Cuatro semanas en Chile...QUE?!

Title in English: Four weeks in Chile...WHAT?!

Hola a todos
(if you haven't been reading my blog the whole time, and have no idea what Hola a todos means, I'm sorry haha...it means "Hello everybody." Hope that helps!)

Ok, so four weeks in Chile?! I can't believe that! The time here has gone SO fast, and I still can't believe I'm here...I hope that sinks in soon ;) Well, what has happened lately? hmm let me begin with Friday!

Ok, so Friday we had school like normal. I'm starting to get used to the classes a little bit more. It's really weird because sometimes in the middle of class I think "Wow! I'm understanding everything that the professor is saying..IN SPANISH!"..and then I realize I'm thinking in English and I that I just missed what the professor was saying as I thought that little sentence. Then I have to totally try and focus to think in Spanish again haha. Two of our professors are usually really easy to understand, and the other..well as soon as I start to think that I'm understanding her more, the next day, we read something and she talks about it, and let's just say..it's waaaay over my head! haha. Oh well. Friday night, we went to this little jazz festival that was close to the centro. The bands there were awesome! I was really disappointed because my camera died, so I missed out on some pictures and video..but let's just, I usually am not a huge jazz fan, but this music was fantastic! Rachel and I are attempting to locate where we can buy a CD, or if we're even able to..we both really want to share this fabulous music with friends and family back home :) After we saw a bit of the jazz festival, we got some ice cream, and then we headed over to "el monestario"-a little chill bar where we were able to watch an AWESOME band play :) Actually, one of the guitarist of the group, Javier, is actually a friend of mine and the others here. He's super nice! They played all English songs, so it was kind of nice that we could understand and some of them I even knew! They played an Alanis Morisette song (she was popular when I was really young) and the song "Kiss me" by a band that I don't know the name of. We headed to one of Javier's friends later that night. Overall, a really great night :)

Saturday was pretty much a lazy day for me. I caught up on some sleep, and worked on some homework. Then we headed to an asado (bbq) at one of Javier's other friends. The house was across the street from the beach..NO JOKE! It was BEAUTIFUL! There's a picture of the view..but it's kind of dark. The sound of the ocean, people laughing and talking, and the tastes of beef, chicken, and chorizo (I think that's the name...it's a meat that's really popular here..kind of similar to a sausage link?). They marinate the meat differently here, but let me tell you-it's wonderful! There's a picture of it on the grill-YUM! I think Javier told me what they use for a marinade...but I'm going to make sure before I tell you :) There's a picture of Javier and I and also one with Sam, Loren, Bri, me, Phil, Jonna and Liz..haha Anywho, it was a really fabulous and a chill night to spend with friends :)

Sunday was another chill day for me. It sounds like I just had a lazy weekend huh? Well...I guess I kind of did :) BUT I did talk to almost all of my family who was in Minnesota this weekend via Skype! Here's a shout out to all of you that were at the farm on Sunday--> "It was SOOOO good to see all of your smiling faces! I hope you all had a wonderful time with Greg and Heather and with each other! It made me miss home a bit, but I felt like I was there at the same time. I have one awesome family! I love you guys all SO much!" Ok...so later that night Rachel, Katie K, Ally, Emily, and I headed back to the jazz festival (it was Fri, Sat, and Sun), and we saw some more GREAT bands! My camera was actually charged for once, so I will share some photos below. The first is with Rachel and I as we were walking down to el centro. She's the best "sister" ever! We're both so happy with our Ariqueña family here :) Next, is this store that was closed..but I LOVE the saying on it "Sonríe...Jesus te ama" English version --> "Smile...Jesus loves you" How precious is that! I love it :) Ok, and then there is a picture with el centro and me! This is el centro, which I'm sure many of you have been wondering what it looks like :) It was SUPER empty though because today (Monday) was a holiday, so all of the stores were closed late Sunday. It NEVER looks like this haha.

