Siblings Trip

This is way too long so I just did it quick and easy.  There is a little bit too detail in some places and one or two places it is a little confusing, but I got it all down and that is what matters.  Soon enough though I’ll have another one about a bunch of other random stuff that has been going on.  Enjoy!

So I started out my trip going to Chillan for the weekend with Kathrine and Donner to visit Jana.  Jana’s host mom wanted to get to know me a little since Jana and I were going to be travelling a bunch together, so I headed up for the weekend.  There’s not too much to say about the weekend, just hung out around the house, went into town for a little, and went to one of their family friend’s houses.

 I took a bus from Chillan to Concepcion and got picked up by my parents.  We had a few hours to kill before my brother came, so like normal Chileans, we went to the mall.  We wandered around for a while and my brother and I ended up bowling for a while.  And for not playing in a long long time, I did erally well, scoring my highest score ever, 186.  We stopped off at my aunt’s house in Concepcion and dropped my brother off to ride with them to Cauquenes, which was where we were off to next.  Finally is was pick up my brother, after a few months of waiting, I was finally going to see him.

As we drove over I was reading my book and my mom looked back and asked, “How come you aren’t more excited for your brother?  You’re just reading!”  I told her I was ready to see my brother, and I would in a few minutes, nothing to get worked up over when we were almost there.

Once we got to the airport we went straight to the arrivals door and went in, looking for my brother.  After about 20 minutes of searching the airport I decided to look outside.  And there he was, sitting, listening to music at the departures door.  He had walked out the opposite door as we had walked in.  We got everything into the car and were off to Cauquenes with my brother.

Immediately the offers began.  “Do you want a sandwich, something to drink?  Anything?  How about an ice cream?  Water?  Nothing? Are you sure?”  And that was how most of the car ride was and how much of the next few days with my family was for my brother, not that it isn’t like that for me a lot of the time too. 

Once we got to the camp, the eating began.  First, crab, then friend fish, followed by different things here and there, and then the New Years meal.  Chicken, Potatoes, carrot dishes, corn, and so much more.  And then of course dessert, cake.   And of course, my brother hadn’t been feeling good from the flight, and none of this helped.  Dinner was over and we were all sitting around, waiting for the new year and all of the sudden my cousins and host brother wanted to go into the center to see the fireworks.  As we were driving in with my Aunt Vero, who Seth took a quick liking to because she helped him around so much, the fireworks were going off in the distance.  By the time we got into town there were 10 more minutes left.  In the center of the town there was a big celebration with live music, games, and a little carnival.  We ended up meeting Jesseye from Germany and Cassandra from SC and hung out for a while with them and Jesseye’s family.  It turned out that they were going to a club for the night and asked us if we wanted to go.  My brother, being sort of sick and tired from the trip opted out and I said yes.  So, a little while later after visiting my Uncle’s family in Cauquenes, and meeting up with my cousin and second cousin, who spoke English because she was living in Toronto and was just visiting her family for a few weeks, I went to the club and danced all night till 5:30. My second aunt picked my cousins and I up and dropped me off at some random house to sleep.  I didn’t know it, but it was my grandparents town house and I was sleeping in my uncle’s bed, but at the time I was extremely confused.  I was alone in someone’s house,  sleeping in an obviously previously slept in bed. 

I woke up two and a half hours later than I meant to, at 11:30 and got up and tried getting a hold of my family.  No one picked up and I eventually got my Aunt who had slept in town and was going back to the camp later.  A half hour later my other aunt called and asked where I was because they were coming into town to go to their house.  They picked me up and we went over to the house that had been destroyed in the earthquake last year.  The ceilings had all fallen down, tiles on the wall fell off, there were cracks in the wall, and broken windows everywhere.  It was trashed, better than some, but definitely worse than most.  We stayed a bit and then went back to the camp before going back into town to catch a bus to the beach to meet the girls from the night before.

We hung out at the beach for the day playing Frisbee, talking, digging a big whole, and relaxing after a long night before.  We went back to the camp and ate tons more the whole night.  Seth and I looked through the bag of stuff he brought be and then went to bed.

