New Godson

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Saturday we stayed in Chillan. Marcela´s entire family was at her parent´s house. Literally! I was pretty bored all morning. I blogged and then just watched t.v. and listened to people. There was a lot of food being prepared. They set up a huge long table in the garage area. A barbeque is Chile is called an "asado" which is the spanish word for roast. There was so much meat! My favorite are the longanizas (sausages) that Chillan is famous for. While we were waiting to eat lunch, they served pieces of longaniza on a bun, like a hot dog. It was delicious!
The little toddler that is in their family was dressed in traditional Chilean clothes for the holiday. I didn´t get a picture of him wearing them though because they changed him shortly after they arrived. He is a little busy body. I guess he used to talk a lot but now he won´t for some reason. He just makes noises and won´t talk at all. Finally it was time for lunch. We had potatoes, salad and lots of meat. I ate pork. I also had some really good juice and some wine. For dessert there was some AMAZING orange cake! I think I could have eaten the whole cake. After cake, I had some tea also.
After lunch, I tried to lay down and take a nap because I was really tired but there were too many people around. It felt good to rest a little bit though. Later on in the afternoon I played ping pong with Fernando, Felipe, and Sebastian. I pretty much lost every game but it was still fun and better than sitting around doing nothing. After ping pong I went inside and watched a movie with the other women.
We watched "As good as it gets". Jack Nicholson is in it. I think I´ve seen it before or at least part of it. The movie was in english with spanish subtitles, yay me! For dinner, I had some bread and some soup. The soup was homemade and it was really, really good. I stayed up late with the other kids watching t.v. and diddling around on my computer. I went to bed around midnight. I´m not even sure what time they went to bed but they had just put in a movie called "23". It looked good but I knew I couldn´t stay awake!
I got up around 9 or 9:30 again. I really, really hate waiting for the bathroom but I had to wait again! I ate breakfast while I waited. I had eggs. They were farm fresh, from one of the uncle´s farms and really good. I also had some more orange cake for breakfast, haha. I finally got to use the bathroom and got all ready. I decided not to shower again, it was just a hassle and everyone wanted to use the bathroom. I will never have a house with only one bathroom!
The family that came from Santiago was up and ready to go around ten. Since this is one of the largest holidays and Santiago is such a huge city, they had to leave early because the traffic is so bad. I went to Jumbo (Jorge´s favorite grocery store that we don´t have in Concé) with Jorge and Cris. I bought a baby card for Mark and Laura. I figured I could send it early so it would get there when the baby was born.
After we got back from Jumbo, we packed up and headed back to Concepción.
I slept most of the way back or tried to. I had to sit in the middle, back seat of the truck so it was impossible to sleep. There is no head rest in the middle so I had no choice but to try to sleep sitting up. I was glad to get back. We stopped to buy empanadas for lunch and some ice cream for dessert. When we got back, we were all hungry and waited for Marcela to heat up the empanadas. Finally they were ready. We also had some pork from the day before and corn. Cheese empanadas are by far my favorite. The one´s with just meat, onions, and eggs are good also, except for there are usually olives in there too. gross!
Catie and Hayley had told me they were going to go to a park Sunday afternoon and I told them I would go with if I was back. I called Catie and she told me to meet them at Parque Ecuador. It was the last day of the ramada (independence day party) there. I called Jess A. to see if she wanted to go with me but she didn´t answer. I went to wait for a collective. I waited and waited and waited for probably 20 minutes. Finally I saw one. It was a number 30 and I usually take number 22. I had never seen a 30 before but it stopped and I asked if it was going where and I needed to go and it was, so I got in. I hate waiting!
I made it to Parqué Ecuador but then Catie wasn´t answering her phone. There were sooo many people there. There was even a little train you could ride around. I wandered into a big tent, just to see what was there. There were places to buy clothes, jewelry, and food, among other things. Catie finally answered and I met up with her and Jess B. in the tent. Hayley didn´t come because she went to her pastor´s house instead.
I can´t stand people in Chile sometimes. They just push through crowded areas with no regard and they have no personal bubble at all. It is so frustrating! We had to get out of the tent before we punched some people. Outside there were still lots of people but we wandered down the sidewalk looking at all the things that were for sale. When all was said and done I bought a ring, a bracelet, a necklace, some fingernail polish and remover, and a magnet thing that is a bracelet or a necklace. I really like all of it and it was all cheap. I love little markets like that!
While we were wondering the vendors we found Professor Triana. She was just wandering around talking to people. We were hungry so I got some french fries and Catie got some churros filled with manjar. It was getting dark and we were sick of people so we decided to leave the park. We walked to a cafe and we sat and talked. Catie and I also each had an empanada there. I took a collectivo home around 9 or 10.
When I got home, I had an e-mail from my mom that Laura was in the hospital, going to have Arnie!!!
Arnold Alan Nicolai arrived at 7:05 pm. 6 lbs, 13 oz. 20 and 3/4 inches. I can´t wait to hold him when I get home. Amanda went the next day and took some picture so I could see him. He is such a little peanut. He looks really cute!
I spent the rest of Sunday night doing homework and such. Monday I had class from 11 to 2. I got up at 9 to shower and eat breakfast. When I got in the shower, the shower mat wasn´t stuck down all the way.. and it slipped out from under me. I fell, taking the shower curtain with me, just like in the movies. I hit my leg on some knobs that are in the shower and now I have some nice bruises. I wasn´t quite sure what to do but I just strung it back up and showered.