Ok, so more about the following photos...I took some photos at the jazz festival. Gosh, it was just SO great! The first one is of this little old man, that was AWESOME! He had some people help him out onto the stage..and then all of a sudden he just came ALIVE! He was crazy on his bass! :) I took some videos of him and the other bands that night, so please look for them on facebook :) After him, there was another good band (the picture that shows all of the people there), and then after them was this GREAT band called Jazzimodo! I LOVED THEM! The girl singer was super cute haha I loved her style! She had a red and white polka-dot dress with purple tights and purple shoes. I wish I could just throw colors like that together and look decent ;) haha. And the last photo is of me with the awesome giant poster..there were all kinds of smaller ones around town plastered to the walls for the jazz festival. Gosh, it was just SO great...I can't stop talking about it :)

Ok, and today (Monday) was a Chilean holiday..that I think celebrated Saint Paul and Saint Peter-they were fishermen...and that's as much as I understand about the holiday besides the fact that everyone had the day off and we had no school :) woot woot! The sun FINALLY decided to show it's face today in Arica. It hasn't come out for the past five days, which my host mom said is SUPER rare here. Usually, it's kind of cloudy in the morning, and then around 3 pm it clears up, and is beautiful for the rest of the day...yeah, I could probably handle this weather all the time! It's great :) Rachel went on a walk around the area after we worked on our presentation for this week. We attempted to walk to Hiper Lider, it's pretty much Walmart, but just with a different name and in Chile. Actually, Walmart owns it..so yes, no matter where you go, there is always some form of Walmart to remind you of the crazy late night stops at Walmart back home. Anywho, we could see the sign for it, but couldn't find our way there. Well we did, but the rest of the way looked a bit sketchy, so we decided to maybe try finding our way during the day haha. Also tonight at "once" (-->I will tell you why our last meal is called "once" in another blog-I promise! It's just super late right now...), we watched the Spanish version of Who Want's to be a Millionaire. Let's just say, Rachel and I could maybe win that show! It's really similar to back home, but the questions were mainly based on pop culture from the US. I don't think I've ever gotten so many questions right on Who Want's to be a Millionaire back home! It felt good to finally be good at something ;)

Wow, I think that's it for now. This week will be pretty busy with a couple tests and a presentation...and then Friday we head to Putre, Chile...and then Sunday we'll begin our travels to Machu Picchu! WOW! Ok, and last but not least...at the bottom is a photo of Rachel and I as I was writing my blog :) cute right? haha let's just say I need to shower! hehe. Ok, talk to you all SUPER DUPER soon!

AND...one more thing....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OLGA GUR IN POLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Take care! Love you all :)

Chauuu de Chile <3

Tres semenas en Chile :)

Title in English: Three weeks in Chile :)

Hola a todos!

Hope you are all doing well, and if you are reading this from back home, I hope that you start getting nicer weather soon :) It has been crazy here (I think I begin almost every post like this, but it's the truth)! Between school, meeting with friends, homework, siestas, and facebook, it's difficult to find time to write my blog haha. But here it goes...

Ok, so Saturday we went on our 2nd excursion to the Azapa Valley with our Spanish writing professor, our tour guide, and of course..Nelson and our awesome bus/van! We began the day by going to the "Agro." It's a market where people can buy cheap (but really good) fruit, vegetables, meat, olives, and coca leaves! I tried the olives, the coca leaves, and a piece of llama jerky! The llama jerky was nasty, and tasted kind of like dog food haha. I actually am a big fan of the olives, which is surprising because I really dislike the olives back home. And as for the coca leaves, well don't get worried or anything! Haha yes, they are the leaves that people use to create cocaine, but here they either chew the leaf or put it in a tea. It actually helps the stomach, and it is used for altitude sickness. It pretty much tasted like chewing a tea bag..didn't like it too much, but we'll have to drink the coca tea when we go on our third excursion which is high in the mountains. The market was actually really cool, and there were SO many people there! The food is mostly from the area, but they also sell stuff from Peru and Bolivia. There are two pictures from the "Agro" below-one is of the olives and the other is just a picture :)

Ok, so we also visited a place where there were hieroglyphics of llamas which was pretty interesting. They used to be "traffic lights,"so they face in the direction of which way the ocean is! (picture below) We also went to a farm that grows bananas and olive trees! It was really pretty, and I thought it was awesome that the farm was completely organic (but I'm pretty sure someone just told me that everything here is organic! I wish it was that way back home..a world without processed food..I wish! But I do miss some good ol' meals from home!). I also have a great picture below of the desolate hills that are in the area and a pic of the whole group that overlooks where there is some vegetation in the valley.

