Falta Poco...

So, there are just a few days left before I leave Chile! I feel as though I have been here a long time but also I can't believe I am leaving so soon. It has been a great month. The other day Claudio and I went to Los Andes, a very small town near Santiago. We took a bus there to pick up some things from his job. I tried to stay awake for most of the trip, but there's something about these buses that always puts me to sleep! It was only about an hour there, so not that far. We got to see a little bit of the small city, walking around their downtown area. This is one thing I love about cities here, you can always find street vendors selling food, crafts, and souvenirs. Here are a few pictures from the short trip:

This last one is a view from the bus trip. I never get tired of looking at these mountains! Yesterday we went to a area in Santiago called "Barrio Lastarria." This little neighborhood looks very European with the architecture and ubiquitous cafes. There was also a few street vendors selling antiques and old books. It was interesting to walk around, looking in different bohemian shops and seeing different restaurants. I didn't expect to see a small store selling Turkish and Arabic food and sweets. I was also approached by a "poet" that asked me if I like poems. He then started speaking Portuguese to me! I just kept listening, understanding a little. Claudio then walked up and spoke in Spanish, the man asked me where I was from then started speaking English. I just had to laugh. After walking around, we stopped in a cafe and had muffins and coffee. Here's what the neighborhood looked like:

After having coffee we walked around toward another area of the city and eventually took the metro. We met my friend Cristián, whom I met at Georgetown a few years ago. We hung out in his apartment and just talked for a few hours. I hadn't seen him for a few years since GC, so it was good to hang out.

This weekend we are having an "asado," which is basically a cookout, with Claudio's family. I'm so excited! I can't wait to meet more of the family and have a traditional "asado."

Quinta Normal

The other day we spent in Quinta Normal, an area in Santiago with a big park and lots of museums in walking distance. Claudio and I met his friend César and his girlfiend Carolina in the metro nearby. We walked around the park for a while before finding a museum. The first one we went to was a building used in the World's Fair in France. It is hard to believe that a whole building can be dismantled and put together all over again like this one. The architecture was quite interesting and it hosted a small exhibition for kids. The show had prints of famous art pieces to educated children. Here's what the building looked like:

 We also walked down to another museum called Museo Arte Contemporáneo, another branch. This museum showcases work by college students and alumni. I found some of it quite interesting while other pieces were a bit too stereotypical. However, I enjoyed the museum as a whole and the space was great for showing small and large pieces.

Later we went back to the park to eat lunch. César and Carolina were kind enough to pack everyone lunch! So, we ate and took a break for a while.

After spending a good amount of the day in Quinta Normal, we made our way to the Estación Central (Central Station). This is where pretty much all the trains came into when they were the main means of transportation. We were about to go under the metro station when we realized it was closed off. Then we turned the other way and saw a group of Carabineros (police officers). There is a university close to this area and they were going to protest. As I said before, this is something quite normal but not very amusing to anyone walking around the area. So, we crossed the street and started going towards the central station when we started coughing. The police had set of tear gas across the street and it had already made its way to the other side. It wasn't extremely strong, but enough to bother your throat and eyes. Luckily we had made it across the street before they set it off! 

We walked over to a nearby mall to escape the air. This mall is surrounded by many vendors. It is quite well-known in Santiago because they sell imported products, mainly from Asia. Everything is super cheap and people come here to buy gifts. 

It was interesting to see another part of Santiago. I'm still amazed by all the different "comunas" or communities there are here. Even though New York is even bigger, it's still so spread out! Although it still takes around an hour or so to get anywhere downtown if you live on the outskirts of the city.

Another interesting item of the week: pescado ahumado! Smoked fish from a nearby city thanks to César! It was sooo good!

That's it for now, but I have about another week and a half here!

Santa Lucía

Yesterday Claudio and I made our way downtown to spend the day souvenir shopping and seeing Santa Lucía. First we went to a "Feria," which the word for a craft fair. The one we went to has tons of booths that people rent to sell Chilean-made crafts, jewelry, clothes, shoes, and much more. It was so overwhelming! I always get so overwhelmed when going to these places because of the amount of booths and trying to figure out what I want to buy when there are so many choices. At this feria, you can find many things made from copper, one of the biggest natural resources in Chile. You can also find jewelry made from Lapis Lazuli, which is only found here in Chile and Afghanistan. There are also many socks, scarves, and sweaters made from alpaca wool. We stumbled upon a booth with tons of leather handmade shoes and purses. There is so much to see and so many unique gifts to buy. Even people from the city go here to buy unique leather bags and scarves.