The next day we went into town to my Aunt and Uncle’s house and my grandparent’s house, where I slept, and then went to the beach again.  My Aunt, Uncle, and their kids, plus my brother and I went and ate lunch in a restraint looking out over the beach and ocean and then went to swim.  The water was freezing and I only jumped in while my brother just sat in the sun.   My cousins and I ended up deciding to play soccer and 3 other guys, two in their 20’s and one in his 30’s wanted to play too.  So, me, and my two cousins, 9 and 13, ended up beating them 2 to 1.  So, we went back and ate and slept, like usual. 

The next day we tried to catch a bus to Castro on Chiloe, the biggest island of Chile, but there was only one seat left.  So we went back to LA to try and catch one there, but there weren’t any there either.  So we decided to spend the day in LA and go the next night.  We got back to the house and Seth and I watched a West Wing and went to bed.  The next day we hung out, watching more West Wing and packing for the trip, and later we went out with Kathrine to show Seth things around the town.  

That night we went to the station and the chaos began.  We asked the first bus, they said it was the next.  So on the next bus we got on and sat down.  Two people came on with the same ticket and we got off.  We asked the next bus and they said it was the one before.  So something had gone wrong with the tickets and we weren’t waiting another day.  So we got on the bus and sat on the floor and stood for the first 5 hours of the night ride.  Not so much fun, the bathroom stunk and it was pretty dirty.  Finally with 3 hours left two seats opened up and we got to sit down.  We got to Puerto Montt in the morning and caught a bust to Castro. 

We just wandered around Castro and looked at the Palafitos, houses built on stilts right on the water.  The town was great, small shops everywhere, an old wood church, and a great town center.  Our hostel was in a good spot, right above the docks, which gave us a good view of the port.   We went to a restraint that was suggested by The Lonely Planet, Sacho’s and got a pretty traditional dish of the island.  It was a seafood dish, with clams, mussels, sausage, and onions.  We got one serving for the both of us and it was by far enough.   I ended up eating most of Seth’s since he didn’t like the mussels much and that was the majority of the dish.  The next day we got up and walked to the other side of the bay which was about an hour and a half.   One the way over, most of the bay was dry and none of the Palafitos had water touching their stilts.  Once we got to the other side we sat down, ate some lunch, and played Frisbee.  One the way back, another hour and a half, we looked out at the bay and it was full of water.  All the Palafitos had water almost half way up their stilts and all the boats were afloat.   Part of the way back we stopped in a store to look for some of the island’s traditional drinks.  We found a creamy liquor that the store owner let us try.  We wanted to take some with us, but it had to be refrigerated, so we were out of luck.  It was time to leave Castro and head back to the mainland to Puerto Varas.

Puerto Varas is a pretty decent sized town that acts as a base for all sorts of outdoors activities.  It is right on a lake and has a perfect view of a volcano and a large mountain.  Seth and I ended up eating some stuff we bought at the grocery store outside on the pier watching the sunset over the volcano.  It was a great night just sitting and talking and we ended up staying out till 12 or 12:30 just wandering around and talking about this and that.  The next day we just wandered the city some more and got some good views of the city and the volcano and mountain.  Then we caught a bus to a neighboring town, Fruitillar.  It is a really small town with not much, but we had heard it was a really pretty place.  It turned out to be really boring.  We went down to the beach and played some Frisbee, which is when I broke my toe.  I was running for a fast throw from Seth and didn’t see some sacs of sand and smashed my toe off of them.  It was just my pinky toe, but it was sticking out at a pretty strange angle and I thought I might just have dislocated it, but I wasn’t sure.  I ended up just yanking it back into place and putting in the water to stop the swelling, but it made the rest of the trip a pain.  And it still isn’t better almost a month later.  It is still really swollen, it just doesn’t hurt anymore, though I might just be used the pain, I don’t know.  Once I rest more and stop moving around for a while it might get better.

Anyways, we went back into Fruitillar to catch a bus to Valdivia to meet Jana and her sister, Mateja.  We ended up waiting at the bus stop on the highway for an extra hour and a half.  All the bus problems were strange considering I had never had problems before, but lateness is normal for all Chileans.  Side note, I might be becoming the most patient person in the world, or I am getting really good at ignoring anger because Chileans are the tardiest people in the world.  For instance, I left for Cauquenes the other day two and a half hours later, and when we left from Cauquenes with my brother to go to the bus station we were two hours late.  Another time I got to a party four hours late.  Time just isn’t important.  But, we did get the bus and did get seats, we just arrived really late to Valdivia.  Once we got there we went outside of the city with Jana and Mateja to the Kuntsmann Brewery.   We tasted all the beers and ended up getting a column and dinner.  After that it was back to the city and out for the night.  We went and hung out at a bar and played uno at a booth.  Mainly we just talked for the rest of the night.   We got back to the hostel and talked some more until Seth and Mateja went to bed.  Jana and I stayed up just talking about our exchanges and how they were going and then went to bed too.

