torres del paine

I have SO MANY pictures from my week in Patagonia that I'm going to split them up for you.

On our first day, we went to a national park called Torres del Paine. It's famous for its lakes, which are huge and gorgeous and all kinds of different colors.

One of the lakes had glaciers in it...because, you know, that's what you get in Patagonia.

Group shot (minus our hombre, who was taking the picture) by a lake.

We saw tons of alpacas! The weird rock formation in the background is called torres (towers), and it's where the park gets its name.

It was soooo windy everywhere we went -- we're talking winds up to 80 mph! It was a really crazy sensation to step outside and get pushed along by the wind. I was seriously worried about getting blown away.

I wish I had a way to capture the wind...the best I can do is point out the plants that are getting blown sideways.

I don't think I've ever been surrounded by so much natural beauty.

At the end of our tour of the park, we visited a milodon cave. The milodon is a prehistoric mammal (that supposedly looks like this statue) whose remains were discovered here in Chilean Patagonia. Weird, but a good photo op!

thank god for spring.

I'm back home in Santiago! It's kind of weird to categorize this foreign city as "home"...but after a week of hanging out a little bit too close to the South Pole and freezing to death, I definitely started to miss the comfort of my casita. Although Patagonia is an absolutely amazing place, I was ready to return to central Chile, where the weather is finally warm and beautiful and springy.

Unfortunately, my homecoming is accompanied by mountains of homework. Blah. For now, I'm putting it off by uploading all of my billions of pictures from the week...so, assuming this procrastination keeps up, you can look forward to a massive blog entry soon!

live from patagonia!

Just FYI -- I´m taking a leave of blogging absence because I´m spending the week in southern Chile. We flew into Punta Arenas on Monday morning, and we´re currently staying in Puerto Natales, a tiny tourist town near a bunch of glaciers and national parks. It´s beautiful here, in a cold and windy and icy kind of way...it´s crazy to think about how close to the South Pole I am right now. I´m working on filling up my camera with way too many pictures, so look out for an epic update when I get back on Saturday!

a peanut butter story, part II

Yesterday, I ran out of peanut butter. Considering the fact that I sometimes eat peanut butter three times a day here (for breakfast, lunch, and once), this was no laughing matter. While hanging out with a Chilean friend, I did my best to explain the gravity of the situation and convince him to go to the grocery store with me. Our conversation went as follows:

Felipe: Wait. What do you want to do? You need to go to the grocery store right now?

Tara: Yes, I have to do it today. It's very important.

Felipe: What do you need?

Tara: Peanut butter.

Felipe: Peanut...what? You're talking about gringo butter, right?

Tara: Um. I guess so. I need some more.

Felipe: This jar is really expensive. They don't make this in Chile so it has to be imported. Why do you need this again?

Tara: I eat it every day!

Felipe: On what? Crackers?

Tara: No, on bread. With jam. I make sandwiches and bring them for lunch when I have classes.

Felipe: That's not a sandwich.

Tara: It's called peanut butter and jelly!

Felipe: Sandwiches have meat and cheese. And sometimes avocado. How can this be a lunch food? Why are you paying so much money for these peanuts?

Tara: It's very common in the United States.

Felipe: You are such a gringa.

happy sunday.

My life flows on in endless song;

above Earth's lamentation,

I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn

that hails a new creation.

No storm can shake my inmost calm

while to that rock I'm clinging;

if love is Lord of Heaven and Earth

how can I keep from singing?

Okay, so maybe I'm lame and miss my Mennonite hymnal sometimes. Chile has many things to offer me, but Mennonites are not one of them.

halfway

Today marks my halfway point in this study abroad experience -- I have been in Chile for 8 weeks, and I'll be here for 8 more. I have very mixed feelings about being in this middle place. On one hand, I can't believe how far I've come in these past 2 months, in terms of adjusting to a foreign city and adapting to life in a different language. And on the other, I feel like I should be pushing myself a lot more to get out of my comfort zone, try new things, meet new people, and continually work towards this elusive promise of "fluency" that's supposed to be waiting for me at the end of all this.

Maybe I'll have time for a more contemplative entry later, but right now I have to go take a midterm...which seems kind of fitting in a cruel, academic, don't-forget-that-you're-still-here-as-a-student-no-matter-how-many-cool-trips-you-take way.

another day, another dollar.... wait a minute.

Who invented this unpaid internship thing, anyway?

Inexplicably, I just accepted an interview for one in DC for this upcoming spring. Once they get you, they just won´t let you go...it´s like a resume-building sickness. God help me.