Photo captions

The photos below are of my family, my birthday, and the day Chile was celebrating in the streets! I tried to upload videos and it wouldn't work - the pictures don't do it justice!

Photos!!

Valle LLuta

So yesterday I went to LLuta Valle (Lluta Valley) with my family because I hadn't seen it yet - how beautiful!

We drove along the beach and passed wildlife preserves, and then turned into the mountains. It was a bit chilly, but since we had 5 people in the back of my uncle's taxi, it got cozy pretty fast. When the windows fogged up, we had to wipe them from the inside with a towel because of course defrost doesn't exist here :) Oooh Chile.

We were approaching the Bolivian border and stopped at this little restaurant on the side of the highway - everything was naturally built and prepared - it was like a treehouse with tree tables and tree chairs and tree everything - SO cool!! There was an ostrich walking around (yes, an ostrich) and some goats as well, just hanging out. We all had some tea and I had a sandwich with queso de cabra - goat cheese. It was the best cheese sandwich I have ever tasted! We walked around and looked and the scenery a little bit before we headed back home and played hot potato with my little cousin every time we passed a police car. Rules don't really apply here I'm learning more and more every day. Whateva!

Today, my family has already showered me with some birthday presents and it is so nice to be remembered. Lunch will be served any minute - I am pretty sure I saw some BBQ ribs and heard the word keke (keh-keh, CAKE!) It should be a good day after that, Chile plays against Brasil and then the group is headed to the Centro to buy me my first legal alcoholic beverage! Everyone is calling me viejita now (little old woman), I guess it's the truth!

Annie

Chile.....loses!!!!

The most bizarre experience happened to us yesterday. First of all, WATCHING the Mundial (World Cup) at the university with the students was an experience in itself. Parents, don't be alarmed - we were not partaking in any of the following festivities, BUT, INSIDE the school building, they have this projector set up right? So the entire hall was filled with students watching the game....and, INSIDE this school building, every student had beer, cigarettes, joints, you name it. For those UNI students reading, picture Maucker Union covered in beer cans and filled with smoke...yep. Quite the experience! There was a small bundle of students from Spain watching and they were, well, not well-liked. You just don't cheer for the opponent when you are IN Chile.

Anyway, as many may know, Chile in fact lost, but the celebration went on! This of course was because Chile still classified for the next round which is wonderful...but this was just obscene! The entire city was hootin and hollerin and honking their car horns and then the entire world went to La Plaza right under El Morro downtown. ABSOLUTELY crazy!! I'm so glad we went to see it. We went with our friend Hidalgo and he was surprised when we told him that no one celebrates like this about sports in the U.S. Man, we need to get amped up about some futbol!!!!

Today the U.S. plays and we're all watching at a buddy's house. I am becoming quite the soccer fan :)

Annie

Sorry I haven't written in awhile - nothing too new and exciting here!! Lots of classes, lots of homework, and still no rain!! From what I hear it's quite the opposite in Iowa, eh?

I'm mini-stressing out about my extra project for literatura. I have to write an extra paper because I need credit for a higher level class ( I already took the lower level literature class at UNI). Soo the teacher wants me to write 15-20 pages, on A4 paper (longer), in Spanish, about literary techniques and styles of Jose Maria Arguedas. Well, the paper currently has a title page and a synopsis page, better than nothing right??? Oh boy, it's going to be a long few weeks with this assignment....

Chile plays tomorrow their final game in the world cup - I'm looking forward to watching it! It's so much more fun watching with Chileans - they take their soccer seriously. When Chile won on Monday, every car in the street honked their horns from 10 in the morning to 10 o clock at night. Every person had on their soccer jersey supporting the team and flags hanging out the cars - chaos but it was beautiful!!

This weekend should be a good time - we already have 2 asados/carretes planned, what better way to spend my birthday weekend??

Anna - I hope your 21st was splendid.
Payne's - I hope you all have a great time eating at the restaurant I keep hearing about
Padres - Have fun in San Francisco!! Look at you two spur of the moment kinda folk :) Take lots of pictures for me please!!
Aunt Mary - I don't know if we can 3-way skype!!
The rest of you - keep reading and hopefully I will have more interesting stories to come soon :)

Mama Mia Pizzeria!

