Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Tag: Study abroad (page 11 of 13)

We’re in Reutlingen!

So since I haven’t actually written about what we’ve been doing the past four days, I think it’s about time. Also, as a side note, when I wrote “four days,” I had to stop and think for a while, because it seems soooo much longer than that.

The narrowest street in the world (and one of the Professor's cute kids hiding at the end)

Anyway. These four days have been amazing. For the most part, the group and I have just been getting acquainted with the city of Reutlingen. One day, we took a tour of the Stadtmitte, which is the only-pedestrian city center where most of the social activity, restaurants, and stores are. Despite our old and soft-spoken guide who was difficult to understand, it was fascinating to see the historical and important sights in the town. Included in the tour were the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s cathedral, the huge cathedral in the city center), the Rose Garden (which was tended by monks who lived in an adjoining building, complete with flowers, benches, and a chapel), and Reutlingen’s claim to fame in the Guinness Book of World Records, the narrowest street in the world. Unfortunately, there are too many cool photos to include in this small blog, so you’ll have to visit my Picasa account at  https://picasaweb.google.com/100454144518688283131 to see the rest of them! Because this small space isn’t even close to enough room to convey the whole experience.

Molly just waiting for the bus.

Much of our time so far has been spent learning the bus and train system and walking around attempting to navigate the town. It’s not that complicated–buses come to our neighborhood every ten minutes, and leave the city center every ten minutes bound for our neighborhood. And there’s one easy route to walk to the city center. But the fact that everything’s in German makes it a bit more complicated. Times like this it’s nice to have our professor herding us around, since he’s fluent! But I’ve got it down now, I think. Time to be independent!

 

Not only are they the best-looking berries ever, they're also the best-tasting. Win-win.

One of the highlights of our time here has been market day, which is like an enormous farmer’s market. Meat vendors, fruit and veggie farmers, bakers, and cheese-makers all come to the market square in the city center every Saturday and Tuesday morning and sell their homemade or homegrown goodies. You can find basically anything you’d want–gigantic loaves of delicious breads, homemade honey and jam, so many fruits and veggies, and can even grab authentic German bratwurst-type sandwiches while you peruse. Again, look on my Picasa account (link above) to see all the delicious goodies, because there are way to many to portray here.

On Sunday, the Reutlingen and Tuebingen groups met up for a tour of Tuebingen given by Dr. Springer, an art history professor at the University in Tuebingen and one of the professors in the Reutlingen Valpo program. It’s a fascinating city. Unlike Reutlingen, it wasn’t destroyed in war, and so all of the buildings are extremely old, especially by American standards. The coolest part, of course, was the castle. It’d be strange if the castle wasn’t the coolest part of any tour. I mean, they’re pretty awesome. And then we got to eat at a restaurant right on the river, which has its own brewery as well as fabulous food. A great day, all in all.

CASTLE.

That’s an overview of life the past few days! Until class on Monday. But even that, too, will be incredibly interesting. After all, we’re in Europe! What isn’t interesting over here?

 

The Beginning

Hier bin ich! (Here I am!)

 

After a nerve-wracking, scary, exciting, and stressful emotional roller coaster ride that was the days prior to departure, I am finally in Germany and somewhat settled in. How I got here though, that’s interesting. Unfortunately, I’m not exactly the plan-ahead type of person, so most of my packing was done the day before I left my house in Alabama. Which meant a bit more stress than if I had started earlier, but like they say, nothing would ever get done if it wasn’t for the last minute! Fortunately, I can’t think of anything important that I forgot. Yet, at least. So it seems that my packing tips might actually be useful (and if it turns out they aren’t, I’ll let you know later when I kick myself for forgetting something). Here goes:

Getting ready to leave

1.   Pack lightly. That’s the first thing anyone will tell you, and it’s true. For our group’s tickets, we only were allowed to bring one bag for free. The second one was $50 (ouch). But most of us brought a second one. After all, it’s almost four months abroad, and drastic season changes occur during the fall semester. Point is, you will need a lot of stuff while abroad, but it’s expensive to bring a lot, so keep it to a minimum.

2.   Leave room for items bought abroad. Not only do you have to pack lightly, but you also want some free room so you can bring more back with you. Christmas presents, for example. Who wouldn’t want a Christmas present from Germany after all? I cheated the system by packing toiletries in mine that I will use up. Shampoo, body wash, that kind of thing. As long as your suitcase is under the weight limit when you leave, it’s fine. But even with the space that will be made by those things, you still want to leave a little extra room, because you will always, always have too much stuff.

3.   Plug adapters. Sometimes the program will have extras that somebody left from a previous year, but it’s better safe than sorry. Know what kind of outlets your country will use, and make sure you have an adapter that will work. And it’s easier to find them in the U.S. than trying to find the right one abroad.

4.   Shoes. You really don’t need many. Just make sure they are good for walking, because that’s the primary mode of transportation for students abroad. You’ll need a pair of shower shoes too if you’re in dorms. Remember tip number one, pack lightly! Four pairs is probably all you really need.

5.   Don’t bring money. It’s a lot easier and cheaper to get money with a debit card from an ATM than it is to try and change American dollars to Euros. Cheap is, of course, a relative term, because you’ll still have to pay a fee to transfer the money, and the exchange rate right now is terrible, about 1.4 dollars to the Euro. Ouch.

6.   Medications. Make sure you bring all the prescription medications you’ll need for your entire time abroad. It’s illegal to ship prescription medicine to Europe. And medicine in Germany like Advil is much more expensive than in the U.S., so it is definitely worth it to pack what you think you’ll need. Before you leave, make sure you find out what the country’s policy and price is for medications.

7.   Water bottle! It’s incredibly useful, especially since water in Germany has to be bought. If you aren’t opposed to tap water, you can always refill it from the sink in your room or dorm and in the bathrooms of restaurants. It will save lots of money in the long run.

8.  Finally, Find out what your program will provide. In Reutlingen, bedding and cooking utensils, among many other things, are provided for the students by the Valpo program. There are also many other items, like desk lamps, shower caddies, and hangers that other students have left behind that are up for grabs by the new students. Talk with your program’s director or a contact at your place of study to see what they can provide for you before you pack.

After I used up all of my brainpower in packing, I left for Valpo for a few days to catch up with my friends and see those I would miss most before leaving for four months. Needless to say, it didn’t help slow down my emotional roller coaster ride thinking that this would be the last time I’d see them for a long time. There were times I didn’t want to leave, and times I was so excited that I just couldn’t sit still. But the time came to leave, and since there really was no turning back after buying a $1500 plane ticket and an $800 Eurail pass, I left for the airport. And after all of the goodbyes, we turned the corner with a last glance back and were ready for our flight!

Our home for 9 long hours

After, of course, spending time getting through security with their fancy new machines… And spending way too much money on Reese’s Pieces because it would be the last peanut butter I’d be able to eat for a while… And sitting for way too many hours waiting for the flight… But then we finally got on board, and after a long, fairly restless, very uneventful flight we made it to Germany and to our dorm safe and sound!

