Reflections

Alright - so I started this post over a week ago and just never got around to finishing it.  I don't even know if it's so much that I "didn't get around to finishing it" or if I just never wanted to.  Because if I finished writing it then it meant that my trip was really over.  The 14-hours spent on planes, the packing, the hasta luegos, the Denver heat, and the fact that I go back to work on Monday didn't seem to really solidify this fact in my head.

It's hard because I keep telling myself that I need to be happy that this happened, not sad that it ended.  I went into it knowing that it was going to be a month long trip, I knew that I had a life here that I needed to come back to (not just needed, but wanted.)

I think the hard part is finding a way to bring the person that I became in Chile back to the US with me. I know it sounds super... Eat, Pray, Love of me - but this will definitely be one of those life experiences that has changed me as a person.

I've always known that I'm a smart person, a hard worker, a caring person, blahblahblah (I promise, I'm not trying to toot my own horn here or anything.)  However, I've also always known that I'm a scared person.  I'm scared of things changing, I'm terrified of failing at something, I panic when I see centipedes, and I was petrified of being completely on my own.

Moving to Madison was terrifying - but I knew some people there, I had been to the campus before, and all of my friends were doing the same thing so it made sense that I couldn't just sit in my childhood bedroom and play with beanie babies for the rest of my life.

Moving to Denver was even more terrifying - this time I knew no people in this new city, not all of my friends were moving out of Madison/ the Twin Cities, but I had Amanda with me so I knew that I wasn't by myself.  I also knew that it was something that I needed to do if I wanted to move on into the adult world.  Moreso, I knew that there would be mountains waiting for me to ski on so if I could just make it until the winter I would have something comfortable and familiar.

Traveling to Chile was something completely different.  I didn't have any nights where I would stay up sobbing or days when Gilmore Girls would make me cry uncontrollably because I was so scared to move (yep... I'm referring to both the Madison and Denver move there.)

**It should be noted that me crying is nothing to be concerned about - I cry when I'm sad, when I'm scared, when i'm happy... when I find a beautiful dress in the store or see a commercial about abused animals - it's pretty typical in my life**

No, I was just plain ol'excited for Chile.  I knew that it was going to be scary and I knew that it was going to be new and different but I didn't know much beyond that.  However, upon arriving in Chile I was suddenly terrified of everything - the language, the city, everything.  

If there's one thing in life that I hate and (was) terrified of, it's small talk.  When I was walking to school on that first morning in Chile - I realized that I would have to do a lot of small talk-ing.  When I got into school I came to harsh realization that it would be small talk in Spanish. Seriously?

I took a deep breath and marched in.  This is the part where I couldn't even figure out how to put my name on the entry test, but I could just laugh it off knowing that I was there BECAUSE I didn't know that.  I could barely understand the question "where are you from" in Spanish, but I quickly learned and started being able to understand more and more, and through many gestures I began to be able to get my point across. 

From that day on I forced myself to talk and plan things and invite people to do things and invite myself along on things other people had planned.

Here is where I learned the greatest lesson - it's actually not hard.  Yes, it's not always comfortable and I have to make a conscious effort to do these things, but at the end of the day I wasn't crying or bleeding or completely alone.  Instead, I had friends and people that wanted to go on hikes and adventures with me.

Now, part of this is because everyone was kind of the college-dorm syndrome, where no one has friends and everyone needs friends so everyone hangs out all the time type-of-deal.  However, I have found that I'm still talking to a lot of the people I met there and I miss them quite terribly.

So, I can make friends after all.  I never doubted that I could make friends - I have friends and all that, but it was still scary going to a place where I wouldn't know anyone (with the exception of the lovely Elin Harm.)

I was also terrified of not being able to speak Spanish - I have always hated traveling and not being able to speak the language, to me it feels disrespectful, rude, and just irritating.  While I felt like I could at least understand SOME Spanish, I knew that I could speak very little.

However, by the end of my trip I was able to have conversations with friends and my host family that were entirely in Spanish.  They weren't always perfect, and sometimes I would answer a question with a a completely odd answer because I had misunderstood the question; but I could do it.

I must say that I was fairly confident in my ability to learn Spanish (not that I've learned it all by any means) but I was more worried about navigating around this new city all on my own.  I am kind of... lazy when it comes to finding new things.  I do love exploring and finding things on my own, but when I have a question about my car or cooking or really anything, I will usually call my family and ask them.  In short, I don't really do stuff totally for myself (or rarely.)  And while it's good to ask for help and all that nonsense, it makes me a very reliant person - thankfully I have incredible people in my life to help me figure out all the little things that I need to figure out, but there also comes a time when I need to learn to do it all for myself.

Part of it is truly just laziness, why spend 20 minutes calling 20 different numbers when I could just ask my dad or mom what to do.  Why waste food experimenting cooking when I can just make a simple phone call and have a better idea what to do.

