Lima: Semana 1

I arrived and could not find my taxi that I booked, but I found a really nice man that worked for the taxi company affiliated with the airport, so I figured that was safe enough. He could not figure out where the hell my house was but eventually we found it. I arrived to the house, went inside and asked the girl if she was Sylvia. She said no and I asked well does she live here. Then she said yes, and I was just so confused. There were a bunch of people in the house too so I didn´t really understand if I was supposed to be there or what. Then she showed me my room which is way bigger and nicer than my own room and the closet is wonderful. After a while the mom came in and then I actually got to meet her and talk to her and what not. Turns out her daughter went to Portland University and now lives in Seattle. She is an architect and it makes sense because her house is really cool with a lot of atriums and weird spaces but decorated really nicely. She has about 4 people that work for her, one girl to help her with her architecture and to serve me, one to cook, one to clean, and one to walk the dog. I guess she has me for more company because she definitely does not need the money!

On Monday, I went to class and I love my teacher. He is the coordinator of all teachers and I think he is my favorite teacher I have had do far. But, of course, its only for one week. There was another girl in my class but she only comes on mondays usually since she just doesnt really like school. I dont get it but whatever. I hate coming to a new school and always having to make new friends, i have already made new friends! And have lots at home! It is getting tiring, I am glad to be staying in BA for a while after this. But after class we went with the new students to explore one neighborhood in Lima. We went to this vineyard just to try the wine and it was terrible. It was so sweet and I did not like it at all. After I went to the horrible internet cafe and then to the house, had dinner, some tv and then went to bed. The next day I got up early in the morning and went for a run and felt like a normal person again because I could actually breathe again. The altitude afected me more than I realized. I could only run for maximum 10 minutes in Cusco, but I ran 30 minutes no problem like normal. It was such a pretty run in this park right on the coast and you could see the ocean. Class was fine and after I went to chinese food for lunch. It was not bad but I got one too many bones in my chicken and was a little turned off. With the school, I went to la iglesia de San Francisco and went on my millionth tour. Underneath the church was a lot of dead bodies because they thought that they would get to heaven faster if they were buried inside the church. We walked around the center of town a little bit, had an ice cream, then went back to the house. This week is a little on the restful side for me considering I am preparing for my family to get here. And knowing Conor I am going to have to go out every night of the week. I told my teacher that because I think he thinks I am kinda lame since I haven´t been going out and doing that much and then told him about how my brother and cousins are going to want to go out lots in BA. Then he asked what my brothers name was and when I said Conor, he said well obviously, that is a name for a drinker. haha Then I asked what my name was for and he said oh Caitlin´s only like to go out 2 max three times a week. ANd I was like you are absolutely right! And later in that day we were talking about middle names and he guessed mine without any clues... Elizabeth probably is the most common middle name though.

The next day I had class and went to the surf lesson to watch, but it was too too cold and I had no desire to hop in the cold ocean. But thursday there was cooking class, so of course I attended that. We made causa rellena which is like a potato sandwitch. It was pretty good but a lot of potatoes for me. I am pretty potatoed and riced out at this point. After, it was a students birthday so we went to a bar and I had a hot chocolate with mint schnapps. My teacher was impressed with the sounds of that so he got one too. It came with coffee when I destinctly told them no cafe but they didnt listen. Then i sent it back and got a new one but my teacher didnt want to complain as well even though he didnt want coffee either. He said I was allowed to complain since I was a girl but he wasnt. We went to another bar after and had some beers and then I went home at a decent hour. Friday was my last day of spanish school from 3 whole months. I was ready to be done with it though, it was fun but the rest I think I will be able to learn by practicing by being here. We had a bbq like every friday and after I went to have a drink with Yesenia, the girl that lives in my house and serves me but is younger than me. So weird. ANd then after that, with the school, we went to this water fountain show thing where there were all these weird fountains with different colors and it reminded me of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I went home that night since I had no desire to go out, all I wanted was to get to Buenos Aires the next day and be with my family! The airport the next day was an absolute mess, the lines were so unorganized and then I had to wait in another line to pay for my extra luggage, then i had to pay the tax, then i ran to my flight with 3 minutes to spare.

Cusco: Semana 3

One good thing about a really religious country are the holidays! There was no school on Monday porque it was the day of the Immaculate Conception. They had a little mass within the housing community and a procession after with the statue. Then we were all waiting around for whatever and i thought the lady handed me coke but it was rum and coke. Rum and coke at 11 am on a holy day, why not? We had lunch after and after that I went to one last Inka structure because my tourist ticket expired that day. I went with Fiorella to Saqsaywaman which is pretty much pronounced sexy women. It was very similar to all the rest. But when we got back, the dancing and drinking had begun, all the celebrators of the holy day were drunk and dancing all around. It was pretty funny, it just seemed kind of ironic that they do not drink that much because they are more conservative than most but on the religious holidays it is appropriate to get wasted! fine by me though! The next day I had a new teacher who was very nice but oh so boring. After class I had many errands to do and then atthe night time we had "cooking class" which was more of me watching everyone cook. But we ate locro de zapallo which was absolutely delicious. It was a puree of squash with cheese and corn and onions and it was one of my favorite peruvian foods so far I think. Wednesday was a lazy day but i did saltar soga with Renzo. We jumped rope for a really long time and I was actually sore the next day. Quite agood workout! Thursday after class I went to the gym and then Ygor and I went to a school to play with some children...it was an afterschool program for the kids whose parents work on the streets. I thought I had seen poor, but these kids were a new level. We all know that kids are dirty and I have done my fair share of babysitting, but these kids clothes had been worn for a week in a row and one of the little girls had no underwear on and smelled like she had definitely wet her pants. All new eye opening experiences, but kids are still the same kids no matter what they are wearing. When I went home I had some dinner and it was the first dinner that I simply could not eat. It was some mash of corn and cheese and really gross. But I was sooo hungry since I had worked out and played with kids all day so I had to ask for something else cuz I simply was hungry and couldnt eat it. I felt very rude but fio didnt care, and also she didn´t make it so it didnt really matter.

Friday was quite a day. I had my very last test ever and I got a 97%! yay! They had some lunch for me and I finally got my package from dad and conor. It was really exciting to get it and i was so excited. After I went on a tour of the Inka Museum with Mauricio who is the brother of Fiorella, the nephew of mi madre. I went with Mauricio and Rencito on the tour and then after I wanted to go to the post office because I still was waiting for my package from Melanie. At this point I had been to the post office about 4 times, so I knew to come between 545 and 6 to talk to the post man. I saw the post man and he told me that he tried to drop it off at 2 but no one was there. Of course no one was there. I think I told him 10 times that the school closes at 1. But my package was in customs. I went to customs with my post man and the lady at customs told me that it was not the hour, I need to come back monday. I tried to explain that I am leaving the country on Sunday so there is really no other time than now to pick up my package. She said she didn´t care, it was not her problem. I simply tried to tell her again and ask her what there was to do since I was leaving the country and she told me that I need to come back monday. She obviously did not give two ##### if I got my package or not. She probably wanted my wonderful gift! Then I was so frustrated after going to the stupid post office so many times that I started crying and said it is my birthday present and I just want my package. And she said that she shouldn´´t even be there at that hour and what would I do if she wasnt there. ANd I said, well with luck, you are here, and fortunately you can help me since you stayed a little later than normal. She didnt look up but she went and got my package. THen she wanted my passport. Well, obvi I dont carry my passport around with me in this dangerous country, so I showed her my liscence, my student id and told her that I could show her more documents with my name on it. She and the man behind the counter said no that is not good enough. I said can I run back home and get my passport and be back in 10 minutes. No, I am going to leave in 5 minutes. So I am standing there. waiting. they give me no options of what I can do to get this package. So i grab the package and run as fast as i can out of the room. But, I had to open a door which slowed me down and when I got outside I was trying to look for a taxi and then the watch man grabbed me and took my package away! I screamed at him and told him it was my package and he still took it. Everyone was staring and I still didn´t get my package. I have never encountered such a bitchy heartless woman in my life and I hope I never do again. Mauricio and Renzo came out after and were like what just went on?? It was really funny and we went back to the house and I told the family and mi tia told me that she is friends with the administrator so I probably could have gotten my package that way. Lol well I wasn´t quite thinking straight at the time. The next day we went back and she tried to help us but didn´t have the key and she called the man that was in the customs who was also really mean and he said that he would not come help anyone who would behave in such a manner as i had the day before. All too funny, so I had to go get a letter of power or something of that manner, thats at least how it translates from spanish but I think it is something else, saying the Fiorella could pick up the package for me. Then I had to get it notarized, then I had to make a copy of my passport and leave money for her to send it to me in Lima. What a hassle. ALl because of the bitchy lady.