Ok. So I've been silently wondering why my family keeps talking about this pizza place but could never understand the whole conversation. And last week, the fridge from upstairs was gone and they were like oh it went to the pizzeria. HUH?? I could not figure this out. SO, the other night, right as I sat down for tea, my cousin goes "CAMBIA DE PLANES!" - this means change of plans in Spanish. We all hopped in the car and I had no idea what the heck was happening. We drove to this pizza place that was closed. But then my Aunt Lila whipped out her keys to the joint and walked right in!!! We brought this table in a box and it unfolded into a bench to eat on, and my family brought all their tea cups and real plates and silverware, what a hoot! It turns out that my mom Soledad OWNS this pizza place!! It was the night before the opening, and we went to taste test everything. I have never eaten such good BREAD. We had bread with butter, empanadas fresh out of the oven, and pizza. YUM. I will have to listen more closely to conversations, who knows what I might be missing!

Historic Arica

Last night, we took a bus tour around the town of Arica to see the differences in social status and neighborhoods. What a sight. We first visited the neighborhood where the gypsies and 'vagabonds' live, basically a big dusty field where they decided to plop down. Some houses are just made of blankets and sticks, others are ply wood. Some people here choose to work, but others don't mind being taken "care" of by the government. Sounds like America, eh?

We followed up our gypsy neighborhood by travelling to another part of town. This part was incredibly interesting and horrifying. The neighborhood we drove through has been suffering from lead deposits in the grown for about 20 years - Denmark had a lot of lead they wanted to get rid of, and Chile made the grave mistake of burying it all under the ground, only putting a weak barrier on top. Shortly after, homes were built on top of these. Many families fly black flags on their doors to represent the loss or sickness of a loved one from the lead deposits...the government is currently working on building a new neighborhood somewhere else to move all these people from their contaminated homes :(

We also got to drive through the sketchy part of town- Arica is really safe, but since it's a border city it sees some drug trafficking. Luckily, the day before we went the police did a little clean out so there were only like 10 people out when we drove through!! After that, we drove along the coast to see the nicer homes. I found out that since Arica is a smaller town compared to say Santiago, there really is no UPPER class here, only middle and low. The nice houses that belong to doctors, lawyers, etc. are really only at a middle class status - who knew! I also spotted a restaurant called Maracuya (Passion Fruit) that looks beautiful - Nolan and I are going this weekend!

Don't know much else. Thought I'd write a little something to break up the homework :)

Free week: Planned!

Hello hello! Today starts week 2 of classes already - let's hope I can handle it. I was contacted this weekend and told that I got a mini "scholarship" to go and help out in English classrooms at the University - whooo! I will go once or twice a week to a Cultural class and just help the professor talk about what culture is really like in America, what I find different here, better/worse, etc. I'm looking forward to that.

After our trip to Azapa,I did a whole lot of nothing this weekend. It was wonderful! Walked around the Centro, went to the beach some more, and found a really nice restaurant along the coast that I'm going to try this weekend. You should probably read Nolan's blog if you have time...he got stranded in the middle of the desert when his family's car battery died! Ha! Don't worry, he made it home safe.

Last night we figured out all our plans for our free week!! It took awhile, but Antonio (Nolan's dad) helped us a lot with figuring out how to get there, bus schedules, etc. We're taking a bus all the way to Cusco, but we're breaking it up and stopping in Arequipa for a day at the beginning and a day at the end. We'll go from the Tacna station to Arequipa and stay the night and the following day. The bus ride to Cusco is 10 hours, BUT it's a night ride so we'll try and sleep the whole time and arrive in Cusco at 6 a.m. Depending on our hotel's check in time, we may just spend our first day in Cusco and 2nd day in Machu Picchu because the train to get there leaves at 9 am. We don't want to be rushing around! We'll spend 3 days and 2 nights in Cusco/Machu Picchu, and then return to Arequipa after that to spend one more day and one more night. Then, home we come for our last 3 weeks of class which will fly by!!

