Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Tag: Valparaiso (page 2 of 3)

Spain Update and Lisbon

April 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Since I’ve really just been blogging about my various travels around Europe the last few weeks, I thought I was due for a report on things that are happening in Spain because, you know, that’s what I’m supposed to be blogging about.

 

Spanish Life

The way of life in Spain has become so normal for me (for the most part) that things I no longer find interesting or new may still be for others. For the most part, my classes are going well although I’ve thought for awhile now that I may have been placed in a level too low but I’m better at speaking Spanish than filling out bubbles on a test so that may have had something to do with my placement. I’ve definitely learned a lot more Spanish since I’ve been here and have also begun to notice a recurring cycle. Things seem to get easy for a time and slowly increase in difficulty until I reach a wall. Sometime I get a bit frustrated with the language but as soon as I get over the wall, it’s back to being “easy.” The last few days have been a “wall” for me since the most difficult thing about Spanish for me right now is not knowing enough vocabulary and learning common phrases. I discovered I still have a long ways to go in regards to this aspect but knowing that I’m improving everyday has been a motivator.

I think I’ve assimilated into the culture fairly well although a few things still annoy me occasionally. Siestas are everyday from 1:30 (or 2:00) to 5:00 p.m. and almost nothing is open with the exception of some malls. Some banks close at 2:00 and don’t reopen until the next day and the rest reopen for 2 hours from 5:00 to 7:00. In addition, many stores are also closed on Sundays. Most stores are mom-and-pop type stores so there isn’t really any store where you can buy everything cheaply. A store called “El Corte Ingles” is about as close as it gets although it’s more similar to a Macy’s and not really that cheap. For me, this is extremely frustrating because my classes end at 1:30 so if I want to go shopping, I have to go home and wait until after 5:00 even though the university is closer to the shopping than my house. All things considered, I’m probably making this out to be worse than it is but in the very least, it’s inconvenient.

Lisboa, Portual

A while back, I went to Lisboa (the Portuguese name for Lisbon) and I had a fantastic weekend! The city is stunning and I would recommend it to anyone over Barcelona! It’s a hilly city located on the Atlantic coast and it’s so picturesque. I’ve never been to San Francisco but Lisboa reminded me of it. At the top of one of the major “hills” there’s a castle where you can overlook the whole city and the harbor. Many of the buildings are white with reddish-brown tiled roofs and they contrast beautifully with the blue harbor in the background. I took quite a few pictures (especially from the castle) that I think are definitely worth taking a look at so I would highly recommend that.

We also stayed at the best hostel I’ve ever visited (called the “Yes! Hostel”) and even got to go out for tapas with the owner who is a great guy! It wasn’t too expensive, was in a great location, and was rated the #1 hostel in Lisbon two years in a row so if anyone runs across this blog looking for Lisbon travel information, I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed my time in Lisbon and am also enjoying my time here in Spain. I’ve progressed and experienced so much in the last few months I feel like I’m ready for almost anything!

If you would like to read more of my daily updates, you can follow me or just check my past posts on Twitter. If you’re interested in seeing some of my pictures from my master collection, you can check out my Picasa page. Thanks for reading and keep checking back!

 

The Stone Monastery and Jatiel

March 13, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Monesterio de Piedra (named after the surrounding river) in southern Aragon and a small pueblo named Jatiel about an hour outside of Zaragoza.

The monastery is located in southern Aragon in the mountains. The drive to get there was interesting because we were constantly weaving up, around, and through the mountains. Other than the city of Calatayud (21,000 in population), there aren’t really many other signs of life for the 90+ minute bus ride.

Destroyed during the Spanish Civil War and never repaired.

What really attracts tourists to the monastery isn’t so much the building itself, but the national park surrounding it. There are a significant number of waterfalls in the park as well as caves and great views of the Spanish countryside. We took the main trail around the park which took a few hours, ate at a restaurant at the front of the park, and then toured the monastery. This took up all but a half hour of our time before the bus came to pick us up. I’m not really the type to go hiking but I really enjoyed myself and I suspect nature aficionados could spend a few days there.

I also visited a very small pueblo about an hour outside of Zaragoza called “Jatiel.” The town has a population of around 50 people. I learned that the people were encouraged to move from the pueblos to the cities during the Franco regime so there are a number of ghost towns in Spain even smaller than Jatiel. I was able to go because my host sister invited me to go with her boyfriend and their friends and since I’m here to learn more about the Spanish language and culture, I couldn’t say no even if I had wanted to.

