Buenos Aires, continued, and Colonia

Monday: We decided to go check out the San Telmo neighborhood some more, as well as go to two big shopping, pedestrian areas. (aka cars can't drive down those streets). We spent a lot of the day just wandering around looking at the architecture and taking in the vibe of the city. We checked out a couple of places where they had tango shows and the theatre district to find a play to go to. While we were buying tickets for the theatre, we got in a long conversation with an older Argentinian woman about the linguistics of spanish, which was actually fairly interesting. We saw a lot of the city because we walked EVERYWHERE or took the bus (my theory is that once you understand the bus system of a city, you've got the city down). There is a lot of cool graffiti around the city which we enjoyed looking at. That night, we went to a tango concert at the Museo de Carlos Gardel, who is one of the most famous tango musicians. It was interesting to learn a bit about the history of tango music while listening to live bands perform. A couple of the bands were really good, and it was fun to hear a variety of bands with a variation of instruments and styles.

Tuesday: The next day we headed to an area of town called Palermo. It is now one of the upper class neighborhoods--filled with boutique shops, big green, trees (it's spring here, so all the leaves, flowers, etc are blooming) and a couple of huge, beautiful parks. The neighborhood used to be a lower-middle class working neighborhood on the outskirts of town, and it's where the famous Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges grew up. I insisted on finding his house, because it was in the guide book and I really like his work. We wandered up and down the street (named Jorge Luis Borges in his honor) and couldn't find much--I expected it to be a little museum or something, but finally we found a plaque the said "Jorge Luis Borges lived here during his childhood from 1901-1914" You would think they would preserve the places where he lived a little better seeing as he's, oh I don't know, the most famous author from Argentina. After finding his apartment, we wandered through the shops in the area and admired more street art. I really wanted to find a pair of nice leather boots (Argentina is famous for their good quality, inexpensive leather) and finally after almost giving up, I found a nice pair in a little boutique shop. After that, we headed to the parks. There are a couple of different parks are really close together--a botanical garden, Japanese tea garden, rose garden and "regular" park--and they were all so beautiful and open and green and nice to get away from the city in (Santiago is definitely lacking in this aspect of their urban planning, they don't have a nice big park to get away from the city in). First we went to the botanical garden, which had everything in full bloom since, like I said, it's currently springtime down here. Then we wandered down into the bigger area of the parking, just taking in all the greenery and open spaces. Over by one of the little lakes we saw some baby ducklings...they were very cute. Last, we made our way over to the Rose Garden. It was absolutely gorgeous, they had roses in all colors of the rainbow (literally, I even saw some blue and green ones, I'm not sure how) and of course it smelled really good all over. We spent a while just sitting on one of the benches enjoying the beautiful colors and tranquility. Then, we decided it was time to head back because we wanted to go to a tango show that night. We ended up at a café called Café Tortoni which is one of the most famous ones in the city (Borges used to frequent it). It's pretty cool on the inside, although very touristy. We had dinner and a show--the dinner was quite yummy, I got a salad and (ironically) a hamburger, and we all split some wine. The show itself was awesome. There was a live band playing the music and the dancers were incredible. The did a variety of different dances from couples to just the men to just the girls, and there was a little bit of theatrical acting mixed in. I had just read an article about the Argentine tango the night before for one of my classes, so it was fun to see everything I had just read about being acted out. It's a much sadder dance than most national dances, and it's absolutely amazing how the just whip across the stage. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Wednesday: Bright and early we headed over to the boat station to catch our boat across the river to Colonia. The boat was really nice, it was really big--three stories plus an outside deck, a café, some comfy chairs with TVs, and even a duty-free store. The ride was 3 hours across the river (it's more like the ocean than a river) and it was really pretty. While we were pushing back there were two ladies who decided to dance tango on the top deck which was fun to watch. It got really windy, though, so I decided to head inside and sat at the front of the boat so I could get a nice view of where we were headed. When you're in the middle of the river it really feels like you're in the ocean because you cannot see land anywhere, which is kind of a strange feeling since you know you're on a river. When we spotted Uruguay, we decided to head down to the bottom deck to watch as we pulled into Colonia. When we got down there, it was a pretty cool view. It was also an open deck right at the level of the water, and there were a bunch of cars! I hadn't realized before that the boat could transport cars. When we got to Colonia, I was instantly in love. It's a small little colonial city right on the river that is just peaceful and beautiful. We went to two hostels before deciding on the one we wanted...it had free bikes, instant selling point. We ended up getting our own room since there were three of us (Carolyn, her roommate Alex and me) and the hostel itself was really nice--it had a couple two big courtyards which all the rooms opened out onto. We took three bikes, signed them out and headed out on the town. Oh yeah, they had no bike locks, they said we could just leave or bikes wherever and no one would take them...weird. We were like, are you sure? And they said, yes, it's really safe, don't worry! The town has a bunch of small museums which you buy one ticket for entrance to all of them for a whopping $2.50. We went to the two museums that wouldn't be open the next day (the close on a rotating basis) and then headed to get some lunch. (Going to the museums didn't take too long since most of them were 1-5 rooms each; we went to the tile museum and indigenous museum that day). We went to a little stand by the river that served milanesa, a really delicious sandwich that they, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my health) don't serve in Chile. Then we walked down to the beach and munched on our sandwiches. After relaxing a little bit and enjoying the peace and quiet of being out of the big city, we headed down the road into the main part of town (where I don't think too many tourists go). It was absolutely gorgeous.

...well this is from about 2 months ago, so I will let you all enjoy this as I try and update some of my other adventures :) Basically, Buenos Aires was really fun and a much need break from school in Santiago before the final push to the end. I had a really great time exploring the city, but when it was time to go home, I was definitely ready. When I was first picking my study abroad experiences, I was kind of bummed that my school didn't have program to Buenos Aires, but now I'm really glad it turned out that way. I had a great time visiting and saw a lot of really cool things, but I love Santiago and Chile way more than I ever think I could love Argentina. Colonia was also really nice, we were blessed with amazing weather the whole time we were there, which was definitely a bonus. It was a nice little escape from the city, giving us time to just take a step back, breath and relax. Now, onward with the adventures :)

Buenos Aires

Thursday: Well, the conquistadores had one thing right when they named this city, it does have good air (note: for those who don't speak Spanish, Buenos Aires literally means Good Aires). It was so nice to see a clear, blue sky after living in Santiago for 3 months, where the brown is always a brown-ish color. I went with my friend Carolyn who is also an exchange student at La Católica from Berkeley; we decided to bus instead of pay because being an American citizen we're hit with a $150 entrance fee if we fly into an airport in Buenos Aires (because the US charges the same to Argentinian citizens). The bus ride was 20 hours...well, hypothetically. Going there it was 24 hours because were stuck at customs for 3 hours-at least we got to be out of the bus during that time. So, we left at 10 am on Thursday and arrived in Buenos Aires at 11 am on Friday morning. The 20 hours passed a lot more quickly than I thought it would, considering I slept for about 9 of it, it wasn't actually too bad. The majority of the ride is spent driving thorough the pampa of Argentina, which is kind of the equivalent of the prairie in the US, but a little different. It was actually really pretty, although I'm sure it would have gotten a little dull if I had been awake the whole time. Anyways, between reading my Lonely Planet guide and planning for my other trips this summer, watching movies, sleeping, listening to music and staring out the window, the drive passed quicker than I thought it would.

Friday: When we got to Retiro (the bus station in Buenos Aires) we went to buy our return tickets for Santiago (because we had only bought one way, and sometimes things are cheaper in Argentina; but we also knew we needed to get them right when we got there or we wouldn't want to come back to school). Then we made our way to the metro station (called the Subte...aka subterrano...aka underground in Buenos Aires); it took a few times of us asking where it was and people giving us funny looks for calling it the metro, but then we found it. Then we had to figure out which metro stop we needed to get off, so we asked some more people for help, and eventually figured everything out. The metro in Buenos Aires is very, very old and dirty, I missed the Santiago metro immediately. Luckily, we were able to get to our destination metro station without a problem; when we came out from the metro we asked for some more help in finding the street where our friends lived. (We stayed with a friend we had met in Mendoza, Argentina back in July who studies in Buenos Aires.) Finally, we found our to the apartment. We called upstairs and after a little bit of confusion (our friend was at school, so it was just his roommates who were home, but they knew we were coming), someone came down to let us in.

We went upstairs and met his other 3 roommates, all of whom are really cool, nice people. We dropped our stuff off, freshened up a little bit and then headed out on the town.