That night we went out for mi despedida and I asked to go to Rodrigo´s again where they had pollo a la broaster which is the best fried chicken in the world. So we had that for dinner and then went out with Fiorella´s friends to a bar for this girls birthday. Then we went to a club which was much different than any of the rest of the clubs since it was for peruanos instead of tourists. I liked it a lot better by the looks of it but then there were only high school aged kids in the bar! It was crowded with youngins. It is still so weird for me to see young people at clubs drinking since I could never do that when I was in high school. So, I left kind of early, wasn´t really feeling it, plus I had to get up early and pack. The next day I was off to Lima after breakfast and had to say goodbye to my wonderful family. They were simply the best and could not have asked for better. It was the first family that I actually felt a part of the family and would feel more than comfortable coming back to visit them or tell friends to go visit them when they go to Peru. I really hope to return one day and see them.

Cusco: Semana 2

On Monday, a new student arrived so I was not the only one anymore! Yay. His name is Sebastian and he is from France but lives in Miami. The first day he wanted to go find a gym to go to for the week which was quite weird to me, but it made me motivated to sign up too. So Marisol and I went to the gym later that day and at night we went out to the clubs to show Sebastian around but he went home a little early. Marisol is good friends with the owner now so she somehow managed to get me a tshirt that says Mama Africa...our favorite night club. Oh and earlier that day, I went to the post office to see if any of my birthday packages had arrived yet but i had to go to the back and meet my post man. Turns out he dropped it off next door because we have the same address, so we walked together for 20 minutes to the other location and i am now best friends with the post man. I got my mail just fine!

Tuesday was the big day. The day to eat cuy. Which is guinea pig. The special meat of all of Peru. We went to the first restaurant and had to walk up a million stairs to findout that it was closed. So then, we went to another restaurant. We ordered the cuy and recieved it with head and nails and all. It was fried and actually decently good but with every bite, I thought I am eating guinea pig and couldnt really enjoy it. I am glad I tried it but have no desire to eat it ever again. We all watched movies at Marisol´s that night. Wednesday we went to my first futbol game in south america! We got there and bought our tickets on the street for about $5 and entered. I bought a sandwitch and ice cream and coke all for about $2. What a difference between this and a sporting event in the states! I think Sebastian bought every single thing that they sold and gave what he didnt like to Ygor (the activities coordinator). After that I was supposed to go to the birthday part of the grandma of my family but there was confusion and I didn´t end up going. But I found the channel that has gossip girl!!! So I was happy and am now caught up with one of my shows. Thursday we went horse back riding but this time it was much cheaper and much scarier. We stopped off at different Inka places to see. During my last ride back to the stable, the horse wanted to kill me. ALl the other horses started to gallop a little bit and mine did too which was fine until he went into the trees where branches were at my stomach level and I was trying to pull the reigns to make him stop at the same time dodging the branches. I almost had a heartattack but i survived. I was more scared than need be but what´s new. We went to dinner at one of the aunts house that night and she made the best drink ever. It was champagne blended with ice and canned peaches. It was way better than a mimosa and I didn´t know that was possible! Friday we worked out and then bought food for dinner and supplies for me to make chocolate chip cookies. I had been craving them for far too long so it was time. It was quite an adventure finding the supplies as well as making them without my wonderful mixer and all by hand. The batter was just as good as always but when i went to put them in the oven, they all spread together and were so so crispy. The altitude here is way too high and didnt work. But they were good enough. Everyone from school came over that night after dinner and we had a pre party at the house and then went to Mama Africa. I celebrated my birthday at midnight and we danced the night away. Ygor was too drunk and dissapeared after 15 minutes. None of us have phones though, so we couldnt really figure out what happened til later. Saturday, my birthday, wasn´t exactly how I had hoped and dreamed. I woke up to no one in the house and ate breakfast alone. I wanted to wait for my family to call but didn´t want to be alone so i went to Marisols and we just watched movies all day. We had a interesting peruvian dinner and the girl and son I live with bought me my favorite chocolate that I buy everyday which was really nice. They bought me a whole box! yum but badd. for me. And the aunt gave me a jewlery set from the company she works for. Its kind of like an avon company. We went out that night but I just wasnt really feeling it and wanted to be with my friends and family. Also, not having a phone to recieve calls really put a damper on it:( Oh well, better luck next year. Sunday, i did much of the same...relaxing day and at the end we went to a restaurant that has burritos and I got one and surprise surprise it still didnt fulfill my burrito craving.

Cusco, Peru: Semana 1

Well I had a panic attack when I arrived. No joke. I am NOW in south america. I thought being in Puno was different because it was a poorer city, but no. We got into the terminal de buses and all i could see was a dirty city filled with poor people. And sidenote, I got to sit next to this really large smelly traditional peruvian woman the whole 8 hour bus ride. I miss Josi already:( She would sit next to me and I wouldnt notice that we happen to be the only tourists on the whole bus. But I definitely noticed when I was alone. Anyways, I began to calm down once I took a taxi to my house because the center of cusco is actually quite nice. Very rustic but in a nice way. I found my house all right and met my mother, Judy, and her 9 year old son, Renzo. Marisol, the director of the school, was also there. I met her first in Buenos Aires, then in Chile, and now she recently is the new director since Cusco school just opened. I have my own room and bathroom and all is great. There is also a spanish guy living in the house that is working here on a project for a few months. That night I went out dancing with Marisol to Mama Africa...all the clubs are filled with tourists. I bought I think 3 drinks for less than 7 dollars. So cheap I love it already! The next morning I got up and had breakfast with the family. Her sister came over and brought some food and then I find out that we are going later that day to eat Chicharron. I had no clue what it was when I was going but soon found out that it is just a big slab of fried pig with some fried potatoes and some cornish stuff. It was actually muy rico but I defintely gained five pounds in one sitting. Later that day we went to mi madres cousins house to have hot chocolate. Mmmm was it good. It was made with real coco and sugar and milk and some cinnamon. I had 2. ANd the cousin spent the whole time talking about this drink that he has called ayasuaca that the people of the jungle drink to talk to the gods...pretty much a justified hallucinogen. I was just sitting their nodding my head during the story but then he showed us a film from you tube that was in english, and thennnn the pieces were put together. Ther first time I got to speak english all day was when I called dad and gram that night. Wow this is going to be a learning filled week.

Monday was my first day of classes in Cusco. I am not only the only student in my class, I am the only student in the whole school since it is brand new! So, I have a private teacher and the activities director is my private tourguide. We had a welcome lunch like normal and went for a tour around the city. After that, I went home and had some dinner. Everything here is served with at least rice and usually potatoes as well. The next day I learned all about different refrains and frases in spanish. A lot of them are similar to the ones in english like ¨speak of the devil¨or ¨its on the tip of my tongue¨. After class I went to Qoricancha which is a church in Cusco. It was made by the Inkas but when the spanish came here, they took down most all of it, or covered it up. So now, half of it is Inka, half spanish. Later that night I told mi madre that I wanted to learn how to knit more detailed things so we bought me some baby alpaca which is so soft and sooo nice. We went to her uncles house to look at his artwork and we had some tea and cookies there. Then we went to this chicken place and we ate broasted chicken which is pretty much fried chicken and french fries and I think i could have died and gone to heaven. It was the best fried chicken I have ever had. After dinner, we went home to start my scarf but I was tired and it was really frustrating because she was trying to explain it to me in spanish and something i dont know how to do with workd that i dont know in spanish is not a good combination. Wednesday after class I did some errands with mi madre and then I booked my tour to Macchu Picchu. We had a late lunch which consisted of a mixture of frech fries, tuna, tomatos, and red peppers and rice. Interesting mixture that I dont think I would ever have thought of but it was still good. We went to the mega store to buy food for thanksgiving but couldnt find much. No turkey, squash instead of pumpkin, etc. That night I went out again with Marisol and some other kids that I met in Santiago that I happened to run into on the streets of Cusco. We had a fun night out...all free drinks because the promoters want you to go to their club and then they dont want you to leave so they give you more free drinks. Before I went out, I twisted my anke when I fell of some stairs and then danced on it all night and my foot was not happy the next morning.