48 hours into our semester, and there are already so many experiences to talk about, but those will have to wait until next time.

Bis später! (Til later!)

Top 6 Greatest Things About Living in Valparaiso, Chile and Top 6 Things I’m Ready to say CHAO to!

THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT VALPARAISO, CHILE

  1. The beautiful view from the top of ceros (hills). My favorite is from Mauricio’s porch, you can see the hills packed with colorful houses, the ocean, and busy downtown. I’ll also really miss the nightview, when all the hills are lit up like Christmas trees.
  2. The friendliness. People are so inclusive and friendly here, I love it. I was eating alone at the café at Isla Negra, and another woman who was eating alone asked if she could join me. We had an awesome hour long conversation, and the whole time I was thinking, “this would never happen in the U.S….that’s sad!”. I had gone out with a girl a couple nights through mutual friends, and thought she was really nice, but didn’t know her that well. She ended up inviting me to her house for her birthday party and then we ran into each other on the bus back from Isla Negra and sat by each other, just talking for a good 90 minutes. Everyone shares whatever they have with you and people have been so kind in including me in their plans, especially when I was new here. It’s really made me want to reach out and be more inclusive to the people who need it in my University. I really want to volunteer with the international students in Valpo now that I know what it’s like. Thank you so much to everyone who reached out to me and helped me find my niche here! The friendly, group-oriented Chilean culture makes it easy, but still, I’ll always be grateful.
  3. Bars and discotecas! I love going out to dance here and I LOVE the music here, it’s just so perfect to dance to! My ipod definitely has it’s fair share of Latin pop music, Chico Trujillo and Nano Stern by this point 🙂 I will not miss that you are expected to dance until at least 5 in the morning, even if you are dead tired…sometimes I just want to leave at 4 in the morning and sleep, ok?! And I’ll miss being able to go out to a bar or order wine with dinner…but hey, I’ll only have 2 months until I’m 21 and legal in the U.S! But I won’t be able to order a terremoto or pisco sour in the U.S…and I’m going to miss those drinks a lot!
  4. Pastelerías, panderías and street vendors. I love that there are pastelerías and panderías on about every street and that they all sell different kinds of sweets and pastries, it’s so fun to try them and they’re usually really cheap! I do really miss chocolate chip cookies and brownies though, everything is manjar here! Plus, there are street venders EVERYWHERE selling sweets and sopaipillas, they’ll come through the buses and sell to you, and lots of bus stops have little kiosks that sell about any snack you’d want for SUPER cheap. A bottle of Coke (that’s always the old-fashioned glass ones with a cap, I love it :D) and a bag of chips for less than $1?…yes please!
  5. Living downtown in a big city. Sometimes it bothers me, because everything is always really hectic and loud, but overall I love being right in the center of everything! I need to walk about 3 minutes to get to Plaza Anibal where there are tons of bars, cafes, restaurants, discotecas and live music during the day! The grocery store is a 4 minute walk and right next to it are two outdoor street markets that I love wandering through. A quick local bus ride gets me to the movie theatre, any other bar, restaurant or discoteca I’d want to go to, and tons of other outdoor markets (which I’m also REALLY going to miss by the way, so cheap and so fun to spend an afternoon walking through! Just guard your money, it can get used up fast :D)
  6. My students and the people at Las Cañas. These are the two programs that I enjoyed the most, and I really wish that I had more time to invest with these people. I already miss my kiddos a lot, and it’s hard to come to terms with that I probably won’t ever see most of these people again. But I’m just trying to focus on being grateful for the time that I’ve had with them and the memories that I will have forever. And I love that during goodbyes they always tell me that no one knows the future, and maybe God will bring us back together again…I hope so 🙂  But I am going to keep up as pen pals with my 3rd graders and we’re even trying to work out skype chat dates, it was the teacher’s idea and I’m so excited about it!

 

THINGS I WILL NOT MISS ABOUT VALPARAISO, CHILE (gotta be honest, right?!)

  1. Not having toilet paper or soap in bathrooms! UGH, SO ANNOYING! It’s just always a gamble here, but lots of places don’t provide soap and/or toilet paper, or if they do provide toilet paper, it’s by the sinks, so you have to remember to grab some before you go in the stall. My strategy has been to carry mini Kleenex packs and hand sanitizer around in my purse so I’m prepared, but the lack of soap just grosses me out…ew
  2. Wild dogs in the streets. They are scary. They attack each other. They bark really loudly at me and follow me and make me nervous. Chao, perros, no voy a extrañarles! (See ya later dogs, I’m not going to miss you!)
  3. The lack of aesthetics. Ok, I know that’s weird, but I couldn’t figure out how to phrase this. Valparaíso is gorgeous, but it’s more gorgeous from a distance to be honest. The views are incredible, the beaches and nature are beautiful, but when you’re actually walking the streets downtown or in a cerro, there are no beautiful green lawns with gardens, just dirt and gates, lots of the brightly painted houses are very old and in great need of repair, with tin roofs, and there’s A LOT of litter…and that makes me sad 🙁 I definitely get to experience the real nitty-gritty side of Valparaiso too by working in the poor areas of the city, very far from the toursity sectors. And that’s something I’m grateful for, it’s good to see what life is really like for a lot of the people here.
  4. 4. Feeling so dependent. I’m a very independent person. But living in a foreign country and speaking a different language makes you pretty dependent on people to show you your way, and even help you understand what is going on in a conversation. My life has increasingly become more independent here, which has been nice, but it’s hard to describe the “lack of independence” feeling. Some of it is just little things, like not having a place to invite people over to, so I’m always dependent on invitations,  But I think it’s some of the group-oriented mindset that clashes with me here too, I’ve certainly realized what an individual-oriented mindset Americans have for the first time (you always here about it, but I think it takes living in another culture to really find out that it’s true!). It’s also some of the “aggressive kindness” I talked about in a previous blog post. Chileans are so kind, and really want the best for you, but if they think they know what’s best, watch out, your opinion no longer matters! Ick, I’m probably not describing this well, but all-in-all it’s just very different from being an independent college student, I think it’s been really good for me and made me grow a lot, but I will be ready to return back to my independent college life!
  5. 5. Living in the YMCA. My bed has fleas…they bite me…it’s really gross. They really like having exercise class at 8 am with super loud techno music. My room is above a basketball gym, and it seems that men’s favorite time to play basketball here is either 7am or 11pm. They also have karate classes in that gym at 8am Saturday morning…and they yell a lot in karate classes. Look to #1 for the bathroom conditions. And there is just no space to privately relax, I have to go down to the first floor to get wi-fi and there are ALWAYS tons of people around…it gets draining! So thank you for letting me complain, I’m very ready to stay in some hotels and actual houses for the next 2.5 weeks! And then go home to MY OWN BEAUTIFUL BED! J
  6. 6. Break-neck micro rides. At first the micro and colectivo system was really fun. Micros are the public buses that have routes all over Valparaíso. They also have a train system, but the buses take you more places. Colectivos are like taxis, but they have set routes, so you just get in and pay, and then get out at the stop you want, you can’t personalize it like in the U.S. I still feel really legit hailing my bus or taxi and knowing all the stops I need (believe it or not, I can navigate quite well through the city by this point…for anyone who knows me, they probably aren’t believing me b/c I suck at directions…but it’s TRUE! I guess I learn if I need to in order to survive, ha :D). But the micro drivers here are INSANE! They drive at break-neck speeds, and the roads here are crazy steep and curvy because you’re making your way up these huge hills, it still makes me so nervous! Erica and I both just having to put calming music on our ipods and breathe deep, but it doesn’t seem to bother the Chileans a bit. Plus, I also won’t miss the lack of organization in the bus system. The bus routes aren’t posted anywhere, each bus just has the streets and hills it serves written on it’s window sign, and there aren’t any bus schedules, so you just have to wait and hope that the bus you need comes soon. Again, Chileans don’t understand why this bothers my on-time, orderly American self, but it bothers all us gringos!