Iván (one of the roommates) was nice enough to come with us before he had to go to school to help us get oriented a little bit. We headed down to part of town called Puerto Madero because we wanted to get boat tickets to go to Uruguay. Puerto Madero is basically a part of the river that has been turned into a canal and now has restaurants lining it and a path for running, walking and biking. We walked down most of it, passing a "famous" bridge in Buenos Aires called Punte de la Mujer (Woman's bridge) that is very modern looking. It was pretty, but there wasn't a whole lot to do. We went to one of the boat places where the told us it was going to be $100 to go to Colonia, which was more expensive than what we had been hoping for; but then we went to the other place...it was even more expensive! We eventually found a deal for $60, which we ended up getting. Then we went to a pedestrian street called Avenida Florida which is one of the famous Avenidas in Buenos Aires where there are a lot of shops and street vendors. We told Iván we needed to find something to eat because we were both really hungry and starting to feel sick because we hadn't eaten since the night before (it was like 2pm at this point). So, we made our way back over by the bus station because they had the cheapest food. We got Milanesa, a really yummy sandwich that they don't have in Chile. Afterwards, Iván had to go to school so Carolyn and I headed back to the centro to kill some time before going back home.

The Plaza de Mayo is one of the main plaza's in Buenos Aires where the Casa Rosada (equivalent of the White House) and one of the main churches are. On our way we walked down the equivalent of what looked like Buenos Aires Wall Street, it was a cobblestone street with a bunch of banks on it. One thing I noticed right away when we got there: the architecture is amazing. And, as everyone says, it is definitely very European-or at least it seems like it to me. Anyways, we wandered around the Plaza de Mayo area for a while, there's a lot of buildings to see in that area because it's the "center" of town. Then, we headed back home because our friend was due to be home. That night our friend had a joint birthday party with a few of his other friends from the university; it was pretty fun-we had to dress up: Carolyn dressed up as a vagabond, I dressed up as a Chilean flag.

Saturday: The next day we went to La Boca with another friend, Diego. La Boca is an area of town where the lower class lives; historically it was where the workers who immigrated from Italy lived. Now, part of it, the older part, is converted into a tourist shops and the like, but the area is still where the lower class lives. The apartments are tiny and sometimes 6,7,8 people live in one. The historic part is really cool though because it's all painted really bright colors, and there are cool tango murals everywhere. But, you're not supposed to visit during night because it gets a little bit sketchy. We went right before dusk, but once it started to get dark, one of the store owners told us "you guys better hurry up and get out of here. It's not safe after dark, there will be a bunch of thieves and the like." so we hurried back to the bus stop to head back into town. We then walked around a little more including going to Teatro Colón which is one of the most famous theatres in Buenos Aires. You're not allowed to go inside without a tour or going to a show-we wanted to go to a show but the were the closed the first 2 times we tried to go to the ticket office and then the third time we found out there was only one show and it was the night we were coming back from Colonia so we couldn't go. But, we got to see the outside which is a work of art in itself-really beautiful architecture. Then we walked to Avenida Corrientes which is the Broadway of Buenos Aires-it was fun to walk up and down and see all the theatre's and people meandering around. Then, finally, we went to the oblisque, which look very similar to the Washington monument in DC, but is in the middle of the Avenida 9 de Julio which is supposedly the widest avenue in the world (it is pretty wide, something like 10 lanes). It's kind of funny that they just have this monument stuck in the middle of the Avenue, but you really can see it from anywhere in the city. That night we went a concert way in another part of town. I don't really know how to classify the kind of music it was, but it was really cool. It was like what I would imagine hearing in a little club in France. The club was super run down, but isn't that always where the best music comes from? The band started with a little skit which was really funny: it was a guy talking to a psychologist, who was dressed as skeleton type thing, talking about how he thought he was insane, and how he had failed his life, etc, etc and how the only thing he really wanted was for the band to play again. The psychologist murdered him, but then the band started to play. They were all wearing masks (like what you wear to a mascarade ball) and old style clothes. The music was really good, I enjoyed it a lot.

Sunday: The next morning we went to the San Telmo market, which is a famous artisan market in the neighborhood of San Telmo. We spent the whole morning just wandering up and down the street it was on because there was so much to see. It was fun to see all the different things people were making. After that we attempted to go to Teatro Colón which was, of course, closed again. So we just wandered around the city a little bit, looked into some tango shows, enjoyed the architecture. That night, we stayed home and just watched a movie with our friends, which, of course, I fell asleep during.

Okay, I think that is sufficient for now, I will continue with the rest of my week later.

PS Sorry I have not been posting as much, it's just that Chile is my normal life now, so there's not that much to post about. But, summer is coming soon, and then there will be plenty to post about :)

First Visit to a Colegio

On Friday I got to do my first bit of research for one the professors I am working with. It is something I have been waiting to do ever since I started working with her and finding out about the project and going to the meetings, but it has taken a while to get everything coordinated so I could go. They didn't want to send me by myself the first because a) my Spanish isn't perfect and they wanted to make sure someone could do the tests with me the first time and b) I don't know the area where the colegio is/they think I will get lost if they send me on my own ;) Anyways, it was definitely worth the wait because it was a lot of fun.

I went with another one of the girls who works the professor-she is working on her master's in developmental psychology and will be using some of this research for her thesis. We met up at the metro station near my house at 9 in morning and took the metro allllllll the way down the blue line (on the way south-west end of Santiago). Fernanda (the girl who I went with) showed me the "tests" we would be giving the kids and we practiced during the metro ride. As Fernanda said, according to Katy (the professor) this school is the most flaite (aka ghetto) school we are working with. When we got off the metro, we had to ask about 4 people for directions to find the school. However, we eventually made it there. When we arrived, it reminded me a lot of the schools in Guatemala. We had to be let in because the whole school was surrounded by a big, yellow fence. Once we went in, we got shown to a room where we would be working with the kids. Then, the first kid came.

Fernanda administered the first test, and I observed, following along with an additional copy. There were 6 parts-the first 5 consisted of reading stories to the kids and showing them images and then asking them questions about what we had read. They all had to do with memory and being able to see things from someone else's point of perspective. For example, one story is about Ana and Sophia. Ana has a ball, which she puts in her basket; then she leaves and goes outside to play. Sophia takes the ball out of Ana's basket and puts it in her box. Then Sophia goes out side to play. Ana comes back inside. Then we ask: Where will Ana look for her ball? Where is Ana's ball in reality? Where was Ana's ball to begin with?

It was really interesting to see how the kids responded. We got a couple of really interesting answers, including "in the plaza"...okay...where did that come from? The last test was a little different from the first ones. (Well, they're all different, obviously, but the first few are fairly similar). In this one, we have a list of words and each word corresponds with a picture. For each word, we show the kids 4 different pictures and ask them to pick the picture that best represents the word. The was definitely the test (or "game" as we called them) that they enjoyed the least...by the middle of the test most of the kids looked bored out of their mind. I can't say I blame, it does get a little old after 20 words...

Anyways, all the kids were really cute. One of the girls corrected me when I was asking her one of the questions...I asked her "show me which one is the kangaroo," she looked at me and said "you mean "Can-goo-ru"" pronouncing it correctly. I was like "oh, yes, sorry" and she was like "okay, I just didn't understand what you asked me". It was really cute and funny. And, a major accomplishment for me...I understood what all the kids were saying apart from when one girl answered one of the questions (she had a little bit of a different accent, and was stuffy, and she used a word I didn't know...all things that complicated my understanding her), but apart from that I felt pretty good. (Katy had been concerned that I would have a lot of trouble understanding the kids, because they would't take pity on me and realized that I'm a gringa who doesn't speak perfect Spanish, they just talk how they talk.)

Anyways, it was a really great experience and I really enjoyed working with the kids. I hope that I did well enough that Katy will let me go again!

As Fernanda and I were walking back to the metro we started talking about the school system in Chile. She told me that the colegio where we had just been was the reality of most colegios in Santiago, not the colgeios that I'm used to seeing in Providencia (where I live, a nicer area). Then she was explaining to me that there are basically three levels of school: public, semi-public and private. The public and semi-public ones tend not to be very good; the only difference with the semi-public is that the parents pay a small amount of money for their kids to attend. But, the quality of education is not much better (if any better). However, just paying for your education in Chile gives you status, even the school is not any better. I was like "well that seems silly," and Fernanda was like, "yep, but that's how it works here." I shared a little about the education system in the US, but as I told her "I have a bit of a warped view because I grew up in a middle class town where the public schools were excellent." Anyways, it was interesting.

