¡! la rama de olivo ¡!

Hola! Well, to start I just finished 'onces' (essentially dinner, albeit very light, think tea, bread, possibly cheese on a good day, butter) with my family. My aunt, and all my little primos (cousins) are here and they are hooligans I tell you! I don't think it helps the matter that they all take roughly 3-5 heaping spoonfuls of raw sugar into their tea. I tried it once, and it is ridiculous...they though, think I am crazy for not using any:) Today I had an unexpected day off  of school...I taught just 2 hours, but we are having yet another mysterious week of recreation (this time called, Semana de Libro, or book week) and so many of my classes are canceled...it was quite gloomy today, so I walked to the metro, came home, and took a much needed 4 hour nap:) I think I am still recovering from my long holiday weekend...which brings me to:

MENDOZA, ARGENTINA!

I was lucky enough to have 4 days over the holiday to plan a quick trip over the border! On Wednesday night, I met several other volunteers in Viña del Mar where we took an overnight bus through the Andes...we arrived to Mendoza at a very early 5 am! Unexpectedly of course, so we had to trek to the hostel in the dark (luckily very close by)... they took pity on us poor gringas and let us sleep there for several hours even though we weren't supposed to be there yet:) Other volunteers trickled in and Thursday the fun began... Mendoza is a very beautiful city, and we went there with no real plans, so it felt good to just walk around, lounge in the park, and shop of course. Argentina is much much cheaper than Chile...and so just buying everyday things costs much less. Also, in the parks there were many artists selling lots of leather, jewelry, etc. Argentina is known for their beef and leather, so I also bought a really nice pair of leather boots, that cost me much less than in the US or Chile.  We enjoyed lots of steak and shawarma as well:) On Friday, we chose to tour the many vineyards, and rented bikes from a place called Mr. Hugo's. We biked from vineyard to vineyard, for tastings of wine, cheese, liquor...etc. The worst choice possibly being Absinthe....uck, absolutely the worst thing ever...alas, now i know:) We met 2 other travellers from England this day as well, and had such a good time with them. Mr. Hugo's is kind enough to serve you as much cheap wine as you desire upon returning to the rental place...so after touring 5 vineyards and 1 beer garden, we got pitchers of the worst wine ever...obviously a good idea right? Nonetheless, this day was my absolute favorite of the trip.  Saturday we slept in, drank some real coffee and again spent time just being in Mendoza.Argentina is known for its Alfajores as well....which is two cookies with manjar or dulce de leche (caramel) in between and then dipped in chocolate...needless to say most of us are obsessed with these little cookies and indulged readily the entire trip! Saturday night we went all out, along with Jenni & Josh (our new friends from England, and had an amazing dinner...we ended up staying out til about 530am, and caught our bus at 830! It was quite fun! All in all, I really loved the feel of Argentina (not just the cookies and wine), and cannot wait to go back when Luke visits! Here are a few photos from the trip:

On the home front, I mentioned school being on and off all week. I am looking forward to a typical weekend in Chile, our friend Matt is visiting from Mauli, but otherwise staying home sounds quite nice to me:) Also,  Luke and I are busy trying to make the many decisions and plans necessary for our trip in August, we are excited to get some plans set...!

Lastly, because this is too funny to skip...moments ago, a stray cat got into our house, when I notified my mom Ely, expecting a somewhat calm reaction...absolute chaos ensued! All my cousins were screaming and climbing on the furniture, Ely was throwing things at it, and finally it was throw from the second story window by my aunt in my sister's room...I kid you not! ha! I would feel sad except I hate cats, and I highly doubt the feline will ever visit this house again:)

3 hopeful thoughts

[ Asi cada mañana de mi 
vida traigo del sueño otro sueño ]

...so every morning of my life I bring the dream another dream...

Pablo Neruda

Here I stand, at the top of Cerro la Campana. Feeling a million things, and seeing what feels like the entire world below me. To the east the Andes, and to the west the Pacific Ocean. Life seems to stretch for miles in this solitary view. Exhilarated by the effort of my body, and the weight of the world beneath my feet..I am made small. Those before me, pass fondly through my memory...and in their honor I live on.