 

FOOD!

 

 

 

 

 

Una Chorillana!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm... 🙂

The one time I went out for breakfast here…and all they had on the menu was toast and butter and jam with juice and coffee…very cute…but I miss big American breakfasts!!

Yup, just some small portions of french fries…except for that they’re HUGE!

Un terremoto!

A pisco sour on the left and jugo natural on the right, I wish both were in my hands right now 🙂

Levi and Luke having a moment, as Levi tries to feed him his first ever completo…*tear*

Let’s talk about everyone’s favorite subject: FOOD!

Last year part of the money the group paid to the YMCA was to have a cook who made them dinner each night, but they changed things up this year and now they are reimbursing us up to what we pay each month to buy groceries and cook ourselves or go out to eat…it’s a sweet deal! I’m definitely focusing on the going out to eat more than the cooking, hehe 🙂

TOP 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EATING IN CHILE

1. NO TACOS. NO BURRITOS

Surprised?! I was! Turns out that’s Mexican food, and Chileans aren’t big fans of it. I have only found one restaurant with tacos here and one with fajitas. I have found none with burritos. It makes me want to cry!!

2. They are OBSESSED with salt.

Every single restaurant table has a huge salt shaker on it and usually no pepper to go with it. They put salt on EVERYTHING and lots of it! Salads don’t have dressing, just oil or lemon juice and tons of salt. One of my friends keeps salt packets in his coat pocket. I don’t even know how to describe the obsession, but it is hilarious. Also, almost nothing is spicy here. That was a big surprise for me too. Know why nothing is spicy?!…because they use salt to flavor everything!!!! Taco seasoning can only be found in a tiny space in the ethnic section of the grocery store…gotta love it 🙂

3. Chorillanas

This was recommended to me for my first meal and Chile, and wow is it good. Basically, a chorillana is a heart attack on a plate. It is a plate of thick, greasy, salty French fries, with one or two fried eggs and your choice of meat, (traditionally it is sliced hot dog, but I like it more with chicken) and then fried onions to top it off. Most restaurants make them only in portions for two people to share and they are HUMONGOUS!!! (portion sizes here are usually really big, but this is big even for Chile).

4. Eating Schedule

Let’s journey back in time to Anna’s first full day in Chile. She sat down for lunch, not that hungry, and just had something small, don’t remember what, but a normal American lunch. 6 pm rolls around and she asks when they are going to have dinner and is told “around 9’oclock”…what?! Well that’s a little weird, but she can wait…9 o’clock comes and she is handed a small jelly sandwich…hmmmmm. Luckily, now I know better, haha 🙂 The Chilean eating schedule goes like this, they “tomar desayuno” (literally, “to drink breakfast”), which is only a bit of bread, usually with manjar (see #7) or butter, and this is accompanied by tea or coffee. The focus of breakfast is the tea or coffee, some don’t even eat, that’s why it’s called “drinking breakfast”. Lunch is between 1-3 usually (they can’t believe that in the U.S. I eat at chapel break between 11-11:50  (they always tell me TAN TEMPRANO! “THAT’S SO EARLY!”) And lunch is the big meal of the day, so you have to load up on food there. A lot of restaurants are open from 12-4 and then close until 7 or 8…which is so different! I was a waitress for 4 years, and 11-2 was our busy time for lunch, we’d only keep one waitress on between 2-4:30 (and restaurants are packed during this time here) and 5-7 was our busy dinner time…and the restaurants are closed here then! Dinner is either small or non-existent. Instead, they have “onces” (which I have no idea why it’s called “onces”, because that means eleven…but they have onces around 6-7…weird). Onces consists of tea or coffee with small sandwiches or pastries or cookies. And there you have it! Very different, but I’m more used to it now.

5. Bland Carbohydrates Anyone?

The Chilean diet is carbohydrate-filled (see #10 for more). Breakfast mainly consists of bread. Humongous sandwhiches are everywhere. See # 8 for snack foods: what do they consist of? BREAD! Plus, they love, love, love potatoes. Mashed potatoes, huge portions of French fries, roasted potatoes, they love it (and of course flavoring it with lots of salt). Panderías and pastelerías (bread and pastry shops) are everywhere selling bread and pastries…ok, so I’ve beat the point to death that they love bread 🙂 But in general the diet is just more bland, with lots of carbohydrates, and I’ve even found that the chips and cookies here aren’t as rich as in the U.S. Seriously, I bought a bag of cheetos once, and the flavoring is much lighter colored and not nearly as strong, sadness!

6. MANJAR!

Chocolate rules the dessert scene in the United States, and chocolate is certainly still big here…but manjar definitely comes first. Manjar is “dulce de leche” or caramel-flavored sweetened condensed milk…I don’t really know how to describe..but it is GOOD. And super addicting. And super bad for you…winner 🙂 Chileans put it in everything! Seriously, in every single thing at pastelerias and panderias there is at least a tiny bit of manjar…it’s like they are nervous to make something without manjar, ha 🙂 You can buy it in jars to spread on things (they don’t make peanut butter and jelly here, they saw me making it once and thought it was so weird! But manjar sandwiches?! Of course!) I’m pretty sure all us gringos have our own jar in our rooms at this point, I’m definitely brining a big jar home! But still, for me chocolate will always take the cake!

7. Pisco Sour and Terremotos

Remember how Chile is known for its wine? Well, Chilean wine on its own is amazing, but terremotos make Chilean wine a dream come true. A terremoto (which means “earthquake”) consists of a type of Chilean wine called pipeño, which is really sweet, and then they scoop ice cream on top and serve it in a 1L pitcher…YUM! I can’t decide between this and pisco sour for my favorite. Pisco sour consists of pisco (which I just looked up, and it is defined as a “white brandy made from muscat grapes”..there you have it), lemon juice and sugar and sometimes egg whites (which sounds weird I know), but I think it is SO good! It’s a great mix of sweet and sour and lots of places have it in different flavors, mango and kiwi are my favorite. Oh, and if you’re in Chile, make sure you don’t attribute the invention of pisco sour to the Peruvians…unless you’re looking to start a fight, ha.  Chile and Peru both claim to have invented the drink and look on it with national pride…but obviously it was Chile! 😉

8. Anyone Want a Snack?!

Fast food in Chile: Chileans may say they don’t eat dinner, but street carts and fast food places are jam-packed at night, here are 4 of the favorite offerings:

Completos These are a big deal in Chile, Chileans LOVE THEM! Basically, it’s a huge hot dog that is COVERED in condiments (by the way, Chileans love condiments…to an extreme degree…it’s crazy). Normal completes have palta, which is mashed avocado spread, tons of mayo and chopped tomatoes. You can also get tons of varieties, like quesopletos (just cheese filled, no hot dog) or papapletos (filled with French fries instead of hot dog).