And, a note about Santiago, I know that cities are divided by social class in the US and schools are better in some areas than others-but take that and amplify the problem by ten and that is how it is in Santiago. Where I live, Providencia, and the surrounding areas (Las Condes, Vitacura, etc) are very nice. They are where the people who are more well-off live, the schools are good (although most kids attend private schools anyways, because, as I said earlier paying for your education gives you status), but as you go farther away from city center, east, south, especially, it's a completely different Santiago. It's like Santiago has split-personality-disorder, it's one city, but with many, many different sides. I guess that's inevitable in a city of 9 million (15 million, aka half the population of the country, literally, in the metropolitan area), but it's amazing how drastic the change is when you take a 30 minute metro ride. And I know that I haven't even been to some of the most impoverished areas of the city, I've been the lower-middle-class parts, which remind me a lot of places like Guatemala actually. Just the style of the architecture, the way everything is set up. It really hit home how little of the city I know and understand when I was out with one of my friends a few weeks ago. We were in a neighborhood called Quinta Normal which is the museum district of the city. I had only be near that area to Estación Central to buy tickets to go on the bus. I was asking him to explain where everything was in the city so I could orient myself (I couldn't see the mountains that day). He did his best to explain to me, but at one point he pointed to Providencia/Las Condes and he said "that's where you live. That's where your life in Santiago is. Everything you know is over there." And, I realized, that's really true. This city is huge. And I only know a tiny portion of it.

Life Outside the Classroom

Well, in my last post I rambled on about my classes and what not--so what have I been doing outside of my classes? Well, I do spend a lot of time doing stuff for my classes (especially the last few weeks, because it's midterms/essays due/presentations to be given time)...but I do have a life outside of that too!

I'm working with two professors on their research--both work in developmental psychology and I'm the only undergraduate who regularly works with either of them. Right now "working" with them consists mainly of going to meets although for both projects I'm supposed to start helping with the actually conducting of research soon. One project is focused around technology--we use iPads and iPods to evaluate kids. Basically we find games that require different kinds of skills, then we have kids play them and evaluate them based on different variables. The eventual hope is that with the games they will be able to diagnose different things: like ADD, dyslexia, etc. It's a project that's in the trial stage, so it's interesting to see how projects develop. The other project evaluates kids learning in school--it's a longitudinal study that just started this year. There are 5 different tests that are administered (although not all kids get all 5 tests)...for the most part the tests are focused on language and memory. It's administered in (I think) 8 or 10 different public schools from around the city.

Finding out how to get in touch with professors was a bit of an adventure when I first got here. It's not at all like Berkeley where all the undergraduates want to work with professors and there's a whole system set up to find Research Assistants and what not. During the first week or so of classes I went to the Psychology departments main office and told the secretary I was an exchange student who was interested in working with professors in Developmental Psychology on their research. She gave the names and emails of a few of the professors in the department. I emailed them explaining who I was and a little bit about the work I had done in the states, everyone I emailed was super friendly and either offered to meet with me or referred me to another professor who they thought I would be better suited working with. In the end, I chose the two professors I'm working with because their projects sounded the most interesting and most like what I could potentially be interested in doing in the future. I'm the only undergraduate who works with either of them (although with the project that's in the schools I met one other undergraduate who goes to the schools and helps evaluate the kids), but other than that it's me, a few graduate students and a few faculty members. It's been a really great experience because all of the professors are really friendly and open, and interested in me and the projects I do the states, how I'm feeling in Chile, etc, which is cool. And, the fact that they let me tag along with their research is awesome since it's not something common for undergraduates here.

My other main activity outside of class is soccer. It took a while to find, but I eventually found the girls soccer team for La Catolica. We have practice twice a week in the evening (luckily on the days where I have class later too). Although I can't play in the regular games this season (because it's the middle of the year for them, and they have to have their team ready at the beginning of the year...or something like that) I get to practice with them and I'll get to play in some of the end of the season tournaments with them. The coach is really nice and so are all the girls...and it's nice to get out and exercise a couple times a week (the smog is still awful, so I haven't been going running).

Other than that I hang out with friends, wander around the city, do my homework...

Oh yeah! And my culinary abilities have expanded while I've been here too. I can now make rice on the stove and refried beans from dried beans. I was very excited when I successfully made beans, because they are a staple in my diet in Berkeley and I had been missing them (they have canned refried beans here, but they cost $4 per can)...and it was totally worth the 3 hours it took them to cook on the stove.

Well, until next time...

Thinking outside the box...

...is apparently not an idea that really exists in the university here. I feel that my university here is a lot more similar to high school than to college. The whole atmosphere, the way the classes are structured, the way the tests are...it's kind of weird...

Anyways, in regards to my above statement-I mean that in the sense that the professors have an idea about something (in the novel, etc) and that is the ONLY correct response. Which is rather frustrating coming from Berkeley where professors regularly encourage you to come up with your own ideas...just make sure you have evidence to back up what your saying. Not so much the case here; like I said it's more like high school where the professors "spoon feed" you the answers and then expect you to regurgitate them on the test--not exactly the kind of test that I enjoy taking, but so be it.

It's really interesting to me that the classroom is structured that way here because OBVIOUSLY the students are more than capable of thinking on their own and taking control--just look at all the political protests that are happening right now (I think they're finally getting some coverage in the States...?) I guess in some ways Chile can be more "conformist" than the US--in the sense that they have more a collectivistic culture...but in some ways the US is WAAAAYYY more conformist than Chile. Again, look at the student protests. As university fees in California rise and rise and rise we make half-assed attempts at protest that are only supported by a minimal amount of the general public and have very little force (comparatively) from the student body and last one, two days maximum and then are broken up and it's "life as normal" in the university. In Chile, there has been NO SCHOOL since at least May for many universities and high school because the students (and about 80% of the general population, according to polls) want to change the way the education system works here and are actually willing to put the time and effort necessary in to make that happen and make their voice heard.

Aside from being frustrated from that standpoint about classes I am enjoying my classes and life in general. We have been in school for two whole months now which is really hard to believe. I don't know where the last two months have gone (hence, the lack of updating my blog...though to my credit I do THINK about updating it on a regular basis, it just always gets pushed to the back of my priority list.)

Anyways, I am taking 4 classes: Ensayo Chileno e Hispanamericano, Vargas Llosa, Novelista, Literatura Brasileña, y Cultura y Sociedad Latinoamericana...3 literature classes and 1 psych class. They're all interesting and it's fun to learn about things from a different standpoint (I feel like being politically correct is not as much of an issue here...) example from my Brazilian Lit class. We were reading literature from the colonial period of Brazil...letters from the Portuguese who are in Brazil writing back to Portugal...so of course what do they write about? What appears strange and different them (I think that's true about anyone when you travel, it's always the "different" that stands out), including the funeral rituals of the indigenous people. So, we start talking about funerals in Brazil, and Chile, and Latin America in general where when someone dies it's a big deal and they tend to have very elaborate funerals including parades through the cemetary, honoring the deceased, etc. I'm sure everyone knows about Day of the Dead...death is not as much of "the end of your life" in Latin America as the "beginning of the spiritual life." So, we're talking about all these rituals and ceremonies that they have, and my professors goes, "yeah, they don't do that in Europe or the United States, it's much more taboo when someone dies, and they don't honor the body as much." One of my classmates turns around, looks at me with wide eyes and says (not in these exact words, but basically with this tone) "You just dump the body in the ground?!" I'm pretty sure I laughed when he said that, but I was just like "No, we have a funeral and reception and things, it's just that the ceremony isn't as elaborate and we don't have like a specific day (like Día de los Muertos) to go visit the graves." Anyways, it was kind of funny, but also kind of shocking to think what kind of views people have about my culture.

What else...I have a lot of anecdotes and stories, but it would take all day to write them all. Another thing about being here is that I feel like I"m in a constant state of learning. Every day I learn something new (and not in the sense of in my classes, or like it is Berkeley, where obviously I'm constantly learning too), but in the sense I'm always discovering new things about the culture, language, city, people, whatever. It's really exhilarating and makes feel like I'm a kid again sometimes (like where everything is just new and wonderful), but it can be exhausting and the same time. And I'm not just talking about the language, because that's a given. But on that note, I feel like my Spanish is improving (I would hope so seeing as I've been living in Spanish speaking places for 4 months now...) but I still can't think of how to say things sometimes or how to express myself correctly which can be extremely frustrating--but it also means that I'm constantly learning new words and phrases.

Well, that's a brief update of my life. I've now had the chance to visit Mendoza, Argentina, Pomaire (pottery town), Sewell (mining town), and Valparaíso (ocean town)...all of which have been really fun and different from on another.