The next day Seth and I decided to go to some islands outside of Valdivia and Jana and Mateja wanted to go to Pucon early in the morning.  They missed the first bus and hung out for a while as we got ready and then went to the islands.  Seth and I asked them to buy us tickets and put them at the desk for us, they had to buy some for pretty early and called us when they were buying them.  We were on a ferry that went between the island and had to go back right away, so we only got about a half hour on the islands while we waited for the next ferry.   We caught the bus just on time and had no problems with the bus, just people on the bus.  There were two guys behind us blasting Reggatone dance music for half the trip.  Seth was asleep for most of it, but I got to hear every song from the clubs, which would be great, in a club, but not on a bus when I am trying to sleep.

We got to Pucon, the main outdoors city and biggest tourist spot in the heart of the season in the south just for that reason.  We met up with the girls and wandered around for a while until 8 when we had booked a ride out to some thermal pools.  There were 6 different pools of different temperatures.  We were there until 12 and then went back to the hostel.  The girls got dropped off at their hostel and we went back, hung out for a bit and went to bed.

Next day we went out to some waterfalls in the woods and a few pools that we weren’t allowed to swim in.  From there we went to a small town pretty close with a beach.  We walked down away from the beach to a secluded spot and sat around in the sun and swam a bit. 

That night Seth and I had a bus at 11:30, so we decided to scope out where our station was and what we needed to do.  We were told where the station was and so we went to find it.  We found the station we were told to go to, but it wasn’t the right one.  So we went back, got our tickets and went back the station and asked where we needed to go.  We eventually found the station for our bus, which was really close the girl’s hostel.  So we waited for them and went into town.  At Christmas I had been in Pucon with my family and talked to a vendor who made and sold shoes.  I had asked her to make me some shoes since they didn’t have my size.  So I called the woman and went to their house where they made them.  There was just a man there, the guy who made the shoes, and he said that the shoes were an extra twenty-six bucks that they were originally.  I told him no and eventually got him down ten, but that still only made the shoes forty.  Too much for a pair of leather shoes as cool as they would have been to have.  So we left and went to the beach.  Seth and I played some Frisbee while the girls looked for some trails they wanted to hike the next day without us.  As Seth and I were playing Frisbee, right beside us, two models and two guys with cameras started setting up for a shoot.  So, we didn’t leave and ended up playing Frisbee as they had their photo shoot and a small crowd formed on the other side of us.  I like to think that the crowd was watching us and taking pictures of us playing Frisbee, not of the models.   Eventually it got dark and we headed into the town again and met one of Kathrine’s cousins who lived in Pucon and went to a bar until we had to leave.  And luckily we had an awesome hostel with a really cool owner who let us keep our bags at the hostel until we needed them, and let us hang out all day at the hostel too.  So we got our bags and went to the station and were off to LA again.  My dad ended up picking us up at 3:30 even though I had asked just to send a taxi for us.  The next day we went to the station early so that we could get tickets to Pichilemu, a surf town southwest of Santiago.  There were two tickets for that night, but we needed four because the girls were coming in that night or the next day, we weren’t sure which.  It was all kind of crazy.  But we went to find more and couldn’t find any more for that night.  Seth and I decided we would go that night and they could come the next day, but by the time we went to buy them they were sold.  So we got two for the next day and reserved two more to buy if the girls wanted them. 