Well - in Chile I didn't have my cell phone, I couldn't just pick up the phone and get my easy answer.  Little by little I started figuring out all these little things on my own - how to get to a new spot via the metro, which restaurants to go to, how to put minutes on my cell phone, how to get money out of the ATM, how to buy a bus ticket... the list goes on and on.  While I would get advice and pointers, I would usually just sort of figure it out for myself.  Sometimes I was wrong - sometimes I would end up looking silly when trying to get money out of an ATM that said that no foreign cards were accepted, sometimes I wouldn't be able to find the museum exhibit and I wouldn't be able to understand the directions given to me... but then there were those times when I got it right the first time.  I got minutes on my phone (all in Spanish) I would get directions to a new restaurant, all these little things that I was doing on my own (I am aware that many people do these same things all the time on their own) and no one was dying because of it.  Yes, there were plenty of embarrassing moments - but I learned to laugh at them and move on.

It's hard to put into words exactly what this trip meant.  Because I am still very much the same person while not the same person at all.  I have been lucky enough to have traveled a lot in my life, but this was very different.

I learned to spend time with myself.  I mean, I love me in all my quirkiness and whatnot - but I have never been terribly comfortable doing things by myself.  However, now I sure do love it.  Just this morning I took an excellent hike on my own and loved every single minute of it.  Don't get me wrong, I love being with people still - but I'm learning to appreciate alone time more and more.

So, in short.  Here's a list of things that I learned this trip:

- Attitude is everything - if you think something is going to suck, chances are it will.  If you can think think of life as adventure, it will be just that - one beautiful, big adventure.  And if you really hope for happiness you will probably be able to find it somewhere.

- Life is so painfully short, you might as well love every minute of it.

- Sometimes it's ok to get lost, because in the time that you have spent being lost you have seen and learned and experienced so many new things that when you do make it back home, home will suddenly be that much better.

- Life is a lot like driving in a dangerously speeding taxi. If you're constantly looking ahead you'll feel like you're spinning out of control and about to crash.  It's much better to let go and enjoy the incredible views out the side windows, you'll be surprised by how many times you make it safely to your destination regardless of whether or not you were watching for it.  

- No matter where you are, there are always adventures to be had - whether that adventure is trying a new food, climbing a mountain, or simply going to a new store or taking a new route to an old store: everything can be an adventure. 

- A person's a person a person.  No matter where we live, no matter what we do for a living, no matter which language we speak and no matter why we feel we are on this earth... we are all so much more similar than we are different.  We all have the same dreams of love and happiness, prosperity and good health.  Hopefully someday someone in power somewhere will realize this... 

- Good food, good people, and good wine should be at the top of everyone's life lists of priorities.  All the other stuff will figure itself out eventually - but if you can surround yourself with good people and take some time to truly enjoy life, everything will be better. 

La Ultima Semana

So this is a post that has been in the works for quite a while.  It's a recap of things that happened in my last week while in Chile (hence the title - it means "the last week" in Spanish)

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of going to the Teleton Foundation - here's the link to their website (it's in Spanish, I'm not sure if you can translate it... but you can see pictures and videos!)
It's a foundation that works mostly with kids with disabilities and different needs (physical rehabilitation, OT, PT, and other medical services.)

I was supposed to go the previous week as well, but due to the fact that I was in Argentina - I was unable to.   So, this was my first and last week.  I had gone to the building previously with the director of the school, but I was now going on my own.  I showed up and waited around for a few moments in order to figure out exactly what I would be doing.  There was some mixup with what day I was coming, but they quickly found me a spot hanging out with the kiddos in the waiting room.
As several parents told me, unfortunately waiting becomes a big part of your life when you have a child with special needs (waiting to meet with the doctors, waiting to find out the results from the doctors, waiting to discuss options with the doctors, waiting for the next doctor, etc.)
Many of the families there had more than one child with them, and what child wants to sit in a boring meeting with doctors who are discussing things that you either don't understand or are too scary for you to want to understand them...
Teleton figured this out early and they have volunteers who are designated to hang out in the waiting rooms so that the parents can meet with the doctors and the kids can draw, paint, do puzzles, and ask millions of questions of the mysterious Gringa.

It was such a fun experience, the kids were super polite and incredibly adorable and I was given an excellent opportunity to practice my Spanish.  The kids were the best  to talk to because if I didn't understand something they would usually repeat it, only this time they'd say it a little louder and a lot faster :) We had hilarious conversations surrounding such topics as Hannah Montana, dinosaurs, and where Superman really lives.
I had the immense pleasure of meeting a little 3-year old boy named Johnny.  But, as he so carefully informed me, all of his female friends refer to him as "Superman Johnny" - he was equipped with flying gestures to help me understand.  Anytime I would call him Johnny he would wave his little finger at me as he says "no, no, no senora - SUPERMAN Johnny" It took all my energy to restrain myself from trying to fit him in my purse to take home as a Chilean souvenir.