Here's a view of some of the booths at the feria. One of these booths were selling small ukuleles, but they were quite expensive. After spending some time walking around, it was time to find some lunch. We walked just a block down from the feria, near a metro station, and found a small "picada." These are little restaurants selling things like empanadas, pizza, sandwiches, and drinks. The thing is, you walk in, order, get your food quite quickly, and find seating outside. There usually isn't much room to eat inside since it is meant for people on the go. It really is "fast" food, but way better quality and even cheaper. I ordered a wheat empanada filled with goat cheese and tomatoes. I bought Claudio's and my lunch just for six dollars, so good and so cheap! Plus, you can almost guarantee everything is locally grown and made.

Here I am outside eating my delicious empanada and wearing my new handmade scarf from the feria! After eating, we headed across the street to Cerro Santa Lucía. This is one of the hills that overlooks the city. Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago and spent one of his first nights camping on this hill. The pollution was quite bad in the air, but it was still a great view. It would be nice to see it at night as well.

This is the fountain at the foot of the hill. It was turned off when we got there but luckily they turned it on before we left!

 Here I am at the top of the hill overlooking part of Santiago. If you look closely you can see some of the snow on the mountains behind me.

Not the best shot of the background, but there's Claudio and I, a little tired after walking up a ton of steps! After walking around a little more, we took the metro the Providencia, another area of the city we had been before. What time was it? Time to have coffee, of course! We found a little quaint coffee shop called "The Coffee Club." It's not unusual to find places named in English at all.

I ordered a "cortado," espresso and milk, with amaretto. Now that, my friends, is what an espresso drink should look like! It's beautiful!

 This is the outside of the coffee shop. It was delicious. So, that is pretty much our day. I had a great time and I can't believe I'm leaving in a little less than two weeks!

Viña del Mar y Valparaíso

Yesterday Claudio and I tagged along with the mission group to travel to Viña and Valpo. These cities are about an hour and a half from Santiago; it makes for a great day trip. I went to both cities on my past trip to Chile, but there is still always more to see. As soon as we made it to Viña, we stepped outside the bus and crossed the street to the sidewalk. Along this sidewalk was the shore, crashing into rocks. Unfortunately, a small group of his was unaware of the huge wave coming. Needless to say, we were drenched by the crashing wave that splashed across the street! So, therefore we were wet the rest of the day. I will remind you, it is winter here. Although, the weather was great. It was sunny most of the day with a slight breeze.

After eating lunch, we made our way to Valpo. Viña is right next to Valpo and is more of a summer destination for people in Chile and Argentina. Valpo is a port city, built on about 50 hills. There are tons of colorful houses, little shops, and hostels all along the hills. I love this city! Plus, it is completely acceptable to have graffiti lining the walls. I could walk around all day long, looking at the colorful houses and artwork at every turn.

 We also walked along the port. There are some street vendors here selling handmade crafts, candy, and boat rides. I love all the colorful boats and the sky was so blue!

 After walking around a bit more, we took an "elevator" up to the top of a hill overlooking the port. This is more like a small car/train type thing that goes up the hill. On the top were more vendors. We went here the last time I came and ate some empanadas at a nearby restaurant.

If you ever visit Chile, Viña and Valparaíso are a must-see. I would love to come during the summer some time and be able to be on the beach. It is also home to Festival de Viña in the summer, which is a huge music festival. Maybe one day I will make it to that.

Art stuff in Santiago

So, I can't come to Chile not see some art. Claudio and I went to Museo de Bellas Artes (check out the link). Supposedly this is the first art museum built in South America, so it is only necessary that I see it. The museum was nice and luckily we got in for free because we came at a certain time. Depending on the time you may have to pay to enter, but we're talking around two dollars. The museum had a couple special exhibitions showing at the time, all Chilean artists. I was glad to see some work from the country itself, because I did not learn much about Latin American art in college. I think these countries should get a little more notice for the talent they have here.  We were not able to see the entire museum due to renovation and changing of exhibitions. There is also another museum and school connected to the building: MAC (Museo de Arte Contemporáneo). All in all we had a good visit to the museum but I would like to come back when all collections are open for view.

After visiting the museum, we walked across the street to Parque Forestal. This park is a long area with lots of trees lining the sidewalks. The weather during the day was nice enough to walk around the park and not be too cold. You can find quite a few parks around Santiago that many people enjoy throughout all seasons. We made our way to Plaza Italia from the park to see another exhibition. In a large cellular building, there was a public and free showing of "World Press Photo 2011." I had never heard of the organization, but it is an annual competition of press photos from around the world. There are so many shocking, moving, and beautiful photographs in this exhibition.