Oh yes, one more brief thing. Fiestas Patrias was weekend before last and it was SO FUN. Fiestas Patrias is like Chile's 4th of July (the 18 of September is their independence day) but it's a WAY bigger deal here. The whole country goes all out...everything is red, white and blue, there are flags EVERYWHERE (apparently there's a law that you have to hang a flag for the 18), but if even taxis and cars have little car flags. It's basically 4 days of partying, eating, drinking, going to fondas (very similar to county fairs), hanging out with friends and family. The famous drink of the weekend is called Chicha and it's a really sweet drink...basically everyone drinks it because it's "the drink" of Fiestas Patrias...I"m not really sure how to describe the taste of it, I guess kind of like really sweet wine. Food includes...meat, meat and more meat...empanadas, kabobs, choripan all made on the barbecue... It's really yummy, but not so healthy (it's basically like their Thanksgiving and everyone ends up gaining like 10 pounds). The fondas remind me a lot of county fairs...the best ones are on the outskirts of the city or out in the country. They have lots of carnival games and rides (like Ferris Wheels!) and of course dancing (cueca...the national dance of Chile) and food and drinks. One other thing that the weekend is famous for is flying kites. But they're kites made out of crepe paper, so the tear really easily, and you have to use some special technique to keep them up in the sky. It's not just run with it behind you and hope it catches the wind like I did when I was a kid. No, theres a whole, pull the string in this direction when the tip of the kite is pointing in that direction...it's actually kind of hard, but it was fun :) And there's just open filed full of hundreds of people flying kites. Apparently some people try to have competitions where they try and cut the string of other peoples kites (kind of like in Kite Runner), but others just go just to enjoy flying the kite.

Well, I will try and post pictures on Facebook soon to accompany all the things that have been happening...and I will TRY and keep updated more often (although no absolute promises ;)

"Mañana es feriado"

Here's a post that I forgot to post a while ago about my trip to Mendoza:

So, I swear I have heard that phrase a million times since coming to Chile..."mañana es feriado" aka "tomorrow is a holiday!" I don't know how they have so many holidays, but it seems that about every other week there is a holiday celebrating something or another, which will be nice now that I'm in school and won't have to go to school when it's feriado, but, it can be a little frustrating when everything is closed. Especially because a lot of times feriados are on Mondays, and already on Sundays 75% of stores are closed, so then it's two days in a row of everything being closed. This happened when we were in Mendoza, we got there on Saturday night, Sunday everything was closed, then Monday even more things were closed. It ended up working out though, because most of the things we did were just out doorsy and we were still able to do everything because it didn't depend on things being open.

We had a week break between when ILP ended and when real classes started, I decided to go to Mendoza, Argentina with a few friends during the break, just to get out of the city and do some things outside. Saturday morning my friend Carolyn and I showed up at the bus station and bought our tickets for Mendoza. The bus was pretty nice; we had to get the semi-cama seats because they were the only ones that they had. But, they gave us food and everything on the way over. The bus ride itself was about 6 hours including clearing customs and everything. It's a really pretty ride though, because we had to cross over the Andes and drive through the countryside and everything. At one point during the ride, Carolyn and I weren't sure if we were in Argentina or Chile (because we had no idea what kind of customs control they had), but we later figured out there is a real customs check point, so you can definitely tell when you cross from one country into the other. Customs is literally on top of the mountains, meaning it's really cold when you have to get out and stand in line to get your passport stamped and then have them check your luggage. But, overall, the bus ride wasn't too bad.

Saturday afternoon and night we just hung out around our hostel, which was right near the main plaza in town. We wandered around Plaza Independencia (the main one in town); there was a market so we checked that out, got some cotton candy which was delicious, people watched...Then we went and found a restaurant that had choripan (a sandwich type of food that is famous in Argentina and Chile). When we went into the restaurant it was only us and one other family--who kept staring at us! However, by the time we left, the restaurant was packed with people. Apparently we went to eat too early (at 9pm).

The next day we went biking around the huge park that's at the edge of town. We met a guy from Colombia who was really cool, and the 3 of us went together. We rented bikes from a place near our hostel and headed out. In the park it was like it's own little town--they had a zoo, golf course, soccer stadium, theatre, lake, fountains, etc. We spent most of the day biking around and checking it out and hiking up the hill at the back of the park. The hike up the hill was probably the most fun thing of the day...the view as we were hiking up was incredible. We could see the whole city and country side around it. It's really dry and desert-y, and really pretty scenery. We also saw one of the stadiums where the Copa America was played which was pretty cool; we really wanted to go in but unfortunately it was all gated off, so we didn't get to go in, only see it from afar. After biking around we stopped to get Pancho's for lunch (Argentian hotdogs...aka hotdogs with lots of different types of condiments on top, pretty tasty actually). Then we went to watch the final of the Copa America which was being played in Buenos Aires. However, it was between Uruguay and Paraguay, so there wasn't a whole lot of interest in Argentina.

The next day we went on a trekking, repelling, hot springs trip.

I guess I didn't quite finish...

From the Mountains to the Sea: a little bit of everything

There seems to be a little bit of everything in Chile. I've had the opportunity to go to the beach twice and to the mountains once. My first weekend in Chile I got to go visit Santo Domingo with Barbara's family. It's a really cute community about an hour and a half from Santiago, just south of a major port town called San Antonio. I went over to San Antonio one afternoon with the boys and we bought seafood for the dinner-we got mussels which were AMAZING and sea snails which were interesting. I still can't decide whether I liked them or not-they didn't taste bad, but they had a weird texture and it kind of grossed me out whenever I thought about it. Even though it was winter, the beach was absolutely beautiful. It was a little chilly, but not any colder than the California coast in the winter. And the ocean was beautiful, of course. The next weekend I got to go to a town called Algorrobo with EAP. We had our orientation there, which was cool. Not the orientation, the fact that we got to go to the beach. The orientation was okay, it was a lot of information crammed in to a short amount of time. There wasn't too much going on in Algorrobo because it's the low season right now. They had a few little ferias (outdoor markets) which were fun to look around in. They had lots of cute artisan crafts, I wanted to buy a lot of things, but just kept reminding myself that I'll be here for a year so I have plenty of time to get things, and also I really just don't need more stuff. Also, the worlds biggest pool is in Algorrobo, so that was kind of cool to see. It is pretty big, but it was only half full because the resort isn't open right now. I also don't completely understand why they need a huge pool when the ocean is right there, but I guess it's because the ocean is cold. But, they had kayaks that went in the pool, and floating docks in the middle and a huge water slide.

This last weekend I got to go up skiing in the Andes. It was amazing. The resort I went to is called El Colorado-it's a lot smaller than most of the resorts in Tahoe, but it was still fantastic. It's above the tree line, so there are no trees anywhere, which is kind of weird because I'm used to there being a lot of trees when I go skiing. We got really lucky on the day we went because it had been snowing all day the day before so there was a ton of fresh powder, which was awesome to ski through. The snow is a lot lighter here than in Tahoe, like it's a lot stickier and wetter in Tahoe--I enjoyed the drier snow, especially when I feel into several feet of powder. We also saw a bunny while we were skiing! We were off in the powder and all of the sudden there was a big brown bunny hopping up the hill...I'm surprised it wasn't freezing, or buried in the snow, because it was pretty deep. Anyways, it's pretty easy to get up to the snow because there are several companies that have shuttles that take you up in the morning and back in the afternoon, so we just went with one of those, and they rent you equipment and everything, although I think it was more expensive than at other places, but oh well. The road up to the mountain was a little bit scary because it was only one lane (because it had been snowing) but for two ways; luckily there weren't too many cars coming down as we were going up, so it wasn't too bad. Also, there's no chain control like in Tahoe, people just pull over to the side of the road whenever they feel like they need their chains and put them on. But, the skiing was pretty awesome.

This week is our last week of ILP (the "orientation" class we all have to take before school) which is crazy, it seems like we just started. I'm kind of happy to be finishing up though, it will be nice to have a little break, because 4 straight hours of class every day is a little much, although I have been learning some interesting things about Chile, especially the culture and politics (and slang). After this week we have a week off before we start our real classes.

Last week we got to visit La Moneda which is the presidential palace. It's kind of like the White House I guess except the president doesn't live there (they used to, but not since the 1970s I think), but it's where the government is based and the president goes there every day to work. We got to go in the room where he holds conferences and gets televised and everything. They had one display with a coin for each president Chile has ever had since their independence, but Pinochet didn't have one because he was not democratically elected. Also right outside the main entrance is a statue of Salvador Allende, which I thought was interesting.

We also got to visit a vineyard called Viña de Concha y Toro (literally Vineyard shell and bull). It's the biggest vineyard in Chile and has the most exports of any vineyard in Chile. They make a side variety of wines...my favorite that I've tried so far from there is Casillero de Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon. They make a kind of wine in Chile called Carménère which they don't have in California, or at least they don't make it California and I haven't seen it in the stores. Anyways, the vineyard was really pretty, although most of the vineyard part of it looked kind of dead since it's the middle of winter. But, we got to see a few different rooms where they had barrels of wine sitting and we got to go into the "Devil's locker" (which was more like a dungeon) which is where they keep the wines for Casillero de Diablo. While we were down there, because it's underground, they turned the lights off and played a "scary story" about that wine and how it came to be, then they cast the devil on the wall, it was kind of funny, but creative on their party I guess. Oh, they also had a kind of wine called Amelia! It was one of the more expensive ones and only came in Chardonnay, but it made me smile.