My Peruvian Thanksgiving: Yes, I had to wake up early, yes I had to go to school, and no I could not find the Thanksgiving parade on tv:( BUT I did cook all day. We had Thanksgiving at Marisol´s house and there were eight people. Mi madre, Judy, cooked the chicken (since there is no turkey here until christmas) and I did the rest with the help of Judy´s niece who happens to be in college for cooking! There are no cans of pumpkin here so I boiled the whatever type of squash that i found that was yellow enough, and started to make the filling. But when i finished the filling was so watery, we knew that it wasnt going to set, it would just be liquid. So thanks to Fiorella, she made a better pumpkin puree that looked more like what would come out of a can and then our filling was much better looking. I made mashed potatoes and they turned out really well but they were very gummy. The type of potatoes I bought was not the right one I dont think. They have so many choices in the grocery store that I just grabbed the most normal looking ones. Anyways, I made everyone around the table say what they were thankful for, in spanish or course, and we ate our delicious meal. Everyone even liked the pie! What a success, but I was tired after a long day of cooking. I went back to the house and called the family and it made me super home sick! But, I have to remember I have many normal thanksgivings ahead of me and this is one that I will never forget. Plus I got to share a tradition with people that had never experienced the holiday. Still, I am counting down the days until my family gets here!!

I had my test the next day, which I passed but I actually had a debate over grammer with the teacher because I thought I was right even though he marked it wrong. I still got a good grade but I still think that I am right! After class, I had an interview with a marketing company over skype for an internship in Buenos Aires. I have the internship if I want it, but I think that I am going to look around a little more when I get there just to make sure that this internship would be the best for me. After that, I went shopping! There is this one market that sells all pirated dvds and cds for less than $1 a piece which is less than it costs to rent a movie so I bought a lot. I can just leave them here and it is still worth it. I also got this cool sweathshirt that looks like PUMA but then says PERU with a llama. Its pretty funny. That night we went out for pizza and we tried pizza with alpaca. It was alright but not something that I need to eat again.

The next morning was the start of my trip to Machu Picchu! I got up and the company called to tell me that my student id was not working and they were on there way now and so Judy rushed me to get ready and then I sat and waited for 35 minutes after i literally ran around. I kind of feel like I have a mother who is making sure I get to everything ontime which is nice on occasions, but sometimes I want to remind her that I am 22 years old! But anyways, all worked out fine, got on the bus and went to Valle Sagrado. We visited a market in Pisaq, Pisaq ruins and Ollantitamba ruins. It was interesting kind of but I have not learned much about the Inka culture before and it is not as fun seeing something you know nothing about. After that, I had to catch the train to Aguas Calientes which is the place you stay overnight if you are going to Machu Picchu in the morning. I got to my hotel and of course I didn´t brnig my passport because it is safer at my house. But then, they told me you have to have your passport bla bla bla or you have to pay. So I had my first real fight in spanish. But I still had to pay. It was the agencies fault for not telling me and no matter how cheap the cost is, I am really sick and tired of being the tourist that gets ripped off! My room had nothing in it except a bed, so I just read and went to bed early. At ten someone knocked on my window and scared the hell out of me since i was already creeped out being alone in this weird room, but it was just the guy giving me my ticket for the next day. The tourguide told me he would pick me up at 7:30 to go to the bus station and then up the hill, but he never showed up. So I managed to find it by myself but was annoyed. I got there and decided to go with the english speaking half of the group but I chose wrong. I know for a fact I can speak better spanish than she could english! But it was a fine tour and after we had free time so i climbed this mountain called Wayna Picchu. I went with a guy I met in my group which made it more fun, but it was such a hard hike. Straight up hill with all these rocks for steps. The ascent was hard enough with the altitude and everything but i enjoyed going up a lot better than down. Once We got to the top, it wasnt better, it was worse. There were smaller stairs and no hand rails and wayyyy steeper. I was 50 times more scared at the top of this mountain than when i went paragliding. But luckily on the way down, the Argentine air force was going down at the same time and at one point one guy was holding my hand and the other guy was holding my backpack since I was so scared going down this one part. I went home on the train, talked with this american couple and on the train up there was food so I didnt eat thinking that i would get free food. But no so at one stop there was this lady that sells choclo y queso (corn and cheese) and i flagged her over to get some and then practically the whole train did the same thing after me. It was delicous. Overall I had a good weekend in Machu Pichu, it was quite an amazing site, but I really do like enjoying my travels with someone I know rather than going at it alone. Plus, I am getting pretty bored of tours at this point, so I am done for a while and just going to enjoy the rest of my time here without trying to see every touristy thing possible.

Backpacking!!

La Serena

We arrived in La Serena on Sunday morning at like 6 am. Our hostel didn´t even open until 7 so we had to hang out for a while until it opened. Then once we put our stuff down we walked around thinking maybe this would be our sunday that we actually go to church since we had both talked about it, but not a single church was open for mass. So we just had some breakfast and read the news paper. We met up with our dutch friends, Susan and Ellen and we went to Valle Elqui to take a tour of the Pisco vineyard. It was kind of like a winery but they make it a little bit different...I couldn´t really understand this spanish tour since the vocabulary was over my head. We went to Vicuña to have dinner and then went home. We wanted to take a tour of the penguins/ sea lions/ dolphins the next day but the weather was bad. That is the only real thing we wanted to do in La Serena so we waited another day to do it on Tuesday. On Monday we went out to lunch and to the beach and at night we went to the observatorium. You can see the stars so much better from here and we got to look at the craters on the moon and all the different astrology characters in the sky and venus and ya, it was pretty cool. But it went on for a while and i was about to fall asleep. I just slept the whole car ride home. Oh and the funniest part was that i ran into this guy Andrew who I met at Nicole, my sorority friends', despedida. This travelling world is just one small place, or as you would say in spanish, ¨el mundo es un pañuelo¨which literally translates to the world is a hankerchief, but still the same thing. Today they told us that the penguin tour was going to happen... 85% sure and no. It didnt. we got up at 7 and packed our whole hostel up showered, ate breakfast and was sitting ready and then the receptionist decided to tell us that it was cancelled for the weather again. So annnoying. So we are out of here as sooon as possible, La serena doesn´t want us to see their penguins. I found out later in the day that it was cancelled purely because the company that takes the boats out didn't feel like working, not even because of the weather! Very very chilean of them. We went on a bike ride along the beach instead and made it to our afternoon bus to San Pedro with 5 minutes to spare this time.

San Pedro de Atacama

We got off the 17 hour bus ride and didn't realize where we actually had arrived considering all we could see was a desert. We managed to find our hostel about 2 blocks away though, and I had a "i am in south america" moment yet again. Ellen and Susan were already there and had booked us a tour to go to this salt lagoon. We took a long bus ride there and swam in this salt lagoon that was so strange. There was so much salt that you just floated without doing anything. You try to swim breastroke but you couldnt keep your feet in the water, they would just pop up. I had a great time swimming in there, but left with a film of salt all over my body.

The next day, we decided to let ourselves sleep in. We went on a run since working out hasnt really been a priority but the elevation was so high that we ran for about 8 minutes and then we about died. We actually cooked ourselves eggs this morning since our restaurant eating was getting a little out of budget. Later that day we went on a tour called Valle de la Luna. First we went to death valley and we were hiking around and then we were at the top of this sand dune. Then our tour guide said, "ok do whatever you want." We were all really confused but then people just started running down this giant sand hill. It was so much fun, and a happy surprise to the tour. After, we went up some other hill to watch the sunset, and the full moon come out. We waited forever for the moon to come and I kept bugging the tour guide to know when it was coming since I was freezing with my shorts on. The day into night in the desert is a huge difference. Then the full moon came out and we had been joking about the romantic full moon and me and Josi obviously not coupled, so when it finally came out, the tour guide proposed to me. I kindly refused though. Later that night we met up with some people from the tour at a bar and hung out with the tour guides. We went back to their little house afterwards and the tour guide was showing us his dance moves that he told me he learned on the street. He was quite a character.

Our last day in San Pedro, we went on a full day tour. The highlights were seeing flamingos in the salt flats and some really pretty lagoons. The flamingos aren't the same hot pink that you would originally think of and I found out that they get their pink color from their food. But, with global warming, their food is dying off, thus they do not have enough food to keep them healthy, and pink! Good thing I saw them now because they might be gone before I know it! We had to take a bus to this town called Calama to take another bus in the morning. So we stayed at this absolutely horrible hostel. We got there and they told us it was more expensive than they had before. And there was no way I was going to spend as much at that hostel as I had at the normal hostels. So I was strong and did some good bargaining skills in spanish and he said he had to go talk to his boss. Then he came back and said ok. It was 11 at night, no one else was coming to stay so I am sure they wanted whoever they could get. I put my jacket on my pillow case since I wasnt really sure how clean it was. Thank god we got out of there at six am to take our next bus. But on the way to the bus station, our taxi cab driver pointed out a dead man in the middle of the street. Absolutely loved Calama.