The rest of the week was spent in class, eating, and soaking up as much time with friends as I could.  We went out to meals, went out for countless glasses of Chilean wine, went out for drinks and dancing; just really did all the little things that had become so routine for us all while in Santiago.  We danced up a storm on Wednesday night, took it easy but met up with a bunch of friends on Thursday night, and then took it easy on Friday night.  We went to a friends' apartment and ate a lot of food, had some wine, listened to music, and just enjoyed one another's company.  One of the best parts of all of this hanging out was that we were starting to speak in Spanish more and more with one another; instead of English.  Just yet another sign that I had actually been learning things while there!
A side note- on Wednesday night we went to this wonderfully Chilean restaurant/bar that is famous for a very Chilean drink - the Terremota (which translates to "earthquake", ironic?) It's a mixture of wine, a liquor called Fernet, and ice cream (we had pineapple ice cream, awesome!) They're called earthquakes for a reason, drink them too quickly and you will start to feel as though the earth is shaking.  Traditionally you would also have an "aftershock" to follow it up - a smaller drink, we never had it so I'm unsure what would be in it, fun nonetheless!

Anyways!

Saturday was one of my favorite days from my entire trip.  I met up with some friends at the Metro station where we then headed to my favorite place - the bus station!
We bought bus tickets to Isla Negra, the coastal town that was home to the poet Pablo Neruda.  I know that I have talked about him before, but I am very serious, if you are unfamiliar with his work please do yourself a favor and read ANY of his poems.  He wrote everything in Spanish, but the the way in which he wrote really lends itself easily to translation, so it's almost as beautiful in English as it is in Spanish.

We boarded the bus and had about an hour and a half bus ride to the beautiful town of Isla Negra.  There isn't a whoooole lot there aside from Neruda's house/museum - but that was totally ok with us.  We deboarded the bus and started to wander through the quiet streets of the town.  Neruda's face was everything; parking lot signs, sidewalks, you really feel as though he's watching you while you're there.  There were lots of signs pointing us to Neruda's house so we made our way there immediately.

His house is breathtaking, to say the least.  Again, he was definitely an odd dude.  He was enamored with the ocean and boats - and this is very much reflected in his house.  First off, his house is built on a bluff/hill overlooking the ocean, so he was constantly surrounded with grand views of the ocean waves crashing over the black rocks for which Isla Negra is famous.
Throughout the house there are a lot of figure heads that you might find on the front of boats (the real name for them escapes me) mermaids, women, etc.  Kind of odd, especially as there are some that have those eyes that seem to follow you wherever you are in the room - but fun nonetheless.
In many rooms there are port windows like you would find on a boat.  Many of the ceilings are low like they would be on a real boat, even the furniture makes you feel like you're on a boat.  You can see his original writing desk - a beautiful old wooden desk.  The view out the window would inspire even the least poetic person to write at least something moderately poetic.
Neruda was a collector - he has bug collections, boats-in-a-bottle collections, books, seashells... truly a man after my own heart.

The best part of the house was his bedroom.  There were so many windows with exquisite views of the ocean of which he was so fond.  I would give almost anything to be able to wake up to views like that each morning - you could see up and down the coast out the floor-to-ceiling windows, simply perfect.

After taking roughly 1,109,083 pictures of the ocean, his house, the ocean, and a few more of the ocean, we decided that it was time for lunch.  We went next door to the restaurant that's connected to the museum; while it's a little more pricey that we were hoping for - it was absolutely worth every cent.  We were able to sit at a lovely table in the afternoon sunshine.  We had perfect views of the ocean, so we could enjoy our meal in warmth with a soundtrack of waves crashing and seagulls calling.  We had a leisurely lunch of absurd seafood - I had a conger eel stew that was absolutely amazing.  Each bite was delightful.  We had bread and coca colas and then a dessert of chocolate mousse cake and crepes with dulce de leche... like I said, it was truly a perfect day.  We had excellent Spanish conversation with lots of laughs, it was really just so excellent.
From lunch we meandered down to the ocean.  To get there we walked through some of the streets of town - the town is mostly comprised of wealthy vacation homes, so just strolling and admiring the houses was enough.  We then came to a dead end road where there was a secret little path taking us down to a sprawling sand/rock beach.  We played around on the rocks, finding tide pools and touching funny little shells and fish like things in the various pools.  Again, we had quite the photoshoot because everywhere you looked was more beautiful than a postcard.
We then boarded the bus back to Santiago and went home and relaxed.  We had a nice final dinner with our host family then went out to meet up with some friends.  We had a super fun last night of dancing, laughing and good conversation.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was thoroughly exhausted.  I spent the day packing and then just lazing around hanging out with my family and watching TV shows on my computer.
I then got picked up by a shuttle and was taken off to the airport.  Things were smooth at the airport - lots of lines to wait in, but that's nothing new.  My flights were long but incredibly uneventful - I got to watch a lot of movies due to my inability to sleep, but again, that's nothing new.
Eventually I ended up back in Denver - disoriented, confused with English, way too warm, and exhausted, but I was home.

