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
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