Iquique

Driving into Iquique, I could tell we were going back into civilization. It is a beach town and really beautiful. Our hostel was a world of difference better than the last one...a big beach house less than a block away from the beach. The only problem is that the toilet is in the same stall as the shower. We went to the grocery store and wanted sandwiches so I tried to ask the lady at the deli if she made sandwiches or just sliced the meat. She told me she made sanwiches but no, in reality she just sliced the meat and cheese. So I had about 6 different bags of ingredients to make one sandwich. Then we went to two stores to get plastic spoons and knives which we had to pay for. Then, Josi and I layed out on the beach and had to pay to sit under one of the million umbrellas, it is amazing what they can get you to buy around here! That night we decided we were really going to go out since there were clubs and all, but we had some cocktails and at midnight were ready to go to bed. Travelling is taking a toll on my body!

Sunday morning we decided we were going to paraglide. The company picked us up at noon and we were on our way up the huge mountain! I was freaking out. They put a suit on us and strapped all these buckles on me while I was just focusing on breathing one breath at a time. Then all of a sudden he told me to run and I was pulled into the air before I knew it! Once I was in the air, I was completely comfortable and totally relaxed. We mainly stayed near the mountains, but went over the town and landed on the beach. While we were hovering over the ocean, he asked me if I wanted to do some tricks, and I kind of agreed. So he whipped me around from side to side and if I thought about it, I would have freaked out but I just let myself enjoy it and it was amazing. The landing was easy and it was definitely worth it. Vale la pena as they say en espanol. Oh! I have had two kinda dreams that parts were in spanish. That is supposed to be a good sign though in that you are starting to get fluent! I am happy about that. For dinner, we had chinese food which I was so happy about since I have not found a good chinese restaurant yet. We watched some tv at the hostel and prepared for our next longgg day of travelling to cross the border into Peru.

Well, we tried to cross the border the next day but there was a protest in Chile so we couldnt. We went back to our hostel and were able to stay in the exact same room that we had before. So instead of a travel day we had another relaxing beach day. At the night time, we decided to make some food with our new british friends so we made fajitas. And we bought a bunch of red wine and beer and decided that we were going to teach the boys how to play beer pong. So we did and they thought it was such a great game (which it obviously is!) The mixture of red wine and beer did not do well for Josi and me...we learned that the british can drink even more than americans!!

Puno

We actually got to leave this day and it was a longgg freaking day. We got a bus to Arica, then ahd to take a taxi to the border, then another taxi from the border to Tacna and then from Tacna overnight to Peru. And Tacna is where all of the protests have been so we didnt want to leave the bus station so we sat inside for about 4 hours. Then we took a scary longg ride to Puno, Peru. We arrived in the morning and took naps in our hostel. The elevation is really high there so we took a day of rest, just shopped and ate and watched a movie. The next day was quite an Adventure!

We decided to spend a night on an island with this tour group because I guess that is the thing to do on Lago Titicaca. We went by boat to one island that is floating that all the houses are made out of reed. There are all these traditional peruvian women that wear these huge skirts and this little hat on their head and they are pretty large. They told us to get in this boat to cross the island which was made out of all reed and then once we were in it, they told us that it cost 10 soles each person which is not that much but it was just the principal that we had no choic because we were in the middle of the lake at that point! These south americans all want to take advantage of us since we are rich in their eyes. Then we took a really long boat ride to the next island-Amantani- and I definitely was not feeling so hot after that boat ride. So we got out and were assigned to a family for the night. I guess the ladies stand at the port everyday and wait to see if they can get any tourists to stay with them, because that is their only form of income. We went with a women named Violeta to her humble abode and waited for here to make us lunch. The oven looked like it should have been in a museum. The ¨stovetop¨was made of stone and a fire underneath. She kept the fire going with tree branches. She made us soup with potatoes and some fried cheese and some more potatoes and rice. And then for dinner we had the same thing. In between we walked up this hill and we were all dying since the altitude is way higher than anything I am used to. We got to this temple and had to walk around three times to recieve positive energy. After dinner, the mom and her 6 year old daughter dressed us up in their traditional outfits and we went to a dance with all the tourists and the moms. We danced the night away (til 9:30) to some peruvian music and then we were pooped. I had an interesting night sleep. Oh and they had no electricity or running water or toilet paper or a seat on the toilet. But the mom happened to have a cell phone. And the family told me about 3 times that she was a single mom and the father went off with another woman. They just want you to feel bad and give them more money, its so weird but makes sense since, again, we are rich in their eyes.

The next day we got up early and went to Isla Taquile. Just another island on Lago Titicaca that we walked around. Then they told us we were going to lunch and we had already paid for the whole package, so we figured it was included and then they tell us we all need to pay 15 soles for this lunch. Then we went back 4 hours on boat but this time this lady gave me a pill for motion sickness and i felt muchhh better. I had my final dinner with Josi that night at this italian place and we made a list of al our fun memories of our trip. We really had a great time together and I am so happy I found her as a travelling partner because we always seemed to be on the same page about everything from what we wanted to eat, to how much we wanted to spend on things, and places we wanted to see. She was off to travel the south of chile and me up to Cusco so she laft on a bus that night. I stayed in the hostel one more night and was going to leave in the morning. At the hostal that night, I watched sex and the city the movie and all of a sudden when it was over i had this weird feeling like, whoa, I am in Peru watching this movie about big exciting cities and girlfriends and shopping..it made me miss home:(

BTW the school address in Cusco where I will happen to be on December 6...hint hint... is:

ECELA
San Juan de Dios 250
Centro Historico
Cusco, Peru

Santiago: Semana 4

Time really does fly by...i feel like I just got here and it is already the last week! On tuesday of this week, I went to the Pablo Neruda house in Santiago. He has three houses and they are all somehow shaped like a boat. I knew I had heard of Pablo before but it wasn´t until we tok the tour that I actually remembered learning all about him in my spanish classes. So, it turned out to be more interesting than I thought. On Wednesday, I went out to lunch after class and we were on our way to this other museum since we didn´t have anything to do and I got all the way there and realized I had told some other girls that I would go to yoga with them, so i had to turn all the way around and not go. And then they didn´t even show up! It was a miscommunication but it was silly since I should have just gone to the museum since I wanted to. Oh well. That night I went out in Bella Vista with friends from school for some drinks. Nothing too exciting but one of the guys there was a brazillian model...I think i need to go visit brazil soon! Thursday night was a good night with a bad ending. I went to Carlos´ going away party...another one I know but this one was just his friends and it was outside of school. But I am luckily friends with his love interest at the moment so we got invited. Carlos used to have a mustache so the theme was mustaches and everyone put them on and was taking silly pictures. At first, no one was really talking to us since they were just all talking spanish to each other, but then once they had a few drinks we were the center of attention. They were all trying to practice their english, but I did end up speaking alot of spanish too since some of them really couldn´t speak english. It was supposed to be a bbq but we got there and there was no food, and then they went to the store to buy some chorizo and drinks, and then we had choripan which is there name for sausage in a hot dog bun. There was no chips, no side dishes...I definitely missed my traditional american bbq. nd there wasn´t even a cake for Carlos´going away! I would have baked one if i had the means to do so. I left my camera on the table since everyone was taking pictures and I figured if people wanted to take more pics with my camera, fine with me. There was only like 10 people there, 15 at most and I looked for my camera later in the night and it was gone! Someone stole it! I have no clue who would do that since everyone there was friends with Carlos, but its gone. I had it for a whole two months:( They must have figured they could steal it from the gringa since they would never see me again. So it was a fun night with a sad ending. Friday I had my last day of school...thank god since I am in a desperate need of a break from school. I want to be enjoying it so hopefully after two weeks of traveling I will be ready to finish up. Also, my teacher had this weird tick that made him swallow really loudly like 57 times during class and I couldn´t really handle it anymore. I said my discurso at school and did some errands and then went home to have my last dinner with my chilean mother. I bought her some absolut pear vodka for a goodbye present since she drinks like $3 handles of vodka now. So we had a cocktail, then I packed for the trip. I had to let go of some unnecessary things but I think i will manage without them.

I had Josi sleep over on Friday night since my house mom always said ¨oh if any of your friends need to stay over they are more than welcome¨and then she asked where she was when it was time for dinner, even though I figured she wouldn´t feed her since I am the only one paying for food. But then the next morning she made Josi breakfast. Then we went off to Valpairaso for the day...we ended up running into a friend of Josi´s that she had met in BA and so we hung out with him most of the day. We went up an elevator to one of the hills and we found a place to eat chorillana. We went to all these nice looking restaurants but the only thing we wanted to eat was chorillana and this guy told us the best place to eat it and it was this dump of a restaurant with flies and stuff but we still sat down and ate it. It was delicious. It consists of a heap of french fries, grilled onions, egg, meat and cheese. I think the guy we were with was dissapointed in not going to one of his recommended nice restaurants but we didn´t really care. They were well worth it. We then went to Pablo´s other house that had an amazing view of all of Valpairaso which is right on the water. After that we walked along the beach to Viña del mar and took the bus home. When we got home that night we were in a rush to catch our midnight bus but we hadn´t eaten since lunch so I was still going to have some dinner that the mom had already made. She asked if Josi wanted some too so I said only if she had any extra. Then my chilean mother went off in about why was josi staying there, why didn´t she have a place to go, why was she eating her food, she was only trying to be a good host but she cant just give anyone food and a shower, I m supposed to be her only responsibility bla bla. It was so weird considering she was like forcing the food upon her and telling her that she should definitely stay the night. I think she must have expected us to pay her up front and then when we didnt, she was mad. I went from feeling like another part of her family to a person that she makes a lot of money off of. She made Josi pay her 10 mil which is like $15 for the night. It was such a bad note to leave the house on, but oh well at least I am out of there and don´t have to go back! We managed to make our midnight bus with 2 minutes to spare...josi was freaking out but I knew we were going to make it.