Empanadas Who has an addiction to cheese empanadas? This girl! Empanadas are all over, just like completos. There are lots of “Fabricas de Empanadas” where you can grab one quick to go, and standard fillings are cheese, chicken, seafood, and beef. But I like getting them at sit-down restaurants more, they’re usually crispier and really hot, YUM! Also, I just found a place that makes really unique empanadas, like basil, tomato and cheese, goat cheese paired with different things and manjar with pineapple (which is WAY too good)

Sopaipilla Also love these. All the main streets and plazas have tons of little street carts making and selling these fresh. It’s a circle of fried dough and the dough includes pumpkin mixed in it, which makes is slighty sweet. You can put mustard or ketchup or mayo on it, or this Chilean mixture called “pebre” which consists of onion, tomato, garlic, and herbs (they set this down with bread at almost every restaurant). But I just like them plain! And for only $100 pesos per sopaipilla (about 20 cents!), it’s one delicious deal.

Oh my papas fritas… You think that Americans have an addiction to French fries?! YOU HAVEN’T SEEN CHILE! The portion sizes here are INSANE! Be warned, you ask for a small portion of papas fritas and you will add least be delivered a full plate full, if not more. And they are the greasiest, saltiest, freshest fries ever…por qué Chile, por qué?!?!

9. Guatón!

Chileans love a good sandwich (the word is the same too :D). And their sandwiches are HUMONGOUS! Barros luco is Levi’s favorite (beef and cheese, grilled on a big white bun) and they have sandwiches in every combination you can imagine, always piled to the sky with enormous amounts of condiments, but the Guatón is the king of all sandwiches. A guatón is basically a giant sandwhich. It has layers, so there isn’t just a bun on the outsides, but buns inside to divide the layers. I have only seen them served, never witnessed one eaten…but it is a feat to be proud of. And I am proud to say that Luke Easterday did indeed finish one…I cannot witness to have seen it, but Erica and Johnna can…but I can witness to how much his stomach hurt afterwards 😉

10. Te y Café y Jugo (Tea and Coffee and Juice)

Tea and coffee is everywhere here. Lots of restaurants offer deals with sandwhiches, completes and chorillanas that include a drink and it’s usually a choice between tea, coffee and juice. I think it’s really funny to offer tea with these huge fast food options, but everyone does it! Chileans tend to prefer tea over coffee and almost always have it with breakfast and onces.

Chilean coffee, to be blunt, is gonna be disappointing to an American. They definitely don’t have the same coffee culture that we do. Restaurants with a good selection of lattes do exist, but sizes are small and it’s not as rich. Be warned that if you just order coffee, you will often be served a cup of hot water with a packet of instant coffee…yuck. Finding a Starbucks in Vina del Mar, the next town over, was a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL day 🙂

Chile has made me addicted to fruit juice. They don’t just do apple and orange juice here, they have every possible kind, blueberry, peach, strawberry, banana, kiwi, SO GOOD! Plus, almost every restaurant also offers “jugo natural”, which is freshly squeezed juice mixed in with sugar and water and it is absolutely heavenly. It’s rich and pulpy, but also very light because of the water and it comes in big, pretty glasses with fruit on the rim, so you feel special for ordering it 😉 Plus, it’s usually pretty cheap! This is another thing I am definitely going to miss.

There's even a fast food chain named "El Guaton", here's the menu!

So there you have it! And now I’m hungry…cheese empanada anyone?!

Starting Goodbyes (What?!) and New Beginnings

 

 

Abrazo del grupo! (Group hug!) Attacked with love 🙂

My 5th grade music class! Check out the video of them singing on Facebook!

My 3rd graders holding up their finished assignments from my lesson!

DISCLAIMER: I couldn’t post due to site updates, so this post is a bit out-dated…if you are my friend on Facebook, I already posted this as a note, if not, enjoy!

 

Wow. It’s been way too long since I last posted, and I apologize for that! Now I understand why other travelers say that when you have the most to do and talk about, you have the least time to do so! But I’m going to be super-blogger now to make up for it, so watch out!

And part of the reason that I can be super-blogger is that one of my programs is ending! Weird! The colegio (The Chilean education system is divided into colegio (pre-school-8th grade), secundaria (9th-12th grade, but they call it 1-4) and Universidad (college)) that I work at is going on winter vacation (haha!) this Friday for 2 weeks. They start back up with school on the 24th of July, but my internship ends on July 22…so after tomorrow I’m not going to see my kiddies again 🙁

I have absolutely loved working at the colegio with my 3rd and 5th graders, despite its challenges. As I said, this is a school for kids who have some kind of troubled home, whether it be financial troubles, abuse, neglect, alcohol, etc. I spend 3 days a week in the 3rd grade classroom and it has been such a wonderful opportunity to really develop relationships with these kids and get to know their personalities and needs. But it is also difficult, because you can start to see where these kids are suffering in their lives. Quite a few of them are very, very clingy and attention seeking…which from being a camp counselor last year, I know just happens with kids, but it’s to a level where I wonder how much attention, hugs and love these kids are receiving at home. Many of them jump to violence over small conflicts and seem to find it quite normal to smack someone or hit their head when upset. And overall trying to keep control and teach them to raise their hand and not yell or act out can be pretty exhausting.

But in spite of that, there are really great days too. When they all do well on the quiz, or are actually working quietly. When you can see how excited they are about learning and how they’re almost jumping up and down to be picked and say the answer so you can see how smart they are. Plus, they’re just kids! And they want to have fun and be loved. So that’s why I made my lessons focus on getting them to sing and dance and do artwork and practice English, so that they could have a break from being told to be quiet 🙂

It’s a blessing to me to walk into the school yard and be attacked with my students who want to hug me, help me carry me things, start singing the latest song we learned at me or giving me sweets. It’s difficult to only be in these kids lives for such a short time, but I’ve just tried to give as many hugs, smiles and “good jobs” as I can, answer as many questions about English as possible (haha) and give them some fun songs, dances and projects to remember. ( I’ll post videos of them singing if I can!). And yesterday I came into the class only to be greeted with huge shouts of “Te quiero Tia Anna” (I love you Miss Anna!) and gifts of goodbye cards that they had asked their teacher if they could make in art class.I had made little gifts and cards for them too, each with a small gift from Holland, or Valpo (like mini wooden shoes post cards, lanyards) and I was able to talk the the class and tell them how much they meant to me and how much I loved my time with them (and expressing emotional things is really hard to do in another language!) and I was so proud when I was done that I’d said what I’d wanted to and hadn’t cried…and then the teacher asked if the kids had anything to say to me…and they all started jumping up and down and raising their hands. So one by one, my kiddies stood up and shyly told me that they loved me and what activities of mine they loved the most and that they were going to miss me and then walked up to give me a hug and kiss. I was surviving until little Constanza told me that her one wish is that I was a Chilean so that I could stay with her forever…let the waterworks begin! But it was a wonderful mix of happy and sad tears, I’m so grateful for the experience, but don’t want it to end!