The whole problem now was that Kathrine’s parents wanted to meet Mateja, who knows why, but they wanted a whole day with her.  Mateja didn’t know them, hadn’t know their son who lived at their house in the US, and we were all trying to get to Pichilemu.  The felt terrible, but they could only get to LA for an hour before we left for Pichilemu.  So they ended up buying the tickets with us, considering there were no other tickets that day and we had a hostel booked.   But that all meant that Seth and I were stuck in LA another day.   We did the same thing.  Hung out, watched West Wing, packed my bag I was sending back with him to the US that my mom was going to take to Santiago when she went later that week.  And then later in the night we went to Kathrine’s and ate some food, and my brother met her parents.  And of couse, Kathrine’s mom told me is was my fault that they weren’t going to get to know Mateja, jokingly, but seriously.  My parents picked us up from their house and we just went to sleep.  The next day we waited for the bus.  We went to the station and Jana called me, they went to the wrong station, luckily though it was just next door and they made it to the bus.  Our tickets were all split up, but we asked around and switched some seats so we were all sitting near each other.  We got the San Fernando, a city that we had to stop at to take another bus to Pichilemu.   The whole trip ended up taking a lot longer than we thought, 9 hours in total.  We got the the hostel pretty late, around 9 and were picked up by the wife of the owner.  She let us stop at a small store and get some food and whatnot before going to the hostel. 

This hostel was awesome.  It was a surf hostel, with amazing beds, which we really needed after the trip there and the last few days, a great location, 3 or 4 minutes walking distance to the beach, and just a great build.  Really big windows, a pretty square look, but really interesting, and a lot of wood with a patio on the side with a grill and pool.  But, once we got there that first night we walked down to the beach and hung out down there just talking.  Then back to sleep.  The next day we went into the main part of town and wandered around until Seth and I decided we would go surfing in the main surf spot, a twenty minute walk on the beach from our hostel.  The girls stayed in town a little longer and bought some food for dinner for later.  They ended up meeting us at the beach after Seth and I had surf lessons.  We stayed out for a while, just paddling and trying to catch waves, which we both caught.  But overall, for me, surfing isn’t my thing.  Too much waiting for a wave that you probably won’t catch and if you do, probably won’t stand up on.  If I could go surfing a lot more, maybe I would, but for how much I will go in my life, there isn’t much of a point since I will never be very good.  But, I ended up going the next day too. 

After surfing that day, we went back to the hostel and had a cookout on the grill.  I manned the grill while they got the other stuff ready, a few salads, and watermelon.  This of course meant that I was outside grilling by myself, sausages and vegetables.  And the biggest part of grilling is the socializing, but I was alone.  They eventually came out when I was done cooking, with salads that could have only taken 5 ot 6 minutes to make, but whatever, we had a great dinner and a fun time.  Not much else happened that night since we were so tired from surfing and Seth and I ended up teaching Mateja and Jana Euchre so we could play throughout the rest of the trip.  They caught on pretty fast, but they needed more practice, which they got later on throughout the rest of the trip.  As I said, the next day was more surfing and then we left for first, Santiago for a day, and then Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar, two neighboring cities on the coast.

In Santiago we met one of Mateja’s friends who was going back to the US after 6 months of studying abroad the next day and went out on the town with her.  First we got something to eat after dropping our stuff off at our hostel and then went to the disco and bar strip of Santiago.  We went to a disco for an hour or so when my brother decided to go back.  We stayed out later and when we left the disco we met some guys who were going to another party in Santiago.  So we went with them.  The party was in a garage in who knows what part of Santiago, within walking distance of our hostel, but pretty far.  They said that no foreigners ever came to this venue and we were really lucky.  So eventually that ended too and Mateja got a number from one of the guys so that we could call them when we came back.  So at 7 in the morning we got back to the hostel and slept for 2 hours.  Then it was to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

Vina del Mar is the nicer more political side of the city with all the tourists who are there for beaches and nice houses.  Valparaiso is southern city with a port, which isn’t big enough for the city but has nowhere to expand.  Valparaiso was voted the country’s city with the most culture, or something along those lines and has great houses everywhere, amazing views since it is on a pretty big hill and great places to eat and visit.  Along with ascensores, I forget the word in English, but they are just carts that go up and down the hills on tracks. 

We ended up staying in Valparaiso most of the time with just a small trip to Vina del Mar.  At our hostel, which took a bit of searching to find we met an American couple and wandered around the city, did a short boat tour and looked for a seafood restaurant that we couldn’t find with them for the day ending up at a grocery store buying food for the night.  We made burritos with the couple, which was a great idea.  It was the best meal we had on our trip.  Then that night we went out and wandered around some more and went to a pretty cool restaurant/bar and had a drink.  And they gave us some cooked marijuana seeds too eat.  They had cooked them which got rid of the THC, but none of us had seen it before and they were actually really good and lasted a long time for how little there was.  But after that it was back to the hostel.

