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Published: October 15th 2009
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music in the countrySaturday was a pretty lazy day. Christina and I decided to go to the centro after lunch. The Nana left pasta for lunch. It was yummy but Jorge just heated it up in the microwave and it was still kind of cold so I had to heat it up again. After lunch I hurried up and took a shower because they were coming to paint the kitchen again. After I showered, I got ready to go and took a little nap.
It was probably 4pm by the time Christina and I met in the centro. We went to the Mercado and shopped around a litte bit. It was kind of chilly out because it was windy and cloudy. I bought some new sunglasses for 2000 pesos because I needed some for the weekend. The ones I brought are all bent out of shape and I can´t stand to wear them. We went to a dollar store place near the centro also. I got a thermos to put tea in.
We walked toward the train station. There is a train that goes over the river that I wanted to take, just for fun and there is supposed to be a big mural
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horseshoe like game near there. We never found the mural and we got too scared to take the train. We didn´t want to get really lost. It was getting dark and cold out. We decided to go into the big Lider supermarket near there and walk around.
I was kind of hungry again so I got and ice cream cone, a cappauchino and some mini empanadas. Not the healthiest choices but delicious. It was a hassle because the cashier screwed up my order and had to get a manager to fix it. We relaxed for a little bit and then walked around the store.
We bought lots of fun snacks and looked at lots of food. There were lots of samples. They give out beer and wine samples too! We also had potatoes and cereal. We probably spent two hours in the Lider. We decided we were tired and that it was time to head home. We walked back to the centro. Christina took a micro home and I took a collectivo.
On the way home, it happened to be the end of the Chile vs. Colombia soccer game. Chile won and is going to play in the world cup playoffs. Everyone was
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riding horse honking and screaming. When I got out of the collectivo all you could hear was people celebrating all across town. I talked to my parents and Jenna on skype. I also watched Grey´s Anatomy. Then I went to bed since we were going to the beach early in the morning.
I got up and showered on Sunday morning because I knew were we going to be staying in cabins and who knew if there would be hot water. My host dad was going to drive me to Professor Triana´s apartment. We picked up Jessica A. also. We arrived right at 8:45. It was raining, great weather for the beach. We waited and waited and waited for everyone to come. Sam was sick and not going to come. It was about 9:30 and we were still missing Brad, Evin, Karl, Trevor, and Eric. Everyone showed up shortly except Eric. We boarded the bus and got on our way. We had decided that we didn´t want to wait for Eric. Daylight savings time had taken effect on Sunday. The time went forward and hour so we lost an hour of sleep. The people that were late weren´t late because of daylight savings
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beach from the road time. It was simply because they didn´t want to wake up.
We thought the beach we were going to was about 2 hours away but it ended up taking closer to 3 hours. We were lost and kept turning around. Micro buses aren´t very comfortable. It is equal to taking a city bus, which is not fun when you are on it for 3 hours. We finally arrived at our cabanas. We chose the first cabana. It was a typical cabin. Random dishes you could use. Not super clean but not horrible except this cabin smelled like fish. We ended up moving to a different cabin. The cabin we moved to hadn´t been cleaned yet but it didn´t smell like fish!
We left our things in the cabin and went to the supermarket to buy food to make lunch and for breakfast the next day. The people in the other cabins went to a restaurant to eat but we wanted to cook something. We bought lots of food. We went back to the cabana and made grilled cheese. We also had fruit and cheetos. We also bought pasta, cereal, eggs, and yogurt. After eating we all got on the bus.
We drove out into the country.
There was a gathering in a pasture that we went to. I´m not really sure what it was for but there were lots of horses and people in traditional dress. They were playing a game similar to horse shoes and there was a group singing. We got to ride the horses. I rode one but a guy led me around the whole time. Everytime I let loose on the reins it seemed like the horse wanted to take off running. Almost everyone took a turn on the horses. There was wine and lots of food cooking. I only had a little piece of some meat. It was really good. We didn´t stay very long but it was still pretty fun.
After that we stopped at all the beaches along the ocean on the way back. The ocean is so huge and beautiful! The weather was starting to get nice out even though it was getting late in the day. We stopped at several different places. The first was by the road. It wasn´t even a beach but the view was pretty nonetheless.
The next place we went to was an actual beach. I´m pretty
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hole in the rock sure it has a name but I have no idea what it was. There was a little arch through the rocks. There was a big hill/rock thing that we climbed up. The view was amazing. There was lots of stuff on the beach that looked like squid. I guess it is a plant/animal thing that people eat. It looked gross, haha, and go figure, I can´t remember the name. At a different beach some people ate some but didn´t like it. I didn´t try it. I´m sure it had that squishy, gross texture that I can´t stand.