But even with sad goodbyes come new beginnings. I recently found a lovely little Lutheran church (yeah Valpo, you converted me, congrats) in Vina del Mar, the next town over, and they do a caminata (walk) to bring the homeless soup, coffee and sandwiches on Tuesday nights. I went for the first time last night and am so glad that I did. Being a part of a Christian community that is intent on living out their faith and serving others as Jesus served is another blessing for me. I love my church at home, and to feel a part of another church community is something that has really anchored me here and given me peace. We met at 7 pm at the church to prepare the food, had a lovely devotional and time to sing together and then donned some awesome neon yellow coats that have our churches name and the back and headed out to walk the streets! Part of what I’m really grateful for in this internship is that I’m not just a tourist here who sees the touristy, luxurious parts of a country. I get to live right in the center of the city, not in luxurious conditions, but right in the center of restaurants, office buildings, bars, concert halls, be a bus ride away from very rich and orderly Vina del Mar, and then work in really poor communities and see another side of Valparaiso and life in Chile. On this walk I met a woman who was 7 months pregnant but still addicted to drugs and alcohol, a mute man sitting outside a bread store, two old men who were out on street corners playing homemade instruments and many others. It’s really hard for me to be able to talk with these people because of their accents. Accents don’t differ by region in Chile, like in the U.S. Instead, they differ based on class. But I can smile, control and get rid of my own pride by letting the homeless men to kiss me on the cheek to say hello and goodbye and sit with them as they eat, nodding and smiling as the Chileans talk with them J.

Another new beginning is getting my travel plans set for my last 2 weeks here! The Y gives us the last week as a vacation week, so we are done July 22 and Levi and Erica are leaving July 28. Luke and I elected to stay longer because we want to travel and Luke has a friend in Bolivia who was an exchange student at his high school that he wants to visit. So we’ve all been talking and the plan is to head up to Santiago for a weekend, then Luke and I will leave for Buenos Aires (AH!!!! I’M SO EXCITED!) by bus, spend about 5 days there and then fly up to La Paz, Bolivia for my last week! It’s going to be very weird to say goodbye to my life and friends here and then have more than 2 weeks left in South America, but feel so incredibly lucky to have the chance to visit these places…even typing it I can’t believe that it’s actually going to happen!!

I’ll write again soon, hopefully on the blog site! Off to watch the Copa America now, Chile vs. Uruguay…CHI CHI CHI! LE LE LE! VIVA CHILE!!!!

 

Long Weekend! Carnaval de San Pedro

 

 

Gringo family (minus one member) at the dunes!!

Las Dunas!! Why are there so many beautiful places here?! 🙂

Carnaval de San Pedro! These are the dancers we followed 🙂

Hola choros!

 

I’m working on a couple longer posts, but I wanted to give a quick update on the Festival de San Pedro that happened this weekend! There are always surprises in Chile, especially because people don’t like to tell you about upcoming events in advance! So on Friday we learned that there was going to be a festival and parades and boat display on Sunday and a vacation day with no school or work on Monday, que bakan! (awesome!)

And the celebration on Sunday was SO cool, I had no idea what to expect, but we went to the main harbor and there were tons of people there….but nothing happening…but all the boats were decorated with flowers and little flags, so that was pretty to see…and just as we were getting bored and thinking of going to a restaurant, this loud marching band music starts up and a huge parade comes our way! And this was no Tulip Time parade, this was a Chilean parade for sure, because it was all music and dancing! There were tons of different dancing groups, each wearing the traditional clothing for the type of dance that they were performing, and personal little marching bands to follow each group of dancers. Mixed in were banners and images and mini floats of the Virgin Mary, San Pedro and other saints. San Pedro is the patron saint of fisherman, therefore since Valparaiso is the most important port city in Chile and a has a huge shipping and fishing industry, Valparaiso throws one heck of a party on this day 🙂

The best part was that once the parade was finished and passed us, we started walking after the dancers down the parade route, trying to mimic there dance moves, and once we had them down started dancing behind the last marching band with the same moves that the real dancers were doing, in the parade route, baha!! People started laughing and taking pictures of us along with the dancers and yelling “gringas miren aca! Aca!” (White girls, look over here!”…I was with two of my friends who are from France and a Chilena 🙂 ). It was hilarious, we were dancing like that for a good 20 minutes until the real dancers finally ended, and then on our way back to the harbor, another parade started up! More dancing!

Then today we had a lovely free day to sleep in and then headed out to the sand dunes at Con Con, a city close to Vina del Mar, very touristy (you can tell because there was a McDonalds, Starbucks and Burger King and huge condo buildings along the beach 😀 ). The dunes were so beautiful! So I spent my afternoon hiking, eating our picnic lunch of bananas, turkey and cheese sandwiches, peach juice (I’m addicted to juice because of Chile, they have every possible flavor and stands all over that squeeze it for you fresh, SO GOOD!), and our dessert of oreos and peanut butter, and finally watching the puesta del sol (sunset) over the ocean…life is good!

Ships decorated for San Pedro!

So there’s my holiday update! I return to work tomorrow, but this upcoming weekend we’re going to celebrate the 4th of July with our Chilean friends by having a good ol’ American cookout! Too bad fireworks are illegal here… 🙁

 

Chao amigos! Besitos!

 

Mi Trabajo! Starting the actual internship part of my life here :)

Colegio Jorge Williams!

The amazing quiche we made!

Mid-day assembly, the kids get in line and have a routine of “arms up! to the side! in front! at your sides!” to end up standing straight like ladies and gentlemen 🙂

Taller de Cocina (Cooking Class) at Rukantu…Rodrigo is an amazing cook!

Oh hey, it’s been awhile! I have so much to tell! I finally got to start working this week and I absolutely loved my first week in the programs. It was definitely a week of introductions and planning, so this next week is when I really dig into things, but I’ll give you an introduction to what I’m doing and was up to this past week! My time is divided between 5 programs. I really love all the variety in my work schedule, every day is different! (I will add photos ASAP!)