Kory/Kim/Anna/everyone else at Kim's wedding, I missed you all and thought of you a lot this weekend!! And Kory, we need to Skype again...I loved answering your family's questions, but I didn't get any juicy gossip from Chicago OR Muscatine :)

Everyone else, I'm still learning Spanish bit by bit. It is getting easier, but I think I'd need 4 years here to feel totally comfortable and fluent. I went to an English class yesterday with a Chilean friend to help her with a presentation about American holidays - it was really interesting! It made me feel better to know they are learning English in the same way we're learning Spanish - I felt much more useful in that class than I usually do muttering and stammering in Spanish :)

<3

El Valle Azapa

We had an incredible day today - visited El Valle Azapa (The Azapa Valley if you couldn't guess). It is just a different area of Arica, so we didn't have to travel very far. Our tour guide was so kind and spoke slowly for us and even used very clear English - what a treat! We first arrive to see the geoglifos - the rocks placed to form a picture in the sides of the mountains - they were put there 1000 years B.C. and still remain - no rain, no wind, nothing. In the picture, it is a travelling herd of llama, functioning as a traffic sign - it meant that the people were moving in that direction and migrating closer to the sea!

We got to stop and see a Pucara - an old military fortress set on top of a peak to see into the valley. Beautiful!

We saw the oldest mummies in the whole world - older than the Egyptian mummies! They were incredibly well preserved, it amazes me how intact and well aged these were. We walked through a few museums and saw artifacts from the Aymara, Inca, and other tribes in the area.

We then went to una hacienda de aceitunas - basically a small OLIVE plantation!! It was amazing to see how big these olives grew - we talked with a man for awhile about how they grow and how he harvests them - it takes 20 lbs of olives to make a bottle of olive oil - WOW! The olives he showed us were so pure and rich that he literally broke it open and squeezed olive oil FROM the olive off the tree....COOL. I bought a bottle to cook with when I return :)

We stopped at their equivalent of an outdoor;s Sams club -- WOW!!!! Fresh product everywhere, and just food food food food food!!! I;ll go back sometime to take some pictures :)

All for now - I;m hungry and we;ll go out to eat tonight - I still haven;t really had fish yet!!

Love you all :)

Photos

To satisfy any curiousities - the second picture is of my house that I stay in - pretty sweet huh?
The first photo is the back of the library at la universidad - this is where we have several of our classes.

Gimnasio

I cannot believe I left out the gym in my post yesterday. I really have nothing interesting to write about today - more homework, more food, more walking walking walking. But, people, this gym was unlike any gym I have ever seen - in person, in a photo, in horror film. Nolan, Seth and I wanted to check out the free gym that is near the school - it only has a few open hours - we thought it was about 4-6 in the afternoon, and for a free gym, totally understandable. So we get to the series of buildings and first of all, can't figure out how to get IN. there is a huge fence surrounding these buildings with deathly sharp, rusty spikes on top, and no doors open. There was no way we were jumpin' this baby. Seth asked a man walking by if we could get in, and he gave us a little smile and smoothly lifted the latch connected to the door. Oopsies. Anyway, once we were in, the guy who was the "gym greeter" said we couldn't come in until 4:30...even though there were other people in there. I think he was yankin' our chain, but whatever. We had nowhere to be. So once we enter, it got even better. Not only was every light turned off, but it was just this large, dark, musky room full of all the equipment that couldn't sell in the U.S. in the 1960's. I WISH I were exaggerating, but this was a body builder's hell. This is where workout freaks will be sent if they every end up in hell. I'm sorry for this description, but there were a select few machines I could figure out how to use. The lat pull down if you will was held together with a bike chain, and I WILL be returning to take a picture of the quote unquote "Stairmaster" Nolan attempted to "use." It probably did more harm than good in all honesty. The free weights were a do-it-yourself item; (1) Find a bar...or for a greater challenge, find 2 bars of equal size. (2) Find 2 small weights that may or may not fit onto the 1 or 2 bars of the same or different size. (3) Try and guess about what weight you can lift in kilos. NOT pounds. (4) Attempt to put the weights on the bar, fastening them securely with a rusty "clasp" if you will to ensure that the free weights don't fall off the bar or bars and severely injure you or others. (5) Try your best to lift the weight you definitely underestimated when guessing which ones to use based on size.

This was one of the most bizarre, hilarious, and terrifying experiences thus far in Arica, Chile. Lesson learned: push-up's in the bedroom will be just fine.

Classes classes classes

Hello a todos! The earliest and longest day of class has ended - every Thursday we'll have class from 8 am - 2 pm. THEN we go home to eat our lunch. Today wasn't as bad - our middle class met downtown en La Feria, the temporary fair with artists and craftsmen from all over Chile and other parts of South America. We have been a few different times, but this time we learned the cultural aspects of it with our professor Miria Luque. She is part Aymara - an indigenous tribe still present in Chile. Saturday she's taking us on a little excursion to El Valle Aymara to learn more about their culture and ways of living. Please await some good pictures :)

Classes are sure moving forward quickly - I have a good 2, 3 hours of homework tonight just due for tomorrow. I know I know, I knew it would be intensive, but we were sure spoiled with that first week of goofing off. Now down to business!!

