Terremoto

http://elcomercio.pe

A week ago today (February 27, 2010) the country of Chile experienced an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that took the lives of over 800 people and left thousands homeless. The earthquake has been estimated to affect over 2 million people throughout Chile. The destruction of this beautiful country is beyond unbelievable. When I discovered the news, I was devastated. The beautiful country where I had lived, went to school, and met amazing people was struck by a natural disaster that only took 90 seconds to destroy. I was at a loss for words. I was shocked. And I could not even have imagined how the people of Chile were and still are feeling and thinking...

Immediately I thought of all the people I know and met there. Since the earthquake, I have been in contact with those who were the most closest to me and everyone is alright, thankfully. I still think of those who I met throughout my experience that affected me in some way that I am not in contact with... all the children at Liceo Pedro Montt and their families, my professors, people I talked with on the street and those we met while traveling around and I hope that they are all okay, as well. As Alexis told me "Tu sabes que los chilenos nos caracterizamos por levantarnos cada ves que nos caemos..." (you know that Chileans, we characterize ourselves by standing up each time we fall...) Vamos Chile! FUERZA CHILE.

Chiloé Island: July 4- 7

As a last excursion in Chile, my friend Jena and I traveled to Chiloé. Chiloé is an island off of Chile in the south. With very little planning, we traveled by airplane from Santiago to Puerto Montt. In Puerto Montt we caught a bus to get to the island, in which we had to cross water by taking a ferry. We had planned to spend our time in the city of Castro, which was in the center of the island, so a 4-hour bus ride we embarked on! The idea was to see Chiloé in less than 4 days and having done little research, no one told us it would be raining ALL DAY and EVERY day that we were there. Thankfully we are both adventurous people and enjoy the excitement of the unknown, because I’m sure anyone else would have been disappointed with the amount of rain. Nonetheless, we happened to stay in one of the most awesome hostels (it was a Palafito=house on stilts over water) and ventured out to explore during the day. We ended up in Dalcahue after taking a bus for a while and explored the small fishing village at the edge of the island for an afternoon. Here we tried “Curanto”, which is a traditional food of Chiloé Island consisting of various types of meats, shellfish, potatoes, and other “mystery pieces”. This was an experience in itself and probably the weirdest thing I have ever eaten. *The photo is worth viewing* Although, we didn’t feel our time in Chiloé was complete, it was a relaxing and interesting 3-day excursion. I want to go back!

Click on the "Chiloé" album to see photos here.

Oh how I will miss you

It's hard to believe in less than a month I will be returning to the states. It's unbelievable how time passes you by.. I already have a list created of all the things I have yet to do! Since I love lists, here is one:

Things I will surely miss from Chile:

1. fresh fruit and vegetables all the time
2. my host mother’s cooking
3. the friendly, caring people and their hospitality
4. gelato ice cream for 2$ USD
5. riding the micros (buses) everywhere
6. delicious bread!
7. someone to make my bed everyday (Thank you Erika!)
8. speaking Spanish but also speaking English without anyone knowing what I’m saying
9. guy friends carrying my backpack, waiting for the bus with me and/or walking me home at night (so sweet) =)
10. wine and its cost
11. spending hours in restaurants without feeling rushed to leave
12. hugs and kisses everyday
13. the complete lack of consciences of time
14. the immense beauty and creativity of this country
15. and of course, the staff of ISA, my host family and all the friends/amazing people that have made my experience here unforgettable

I'm not homesick yet. Is this normal?

Written at the end of May

I think I may have discovered I am someone who adjusts easily to change. In all honesty, there are not a lot of things back home that I couldn’t live without I’ve learned. Primarily, just people. Despite how “uncivilized” or how "third-world" people think Chile may be, I do have access to things and if not, there are usually substitutes. But these are the things I miss most:

1. my dog
2. bagels with cream cheese
3. real orange juice
4. convenience of having a car
5. friends & family
6. greenery & fresh air

The Culture of the Micros (Buses):

Here in Chile most people do not own vehicles and therefore, rely on public transportation to get around, including buses, colectivos (basically cheap taxis that drive you to your destination while picking up and dropping others off along the way) and real taxis. My primary transportation is the Micro and let me tell you, it’s nothing like my busing experience in Grand Rapids. First of all, you can catch a bus (of course if it’s the one that serves you) by standing anywhere on its route and simply flagging it down by a wave of your hand or sticking up your pointer finger. In other words, time schedules and bus stops do not exist. Physically, the bus stops exists and they usually do consist of many people waiting but what I’m trying to say is, you can stand 20 feet away from the stop and still flag the bus down to jump on. Although this method is convenient for the lazy person, it gets real old if you’re already riding the bus and we have to constantly stop and go every 2 feet.

However, the real excitement is riding the bus during rush hour or any time the driver feels like stopping for every single person in its route. (Note: There are several buses that have similar routes. In other words, they overlap each other and for this reason, it’s not necessary to stop for every person. Chances are there is another bus 2 seconds behind them that can pick the person up) Often times I think it’s a game to see how many people we can fit inside the bus and it doesn’t matter whose face you have your butt in or that the doors don’t completely shut all the way. The best part of this experience is trying to hang on while the bus driver travels at speeds nearly off the speedometer. And when someone pushes the button to get off, the driver breaks to a screeching halt and despite how “sardine-like packed” we are, there is enough room for everyone one standing to fall onto the person in front of them like dominoes. I quickly caught on to this “game” and learned to sit or stand as close as possible to the door so I could ensure my exit. I especially love riding the ones rollin’ to Reggaeton music and black lights. Oh how I am going to miss this daily excitement of my Chilean life!

Busyness

I apologize to those who have been following my blog and my lack of updated. I've noticed my last post was in the middle of June and it's already nearly the end of July! I have different pieces that I had written but failed to post. So the following posts will include those... hopefully someone out there is still reading this and again, I'm sorry for my lack of updates =(

Coca Cola in glass bottles!

*I wrote this awhile ago and forgot to post it...

I probably sound like I am having serious culture shock here by some of the things I say. The truth is… I haven’t really experienced culture shock at all.* Chilean culture is different but I haven’t felt that anything is extreme or shocking to my brain. It’s more about the way they do things here are sometimes different and amusing. Even some of the littlest things are so exciting to me, such as Coca Cola in glass bottles! I remember getting excited back home when we found Coca Cola in the 6-pack glass bottles one time and here, Chileans receive their Cokes in glass bottles everyday! And what else that is so great, the glass bottles are RECYCLED! Yes, they re-use them. It’s always a good idea to pour your Coke into a cup instead of drinking from the glass bottle for this reason.

*The Meat Man: Ok well, there was one moment when we first arrived to Valparaíso. During the first week when we were being herded through the city as a giant group of American students, I witnessed a grotesque sight of a man carrying an entire bloody, cow carcass through the street on his back to La Carcinería (place to buy fresh meat). You could tell the cow had just been slaughtered and the meat was pretty fresh. As he came around the corner with the giant carcass on his back (I can’t even imagine how heavy it was), everyone cleared out of his way and I had to quickly turn away before throwing up. The smell, and of course the sight, was awful.