The last place we went before we headed back to the cabanas was a place that you could see a little island. The island is home to about 2500 sea lions. You can just make out all the sea lions lounging out there. You might not be able to see them very well but you could sure smell them! At all the beaches we had fun taking pictures and just staring into the ocean. We would walk out towards the water and when a wave would crash a shore we would have to run to beat it so we didn´t get wet. It
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squid looking thing was fun until we were standing around talking, not paying attention, and a wave came and soaked my tennis shoes and the bottom of my pants. Lucky for me it wasn´t too long before we boarded the magic school bus and returned to the cabanas.
Once back at the cabana I put my sandals on and we walked back to the store to get some snacks. They had cleaned our cabana while we were gone. We hung around our cabanas and waited for the asado to start. Sergio made delicious meat and there was also salad and potatoes. The dishes in the cabanas are so random and I ended up with no fork. I didn´t really need it but I think that was the first time I´ve eaten salad with my hands! After the asado we danced for a little bit and then went back to our cabin to hang out.
Professor Luz came into our cabin a little later and said that we were invited to a bonfire at the beach. It was kind of chilly but we figured the fire would keep us warm. The beach was only about 5 or so blocks from our cabanas but we
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footprints are lazy. We piled as many people as we possibly could into the back of Sergio´s truck. It was crazy and squished! I was glad to arrive at the beach! The only problem was that there was no bonfire yet.
We went down and played with the waves some more. Once again, this was fun until I was too slow and even though my pants were rolled up and I didn´t have any shoes on, I got soaked all the over my knees, and over my rolled up pants. It didn´t take long for me to get cold and I went up and sat on the wall with Hayley. She shared her blanket with me 😊 What a nice girl. Profe Luz, Adrien, Brenna and Jess A went back to the cabanas. I decided to stay a little longer.
The started a fire but it was tiny. I guess being from the mid-west and growing up in the country, my expectations of a bonfire are a bit high. I stood around the fire for a while and then decided it was time to go back. We called Profe Triana to see if Sergio was going to come back anytime soon
because Christina had to go to the bathroom and didn´t want to walk all the way back. She said she would get a hold of him. We waited and waited and he never showed up. After about 20 minutes we started walking. We were probably only 3 blocks from the Cabanas when his son pulled up in the truck. We hopped in but it wasn´t really worth it. I was happy to take off my wet jeans and put on my dry pajama pants.
I hung out in the cabin with Christina, Evin and Brad. I made some pasta. It was really good. It wasn´t too long before the others came back. I played war with Evin. I was winning.. but it just kept going back and forth and taking forever, so I finally just quit. I went to look out the window and there was a huge snail on the window. There was a trail all over the window where he had slid around. Yuck! We put the snail outside. We stayed up pretty late and people kept knocking on our door, looking for a place to sleep. We were told the cabins were for 8 people but they
were really 6 person cabins so that was interesting since we had 3 cabins and 20 people. Eric ended up getting a ride on his own so he was there also. Christina and I shared the big bed in our cabin.
I woke up around 10 a.m. on Monday. We didn´t have class since it was a holiday (Columbus Day). We got up and started eating and cooking all our food. We started with fruit, cereal and yogurt. I went to the store with Jess B to get stuff for garlic bread. We made eggs, noodles and garlic cheese bread. It was delicious. We ate our hearts out. After stuffing our faces we started to clean up and get our stuff together. The cabin was pretty messy since it was so muddy outside and nobody wanted to take their shoes off. There was no way we could clean the floor though. I kind of felt bad. We didn´t have a lot of warning before Profe Luz was at our door saying it was time to pack up and get on the bus.
I went and put my stuff on the bus and then went back to do the dishes. I
swear we washed all the dishes 5 times that morning with all the cooking and eating we did! We rounded up all the garbage and tidied up a bit. After that I went back to the bus and waited. The boys had somehow lost the keys to their cabana and had to pay for it. They also didn´t clean their cabin so they had to go back and do that too. I´m not sure what time it was when we finally left.
It seemed like we drove for a long time along a dirt road on the beach. We finally arrived at a nice beach. They said this beach was home to the national surfing competition. We walked down to where there were some cow/oxen on the beach and some little boats. I wasn´t really sure what the oxen were there for. They wanted us to see a boat come in or something but it wasn´t going to be there for another half an hour. We climbed up a big hill/cliff thing. There was a cross at the top. The view was really awesome. Down below on the other side of the hill there was another small beach and some
caves.
We told the people down by the caves to write "SCSU" in the sand. The picture turned out really cool. I climbed down to see the caves. It was pretty neat. You could walk in one side and go around and out the other opening. Evin, Brad, and Lucas were rock climbing on the rocks. We spent probably an hour just exploring and taking pictures. I was worried my camera battery was going to die but it never did. We headed back to the main beach.