Well, that's a little bit about my adventures so far. I'm still loving Santiago (and Chile in general) and I'm so glad that I'll get to be here for a year because there's so much to see and do. But, I also cannot believe that I have been here for almost a month now! The time has gone by so quickly.

Ya tienes mi corazón, Santiago

Sorry I have been horrible about updating the last few weeks. I don't know where the time has gone. I have been in Chile for 2.5 weeks now...where did it all go?! Not that that's a bad thing, because I am thoroughly enjoying it here. Here are a few anecdotes from my time here so far:

My first encounter with the metro:

On my second day here I went on the metro to go meet someone. Unknowingly, I accidentally went during rush hour. The subway is usually fairly crowded to begin with, during rush hour you can hardly. Luckily, Barbara had shown me the metro station before and where to get a ticket and everything or I would have been completely lost. So, I go up to the counter, tell them I need a ticket to the metro station Pedro de Valdivia. They kind of look at me funny, and ask, what? I tell them again, again, they ask, where? Finally, I show them (because I have it written down), and they say, oh, Pedro de Valdivia (apparently I wasn't pronouncing it quite right), they give me a ticket. What I later realized is that you just ask for a ticket, because it costs the same to go 1 stop or 20 stops on the metro. So I think they just thought I was really weird for asking for a ticket to a particular destination. Anyways, I get my ticket and the nice ticket-counter-man points me in the right direction. I put my ticket into the machine to get into the metro, and it eats my ticket! I was expecting it to come back out, like it does at Bart, because you have to scan your ticket to get OUT of the station (again, still didn't realized that the metro is one-ticket-for-all-destinations). So, after a few seconds of contemplating if I should ask someone I just decide to proceed to the train. The platform is literally packed with people. And, whenever trains pull up, it becomes a mad shoving frenzy. It took me about 4 trains to actually be pushy enough to get on. But, finally, I made it on to the train, and made it successfully to my station. Since that first trip I have learned a lot about the metro--when rush hour is, that you just need to ask for a ticket in general, that you don't need a ticket to get out of the metro. It's not so complicated now that I've got the basics down, pretty much like any other metro system.

Navigating from the metro:

Whenever I am trying to get somewhere once I get out of the metro, I get really disoriented. I never have any idea which direction is which. So, before I go places, I have taken to looking up directions on google maps and writing which streets I SHOULD cross after popping out the station to reach my destination and which I SHOULD NOT cross. It's a pretty good method that works like 90% of the time, the other 10% I just end up wandering... People are really nice when I ask directions, the problem is (and everyone here warns us of this too) that people will point in a direction with complete confidence even if they're not sure if it's the right direction. So, you can think you asked for directions from a local and are headed in the right direction, and end up on the opposite side of town anyways.

Chileno:

Everyone I meet, literally, asks the usual questions--how long are you going to be here, what will you be doing, etc. When I say I came to study Psychology and Spanish they always laugh and say I will learn Chileno, not Español. It's true--they have a very unique way of speaking here and there is a lot of slang, cachai? But, I've adjusted pretty well to the accent and speed I think.

First day of school:

Somehow, I ended up getting super lost on my way to the first day of classes. Luckily, there's another girl from the program who lives right across the hall from me, so I wasn't lost all by myself. My host mom gave me directions on how to get there, and told me it should only be about a 30 minute walk. So, Bonnie and I set out...we had been to the campus the day before, but had been given a ride back to our apartments, and the route driving is different than walking. Anyways, it turns out the street we were supposed to turn on doesn't intersect all the way across the main street. And, of course, we were walking down the wrong side of the street, so we didn't see it. We asked someone for directions a few blocks after our house because my host mom had told me the street was really close by our house. And, of course, the very nice man assuredly pointed us in the wrong direction. Then, we somehow ended up turning in the wrong direction (after walking the opposite direction of where we were supposed to turn). 45 minutes later, we decided to stop and ask for directions. The guy at the store was very nice and pulled out the phone book. We told him where we were going, and he looked up the street in the index and opened to the map. We found the campus, then asked him where we were. He looked at the opposite side of the map and pointed. Oops. We decided to hail a taxi because at this point we were already 15 minutes late to orientation and it was going to take another 15 minutes to drive there. Luckily, we got a nice taxi driver who took us straight there (we've been warned that some taxi drivers will take advantage of foreigners and drive in circles to get more money). Anyways, right as we were pulling up to campus I get a call from my host mom: where are you? how did you get so lost? I gave you directions! But, we made it and everything worked out :) And, now we successfully walk to campus every day.

Let's see, those are some of my funnier stories. Everyone is really nice here, it just amazes me. For example, I brought my big backpack and suitcase on the metro from Barbaras house to my host families house and everyone was holding open doors for me and helping me up the stairs.

My friend Barbara, who lives in Berkeley now but is from Santiago, has been amazing. She has taught me so much about the city and helped me get oriented, helped me get a phone. Everything. I don't know how I"ll every be able to thank her sufficiently.

My favorite things in Chile: guatero--my "hot water bottle" that I sleep with at night to keep warm, pisco sour--a really delicious mixed drink, the view of the Andes no matter where you are, the beach is beautiful

My not so favorite things: there's no central heating--anywhere, the air becomes brown when it doesn't rain, they only drink instant coffee

There's so much more to tell, but I'm sure this is plenty for now :)

Water Filters, Beanie babies and birthdays

The last week in Guatemala was jam packed...why is it that we always seem to run out of time for our projects?! We did finish everything successfully, but we could have easily filled up another month. At the beginning of the week we were checking back up on garden boxes that we had planted at the beginning of our month in Guatemala to see how the were growing and if the families were maintaing them. It was exciting to go back and visit the families and see the vegetables beginning to grow in the gardens. The squash, cucumber and bean plants had especially began to sprout; everything was still really small, but nonetheless it was nice to see that the gardens were growing. A few of the families had even expanded their gardens--making another tablón (raised bed) to plant some more of the seeds we had left with them. When we went back to visit we also brought the beanie babies to distribute to the kids. (For those of you who don’t know, I had kept all the beanie babies from my childhood, and finally decided it was time to part with them, and what better use than to give them to some of the kids we would be working with.) All the kids seemed to be really happy to receive them, so it made me really happy to give them new homes. In one of the communities, Brionne and I made the mistake to give a some to a few kids who saw us giving them to a family. Literally within like 90 seconds of giving those kids beanie babies we were BOMBARDED with people asking for beanie babies. It was absolutely ridiculous. We eventually had to tell Diego to drive away so we would have some for the other communities. It wasn’t a huge deal, because the whole point was to get rid of them, but it turned into a mad rush on beanie babies. It was amazing how quickly word spread that the gringos were handing out stuffed animals. Eventually, once we had met back up with Lorenzo and the other girls and more people showed up asking for toys, we had to make Lorenzo tell them no because none of us had the heart to do so.

On Monday and Tuesday afternoon we collaborated with the medical team from Berkeley to do some workshops related to health and hygiene in the afternoons. The first day we went to a school in a town called Buena Vista. Some of the med people did a workshop with adults; the rest of us split up into groups of three (1 spanish speaker, 2 non spanish speakers) and presented to the kids about teeth brushing, hand washing, hygiene in general and nutrition. It was a lot of fun, although a little crazy. The class I taught was little kids--I think they were around 6 and 7 years old. They knew a lot about teeth brushing already--3 times per day after all the meals and make sure you get all your teeth. Once we got to hand washing, though, it was very interesting. Everyone knew that you were supposed to wash your hands before breakfast, lunch and dinner. It took a while before anyone said anything about washing your hands after playing with animals, after playing outside, after touching trash...and nobody ever said that you should wash your hands after going to the bathroom, which I thought was really interesting. One little boy really impressed me though, I was going around to groups of kids and asking them about washing their hands--he informed that you should wash your hands after playing outside because there are microorganisms on your hands that can make you sick...a 7 year old kid! I was like, whoa, that’s a big word and lot of advanced information--needless to say I was very impressed.