_____________________________________________________

hasta que salga el sol...!

Today I am writing from the comforts of my little room....drinking hot tea, with a belly full of torta de cumpleaños (birthday cake), palta (avocado), y pan (bread)! Last night we had quite the carrete (Chilean slang for party) for Ely's birthday! Chileans do up a party like none other....Max ( a fellow volunteer from WT who visited me in Region V the last 4 day from BioBio), Ely, and I spent much of the day on Saturday cleaning the house, outdoor patio, setting up lights and music. We then proceeded to spend roughly 4 hours creating these tiny little sandwiches called Canapés...with the most intricate placement of a tiny piece of pepper, or olive, or tuna, etc. It was so much work! Per usual, things don't really get going around here until 10-ish...but they go all night long, and I did not go to bed today until the sun came up:) The night was full of music and dancing like I have never seen....Chileans love to dance, and to teach gringos how to dance...all of us looked ridiculous I am sure, learning all of these traditional and well-known dances from Brazil, Chile, and Argentina...but more importantly, it was great fun with new people and a new culture that I completely am in love with. Vino, pisco, and cerveza were in excess and it was amazing to see adults, people my parents age stay up all night to have fun with their friends. It was a lovely time, one I hope to repeat many times over in the future. I have to admit the Spanish flows a little better with spirits on board as well:) Here is two photos of the Canapés and another of  Emilia and I!

The rest of the week prior to last night was a good one as well. As previously mentioned, I was able to have a friend visit me from the south of Chile. Thursday we travelled to Vina del Mar to spend the day walking on the beach, putting our feet in the pacific ocean, and making friends with a stray black lab who we named Lumos. Lumos spent the entire day with us...he was very faithful! Chile has an inordinate amount of stray dogs...and for whatever reason I seem to be like a dog magnet here. If I walk down the street within minutes I have at least 1-3 dogs following me. They don't seem to do this to native Chileans...so I am beginning to think I must smell different:) Who knows! Many of them are so scrawny and sad looking, but they literally are everywhere....I have never seen anything like it, and the noise of dogs barking is pretty much continuous through the day and night. Anyways, the day was fun; we indulged in margaritas, Mexican food-Chilean style, and watched soccer at a bar in the evening before taking the metro home. Below are a few photos from our day in the sun!

 viña del mar

 Max and "Lumos"

 ahhhh, at the beach!

 a lovely sunset (for papasan!)

On to Friday...I taught class in the morning...and true to form, my students begged me to participate in a project for their class. Not wanting to limit my experiences, I  say yes...(unknowingly I had agreed to be a model in the student's school-wide fashion show...damn me and my lack of Spanish!)...what else was there to do but go with it! But I kid you not....I was made to put on the most ridiculous clothes (Chileans are not know for their fashion, lets put it that way...) and walk down this 25 foot catwalk while the whole school watched!! Obviously, this is not my thing...alas, I survived; my students were so excited that I agreed to just be shameless and join them:) Nonetheless, lesson learned...those sneaky kids;) Also, Friday evening I went to an event with the other teachers from school. I haven't gotten a lot of time to talk with my other co-teachers, and so I was a bit nervous, but everyone was great, and I ended up feeling really good about my Spanish at the end of the night. We had a gigantic stew made with chicken and clams and mussels and potatoes. very strange was my conclusion....but, I have tried everything once at the very least! 

All is well here, I am happy and excited about all the new things in my life. But at the end of the day... there always come 'the missings'. I miss my family. I miss my sisters dearly and my mom's trips to the cities to stay with me. I miss hearing from my dad on my way to work. I miss seeing my very best friend Luke and friends from the cities. I miss climbing with Katie, and the grand old routine of minneapolis/st. paul. As spring descends in Minnesota, winter arrives here in Chile...the fog rolls in off the ocean each morning, and the sun rises behind the hills and I say thank you each and everyday for the memories from home and for the hours of present, a gift I have been given. I imagine the night bike rides in the cool spring air, but what I feel is the lightest rain of winter's swift arrival. How I have come to be here, I sometimes know not... alas "don't think twice, it's allright", si?

Fare thee well:)

lck

Los Piojos....bienvenida a la familia!

