Week 3 and 4

So this is going to be a long post since I have not written in 2 weeks and a lot has changed in the past two weeks, so you might want to take a seat, put up your feet, and put on your reading glasses. I last left all my readers ( all 6 of you) at the end of my second week in Chile. The weekend that followed was a fun weekend. Friday, I actually went out until the wee hours of the morning with my roommate Todd and his friend Craig from the United States. It was really fun. We talked, we drank, and we tried to sneak into an after hours club, without success. The following day I was useless and spent my time doing laundry, watching movies ( in Spanish por supuesto), and in general being a lazy bum. I made up for my idleness however, the following day. Crag, Todd, and  I woke up early in the morning and took the bus to La Campana, which is a national park about an hour from Vina. We started our hike at 10am. At first it was slightly difficult and took some getting use to because it was all incline. However, in general the first 6 km of the hike went fairly smoothly.  Then came the last 1km of the trek. At the time I thought that it  was probably one of the most physically challenging things I have done in my life. We had to hike across giant boulders on the mountain at a 45 degree angle. I was literally shaking from fear. Then we had to basically rock climb up the huge boulders and had to stop every 5 minutes from exhaustion. The last 1km probably took up about 1 hour or more. But as we reached the summit, all of our bad spirits and exhaustion dissipated, and we were nearly speechless. We had climbed 1.900 meters which is about 6300 feet. The view was spectacular and the endorphins were in high spirits and we truly felt proud of ourselves. After eating our avocado sandwiches and taking in the view we started our descent. I was very scared at first considering the angle at which we were descending. We were making good time however, until we stopped to let some fellow hikers pass in the opposite direction. That is where things went wrong. By doing so we somehow lost the trail. Remember before when I said that the last 1 km of the ascend was one of the most physically challenging things of my life, that was before we got lost. We were lost for about 1.5 hours and had to horizontally cross the mountain. Beneath our feet rocks fell 6000 feet below. We were short on water, and already exhausted from our trek up. I was really scared. I was thinking that we were going to be those people who get stuck on a mountain and have to get picked up from a helicopter and I was thinking how I don't have insurance and how much that would cost. It was really intense. But Todd trekked ahead and used his binoculars to find the trail. After crossing loose rocks that slipped beneath our feet we had to push our way through thorny bushes and create our own trail until for the love of god we found the trail. Then after all that we still had to trek 6 km down to the bottom. I was sore for 5 days and have never had so many blisters. But I am sure that it was probably hilarious to see what we looked like. We were completely filthy, we had cuts, scrapes, our hair a mess, and we walked with a limp. It looked like we fell down the mountain, tumbled into a river, and spent the night at the bottom in a hole. But it was an experience I will never forget. We also saw really cool wildlife, such as: Vizcacha ( a mix between a chinchilla and a rabbit), a Chilean Hawk; which was eating another bird, a Chilla fox, and a tarantula.






The following week was pretty hard for me. My roommate, Laurel, had left and I guess I didn't realize how much I enjoyed spending time with her until she was gone. I was feeling very homesick and bored with the city. I also was put into a higher level of Spanish and it was quite difficult for me and I felt inadequate so therefor I spent every day studying alone and was getting very sick of being by myself. However, on Thursday night on the bus to Mendoza I realized that this is most likely the last time I will travel  for a long period of time by myself. therefor, of course there will be times when I am lonely, but I should also relish in the fact that I can be completely selfish and do whatever I want to do without consulting anyone else. Try to focus on the half full glass...

Lobos del marinos in the Valparaiso bay

Last time the roomies were all together

The start of the hike, so mellow we thought.                                  

We crossed this horizontally. so scary

So beautiful, at the top above the clouds

We made it!!!

     Hi guys!! high on life.

See the mountain in the far distance. The very top of the mountain... That's where we hiked to.

A tarantula just hanging out.

However, all my sadness and loneliness dissipated after I went to Mendoza. I LOVE MENDOZA!!! I stayed in the international hostel and met so many people that were so nice and welcoming. The city itself is amazing. There is a huge park that is about 1/3 of the size of the city, which I walked all around, and many of the streets are closed to vehicles and people sit drinking and eating and laughing and listening to music. It's really quite magical. I also went white water rafting, repeling down a mountain, and hiking. It was the most fantastic time that I have had in the past 4 weeks. Mendoza is surrounded by the Andes and the view is incredible. It was so much fun to raft down the Mendoza river. I fell into the freezing water after hitting a boulder, and that just added to the fun. I talked so much spanish, got to party a little bit, and met so many people that live in Buenos Aires, who I am going to meet up with when I study there. Seriously, Mendoza changed me for the best. I am so incredibly optimistic for the rest of my travels and I still have my smile on the face from the weekend. I recommend to any to visit Mendoza!