 

On Monday, Tuesday and Friday I work from 9am-1pm in Colegio de Jorge Williams, a school for preschool-8th grade that is sponsored by the YMCA. The YMCA started this school to create a place for kids from troubled homes, whether that is from abuse, lack of money, alcohol abuse or other reasons. They provide free breakfast and lunch to provide more economic help for the families and the staff is really great, all people who have a passion to help these kids create the foundation for a positive future. On Tuesdays I work with the music teacher in his classes for 5th and 7th graders, and on Mondays and Fridays I’m with the third graders. I love the Colegio so far, especially the 3rd graders. I was mostly observing in the music classes, I’ll be teaching part of the class next Tuesday, but there was tons to do with the 3rd graders. One of the difficulties in this school is that discipline is really difficult. Often the kids don’t have a very controlled environment in their homes, and it’s obvious that many of them don’t get enough attention. So the kids want your attention all the time and speak out of turn and interrupt a lot, it can be really hard to get things done. But the 3rd grade teacher is really great with the kids, they obviously adore her, and I’m glad that I can be there to help her keep control and attend to everyone; I don’t know how she does it every day! Helping the kids with their assignments was hilarious, I’ve found that the pattern is this:

1. “Tia Anna, Tia Anna, necesito ayuda, ahora, ahora!!” – “Ms. Anna, Ms. Anna, I need your help, now, now!”

2. Help with question, try to leave and help other student, but get pulled back and asked:

3. “Tia Anna, Tia Anna, como se dice [insert Spanish word] en ingles?!” – “Ms. Anna, Ms. Anna, how do you say [Spanish word] in English?”

4. Tell them the English word.

5. They say “en serio?” (really??!), try and pronounce it and start cracking up and telling all their friends.

6. Receive huge hug!

7. Repeat starting at Step 1 🙂

Haha, I love these kids, I’m pumped to have 2 more months with them! On Wednesday I work at the center in Las Cañas (all the hills have different names). Las Cañas has a soup kitchen and then runs different programs for the community, such as literacy workshops, english classes, bible studies, lifeskills etc… Wednesdays I go to help the soup kitchen cook, I’m definitely getting some good cooking lessons for my apartment next year! About 30-50 people come each day and I help to serve them, sit and eat with them and then clean everything up afterwards. I love interacting with the staff there and the people who come to eat, they are all really excited about the english class that I’m going to be teaching on Mondays (tomorrow, I’m nervous!). This Wednesday I went to the Bible study after lunch and made lesson plans and signs to put in the community for my english class, I’m excited to get started tomorrow! We’re having one for the adults at the center who come for lunch and one for kids and any community member who wants to come.

Thursdays I’m supposed to go to the center in Placeres, eat at the soup kitchen with the community members and afterwards help with two workshops: theatre and women’s empowerment ….perfect fit for me, right?!?!?! The center was closed this Thursday, but I’ll start next week!

Friday afternoons I go to Rukantu, a rehabilitation center for teenage boys who have been arrested for drug usage and/or a minor violent crime. The first time I visited Rukantu I was a bit nervous, but I really enjoy working at this center, the guys are really fun to hang out with and they LOVE having gringas visit, it’s kind of hilarious. Erica and I are going to teach an English class here (The director told us that if he tells the boys that two American girls (gringas) are coming to teach a class, everyone will come for sure, all you need to say is gringa….easy advertising! Haha). After the class they have a cooking class, this week we made pizza and it was DELICIOUS! Rukantu is much more chill, it’s nice to have a different working pace where I’m just talking with the boys and social workers in the center while we cook and eat, and then watching them show off and play ping-pong later…perfect ending to the week! I even got my palm read by one of the guys this Friday, it was hilarious, he told me that I’m going to have 3 children and that they will have a mix of gringa and chileno blood…so I have to stay in Chile to find my true love…smooth, haha 🙂

Finally, I’m involved in the YMCA Leaders program. It’s kind of like a youth group, they hold a Bible study Friday evenings and program Saturday afternoons. There are 2 program levels and you can graduate to become a Leader, but the first level is open to anyone and is a mix of a mini Bible lesson, games, some kind of topic/message to help the youth (for example, this Saturday they were talking about confidence and speaking in front of other people and had lots of activities to practice). The YMCA Leaders are such a fun group of people, they’re the ones that I see at the Y all the time and hang out with and I love the program too, all the teenagers are really friendly and it’s pretty easy to make friends as a gringa, everyone wants to talk to you!

So that’s my work schedule! I’m feeling more and more like a Chilena now, walking around the city on my own, going to work, taking the bus and taxis, having favorite restaurants and foods…I really like having some more independence with my days!! I’m off to work on my lesson plans right now for my 1st English classes tomorrow, wish me luck, I’m a bit nervous! Now that you know about work, my next post will be about night life in Chile, baila, baila, baila!! Besos choros!

Patagonia sin Represas! Educacion Publica! Protestas!

Wena choros! (Chilean way to say “What’s up my friend?”…loosely translated, ha ;D)

Alright, now that you have an idea of where I’m living, I’m going to get into what’s actually going on during my days here! I start my work schedule tomorrow (supposed to be today, but I am sick with one nasty cold, ugh!), so then my days will have more of a regular rhythm. Luckily, I’ve experienced enough in these last 2 weeks to keep me blogging for a LONG time! Sorry that I won’t be necessarily reporting on things as they happen, but there’s just a lot to tell! And one of the really interesting experiences I’ve had is being right in the middle of some BIG protests! The first one took place on only my 4th day in Valparaíso. We left so quickly for Chile because our study abroad director told us that May 21 was a holiday in Chile, Navy Day, it celebrates a victory the Chilean navy had over Peru and there is a huge parade of the armed forces in the streets of Valparaíso to celebrate. Plus, the President of Chile was coming to Valparaíso for the holiday and to speak to Congress, so we thought it would be really cool to be there for this! Therefore, I was really surprised when the Chileans at the Y just shrugged their shoulders at my mentioning of this holiday and the parade and President’s visit and said they weren’t too interested. Turns out, LOTS of people in Chile are really angry at the President right now, for many reasons, but tensions have heightened regarding a situation in Patagonia. Patagonia is an area in southern Chile where the nature has really been preserved and the beauty of this area is a source of pride for many Chileans. The President recently approved a plan to construct a huge dam in Patagonia so that Chile can produce more of its own energy and not depend on other countries as much, and do so in a clean way. However, this dam is going to ruin a huge amount of land and communities, making many Chileans VERY upset.

The Army organized in its new route, perfect for viewing from the Y!

My group was warned not to leave the Y before 1 or 2 in the afternoon due to the protests, and I didn’t think too much of it because I couldn’t hear anything going on in the morning. When I heard the sounds of the parade I went out with Erica and our German friend Max to watch and it was really cool to see! I’ve never experienced anything like it in the U.S., because it was just a parade of the armed forces; the parades in my town will have little sections of war veterans, but it’s mostly floats, and bands and community groups, so this parade was much more serious and a bit eery! Maybe it’s just me, and other people don’t get as freaked out to see thousands of people marching with guns and such, but I’ve watched too many movies of Latin America during the Cold War to not feel a little chill when I see this. But you could also definitely feel a sense of national pride. Things got interesting when all of a sudden a section of soldiers started running in sync and policemen starting running down the street on their horses. People in the street started moving away, running, some were yelling and I was SO confused as to what was happening! Turns out a protest had sprung up farther down the parade route, and the police were coming to inform the soldiers to change the route. So they turned down this side street and took the parade onto one of the major streets in Valparaíso, right in front of the Y! And it was chaos for a while as things were changing, cars and taxis and buses honking, people running, one guy even came up to me wearing a gas mask and babbling that the armed forces were going to turn on us and the world was going to end (maybe my Spanish is bad, but I swear, that’s what he was saying!) Things calmed down once the new route was established, but we decided to watch the rest of the parade from the safety of the Y’s balcony!