The workshops on Tuesday were a little different. The first one was with older kids--like middle school age--but luckily there were few enough classrooms that I didn’t have to present, I got to tag along with Lorenzo and listen to his spiel. He spent most of the time talking about the proper technique for brushing teeth--and he emphasized that you should brush your teeth after eating because you don’t want to go to hang out with your boyfriend or girlfriend and then have them not want to kiss you because you have garlic breath or something. I thought it was really clever how he aimed his talk at the age group, and somehow managed to keep the engaged for most of the time (despite the fact that there was definitely a class clown and some kids who were totally apathetic). In the second school we were with younger kids again and there were more classrooms so I got to present again. This time though, the class was really small so that made it a lot easier. First we went over the food pyramid and I had each kid draw something from the pyramid (tortilla, bread, vegetable, fruit, milk, meat, sweet, etc) and then drew a big pyramid on the board and had them put their drawing where they though it should go on the pyramid. It was very interesting to see how it ended up. Then I explained how the pyramid should actually be (it’s a little hard because I can’t be like you should eat this x number of times per day, because they don’t have that kind of access to food, sadly). Then we sang some songs about brushing teeth and washing hands, and then we had to leave. I hope at least some of what we did sticks with them. Especially washing hands after going to the bathroom...

Wednesday and Thursday were spent installing water filters with families and following up with our women’s groups. Brionne and I were able to get the stories of some of the girls, which we will posting soon, if anyone is interested in reading them. The second meetings went well, although I don’t think we had the same group at any of them, so it was a little interesting to try and do a follow up type of thing, but we made it work. In terms of water filters, we were only able to get 15 because they were expensive, but we installed them in 4 different communities, so we’ll see how effective they are. Basically we would bring the water filter to the family, have them wash it the way they’re supposed to every 3 months, and then set it up with them. Then, they had a sign a contract saying they would maintain the filter, that they would allow Ami San Lucas to do follow up visits, that they would use it for their family consistently and that they would not sell it to other people. Then they had to pay 25 quetzales (US$3)...which is a whole days pay for a lot of families and therefore a good chunk of money. Hopefully next year we’ll be able to figure out a cheaper way to get more filters.

That was basically the end of our time. Friday I went up the mountain with Lorenzo using public transportation (slightly terrifying), to instal one last filter. Friday night I cooked pizza with my host family which was a lot of fun. They love pizza, but they had never known how to cook it before, so we were able to make 3 pizzas which were delicious. Then Saturday morning we returned to Guatemala City. And Sunday afternoon I headed for Chile!

A little bit of everything in photos

our transportation to work

all dressed up

baking cookies...first time ever using the oven!

sharing some lunch with a cow

sunrise over the lake

planting a huerto con una familia

my favorite grupo de mujeres...they were just plain awesome

Indian Nose, Cayaks and markets...oh my!

This last weekend was full of fun activities around the lake. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 3:30 am to go on the sunrise hike to Indian Nose (a mountain by the lake that looks like an indian’s face, with the highest point being the nose). My host dad is a tour guide, so he took a group of us up on the hike (apparently people aren’t capable of hiking up the mountain themselves...) We drove around and picked everyone up at their houses, so we ended up leaving San Pedro around 4 am. We had decided to hike up the back side (the shorter hike) since it was dark out and since we hike every day in the mountains (a 2 hour hike straight uphill at that altitude and that hour just didn’t sound particularly enticing). So, we drove up the mountain to Santa Clara, parked, got flashlights and headed out on the trail. A few places were a little scary since it was still fairly dark and the ground was wet and slippery, but overall, the hike wasn’t too bad...and most importantly we made it to the top in plenty of time to see the sunrise. It was really beautiful, watching the sun come up over the lake and sky turn from a deep blue to red to yellow-orange and then to daylight. It was definitely worth getting up that early to watch the sunrise. After the sun had been up for a little while we decided we were ready to hike back down the mountain. I think the hike down was actually scarier than the hike up because the spots that had been slippery on the way up were even worse on the way down because it was a lot easier to lose your footing. But anyways, we all made it down in one piece. We drove back down the mountain to San Pedro and dropped everyone off at their houses.

After I got home I learned how to cook Avena with my host mom, which is Guatemalan hot cereal. It’s made with water, oatmeal, milk, cinnamon and sugar and it is my favorite breakfast. It actually wasn’t that hard to make, although I haven’t made it on my own yet. It’s just really warm and yummy and you put bread and bananas in it after it’s cooked to make it even more delicious. After breakfast I got ready to go to Santiago with the other girls. The main attraction of Santiago is that it’s a market town, and although I didn’t plan to buy much (I had already bough too much the year before), it’s still fun to go and look around and see all the bright colors. The price for the boat over to Santiago, has gone up A LOT from what I remember it last year. I think it was only 15-20 quetzales last year, and this year they tried to charge us 40. I argued, or bargained, with the guy who was running it though and finally exasperated him enough that he agreed to give us the round trip for 35 each. I was still a little mad that we had to pay that much, but oh well, there’s not really any other way over to Santiago. So, we loaded up on the boat and went over to Santiago. The first thing I noticed when we got there was that the whole courtyard was underwater. Where there had been lakefront tiendas and a fountain and plaza last wear, there was only the tips of everything sticking out this year--apparently the lake had risen more than I realized. We got off and starting heading up the hill. Of course, now the market stretches all the way down to the dock, so it didn’t take us too long to hit the market. But also, things tend to be more expensive down near the dock. We spent a few hours wandering around and looking at everything--the time always goes by really fast. I ended up getting a few things--mostly presents for other people. I got little purses for the little girls who’s family I’m staying with for the first few days in Chile, I got a beaded belt (the traditional kind that they wear) for my host sister, and I got a leather belt with colorful stitching for me. However, when it came time for me to take the boat back (because I told my family I would be home for lunch at 2), we ran into a bit of a problem. They had only given us one ticket for the 4 of us, and they didn’t want to let 2 of us go on the boat now and 2 go on the next boat--stupid really since we had all payed for our tickets and thus SHOULD have had individual tickets, but didn’t think it would cause such an issue. I, once again, argued with the boat captain until he agreed to let 2 of us and 2 of us stay. (They tried to get us to pay again, but of course THAT wasn’t going to happen). The rest of the afternoon we just hung out in San Pedro--it’s always nice to have some down time after constantly going during the week.

Sunday we decided that we wanted to go kayaking on the lake (spelled “cayak” or “kayack” on the signs in San Pedro). We slept in til 8--oh how the sense of time changes in Guatemala--and then grabbed some breakfast at one of the cafes in town (we don’t eat with our families on Sundays). Of course, it took like an hour to get our food--service moves a very casual pace--so we didn’t end up getting out to the kayaks until about 10. We had decided that we wanted to kayak out to the beach that’s halfway in between San Pedro and Santiago--the kayak people told us it would be about 35 minutes each way. It ended up taking about 45 minutes of straight kayaking to get there because we were going agains the current and the wind picked up (of coursing blowing against us) for the last 10 minutes or so. But, we made it--and it was actually a lot of fun to kayak on the lake, although a little bit tiring. The beach was really nice, the water was luke warm and clear--we swam around for a while, enjoying the water (because you can’t really go swimming in San Pedro because the water at the shore is gross). Then, we decided to head back. It only took about 25 minutes to get back, I think because we were going with the current this time. We all went home, showered and met up again for lunch. I had some Pad Thai...which I had been craving and which tasted amazing until I found a bug in...gotta love how sanitary the kitchens are :) After that, I kinda decided I was done with it.

I had promised my family I would go to church with them that night, so I had to head home around 5:45 to get ready. I had been wearing a knee-length skirt...one that would have been appropriate for church in the states...but I decided I should double check with my host mom because I thought it might be a bit short for Guatemala. I asked her if the skirt was okay or if I should change pants, she said she thought it would be better if I changed to pants. I said okay, I’m going to go change, and then jokingly, too bad I don’t have skirts like you guys. She looked at me and was like, oh! you can borrow one of mine if you like. Of course I took her up on this offer--who knows when I’ll get the opportunity to dress in traditional attire again, and I’ve always wondered if it’s comfortable or not. She ran and grabbed the shirt, skirt and belt for me and then her and Juanita came into my room to help me get dressed (because of course I have no idea how to put them on, the do some fancy wrap thing with the skirt and belt to make it all stay on). They got me all suited up, however, and we headed for church. I have to say, it’s not the most comfortable thing--it’s not super uncomfortable but because you have to put the belt on pretty tight so that nothing falls down, it kind of squeezes your stomach a lot. I got lots of compliments on the outfit at church though, and also a lot of people staring (more than usual...because there are always people staring).

It was a great weekend spent around the lake...and nobody could believe it was our last weekend there!