Saturday night was a lot of fun again! We went out to a little pub and then to a Chilean friend's house afterward. I love the weekends here! It's so nice just to relax and spend time with the friends :) And from what I can remember, I think Sunday was just a relaxing day...geez, it's hard to keep up with the days here! Oh, and I also went to church with Rachel. Everyone stared at us a lot as we went up for communion :) Two gringas! haha. We're all starting to get used to the stares and honks as we walk around town..it's just a part of the experience :)

Ok, so Monday was Janae's birthday! We had class during the day (there's a picture of Rachel, me, Phil, Samantha, and Bri in our tiny class room that we are in since the University is still on strike). I don't mind our little classroom, but it is a bit further of a walk for Rachel and I; instead of a 5 minute walk, it's 15..but oh well :) Ok, so then Rachel, Liz, and I went over to Janae's house to celebrate with her family a little bit before we went out with the rest of the group. I had my first completo-a really kind of gross pic of me eating in below haha( a hot dog with tomatoes, avocado, mayo..and w/e else you want). Let me tell you, they are AMAZING! I'm definitely going to be making these when I return to the US :) We had some really yummy chocolate cake, and then we went to Mojito's-a restaurant that is right on the beach! Gorgeous!!! There's a picture with the beach and the three lovely ladies I'll be going to Machu Picchu with (Liz, Janae, and Jonna) and then it's me and my lovely friend Carolina :)

Tuesday, we all met at McDonald's and started planning our big trip to Machu Picchu..I can't believe I'm going to see one of the seven wonders of the world! It's insane! If you have absolutely no idea what this place is about...please go to your local library and look it up..or GOOGLE it :) It's super pretty and interesting! I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back! Ok, so we have purchased our train and bus tickets-so it's all official now :) On Tuesday night, we went to a parade that took place down the middle of el centro! Everyone was dressed up in pretty costumes, and the music was loud and great! We sat at a little restaurant, ate and watched. There's a pic of the people dancing, and one with Cynthia (one of the primos) and I..she saw us as we were leaving :)

Ok, what more has happened? Well, Wednesday, Rachel and I hung out with my primo, Scott. We met at McDonald's and walked to a tiny restaurant. On our way, there was this little street act in the middle of el centro where there was a little black screen and two men dressed in all black with puppets. One of the men called out to me "Hola gringa!" because I was going to take a picture. And I said Hello and asked if I could take a picture with him (all in Spanish though haha). So that is what that picture is below! There was a little crowd of Chileans and the puppet man asked me why I was there, where I was from, and I even got a kiss from the puppet later on in the show :) I guess I was kind of the guest star "The Gringa". :) We eventually left and had to say "Chao"..but we ate some good food, and I had another completo :) I love them!!! We attempted to going to a little music show, but it was running a little late, and Rachel and I still had some homework, so Scott walked with us home.

Ok, this was WAY more than what I wanted to write, but oh well. Also, I keep seeing "Spatney" (my brother and sister-in-law's look-a-like dog) here! It's kind of crazy. Mom and Dad met my Chilean mom (Ligia)on Skype today, so I'm happy they finally were able to "meet" each other, although I had to try and attempt to translate. Each day and each time we eat with Ligia, our conversations are getting better! I'm trying to talk more rather than just listen now. It's difficult to speak, but I really do need to practice :) Ok, that all for now folks. Take care, and miss you so much! The time is going by fast! Love you all :)

<3 Chao de Chile! Katie~

Feliz cumpleaños a mi mamá :)

The title in English: Happy Birthday to my mom :)

Hola a todos!!!

First off, I want to do a big shout out to my mom...as you can tell by the title, it's her birthday today! Sooo HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!! That huge fish you catch today up north is my present from Chile ;) hehe. Ok it's been so long since I've written you, and I want to apologize for that. It has just been super crazy lately here. I guess I will start with last Sunday...hope this doesn't get too long ;)

Ok, so last Sunday, we woke up pretty early (after a late night, and an amazing night of dancing), and Ligia took Rachel and I to a cemetery and museum that is about twenty minutes from where we live. I know this sounds a tiny bit odd to go to a cemetery, but I was so happy that we were able to visit one here! It is SO much different from back home, but it was very beautiful. There was a little restaurant right next to the cemetery called "La Pica del Muertito" (honestly, I'm not sure exactly what that means, but Muertito means dead man haha). The graves were mostly above ground, and many of them have a little structure built above it, and all of the flowers are fake flowers because it never rains here. We went, and saw the resting place of Ligia's parents. I must tell you, it was an amazing and emotional experience for me. I felt really at peace while we visited and said our prayers. There is a picture below of the cemetery..hope you can see it well! Ok, so after the cemetery we visited the museum that has the oldest mummies in the world!!! It was really interesting, and had artifacts from the very old indigenous people that used to live in the area. And of course, there were mummies (no daddies...sorry dad! hehe). Most of them weren't too scary because when the people died, the people put a type of mask on top of their face, but there were a couple skulls that were freaky. The one thing that really made my stomach turn, was the little baby and fetus mummies. Even if a baby wasn't born, the community treated it as if it was a part of the community. So yes, there were tiny mummies, and there were even a tiny pair of ribs..ok I can't talk any more about dead people..haha. sorry. But there is a picture below of three mummies.

