NEW BLOG!

Hello again, blogging universe! I know I bid you all farewell in my last entry -- and it is true that this particular blog has to come to an end now that I'm back in the States. HOWEVER, I've been missing updating this blog so much since my return from Chile, I decided to extend my blogging to los Estados Unidos. That's right, get excited.

Check out my ongoing adventures (admittedly less foreign, but still entertaining!) at http://tarakims.blogspot.com/. I'm really glad that so many of you followed my blog while I was in South America, so I hope I can continue to hold your interest even now that I'm back in the Northern hemisphere :)

the end.

Well blogging universe, this is it. I am back in Lancaster. I have hugged all of my family members, eaten some Mexican food, and briefly considered unpacking my suitcases. I'm really home.

I'm trying to prepare myself for a lot of processing in the upcoming days, weeks, maybe even months. At the risk of getting too clichéd, Chile is a part of me now and I won't be the same again. That's one of the amazing things about having the opportunity to study abroad for a whole semester, or even a whole year -- spending that amount of time in another place can't help but leave a lasting impact. Instead of just being a tourist who visits a faraway country and snaps some photos, you get to really live there, breathe in the air, walk the streets, use the public transportation, get to know the people, absorb the history, observe the current attitudes and styles and slang, feel the city's ebb and flow of day-to-day life. The first month gives you the very unique opportunity to get a real glimpse into another place, and the following months offer you a chance to make that place mean something to you, to find where you fit amidst so much that is foreign.

I could go on and on about what an amazing semester this was, what my favorite parts were, what I'll always remember, how it changed me, what I learned -- but I would rather talk about those things with each of you in person now that I'm back in the States. I know this will make you all terribly sad, but I guess this blog has reached its end now that I don't have any more South American adventures to report on. I'm definitely glad that I chose to document my semester in this way; it's nice to know that a piece of my time in Chile will continue to exist, floating somewhere out there on the internet, if I ever want to go back and look it up. I like records. I hope you do too, and I hope you enjoyed following my adventures as much as I enjoyed telling you about them!

Chao.

first u.s. transaction

I bought a Cosmo (go ahead and judge me) and it cost $5.13. What?!?? I only had a five with me, so I had to embarrassingly leave my magazine on the counter and run back to my seat to get more change. I'm trying not to think about the fact that this amount of money could have bought me lunch every day for a week in Santiago.

bienvenidos a... the united states?

I'm sitting in the Miami airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Baltimore and trying to comprehend the fact that I'm really back in the States.

As I went through customs, all of the airport officials greeted me with "Welcome home" -- and it's crazy to think that they're right, I'm an American, I'm returning to the country that I call my home. After four months in Chile, I've gotten used to being an obvious foreigner. I'm used to people staring at me because I don't fit in, I'm used to having to work a little bit harder to make myself understood, I'm used to being slightly unsure about how things work. It's strange to belong again all of a sudden. No one looks twice at my blonde hair here, and no one expects me to have any trouble communicating with them.

I've only been here for about an hour, so the reality hasn't fully set in yet. I keep having to make the conscious choice to address people in English instead of automatically speaking to everyone in Spanish. When I fish through my wallet, it's filled with pesos. My computer is set to Santiago time and Santiago weather. This is going to take some adjusting.

MY ENTIRE SEMESTER HAS JUST BEEN JUSTIFIED

My host mom: There are some gringos who are very, very gringo. Some of my host students have a hard time here in Chile because they are just so gringo.

My host sister: Like Tara?

My host mom: Oh no, not Tara. Tara may be a gringa, but she's not very gringa.

YESSSSS

back to the beginning.