The strangest thing about being back is that my life there and my life here were so disconnected.  People there are still there or back in their respective countries, and people here are still here - they've never met and who knows when they will.  I find it hard to talk about my trip when people say "tell me about your trip!" because I just don't even know where to begin.  It's hard to pick out my favorite stories because they're all my favorite.  It's hard to decide on the best food because everything I ate was the best.  I know I sound silly and cliché, but it's true.  It was such a change from my life here, and it became such a life changing experience, that it's hard to explain.  It seems silly to tell the few stories that I do because it doesn't even begin to do the trip justice.  All I can say is that it was truly one of the best times of my life, and I am so thankful that I got to experience this all.

Museos and more food

Sunday is typically a day of relaxation here - most all the shops are closed and people tend to spend the day with their families.
After sleeping in much later than planned (the combination of a lot of activity, a new language and a new city have left me completely exhausted pretty much all the time!) I started to get my act together.  I had a leisurely morning, had some breakfast, took a shower, etc.  I couldn't decide what to do - I didn't think that I had enough time to take in a museum before we would have lunch with our host family, Sunday lunch is always really nice so I wanted to be here for it.

I don't think I mentioned this: we have another student staying in our house now!  Her name is Sze Ming - she's originally from Hong Kong but has lived in the US for the past 15 years or so.  It's been really fun to have another student in the house!  This is her first week learning Spanish (ever) so I've been able to really put my Spanish to use in helping translate!  Super fun and really makes me feel like I'm actually learning!

Anyways.

The weather was absolutely amazing on Sunday - it was super warm, super sunny, one of those rare really warm fall days that I love so dearly.  I decided to go take a walk, just to get out into the sunshine.  SzeMing wanted to come with, so we set off in a direction that I hadn't walked yet.  We had a great time just strolling through the tree-lined streets; talking about learning Spanish, missing college, work, living in the US, and many other things.

When we got back we had some time to rest and then we had a delicious lunch with our  host family.  On Sundays we eat in the dining room (normally we eat in the kitchen) and on Sunday we even broke out some wonderful Chilean wine :)  What better food to serve at a sunday meal than LASAGNA?! Yes. It's as though my host mom already knew all of my favorite foods!  We had a great meal, chatting about everything from politics to the movie Fargo (somehow this keeps coming up... no matter where I go I cannot escape the familiar Ya Sure ya betcha!)
It's even more fun to have these discussions now because I can contribute complete sentences instead of just one or two word answers!  Sometimes I even surprise myself with how much Spanish I can use - there more enough are times in which I can't think of the words in Spanish of English... but I'll choose to focus on the happier times :)

After lunch the 2 of us went to the Museo de Arte Precolombino.  It was a most excellent museum!  It features art from throughout Central and South America, all dated pre-Columbus.  It takes you through the art work (more or less) geographically, so you can see how things change between cultures but you can also see a lot of similarities.
A lot of the art (mostly sculptures and the like) were used to accompany the dead.  There was something so reassuring about this thought - that people would make things that would help protect and guide your soul- so that the person was never alone.  There was even one culture that would carve huge wooden figures that would stand guard at your gravesite, mainly to ensure a safe passage into the afterlife but also as a general protector of the deceased.  I don't entirely know how to explain it, but something about these very large (taller than me) wooden figures was incredibly calming.  And not just their physical presence, but also just the general idea was very calming.
They also had a really neat part of the exhibit that was devoted to weaving and clothing as a form of artistic expression.  Some of these weavings were just incredible - so detailed and with such fine thread.  I would never, ever in my life have the patience with which to do that.  I could envision myself being REALLY enthusiastic at the beginning of the weaving, then tearing apart the loom when I wasn't even 1/2 way through because it would just take such concentration and such time.  Amazing.

Following our time in the museum we stopped in a cute little outdoor cafe and had a coffee and shared some crepes - delicious!  Since dinner is usually a little later than I'm used to, a snack is usually necessary in order to make it all the way to dinner time.

A very excellent, relaxed day in Santiago :-)

Valpo!

Hola!

Due to a holiday today - I've been told mostly that it's "some Catholic holiday" we didn't have class. So, we've had a perfectly beautiful 3-day weekend - just what I need to help soak up all the Chilean goodness I can before I head back to the Northern hemisphere on Sunday (whoa.)

I can feel that things are definitely starting to wind down around here, lots of my good friends are starting to leave; and while there are new people coming each week - it's still hard to see those original people that I started my classes with leave.  But, it is starting to get me in the mindset of going home which ought to make the transition easier.  I already have just about every minute of this last week planned out - so I'm going to have to make sure that I take a step back once in a while and truly enjoy everything I can, while I can.

Anyways - my last full weekend here was definitely a memorable one :)

Friday night I went out to some bars and clubs in Chile - one of our teachers' bands was playing so we went to his concert.  Very fun, a little strange (they were wearing masks similar to the facepaint KISS would wear) but still, a most excellent time.