Ok, so Monday was a really difficult day for me. The Spanish button in my head turned off, and I was getting pretty frustrated with trying to speak and listen. Mondays are our longest school days too, so that makes a difference. Anywho, we went to the beach again on Tuesday, so I had a lovely lazy day, and that was the first day I felt completely rested on the trip! It was so nice just to relax! Rachel, Samantha, and I stayed a little bit longer that the others because they went home for lunch, but we told our families that we were going to eat at the beach. So we went on a little walk along the beach, and walked on this long bridge type thing that goes into the ocean. It was scary for me because the waves come up on it a little bit, but it was worth it :) There's a picture below of the view looking back at the beach from the bridge. After we walked, we went to eat at my FAVORITE place here; it's called Dimango's. They have the BEST ice cream and food and coffee and anything else you want :) It's great! There's one in the centro and on the beach, sooo it's perfect. If I could bring one thing back with me...it would be Dimango's :D After this we went back to the university to watch a movie for a class about the indigenous people and when the Spanish and Portuguese came and conquered it. (Crazy fact about conquering...so when a guy really likes a girl here, he will say "Quiero conquistarte." In English "I want to conquer you." Ok, so here I guess it's not that weird..but in English, obviously this sounds crazy :p haha. But yeah just a little fact. They even have this little cookies in the shape of a heart called Conquistas. Haha :)

Wednesday was just a typical day here. Wake up, class, homework, and great Chilean food :) haha. Oh! I guess there was one thing..the students at our university took total control of the university. Here it's called a "toma" (take over). I think I talked about the students protesting against the education system right now and everything...so yeah. So instead of just part of the university, they took over the whole thing. Rachel and I realized this on our way to a basketball game inside the grounds, but we ended up not going because all of the students were stacking up the chairs at that point, and we thought we shouldn't intervene haha. So yeah, they stack chairs, put up posters about being on strike, and there are kids that live in the school 24/7! It's so different from back home, but yeah a super interesting aspect for me to see here!

Ok, so on to Thursday... I talked to mom and dad on Skype :) It was nice talking with them! haha..also, Jorge from the American Corner took Rachel and I to Presencias Tutelares (Tutelary Presence in English..and if you don't know what that means-I didn't-it means a guardian or protector presence). It was about 20-30 minutes from where we live in the South of Arica. I told Jorge we wanted to go a little bit too late because it was almost dark when we got there, but it was still beautiful. There were these HUGE old carved rocks that were in the shapes of the moon, sun, and I think a person. There is a picture below of the moon one. It was amazing! Jorge told us he'd take us there again when it's light out, which I'm thankful for haha. After that, we went to Dimango's on the beach, and I had some blue berry ice cream-which was super tasty, and then we walked on the beach for a little bit. We walked to the same bridge that I talked about before, but just turned around and walked back to the car. BUT when we turned around there was this massive group of army guys behind us about 100 feet! They scared the crap out of me. They had to have been following us for quite some time, but I didn't realize it until we turned around. They kept walking on, so no craziness, but yeah, just a scare for me :) haha

On to Friday..we had classes, and then I came home to eat. Afterward, Phil and I took a taxi to meet Kenzie, Samantha, and Loren down at the centro at a little restaurant to sit around and socialize. It was a great time! We were there for a super long time, and we met these really nice men from the Philippines who work on a ship that stopped at the Arica port and were on their way to San Antonio! I guess it only takes them a day and a half to get from here to San Antonio! A couple of the girls wanted to sneak up with them to get back to the USA ;) haha. Samantha said she wanted some Cheetos after she saw that they had some, and guess what...a little bit later, they gave us a new bag full! Haha they were super nice! We ended up talking with them for a really long time. They spoke English pretty well, and yeah, it was just a really really great night :) :) After a little while some people that sing/play instruments for money came by and that is what the picture is below :) After that, some more girls (UNI students and Chileans) came down to the centro, and we had a little girls night. We went to a place called Tortas & Tartas-and we ate some amazzzing dessert! I got a soufle chocolate (it tasted similar to a brownie), and some other things that people got included panqueque (pancake with dulce de leche), and some pies with the types of fruit that can be found here. We always try a little bit of everyone's dessert, so we know the flavors of Chile :) Later, a couple of us went to Janae's house, and watched the Green Hornet..but I fell asleep almost right away. Haha lame ;) But we had to wake up early for Saturday for an excursion.