I'm back here again, and I'm trying to remember how I fit everything into my two suitcases the first time around. I'm starting to suspect I must have defied some laws of physics. I'm usually the kind of person who starts packing days in advance...but lately I've been a little bit in denial about the fact that I'm actually leaving, so I made the unwise choice to put it off as long as possible. Now I need to get this tornado of clothing, toiletries, books, scarves, and Chilean Christmas presents (that's right, get excited) under control before 8 pm. WISH ME LUCK.

starting to say goodbye

Things I'm going to miss about this place

• living in my own casita
• Chilean slang
• never having to wait for the metro
• the exchange rate
• the Chilean food I have come to appreciate: completos, manjar, alfajores, paila, palta, chirimoya
• Cerro Santa Lucía
• clubs that play nothing but reggaeton and cumbia
• street vendors
• the awesome views of the Andes
• my cute host parents
• the current summer weather -- I'm dreading the temperature shock that awaits me
• all the people and places that have become familiar to me
• being surrounded by the beautiful Spanish language all of the time

Things I'm not going to miss about this place

• the crazy cats who think they own my casita
• the lack of consistent hot water
• sticking out like a sore thumb because of my blonde hair
• having such a long commute to my university and my friends' houses
• performers on the bus who drown out the sounds of my iPod
• machismo
• the Chilean food I am sick of: cazuela, pino empanadas, lentils, rice, everything that is bland
• paying for bottled water
• being so far away from the people I love

almost there...almost.

Even though my semester is essentially over -- classes are done, I'm finished with final exams, I've turned in my papers and presentations, I fly home this weekend -- I still have one last thing standing between me and freedom. I have to write an essay about the internship I had this semester and turn it in to the director of my study abroad program.

This paper requires no research. It may be written in English, unlike all of the other work I've done this semester. It needs to be about 5 pages. AND I CAN'T DO IT.

I never cease to be amazed at how many things I find to occupy myself with on the Internet when I'm supposed to be doing a paper. I have spent my entire morning doing everything except putting words to paper. I don't know why this is so hard. gahhhhhhhhhhh

la isla de pascua

I just got back from 5 days in what seemed a lot like paradise. I can't even begin to express what an awesome way this was to wrap up the semester.

You know you've just arrived in tropical paradise when you're greeted with leis as you step off the airplane!

The island was so beautiful it almost didn't look real. Can you spot the rainbow?

Pretty much the entire island was formed from volcanic eruptions. This is an old volcano that we visited on the second day. Its last eruption was hundreds of years ago; now, the locals use it to grow vegetation that can't be produced on the rest of the land.

And of course, the huge Moai statues are the main attraction on Easter Island. The indigenous community there, called Rapa Nuis, constructed them for their chieftains to represent their forms after death. At one point, there were over 900 Moai displayed all over the island -- but they were all destroyed during a civil war. In the 1960s, anthropologists began studying the island and decided to reconstruct the giant Moai. Now, Easter Island is a historical site protected by UNESCO, and you can see tons of the Moai in various states of restoration.

They're huge! It's amazing to think that they were all carved out of the side of a cliff.

The stone in the background is what the Moai were carved from. I love that you can see them poking out of the hill, like they're about to stand up and walk away.

Our third day, we spent the afternoon on the biggest beach on the island. It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen...and isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! Easter Island is about 3,000 miles away from its closest neighbor -- so even though we were technically still on Chilean soil, we were pretty far from home.

All in all, it was our most relaxing trip yet -- due to the combined facts that our finals are over, we got to sleep in until 9 every morning, we didn't have to bundle up in winter coats, there was lots of lounging by the pool deck, and we sat on the beach to watch the sunset every single night.

It's hard to go back to real life in Santiago...if you can call this whirlwind of my last few days "real life." I'm flying back the States on Saturday night, and I have an intimidating to-do list to accomplish before then. More on this later.

one island, many names.

Easter Island = Isla de Pascua = Rapa Nui = I am going there for the next five days and I am incredibly unbelievably excited.

Aside from the vague promise of beaches and volcanoes and giant statues of heads, I'm not exactly sure what to expect out of this trip. But "tropical Polynesian island" is pretty much all I need to know...and I promise to report back on all of the amazingness in a few days. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

welcome to the jungle

Remember my cute little casita in the backyard? Well, I no longer live in the backyard. My poor casita is disappearing into the selva.