Saturday morning (which came all too early) I set out with another friend from school to go to the coastal city of Valparaiso.  It is definitely a unique city - it was built to be one of the main coastal ports in Chile (if not THE main one) but it's set up against both the ocean and the hills/mountains of the Andes.  So, as the city grew, it grew up onto the cerros (or hills) so the many beautifully colored houses spread upwards and outwards from the city center.
While I got some good pictures, they don't entirely do the city and its colors justice, so please also check out this link: Valpo!

The bus ride, again, was beautiful.  We got to go through Chilean wine and farm country and then out to Valpo.  While I ended up sleeping for more of the ride out there than I had intended, I did get to enjoy it on the way back.
When we arrived in the city we didn't have any sort of plan of what we wanted to do, we just knew that at some point we wanted to eat the fresh seafood that the city is so famous for, and also wander through some of the beautiful hillside neighborhoods.  One thing that you have to be very careful of is getting lost - partly just because there's little rhyme or reason to the streets in the cerros (they make tangletown, MN seem like childsplay to navigate) there is also much more poverty in Valpo than we see in Santiago. But, we had absolutely no problems whatsoever with either concern.

So, we set off from the bus station and immediately came across a huge antiques market.  A lot of crap, but also some fun stuff - books, old spurs, typical antique-y things.  We wandered through the market for a short while, marveling at some of the stranger goods that were offered (spurs that looked like they were intended for murder, strange childrens' books, etc.) then decided to move on to the OCEAN!
For those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with the ocean.  I truly believe that I was a manatee in a past life - thus I am constantly trying to get back to my ocean roots. Or rather, my water roots - depending on if I were a fresh or salt water manatee.  But, I digress.

I knew that there was ocean somewhere in Valpo - I could see the battleships in the distance, but we weren't sure what our best vantage point would be.  So, we started walking in the direction of the ocean. Let me back up for a moment - Valpo is also home to the Chilean navy and I believe the Bolivian navy as well (because apparently a landlocked country is always in great need of a navy!) I'm too lazy to look up the details on that, but there were lots of huge battleships in the harbor. They must belong to someone.
We got close to the water - but we still couldn't really see it.  Valpo's metro/lightrail runs right along the water so the train's embankment kind of blocks the view.

We figured out roughly where we wanted to go and started walking.  We decided to stop and ask some people exactly where we were on our map (we were kind of confused) and it turned out one of the woman is from New Hampshire originally, so we had a nice little chat about the US for a moment - then set off on our way to the downtown area.
At this point we could smell the sea air, and we knew it only about 100 feet away from us, but we could only catch brief glimpses of it through the fence. Frustration was setting in.

We kept on walking, along the way of the lightrail on one side and large, dark, imposing European looking buildings (made from dark stone, pretty tall, beautiful but kind of eerie to be honest)
We decided to branch off of the main drag and explore some neighborhoods.  We quickly came upon the Valpo funiculars (while, we just came across one - there are 4 that are currently working, and there are about 17 in total, they're restoring a number of them this winter.)  While I'm always up for a challenge - why hike up steep hills and steps when you can take a super old, kind of terrifying (but very fun!) ascensore?!?  For about $0.50 we got a nice short ride.

Up to this point I was a little... disappointed with valpo.  I had heard how amazing the city is, and we had been there for about an hour and hadn't seen anything that was overly impressive.
That is, until we stepped out of the ascensore.

We were met with a cute little alley, with a beautiful littler artesan fair at the end - and even better, we could finally see that beautiful turquoise (yes, turquoise) ocean!!!  It took all my strength not to go running/skipping down to it.  I had had a very particular image of valpo in my mind - one of winding cobbled streets, colorful houses, and ocean.  Up until this point I hadn't seen any of this, but from the bottom of the hill.
Everything changed at this point.  I could not stop smiling; the sun was shining, the ocean was waving (see what I did there? I'm so funny) the birds were calling, the empanadas were cooking, life. was. good.  I forgot to mention earlier that we had PERFECT weather.  It's been pretty chilly in Santiago, but we could walk around in tee-shirts in Valpo, it was awesome.  We went through the market then continued on through the lazily winding streets.

Each corner- well, not so much corners as a corner implies some sharp perpendicular meeting of streets and these were much softer, winding streets - brought with it a whole new array of colors and views.  Purple, lime green, orange, yellow, hot pink, magenta... the list goes on and on.  Everything I love about life- bright/bold colors, sunshine, ocean, good friends, and windy streets - were suddenly present.  I should say that a general lack of sleep also got the day started a little rough, and we were never unhappy - but things really took a turn for the better once we ascended the hill.
Something interesting is that it is painfully apparent that the more money you have, the higher you live (quite literally, in Valpo)  We were out of the graffitied streets we had been wandering and were suddenly surrounded by beautiful street art.  Much like in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santiago - street art is encouraged in parts of Valpo (as long as the building owners approve the art work) so there are amazing murals and other paintings around every corner.  
The artwork, coupled with the beautiful houses, made it feel like there should suddenly be creepy carousels and dancing penguins (...Mary Poppins, when they jump into the sidewalk art for those of you not getting my reference) Anyways - it was breathtaking.