The area around the city is extremely dry and I would say a kind of semi-desert. The dirt is a reddish-brown and there are quite a few rock formations on the outskirts of the town. There really wasn’t much to do in the town other than take pictures and take in the fresh air and open space but I really enjoyed myself since I hadn’t had a break from city life since I came here.

With these two trips under my belt, I’ve really begun to take notice of how stunning the Spanish countryside is. Zaragoza is a flat city and you can never really see anything outside of the city because of the tall buildings. Going on these two trips was a good way to experience a different side of Spain that I hadn’t yet had the chance to see.

A farmhouse on the outskirts of the pueblo

If you’d like to hear more about my day-to-day experiences, you can follow me on Twitter.

If you’d like to see more pictures (which I would recommend since I recently uploaded almost 600), check out my Picasa web albums here.

I’ll be writing a blog over Lisbon, Portugal soon which you can view the photos I took (nearly 300) now. Tomorrow I’m heading to London so lots of traveling the last two weeks.

Thanks for reading and until next time!

 

Parisian Weekend

February 12, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Paris!

We were finally able to cross “Paris” off of our unofficial must-travel list and it was almost everything we thought it would be! After a short flight of just over 2 hours, we were in Beauvais (RyanAir’s cheap “Paris” airport that is actually an hour north) and were on a bus to Paris. Since none of us know any French beyond “yes, no, hello, goodbye, and thank you,” it was immediately apparent this would be somewhat of a challenge since almost no one speaks any English or Spanish. Anyway, we finally found a taxi that knew where our hostel was since the first 2 didn’t have an idea.

The hostel was nice, very clean, the staff spoke English, French, and Spanish, and they offered several services for a cheap price. It was also a 30 minute walk to the Eiffel and less than 10 to a metro station. I would definitely stay there again and for reference if anyone is looking for a cheap place in Paris, it’s called “Aloha.” After we tossed our bags in the storage closet, we headed out for the Eiffel Tower!

Since the line to get elevator tickets was, literally, at least 500 people long, we waited 5 minutes and got the walking tickets. It was extremely cold that weekend and the walk must have taken us over an hour to get to the second level minus the time we spent walking around the first level. Since we couldn’t walk from the second level to the top, we bought elevator tickets which ended up costing the same as if we had bought them on the ground but we didn’t have to wait in the long line so it was a fair trade-off. The view from the top is spectacular!

We also went to the Trocadéro (seen in the foreground of the large photo) which is a popular spot to take pictures of the Eiffel. Later on day 2, we met up with my friend Charlotte and she showed us around the Arc de Triomphe and went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. The third and final day was the busiest but the most fun by far! Early in the morning, we went out to see the Eiffel one more time and then went to the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, Notre Dame, and walked along the Seine for a bit. We thought about going to the catacombs but they were closed by the time we looked into it. We had a really productive day so I won’t miss it in the least.

Paris was almost everything we expected except for the cold and the prices. It was ridiculously cold even though I’m told it’s normally much colder with snow. The prices there are enough to make you not want to go back but it is possible to find a few moderately cheap places if you look. Bakeries tend to be fairly cheap and you can buy a whole baguette for just a euro. Chinese restaurants are also reasonably priced but don’t expect to find many cheap French restaurants.

If you’d like to see all the photos I took in Paris (about 200) check out my Picasa page (http://bit.ly/y5AyqU). You can also follow me on Twitter for more day-to-day posts (https://twitter.com/#!/SpainJordan). I also have trips planned to Portugal, England, and Switzerland/Germany in the coming months in addition to my normal Spain postings so look out for those!

 

 

A view of Zaragoza from the park

Zaragoza Week 2 and Cultural Differences

January 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Hello and welcome to my second post! I thought I’d do something a little different this time by breaking it up a little and including two sections. If you have any suggestions or post requests, send them my way as I’m always looking for interesting ideas!

A view of Zaragoza and the park from Alfonso I statue

Cultural Differences Aside…

Having been here nearly 3 weeks now, I’ve noticed quite a few things that we might label “peculiar” or at least “interesting” in the US. Note that these are just my observations and are not in any way representative of everyone. There are many I could list but for length purposes, here are 3 I thought were a little amusing:

1. Dogs. The Spanish love their dogs and the fact that most people live in apartment buildings has not been a deterrent for owning them. I live near 2 parks and it’s not uncommon to see people of all ages, at every possible time of the day, walking every breed of dog. The downside to this is that many are not on leashes especially at the university where the leashed dogs are the minority. I’m still not certain if there are leash laws here but it would probably help with the, uh, sidewalk maintenance if not.