This is what I see outside of my window.

This is the very overgrown sidewalk leading to my front door.

This is what it's like when I have to walk down the sidewalk to get to my door.

Aaaaahhhh it's even starting to creep inside!!! I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to hold it off before it takes over completely. If I don't make it home next week, you can assume I missed my plane because I didn't anticipate how long the bushwhacking would take.

facts about the southern cone

1. The ozone layer is thinner here.
2. The UV rays are stronger here.
3. It is much, much, much easier to get sunburnt here.
4. Buy aloe if you plan on making it out alive.

okay, here's my obligatory "i can't believe it's already december" post.

I know I've said this with each passing month. But it's true. Time is moving ridiculously fast and I can't believe that we're entering the season of Advent, peppermint-themed drinks at Starbucks, and winter break. (On a side note -- the Starbucks here still use a wintry theme to decorate for Christmas, complete with snowflakes and snowmen and pine trees, even though it's summer in the southern hemisphere. It must suck to be a confused South American living in a world that has a northern bias.)

Until my plane lands in cold, miserable Baltimore, I'm going to keep living in denial and telling myself it must be July.

needless to say, i loved the playa.

• Roundtrip bus ticket to Viña del Mar: 6.000 pesos
• A bed in a hostel 5 minutes away from the ocean: 8.000 pesos
• Chile's weak attempt at a Mexican burrito: 5.200 pesos
• A completo for lunch from a stand on the beach: 900 pesos
• The buy-in at a poker game with some French guys at my hostel: 150 pesos (if we could pause for a moment to allow for some bragging, I knocked one of them off the table! ...but then returned his money to him at the end)
• Total money spent on a two-day beach trip: about $40 USD
• Overhearing Chileans joke about how sunburnt the gringas were going to get, napping on the beach, watching a sunset over the ocean, enjoying a vacation without the stress of classes or homework, bonding with the wonderful people that I've been lucky enough to spend this semester with, and working on my tan just in time for the Christmas season: priceless

viva summer in sudamerica

Because classes are over and it's beautiful outside, we are enjoying the BEACH for a couple of days. We're currently soaking up the sun in Viña del Mar. I love it here. Be back later.

happy turkey day!

Confession: I have never really liked turkey that much. So despite the fact that I'm missing out on Thanksgiving at home this year, I tried to tell myself it wouldn't be much of a loss.

But even though the turkey isn't my favorite, there are some things I do enjoy about this holiday -- friends, family, fall weather, a break from classes, getting to return to Lancaster after a few months of being away, and taking time to be mindful of all the things I'm thankful to have in my life. Oh, and pumpkin pie. I like the pumpkin pie a lot.

So even though I'm spending the whole day at my internship, even though it's 80 degrees outside, even though I'm in a country of people who are oblivious to the gringo concept of giving thanks over turkey and mashed potatoes, even though I'm not at home with all of the people I love, I'm still remembering Thanksgiving Day. I wish I could be celebrating it in the States with all of you, but one of the things I'm most thankful for is the opportunity I have to spend this time in Chile. The fact that I feel so torn between the U.S. and South America reminds me that I am lucky enough be happy in several different places -- Lancaster, DC, and Santiago all feel like home to me in different ways, and that is such a blessing to have.

It's sad to think that I only have two weeks left in Chile, and I'm not sure I'll be able to fit everything in that I want to do. But as I look ahead to the Christmas season in Lancaster and the spring semester in DC, I'm so excited for what's coming next! I am grateful to have each and every one of you in my life, and I'll see you soon!

Feliz Día de Acción Gracias.

list of reasons to be happy

• it's strawberry season in Chile
• my classes are over
• I bought new earrings for myself
• my commute was 20 minutes shorter than usual today
• the cat is nowhere to be seen
• the rest of my semester will be nothing but sunshine

letters

Dear construction workers,

You are especially obnoxious when I am on my way to my internship, wearing heels and a skirt. I wish I didn't have to stand in front of you for TEN MINUTES as I waited for my bus. I know it may come as a shock, but I can actually understand what you're saying about me.


