad at all. It was about a 3 hour flight to Dallas, then a 9 hour flight to Santiago. From Santiago we took a bus to Chillan, and that was 5 hours. I can sleep anywhere, so I got plenty of it on the plane and the bus. When I wasn't sleeping I listened to music or read or wrote in my journal. Not a bad way to spend 24 hours.
We arrived in Chillan around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the families that everyone is staying with were there to greet us. One family had a sign for their student (Ryan), and the kids were jumping up and down with excitement. I was one of the first people to get off the bus, but I didn't see my family. A women approached me and asked if my name was David, so of course I told her "no", but I knew who David was so I pointed him out to her. He was in the back of the bus so it took him a minute to get out. While she was waiting for him, she told me that she hosted a student last year and that he taught their family how to play beer bong. Truly a game that transcends all cultures.
I saw my mom a few seconds later and introduced myself. Women greet each other and men with a hug and a single kiss on the cheek, so we embraced for several moments. Her name is Whildy. I then shook hands with my father, Juan Carlos. And just like that, I had a Chilean family. We packed my stuff into their car, along with my friend Casi's things. Her host-mom had to take her daughter to the airport that day, so Casi was going to be with my family until her mom got back that night.
Having Casi with me turned out to be a huge blessing. Not only was it easier to be with someone I already knew, but we were also able to help each other understand and speak in Spanish.
The language-switch has definitely been the most interesting and difficult part of the trip. At first I was able to communicate better than I thought I would be able to. That feeling disappeared after 5 hours and I'd exhausted almost everything I knew about Spanish. I spent some time writing down new words in my journal that night. But that was when I had that first "what-have-I-gotten-myself-into?" moment.
Thursday, Septiembre 10
Our group met at the Universidad del Bio Bio at 11am, and Florencia (the leader of the program) introduced us to our instructors and to the program. After this introduction we met our tutors for the first time. They were all just as excited to meet us as our families had been. My tutor, Ximena, was late to the meeting, but I bumped in to her as I was walking around campus. Her friend, Elisa, recognized me, and the only reason she did was because we had been friends on Facebook since the begginning of summer. Thank you, Facebook.
With our new Chilean friends, we all went to the mall downtown for lunch. The Chilean students spoke some English, some of them better than we could speak Spanish. So when push came to shove we spoke in English because it was easier. Florencia had told us that that was okay for the first day, but it was frustrating for me (and others I imagine) because I just couldn't converse in Spanish. It was a strange duality: after being in Chile for only a day I felt like I knew twice as much Spanish as the day before, and yet that still wasn't enough.
At 5 o'clock that evening the Universidad held a welcoming ceremony for us. We each got a nice keychain from the Universidad, and our tutors each got us a gift. A group of students played some music and danced for us, and then we had a small reception with some food. But the big party was outside, behind the school.
It's called a "la peña", and it was so much fun! Hundreds of students were there, and they had a small stage set up for bands to play. Around the perimeter of the event were booths selling food and drink (including wine and taquila). I spent most of the evening with David, Rhett, and Casi, and our tutors and some of their friends. We all tried our hand at dancing, which we were terrible at because we didn't know the dance, but no one else seemed to care, and we certainly didn't.
In fact, the dancing quickly endeared us to dozens of Chilean girls. I lost track of how many times I was asked to have my picture taken with a group of cute girls. I was told I'm "very handsome" and that I'm a "good dancer." David's tutor told me that the guys were "very famous" that night. I had my ass pinched at least twice. All the other guys I talked to had similar experience. Jimmy came away from the evening with the phone numbers of 5 different girls.
The other thing I realized about dancing was that it's one of the only activities that doesn't require verbal communication to experience it with another person. As I've mentioned, my speaking ability is very poor right now, but that didn't matter at all when I was dancing, jumping in a circle with my friends, or just goofing off in general. Having a good time is a universal experience, and language isn't really required for any part of it.
Friday, Septiembre 11
Those are the basics of what I've been up to the last couple of days. There's about a hundred other thoughts I want to share, but they'll have to wait. My brother just told me that in "cinco minutos" we'll be going to the bank to exchange my dollars, and rent ski equipment. We're going to the mountains to snowboard tomorrow. Pictures of the last few days will be posted later.
Hasta luego!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Setup
I started this blog to provide my friends and family with a way to follow my adventures in Chile. I'm not sure how often I will update it, but I think once a week is a nice goal to shoot for so I'll try that. Sit back, relax, and experience Chile vicariously.
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