Me and the rafting guides in front of the Mendoza river.

Does not even come close to the beauty in real life.

The road the bus drives on to get to Mendoza from Vina.

When I got back to Vina yesterday I had a new roommate. Her name is Maya and she is 20 and is from Amsterdam. She seems very nice and we had dinner together and watched a movie. Come Monday I had classes and have never felt so confident with my Spanish. I can understand so much more, and felt so comfortable speaking. I also signed up for private lessons and attended my first one. I am really happy I signed up for them. We are going over the book I am reading and practicing my pronunciation, which is what I struggle with the most.

There will always be times in your life when after you've done something out of your comfort zone that is difficult, you ask yourself, " Why on earth did I do this and why I am putting myself through this when I could be living my easy life back home." But when find the answer, it's worth more than anything.

WEEK 2

I have started my third week in Chile. Time passes here in a very strange manner. My days are long usually starting at 7am and ending around 12ish, but though they are long, it goes so quick. This past school week flew by that I could barely believe it weekend again. Since during the week I start in Vina for the most part, during the weekends I try to get out of town. Last weekend the class took a "field trip" to a vineyard in Casablanca. The drive there reminded me of driving in Hawaii. The is not the same botany but the scenery changes as quickly as the big island. Its really beautiful. We got a tour of the entire vineyard as well as got an explanation on the process of making wine and the slight differences in nature that can change your wine from a Chardonnay to a Merlot. the tour was in Spanish which led to to create my own conclusions of the technicality of it all, which I found out later those had been a bit far off. The tour ended with a wine tasting in which we paired with some amazing cheese. I have to admit, I have become a light weight when it comes to drinking. One wine tasting later and I'm ready to either pass out or go dancing. Anyway after the buzz faded, my roommate, Todd, and i walked to this great little park with a nice lake in Vina. People were fishing, swimming, and of course making out. * Chile is VERY P.D.A friendly.*

 During the week I spend my days at school, studying Spanish, using the internet to plan future weekend trips and to skype with Scott, and running on the beach during sunset, which isn't until 9pm here. I am really trying to make learning Spanish my number one priority. I listen to lessons on my IPoD while I walk and run, therefor i am almost positive that a good portion of the city thinks I am insane because I pass by them saying phrases in Spanish, it is probably a sight to see. I am also reading a book by Isabel Allende in Spanish, which in itself is a tedious task. I read two pages, underline words I don't know, look them up, and the re-read the two pages, preferably aloud. It is most likely going to take me the whole 12 weeks to read this book. Vale la pena. I am always tempted however, to speak English with anyone who can answer me back. But baby steps. I was not completely boring this week however. On Thursday night my friends Ruth, Andrea ( Swiss), and Sebastian and Gianina (Chile)went to Cubanismo. Its a salsa club in Valparaiso. It was a great time. There was lessons to learn to dance the salsa and the panchatta. I have never been so dizzy after dancing, but it was so much fun. I also have never seen such amazing dancers. They twist and turn in all sorts of directions as if its completely natural to move in such ways. I will be back next week. Another crazy thing that happened this week was the earthquake. I was sitting at my kitchen table doing some homework when I felt the table tremble. I thought it was just me getting lightheaded or dizzy or something until I looked up at the light fixture and saw that it was shaking as well as the paintings on the wall. I have never felt so vulnerable. Although it only lasted about a minute, I was scared the entire time. It was such an unnatural feeling, I could never imaging the fear and the panic that people must have felt during a true powerful earthquake. My heart goes out to anyone who has ever been through that.

 This past Friday the class said goodbye to some people that were off either going back to where they are from, or headed on to new adventures. It's really nice being in the same situation as everyone around you. All of our are completely out of our element, without any one to go home to, so I think it really gives you a chance to truly be yourself. We are all so vulnerable that we dont really have an opportunity to put on a facade, so therefor it is really easy to meet friends, it's quite nice.