Santiago: Semana 3

I got a new teacher this week and she is much better. I think the problem with the other guy was that he liked to hear himself talk to much. Class is still good but I am now at the point that I am putting everything I have learned together and having to perfect my spanish even though it is no where near perfect! My friend Josi and I made a list of things to do this week so we could make sure to get everything in before we leave Santiago. Monday we were going to go to this new restaurant that we heard was good, but there was an activity with school to go to that exact same restaurant on wednesday so we didn´t go. But, we ate lunch at a good french restaurant then went shopping for our halloween costumes. We found some colorful mesh tops to wear to be 80´s since that is about the only thng we can be with our budget and lack of clothes here. Later that day, i tried to get a ticket to go to yoga but they were all full already. The guy told me to come in case someone didnt show up. First he gave me a tour and told me all about the place, I think he thought it was funny that a foreigner wanted to go to yoga or something. Then when i got there later, even though i was the 4th to arrive for the waiting list, he told me I was first on the list. Soo I got to go to yoga again and this time it was better since the guy spoke a lot slower and I could actually understand.

The next day after class we went to Concha y Toros which is a winery right outside of the city. We went on a tour of the winery and got to try a couple of wines. Their most famous wine is called Castillero del Diablo. He told us that the owner of the windery had his own cellar with all of his favorite wines but people would steal it. So he told everyone that there was a devil in the basement and then none of his wines were stolen again since latin americans are generally very supersticious. I have to admit there might be more to that story but it was in spanish so I got what I could. In class earlier I learned of another legend about the Trauco. He is a mysterious character that captures single women and impregnates them...but basically it is a way to put blame on someone when a single girl gets pregnant in chile. After the wine tour, i had dinner with the family and then went to a bar to watch the futbol match. I learned some new drinking games that night which is always fun. But then there was this chilean that wanted to talk about why there is not one universal language and kept aking me why why and I was tired of talking to him so I left.

On wednesday I went out to lunch at the traditional chilean place with some people from school and our activities director Carlos, since it is his last week. I learned after talking to him and some german girls that the rest of the world is taught that there are only 5 continents. They link all of the Americas together, and exclude Antartica. I thought that was really interesting and don´t understand how we have such a different view than everyone else. Or how they just don´t count Antartica at all. After a long discussion about that, i went back to my house, then yoga again. Then that night, Josi came over and we watched Motorcycle Diaries. It was really cool to see it now since I have visited a lot of the places that he went and am going to a lot of the places in the near future. We also studied for our test that I just took and am currently waiting for the teacher to correct. Tonight we are celebrating Carloween which is a halloween/ goodbye party for Carlos at school.

Well, carloween was quite a success. Josi and I dressed up 80´s which is usually just the back-up costume in the states, but here it was quite a hit. All the people from school thought we were trying to be Cindy Lauper. So we just went with it. At the party, we played beer pong, started by me, and then we played flip cup, also started by me. I took it upon myself to liven up the party a bit. During flip cup, we had no more beer, but we had piscola! No worries, why don´t we just play with that? I found out fast that playing with the same amount of piscola as beer makes one really drunk. BTW piscola is pisco (the famous chilean alcoholic beverage) mixed with coke. We went to a club after the party, danced and then I went home early at 4 since I was going to Mendoza the next day. I got home to my homestay and was tiptoeing around not to wake anyone at the late hour on a thursday night. I tried to turn my light on beside my bed and it wasnt working. I was feeling around trying to get it to work and I found this other button and I pushed it. Just my luck, it happened to be the panic button. Soooooo the alarm went off in the whole house! I had no clue what to do and finally the daughter came out and turned it off and she did not look very happy with me. I apologized to Ana Maria the next morning and she just laughed and said she is glad it happened cuz now she knows it still works! I felt so stupid, but what can ya do.

The weekend was my reunion with my friends from BA! I took a long 8 hour bus trip there which I slept the whole way even through the beautiful andes mountains. But I was needing some recovery from carloween. We had to get out at customs though for like 2 hours which was really not fun. I went with a girl from Santiago, Janneke, and we went to the asado with the hostel that night. Luckily it happened to be at this other hostel where my friends were staying but we hadnt been able to contact each other that day. We ate some good steak and watched the Cordoba rugby team dance with each other and then went home. We got to stay with the whole team of 20 17 year old boys. I know i am spoiled by not really liking hostels that much but 20 dirty boys sharing a bathroom with me put the icing on the cake. The next day the rest of our group arrived and we went to a hot springs. We took like a one hour bus ride and i had just dranken this hugeee thing of water and i have not had to pee that bad in a long time. And of course there was no bathroom on the bus. So i ran out as fast as i could and found the grossest bathroom ever which i am pretty sure was part of some lady´s house but it didnt matter. Anyways, the hot springs were absolutely gorgeous..we arrived in what looked like nothing, but we walked down and it was just great. We spent the day in the sun, and when we were hungry, sat down at the restaurant for a 2 hour lunch (not by choice) and while we were eating this one cloud came over the hot springs and just started pouring. We were covered thank goodness. the rain stopped pretty soon after and we were able to hang out there until the bus came back to get us. At night we went to a nice dinner and then a club. The whole rugby team happened to be there too. I opted out early since I am getting old and can only handle one night of partying a week. The next day we walked around a little and then went on a sunset horseback ride. I loved it. But again I had to pee before we went on the horses and nicely asked where the bathrooms were. He replied with a ummm well anywhere you want! So me and two other girls had to find a place on the farm to pee in broad daylight. We walked up into the mountains on our horses, mine was named apache. He immediately went off the path because he was fed up with the slow horse in front of us and i kinda freaked out cuz i couldnt get him back on the path, but after that everything was good. The sunset wasn´t anything special since a cloud covered the sun, but we did see the lights of the city on our way back. Dinner was really fancy this night...Mcdonalds but man i was glad to have good salad. I never knew how much I would miss salads. The lack of good salad here is amazing, but at least I can count on Mcdonalds. There was this fair going on still and we went and shopped around. I bought a couple little things, then we went home. The bus ride home was much more exciting since I stayed awake for the andes mountains this time. They are beautiful and it is amazing how hot it is yet there is still snow. Overall, the weekend to mendoza was a success! i expected to do more things with wine considering all the wine from Argentina is from there, but I went with the flow and still enjoyed it! Major downfall though was the amount of disgusting bathrooms (and lack thereof) I had to use this weekend. Sometimes I am definitely reminded that I am in South America.

Santiago: Semana 2

Hola! Everything is super-bueno in Santiago. I think the longer time I spend in the city, the more I like it. I am in a new class this week with a new teacher and he is the first teacher that I am kinda not liking as much. He is just a little too woçeird for me or something, but he is still nice. After school I went to Santa Lucia which is a similar hill to san cristobal where I went over the weekend. It was nice, just another touristy thing to do though. On the way home I saw a yoga studio and picked up a schedule. SO the next day, I was determined to try yoga. So I went, and paid for my ticket and they immediately talked to me in english cuz they could tell my accent and asked me if I knew enough spanish to follow along. I said sure I can handle it I think. I went and this place was jam packed (might I add it was only $2 to go! so cheap) but I really had no clue what she was saying. I could understand inhala y exhala since it was the closest thing to english. The more things I do in this country, the more I feel like I do not know since there is so much vocabulary that I just don´t have. But, yoga was fun, a little slow since I think it might have been a beginners class but I am definitely going to go back. At dinner that night my host mom went off about how she thinks that Bush is the worst president ever and does not understand who in the united states likes him. I think I have talked more about US politics on this trip than I ever have in my life since every one around the world is so interested in it. They know more than I do so I just kinda try to steer away from the topic.