I thought that was as crazy as things got, so I was very surprised when I was watching the news later that night. I was at a dinner party at the house of one of the women who works with the youth programs at the Y and everyone was very interested in watching the news that night, and it only took me a couple seconds to see why. Valparaíso was headlining national news! And my little chaotic experience was nothing! Turns out that in the morning there were HUGE protests as the President was traveling in to his house in Vina del Mar (the city next to Valparaíso) and the Congress building in Valparaíso. People were lighting garbage cans on fire, throwing rocks at the President’s car and his guard, there was even a man who ran through the streets nude holding a sign that said “PATAGONIA SIN REPRESAS” (Patagonia without Dams!)- the slogan of the protests! Things got really violent, the police were spraying tear gas at the protestors and arrested hundreds and policemen and protestors alike were being beaten with clubs. It was really shocking for me to watch, I’m used to peaceful protests and not to violence from the police against protestors. But when I saw how violent the protestors were being, it was hard for me to fault the police for reacting, I don’t think it should have been to the violent degree that it was, but it was definitely a difficult situation. I was remarking on the violence, and one person at the party told me that this is still way better than things a few decades ago under Pinochet, because at least the police don’t fire directly into the protestors. Yikes! The right to organize and protest is definitely being utilized in Chile, and that’s cool to see after the dictatorship, but the violence was hard for me to swallow. It was an awesome experience for me to talk Chilean politics though (which I’m sure doesn’t surprise you if you know me, ha :D). There was a great mix of opinions at the party, to me it seemed that most weren’t too happy with the President, but some recognized that this was a difficult decision and the best option, even though they weren’t excited about it, while others were adamantly opposed. It made for some really interesting, heated conversation! And they loved explaining things to the gringa, for which I am highly grateful 🙂

And then, while I was writing this (really, how cool is that?!) another protest started up outside the kitchen window were I was eating breakfast (or drinking breakfast as they say here, the most important part of breakfast is your tea/coffee :D). This protest was about the education system and was all students. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about it, my friend Juan was taking part in it and had invited me to join, but it’s very dangerous for me to get involved in anything like that, I could get booted out of the country fast! Most everything is privatized in Chile, including education. There are public schools, but according to my Chilean friends, they are of very poor quality and going to one almost ensures that your future will not be bright, as it’s very difficult to get a good education and the test scores you need to enter a good university. This traps a lot of people in poor areas, as they can’t afford a private education and can’t get a good enough education to move out of their poverty. Most everyone I’ve met has gone to a private school because of thi

s, but the problem is that these are not cheap, and the government has recently raised costs for students. So there have been waves of student protests for the past 2 weeks, calling for a reduction in private school costs and for improvements in the quality and accessibility of the public education system. But there hasn’t been anything as big as today: it was a HUGE parade of students from all the local private universities marching for public education, which I found really touching and inspiring. They were all grouped by their major in college with signs to marks each group, such as “GEOGRAFIA, PRESENTA!” (Geography, present!), like attendance was being taken in school. Each group had a different chant, and they took over the huge main street right in front of the Y, didn’t matter that tons of cars and buses were honking like crazy! This protest is still going on outside my window, so we’ll see how it turns out! So far it’s just a peaceful march, and the police are just watching, so keep your fingers crossed that it stays this way! As for me, looks like I’ll be staying inside the Y for awhile, even though I’m a bit tempted to run out and march! (Don’t worry familia, that’s a broma (joke :D))

I just had to end with another shot of the beauty of Valparaiso. I took this on our walk to tour the cerro where Pablo Neruda lived!

Lately, Chile is heaven for a political nerd like me! Besitos!

Welcome to the OTHER Valparaiso!

Here you see the beautiful mix of Valpairso: sea, big city and the house-covered hills!



Alright, here is the mini tour of Valparaiso!

Wish you could actually be touring with me! (Riding one of the acensors)

First of all the main city is like any other big, busy city, with an emphasis on CHAOS! The layout of the streets isn’t as ordered as New York or Chicago, which is quite problematic for a directionally-challenged person like me trying to find her way around. But it has everything: huge apartment complexes, a big supermarket only 2 minutes from the Y, museums, government buildings, parks, restaurants, bars and clubs, and there are cars and taxis and huge buses just whizzing by every second of the day and night! But there are definitely things that make it distinct from any other big American city.

One of those things is that there are lots of little outdoor and indoor local marketplaces with vendors that sell their goods in little stalls. One of these is right next to the supermarket that I previously mentioned, and I love exploring it. Lots of stalls sell the scarves that are so popular in the U.S. and I flipped out when I did my money conversion math and realized they were selling them for only $3 each. WHAT?! They’d be $10-$20 in the U.S. I’m seriously gonna need another suitcase, this is highly problematic. They also sell jewelry,delicious pastries and candies, books, clothes, fresh juice and smoothies and tons of little touristy things. My favorite snack to buy so far is fresh fruit covered in chocolate and put on a stick, or a sopapilla, a fried little patty of sweet dough that you can put sugar or ketchup and mustard on…I prefer sugar 🙂  Besides the Americanized supermarket, there is also a HUGE outdoor market that sells all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, freshly baked bread and other yummy things. I’ve only been able to explore it once, as it’s farther away from the Y in a kinda shady part of the city, but I want to go back, I’m craving fresh fruit and veggies! There are also venders with blankets spread out on the sidewalk in front of almost every store. It’s like the vendors in the parks in New York, but to a way higher degree, they are everywhere! Susana told me that it’s legal, but lots of the store owners hate it because the vendors sell things so cheap. I haven’t bought from any of them yet, I don’t really trust the food, but they do have some cheap touristy things! Also, the stores aren’t like the big, glossy stores on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, more like a compilation of little stores that focus in on one type of object, mixed in with little cafes, restaurants and bars.

The outdoor marketplace right by the Y, my brochera spot!

Plaza de Victoria, que hermosa no?

I love the amount of parks and plazas as well. There is a plaza right by the Y that has lots of benches and open space, but it’s all stone, so my favorite is the Plaza de Victoria a little ways from the Y. It has a gorgeous fountain, playground for kids (and for me and Erica, we like the swings ;D), benches and lots of pretty green grass, which is lovely to see in the middle of a city! My favorite part is that there is a whole section of foosball tables outdoors and little arcade games – I think parks in America should try this out!

