living the hard life...

HOLA!!!
Lo siento, it's been a while! I've been really busy here living the rough life. Wake up and go to class for maybe 4.5 hours, but on average I have had at least 2 classes cancelled a week. Then after that I come home and have some lunch then either take a nap or go to the beach, or both. Really rough. hahahahaha. It has gotten realllly nice here, in the mornings its usually kinda foggy/overcast and chilly but then by noon it burns off and is about 65-70 degrees and sunny (and humid so therefore feels warmer than it is). We have also had some field trips in school too so that has been neat. We had a guest speaker for my myths class last week, we were learning about traditional jobs so a chinchinero came and played for us. (an organ grinder and it his son and his son's friend play these drums on their backs and dance around- its pretty cool). And then this week we went to the law school and heard a debate/lecture type thing about the economic crisis, it was really long, but got us out of 2 classes... hahaha. Im definitely learning a ton in class but they just have a different way of class than we are used to. ie no homework, no quizzes, no tests and few papers or projects. But I think thats because we are there for the language and cultural experience and so the things we are learning about all are part of the cultural experience, the advanced group and some othre programs are more scholarly and hard.
Also since the last time I blogged we took a little adventure over to Mendoza, Argentina and met up with my friend David who is studying there (but goes to DU). So that was really cool. Mendoza was beautiful! It reminded me a LOT of Colorado, and Ashton who also went over with us said the same thing. It almost felt like a suburb rather than a city. And the spanish was sooooo much easier to understand. It was incredible! We got there and were a little lost and asked for directions and the lady was very friendly and we could understand her! That was a huge change from Chile... hahahaha. And after our little weekend there, I liked it a lot and could've easily studied there, but am so glad I am in Chile- it feels more like a cultural change than Mendoza did. Anyway, we took a bus on a thursday night at 10:30 pm to Mendoza, got off around 3 am to cross the border in the middle of the andes (cold!!! and its springtime so there is still some snow up there. hahahaha) and arrived in Mendoza around 7 am. Walked around looking for a hostel my mom had suggested, and when we found it they said they didn't have rooms available until 10 so we went back to the bus station for some breakfast and met up with one of the boys in our program who was also there for the weekend and meeting up with his friend who was studying in Buenos Aires. We all went into town and found a hostel to stay at and took a little siesta then got up for lunch and to explore the city. There are parks everywhere! that was my favorite part of mendoza, just all the open spaces without tons and tons of people making out in them. (the PDA there is not at allll like it is here- people make out anywhere they can stand or lay. yuck.) That night we met up with Mateo and his friend and her friends from her program and had the BIGGEST steak of my life. It was GIANTIC! and the most expensive, best cut on the menu... so with that and some wine my meal came to all of $12 US. the exchange rate in argentina is much more favorable for us... hahaha. Sunday we got up walked around a little and then took a bodega tour (wine tour, but not of the vineyards, the wine factory things). It was interesting, but the wine tour we took in Chile outside of Vina was much better. On our tour we also stopped at an olive factory where they make olive oil and some assorted dried snacks which was different, but really not that exciting. hahaha That night we met up with David and went looking for this reggae concert in the GIANT park in mendoza (its the same size as the city!?) but we couldn't find it and ended up walking through a swamp and getting barked at by dogs, so we jsut went back into town and went to a resturant for a beer then later some ice cream. It was really fun and good to see him.
Back in Vina another girl from DU who studies in Mendoza was visiting Chile, so we met up with her for ice cream on monday. It was good to compare our programs and everything because they are both IFSA-Butler, and it was the other program I had the option of doing. Im glad I choose Chile. The week went by the same as the others, two classes were cancelled and it was the week the Chinchinero came so it was a nice easy week. hahahaha Over the weekend I just hung out in Vina, went to the beach, started exercising a little, explored new nightlife areas etc. Over the weekend we also got intercambios to practice spanish with! So that was reallly exciting. We are supposed to meet with them at least once a week for about an hour, half an hour in english and half an hour in spanish! So monday I met mine. He goes to this engineering school that is inbetween Vina and Valpo and its a reallly coool school. Its very similar to a campus in the states because its got a cafeteria and all the buildings are on that campus, they've got a gym and a pool and soccer fields etc. I got to eat in the cafeteria which was interesting. hahaha Its a school like Mines- all engineering, like an 80-20 boy to girl ratio. It was interesting because the boys are all much more clean cut and normal looking than the boys you see here. (ie no mullets, peircings, dreads or rat tails) hahahahaha My intercambio is named Sergio and he has a girlfriend in New York (she was abroad here last semester and thats how they met) and he got a job for his summer break working as a lift operator at a ski resort in Vermont so hes practicing his english for his visa interview and his job etc. So thats neat. he had some neat theories about boys here vs. boys in the states, ie they are opposites. THe boys in the states dont really like to express their feelings or anything, like the girls here. But the boys here are very emotional and in touch with their feelings etc more like girls in the states. It was definitely really intersting. and cool that we could relate with both having long distance relationships. hahahaha
This weekend we are going to the botanic gardins to have bday bbq for me and Joey since our birthdays are next week so that should be fun! (with chilenos and gringos!) Oh and last thursday we started our cooking classes!!! We made 2 dishes with fish- i had raw salmon, some shrimp and some other assorted things... the slamon was actually sorta tolerable but the rest ended after one bit. hahaha we are cooking at this REALLLY fancy expensive placed called Enjoy del Mar and its right on the ocean! and we got to wear chef hats and aprons and then we learned how to make pisco sours and got free ice cream!!! hahahaha Tomorrow we are going to make pino empanadas so thats going to be goooooood! hahahahaha
Today on the way to the beach I attempted to take a few pictures of where I am (although i think it ended up being a picture of my room and then some cool flowers, and some sailboats in the ocean.... so not tooo descriptive, but its a start. hahahaha) so I will go post those soon.
I hope everyone is doing well!!! I miss you! I am coming up on the 3 month mark!!! AHHHH! its going by soooo fast!!! yikes!!! have a great rest of the week!!!!
CHAU!

CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE

HOOOLLLLAAAAAA!!
I hope everyone is doing well and had a good weekend!
Saturday we had a program tour of some historic sights in Santiago which I was really excited for, but strangely disappointed. Our first stop was at the University of Chile, which had a realllly nice campus!!! We had a little video/lecture which was kinda confusing. I think it was trying to show us both sides of the glope estado (the military coup that started in 1973, the events that lead to it sorta), and we always hear about the torture and repression and death when Pinochet took power, but I think the video was showing the reason why Pinochet took over. Im not really sure... Then from there we went to a big cemetary (11 soccer fields!!!) which was pretty interesting. We saw the graves of ex-presidents, Allende and Pinochet included as well as the memorial to some of those that died during Pinochet's era (the ones they knew of, there are a lot that went missing but the bodies were never found nor was there information about them...) and one of the really famous musicians also. It was interesting, but only as interesting as a cemetary can be... there were these buildings that looked like rows of apartments, but they were all graves, well a place to put the urn i think. at least 2 stories tall and a block long and then tons of these buildings! it was crazy! From there we went to this park that was outside of the city. it was kinda weird because it wasnt quite finished or something? and it was kinda eerie because it used to be a torture camp. They had these informative stones that said what sort of torture took place where. and it wasn't that big of a park, it used to be someones house (a big house) and yard, then the military took it over and told the owner to give them the house or they would kill her daughter... The whole thing was kinda gruesome and eerie. Its not something I would think a school program would take you to? granted, its for sure something i wont really forget, and maybe looking at pictures and talking about it in class couldn't do it justice- but of all the things to see in santiago they picked a torture park???
annnyway after that the bus dropped some of us off near our hostel and we went and checked in dropped off our stuff and went out to dinner. we had mexican food! again not anything like mexican food in the states (or say mexico...)- but oh well. we walked around for a while and realized that santiago is wayyyyy too big and without a map, not very much fun to walk around. hahahahaha we went back and hung out for a while and went out for the night. we met up with one of the girl's friends and hung out with them for the night which was pretty fun.
Sunday we got up and had "breakfast" at the hostel (which was included, but was only bread and butter/jams, old hard bread... hahahaha) but better than nothing. from there we packed up, stored our bags and headed out to go to the soccer game. we left really early because we had been hearing horror stories about how dangerous this game was going to be. we didn't bring purses or cameras and mostly tried to dress in a color that wasn't for one team or the other (we didn't know which team's side we were sitting on...) so we wouldn't get robbed or shanked. hahaha anyway, we got there without any problems which was good. We stopped in Jumbo to get some water and snacks before hand whcih was intersting because they had all their alcohol blocked off because of the game. we walked towards the stadium and followed the crowd. While waiting in line (the wrong line btw, there was a much shorter line for women) the crowd started chanting- that alone was sooo exciting! from there we were frisked and then walked around to the other side of the stadium (you could only enter one side so the two team's fans wouldn't mix and fight.) On the other side of the stadium we were frisked 2 more times and finally got to go in! Once inside there were people handing out stuff, but normally if youre walking down the street or sitting on the micro and someone hands you something you are buying it, regardless if you want it or not... so we didn't take anything. Later we found out, you pretty much needed these rolls of paper and balloons to fit in. so we got some before the game started. It was CRAZY!!! there is nothing like it at all. It was a clasico game, colo colo vs Universidad de chile and thats the biggest rivalry of the season (hence all the scary precautions) but it was at the colo colo stadium. so it was the entire stadium of colo colo fans (us included) and then 2 sections of U fans. Between the U fans and the Colo colo fans were big fences and barbed wire! crraazzzzy! The U fans were impressivley loud! everyone chants and jumps and chants and sings and jumps and throws things, its great!!! hahahaha and thats all before the game starts. most of the chants and songs were pretty vulgar, but the one i did learn was the CHILE CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE COLO COLO ES CHILE! its really fun to say too! hahahaha then the game got close to starting... they dont boo here. when the other fans would do one of their cheers/songs everyone whistles. its really strange. anyway when the U took the field everyone whistled and then when colo colo came out, everyone goes crazy! the rolls of paper we got, you throw those on the field, streamers. and people light flares and shoot fireworks and have big drums and banners and throw balloons! its awesome! hahahahahaha the game started a little late because we had to wait for the U fans to climb off the net separating the field from the stands (think of a net like the one that goes up during extra point kick in a football game and thats where people were climbing up). also, a HUUUUUGE banner came down from behind the stands that said colo colo and some other stuff, and i mean huge. they take it and run down the aisles with it and it goes over all our heads! sooo cool! there was another couple behind the colo colo goal too. craaaazy!!!! THEN the game started. as soon as the players lined up for kickoff, everyone sits down. FAST. I think the sections behind the goals stayed standing but im not exactly sure. During the game, there weren't quite as many chants, but still quite a few. And everyone smokes. the guy next to me had an entire pack of cigarettes during the game, same with every person within one seat of me in each direction. basically i just got lung cancer from that game. anyway Colo Colo won 2-0 so that was really good. I think the U had more control and looked like the better team, but they didn't get it in the net (and missed a pk!) so when there were just a few minutes left we got up to leave so we could try to get to the metro sooner so we wouldn't have to worry about the mad rush but we weren't allowed out. The U fans got to leave first (and also they arrived earlier) so we had to wait for them. The carabineros (aka cops) were dressed like our swat team, but with even more protection. Big giant helmets, shouder pads, arm pads, elbow pads, shields, big giant night sticks, bullet proof vests, knee pads, shin guards, the whole works! INTENSE!!! eventually we were able to go and got to the metro and got back to our hostel to get our stuff and everything without any problems.
It wasn't nearly as dangerous as we had expected which is good for sure. i just wish i had brought my camera (we even tried to go buy a disposable in jumbo beforehand, but they didn't have any...) Thats all for now, I've got some hwk to do and a nap to take. have a good week!!
CHAU!