When Rachel and I made it back home, I got on the computer and mom was on gmail chat, so I wished her a happy birthday. It was 12:35 am here, so it was her birthday in Chile, but not in the US yet. haha oh well :) Good luck fishing up north guys! Catch a big one for me :) After a bit, I went to bed...and well I was just about asleep..and shake-shake-shake. An earthquake!!! Yes, I felt my first earthquake, half asleep. It felt/sounded like a big truck was coming down the street, but then there was nothing and then there was another shake. Let me just say that my heart was pounding like crazy, and I started imagining the whole house falling down on top of me...not the smartest thing to do, but I couldn't help it. I hurried up and got out of bed said "Rachel!" in the hallway and she came out of her room, and we tried to go outside, but the door was locked and we couldn't figure it out. No one else woke up since it was a little past 1:30 am, and then we decided that it was probably over, and we should go back to bed. I was definitely a little worked up after that, but eventually I fell asleep. Rachel just told me it was about a 4.9...yeah, I would be okay with not feeling one of those again soon ;)

Ok, so we had an excursion today, but I'm going to save that for my next post. I hope this didn't get too long and boring for you :/ But if you made it to the end...CONGRATULATIONS! :) I also included a couple pics below of some of the awesome people that I have been hanging out with down here :) First, with Phil, then Loren, then Carolina, and then the kind of blurry pic with all of the girls in the order of Samantha, Liz, Janae, me, and Rachel. Enjoy! I love you all! <3 Chau! :)

Las cosas que me olvidé :)

Title in English: The Things I forgot (referring to my last blog post)

Hola a todos!

~Arica is just as beautiful, welcoming, and wonderful since I have last written you :) I keep meeting new people, and I am beginning to see those whom I have already met again and again :) I love my friends here (from UNI and Chile!), and my family!