I decided to stop at the registro civil before class to pick up my id card. My bus stop is only about one block from there and I didn´t think it would take very long. I should have known that everything is a production when you are foreign so of course, there was a problem. I couldn´t hear the lady behind the counter very well because there were lots of people talking in line behind me. All I understood was that I was missing some papers or my card wasn´t ready. I just left because I needed to go to class.
Monday was our last class with Professor Ostria. I guess we are going to have one or two other professors for that class. I don´t mind his class too much. He talks a lot but he is really passionate about literature. After class, I went running with Catie and Hayley. There wasn´t a soccer game going on for once so we did some sprints. I was sore for the next few days. We decided that we were going to buy our bus tickets to Santiago that night. Catie´s mom would pick us up at 5.
I got home at 4 and really only had time to eat before it was time to go. Catie ended up leaving without Hayley because she wasn´t ready. Catie´s mom took Alison, Catie and I to the bus station. She helped us to see what the times and prices were for 3 different bus companies. We chose Pullman Tours. Our bus leaves Concepción at 10:30 pm and arrives in Santiago at 4:30 am. It cost 6000 pesos ($12). After that we had Catie´s mom drop us off downtown so we could go to the travel agency. Good thing we went because it turned out that Hayley´s credit card didn´t work for the hotel and she had to pay before we could get our trip voucher.
We called Hayley and she came to the agency but the credit card place was closed so the travel agent would have to run it in the morning. We all took the micro back to Catie´s house to plan the trip. We had some tea and cookies. Marcela picked me up at the stop light around 9. I went home and skyped with my parents. After that, I had to do my homework and was up until about 1 a.m. doing that.
Tuesday, I have class from 10 to 12. I got up at 8 to eat and shower. I was sick of eating bread so I figured out how to light the stove and made eggs for breakfast. They were delicious. I left around 9 to catch the micro. I arrived to campus a bit early so I sat on a bench outside and waited until it was time for class. I wanted to run after class but it didn´t happen because nobody wanted to go. I went and printed my assignments for the next day in the computer lab and then took the micro home.
I still don´t understand the public transportation here. I got off the micro and walked to my house and again, when I got to my gate, the bus drove by my house. I swear, I will never figure out the schedule or route here. I ate lunch with Marcela, Jorge and Sebastian. After lunch, I returned to the university with Marcela to do work study for Proffesor Triana at 3:15. I basically did nothing again. I wrote receipt totals in a ledger book for her, only for about 45 minutes. Marcela was going home around 5 so I walked to the Santa Isabel to get some food for my trip. After that, I just waited until it was 5 and time to go.
I skyped with Becca for a bit when I got home. I spent the rest of the night doing homework and uploading pictures. The internet was very choppy and slow. I skyped with my parents for a little bit but we didn´t have much to say since we had skyped the night before.
Wednesday I had class from 10 to 12. I got up at 8:30 and ate breakfast. Jess A. met me at my house a little after 9 and we took the micro to the University. We arrived at 9:30 but she had to print her assignment for today. At the end of class we celebrated the birthdays of Alison and Jessica B. with a cake. Professor Triana messed up and the cake said Happy Birthday Alison and Brenna. It was funny but the cake was still delicious. After cake, I went running with Brenna, Adrien, and Hayley. We ran 2 miles and then decided to leave because there was an actual University soccer game going to start on the field, not just an intramural game. I had to go to Professor Triana´s office to fill out work study papers. We were planning on going to the Pablo Neruda Cafe to eat lunch after that because it was about 1:30 and we had class again from 3 to 5. We ended up inviting her to go with us.
We all walked to the cafe. It was really busy and there weren´t any tables open when we got there. Catie and Hayley decided to leave so it was Lucas, Lindsay, Jess A., Profe Triana and me. We all ordered the soup. It was delicious. The dessert was a kiwi and since I don´t like kiwi´s, I gave mine to Lucas. There were guys selling jewelry outside on the sidewalk and a turquoise ring caught my eye. I really liked it so I bought it for 6000 pesos ($12). We walked back to campus and I got an ice cream cone on the way. It was really, really good. I just like something sweet after I eat.
Our class from 3 to 5 is in a computer lab. The web-site we use was not working so I had to share a computer with Brenna to do our activity. I spent most of the class writing this blog since I couldn´t get the site to work. After class, Jess A and I walked together to go to the micro. It seemed that there was another protest going on. We´re pretty used to this by now, it seems to be a weekly occurrence. We just kept walking since we didn´t want to get caught up with the police.
We waited 20 minutes for the micro. We decided to stay on past where we usually get off to see if it would go by Jess´s house. It did go by her house! I went in to say hello to her mom. Her mom is a hair dresser and works from their home. She had accidentally left the water on to the sink she washes peoples hair in and flooded a whole room. I said hello quickly, looked at Jess´s room and headed for home.
It only took about 5 minutes to walk from her house since it is straight down a big hill. When I got home, I ate my lunch, more like supper now. I had salad, soup, fish sticks (kind of) and mashed potatoes. The Nana also made cake, but it was just out of the oven so I ate some later when it cooled down. After I ate, I showered and finished packing for ARGENTINA! We are leaving tonight. We are meeting at Catie´s around 9 and heading to the bus station around 9:30. Our bus leaves for Santiago at 10:30 and should arrive there at 4:30 a.m. Our flight leaves at 8 a.m. I am just waiting to leave. I can´t wait to go! It should be so much fun! I packed snacks for the bus and the flight. It is so hard to pack space but I hope we get to do lots of shopping in Argentina. I hear it is really cheap. Well I guess that´s all for now! I better go double check that I have everything I need.
Chau! Can´t wait to tell you about my trip!!! Love you and Miss you all!

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Photos

Photo 2
big table that we ate at

Photo 3
the asado

Photo 4
necklace I bought in parque ecuador