The following day we went and saw Pablo Neruda’s house in Valparaiso.  Pablo Neruda was a famous poet/politician in Chile who collected all sorts of stuff and put it in his houses, which he had one in Valparaiso, one in Santiago, and one more on an island off the coast near Santiago.  All the stuff inside was really interesting and the house itself was beautiful.  He had a bunch of his friends who were artists do different things all over the house such as paintings and stone and tile works all over.  There were free electronic tours which gave a lot of interesting information about the house and about Neruda.  After the house we wandered around some more, went to Vina del Mar and went to a park.  After the day was over we went out and ate at a small restaurant and went back to the hostel for a wine mixer that the owners put on.  After the mixer, all of us, and all the other people staying at the hostel went out to a huge discotech for the night.  The disco had 7 levels with different music in each one.  We stayed until pretty late until Jana and I were pretty tired and decided to go back.  We started walking and she said that she knew a shorter way back to the hostel.  I wasn’t so sure, but she seemed like she was positive even though I knew a sure way back.  So off we went.  But, we only got so far till we got lost.  We spent an hour and a half wandering through the city asking people where we were and how to get back.  It was a ton of walking and kind of sucked, but it was fun just wandering and talking, plus we got some amazing view of the city during the night with all the lights on.  We ended up getting back at the same time as everyone else was coming back too and got teased pretty well about getting lost.  Then it was to bed.

In the morning we got up and ate breakfast and went out to a lagoon outside of the city and spent the day on the beach.  When we came back we went back to the hostel and then to the bus station to Santiago.

In Santiago I had arranged to go and stay at my Aunt’s house the next night which meant I had to go get the keys for the house since no one would be there.  It was a 40 minute trip out by myself while the other three went to the hostel we were staying at that night.  I dropped off my bag, got the keys and came back in.  I almost couldn’t come back in because it was so late and the metro was about to close, but I made it.  It was a terrible trip in and out to the house and was ready to shoot someone by the time I got back in.  Once I finally got back though we ate a bit, played some euchre and went out again for the night.  Seth stayed in since he was so tired from the last few days, but Jana Mateja and I knew it was the last night we would have out on the town and had to go out.  So, we called the guys from before and met up with them.  They were having a small party at their friend’s apartment which ended up being in a high rise apartment building and or course, they had the apartment that opened up onto the roof of the other half of the building which meant we could climb over the railing and hang out there too.  It was an amazing view of the city with some really cool guys.   They were all skateboarders and the owner of the apartment wrote for a Chilean skateboarding magazine.  So after a while there we went out to eat at their favorite hotdog/hamburger joint.  It was delicious and completely worth staying out even later for.  But after that they took us back to our hostel for a little bit of sleep before we explored Santiago the next day. 

So, when we got up, it was straight out to explore.  First we went to Plaza De Armas, the main plaza and looked around at what there was to see like the giant Catholic church and the first post office in Chile and a few other things and then we went to a museum in the center.   And finally to San Cristobal which has an acsensor that goes up to Santa Lucia, a statue that looks out onto the city with a small church.  All in all, we walked way too much and were all ready to drop over by the time we went back to my aunts.  We got some food and made dinner and then just hung out in the house.

We all rested pretty well and Seth and Mateja were ready for their trips home.  But first we went to the giant open air market in Santiago so Seth and Mateja could by some stuff for people at home.  Then we took Jana to the bus station to go home.  Seth and I went on  wild goose chase for my bag that my mom dropped off at the bus station and went from bus station to bus station looking for it and eventually found it.  Then after Mateja said goodbye to Jana, the three of us went back to the house where my Aunt was going to pick us up and take them to the air port.  Seth and I packed all the stuff for the trip home and Mateja packed her bag too.  Then we just waited to take them to the airport.