Dear internship,

Our days are numbered. I'm leaving you in two short weeks. I'm sorry if this comes as a shock, but you're mind-numbingly boring and it's time for me to move on. Someday you'll find another intern who makes you very happy.


Dear Mancha,

I don't care how much my host dad likes you. You are a devil cat. I don't know how you always figure out how to open the door by yourself -- but if you jump on my face and wake me up one more time, I will throw you out the window. Also, I don't appreciate the cat hair all over my black skirt.


Dear man who stopped and asked me for directions to somewhere in Vitacura this morning,

I'm sorry I was so unhelpful. My knowledge of Santiago geography is limited to my bus route. Thanks for smiling and nodding even though it was painfully obvious that I am not a true chilena.


Dear Thanksgiving,

This is the first year I haven't been at home to enjoy you. Try not to miss me too much. It's strange to think about skipping you (and spending the day at my internship instead, gross) but I think I'll use the beach to numb my pain.


Dear United States,

I hope you're getting ready for my imminent return.

a realization

Today marks my 3 month mark in Chile. Exactly 3 months ago today, I stepped off the plane and tried not to hyperventilate from the thought of everything that lay ahead. I had an awkward car ride home with my host parents, I unpacked my stuff in my new casita, I tried and failed to decipher all the unfamiliar Chilean words everyone kept using, my host mom gave me my first shot of pisco. It seems like a long time ago.

This means I will be stateside in three short weeks. If it's hard to think back to my first few days in Chile, it's even harder to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm leaving this place so soon.

ATTACK OF THE LENTILS

This semester has taught me a few things about lentils.

1. When you see a mountain of lentils soaking in a tub in the kitchen, be afraid. Be very afraid. You are looking at all of your dinners for the next foreseeable future.
2. Your greatest fears will come true the next day, when your host mother serves you the biggest bowl of lentil soup you have ever seen.
3. You will not be able to finish all of the lentils.
4. You will not be able to explain to your host family why you are unable to finish all of the lentils.
5. You will attempt to leave your bowl in a strategic location for the cats to finish off. This is wishful thinking. Not even the cats will touch that.
6. Take these steps and repeat once approximately every two weeks. This is your life in Chile.

why i am a sucky blogger right now

Finals. They are killing me.

Fortunately this will all be over soon -- I have one week, three classes, one paper, two presentations, one exam, one take-home exam, and one paper revision standing in between me and FREEDOM! This semester flew by faster than I thought was possible...although these last 7 days are seeming like an eternity right now...sí se puede sí se puede sí se puede sí se puede

AHHHHH I HATE SPIDERS

My casita has wayyyy too many bugs sometimes. If you know anything about me, you know that I am wimpy and I don't kill bugs. And I'm pretty sure that works to my disadvantage because OH HEY SOMETHING CRAWLED INTO MY BED LAST NIGHT AND BIT ME.

No, seriously. I THINK I HAVE A SPIDER BITE. Can you see it??????

I am very unhappy about this. My Chilean parents need to buy some window screens ASAP.

my daily shower adventure

I turn on the shower at least 5 minutes before I'm ready to get in --> FREEZING --> I wait until I see steam filling up the bathroom --> WARM --> HOT --> SCALDING --> I turn on the cold water to keep my skin from burning --> WARM --> LUKEWARM --> COLD --> FREEZING --> I jump to the other side of the shower to try to avoid getting splashed by the icy water --> I wait it out and wonder if I will ever get this shampoo out of my hair --> LUKEWARM --> WARM --> I jump back under the shower and rinse off --> SCALDING --> I consider shaving my legs --> WARM --> LUKEWARM --> I decide not to push my luck --> I call it a day --> COLD --> just in time.

Doesn't this seem like a fun game? It's cut my shower time in half, so it even has an environmental benefit. The girl scouts would be so proud of me!

recent events

Our group took a tour of La Moneda, the Chilean White House. As someone who lives in DC and has never been inside of the White House, I'm glad we were able to accomplish this during the semester.

