Reality check: I'm actually here to go to school

Hola Todos!

How is everyone? Again I have been falling behind on my entries- I have been hit very hard by the amount of school work I've had! It's hard to say whether or not my classes are actually difficult or not because of the simple fact that they are completely in Spanish. In my literature class, we have class readings, readings for the discussion on Fridays, and a 300 page book to finish for presentation in ten days. I figured out that on average I read about 8 pages an hour in spanish, if I'm lucky. You can do the math! In my art history class, I've slowly figured out that we are in the "erotic" unit. It took me a while to understand why we were only looking at phallic pictures and I kept hearing the words "pubic region". Who knew that there was so much nudity in art history! And my psychology class in another story. It is actually really really awesome- since it is Community Psychology we are actually going out into the community in Santiago to help find resources and solutions for a youth center. In the end, I know this will be very valuable. However, trying to organize this in another language is impossible! My day today consisted of wandering around a "poblacion" (which is the insane latin american neighborhoods that you see in movies with tin roofs, etc) with a group that I was put into with all chilean students. I can definitely say that today was the first time I was EXTREMELY outside of my comfort zone. But like I said, in the long run I think the experience will be worth it and hopefully my group with be patient with me.

Last weekend was one of the best I've had in Chile! Me and a group of my close friends here traveled about two hours to very popular beach town called Viña del Mar for the weekend. We stayed in a hostel which wasn't the nicest (the showers had half curtains and there was no soap or mirrors) but the beds were comfortable and, more importantly, it was cheap! On Saturday we stayed around Viña and walked to the beach. Unfortunatly it was wayyyyy to cold to go in the water, much less wear a swim suit. A couple blocks from our hostel was a restaurant/bar/discotec called Cafe Journal (weird to say in Spanish.. haha) where we literally spent at least a third of our time. In two days we ate there twice, had drinks there, and danced there at night.(The beach in Viña)

About 15 minutes away from Viña there is another popular town called Valparaíso, which is where we spent the day on Sunday. Let me tell you, it is one of the cutest, most beautiful places I have ever been. I fell in love with it immediately. It is full of hills and churches with colorful houses lining all the hills. We probably walked 10 miles all around the city, which included walking through one of Pablo Neruda's houses (a very very famous Chilean poet). We also found our way to a place like none I have ever been. It used to be a huge jail, but was burned down many times during the dictatorship here in Chile. Now it has been converted into an art space with graffitti where you can walk around. We ended up getting a personal tour from a man that works there, who actually used to be an inmate! He told us how he dug a tunnel and escaped by digging while pretending to have conjugal visits. He also offered to take us into the isolation rooms where they used to put the really bad criminals, and even torture them. It was very cool but also moving to see a place where so many people suffered. I won't lie, though, there was a moment when he was leading our group of americans down into the pitch dark isolation chamber when I felt like I was in a horror movie. I'm alive and well though! (Valparaiso)






(the former inmate who showed us around- notice the outfit that he wears for effect!)

One more funny thing that happened in Vina- when we ate lunch on Saturday at Cafe Journal we all ended up having TONS of leftovers (mainly fetucinne) but our hostel had no microwave so we weren't sure what to do with it. We ended up boxing it all up and carrying it with us on our long walk around the city. As we would see stray dogs, we judged them based on how pitiful/hungry they looked, and if they passed the test then they got to eat our gourmet meal of pasta with shrimp. You should have seen the looks we were getting from the chileans! I have never felt like more a good samaratin, though, so it was worth it.

(Lucky winner number one. I couldn't resist when he started sniffing the bag!)

Everything is going amazing here with my chilean family! Vivi just started classes to get her MBA so she is always busy with that and with work, so Sergio and I spend lots of time here together at home. I even made Kraft macaroni and cheese for them the other night! I don't think I have ever been more homesick than I was when I took my first bite. They are both so great and they honestly treat me like their own daughter. What more could I ask for?

This weekend I am getting ready to travel down south in the middle of Chile to a place called Pucon. The trip is actually through my program so everything is all paid for and ready to go, which is so nice. It is supposed to be really cold and rainy though, which you would think I woudl be used to being an Oregonian but I have gotten so spoiled here with the 85 degree weather every day! After class all day tomorrow I leave on a 10 hour bus ride to get there, and since I just finished my last American book I am stuck reading my spanish homework the whole time. Ah! Well let's just hope this time that I'm not by the bathroom :)

Lastly, I am getting EXTREMELY excited because Tommy is coming here a week from Friday! I can't believe how fast the time has passed. I am already planning everything we're going to do, including a trip to Argentina! Hopefully the nice weather will stick around for ten more days so we can do lots of outdoor things like hiking and maybe go to a vineyard around here. I think Vivi and Sergio are just as excited, if not more excited, than I am for him to come.

This is all for now! I still have some packing to do. I am going to try and start updating this more. I have found that I am one of those people who doesn't want to sit down and do this or make a phone call unless I have a good chunk of time. What I need to do, though, is start doing shorter entries more often I think. Anyway, I'm really starting to miss everyone back home! as they say here, besitos!

Laura