Wednesday night was lotsss of fun. We heard about this after office party in a castle on the hill of Santa Lucia where I had been on Monday. People go there with their work friends straight from work, so the only criteria is that we dressed up. They had this funny little trolley thing taking people up to the castle. We got there and they said we were going to have to pay but then i guess since we were 4 foreigners in cute dresses, this one guy decided to give us free passes. We went in and at first everyone was pretty much just hanging out with their work friends sitting, but then people got out on the dance floor later that night. They played alll american songs, mostly Madonna since she is having a concert here soon. We went out with one of the girls house moms which was afun cuz it made us all speak in spanish the whole night since she was there too. Thursday I did not quite make it to class on time, but I went for the second half. My teacher teaches us about really weird things and one thing we learned today is a ¨viejo verde¨which is a guy who likes young girls. Verde meaning green and not quite ripe yet. lol. I went to the cemetary with the school today which was really similar to the cemetary in BA. ALl graves above ground and it is like a little village for dead people. There is this one 6 story building with just caskets. I thought it was going to be creepy but it was actually really nice since each had nice tombstones and what not. I finally got my cell phone to work at lunch since I got my friend who had a charger to charge it for me and I hadn´t had it forever. As I put tape on it that afternoon since it was falling apart I said, ¨well at least no one will want to steal this thing!¨I jinxed myself. I went on the metro and I had just looked at the time, two minutes later I tried to text and it was gone. I remember some guys bumping into me on the metro and I am sure they grabbed it at the same time. Oh well. Later that night, I went on my first south american date! I met him at the castle party the night before and we were planning on meeting at the metro and he was like 10 minutes late and I was really thinking he wasnt going to show. But he did and it looked like he had been running or something. In his accent he told me he had a few problems. First he locked himself out of the house and had to get back in to get his keys. Then, he was going to make sushi but forgot that he lent his tools to his friend. So he bought sushi for us from his favorite restaurant. He was really fun...he really likes everything american and loves 50 cent and eminem and all american tv so he was asking me all these questions about what does this mean and that. Then i learned some chilean slang as well...so overall a good first date. I am off to attempt yoga again.

Friday night we went to a previa at my chilean's friend's apartment. Previa is their word for pre-party I found out. It was fun, but everyone spoke english to us, so it was not like we were getting any spanish practice, but at least we were hanging out with the locals! We went to a club with them and my plans were to go home early since we were going to vina del mar the next day and that didn´t happen. So Josi and I went on the later trip to vina del mar. First we had a completo though which was about the best day after drinking food I have had yet. Then we had some ice cream. We were waiting for my chilean friend to get done with work cuz he was going to vina as well and he could drive us, but he didnt end up going so we still had to take the bus. We got there, had dinner with the rest of the group and then went to the casino! I played blackjack and craps. But I lost around $30 but it was entertaining to try it in spanish. And they definitely do not serve drinks for free in casinos here so it was very mellow. Anddd Chile closes everything one day a year on voting day so we had to leave at midnight. I have never been in a casino that has closed before. The next day we got up and we wanted to go to this beach called Con Con. Sooo we went to the bus stop and this bus driver was like hop on hop on so we did and then it was going in the opposite direction that we needed. So then we told him where we wanted to go and he found us a bus and told the bus to stop for us and then we hopped on the other bus. It was funny how it all worked out but we managed to get there in a bout an hour longer than it should have taken, but still it was a good tour of all the city. We wanted to have crab empanadas since that is what they are known for, but again everything was closed for voting day. But this one restaurant was kinda open...he tried to make us sit upstairs but there were flies and we were like no we actually want to sit downstairs. So he let us but we had to sit in the back because it was technically illegal for the restaurant to be open. The empanadas were nothing special but good enough. We spent the rest of the day lying on the beach then we went back to Santiago. A good weekend, but would have been better if things were actually open!!

Santiago: Semana 1

So, everything obviously was going just too smoothly because there was no line for customs, my bags came out in right when I walked up and I found my transfer bus right away. Buttt then, i arrived at my house and a guy answered the door and I was just looking around at this new place that I was going to be living and i forgot my backpack in the car. Which is nice and easy to do when you have 4 pieces of luggage. No more buying things for me. Anyways, i was going to go watch a futbol game with some of my new roommates at a bar when i realized, then freaked out. So i had no computer, no phone, no chile money. ONe guy told me where i could go make a phone call so i went, and talked to the guy that worked there, he helped me find the phone number on the internet, then i called the place. Luckily, he was on his way back to give it to me. Then i had no money for the man at the store since i had argentine pesos or american dollars. He told me that i could come by tomorrow when i had chilean money to pay him. I put on my karma necklace just this morning and i think that it is helping. I must have done something good along the way. A little overwhelmed so far, but everything is going to be fine!

Monday was my first day of school here. I have a woman teacher this time who is much more organized than my last teacher and is more on task, but I also liked how you could change the topic at any time with my last teacher. There is an american girl and braziallian guy in my class. There was a lunch to welcome the new students just like the last time...good empanadas. I already talked to the housing lady here though so I can change to a homestay. The student house I live at already had a meeting about who told on who for having too many parties. I swear its real world on mtv times two since there are 15 people in this one house. Andddd I have no hot water. none. So i did not shower. I went on a city tour with the activity guide; carlos, and some other new people. This city is much cleaner than Buenos Aires, but also less busy. If Buenos Aires was San Francisco, than Santiago would be Portland. Or something like that. The buildings here are really beautiful though, and I am glad I walked around. That night I just hung out with some of the roommates. My bank card didn´t work all day though, so luckily the new canadian guy made some nachos for everyone to eat. Everyone kind of has their set groups of friends already, so I am really going to have to put myself out there a little more and kind of invite myself places. Not my favorite thing to do, but oh well.

Tuesday was better. My bank card worked, so I could actually buy food! I got gyros from the shop near my house and went back to eat, and everyone was there so I joined. Luckliy it was nice outside because the days before were way tooooo cold. And the house has no insulation so I swear it was colder inside than out. I took a shower in another part of the house so i could have hot water. Then i went to school for this conversation club thing and i said something and this girl was like oh where are you from? And i was like california, and your from new york right? she was like ya how did you know? I said, well i had lunch with you at my house for the past two hours. She didnt even recognize me after i had showered! I must have looked really bad. Some girls were going to the movie theater since it was 1 mil peso movie day (which is like 2 dollars...too many currencies to figure out!). We wanted to see the movie with Richard Gere and Diane Lane, pero it was sold out. So we saw Tropic Thunder but here it is called Guerra de Pelicula which means movie about war. Their translations are weird. I went with my roommate Frida from sweden and two other girls from new york. We had pizza before hand and it was actually good! I have been enjoying the food here much better than Argentina. I think Argentina has good food when you go out for nice dinners, like the steak and stuff, but Chile has better everyday cheap food. I am glad I went with them, cuz the first day felt a little too lonely! I forget that these things take time, and it has only been like 2 days. It would be so much easier if I had friends in every city that I go to!

Wednesday. I went to class. it was fine. After class I went out to lunch with some of the girls that I met the day before, then that night was fun. Some people got tickets to the Chile vs. Argentina futbol game, but it was already soldout so I went with the rest of the crew to a bar to watch the game. There were so many people there very into the game. They would stand up just randomly and scream CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE VIVA CHILE! Then they had this other cheer that was something about how Argentines are gay, pretty funny. Chile won for the first time in a long time so everyone was in a great mood. I feel like I am just hopping on the bandwagon cuz just a couple of days ago I would have been rooting for Argentina! but oh well, i am not that into it.

Thursday after school i went to SUBWAY! It made me so happy. I love finding food that reminds me of home. I went on a run after school since i felt so unhealthy and then when I was done with it I felt like I had smokers lungs since the smog here is so bad. I guess i will just have to hold off on the working out! darn. After that I went to a wine tasting at school. It was nice but I really think that people who talk about wine are full of it. They smell all these different things in the wine that I am like, how the hell did you smell that from this. It smells like wine. But, it was an experience nonetheless and I learned some new spanish vocabulary since the whole lesson was in spanish. After that I went home and had to study! This school is more worried about the tests and such than Buenos Aires. Or maybe it is just the difference in my teachers. So, i studied for the first time in a while.

I passed my test friday but it was more serious that the last tests that I have taken. I had to do a minute speech on jobs in the US. After class there is the graduation speech like every friday but in Santiago we have completos. THis consists of a hot dog with tomatoes avocado mayo and ketchup on top. Oh it was so goooodd. Not the combo you would thing of but still delicious. THere was nothing really to do that day so I played card games with my roommates in the afternoon. I learned a new game called shithead. There was 8 of us playing and so we decided whoever lost had to run to the boteleria and get a liter of beer for everyone to share. Of course the second game we played I was off and running to the boteleria. I don´t like losing card games! Later that night a lot of people came to our house since I think it is just a constant party stop then we went out the a bar in Bella Vista which is Santiago´s main night clubs and what not. Luckily, not everyone stays out til 6 in the morning so I went home at 2 and actually felt normal the next day.