This is the place inside La Moneda where President Salvador Allende was killed during the 1973 coup. It's now preserved as a memorial to him.

Of course the Chilean White House has a special room for official masses. Of course.

We all continue to learn how to be more Chilean with each passing day. Exhibit A: using more condiments. Dan has perfected the art of blending mayonnaise, mustard, and ají (kind of like Chilean hot sauce...or as hot as you can get in this country of very bland food). Yum.

On a similarly food-related note, we are also continuing to take advantage of the Chilean exchange rate. This past week, we bought an entire cake for the equivalent of 3 dollars. And look, it looks like a donut! A win-win situation.

Last week, we had trouble concentrating in our classes because there were giant parties going on outside. It was kind of like a school spirit week at our university, which included skits and choreographed dances and loud reggaeton music that completely drowned out our professors' lectures. Sitting through class was a painful experience, especially because every single Chilean student magically had the week off and could join the fun. On Friday, the festivities culminated in a giant dance party (complete with FOAM and FREE BEER) on the quad. Anyone want to pitch this idea to our student government at AU?

I'm finally able to associate Santiago with more adjectives than "freezing"! Lately the weather has been beautiful and sunny, which means we can spend hours in parks working on our pre-Christmas season tans.

Unfortunately, amidst the school spirit week and the gorgeous weather, we've finally had to get serious about our final projects. Our semester ends the last week of November, so the proverbial shit is starting to hit the fan...and this picture conveys my emotional state after spending an entire week doing nothing except trying to write a research paper in my second language.

This past weekend, we took a field trip to Villa Grimaldi with two of our professors. Villa Grimaldi is a huge property tucked away in the corner of metropolitan Santiago, and during the Pinochet regime it was turned into a torture and detention center for political dissidents. The original structures have since been destroyed, so now the property exists as a memorial to all the victims of violence and torture during the 1970s. This wall lists the names of the desaparecidos, the people who "disappeared" during the military dictatorship.

Now, Villa Grimaldi is a peaceful place full of grass, gardens, trees, and fountains. It's hard to imagine that it's the very same place where terrible things happened just a few decades ago. These are images of some of the victims.

The memorial garden includes bajillions of different types of roses and plaques with the names of the victims.

And despite classes and papers and getting up at the crack of dawn to go on depressing field trips, we've still been managing to have some fun! I'll leave it at that...and I'll try to get better at taking more pictures. Vamos a ver.

hang in there!

Pictures are coming soon. I promise.

and after this i promise i will stop whining.

My paper goes something like this:

So this economic theory called neoliberalism exists and it kind of messes up developing countries in Latin America and one of those countries is Argentina and here are more some facts about neoliberal economics and here's a little bit of the history of Argentina and it's a little confusing because there were approximately a zillion coups and this is when they started implementing neoliberalism and now we're back to history because that's easier to write about and here are a bunch of quotes that relate to my unoriginal undergraduate ideas and now I'm going to say something obvious about Argentinean politics and maybe this doesn't even need a concluding paragraph because I'm tired of doing this.

If that were written in Spanish and about 10 pages longer, you would have just suffered through exactly what awaits my professor on Monday.

the gringos next door

One of the more interesting things about my living situation here in Chile is the fact there's a family of gringos living next door. Apparently the parents are missionaries who relocated their family to Santiago to start some kind of a church or do some kind of term of service...I'm not entirely sure. I don't know much about them because my host mom told them I'm Amish when I first moved in, and I think they're afraid to approach me now.

I've tried asking my host parents what kind of missionaries they are -- I'm curious about their denomination because there aren't very many Protestants in Chile. But my attempts to figure it out always go something along these lines:

Tara: So, what kind of Christians are they?

Host mom: They're not Catholic. They're Christians.

Tara: Well, yes, but do you know their denomination?

Host mom: They're the kind of Christians who believe in Jesus Christ.

Tara: Okay...

Host mom: They don't believe in the Virgin Mary or any of the saints.