~Ok, so there were some BIG things I left out of my last blog post! Tuesday was actually one of THE biggest days of my life! I touched the ocean for the first time!!!!!!!!! It was wonderful :) We stayed for about four hours, and most of the time a few other girls and I were wading in the ocean while the others just relaxed on the beach :) I hope I never forget how beautiful it is here! It was kind of a cold day to go to the ocean, but for me, no day is too cold ;) I made a "I <3 Arica" in the sand, got some of my clothes soaked when the waves came up a little faster than I expected, and did the "Baywatch run". :D It was all kinds of fun! Carolina-one of the Chilean students here who studied at UNI this past year (she's sooo sweet!) went to get helado (ice cream) with some of the other girls, and when she came back she had NUTELLA ice cream!!!! Ok, I don't know if everybody knows this..but I LOVE NUTELLA :) She let me share her ice cream with her, and I think she knows how much I really loved it and how much I really love it here ;) Sorry, I don't have any photos from the beach. I was to excited and wanted to enjoy it ;) Some other people took some photos, but unfortunately, I'm having difficulty taking them from facebook. ~Thursday night, Rachel and I went to go meet Bri, Phil, Janis, and Loren and some others (all people from our group) at McDonalds to go to some outside games at the market. Rachel and I decided to walk, and we were supposed to meet the group at 820ish at McDonalds. Let's just say it took us a lot longer than we expected, and we left close to 8:10 :) We didn't arrive to McDonalds until 9ish!! We thought about 20 minutes late would be ok since we're on Chilean time (they are really relaxed about time, and usually leave for a place at the time they are supposed to arrive. But this is only for going out with people-not school and work), but we were a bit later than that, and no one was there. We found a couple of the girls from the group watching some painters that used spray can paint to create master pieces! It was pretty amazing :) I've never seen anything like that before! They worked so fast and then they would take some type of fire while they were working and put it close to the painting...I think it helped hold the paint better. While we were totally intrigued by that, I heard some music coming from closer to el morro, and so Rachel and I decided to go and find out where it was coming from. On our way to find it, there was this person dressed up like a pirate/alien who dresses this way to get pictures with people who want them for money- who was standing behind most of the people who were watching the music, and he saw us and I saw him and I made a FAST walk for it. He was scary as heck! And so he was chasing two gringas and everyone laughed. A little bit embarrassing ;) But anywho the music was great! It was SO cool! There was this little set up where a band played in the old type of army uniforms the Chileans used to wear. They were pretty good and I even got some film of that :) They even played "We are the Champions"-by Queen ;) After that there were some girls that danced in traditional clothing-it was so pretty, and I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had school the next day. A picture below though people :) ~Ok some quick facts for a short paragraph-our showers don't get automatically hot. We have to light it with a match somewhere behind the house..I haven't done it since Ligia usually does it for us, but I thought it was kind of crazy :) It wasn't lit one time though, and well...it was pretty darn cold ;) haha. Next quick story, I was talking to one of my Chilean friends on facebook in Spanish, and I was telling him how good my food was for lunch that day and what was in it. I told him that there was cabello in it...when I really meant to say cebolla! Haha I told him that there was horse in my food when I meant to say onion :) Also, at our school there are protests going on. The government wants to privatize all university education which means education would be super expensive. They wouldn't give out very many scholarships either, so the students are protesting by not showing up to classes at the moment. It's possible that it could get violent, but for now, they just don't go to class. Our professor had to ask for permission for us to still have class in one of the classrooms, and he was told we could, but at any time, we might have to move our location to another university in town! Crazy! There are some pictures of the posters that are for the strike below. ~So Friday night we had an "asado" (bbq) with our primos to welcome us to Chile! It was so much fun! We ate some more meat, had potatoes w/ mayo (they LOVE mayo here! it's crazy haha) and also some rice (it is SO good! they must add some butter or something). We played musical chairs (which is a favorite game here-I didn't realize how much I missed it), and we even had a dance party :) fun times! There's a pic below of the cute poster they made for us :) ~Saturday- Rachel and I went to el centro, and looked around and bought a few little things. It was the last day the the open-air-market was fully open (There were more vendors here because the Day of Arica was this past week-and a pic below). We had a good ol' time, and even had some majar nunz ice cream! Delicious! While we were eating it, a man came over and started talking to us. We could tell by his accent that he was definitely not a native speaker. Turns out he is from Paris, France! He's traveling for 3 months in Chile and surround countries. As we were eating, one of my friends, Orlando, also saw us and said a quick hello. Arica is a huge town, but it's crazy how many times you see someone you know :) Later Saturday, we went to church with Ligia. Funny story-so the church is very open, and for a door..well there isn't one :) and when the priest walked in that night there was a cocker spaniel dog that followed him in! He walked directly behind him, and walked right up to the alter and then sniffed some flowers :D Funniest thing I've ever seen! Nobody told him to leave or anything, he had just as much a right to be there as we did :) Later that night we went to the disco with part of the group and danced the night away :D ~There's also a picture below of a dog that looked EXACTLY like my brother and sister-in-law's dog, Spatney! He must've followed me here ;) haha I just had to share that photo though. "Spatney" was on one side of the street and there was another dog on the other side of the street, and they just stared and stared at each other for the longest time :) it was pretty cute haha. ~Ok that's all for now folks...it's time for sleep! I'm hoping to write more on Tuesday when I don't have class :) Hope all is well with everyone and you aren't too bored from reading this ;) miss you and love you all!!! Chauuuu :)

La Excursión: 1

The title in English:
The Excursion: 1

Hola a todos!

Ok, I'm terribly sorry that I have been so busy lately (especially to mom and dad hehe)! We started school Monday, and I have been busy with homework ever since-except on Tuesday..NO CLASS =) Ok...so I just added some more pictures on facebook, so feel free to look at those to in order to get in idea where the heck I am :D

Ok, so Sunday we had our first excursion :) We had to be at the university at 10! That was kind of early after staying out with the group the night before (have I told you the Chileans stay out until 5-6 am! crazzzy! haha that's too late for us gringos). Ok, so we got on the same bus that we arrived to Arica in (I think it's pictured in one of my other blogs), and we even had the same bus driver...NELSON :) He's an awesome Chilean guy that takes pictures with us on our trips :) He loves us haha. Our professor Jaime Gomez (the husband of Pochy-my Chilean coordinator) took us on the excursion.
Ok, so we all piled into the bus-minus all of the suitcases haha), and drove to el morro! For Rachel (my UNI "sister") and I, this was our second time. It's the big "mountain" that overlooks Arica with a Jesus statue on top that keeps peace between Peru and Chile. We had a tour of all of the statues that are up there, including old canons that they used in the war. There was also a museum there that talked about the war. It was pretty interesting (but it was all in Spanish, of course, so I had a little difficulty understanding. I've been really tired lately, and I even have a cold. Oh well..). It's really pretty on el morro though; it overlooks the whole city and the Pacific Ocean. Picture below! :)
After el morro, we piled back into the bus, and headed to some caves near Arica. Before we went to the caves, our professor told us that we were welcome to stay in the bus, and we had to decide if we wanted to go or not, because if a tsunami came..well...we would all die instantly. Mom and Dad...you didn't read that part :) Ok, so we all went, obviously, because it's not everyday we're in CHILE :D We all took some pictures before we started walking, and Jonna saved my life. She was taking my picture with the ocean behind me, and I was right on the ledge, and I almost fell, but she grabbed me! But I'm still alive to write this message to you :)It was kind of funny, right after I almost fell, we were told that the crosses on the walkway were from people that had fallen off then ledge :D
Ok, so long ago, the indigenous people lived in the caves that we saw. They were huge, and really beautiful! We had to be a little careful when crawling up in them because the ground was more like a sand/dirt. Phil (only guy on the trip) said he was most worried about me haha..probably because I almost fell off the ledge earlier :D There was also this huge WHITE mountain thing that had guano on it (guano is...well there's no pretty way to say this..bird poop haha). So yeah, it was white because there was SO much guano on it! The ocean was incredible where we were! :)
After the caves, we drove to "The Scorpion"-I forgot how to say it in Spanish. This was were we saw surfers!!! Arica is a really popular place to surf. I'd love to learn, but I would be scared to death :)
On our way home, Rachel and I took some pictures of where we live, and also the vegetation that is here! Before I arrived, I was really scared that there would be no vegetation here, but there are some REALLY pretty flowers here, and Las Palmeras!!! Palm trees! I love them :)