Language barriers, and cookies :)

We continued working on the garden box project this week; on Sunday, however, the med team from Berkeley also arrived. This meant that Mark would be working with their group and I would be the main person in charge of our group (apart from Lorenzo of course). Before, when we had split into groups, it was always Mark with two or three people from Berkeley and then me and Lorenzo with another person or two. Now, however, it was me with someone else and two of the other girls going with Lorenzo (Andrea got sick and then had to leave early because she’s going to Korea!) In most of the communities, this wasn’t a problem--Lorenzo would take us to the family and then he would leave with the other girls to go plant a garden with another family. Everything would go fine, we’d teach them how to plant, go over the garden map and the brochure--and ta da...done. But, for some reason, in the community of the Paquip, they speak very little Spanish (in all the communities up in the mountains Quiche is the dominant language, but most people also know Spanish, or at least the kids are proficient in Spanish. In San Pedro, everyone speaks Tz’utujil--another native Mayan language--and Spanish), which made it hard to explain what we were doing. We managed to get by--I would explain and then the family would combine the Spanish they knew, we would use gestures, and drawings to help us, and everything worked out. But, it was a very interesting experience--before I had always been with Lorenzo who speaks Quiche, so if there was ever a problem he was able to translate and help me out--but this time we had to make it work with my Spanish (which isn’t perfect of course) and their Spanish (which also wasn’t perfect).

We’ve also started doing interviews with the families about their water (consumption, source, how safe it is, etc). Some people in the medical group who are more focused on public health brought the surveys down, so we’ve been helping them out and interviewing the families we work with about their water. We ask things like where does your water come from (ie do you have your own sink, is there a public tap, do you use the rain, is there a river); is it safe to drink the water straight from the tap or do you have to do something first (ie boil or filter if they have one); does the water have any smell or color when it comes out of the tap; do you store the water anywhere, and if so do you cover it when it’s not in use; how often do you clean the receptacle where you store your water; is there ever a problem with insects; where does the dirty water go; and then also looking at what the houses are made out of and the kitchens. It has been interesting to do the surveys--although again, Lorenzo a lot of times ends up having to translate for me, because even in the towns where they speak fairly good Spanish, a lot of times the older people don’t speak it as well as the youth so Lorenzo has to help me out (or maybe my Spanish is just terrible so they can’t understand what I’m asking ;P).

As it turns out, most people have a private tap now--they used to have public ones, but now almost every house has their own. Occasionally, if relatives live close together they’ll only have one for the extended family. What varies really widely is what the collect it in--some families just have a tap that the put a plastic bucket under to collect water, others have sinks (not like a sink like you would think of in the US, but a different kind). Some people keep water in the sink (they’re really deep and there’s a compartment for storing water) others have metal or plastic barrels, others don’t save water at all because they say they always have water. Almost everyone believes that they have to boil the water before drinking it, only a few families said they drink straight from the tap and that the water is safe (and they were all from the same community, interestingly enough). Most people say there are some problems with flies and mosquitos during the rainy season, but that most of the time it’s not too bad.

Where the dirty water goes really varies a lot as well. In some places there is a pipe that takes it away from the house and dumps it in the street or somewhere else. Other places it just runs away from the sink into wherever. Another thing we have been asking about is bathrooms; most bathrooms up in the mountains are pit toilets--but they vary widely (something I have been noticing), from literally a pit in the ground to a toilet that is set on top of a pit. I think it’s kind of interesting. Also, we ask about the trash (because there is always trash all over the ground and the concept of trash cans doesn’t seem to exist anywhere, not even in San Pedro where I think there’s a trash collection service). Most people use the organic material for fertilizer and burn everything else (plastic, nylon, etc); I think they also just throw a lot on the ground because it’s always all over the place, but nobody will actually admit to that.

Anyways, the surveys have been really interesting. The degree to which people are open about things and how awkward I feel asking them the questions also varies a lot. Some people are really great and answer the questions as best they can, other people mumble one word answers. But, overall, everyone is great--especially because some of the questions I think may seem a little intrusive.

Life with my host family is also going great. I really, really enjoy spending time with my host sister. She’s really cool and a lot of fun to talk to--really mature I think for her age (although the maturity spectrum is different here, seeing as most people get married around 17 and have families by about 19). We always have a lot of fun together. I always have very interesting talks with my host dad during lunch and dinner...ranging on everything from sex ed to how my parents punished me when I got in trouble when I was younger (this was after Juanita got in trouble for something) to what I thought about the government providing subsidies for farmers. It’s always interesting to hear his point of view--and then to try and give a general response for the United States, because opinions are so varied. My host mom is really sweet, she always makes sure I get enough food (I think I’ve gained about 10 pounds already) and asks how my day went and helps me out with anything I need. My brother is funny--he’s always full of energy and saying silly things. His favorite thing to ask me, even when we’re not eating (because it has become a joke) is “te gusta la comida?” (do you like the food?), and if he’s ever quiet, my host mom will say “el disco ya no funcionó” (the disk is broken) and then he will go “que?” and then start talking again.

We all made cookies together last night which was a lot of fun. My mom had never used an oven before, so it was a bit of an adventure. It was a lot of fun though. We all mixed them and put them on the pan to cook and stuck them in the oven. Then afterwards we ate most of them...I think we all had a stomach ache afterwards, but it was totally worth it because it was so much fun.

Potatoes for my head, plain for my stomach, gatorade for rehydration

When we returned from our trip, it was back to the gardens as usual. We have been going up to 5 communities in the mountains, and they’re all starting to blur together because they’re all in the same general area and most of them have really similar names--Paquip, Pasaquim, Panyebar, Palestina and Montecristo. So, it’s hard to keep track of what community we’re in on what day--and sometimes we go to more than one community in a day.

The garden project continues to go really well--we generally visit between 5 to 7 families per day and plant a garden with them at their home. Ami San Lucas decided it would be best to do it this way because they had tried to make communal medicinal gardens before, but nobody took responsibility for them and they didn’t last long (because no one was tending them). Thus, we are planting the gardens with individual families because then we when we go to check on them, we know who is responsible for the gardens and who has been maintaining theirs so we can decide where to take the project next year (ie continue with families, or try a new method).

Basically, we go around the day before we’re going to plant the gardens with a family and ask them if they would be interested in a garden and then instruct them to get a plot of land ready for us--2 meters by 1 meter of earth that is raised in some sort of garden bed and protected by a fence or something if they have animals (like chickens) wandering around. Somehow Lorenzo, the person we work with from Ami San Lucas who is awesome (and VERY helpful because he is trilingual in Spanish, Quiche and Tz’utujil...which I will get back to later), knows his way around all the communities. I know that he has been working in them for a while, but even so the way he navigates around is quite impressive. (For those who haven’t been to rural communities in Latin America, there are not streets and house numbers and all that stuff like in the US, basically people just build there houses wherever and they’re not on any sort of grid, just small dirt paths going every direction and occasionally a cluster of houses, sometimes about a 15 minute walk between them, so, when someone can navigate around, it seems quite impressive to me. Of course, for all I know, we could be going in circles, so really they don’t know their way around...just kidding, I think.)

Anyways, when we show up in the morning we go around to the different houses that we talked to the morning before (we usually split into two groups). We explain the garden and why we are interested in planting it (I’m getting good at that spiel)...basically we say we want to plant a garden with your family that’s small and easy to maintain, but in which you can plant a lot of different kinds of vegetables. Our hope is that with this garden the children can get the nutrients the need to grow up healthy. (All the families have kids, most have kids under 5 years old). Then we divide the garden bed the made into little squares and explain the that in each little square a different vegetable will be planted (with some repeats because we only have 11 vegetables). Then, we plant cilantro around the outside of the box because it acts as a natural insect repellant and they can also use it in the food. Then, with the help of the family, we plant the vegetables--cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, onion, beans, beets, radishes (which is the favorite vegetable of everyone), cucumber, and squash (plus the cilantro around the outside). Depending on the size of the vegetable, you can plant a different number in each square (for example broccoli is one per square, carrots are nine per square). As we’re planting the garden we make a “map” saying which vegetables are where and how many are in each square. At then end, we give the family the garden map, the seeds and a brochure about garden boxes. We explain that we are leaving them with the seeds so that when the first harvest comes then can plant the garden again--but in the same garden-box method. Or, they can also make another garden box so that they have more vegetables. We have been able to go back to a few families, and the gardens are starting to sprout a little bit already!