2. Late nights/Meal times. People here walk much more than in the US and a “short” walk is considered to be around 20 to 30 minutes. A “longer” walk is usually considered to be around 30-50 minutes. I know people that refuse to take public transportation even if it’s an hour walk in one direction. I say this because it’s not uncommon to see people just walking the streets as late as 10 or 11 p.m. depending on the day. It’s definitely a night culture as evidenced by the meal times. Breakfast is at a normal time but lunch is typically not eaten until the siesta which is between 2-4 or 5. Everything closes during this time with the exception of a few places and people go home to eat and then rest for a while before heading back to work. Dinner is normally eaten between 9 and 11 p.m.

3. ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?). If you’re in Spain, it rarely matters. This is because, from what I’ve observed, most times are non-specific and include an unstated but understood “around” thrown in. For example, my morning class is supposed to begin at 9 but in reality, the earliest it ever starts is 9:15. This is not to say all given times are like this but if a student or teacher comes to class 15 minutes late, it’s not a problem at all and nothing is said. It’s a rare occasion if at least one person doesn’t arrive late to class 15 minutes or more. For me, this has been a little difficult to get accustomed to because I normally arrive 15 minutes early and then wait 30 minutes for class to actually begin.

Another Week and More Exploring 

Alfonso I "El Batallador" King of Aragón between 1104 and 1134

Nothing has really changed since my last post other than a short trip to the biggest park in Zaragoza and bowling with a few of my friends. Even though it’s winter, the park we visited was beautiful and I saw more green than I have since I left Indiana. The whole area is actually very dry so it was somewhat of a shock to see a swathe of green grass in Zaragoza. The park was nice but full of political graffiti just like almost every other public area. My favorite was a protest against government surveillance that said something like “They’re watching you.” At the top of the hill that overlooks the park (where the large photo was taken from), there is a statue of Alfonso I “El Batallador.” He was the King of Aragón between 1104 and 1134.

A few nights ago, a few friends and I went to the second biggest mall in Zaragoza, Gran Casa (Big House), to shop and then bowl. It was a great night and we ate at our first McDonald’s in Europe. Since I’m vegetarian, I can’t say how good the sandwiches were but the fries tasted, unsurprisingly, the same as in the US.

I’m leaving for Paris Friday night and arriving early on Saturday so check back sometime next week for a Paris-themed blog! Until then, thanks for reading and you can follow me on Twitter for more updates here: twitter.com/#!/SpainJordan
and view my Picasa web albums here: picasaweb.google.com/102363422858711117798

 

Bowling - My team. Jørgen, Christina, Lin, me.

All 5 of us! Elliott, EB, Katie, Josh, me.

My apartment building in Zaragoza.

Week One in Zaragoza, Spain

January 19, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Welcome!

Welcome to my first blog post and thanks for reading! I’m Jordan Harner, an International Business and Spanish double-major, studying in Zaragoza, Spain for one semester. Zaragoza is a medium-size city in the autonomous community of Aragon with around 700,000 people midway between Madrid in central Spain and Barcelona on the east coast. I currently attend the University of Zaragoza and live with a wonderful host family!

Arrival

My apartment building in Zaragoza.

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve been here and I feel like I’ve completely adjusted already. Everything has been fantastic and more than I expected overall with the exception of just our arrival which proved to be a little more complicated that we anticipated. Originally, we had planned to take a bus from Barajas Airport in Madrid to Zaragoza but we were unable to purchase tickets online because of our American credit cards. A little irritating, yes, but we figured we could buy them when we arrived. To our surprise, the ticket machine was broken and it happened to be an obscure holiday that day (which seem to be a common occurrence here) so we couldn’t buy our bus tickets from the bus office either because it was closed. With no other options, we took a high-speed train which costs 60 euro one way. I shed a small tear when I paid but I have to admit the train was a cool experience and much faster than by bus to boot.

After our arrival in Zaragoza, Manuel, a student at Valpo that lives in Zaragoza, was kind enough to pick us all up from the train station and take us to our apartments. He has a small car and I’m fairly certain cramming 5 people and 12 pieces of luggage into a car including one piece sticking part-way out of the window is illegal but definitely an interesting way to begin our journey. Anyway, I really appreciate him helping us out so I want to give a big shout out to Manuel if he ever reads this!