Coming home from La Feria today we took a bus because we needed to get back for our 3rd class in time. This bus would not be ALLOWED to run in the U.S. Hopefully I will get a chance to take a picture next time I see it - it's called the Micro and it cost 350 pesos - our equivalent of maybe 70 cents. I thought we were going to explode.

All the professors are really great and interesting, it's just long class periods! There are always 1 1/2 - 2 hour blocks because we have such a short amount of time here. Today it was rough - the weather outside is more perfect than usual and I just wanted to walk all day long.

I have been having great food still - no repeats yet! Today's lunch was something very similar to your tuna noodles, Mom, and yesterday we had a delicious brothy soup with rice and a mix of veggies and meat to follow. I have also developed a strong attachment to avacados - "paltas" here. They are fresh and we just eat them like it's a piece of fruit - peel and eat! I had one for breakfast and yesterday another one with my lunch. I can't get enough! I ate a snack at Nolan's last night and his mama Karla had these small yellow fruits - guayava I think - that were DELICIOUS. The cheese here is better too, have I mentioned that?

I drink the coffee here, but I've been spoiled by Elly's and my coffee and school. It is bitter and instant, ALL instant. I drink it and it is just fine, but I can't wait for that first cup of Starbucks in the airport in Atlanta on August 4th!

Tonight we have nothing crazy planned, more classes tomorrow! I think we'll go the El Centro to hang out and walk around - Nolan and I want to try some more foods in restaurants. Love the food at home but curious to see what they serve here.

Time for homework!

Finally I have internet of my own!

I finally have internet access in my house! It will be much easier to keep up this little old blog of mine.

Today we started classes! The teachers were so much easier to understand than the majority of the other people because they have taught English students before and realize that we need them to talk much much much slower than usual. Both professors have studied and taught in the United States for a period of time, and seem like really great teachers so far. They have a lot of passion and we will be doing much more than simply sitting in a Spanish class for hours and hours a day. Written Spanish (Español escrito) will be the most intensive, there are several assignments and class every day. The other class, about culture (Cultura hispañolamericana), will have a lot more interaction and field trips within the community and all over the region. Can't wait!

A few of us did our homework together today and it was just like the worksheets we had in high school only 3 times as much of it!! Oh well, that's why we're here I suppose. My prima (cousin) Constanza found us for a little while today in between classes - there are many students from Tarapaca that have chosen to help us with our time here and kind of take us under their wings - all of them study English. So we speak Spanish, they speak English, and we correct each other. It works quite well!

I am still receiving very strange looks and stares for my red hair and odd habit of exercising - no one does this here. There are a few gyms, but only men go and they only have a few weights to lift and that is all. When a redhead is seen running the streets for FUN, most people think I am a crazy person who has lost their way. Oh well, maybe they'll get used to me!

Tonight will be an early night for me, more class bright and early at 9 am (this is VERY early for Chilenos). The next time I write hopefully I will have a few more pictures to show you of the city of Arica!

Buenas noches.

Weekend fun

Last night was the celebration for Arica's 200th birthday, so we went down to La Plaza near El Morro (a huge cliff) and watched the dancers and singers and fireworks! Before that I did....absolutely nothing. This weekend has been so relaxing! Saturday, we went to the beach and walked the whole way (about an hour) and ran into a parade celebrating the weekend. We couldn't find the rest of the group on the HUGE beach so we just plopped down and ate our almuerzo! After awhile, we walked back the way we came and finally found everyone. A very few of us were brave enough to get into the cold water - I mean COLD. the only reason I could stay in it was because the bottom half of my body went numb :P The waves were awesome, too! There were a lot of wind surfers that were fun to watch too. I will never have the strength or the courage to do that!

Yesterday, once again, we had nothing we had to do. It feels so good to say that! I got up early and went to church with my grandma; I actually understood much of what was said - that may have been because I had a program with all the words in it too, but still. I sat with her boyfriend Carlos and she was up front where the rest of the lectors sat. After Mass I went back to bed for about an hour, then Nolan came over for lunch. The room was FULL with family members and we had a great meal. Salad (their style with little lettuce and a lot of veggies), rice, chicken, potatoes, and of course started with ceviche, the Chilean dish of lemon fish - actually quite delicous! Aside from the orange guts mixed in, yucky. After we ate I went for another snooze up in my room and later on watched a movie in bed with my mom Soledad while we ate chocolate. Ended the night with those fireworks by El Morro and went to bed!!