Tara: Right, they're Protestants.

Host mom: Yes. Definitely not Catholic. They don't even pray to the Virgin! Just to Jesus. They believe in the Bible, too.

Tara: Yes. I understand. Do you know what they call themselves?

Host mom: Christian. Not Catholic.

...and at this point I usually give up. There's only so far I can get in a country that just kicked off a month-long celebration of the Virgin.

But even though I don't have very much interaction with the neighbors, their presence provides an interesting backdrop to my life here in Santiago. For example, their young children always get up early on Saturday and play loud games right outside my bedroom...and I always wake up suddenly, wondering why I'm hearing so much English and thinking I must be back at home with my younger brothers. Also, they're constantly blasting alternative American music in the evenings, and nothing is weirder than trying to get through my Spanish homework with the sounds of Jack Johnson, Death Cab for Cutie, John Mayer, Coldplay, and Bright Eyes drifting through the window. Today it's been a Beatles marathon, but I'm trying to block it out and get back to this beast of an essay. It's weird to think that I've been living here for so long that my fellow gringos now seem foreign to me.

conversations with my host parents

Host mom: What's that?

Host dad: What?

Host mom: That thing you're eating.

Host dad: It's cheese, a special kind of cheese I brought for myself.

Host mom: Well, aren't you going to offer Tara any?

Tara: Oh no, you don't have to--

Host dad: Tara, do you want some cheese?

Tara: Well, sure, only if you don't mind--

Host mom: And I want some too. Look, Tara, men are so greedy. They never offer to share anything. It's so rude.

Host dad: Aha! Now I see! Women take everything right out from under your nose. I'll have to be more careful in the future!

Host dad: There you go. But that's ALL THE CHEESE YOU'RE GETTING.

Host mom: Do you like this cheese, Tara?

Host dad: Of course she does, it's from Belgium. Tara likes Belgians. Aren't Mennonites from Belgium or something like that?

Host mom: She does not! She likes the Chileans.

Host dad: Oh, that's true. Only the Latinos.

Tara: What?!?

Host mom: Let's just say it's obvious...

Tara: Okay, I have to get going. Thanks for the tea!

Host dad: Where are you going?

Tara: I have to keep working on my essay.

Host mom: BORING!

Host dad: Super boring.

Host mom: Are you going to go out this weekend, or are you going to be boring?

Tara: It's only Monday! I have time!

Host mom: Good luck...

weird things i eat in chile: the seafood edition

ummmm sometimes there are still tentacles.

My lunch today was delicious until I came to this realization. Dear host parents, please don't serve me things that used to be suction cups. It's just not right.

happy sunday, part II

As a Mennonite, going to Catholic mass is always an experience for me. Going to a Catholic mass on the top of a hill overlooking all of Santiago, sitting at the base of a huge statue of the Virgin Mary, listening to the Spanish translations of the Creed and the Hail Mary, watching girls in braids and brightly skirts perform dances to the hymns...well, let's just say I was a little overwhelmed.

Today kicks off the "month of the Virgin", culminating on December 8, which is a national holiday in honor of the Virgin Mary. There's a huge mass at the top of Cerro San Cristóbal on the 8th that I wanted to check out -- but I won't be around then because my group is taking a trip to Easter Island (I know, my life is rough). So Quinn and I decided to get our dose of Virgin-celebrating in this morning. I wish I had pictures to share, but I didn't think it would be appropriate to bring my camera to a church service (bad call, because everyone else there was snapping pictures...even a priest stepped aside during the sermon to get a photo of the decorated altar).

Living in such an intensely Catholic country is so strange.

live from mcdonald's

I continue to find gringo-tastic places to get my homework done! Awesome things about studying in McDonalds: wi-fi and McFlurrys. Not so awesome things about studying in McDonalds: screaming children, the temptation of french fries, and the fact that I am forced to confront the harsh reality that I am, sadly, using a fast food restaurant as a library.