So, all in all, the project is going really well :) So, of course, I was having a great time in Guatemala, excited for the weekend and doing something fun, and I had to get sick. I started feeling a little funny Friday evening but figured I was just tired. I went to bed early, then woke up about 1 am and felt super nauseous--a very strange feeling for me. And, well, it didn’t go away so you can guess what happened next. Luckily, I only threw up a couple times, then I was able to go back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I felt awful though. I went upstairs for breakfast--we were supposed to have corn flakes, but I told me host sister I couldn’t eat that because I had been sick and my stomach was still feeling really weird, so she sent my host brother to buy me some plain french bread. I had that for breakfast, then came back down to my room and slept until lunch. For lunch they made chicken soup, so I was able to just have the broth. Then I slept some more. When my host mom came home she brought me some tea and asked what I wanted for dinner. I told her something plain, like rice or pasta with nothing on it. She also told me a remedy they use in Guatemala is putting potatoes on your forehead because it’s supposed to help with the chills. So, she cute up some potatoes and a tshirt and tied the potatoes to my forehead--at that point I was willing to try almost anything because I still felt a bit queasy, it felt like someone had hit me over the head with a bat (but I couldn’t take advil for fear that it would come back up) and I had the chills and essentially just felt like....well, you know, really terrible. Somehow, I think the potatoes actually helped, or I just started to get better. My big excursion in between lunch and dinner was to go the tienda that’s about 15 paces from my house and buy some gatorade to help rehydrate. I had plain past for dinner and went back to bed--I think I slept for basically 36 hours, but it paid off because Sunday I was able to get out of bed. In the morning I still felt pretty bad, but at lunch time I was able to go out and get some food (because we don’t eat with our host families on Sunday, my family was nice enough to give me bread and coffee this Sunday since I was sick). After lunch time I started feeling better, I think eating real food again was really exciting. By Sunday evening I felt like I could work the next day, but I still went to bed really early. I have to say, I hate being sick, and when you’re not in your own bed, it’s even worse. Hopefully I’ll stay well now!

Ziplining video

I'm not sure how great the quality is, but here is a video of one of the longest ziplines :)

A few photos

The hieroglyphic staircase in Copán
Arrival in Honduras
Our first grupo de mujeres
One of our first garden boxes
The presidential election is coming up in September, so political parties have painted their sign on...literally...everything (rocks, light posts, stores...)

One of our first days in San Pedro

Three countries in four days

We decided to take our big trip at the beginning of the second week in hopes that we might be able to pick up our water filters along the way. We had contacted some organizations in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. So far, we had only heard back from Nicaragua, and they were quite a bit cheaper than Guatemala, but also fairly far away. Unfortunately, we didn’t hear back from Honduras or El Salvador, so we ended up having to get filters in Guatemala anyways. We did eventually hear back from Honduras, and their filters were about the same as Guatemala--so it wasn’t so bad that we didn’t hear back from them. Our trip was a lot of fun. We decided to go to Copán this year because there had been some problems up in the Tikal area with the drug traffickers from Mexico coming down into Guatemala. The first day, Saturday, we just drove across the country--literally. We left San Pedro at 6 in the morning and took a boat over to Pana. There, we met Samuel, our driver. We all loaded up in the car and hit the road for Rio Dulce. Sometime around 11:30 (I’m not exactly sure what happened because I was sleeping), we broke down in Guatemala City. Something smelled like it was burning and then something started smoking--never a good sign. We had broken down right behind another truck that had run out of gas; of course, this caused a huge traffic jam because there are not shoulders on the road in Guatemala so we were stalled out in one of the lanes of a two lane freeway. At one point, another car that was trying to pass us broke down right next to us, blocking both of the lanes so nobody could get by. Luckily, it was a little car, so we all got together and pushed it up the road (of course we were stalled out on a hill). Eventually, the traffic police came and asked Samuel what had happened. He explained to them and they helped direct traffic around us. When a big semi truck was about to go around us, the traffic police stopped them and asked them to pull us up the hill (just a random truck that was driving by). Sometime during all this, the truck that had run out of gas got more gas and drove off; we got tied to the back of the semi-truck with a rope they had and they pulled us up the road to a place where we were out of the way (one of the guys who was driving the semi was shirtless and decided to pose on the back of the truck for us while they were towing us...it was SO FUNNY). We got up the hill, said thank you them and then decided we would hail taxis (in the middle of the freeway, no less) to take us up to McDonalds..the closest place we could go. We hung out there for about an hour to wait for our new driver (because generally when the engine is smoking it’s not just a quick fix).

We all got some lunch...of course only the best quality from McDonalds. Brionne, who’s a vegetarian, tried to order a grilled cheese. It took 5 minutes and 5 people working at McDonalds and me to translate what she wanted...I guess grilled cheese isn’t something they often have ordered. But, eventually, very confusedly, the confirmed that she wanted just bread with cheese, nothing else, and she got her grilled cheese. We continued on our way to Rio Dulce that night and made it, surprisingly, before dark. That night we just hung out near our hotel and grabbed some dinner down by the river. The next day, everyone except me went on a boat ride down the river to Livingston. I decided that since I’d gone last year, I wasn’t going to go again this year. It’s a lot of fun and a really pretty ride, but I decided I would save the money and do the canopy tour instead, because I didn’t want to pay for both.

So Saturday morning, when they all left at 7, I got to sleep in :) It was nice, I slept pretty late, til about 9:30, then got up, took a cold shower (because it’s really hot and humid in Rio Dulce), packed up my things, found our van driver (Jorge) and dropped my stuff in the car. Then I grabbed my book and headed on down to the restaurant on the river. I spent the whole morning just reading and hanging out. It was nice to actually relax and not have to do anything. Right before everyone got back, I found some old alumni from Cal who were also vacationing down in Guatemala. I talked with them for a little while until everyone got back from the boat ride. After that, we hit the road for Copán. Of course, we got going later than we meant to and didn’t hit Honduras until dusk...breaking the golden rule of traveling in Central America...NEVER TRAVEL AT NIGHT!!!

Luckily, because we were at the border, there’s always tons of security around and even though they assured us it would be safe to drive to Copán because there were police all along the way, Mark insisted that someone accompany us just to be on the safe side (and of course we would provide them with compensation). We ended up hanging out at the border for like 45 because some of the people were going home so they said they would just drive with us and make sure we were safe. Crossing the border wasn’t too bad. You just have to pay a little bit to get out of Guatemala and a little to get into Honduras and then show your passports at both places. We saw a couple of really big toads while we were waiting, but we crossed the road to look at them they hopped away quickly. Anyways, we drove into the city of Copán and found a place to stay for the night. The city is really cute, it reminds me of an old colonial city--it has a little plaza in the middle and cobblestone streets. We wandered down by the plaza for dinner and found a nice little restaurant. I got papusas which were delicious and a cerveza made in Honduras, to compare with the Guatemalan ones--it was pretty good. After dinner we all went back to our rooms and went to sleep because we had to get up early the next day to get to the ruins. The next morning we just ate in the cafe at our hotel. I got a baleada--a Honduran speciality which is essentially a flour tortilla with beans and cheese and sour cream and hot sauce...really, really yummy.

Once again, we got on the road later than we meant to because we all to go to the ATM to get out Limperas, because all we had were Quetzales. Luckily, the ruins were only about 10 minutes from our hotel so we still got there right as they were opening. The whole area the ruins are in is a lot smaller than Tikal and the ruins are nearly as grandiose, but they have a lot more intricate detail. There are a lot of statues and detailed carvings in the pyramids themselves...and there was one structure that said it was a steam bath! We spent the whole morning wandering around the ruins (and of course climbing all the ones we were allowed to). They had everything from royal residences to a hieroglyphic staircase that supposedly told the story of Copán was started to a ball court. It was cool--and I enjoyed seeing all the various carvings they had (some looked, really, really, strange). Once we had finished with the main plaza and the residences, we went out a “nature trail” which is supposedly where the common folk lived, except they haven't really excavated it yet. So mostly what you can see is a bunch of mounds where the houses used to be, with a few things excavated, and then they have put up some signs talking about how their daily lives were. After the ruins we went over to the canopy tour. It was a little hard to find because it’s in the middle of nowhere and we had to ask like 4 people for directions, but eventually we found it. It was AWESOME...some of the ziplines were over 1 kilometer long...it feels like you’re flying through the air forever. And on a few of them you go over these huge canyons, which is a little scary, but really cool to see all the trees down below. I think everyone enjoyed it.

After that, we all loaded up into the car again and headed for El Salvador. We wanted to hiking in Parque Nacional Montecristo up to a point in the mountains where Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador come together, but after we got to El Salvador, we realized it would be a whole day excursion. We debated whether we should blow off work for another day and go, but ultimately decided against it. So, we just ended up hanging out in the little town of Metápan, El Salvador for the night. The hotel was really expensive--$20--but the food was cheap (oh yeah, they use the dollar in El Salvador, which was weird). We went to a little taco restaurant across the street from our hotel and got really yummy tacos. I also accidentally ordered a sandwich...my brain wasn’t functioning and I thought I was ordering a tostada (like fried tortilla with stuff) but I ordered a torta (sandwich)...but it turned out to be really good. Then, we just hung out and wandered around the rest of the night. We tried to find a club or something to go to, but there wasn’t much going on. The next morning we hit the road again for San Pedro.

The whole trip was a lot of fun and I’m glad we got to go. It was cool to see Copán and compare it to Tikal and to go on a different canopy tour. I’m bummed we didn’t get to go hiking, but hopefully I’ll be able to come back sometime :)

Now...the pictures I’ve been promising...