After meandering for a while we realized that it was high time for lunch as we could no longer ignore the rumblings of our stomachs.  Up on the hill you end up not only paying for your food but also for the view - so we hiked back down in order to find food that better fit our budget.

I kind of attempted to consult my guide book, but was more or less unsure of where we were and how to get to any of the restaurants mentioned in the book.  So we decided to test our luck and just wander around until we came across something that was both affordable and delectable.

We came across a few ice cream shops, a lot of uneatable souvenirs (no, I did not try to eat anything that is inedible) but very few restaurants.  Valpo is a town that I had a really hard time figuring out - Santiago and Mendoza both have several streets with a loooot of different restaurants but Valpo didn't seem to (we very well could have just missed it... but the map didn't show a huge restaurant area either.)
I decided that there MUST be restaurants down near the water, so we walked through the main center/plaza of the city only to find that it was just more souvenir shops. So. many. souvenirs. I did end up buying a bracelet but I went there with a mission to do so, so it was ok.

A little discouraged, we decided to just ask some people if they had any recommendations.  We found a nice little group of elderly people speaking Spanish - so gave it a shot.  Best thing we have ever done.  They pointed us in the direction of a fun looking place right on the water - it looks like it's in an old boat, nautical themed with (you guessed it!) SEAFOOD
Looking at the menu, we discovered that it was a bit more pricy than we had hoped - but we both love seafood and would both only be in Valpo this one time so we threw caution to the wind (and money...) and gave it a whirl.

We had a cute little table on the porch overlooking the harbor.  We could watch the boats coming and going: sailing, taking tours of the harbor, going out to the military ships, there was quite the hustle and bustle out on the water.

At that point I had decided that even if I didn't like my food (Cachas Parmesan - Razor clams with parmesan cheese and white wine sauce) the view and general feel of the restaurant made it worth it.  However, the food far surpassed any hopes I had for it (my host mom recommended the dish saying that it was to die for) and MAN would I have died for that dish.  There were about 12 clams on the plate, each with a heaping pile of perfectly melted parmesan and sitting in a delicious white wine/garlic sauce.  It. was. amazing.  Each bite was just heavenly - even the one in which I ended up eating a piece of shell on accident (apparently Chile hasn't helped me in my quest to become a dainty eater...)  It was gastronomic perfection.
The food, combined with the sun and scenery, brought me back to that wonderful place where all I could ask was "how is this my life?!?!"

You would think that by this point I would learn that everything is here is perfect and that I shouldn't be surprised when everything greatly exceeds all expectations, but it still catches me off guard sometimes.

Please, do yourselves all a favor and add Chile to your top 4 places to come in your lifetime.  It is just too amazing to be missed.  The people, the food, the scenery, everything is just exquisite.

Anyways.  After our amazing lunch and just general relaxing on the fake boat we made a b-line back to an ice cream place (because when you're painfully full, the natural thing to do is eat ice cream.)  And yes, it was delicious.  It was worth every painful bite and lick.

We continued to aimlessly walk through the streets and we came across a beautiful plaza that had a puppet show for kids!  It was kind of strange to see, but the kids were loving it and it seemed like a delightful way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.
By the time we got back to the bus station area we were completely exhausted.  We tried to go and walk up a small cerro, but due to the fact that it was getting dark and the stairs were unlit and we were completely and utterly exhausted - we opted for sitting in the park and then the bus station.
Thankfully I made it back to Santiago without any delays - my host family was a little worried with my previous traveling record :-)

Pictures!

So I have been posting pictures on facebook but I posted some on Picasa as well so here are the links!

Enjoy! I didn't leave too many comments so if you have questions, just leave them!

Wineries, Mountains and Mendoza

Hangin' out in Mendoza

Horse back riding in Mendoza

La Vida

Well, now that I have updated you all on my trip to Mendoza, Argentina, I'll back track a bit and talk about general life here in Chile.

**Below you will find 2 posts outlining our trip**

For my 2nd week in Chile, life became pretty routine (still wonderful, but routine)  I get up and eat breakfast with my host dad - we chat in Spanish and English, read the paper, drink our coffee and eat our toast.  Well, he usually is there more to keep me company as he eats when I leave, but either way it's wonderful company!
I then am at school until about 1pm each day - class consists of different activities each day, but in this level we are mostly practicing our speaking abilities (which are rusty, but we get better each day!)  We've been learning the past tense, which is very helpful in order to be able to explain my day to my host family - as it gets confusing when all I could speak in was the present tense.