Viva studying abroad.

things i am running out of

• peanut butter
• toothpaste
• cell phone minutes
• weeks left in Santiago
• excuses for putting off my paper

globalization at its finest

I'm typing this from a two-story Starbucks in downtown Santiago. I'm sitting on a cushy couch, listening to soft alternative music, surrounded by vaguely abstract wall art, and drinking a mocha latte. If I ignored all the Spanish conversations going on around me, I could be in Tenleytown.

As I attempt to start my 12-page Globalization paper about neoliberal economic policies in Latin America, what could be more appropriate?

-------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE

They're playing a Regina Spektor song now. I am prepared to camp out here for the next 5 weeks. This is my new home. Does this make me an exchange student fail?

sometimes living with a host family isn't half bad.

After spending the past two years enjoying all of the freedoms that come with being a college student, it was definitely a little bit strange to move in with a host family. It kind of feels like I'm back in high school -- my friends all live far away and none of us can drive, I never know what's going to be for dinner or when it will be served, I report my upcoming plans to my parents, I call home when I'm running late. (And then there are other things that are definitely nothing like my high school experience...like getting my laundry done for me, my room cleaned for me, my bed made for me, and my sheets changed a million times a week. My host parents laugh at me if I even so much as offer to help clear the table. If my mom thought living in a dorm made me lazy, she'll really hate me when I come home from Chile!)

Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated with spending the semester as a guest in someone else's home. I wish I felt more comfortable rummaging through the fridge, and I wish I could tell my host mom not to rearrange my underwear drawer. Sometimes I can't wait to be a normal college student again so I can live on my own and eat ramen noodles at 2 in the morning.

But there are other times I wish I never had to leave this strange little Chilean bubble. This morning, as I was rushing around to get ready for my internship, my host mom set out a coffee cup for me and called me to the table. "Tarita, you have to eat breakfast!" she told me. I was running a little late, but she insisted, so I sat down to eat with my host mom, my host dad, and the maid. They all asked me about my internship and my upcoming classes, we talked about the news, my host mom cut me a huge slice of cake (for breakfast??? I love you, Chile), and my host dad reminded me to take an apple for lunch.

They may be kind of crazy and they may serve me some weird things for dinner, but it's nice to have a family when I'm far away from home. Maybe some nice old DC couple will want to take me in next semester.

i miss fall.

Don't get me wrong, this 75-degree weather is awesome -- but it would also be nice to have some crunchy leaves and chai lattes. I keep writing the wrong dates on all my class notes because it can't possibly be November right now.

noche de brujas (a chilean halloween)

Who knew that Chileans celebrated Halloween (or "Night of Witches," as the Spanish directly translates to)?

Photo credit: Alex

Well apparently, they do. Quinn and her host sister threw a Halloween party at their house on Saturday night.

Photo credit: Alex

Quinn dressed up as a Super 8, a popular Chilean candy bar that's similar to a Kit-Kat.

Photo credit: Alex

Caitlin and Jessa were a piscola -- the classic Chilean mixed drink that consists of pisco and coke. (Notice the emerging theme of gringas using costumes to prove how well they know Chilean culture! We've been here over two months and we're pros by now.)

Photo credit: Alex

I was fome (boring) and didn't have a super creative costume like my cool friends. But the point of this picture is to demonstrate the excellent party decorations in the background: instead of going trick-or-treating, we could just grab the candy that was taped to the windows.

Photo credit: Alex

Chilenos and gringas all love Halloween!

strange things that happened today

1. I noticed tons of Halloween decorations around downtown Santiago. I never would have expected Halloween to make it all the way to the Southern hemisphere. They just started celebrating it about 4 years ago, but now they're really getting into it...with cobwebs and plastic pumpkins and costume parties and everything. Weird.
2. I tried to teach my host mom how to say "pretzel." It didn't work.
3. A man wearing rollerblades got onto the bus, glided down the aisle, and sat next to me.
4. Alex and I got stopped on the street by two random guys, who asked if they could tell us how beautiful we are. Well, sure. Go for it. Their next question was whether we were married.
5. I realized that it's about to be November and it's 85 degrees.

dear cab drivers

I appreciate your concern, but you really don't need to slow down every time you see me by the side of the road. I'm standing at the bus stop for a reason...and it's because I'm waiting to take a bus. Sometimes it's possible to be both a gringa and capable of using public transportation. Not all the time. But sometimes.

more successes

I have finally broken in my heels!!! I wear them to my internship twice a week, and I no longer feel like dying when I walk home from the bus stop. This is a good sign that means I might eventually be able to be a real adult.