Above is a picture of the apartment building where I live. I live right across from a fairly new mall, the Aragonia, which also happens to be quite empty since it was completed when the recession began. Nieves is my host mom and I also have a host sister, Lupe. My host mom also has a boyfriend, Francisco, who is here fairly often as well. They’re all great people and I know I’ll learn a lot more Spanish living with a host family versus having my own apartment.

Classes

My classes are from 9:00 to 1:30 Monday through Friday with a half hour break midway through. By “9,” that means “around 9” or whenever the professor arrives. I’ve quickly learned that Spanish times are rarely taken literally. My morning class is a grammar class with Professor Alicia and my afternoon class is a culture class with Professor Marina. Both are fantastic teachers and I feel like I’ve learned so much more Spanish after being here just over a week.

Night Excursion

The first day I arrived, I was extremely tired but since Manuel was still in Zaragoza, he offered to give all 5 of us a brief tour of the city along with a few of his friends. We walked everywhere and my feet hurt for a while after but I learned a lot about the city and a few of its major landmarks which include The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar (Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar), La Seo, and Aljaferia Palace. We went inside the Basilica for a few minutes right up until close and it was absolutely stunning! It’s beautiful on the outside and just as great on the inside. I have yet to see it during the day and I’ve been told the stained glass skylights are a must-see as well as a chance to climb one of the bell towers to see the whole city for 2 or 3 euro. Hopefully I’ll get there this weekend. To the left is a picture of part of the Basilica by night.

I know this was a bit brief but I had a lot to cover so hopefully I can go into greater detail in the coming posts. Thanks for reading and I’ll be taking a trip to Paris in two weeks so check back often for that and more of my adventures in Spain!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow me on Twitter for more of my enthralling adventures: https://twitter.com/#!/SpainJordan

View my Picasa web albums: https://picasaweb.google.com/102363422858711117798


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

July 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

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!

 

Chao Valparaíso! Espero que nos vemos pronto!

July 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments
 

 

At the beach! Almost like summer! 😉

Easter Island statue!

The beach at Laguna Verde and cliff we camped on top of!

View of the mountains from the bus!

El grupo! Love these people 🙂

 

‘WOW. It’s my last day in Valparaso,Chile. This is weird. It’s definitely not sinking in yet…and I don’t think it will for awhile. It’s just not a definitive goodbye, seeing as I’m off tomorrow to Santiago to see Avril Lavigne in concert (yup…you heard right…how hilarious is that?!?!?! Tickets are so cheap here, WOOOO!) and then off to Buenos Aires for 5 days and then La Paz for a week. So it’s not like my adventures in South America are ending, and I am SO excited to travel and actually be on vacation all the time…so the fact that I’m leaving Valpo just isn’t stinging as much!

But I’ve had some really great last moments here. I’ve been racing around to see the touristy places that I just haven’t gotten around too, and I went to this awesome museum in Vina del Mar that had tons of artifacts and information on the history of the Mapuche Indians, the indigenous people here in Chile, and Easter Island, they even had a real Moai statue from Easter Island outside! I took a day trip to visit Isla Negra, one of Pablo Neruda’s houses, and it was incredible! I was just geeked out to see the house of one of my favorite poets…but I didn’t realize it was going to be so beautiful! And of course, this is the one time I leave my camera in my room, UGH! But he built his house on the cliff overlooking the ocean, with an amazing, rocky beach below. I never knew that he was a collector as well, but his house is filled with collections of anything to do with sailing, things from Chile’s history and indigenous people and just random collections, like glass table feet and pipes! Getting to drink coffee while overlooking the ocean on Pablo Neruda’s porch, and then going to lay a flower on his grave? Priceless 🙂 That same weekend we took another day trip with the Curso de Lideres youth group here at the YMCA to travel up the mountains in search of….SNOW! All the Chileans were ECSTATIC for snow, most of them had never seen it before, how lucky are they?! (haha, I hate cold!) So even though I was not as enamored with the snow, it was pretty funny to see their reactions, and the mountains were incredibly beautiful.