 Saturday, Andrea ( Swiss), Natalia (Brazil) and I went to Isla Negra. This is about 130 to 230 hours away, depending on traffic.  It is a really cute town. It reminds me of a mix between Pennsylvania and Arizona... like a mini rustic Flagstaff. We visited Pablo Neruda's house which is awesome, The whole house is a nautical theme. there are about a dozen ship masts, giant windows look at the sea, half dozen globes of the world, and an entire room that is made to look as if it is underwater. After touring the house we spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the beach and listening and watching the waves, which were quite big. It was a very lovely day.

Drinking a very little espresso at the cafe at the museum

Pablo's back yard

Part of Pablo's hosue

a bus stop in Isla Negra

Sunday my roommate Laural and I went to Valparaiso. Valpo is such a funky town. It has a whole bohemian, graffito turned art, mixed with very old grand buildings theme. If i were to try to describe Valpariso as an analogy I would say: Valpariso is to Vina del Mar as vintage clothes is to J. Crew. Though they are right next to one another they are as different as night and day. Laural and I walked around the city all day, which in itself is not an easy task. The roads twists and turns up ginormous hill and each street seems to meet up again miraculously. To explore the city you take an acensor, which is a 100 year old plus cart that is on cables and goes up the hill at a 45 degree angle. The houses are every style of architecture from Gothic, to Renaissance, to german-esq cottages. They are also every single color of the rainbow. The dogs outnumber the people at least 2 to 1 and there seems to be secret shortcuts down every alley. It is a place that you walk around in a slight state of confusoin and you constantly find yourself saying, "wow, that cool."  I dig it. After exploring the city and giving our calf muscles quite the workout we attempted to see a well known Chilean play called "La Ester Negra". We stayed for half (1.5 hours) which I give us great credit in doing. The dialog was nearly impossible to understand and our seats were 5 miles away and were benches that you would find on the street. We tried. I'm proud. All in all it has been a nice couple of weeks, difficult days, but the best things in life are worth the struggle.

taking the ascencor. scary!

a common street in valpo.

TURN OFF THE TV, LIVE YOUR LIFE.

First Impressions

I live in a 17 story apartment building on the 15th floor that looks over the ocean. Cannot believe it. Sure the appliances are somewhat vintage, and most of the lights don't work, but I could not be more content with my new home. At night you can hear the crashing of the waves and it reminds me of hawaii. I have two roommates, Todd and Laurel. They are fantastic. Todd is early 30s and loves nature photography. Laurel is in her forties and teaches English to foreigners in New York. I have so much in common with the both of them, its awesome.



So far in concerns with my new home, Vina del Mar, I am in love. It's the perfect sized city. Imagine the cities with one way streets and cars all parked along the sides with cafes, bakeries, street vendors, and fresh flower carts all along the sides. My walk to school from my apartment is about 9 blocks. Throughout the walk I pass under beautiful sycamore trees that shade the street and sheds its leaves all on the sidewalk. Every morning my nose is tempted by the vendors setting up their fruit and vegetable stands. You can smell the freshness. Today on the way home I bought a big bag of fresh olives wrapped up in a plastic baggy. I can never eat jarred olives again. The difference is incredible. Every fruit and vegetable that I have eaten from the cart vendors has been the best fruit or vegetable I have ever eaten. Also along the streets are dogs everywhere. These are not your average scruffy street dogs that bark and are scary to pass. These dogs are huskies, hounds, sheppards, and other types of beautiful dogs that someone would pay big money for. It is the most bizarre thing. The people of vina and the dogs of vina share the streets. They wait at crosswalks with pedestrians and look both ways till they cross when the light is green.

I love my school. There are only 3 people in my class, but there are 4 other levels with different students so we all meet outside during our recreos (breaks) to talk and drink coffee. Yesterday the school took a "trip" and we walked the coast of Vina. We passed dozens of beaches, the marine area, and giant rocks which remind you of the coast of California, as well as very old beautiful castle-esq houses, while the trip director Gianina gave us an explanation of the area. We walked to the next town Renanca, and took the bus back, which i have to say is an experience. Today we are planning on going to Valpariso to the museo de aire libre. museum of open air. Tomorrow night I plan on going to the beach to celebrate the chinese new year. It will be the first day of the year of the Rabbit. Which is my year. I really think it is going to be my year. Positives thoughts flow through my mind.

me and my roommates

my favorite street in Vina

Chinese New Years parade.

 Reminded me of Scott xoxo