SAturday I moved to my new home! I was immediately greeted by Ana Maria, mi madre for the next three weeks. She was off and running out to lunch or something so I just unpacked. Then I was without anything to do and was kinda antsy in the house so I went out looking for an internet cafe. On the way I ran into some people from school who were going up to el cerro de San Cristobal and watching the sunset. So it was perfect timing! I went with them and then went back to have my first dinner with mi familia. Ana Maria is so great and just sits and talks with me while I have dinner. It was steak and potatoes and salad and dessert and wine. I felt like a queen! I went out with some people from school again...it seems like a constant celebration of someones last night. We went to a regaton club and then a samba club. Muy divertida. I slept in on sunday and woke up to breakfast awaiting me. I went out with Josi (a girl i met in buenos aires) and Dan...both americans...and we did some sightseeing and then went to an american bar where they were watching football. Not futbol. Just a week done, but already am feeling very comfortable! I am so glad that I moved.

Buenos Aires: Semana 4

Mi ultimo semana en escuela aqui:( I feel like I am just getting comforatable and making good friends with everyone and now it is time to go! But, other people are off in different directions too so I am not regretting leaving. On Monday, I had a great day...I started with morning classes at another part of the school which i found out is place that people play bridge in the afternoon. It has much more comfortable chairs and is a more relaxed classroom setting. I have six people in my class, as opposed to only 3 before, but it is good in its own way because we have more people to talk and hear about whats going on with them. After class, it was a lovely spring day (i get to skip winter this year!) so I got a sandwich with some girls and we went to the park near the cemetary to eat them. I got my actual sandwich craving filled. It was turkey and cheddar, but I didn´t know if what I though looked like turkey was turkey so I was asking the guy, he had no clue, and then I started describing it in any way I could in spanish. Finally, I said its what you cook on thanksgiving and he said SI!! Eso es. So, I finally got a turkey sandwich...most all places only have ham. We stayed in the park a while and then visited Evita´s grave. It was the nicest cemetary I have seen considering it looks like a miniature town. Then, we decided that we were going to make burritos for dinner. Well, it was most definitely my idea. Another spanish difficulty was at the grocery store when I was looking for avocado, I asked for a palta because I just learned what this was. The guy looked at me and was like, what the hell is a palta..thinking it at least. Then i was like you know its green, kinda looks like a pear. Then, i found the avocados. And I showed him and was like, "see, this is a palta" and then he was like, "ohhhhh a palta" in a different accent of course. Some of these people make no attempt to help me since I just look like a foreigner. Then, I made burritos with my friend Susan from Holland and about 8 people came over. My two american food cravings satisfied in one day.

Tuesday was not as exciting. I went to class, had lunch on the terrace of school with some friends. Another sandwich of course since it was so good. This one I got with salame, and it was only 5 pesos! It was a huge sandwich made for me on the spot for less that two bucks. Amazing. Then I didnt feel that good the rest of the day so I stayed in for the night. Wednesday I went to school, and then after I had my final private tango lesson. Before I had the sexy young teacher that all the girls want, but this time I had the 65 year old man who was about a foot shorter than me once I put my shoes on. BUT, I wish I had him the whole time! It was my most fun tango lesson yet because he was spinning me around and making me feel like I could really dance tango. It was a great way to end my lessons. After tango, I went to the music store because I say this singer on tv that I wanted to check out his cd. The machine that you can check it out wasnt working so I was like sitting there for a while trying to figure out how to tell him that I didnt´think it was working and that I wanted to listen to the cd. Finally, i did and ended up buying it. His name is Beto Cuevas and I guess he is from chile. That night, I went to this salsa class with some friends from school and that was fun as well. This was the first dance class I have ever been to where there were more boys than girls! So, I was exhausted after having to dance the whole time. But, we still went to Museum to meet up with everyone else from school, but I didnt last long since I was danced out for the day.

Jueves I had my same sandwich on the terrace of school and then I went shopping with susan after class. She got a dress, but i restrained since I really dont think I can fit any more clothes into my bag. We met up with some Norwegian girls that I met at the party at Asia de cuba last week and they had just gotten tattoos. I don´t think i would do it in a foreign country! Well, i have no desire for a tattoo anyways so I guess its different. It is a lot cheaper here though, so I guess it would be worth it if you really want one. Then, off to my last group tango class. It was different since there were actually guys there too. It was nice to have someone to practice with but the guys would get frustrated if you didn´t know what move to do, but they werent leading us correctly. This one guy thought he was the shit at tango and kept doing moves and looking at himself in the mirror. I´m pretty sure he was straight too, it was pretty funny. But, I took some pictures with my tango teacher and my friend Linda that I usually go with and off we went. That night was my friend who lives just two floors down from me´s birthday. So, there was some people hanging out in his apartment waiting for midnight to sing to him. When midnight came, first they sang in dutch since he is dutch, then some other boys sang in swedish, then we sang in spanish, then in hebrew, then german, then english. And i actually knew how to sing in german since that is what we always since on birthdays too! The guy that i sang with was really surprised that I knew it. I pronounce it totally wrong, but oh well. I could sing 3/6, so not too bad!

Today was my last day of class here. We played Taboo in spanish which was hard because it is hard enough in english, but still fun. They have a graduation picnic on the balcony on fridays that I went to, and of course I was the first one called up and I had to say a quick speech in spanish. So I am sure my face was bright red, and all that good stuff that happens when I speak in frount of people but it was quick and painless. We had really good hamburgers, then went to get ice cream with Susan and Eric. I think I had the best ice cream ever today. It is called chocolate suiza and it is chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips (but the little granules) then dulce de leche. OHHHH soo good. I also got a scoop of mint chip but it was not the same. I will stick to the other one from now on. I am glad I discovered it just before I am leaving so I won´t eat it everyday. Now I am off to get a pedicure with Linda since they are nice and cheap here, and she never gets to get them at home because they are something like $100 plus dollars. Then, there is a fiesta loca tonight in our apartment building since I am leaving, the other american girl Josi is leaving, and it is Dirks birthday. Chau for now.

Ok so the pedicures were just about the weirdest and worst thing Linda and I had ever had. They didnt wash our feet and they used this weird machine to file our nails and then they shaved off the dead skin from our feet. My feet hurt afterwords. And they shaved off Lindas dead skin to the flesh so she has this big sore now. Yuck. I will never do that again. Later on friday, Susan and I ordered in dinnerand then some more girls came overwith a dulce de leche cake since it was my last night. It was sooo good, i love dulce de leche a little too much. Then the whole apartment buliding was partying, so wehung out in Maipu for a while, then went to this brazilian club. There were guys doing a dance that was all choregraphed and thenthey took their shirts off...it was all a little weird but fun nonetheless. Another night out til 6 am. Then sleeping til 2 the next day. But saturday was not that nice of a day so there was excuse to stay in. I did go out to lunch with my roommate who literally never stops talking. So it was relaxing when she left later that night so icould hang out with some of my other friends on my last night. I got up this morning and was off in the airplane to chile!