In the afternoon we do a variety of things - some of us from school will usually go and get lunch somewhere, we've done everything from typical Chilean sandwiches to Chinese - as lunch is usually a little later than I am used to I am usually so hungry that everything tastes wonderful!
Some days we'll go out to see different things in Santiago - last week we went to a beautiful Artisan market where there were about 50 different little shops selling kitchy touristy stuff (jewelery, leather, clothing, etc) but it was fun to see!
Other days we hang out in our neighborhood, study at school, or I'll go off walking by myself to take pictures.

Around 7:30 or so we'll eat dinner with my host family - on Tuesdays and Thursdays my host mom's granddaughter (Valentina, 8 years old) comes over for dinner while her mom and my host sister go to a dance class (or aerobics, I don't remember.)  Those are always fun dinners as she is very funny, animated, and very smart.  We discuss everything from school in the US to our favorite fruits and vegetables.  As the days go by and I become better in speaking Spanish, I can contribute more and more to the conversations.

Wednesday nights (for some stupid reason) are the big going-out nights here, so we typically start out hanging out at a bar then move on to a club/discoteca - where much fun and dancing ensue.
I'm definitely starting to get a feel for the city and whatnot now, and am starting to feel much more comfortable getting around here.  The metro (although is usually very crowded) is very clean and efficient.  I have only taken the busses once, as the metro usually works fine, but the busses were great too!

It's become more about the little things now in Santiago - successfully negotiating things in Spanish (the other day I bought 2 pens at the store and did so very successfully without much stumbling in Spanish!) hanging out with students from school, drinking a good coffee (which is surprisingly difficult to find as most is just instant) putting minutes on my cell phone, practicing Spanish with my host family (we have been able to have some political discussions! After Michelle Bachman showed up in the papers here, we had a fabulous discussion about American politics and the Tea Party)
Being here, with a family and a school to go to has allowed me to feel like I am less of a tourist and more of a normal person here.  Granted, my silly sounding Spanish and my blonde hair will always give me away, but I've been able to settle into a nice little routine that gets broken up by the constant adventure of being in another city, in another country, and living in another language.

I have a little over a week left here in Santiago, and I just cannot believe it!  While it feels like I have been here forever, and Denver feels like years ago, it has also just FLOWN by.

As this was the first time that I've ever really traveled on my own, I have definitely learned a lot so far!  I'm really looking forward to getting to enjoy every  moment that I have left here, especially since I know that it will go by way too quickly.
On Saturday we are planning to go to Valparaiso for the day (a beautiful little town on the coast) - I'm not sure what I will have planned for the rest of the weekend.  Probably sightseeing and playing around Santiago - unfortunately I don't think I'll get to all of the other places that I had planned to go to, but that's ok!  I knew that there was no way to get it all in, and whatever I do manage to fit in will be amazing and wonderful.

I am just so thankful that I get be here, experiencing all of this - I couldn't have imagined or hoped for a better way to spend my summer.

Days 2.5 and 3 and 4

Well.  So, as you may have read below, we were kind of "stuck" in Mendoza.

**Disclaimer: There's only so much I can say about how beautiful Mendoza/Argentina is.  I'll post pictures soon, but keep in mind that the pictures don't do it justice.  I will do my best to describe it but without going on for pages about it... I can only do so much**

We got back from the bus terminal and checked back into our hostel - we had to change rooms (we decided to see if we could make it each room of the hostel... I can tell you right now that we didn't, but were pretty close!)  So, we were pretty familiar with the process of checking in as we had done it just 2 days prior, so we did the usual, dropped our stuff off, and hung out for a bit.
Since we had time to kill we decided to sign up for a Sunset Horseback ride through the foothills of the Andes followed by a traditional Argentinean BBQ... I mean, if you're going to be stuck you might as well do something that's kind of cool... right???

So, we left for our horse back riding excursion.  I LOVE horses and horse back riding so I was beside myself with excitement, one of my other travel mates was excited but had done something similar in the South of Chile, and my other travelmate had never ridden a horse before, so she was a little nervous.  We had yet another incredible drive out to the horse ranch - we went through winding side streets in the wine country of Mendoza, then continued through the countryside - I would say it was like driving through a mix of Arizona/The Badlands/the foothills in Denver/ the Rockies... it was absurdly beautiful and breathtaking.   I find it hard to come up with new adjectives to describe everything.  Because it's winter everything is pretty dry, so we could watch the dried grasses blowing the wind, the cacti poking up every now and then, and the beautiful reddish sand/dirt that was everything.
As we were driving out there I had to stop and wonder (for the 100th time) what I had done in life to get here.  To a place where I was driving through the Argentinean wine country to go horse back riding at sunset.  I had expectations for this trip, but my trip has SO FAR exceeded my expectations that I just don't even know where to begin anymore.  It's just kind of like an amazing dream that I actually get to live.
Anyways.
So, before we even arrived at the ranch I was overwhelmed with contentedness (always a good place to start.)  We get there and find a beautiful little ranch, there's a little thatched roof thing covering some tables, a traditional Argentinean bbq spit thing, a fire pit, and a hitching post.
We unloaded and waited for our horses.  Mine was a gigantic, beautiful black one whose name translates to "Black Soul" - reassuring.  We were quite a good match as he wanted to stop every 20 feet to eat... but he was a very relaxed horse who just did his horse thing.  We rode up and down and round through the countryside.  At several points we were quite literally riding off into the sunset.  There was a pack of about 10 dogs that ran along with us, it seemed that they wanted to herd the horses (however, the horses would give a cautionary stomp is they got too close)