Saying goodbye sucked.  I just want to crawl into the bag and go back with them.  As great as it was to have them there, it was almost impossible to say goodbye.  In the end, I had an amazing time with them and was happy for the break from my exchange.  Travelling with them couldn’t have been better.  Jana and Mateja were amazing travelling companions and made the trip just that much better.   And I am still happy that I got to see so much of the country, because I know that I wouldn’t have gotten to see so much otherwise.  Travelling with Seth is always great, but this was just so much better than usual because  I hadn’t seen him or anyone in such a long time.  I wish he could come back again and we could go to the north, but I know we will travel together again and I am looking forward to that

South Trip

So unfortunately I waited a few days to write this because I didn't really have time and a few times I did I really needed to relax and think.  But now I am ready, school is over, today was the last day but no one went, so it was gym and home after sleeping at Alex's house last night.  Lets begin.

We left the bus station at 11:30 at night and got to our first city, Puerto Monte in the morning at around 7.  I didn't really sleep well, I'm bad at sleeping on buses which is going to be interesting for when my brother comes to visit and we take a bunch of night buses.  But, I digress, we go to the city, wandered around the coast for a bit, took some pictures and then went to eat breakfast.  We went to a little cafe on a second floor with a view of the ocean.  It was where I had my frist blueberrie muffin, definantly worth some extra money.  A few other others wanted one and I let them some money, they all enjoyed theirs too.  There was a bit more wandering and seeing the city, we went to a feria, just an outside market, tons of giant fish, other seafood, cheeses, and the regular nic nac shops.  Then it was off to the airport for a plane ride to Puerto Arenas.

The plane ride was quite an eventful one.  Kathrine is really scared of planes and as wrong as it was for me to laugh, I did.  She was swearing and freaking out, holding Alex's hand, who was sitting behind her, and trying to stay calm.  But of course, when we tried landing in the freakishly strong with of the south, we couldn't the first time and had to come back around, that thouroughly scared her.  In the end a safe landing and a fun plane ride for me.

We got out of the airport and were in winds at least 50 maybe 60 miles an hour.  Throughout the whole trip the wind was strong, it wasn't the cold that was a problems, just the wind.  From the airport we went to a mall, got some food and hung out.  Two other exchange students from the South met up with us for the trip, one from Germany and one from the US, both nice and fun to have on the trip with us, I think they had a ton of fun with us.  There are only 4 students in the south and they don't do anything together, they are completly isolated.  Back to the trip, during our free time at the mall we went ice skating at a rink inside the mall, tons of fun and something too keept us occupied.

We drove to our hotel that was in the city, hung out for a while and then got a surprise Thanksgiving dinner.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with I think kale, and vegtables.  I went to town and ate and ate and ate.  It was for sure worth breaking my diet, which stayed broken for the rest of the week, might I add.  I got to cut one of the turkeys, I did a good job, and Donner cut one of the others, and ended up cutting himself.  The last one was cut by a waiter.  I was just so happy to have had a Thanksgiving dinner, it is 2nd, technically 3rd behind the tie of New Years and 4th of July for my favorite holidays.  After dinner we walked around the city and saw it at night, beautiful.  Then back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Next day we were up at 8 and left by 9.  We went to a museum that had all sorts of history of Chile from drilling to Darwin's trip near Chile and much more.  Then we went to a famous and giant cemetery and wandered it for a while.  It was creepy, but definantly the most beatiful cemetery I had ever seen.  For the rest of the day we saw the city, sites, the coast and a few other things.  Then back to the hotel for free time.  A few of us wandered around near the hotel and found a great little coffee shop where we went each day after. 

We got up even earlier the next day, 6:30 for a bus that left at 7.  Quick morning getting ready and if was off to see Torres del Painne.  First we went to a giant cave with stalagmites and stalagtites where the first of some prehistoric vegitarian bear was found and they had a replica statue of it too.  Then another reserved area with a few lakes.  We started driving and got our first look at the mountains and Torres del Painne.  It was amazing and far away.  We went a bit closer, even better with a lake.  We thought we were done there and were all kind of pissed, but then we went close and got out, got more pictures and even more beautiful scenery around.  Then two more times, one with two giant different colored lakes and one with hills, a camp, and some animals.  Torres was amazing, and in pictures it looks fake it is so unreal.  I will tell you soon why I don't have any pictures of any of this, only from other students.  So, it was long day at Torres, and then we went one more place.  We had a two hour walk on a beach to see a few glaciers in the water and one between the mountains from pretty far away.  It was 15 million year old ice, pure and beautiful.  As tradition we had a small drink of whiskey with the ice from glaciers with the Rotary women, so it was ok.  Then it was back to the hotel for a dinner and fun.  We ate, went out and played some pool and lottery machines and the came back and hung out till pretty late.