For those of you who speak Spanish...the title of this entry speaks volumes yes? for those of you who have yet to know what los poijos are....god bless you....for I too, was oblivious, until well....today:( Eeks! Mi hermana tiene los poijos....a.k.a. lice. yep. I had to used my little dictionary to interpret this conversation mind you, and when my eyes set sight on the word lice I about lost it! Pero....es lo que hay! We had an afternoon session in the bathroom (the whole family!) that resulted in many laughs between us all, and truth be told....I found zero lice in my hair (whew!) Nonetheless, I am freaked out....but thought Id post a photo of me and my sister Emelia undergoing "treatment":

And since I am here, I will detail the week thus far. After I was de-loused, me and my host mom spent the evening in the kitchen cooking traditional Chilean food. Every night we have to cook for that day and the next day, so its quite a bit of food. Also, tomorrow I am making Wild Rice Soup and homemade bread for them...

School has been going really well...teaching these kids has been a challenge and yet gone so smoothly that I really am feeling pretty comfortable so far. I am working with Ely, and another teacher Pamela, and they have both been awesome co-teachers thus far!

This weekend we are celebrating (my mom) Ely's birthday, and my friend Max is travelling up from BioBio to join the Valpo crew for a few days - very exciting! We are also formulating plans to travel to Argentina soon, perhaps over Easter...there are so many places I want to go, and it feels like I am so busy all the time. And yet there are spaces between this planning where I am able to feel quite alone in this country. Every day it is difficult to speak Spanish, and everyday I feel frustrated. I am so thankful of Ely, who answers all my questions and teaches me more than I could ever ask:) They are a good family to have been adopted by...lice, or no lice:)

 Here is one last picture of my sister Emilia...who doesn't seem to care in the least about the situation!

Cheers!
til next time,

lck

Curious happenings...

Alas, the weekend is here! After my first week of teaching, I am feeling excited for the weeks to come! Again, I thank my lucky stars, as my situation is so great, and I am so blessed. My school is very nice, my class sizes are small, and my kids actually have some working English knowledge! They are so smart, and I was prepared for utter chaos. I know my school is very different from the norm however, and even though my school is super nice...the Chilean education system in general is a very controversial thing. Schools are set up different too....there is no building, there are separate classroom structures, rooms, but the "hallways" etc...is all open air. It is very cold every morning, even already, and most of the morning we are all bundled up in jackets and hats....every hour and a half of class is followed by a 30 minute break for tea and snacks. I feel like half my day is spent drinking tea, talking to kids, and sitting outside because the breaks are so frequent!

Yesterday, I traveled to the city of Valparaiso with two other gringas. The city is very beautiful, and has many many steep hills that you actually have to ride up in these funiculars, in order to get to the top. The houses are many different colors and the views are absolutely amazing! I will be posting pictures soon:) We were able to visit one of Pablo Neruda's houses as well, called "La Sebastiana". It is up on Cerra Bellavista and offered some amazing spectacles of the city, and his house in general was very eclectic. I would definitely go back, as it was very cool to see! 

Hmmm...other events as of late? My cat, "Milliana" is becoming a problem in my life. For those of you who don't know, I really don't like cats. This one I had assessed as "tolerable", but lately has been overstepping its bounds! It comes in my room every night to cuddle with my feet. I swear it only speaks Spanish, because when I yell at it in English it just looks at me, but if i say "Fuera!"of "vaya!" it runs out of the room. Yesterday, I had my cell phone sitting on my bed and the cat was on the bed, and in a matter of ten minutes while I showered, the stupid cat called my friend Monica twice, the ambulance once, texted a number I do not know the letters "dmd", and entered two new contacts into my address book! Talk about talent!!

What else? the bread consumption continues, on a good day I eat less than 6 pieces of bread. This is outrageous! but in Chile, totally normal...eeks!! I am going to cook for my family this week, probably Wild Rice Soup and some homemade bread - let's hope they like it! My parents made pancakes yesterday and they were very different from ours....more like a crepe, and they put manjar (essentially caramel) on them instead of syrup! Nonetheless, I am definitely being fed well:)

The week ahead is my first week having my own class....!

Til next time,

lck