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