When we got back, I figured out what the oxen were doing. They pulled boats onto the beach. Profe Triana bought some fresh crabs, still alive. There were a couple people our surfing. I really want to go to a surfing hostel and try surfing once before I leave. I might do it during the last 2 weeks that we are here. We loaded up the bus and headed back to Concepcion. I slept for awhile, thank goodness. The ride home never seems to take as long.
When I got back to Concepcion, Jess A and I helped Profe Triana carry her things up to her apartment. Everyone else had gotten off already
at a different street, closer to their bus stop. Jess and I walked and got a collectivo home. Its nice that we can take the same one. I got out at Jess´s house and walked down the hill to my house instead of getting out where I normally do because the collectivo was kind of full and uncomfortable. It is about the same distance anyways. It was still light outside too.
I ate some left over noodles from Saturday and took a much needed shower. I didn´t shower at the cabana because it just wasn´t worth the hassle. My feet felt filthy from walking around in the sand. I stayed up and finished correcting my assignment for the next day. I uploaded my pictures on facebook and talked on skype with Alicia. I probably should have went to bed earlier but I always say that!
The next day I got up at 8:30. I made some eggs for breakfast. I needed to print my paper but I wasn´t sure if I would be able to get it to work. I got lucky and figured it out! By the time I got to the bus stop it was probably 9:25 or
9:30. There was another girl there already so I hoped a micro would come soon. I waited and waited and waited. It finally came at about 9:55. It usually comes every 10 or 20 minutes and I was going to be late for class for sure. Eric was randomly on my bus. He lives in a neighborhood near mine. I thought I heard someone say my name or something when I got on the bus but I usually just ignore comments and I had my i-pod in my ears. He freaked me out because I set my backpack in the seat next to me for a second and he grabbed it and pretended to walk away.
He had never taken this bus number bus before but he had decided to try it today. It was nice that we could be late to class together. I hate being late and the fact that the micros are so unreliable as far as any sort of time schedule drives me crazy! We were about 15 minutes late but Profe Triana didn´t say anything when we walked in. She was talking about China for some reason and I didn´t really know why.
We spent
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I remember I have black and white! the whole class period just talking. We talked about the differences between Chile and the U.S. and how people had been perceiving us here. I guess Sergio asked if we were "classists" (like racist but against people from lower classes). I can see where he would get that impression but we are definitely not! We don´t talk a lot because we are not confident in our Spanish and we were told that people don´t just converse with strangers here like we do in the United States. For example: talking to the cashier at the grocery store. I also think that it has something to do with our personalities as well. At least for me it does. I´m pretty shy and quiet, especially with strangers. I´m just not comfortable talking to people I don´t know. I say my ´"please", "thank you´s" and "have a nice day´s!" but not much more. We were also told that people don´t say "hi" to every random person or smile at them so I try not to. Maybe we were mis-informed. We spent the whole 2 hours talking. So much for going through the trouble to print my paper but it will get collected eventually.
After
class I went running with Hayley. We only ran 1 mile. My leg still hurt so I stopped with here at one mile. I wore my shorts home with the intentions of running around my neighborhood later. I took the micro home. I figured Jorge would have eaten already when I arrived. It was about 2:15 when I got home but he hadn´t been there yet. I figured I would wait for him to eat. 3 o´clock rolled around and the Nana called me down to eat since she didn´t know when he would get there. That was okay with me because I was getting really hungry. I started eating and Jorge arrive about 5 or 10 minutes later. I told the Nana the other day that I liked tuna so she has been putting tuna on my salads. yum! We also had fish and rice. Jorge ate really quick and was out the door before I even had tea.
I went back upstairs to relax and let my food settle. Christina called me around 5 to see if I wanted to meet her at the Lider to get some things at 6. I said I would, so much for
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magic school bus running, but I did walk to the mall. I got money out of the ATM and then walked to the Lider. We wondered around like we always do. I bought some snacks, some flip-flops (since I didnt even bring one pair), some cards and I put minutes on my phone. I had a ticket for store credit since I returned a transformer that I had bought. Turns out you are supposed to use it within two days but I didn´t know that so I couldn´t use it. They said I could go to the service desk and have it changed though so I just paid.
I wasn´t thrilled about having to have it changed but it was actually really easy. I knew I would go back within two more days and I didn´t want to go through the hassle again so I just decided to use it. I bought a little candy bar and then put the rest on my phone. I hopefully won´t have to buy phone minutes for a long time! We left the Lider and went to the party store near there. We bought really cheap pirate stuff to dress up on Halloween. We decided pirates were
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Sea lion island appropriate since we will be on the boat headed to the south over Halloween. After our fun in the party store we walked back to the mall to get collectivos. I got more money out of the ATM since I had just spent what I took out.