Speaking of great last moments, I just got back from an epic goodbye party thrown by Mauricio, the director of the center we work at in Las Cañas, in which we trekked out to Laguna Verde, these absolutely GORGEOUS cliffs and beach and waterfalls, and pitched tents to camp for the night…in the middle of winter…bahahahahaha 🙂 But it was so much fun! Our tent was on the top of this huge cliff that overlooked the ocean and we hiked down it the next day in order to spend time at the beach. We also ventured to see a small waterfall, which was one of the more treacherous hikes of my life (if any Hope Church AT hikers are reading this, my trail experiences served me well!). There was pretty much no trail, just mud, rocks, thorns and rivers to cross…madness! But really fun 🙂 The best part for me was getting to roast hot dogs and make smores over the fire, it felt like summer! (Ok, I was wearing 3 shirts, a hoodie, a sweatshirt, scarf, coat, 2 pairs of leggings and two pairs of sweatpants….but still!). Our Chilean friends had never had smores before, and graham crackers don’t exist here…so Johnna found some sweet, square cookies and we went with it! I thought they were delicious, I miss making smores with my family in our backyard firepit so much!

I’m going off to serve at the soup kitchen for the last time this afternoon, preparing myself for tears….the people who work at Las Cañas have really become my family here, they crack me up, have seen me cry, give me advice and are just wonderful friends. I’m gonna  miss them a ton. Plus, I’m sad to leave the soup kitchen. I love having my English students tell me “Thank you Mees (how they pronounce “Miss” :D), this looks good!” when I serve them food and I love that I know so many faces by this point and receive hugs and greetings wherever I walk in the center. It’s been a gradual goodbye process, from center to center and program to program…but this is really it…still not hitting home! :-/

I’m doing 2 posts today before leaving, so check out the next one too! I should have internet this weekend in Santiago, and the hostel we’re staying at in Buenos Aires is supposed to have wi-fi, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep blogging as I’m traveling, but it’s going to be a little more up in the air from now on. Wish me luck on my travels, I can’t wait!

FOOD!

July 17, 2011 / / 0 Comments
 

 

 

 

 

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?!

Vacaciones! My Get-Away in Santa Cruz

July 12, 2011 / / 0 Comments
 

 

 

 

 

Life is good 🙂

Getting ready for the tasting!

Our carriage! (with the Chilean flag in the background :D)

Best part of Santa Cruz = This bed!

The best shot I could get of the mountains from the bus…doesn’t do it justice, but you get the idea 🙂

Viu Manent!

I just got back from a lovely get-away in Santa Cruz, and am gonna take some time to write about it before my busy life in Valparaiso starts up again! (Also, Chile just beat Peru 1-0 with a goal in the 92nd minute to take the highest standing in Group C….VAMOS! VAMOS CHILENOS! QUE ESTA NOCHE, TENEMOS A GANAR!!!! Just had to throw that out there :D)

I feel really lucky to have this internship, but I will admit that at times I am jealous of the exchange students here, because they have so much more flexibility in their schedules and way more time to travel. One of my friends put all his classes Tues-Thurs so that he would have a full 4 day weekend to travel if he wanted to, but I work Mon-Fri and then have youth group until 1:30/2 on Saturdays, so that makes traveling anywhere far away next to impossible! Now I really can’t complain, because I’m going to have almost 2.5 weeks of traveling to end my time here, but I was feeling antsy and ready to just get away for a little bit, and Colegio going on vacation gave me the perfect opportunity for a mini-vacation. Monday and Tuesdays I work at Colegio, so that gave me lots of free time this week, therefore I rearranged my 2 English classes on Monday to be on Wednesday and Thursday instead for this week. That gave me Sunday, Monday and Tuesday until my class at 3:30 to jet away for a bit, and I’ve really wanted to visit a winery here…luckily the most famous wine valley in Chile, the Colchagua Valley, is only about 4 hours away! Chile is known for it’s wine and has really built up wine tourism and Santa Cruz is right outside of the Colchagua Valley. I bought a great guidebook before coming here that had recommendations on wineries to visits and hotels to stay at and I was able to find a vineyard named Viu Manent that offered an hour long tour in a horse-drawn carriage of the fields and processing plant, a chance to taste wine in process and a tasting of four wines to wrap things up for only $30 and a gorgeous little bed and breakfast for only $25 a night….how perfect is that?!

I persuaded Luke to accompany me on my adventure, so we first took a 1.5 hour bus ride Sunday morning to Santiago, because no buses connect to Santa Cruz from Valparaiso (the city is small, it’s just on the map because of wine tourism) and from there we had a 3.5 hour ride into Santa Cruz. It’s really popular and common to travel by Greyhound-type bus from city to city and internationally in South America, the bus terminals are humongous and chaotic, with buses between Valparaíso and Santiago every 15 minutes, craziness!! The ride itself was gorgeous, the ceros (hills) of Valparaíso are beautiful, but you can’t see the huge mountain ranges from Valpo, and they were beautiful to see on the bus. Plus it was just interesting to see how different cities look, I’m so used to houses balancing precariously on hills, it was weird to see flat, more ordered neighborhoods!