Also, whenever I put on heels, I tower over at least a fourth of the Chilean population. I have never experienced this phenomenon before (in the States, not even heels allow me to approach the same height as my giant friends). I appreciate this country for being so short.

semi-success?

This afternoon, while I was on my way home from my internship, a Chilean man asked me for directions! And I actually knew the area well enough to give a semi-intelligible response!!!

...And then he turned and asked someone else the same question. I guess I can't really blame him. I wouldn't have picked the blonde either.

lists

Bad habits I've picked up in Chile

• going to McDonalds -- I hardly ever eat fast food in the States, but there's something about being in a foreign country that makes cheeseburgers and milkshakes taste especially awesome
• using Chilean slang in the middle of English conversations
• wearing the same thing every day -- skinny jeans, sneakers, and scarves are the uniform of the Chilean college student
• drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee and tea
• procrastinating on all of my homework

Things I still can't get used to here

• an hour-long commute to and from my classes
• getting constant attention for being a blonde and never being able to blend in
• over-the-top PDA -- regardless of age, location, or proximity to fellow metro passengers
• the fact that apples and pears are eaten with a fork, but asparagus is a finger food
• mullets on otherwise attractive men

What I now know I can't live without

• dryers
• window screens -- my casita doesn't have any, and now that it's spring there are way too many bugs (and I'm a wimp and scream when they land on me)
• burritos, pad thai, curry, and flavorful food in general
• my iPod
• wireless internet -- I don't know how people study abroad in places without it, which may make me a spoiled American. But I love me some interwebs.

People I miss

• everyone who does not have the pleasure of being in South America with me right now. Can you all come and visit please?
• yes, this means you.

i'm thinking of trying this out on my professors.

How can I possibly be expected to get any of my homework done when the evening meal with my family lasts so long that the guacamole turns brown?

punta arenas

For the last few days of our trip, we stayed in Punta Arenas, which is the capital of the Patagonia region. It sits right on the Strait of Magellan, and it's the farthest south you can go in Chile before you hit islands. Because we were so far south, it was absolutely freezing here -- even colder than Torres del Paine!

Needless to say, it was not beach weather.

The Strait of Magellan!

This picture almost makes it look like it was pleasantly warm, but don't be fooled. I had to battle intense wind and the cold to get this shot.

The town of Punta Arenas.

A really cool cemetery in downtown Punta Arenas (Tracy, if you're reading this, it made me think of you). South American cemeteries are so different -- instead of just burying coffins underground, there are lots of elaborate crypts, statues, and monuments. Everything is beautiful and ornate, and there are tons of flowers. I think it makes it seem more like a place of celebration instead of a place to be somber and sad.

And now that you're thoroughly up to date on all of my adventures, I may have to actually think about starting my econ paper...great.

cruisin around antarctica

The next day, we went on a boat trip to see some glaciers.

We saw a colony of sea lions along the way!

Beautiful beautiful glaciers! It's so sad to think about the fact that this might all be gone in 40 years...

Back on the boat, they served us complimentary whiskey on the rocks...and the "rocks" just so happened to be GLACIER ICE. Score. Needless to say, we were champions and finished it all.

We stopped off at a tiny little town to have lunch...and yes, that entire lamb was our lunch. We watched this man chop it up, throw it in that pot, and grill it. It was delicious, but I think I prefer a little more mystery to my meat.

This is where we ate. It was green, full of sheep, and felt a little more like Ireland than Chile.