I wanted to walk home but it was too dark. I talked with my parents on skype since the sauerkraut supper was the next night and they wouldn´t be home. I should have went to bed since I was really tired but I ended up not going to bed until about 11:30. I was looking at shoes online, trying to figure out if anyone ships internationally but I couldn´t find any! I need some new shoes. I think that will make my shin stop hurting.
I got up at 8:15 on Wednesday. I made some eggs for breakfast. I got the bright idea to put some bread with cheese in the same pan that I had cooked the eggs in, to try and melt the cheese, not realizing that the eggs stuck on the pan would burn. The whole house smelled like burned eggs the rest of the morning. I had told Jess
A I could print a paper for her so I did that and I also printed itinerary for our South trip that Triana had sent us. It was almost 9 when I finally got in the shower. I rushed to dry my hair and get ready. When I went to bed the night before I could tell I was getting a cold, probably from getting wet in the ocean! I didn´t want to make myself more sick and go to school with wet hair!
I managed to leave around 9:25. I was almost to the bus stop when the micro came. Thank goodness! No waiting!
We spent the first hour of class continuing our conversation from the day before. The second half we spent going over first and third person narrations that we had done for an assignment. We handed in our essays at the end of class. After class, those of us going to Peru, stuck around to plan and book hostels. It took us about an hour. We are staying one night in Lima, then 3 nights in Cusco, then 2 nights in Macchu Picchu, and then one night in Cusco. We booked all the places except for
the last night in Cusco. After our planning we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant in Plaza Peru. I ordered a chicken taco with orange juice for 1200 pesos ($2+). I ordered my taco with corn, guacamole, chicken, lettuce and mayo on it. I got chipotle salsa on the side and it also came with tomatoes on it, gross. I picked off the tomatoes. It was delicious. I might just really be missing Mexican food though! I almost wanted another one but resisted.
Hayley, Alison, Catie, and Lindsey went to the centro. Jess A and I met up with Christina. She had been at the travel agent planning a trip to Buenos Aires so she wasn´t with us booking hostels. I filled her in on what she missed and then we went to Treinta Express to get her empanadas to eat. I ended up ordering a ham and cheese one. They are so good and cheap (740 pesos)... and unhealthy! Oh well! It was delicious. After we ate we headed to our 3 o´clock class. We saw Amy on the way. She is a grad student from St. Cloud who is studying/working here also. She said one of the
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Alison, Christina and I professors who was in Spain on an exchange had died in his sleep on an aneurysm. That is just crazy!
We went to class. We actually did some good activities this time and I didn´t just sit on facebook or write this the whole time. I guess for that class we only have 3 grades. The 3 final assignments for each lesson. We already did one and I´m pretty sure I got an A on it. We just had to find and article and summarize it with at least 15 sentences using the grammar we had learned in that lesson. After class, I took the micro home with Jess A. It was turning the corner as we were about to cross the sleep. I threw up my arm so it knew we needed that bus and we crossed the street really quickly even though cars were coming. I would be so mad to have to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus!
When I got home it didn´t seem like anyone was home and the kitchen door was shut. I went upstairs and put my stuff down and went back downstairs. The Nana was in the kitchen and also
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Me, Brad, and Evin running from the waves on older guy I didn´t know. It was Jorge´s dad, whom I have never met. Jorge had mentioned that his dad was going to be in town for the month because he was getting treatment at the hospital here. He left after about 5 minutes. I ate my lunch. It was salad and soup with a pork chop in it. I went upstairs to work on this and my homework. I turned on the Chile soccer game that was supposed to start at 7. Chile is already going to the world cup but they played Ecuador tonight and the other teams still had to qualify. Jorge and my brothers got home right at 7.
The Nana had set the dining room table all nice so I knew we must be having company. Jorge had 3 friends over to watch the game. We had chips and peanuts to snack on. I thought it was funny that the kids sat on the couch and Jorge´s friends had to sit on the floor and stand. I sat in the bean bag chair. I just watched the game with them because I felt weird working on homework during the game. It wasn´t a very
good game but Chile won 1-0.
After the game, we ate cena. I was not even a little bit hungry but I didn´t want to be rude. There was steak, salad, corn and some potato thing. It was delicious but now I am bursting full. I made some Tapsin (like alka-seltzer but way better) after dinner to help with my cold. I hope I feel much better tomorrow since we leave for the north tomorrow.
I still haven´t packed! I need to ask Jorge to borrow a smaller suitcase since mine are all huge. When I asked he said it was broken but it is just the handle and that doesn´t matter to me! I have to be at the airport at 7:30 am. Its going to be a very long day but the trip should be a lot of fun! I´m really excited. Well I guess that means I should wrap this up and pack! Miss you and Love you! Be back in one week!
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