Ok, so then Monday we began classes. That's our really long day. We have them from 8-12 am then 4-6 on Monday. No classes Tuesday. And Wednesday, Thursday, Friday we have them from 8-12. It's not that bad :) So we are taking a culture, literature, and writing class. One of the professors are a little bit more difficult to understand, but they are all REALLY nice :) La Universidad de Tarapacá (University of Tarapaca) also has an American Corner! It's like an official thing that is part of the embassy. It's awesome :) They have all kinds of books and magazines in English, and this is the one place we are allowed to speak English :) Many Chileans go there to speak with conversation partners and to learn English :) My friend Jorge works here, and today (Thursday) Rachel and I visited.

Monday night we went to el centro (the downtown) to shop around in the little outside market, and at midnight there were FUEGOS ARTIFICIALES!!! (Fireworks!) They had them because Tuesday was the Day of Arica! It was to celebrate that Arica is a part of Chile and not Peru anymore. We sing "Chi-chi-chi...le-le-le...viva Chile!" (the last part means long live Chile). :) Anywho, it was a grand time and the fireworks were great! They shot them off of el morro, and we were all below. How beautiful! There were also some clowns there who were really funny. Afterwards, we just hung out with some of our primos ("cousins"-coversation partners).

There hasn't been too many more things that have happened! OH but two nights ago I "experienced" my first earthquake! It was a smaller one in Arica, but I "missed" it! haha I was actually showering when it happened, and I felt the house shake a little bit (but honestly, it just sounded like pipes making noise like back home)..but then the dogs started barking, and still I didn't think anything of it! I heard Rachel say my name, but it wasn't that loud, and I thought she was talking to our mom. Wow! How did I not realize that there was an earthquake?! haha. Anywho, Rachel told me afterward that we had one, and they even went outside (that's what we do if there's an earthquake), and I was like WHAT? I missed my first earthquake? haha I'm sure I'll experience another one before I leave haha.

Ok, that's it for now folks. I'm off to the feria de juegos "fair of games". I will try to update more soon! Sorry this isn't as detailed as I would like, but I wanted to write something for all my followers! P.s. Thank you for following me!!! :D I hope you're enjoying the blog!

My house is pictured also :)I'll talk to you all soon! Hope those of you in Iowa and Minnesota aren't dying from the heat!!! :) Take care everyone! I love you all so much!!!!!!!

Adios de Chileeeeeee <3

Amigos, familia, discos, y piscola...Chile es un lugar maravilloso :)

The title in English...
Friends, family, clubs, and piscola...Chile is a wonderful place :)

Hola a todos! (Hello everyone!)

I hope you are all doing well. I am great, and Arica is amazing. We have done SO much in just a few days, and we have already learned a lot by being here. Ok, once again this blog post might get a teeny bit long...there is just so much to write about :)

Ok, so last time I talked with you all, we had met our primos ("cousins"-our conversation partners), and we had walked in el centro (downtown). The weather is wonderful here, but if you ask the Chileans, they think it is cold :) Honestly, it's really similar to a summer day for us, but at night time, it does get a little chilly, and we need a light jacket.