Today we did a whole lot of nothing again (I'm getting way to comfortable with doing whatever I want all day long) but we did have an orientation at the school. We met some profesoras, got to know the library, and walked a little around campus. After that, a whole lot of nothin :) Tomorrow classes begin, we'll see how I feel after a whole day of those!!

The pictures here are of El Morro - the place where Chileans beat Peru 200 years ago, and some of the group at a local hang out place called "Chill Out," where you go and literally just...chill out. Aaand a toilet at the university. Without toilet paper. And without a seat. Enjoy!!

Hey to everyone!
Still no internet, so this will be a short one :)

Another great few days in Chile! Went to the beach yesterday, got a little sun, and fully numbed from the freezing water. The food here just keeps getting better and better - we went out for a little bit en El Centro last night and had pizza napolitano - it was flatbread, raw tomatoes, ham, and slices of cheese just literally melted on top! Que extrano! But it was delicious. My family had Nolan and I over for almuerzo today and we ate sooo much food but all of it was delicious!! I have been chosen by Nolan's mom to cook him his dinner and feed him because her mom is sick and she's going there. Ha. I have to go buy bread for her and cook! Whoo hoo!!

We start our school stuff tomorrow already - I can't believe we've been here for almost a week! We have an orientation to our program tomorrow and Tuesday classes begin :) Hopefully by then I will have my own internet at home to be able to update and go into more detail.

I am still doing ok with the language, they say I can speak pretty well and always understand me! I even went to Mass this morning with my abuela and understood a lot of what was said. Her boyfriend went with us and I can't get a single WORD that he mutters...so I just try and smie and say "Si" when it seems appropriate.

All for now, keep checking for better updates!!

La primera semana

I’m hoping to get internet by next week in my house, but until then I’ll just have to keep using other’s! Another day in Arica, Chile. The weather is exactly what we were told: it’s chilly in the mornings, hot in the afternoons, and as soon as the sun goes down you need a jacket again. I’m loving every minute though! The first 72 hours are over, and things are starting to click. My family still talks at the speed of light, but they are patient with me. This morning my Tia Lila (Aunt Lila) brought breakfast to me in bed and we talked a long time. Yesterday, I only understood every few words. Today, I understood almost everything. It could have been the subjects we were talking about, but I still felt good!

Last night we had a fiesta at one of the “parent’s” homes. All the families and all the students got together and had pizza (you wouldn’t have liked it Mom, it is sauceless and is literally bread with a sprinkle of cheese and raw veggies…DELICIOUS!) and dulces (cakes) for a student’s birthday coming up. We toasted with a pisco sour, it’s their signature drink of brandy and some lime and lemon and continued to party. We all decided we should probably familiarize ourselves with the discotecas of Arica, so we all went to a club called The Drake that’s on the beach. The cab cost the equivalent of $6 for FOUR of us, and it cost another $4 to get into the bar and that came with a free drink. We got there at about 1 a.m. and it was still pretty dead…yep. Dead at 1 a.m. They don’t close until 5 in the morning here but I came home a little early at 4. It’ll take some getting used to but I was a trooper!

On my way now to tour the campus and then the afternoon is free. We’ll probably go for some more walks and explore El Centro – the downtown area that is the place to be.

For those of you waiting to Skype, I’ll keep you updated! My house is having internet issues so please be patient and content with a blog update!

Chao!

We made it!

We made it!! I do not have internet in my home, so I am at Nolan's house using his internet currently. Hopefully I will be able to access it freely once we start classes on Monday.

So far so good! Chileans speak sooo fast but I catch a word every few minutes :) No, but seriously, the Spanish is difficult but it is getting easier and easier already. My family is so very kind, 8 of them live in one home plus me!! Full house, but it is spacious and everyone is friendly.

I wish I had more time, but I don't!! Highlights from the trip so far: Seeing Lil Bow Wow in the Atlanta airport (truth), seeing Senator Grassley in the Des Moines airport, and getting lost on the way to the Centro on my first morning here....by myself. More to come, chao!

Ani (their name for me here =))