It is a good thing we went to these places the other day because today there is a march in Plaza Italia for educational reform. This is something quite normal in Chile, especially Santiago. Students go on strike very often, sometimes with peaceful demonstrations, sometimes not. It is not that the education is bad, by any means, but many students are always wanting something to change. The main desire is for free education. In the US, this is almost unheard of. We complain about private tuition, but never go on strike. Somehow, I think there can be a happy medium between the two.

Onto something a little less serious, here's a funny picture for the day:

This is my little friend I found at the art museum. (Don't worry, I didn't pet him.) Dogs are everywhere in the city! There's no real animal control, which is why you see them everywhere you go. Be thankful for that in the US!

Little by little

The last few days here in Santiago have been fun! I've been enjoying lots of Chilean food and espresso drinks. Claudio's family and I went to a restaurant called Copa Feliz. I had sword fish with chips and avocado; it was delicious. Saturday night I went to one of Claudio's cousins' house for a welcoming party for me. I got to meet a lot of his younger cousins there. Everyone was so nice and treated me like one of the family. I didn't talk a whole lot because for me it's hard to put myself in a conversation with so many people when speaking Spanish. I know I have the ability to do so, but I just need to get used to speaking confidently. We spent most of the night eating and just talking. Here's a picture with some of the group and me:

I can't wait to meet more of Claudio's family soon. Fun times!


Today we went downtown to Plaza de Aramas. I went there on my trip before but it was nice to walk around a little more and see other things. It's a very busy place with tons of people walking around. There are clothing stores, restaurants, cathedrals, and the main campus of La Universidad de Chile. We ate lunch in the Plaza and walked around a bit more. Here's a picture of the Plaza:

I have been getting to know the city a little more by taking the metro (subway) and micro (bus). This city is so huge! Thankfully transportation is pretty cheap, a little more than a dollar for one trip. The only bad thing is that if you need to go somewhere late at night you will have to walk quite a bit. After the party the other night, we took a micro to one stop then had to walk about 30 minutes to get to the house. This is because only certain micros run at night at certain times. So, if you hate walking, don't visit Santiago! It's just a way of life here, which I think is a good thing. That's about all I have for now!

In Chile!

Yes, I am finally here after such a long wait! My flight to Atlanta was fine except for the seven hour layover. I left there around 11 and made first class with my "budy" pass. Let me just say, now I know why people pay extra for first class! Plenty of leg room, ability to recline, personal tv, awesome meal...it was great. However, once we arrived in Santiago around 8am, the line for immigration was very long. After going through that we had to wait about 30 minutes to get our luggage. Apparently they had to "sanitize" it for some reason. Then I continued through security to leave the airport. I finally saw Claudio and his family, I was so happy! I probably didn't stop smiling for quite a while afterward.

We drove to his house and had "once" and rested for a bit. Later we went to see his grandparents. Then we went to eat at a restaurant called "Tip y Tap."

This place was so good, I shared a churrasco with Claudio and also suspiro limeño, a dessert similar to lemon merengue pie but without the crust. So good! After that we headed home. I slept so well last night, I was so tired even though I slept a little on the plane.

Today was my first day in the city and it was so fun! Claudio took me to "Parque de las esculturas," it had many different sculptures by artists from Chile. Here's a few pictures of the park:

After walking around for a while we went to get some coffee, a Chilean tradition! These cafes are very ubiquitous in Santiago. We went to one called "The Coffee Factory." I had a drink called "Bombon," with espresso, sweetened condensed milk, milk, chocolate, and amaretto syrup. It was delicious! Later we took the metro then the micro home. The metro here is the subway and can get you around the city quite well. The micro is the bus system, which is used more to get you to the outskirts of the city.

So far, I am having a great time. I love learning more about the culture, people, and language. It's going to be a great month here!

Better start packing, right?

Today I drove back from Frankfort where my best pal Beth got married on Friday. It was a lovely wedding! I was so blessed to be in it and a part of it. I wish Beth and Michael the very best on beginning a new journey in life. They are meant for each other and have been such a blessing in so many lives. It was a great party too! I felt like I was at a Phi Mu formal! I got to see so many friends from college, dance, and have tons of fun. The couple days went by way too fast.

So, tomorrow is Sunday which means I better start packing for my trip! This is the thing I dread the most. How do you pack lightly for a month? Also, when you're currently wearing shorts and tank tops but are going to be somewhere cold it makes it quite difficult. But, I guess it is necessarily nonetheless. I am going to do my best to keep blogging while I'm in Chile to keep everyone updated on my trip. I usually journal while I'm going somewhere for a period of time, so I figure I can just blog instead and share with all of you all. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel on Monday and also on my way back. I'm hoping everything goes smoothly and I get there asap!