Buenos Aires- Semana 3

Week tres and flying by. I started class on Monday with one less chica, same teacher though. On Tuesday, I went to La despedida for Nicole, my friend that went to Santa Clara with me. It was eighties themed but i don´t even have enough clothes to wear on a normal basis here, let alone a theme party! I went after my tango class though, and the party was fun but I was exhausted by the end because most of the people there spoke spanish so I was speaking spanish the whole night. Or trying at least. I should probably write more often since i already forget what i did on wednesday. Then thursday was one of my favorite nights here. This guy I met on the airplane told me about this group that sets up nights out for people that are in argentina that aren´t from argentina. So we met at this bar restaurant, had a drink and dinner, and then went on this train thing that was a train on the inside but on wheels and was open with lights. Everyone was taking pictures and was like what the hell is this thing, even people on the street. Anyways, then we went to a club in puerto madero called Asia de Cuba. They had a private section for us with champagne and wine and it was a fun club. I met some new people which was nice too, so i have some more friends outside of just the school. We stayed out til like 5 in the morning, and of course were some of the first ones to leave. Friday, I went out to dinner with about ten people from school at an italian restaurant and then we went to the usual spot bar. After that everyone was going to this club i had already been to, so i found some americans who knew of a place where the dj was from sacramento so he played hip hop. I have never been so excited to hear all of the really overplayed american music that i know and love so much! I am having a great time here, but after 3 weeks of all argentina things, there are definitely some things that I am starting to miss. I also found out from these american boys that there was a restaurant called California Burrito right near my apartment! I was ready to leave the bar and go eat it right then, but i decided to wait for the morning. I stayed out til about 7 that night, and took one too many tequila shots, so the next day tuve resaca. I just learned that word, so i have used it plenty since! it means hungover. My roommates left on saturday morning since they were done with school and were off to travel. Hopefully I will get to meet up with them when I am in Peru since they will be there around the same time. It was sad to see them go, but I knew I was getting two new roommates shortly. Saturday afternoon when I finally got up at like 4, i went to my burrito place to find that it is closed on the weekends since it is downtown and it is dead downtown on the weekends since nobody is working. Thus, i almost cried and went to burger king since i had to have something that i knew what it was going to taste like. I did nothing all day. Luckily, there are 3 really good english movie channels so I watched some stupid movies. That night, I went to the Quilmes beer factory restaurant with some girls from school and argentine guys that I met at Nicoles despedida. They were nice but definitely argentine...a little on the creepy side. I did steal my beer glass though to add to my collection! I do not know how i am going to pack it in my bag! On sunday, My two new roommates came. Another dutch girl, jessica, who i knew i was going to like when i saw her confessions of a shopaholic books (my favorite book series!) lol and then there is a guy, James from England who is also really nice. When we went out though, he asked if other guys were coming so he didn´t have to talk about whether the straightening iron would work or where the best places were to shop. That day we went to the san telmo market, which is most known for tango, so we shopped around and then sat at a cafe for a while and watched them do tango. Tango is everywhere I go, but now when I watch it i think, oh i can do that! Not like they do, but maybe eventually! That night we went to one of my best dinners so far at La Cabrera. They are in all the guidebooks, but it is still worth it. I split a steak, we had wine, appetizers, the whole works for $20. And took steak home since we couldn´t finish it. I learned that night that taking things home if you can´t finish them is a very american thing to do. All of the dutch people were like, what the hell are you doing asking for it to go?? They never do that, and were shocked that I would actually eat that steak the next day. Only one week left!

Buenos Aires: Semana Dos

Another week of school, but this time I got 2 more girls in my class....and one of them is from San Jose! Small small world. This week class was a little more grammer related so not as fun as the first week, but the breaks are more fun now since I know everybody that has afternoon classes. Monday I went to La Bomba again since that is what most everyone was doing. They sell a full liter of beer for 10 pesos/ $3! They also love fernet and coke here which is probably the worst drink I have ever tasted in my whole life. Too bad i can´t handle it because it is really cheap here! I walked home with a guy from Holland who lives in my building named Dirk and on the way home he had had a couple beers and told me that had to stop for a minute so he could ¨make a pee. ¨Its so funny to hear people speaking in not their own language...I bet i am saying stupid stuff like that in spanish too! Oh well. Wednesday I went out withmy american friend that is here visiting and his friends. We had dinner in Puerto Madero which is where a bunch of boats are docked. It was a really good steak dinner but they serve it a la carte. So we all ordered a steak and he brings all four steaks out on one plate and then puts it on your plate with nothing else but a huge slab of meat. That steak was amazing though, my best yet. Then we went to Museum again with the school. Thursday night I went out to dinner again with Mark (from santa clara) and his other friend had just arrived who went to santa clara that i maybe have met once and we met up with this other girl who was in BA for a couple of days who went to santa clara. It is amazing how small of a school i went to yet still can find santa claran alums every where i go! And we didn´t even all know each other or hang out, but just because we are all in this far away place at the same time, it is appropriate and comforatable to get together. That dinner was not nearly as good as the night before though. By Friday, my mind was so overloaded with spanish that i could not think of the right words at all during class and feel like i am getting worse! But not really, it is just tiring learning so much so fast. I shopped on my walk home from school (like i do almost every other day) and bought a new top to go out in. We went to Tony´s apartment (Marks friend that lives here), pre partied then went to the usual spot bar. After, i went to a club called mint. It cost like 50 pesos to enter and i tried to haggle with the guy which usually always works for me. I did it all in spanish too explaining that if he let us girls in for 10 pesos we would many men would spend lots more money buying us drinks. It didn´t work. The club played all electronic music which was good but it gets old after a while. I left at like 530. Saturday i had my best empanadas yet at Pizza Yerman in recoleta and then we really went to La boca this time. There is not that much to do but it is just something that you have to see while you are in BA. After, I went to Nicole´s (another santa claran that was in my sorority) apartment which was absolutely gorgeous and hung out with them for a while. We went to dinner at a parilla (a grill) but no one was that hungry so we jsut got appetizers. The waitress recommended something for us and little did we know until we all almost barfed while eating it that is was cow intestines. I was so grossed out and will never ever eat that again. uggg i just cringe thinking about how gross it was. We then did some bar hopping and went to her friends despedida (goodbye party) on the roof of this what used to be hostel. I talked to this german guy but he didn´t speak that good of english and was learnign spanish so i had a whole convo in spanish. I was pretty proud of myself after that. Then we left cuz it was cold, and on our way out Tony knocked down one of the beer bottles on the stairs which had a domino effect and probably broke 20 liter bottles. Then this girl came and started screaming at us in spanish and we ran! I didn´t know what else to do! I then went to bed again at 6 in the morning and got up today at 2. I went shopping with some girls from school since it was raining (my main friends are Ariane from germany, Linda from switzerland, Karen from wales, susan from holland, and my roommates Antima and Myra from Holland). I was a little hungover though and just ended up at the food court. My absolute highlight of today was finding the one and only STARBUCKS in Argentina! I was so happy since there are not places like it here. Barely any coffee shops can you take your cup togo. A million coffee shops, but only to sit down. So I had my chai latte with leche entera (full fat! trying to get rid of my no-fat no-flavor american ways) with Susan who had never had a starbucks in her life. Or a brownie. So we had both and I took a picture of her in front of it. It was probably my most eventful trip to Starbucks yet. Done with week two with no complaints (other than my cravings for a burrito and a normal sandwich).

Buenos Aires Week 1

Hola!

I arrived on Thursday with a little confusion trying to get my keys to the apartment with the lady that only spoke spanish, but luckily figured it out and moved in to a 3 bedroom apartment in Microcentro which is considered downtown...where most people work. It is a little noisy but I like that it is busy and there is constantly people around. I met my two dutch roommates when they got back from class and we immediately went site seeing since they had just gotten there a couple of days before. We wanted to go to la boca but after 2 hours of searching for the bus stop, someone told us that it was too late to go since it is dangerous when it is dark. So, a little unsuccessful, but at least it was an adventure. I then had my first steak dinner...not great but definitely cheap. I started off the weekend going to an event called Vinos y Bodegas where i paid 35 pesos (10 bucks about) to try all the wine I wanted. It was great wine from all over Argentina and Chile. We then went to the bar that all of the students meet at called the Spot Bar and I was tired at 4am and was made fun of since that was the time that others were just heading to the club. So, i had to readjust my schedule!! The rest of the weekend I spent exploring Palermo (a nearby part of town with lots of shops/ bars/ restauraunts) with other students and of course buying things that will never fit in my suitcase.

I went to school on Monday, took a placement test, and found out I have class from 2-6 everyday. My teacher is named Ariel (its a mans name here tho!) and I had one other german girl in my class named Claudia. The first week was great since I got to do a lot of talking in spanish, learning different slang, and watched an argentine movie. It is four hours but there are breaks and it goes by fast. The school provides a lot of social activities for us too which is really nice so everyone can easily meet everyone else. The first night we went to a percussion concert called La Bomba which was interesting to say the least. I like the drumming but it was very hippie crowd and they all smoked a lot and while they were dancing it looked almost as though they were in a trance or something. I definitely felt like I was in a foreign country at this point! Wednesday night our school goes to this club called the museum where it is an after wokr club. Everyone warned me that the guys here are very touchy since it is considered their ¨cheating day¨. So i managed, but i defintely slapped some hands away. This was the first night that I noticed that argentines barely drink. And the other students dont drink that much...I am used to americans who drink to get drunk, take shots, etc. This is more like have a drink for an hour and then maybe one more. This might be a good thing for my health. I had my first Tango class on thursday and a private one on friday. My teacher is pretty cute but as soon as I put my heels on I am about 6 inches taller. lol. I really like the tango so far, but there are not very many boys in the classes so the group classes you just have to wait for the teacher to go around to all of the girls. Friday night we went out to Mexican dinner for a girls birthday, and then the Spot bar again, and then a club called Crobar. It would have been fun but my roommate, Myra, lost her phone, and my feet hurt so we went home early (at 430!). We went to Tigre on Saturday which was like an hour away on train, and took a boat ride around the river. It was a little cold though so we didnt last long. My friend from college flew in Sunday so I met him and his friends at a bar to watch football. They are american drinkers so it was a long but fun night...Definitely a successful first week!