Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Usnavy

So I titled this post Usnavy to intro into a funny story my Spanish teacher told my class this week. We were talking about globalization here in Chile and how the US has affected Chile. He wrote Usnavy on the board and told us that it is an actual name of a Chilean. Turns out the father of this person was a sailor from the US and the mom named the child after his father, the name written on his uniform, US Navy. Ridiculous and so funny all at once.

This update might be a little long. I will start off describing my Easter (p.s. so long ago!). That weekend we went to Mendoza Argentina. There were 6 of us that went and took a 8 hr bus ride to get there. We arrived on Good Friday early in the morning. Unfortunately, everything in South America closes down on holidays such as Good Friday so no stores were open and hardly any restaurants. The streets were dead!!! It was crazy to see hardly anyone walking around. But we made the best of our Friday. My friend Alison and I decided to go paragliding while the rest of the group went on a wine tour. So we arranged paragliding through our hostel. Paragliding wasnt the thrill I thought it would be, but it sure was gorgeous and so peaceful. You basically ran off a mountain and slowing glided down with a parachute. It was cool to see the different mountains and landscapes all around. Mendoza was really beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Chicago, just the way the streets were laid out and stuff. There were lots of pretty plazas and lots of artisans to buy stuff from. The trip overall was really fun and quite peaceful. But when I was in Argentina, I missed Chile A LOT. I missed my family, the ocean, the people, the atmosphere. It made me happy though because I finally felt like I could call Chile home.

The weekend after I went on a church retreat with the college youth group in the church I attend. That was amazing. I learned a lot from God that weekend. It was also really cool to spend the whole weekend speaking Spanish, meeting new people, and just relaxing without thinking about homework and stuff.

Speaking of school, this has been an epic week for me. After failing my first 2 weekly quizzes in my zoology lab, I finally passed my last 2! I was really excited to finally get a passing grade in something. I also had my first major test this week in Personality Psych. I believe I passed, although multiple choice is a lot harder in Spanish than it is in English. haha.

On Fridays, most of the students do not have class and I only have one lab in the morning so some of us have started what I like to call Adventure Fridays. Every Friday afternoon, we go adventuring and exploring a different area around Valpo. The first week we went back to Horcon, the tiny fishing village I went to before. We went to collect sea glass and enjoy the day. Then this Friday we went to the sand dunes (see pics below) in neighboring city Reñanca. We had to climb up the dunes to get to the top and it was so worth it! The sand was so fine and beautiful, and it was a perfectly clear day so you could see the ocean, waves, and rocks from above. I am beginning to love Fridays. This upcoming Friday is labor day, so we shall see what mini adventure will come our way!
sunset in Reñaca beach in Horcon

paragliding in Mendoza
Sand dunes

Thursday, April 9, 2009






Once again it has been a long time since I have written here, but since school has been going, my time seems to be more limited. I will try to update as well as possible.
We had a beautiful few days of sun and warm weather last week. I was so happy because my winter clothes that I brought are limited so I was pleased to be able to bust out the summer wear again. Unfortunately this week we arent so lucky, rain and cold. But whatever, the weather doesnt affect my mood much.
This week in school I actually felt like I understood what was going on which was a great accomplishment for me. I am starting to forget English words also, which makes me happy that I am actually learning Spanish. One thing I must mention about school. Apparently in Chile, you have to bring all your specimens that you will dissect to class. Last week I had to go to the market and buy a congrio, type of fish. This week my lab partner had to hunt in her backyard for frogs. Next weeks assignment is to bring in reptiles. I find this so odd that we have to buy our own animals then kill them in class too! O yes, the frogs we brought in were live. :)

Last week was the futbol game for the World Cup qualifier of Chile against Uruguay. We unfortunately tied, but the game was so much fun! Chileans have so much love and pride for their country. Every minute they were chanting and shouting cheers for their country mates. Although a great time, it was not as crazy as I expected: no riots, overbearing crowds, etc. I have begun to realize that I should not believe every thing people tell me here. All of our host families told us to get to the stadium 5 hours early right when it opens because if not, we will not have seats. Ha, we got there super early and there was like no one there. Its all good though, a good time was has by all and I finally got to go to Santiago.

Then last Friday my host family had a birthday party to attend to so I went along and invited my gringa friend Kelsey. This party was for their niece who was turning 30, so it was a big deal. I spent all Friday afternoon helping decorate, prepare food, etc. The party was in a small beach town next to Viña called Reñaca. The party was overlooking the ocean and was absolutely gorgeous. I just would like to say how much I love my host family though. I got to spend time with them outside the house and see them interact with other family members. And man, my parents love to dance. We dance, chatted, and watch some drunk karoke. We got back super late in the morning, but it was totally worth it.

Since this is holy week, we do not have school tomorrow, so I am heading off to Mendoza Argentina tonight! We will only be there for like 2 days, but it will be good to see something new. I havent traveled yet while I´ve been here, so I am pretty pumped to do some exploring. Happy Easter to all!