Ok... so Friday we all gathered and had a fiesta (party) at one of the other host homes. It was us, our moms, some siblings, the dad of the house, some of the "primos" and our coordinator from Chile-Pochy. (I'm really struggling with words today...I wrote Chilly instead of Chile haha. I just woke up from my siesta,so please forgive me for my mistakes haha). At the fiesta, we had some pizza, and there was also cervesa (beer) and pop to try. The pizza is really different. There really isn't any sauce or cheese, but there are a lot of vegetables on it. It was actually pretty great! (It's pictured below) Also, in my opinion, the cervesa isn't really that great haha. But after we were done eating, our moms left, and all of the younger people went up to the room of the brother of the house, and we all tried piscola. Pisco is a type of alcohol that you can add to pop; we added it to cola sooo pisco+cola=piscola :) It was actually really good! This drink can only be found in Peru and Chile, but I have been told that the two taste different, and the two countries argue that theirs is the best :) Ok, so after mingling in the brothers room for a little bit, we went to the club..or here they call it "el disco."

El disco was SO much fun! We arrived there around 11:30 or 12ish, but honestly, we were early! We were the first group of people to start dancing at the club. The people of Chile don't go out until usually 1ish or 2ish and then then stay out until around 5 or 6 am. Holy cow!?! haha. It was funny, because we were the only ones dancing, and EVERYONE was staring at us. I'm starting to get used to that though. It's just not common to see Americans here. El disco had latino and american music, and by the time we left (around 4ish...and yes AM) the whole place was packed, and everyone was dancing (yes-guys too). It was amazing! Pretty much a scene out of a movie. There is just so much life here! It's addicting :) There were many guys that were quite persistent and wanted to dance with us girls, but we just say no thank you (although it might take some time to get them to leave. It's nice to have Phil-the only guy on our trip- around just in case we have problems with guys. When we were ready to leave, we took a taxi, something I'm not used to, but we do it quite often. Rachel (my roommate) and I had a little bit of trouble opening the gate in front of our hose though...and we had a panic moment, but in the end we figured it out! Oofta ;) It was really one of the best nights of my life-just feeling the latnio music and moving to the beat with some awesome people :) There's a picture below at el disco with mis amigas (my friends) me, Jonna, Allison, Emily (in back) and Rachel to the right.

Yesterday (Saturday..I think), we had a BBQ at our university-the photo that has a building and says bienvenidos with me is the front of my university here. The BBQ was with the other foreign exchange students and the people that help out in the language area at the school (some of my new friends are pictured with me at the BBQ below). It was SO great! We had more piscola. (there's a picture of me below with the pisco and the cola...wanted to be able to show you what it looked like...don't worry-It sounds like I'm drinking a lot here haha but really we are just trying the different drinks that are common here). Also we talked, danced the salsa (so cool! but I was terrible at it! But I can move my hips pretty well haha), and played musical chairs. There is a guy from New York here that teaches English, and was really helpful. He told us many places to visit and what to do while we are here. I hope to get together with this group of people again. So much laughter, liveliness, and happiness at the BBQ. There are many stray dogs that live here, but most of them are typically nice (but don't worry we don't pet them or anything) and follow us from the university to home, and vice versa. This happened yesterday for Rachel and I, the cutest little black and gray dog followed us from the University hehe I even took a picture of him haha :)

Last night Rachel and I went to church with Ligia. It was very open (everything is here-some places don't even have doors because it never rains here). The service was actually really similar to home, but one difference is not everyone kneels when we usually do at home...oh and it was all in Spanish ;) There were a couple older ladies that sang some beautiful songs, and it was so nice to be someplace that felt like home, even though the service was in a different language.

After church, some of the group went to a little pub, and Allison (my UNI friend) and I tried a pisco sour...Holy cow! It was too strong, and we probably won't be getting that again! (That's her pictured with me with a yellow kind of drink...trust me our faces were not that happy after that first sip-too strong and sour haha). Anyway, we just sat around and mingled with one another. I love everyone that came on this trip! They really are awesome :) And I love everyone that I have met from Chile as well! I'm just so happy to be here; it truly is amazing! I'm not sure if I have told you, but I live with Ligia and her daughter (Claudia) and Claudia's daughter (Valentina) and Rachel (a UNI girl). They are all so sweet :)

Ok, I'm going to write another post for what we all saw today...this is ridiculously long already :) Hope you're all well...and your eyes aren't all blurred from reading too much ;) Miss you and love you all!

Adios de Chile! (Goodbye from Chile) Besos! (kisses)--> this reminds me...the way they greet here is by kissing each other on the cheek with a little hug! It's so cute! I love it :)