After arriving we found our hostal, and even though the guidebook had said it was wonderful, I was a bit anxious…until I stepped inside our room and saw my clean, puffy white bedspread, two fluffed pillows and collapsed onto perhaps the comfiest mattress ever…and there wasn’t a bunkbed with flea-filled blankets in sight, THANK THE LORD!!!! Seriously, the vacation would have been worth it for just that bed. The staff were so kind and friendly and it just kept getting better when they gave us a yummy breakfast each morning and the shower was PRIVATE (no naked Chilean women by me!!!). About 2 hours in it hit us how quiet it was in the hostal…it was lovely. I love Valparaíso, but it is busy and loud and chaotic all day and all night and living in the YMCA with pumping techno music and people talking and walking around you all the time just adds to the mayhem. To be able to collapse on my own bed and just read in quiet was so calming 🙂

But we did somehow leave the peace of the hostal and venture out to Viu Manent on Monday. We walked down a beautiful country road to reach the visitor’s center and were greeted by one of the friendliest staffs I’ve ever met, I love that about Chile! I’d asked for the tour in English, just because I wanted to be able to understand absolutely everything and know nothing about wine-making, haha! But it turned out to be a really funny mix of Spanish and English, they were teasing us before the tour that our Spanish was too good to ask for the English tour (which was a very nice compliment to receive :D), but while we did take the tour in English, we had all our side conversations in Spanish, so our guide would forget to switch back to English for the tour, until I didn’t understand a word and asked about it and then he would seamlessly slide back into English…it was great 🙂  Sadly, it’s not summer, so the vines weren’t filled with grapes, but it was still beautiful and I loved the horse-drawn carriage! Visiting the processing plant was really interesting too, we got to try two different wines right from  the humongous containers and hear about all the steps that go into making the wine, I never knew how complicated it was! And then the tasting was just delicious…Luke and I took our time with that…and then decided we needed some food in our bellies, haha 🙂 So we decided to splurge at the winery restaurant, and I am SO GLAD that we did, because that had to be one of the best meals I’ve had in a LONG time. I had the most perfect salmon (obviously not better than yours Dad, don’t fret…well maybe I’m being nice, hehe) and grilled vegetables and a tres leches flan, a typical Chilean dessert, to finish things off. We ended up spending about 4 hours at that winery, just relaxing, walking the vineyard, eating, drinking, and feeling pampered for the first time in awhile, it was so wonderful…writing about it makes me want to go back!!

Coming back we were surprised to find out that Santa Cruz has the largest private museum in Chile. The Colchagua Wine Valley was developed by Carlos Cardoen, a major arms dealer that couldn’t return to the U.S. because the US Customs Service put a $500,000 price on his head due to some shady deals with Iraq…weird, right?!?! So he settled in Santa Cruz, poured his money into vineyards and into collecting valuable historical objects. And now his son has started a foundation that runs the museum that houses and expands his collection! I loved the museum, I could look at the artifacts all day…even though reading all the info started to make my head hurt, too much Spanish!! Finally, to wrap up a great day, we decided to be super-winos and buy some wine and cheese (I still get a kick out of being able to buy wine here, I always am worried they are going to card me, haha!) and kick back with a movie on those amazingly comfortable beds of ours. Lame? Perhaps. Perfectly relaxing and wonderful? Definitely 🙂

So all in all, it was very sad to have to leave and return to reality this morning…until I realized that my reality is living in Chile! And got to return to the crazy Chilean soccer scene and my students and work here. I only have 10 more days left in Valparaíso…I can’t even fathom that…it’s crazy!! And I have way to many places here and in Vina del Mar on my “To See” list, so it’s going to be a jam-packed last few days! So I’m going to enjoy my last few days in Valpo to the fullest, even though it was exactly what I needed to get away for awhile…thank you so much Santa Cruz, te amo!!!

(Oh, and if you’re ever in Santa Cruz, I highly recommend staying at Hostal D’Vid and going to Viu Manent, you won’t regret it!!)

Starting Goodbyes (What?!) and New Beginnings

July 12, 2011 / / 0 Comments
 

 

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!!!!

 

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