We were lead by Guillermo - the perfect guide as every time he would gallop up a hill his hair would flow behind him - quite picturesque.  Our other guide (whose name I never got) was straight off a Marlboro add, he consistently had a cigarette in his hand/mouth and he was outfitted like a true cowboy. There were about 15 of us in all, several from Australia, several from Colombia, and some from Buenos Aires - it was a very fun group!

After about an hour ride, we came back to the main area where we started and hung out and watched with drooling mouths as our guides started grilling for us.  It was an open fire (again I have pictures I'll post) and it was delicious.  I mean, totally delicious (this coming from the former vegetarian)  I ate probably 1/2 a cow alone.  We had simple sandwiches (bread, meat, and tomato) but then just cut out the middleman and had just hunks of the meat.  I'm drooling just thinking about it.  Our meal was accompanied by some fabulous Argentinean wine and a campfire.  We all sat around, ate, drank and chatted while the sun sank behind the hills.
Then it became even more impressive.  Nothing beats a campfire under the stars - I'm pretty sure I was able to find the Southern Cross (the star constellation, if not, it was something that really looked like it!) So, we spent the evening just chatting (in English and Spanish) and sitting around the campfire while all of Mendoza spread out in twinkling lights below us.
It was at this time where I was truly able to say that life was perfect.  There was nothing I would have changed about that moment - even though it was getting rather cold, it was just complete perfection.  Somehow I have gotten lucky enough to be here, and I am so thankful for that.

We then had a quiet drive back to the hostel, as we all reflected on how amazing our evening had been.  I can say, without hyperbole, that it will go down as one of the top 5 best nights ever.

Monday morning we went down to the bus station with little hope of going home.  We were right - we were in Mendoza another day!  We went through the speedy process of changing our tickets, getting another taxi and heading back to the hostel.  By now they knew us pretty well there and we always had a good laugh whenever we showed up again.  We checked back into a new room and then went out to explore Mendoza.
In total, we walked for about 6 hours - up to a soccer stadium from the World Cup (that is now under renovations so we couldn't see much) through the park, then basically through the entirety of the downtown area of the city.  We saw beautiful houses, beautiful churches, beautiful parks... beautiful everything.  Kids playing soccer in the park, families strolling, and there was plenty of jumping in the leaves - mostly by me.  It was a great way to see a wonderful city.

Monday night we had dinner at the hostel and hung out with some of the other guests, studied some Spanish, and hoped we'd get home to Santiago and school the next day.

Tuesday morning we headed back to the bus station where we waited hopefully for about an hour - but to no avail.  We did the usual exchanging of tickets and taxied back to the hostel.  We were told (correctly) that this would be the last time, as we'd be able to go home on Wednesday.

So, we made it back to the hostel, did the usual checking in routine, and decided to go on a 1/2 day winery tour.  We were told that we would be seeing new wineries, but we also got to go to an Olive Oil factory, so that was neat.  It ended up being 2 of the same wineries that we had been to already, but they were great the first time and they were just as fun the 2nd time!  We had a group of very boisterous Brazilians with us on our tour, so that made for a different experience!  The olive oil place was really interesting, and we got to sample some incredibly delicious breads/spreads/oils - so that was fabulous.
We did some more wandering through Mendoza prior to the tour, so we got our exercise in!  Which was good because we consumed a lot of chocolate/wine/food on our trip!  We ate plenty of Argentinean steak, pasta, salad, french fries, and goodness knows what else.

For our last supper in Mendoza, we tried to go to a place that had been recommended by a family friend - however, in true Mendoza fashion it didn't open until 10 and we were far too hungry to wait that late, so we found another great little place and had some beers, some steak, and lots of fun times!

Wednesday morning we set off for one last go at the bus station.  We got there, waited a little while, then boarded our bus.  We had another beautiful drive through the now snowy Andes, though we had a fun 4-hour wait at the boarder then another fun wait in traffic in Santiago, so after 11 hours we made it back!  I had a very joyful reunion with my host family, a much needed dinner and shower, and a chat with some people from back home.  Then I was off to bed to get ready for a day back at class!
We have our test tomorrow, eek - lots to study in order to make up for the 3 days of class that I missed!

I'm sure that I'm leaving out details about the trip - but, the most important thing to know is that Mendoza is beautiful, the wine is wonderful, and the mountains were breathtaking :)