Yeah, I live here 🙂 Simply gorgeous

Valparaíso is also an important port town. Its right on the ocean and TPS is a huge shipping company here. There is another big plaza right by one of the main docks, and it’s really cool to see the humongous ships coming in and all the tiny boats in the docks. Plus, there are tons of beautiful roads and walking paths that go right next to the sea, and humongous rocks to climb and sit on and watch the sea – it’s seriously heaven for a beach-lover like me! 🙂

And finally, the most distinct part of Valparaíso, THE HILLS! They are called “cerros” and there are 45 different ones in Valparaísom all with different names, it’s crazy! The hills are like the suburbs of the city and they are absolutely JAM-PACKED with houses! The roads are very narrow and steep, it freaks me out to see cars driving on them. But a lot of people here don’t have cars both because they are expensive and because buses are quite cheap and easy to take most anywhere. Climbing up the stairs in the cerros is not a fun time, good work-out, but I certainly prefer the “acensors”. They’re elevators built into the hills to take you up on down! Not every hill has one, I think there are only a few, but we’ve seen 3 so far. The coolest one had a big tunnel that you had to walk through to get to the acensor – it felt like a horror movie! And the view from the acensor is just breath-taking, I really wish I could capture it better with my camera. There is tons of grafitti on the walls and streets in the cerros. A lot of it is legal and done by actual artists, but some is by gangs and angsty teenagers as well :/

Oh hey dogs, you're everywhere...not a fan

One example of the 45 huge hills covered with brightly-covered casas!

My least favorite part of the city and cerros is that there are wild dogs roaming the streets EVERYWHERE! It really freaked me out at first, but if you avoid touching them, they don’t bother you at all. I just hate going around corners and almost stepping on a dog that’s fast asleep! The Chileans are so used to them that they think it’s funny how nervous I get around them, but I’m not sure I’ll ever really get used to it!

Un acensor!

But my favorite thing about the cerros would have to be the bright colors of the houses. Every possible color, in its most brilliant form possible, covers the cerros, it’s so cool! And they love to change the color of their houses as well! I was talking with Susana about this and she found it extremely odd that most houses are brick or white/beige/tan or some other pale color in the U.S. and that we don’t change the color of our houses very often. “Muy aburrido! Tu casa necesita personalidad!” (How boring, your house needs personality!) was her comment about that. And I agree! So what do you say Mom, I’m think a bright purple would be perfect for our house…..homecoming present for me?! Besos!

I love this orange house 🙂

Life is Good 🙂

Luckiest Girl in the World

One Example of Breathtaking Scenery: Wicklow

According to ABC News, “More than 85% of the American public flies infrequently if at all. More than seven in 10 can be described as infrequent fliers, flying once or twice a year or less; and 14 percent have never flown.” I, however, have boarded 9 flights in 2011 alone and will board one more to return to the US in less than 3 weeks. Also in 2011, thus far, I have been in 12 different countries or territories and have been in 14 my whole life. I know that I am lucky. Throughout my travels I have had amazing times and more difficult times; but throughout it all, traveling around the UK and Europe has challenged me to see life through a different lens. I have loved learning the different ways people have lived life throughout the past and how they continue to differ today. In addition to the people, I have also really enjoyed seeing so many breathtaking buildings and landscapes. A lot of people will never get the opportunity to say they’ve seen as much of the world as I have and I’m only 20. I’m so blessed.

Is this a trick?

My most recent expedition has been to Ireland! Thursday after class we took a taxi to London Stansted and got on the shortest flight ever (ding, you can turn on your electronics… two minutes later… ding, please prepare for landing). When we got there we had no trouble finding our hostel and getting settled in. Then we ventured over to the Temple Bar area which was just bubbling with music and excitement. After wondering the streets for a short amount of time we noticed signs pointing to the Leprechaun museum! Hanna insisted we find it, but sadly all the signs pointed directly into buildings! I started to wonder if perhaps this was a joke being played on us innocent tourists; but alas, after some Googling later on we found out that it was real.

Eating at "Hannah's" Yay!

The next day while Hanna and Chelsea enjoyed the giant furniture at the Leprechaun museum, Lauren, Mike, and I did some shopping because Dublin had a Forever 21! Now this is a HUGE difference from England, Forever 21!! I was ecstatic. I ended up only buying some t-shirts to accommodate England’s surprisingly warm weather of late, but the shopping was just amazing. The rest of the day we wondered around Dublin, hitting the spots Murphy recommended to us. We did have some troubles because a lot of things were closed because it was Good Friday. We couldn’t go in most places, but we scoped out the sights from the outside and made plans for the rest of our time there. How the Irish celebrated Good Friday and then Easter two days later, is a good example of the different importance of religion to the Irish as opposed to the English. Religion was much more prominent in Ireland than England.

Our "Easter Egg Hunt" Beach

The next day was my favorite day in Ireland by far. We took the train from Dublin to the small coastal town of Wicklow. The town was perfect and quaint with the main road leading you directly to the old castle ruins which stood on high cliffs plunging into the ocean below. Unlike the cool overcast weather in Dublin, the sun was bright and shining in Wicklow and it was just lovely. After lunch at “Hannah’s”, we spent our afternoon climbing cliffs, castles, and canons. In honor of Easter we did an “Easter Egg Hunt” on the beach where we all looked for sea glass and cool rocks. On that same beach we got attacked while we were lying out by a very friendly puppy that happily covered us with his muddy paw prints. Then we found the perfect spot of land overlooking the ocean and it was covered in plush grass, so we laid down and took almost an hour long nap. It was just spectacular. We grabbed a pub meal before heading back into Dublin and hitting the hay.

The Most Perfect Napping Place in All the World

Easter Sunday

The next morning we got dressed up as nicely as we could in our traveling state and went to Easter service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The service was really nice, opening up with one of my favorite Easter hymns ever (“Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia. Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia.”) It was nice to hear something so triumphant and familiar, it was an amazing reminder that across the world people can be joyful and grateful for the love of Christ that surpasses all distances.

After church we got some food and then went and visited the castle. It was interesting that it was closed on Good Friday but open on Easter, but we took advantage of the situation and got a good tour of the Dublin Castle. After that, we went back to the hostel to get our stuff and change into more comfortable clothes for the flight home. After experiencing the one and two week trips, this weekend did seem to go by pretty fast. However, I was so grateful to get to spend one more weekend abroad seeing something completely new. It was especially nice to spend Easter in such a glorified place, it truly is a blessing to see a huge cathedral filled with people to come hear the same glorious news that I came there to hear. We even got to hear the choir boys do a short rendition of The Alleluia Chorus.

Alleluia!

Our trip home was late, but we got back. I’m tired but again, can’t help but believe I am the luckiest girl in the world. I didn’t have to go to Ireland to get the luck I have! I have a God who rose for me, a family at home who loves me, friends here that have come to be like a family, and I’ve had the ability to see so much of God’s creation and the people inhabiting it. I hope that travel is always a major part of my life, because even though having a home isn’t something I would give up for anything, there is so much of the world to see! This semester has given me the chance, the unique opportunity, to see so much and know that I am not wasting a second of this precious life that I have been given. Alleluia!

Enjoy the rest of my pictures and keep checking back for my last couple blogs before this world traveler goes home!

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