HERE IS A LINK TO A VIDEO OF YESTERDAY'S GAME!!! (the crowd, the highlights etc). the first 30 seconds show pregame, then the starters for both teams, then when the teams took the field (we were sitting in a colo colo section under the "lo mas grande" flag). Notice when U. chile takes the field and they show the crowd, all the people on the nets. they dont show the two goals, but they do show the pk...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDkkeq5sM9I

EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!

Today I felt my first temblor!!!! (that I've been aware of at least). We got a surprise field trip in politics to the government building in Valpo and we went into this room that was set up like the big room in congress is sorta. Each seat (which had the most comfortable chair I have sat in since I have been here...) had a computer and a microphone and this little box thingy that you could vote with- there was a button for yes, no, cancel and "request to speak." it was really cool! I felt very big time!! hahaha Anyway while we were there one of the government officials (I'm still not sure of his role, I think he was a consejaro regional. we're going over the chain of local commands next class so I'll let you know what that means later) talked to us about what his roles are and everything. It was pretty interesting because the government set up is all really new, within the last 15 years! And they have gotten something like 300 mil millones pesos (turns out the way of counting is different here, 300 mil millones= 300 billion) approved for education, health care, environment protection, things like that- all in 15 years! Then in the middle of the presentation, everything started shaking!!!! nothing extreme, enough to feel it and notice it. Exciting!!!! Temblors aren't as intense as earthquakes, and are supposedly really common. I guess the best comparison is a tremor?? (based on some quick googling) hahahaha. it was very exciting though!!! Thats all for now, I just wanted to tell you about my first mini earthquake. hahahahaha
Chau!
PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY!!!!!!!!!!! Feliz cumpleanos!!!!