Following day was up early again and off to a boat ride.  It was cold, windy, raining, and lots of splashing waves.  But I sat out on deck for a quite a while on the way there, just by myself looking at the scenery go by.  I went inside a few times, had some tea and talked with people.  We went by some waterfalls, a few glaciers, some penguin looking birds, and a few other things.  Then we got of the boat and and took a hike through the woods to a glacier.  It didn't seem that far away or that big until there was a avalanch.  It was so loud, loud enough to make me relize just hot big the glacier must have actually been.  It was incredible.  The a walk back through the forest with a drink from a little waterfall from the glacier.  I was sitting on the beach, took a picture, put the camera in my pocket, sat down on the dock for a few minutes and got one.  I went to talk a picture, and my camera was gone.  Gone for good.  I asked around, talked the park incase they found it later, but no such luck.  All my picture gone, at least it was just this trip and not more.  It just made the day so much harder after that.  I sat on the front of the boat again, just watching, there were some sealions and just some good views.   Before we got all the way back we stopped again and had an amazing lunch of lamb, chicken, and some other stuff.  Man I love the meat here, and I am sure as heck going to grill a lot when I get home.  I could eat lamb all day long.  We got back, and just went to the hotel.  The day picked up from the camera and we ended up going out to the pool house again and having a great time.  The night was a lot of fun, just hanging out and talking with everyone.

I don't remember exactly what day, but one of the first two days we went and saw penguins, we walked out on a trail for maybe a mile in the gusting wind to a little lookout.  A bunch of penguines with their heads down, huddled together with a few here and their wandering around. Really cute animals.  I had my camera at this point, so it ws before the boat day.  On they way back we saw some more of them, just sitting near nests or protecting babies.

The second to last day we went to see a fort pretty far outside of the city and stayed there for a while.  It was the center of Chile, including the Antarctic territory.  On the drive there along the coast there were a bunch of abandoned old ships, rusting away in the ocean which were really neat and spectacular to look at, just leaning in the sea with sides and parts missing and big holes.  Then it was to another camp, first for another lunch of even better lamb than the first day and some great side dishes of rice and vegtables.  Second to see their animals.  There were two kinds of penguins, ducks, gunacos, llamas, alpacas, an ostrich, and a bird that look like and ostrich only smaller.  The llamas, alpacas, the ostrich looking bird, and guanacos we got to go into the cages with and pet and feed them.  I got a kiss from a guanaco and Alex got spit on, and made the ostrich angry, who knows why.  After that we went back to the hotel, got out bags and drove back to Puerto Arenes, I think I am getting mixed up in with places and locations, so if you don't follow, remeber that I don't really either. I just remember what I did.  We had a bunch of free time so a few of us went to a great chocolate shop, and then even less of us wandered the city and ended up on the beach.  I got to walk along the beach without shoes by myself, looking for beach glass.  It was amazing, I had a choice of giant pieces of beach glass, so many great colors, the usual, but still, giant and it huge quantities, I got to decide which ones I wanted to take and which ones not to instead of trying to find as much as possible.  Plus is was great to stroll the beach by myself just thinking and being.  Then me and a friend walked down the docks just by ourselves, sat around on some benchs with chessboards, talked and saw the port of antarctica.  It was just nice to sit and talk to someone who knows what I am going through and is going through a really similar experience.  Especially when they are a really cool person.  Back to the hotel, dinner, and more time just hanging out with the exchange students. 

One more day, some time in the cities, monuments, breakfast and lunch, a plane ride, some time in another city and the bus station and around it.  Alex and I after eating a sandwich that we got from rotary went to a supermarket and go a chick and sat there eating it with out hands, just a good time with him like always.  Then it was home on the bus.  I sat next to Kathrine on the way home and had an amazing talk with her that I really needed.  She can listen to anything and I can tell her anything.  I don't know what I would do without her.  She brightens my day every day, considering I see every day.  We sat and listened to music too and she fell asleep pretty fast after we finished talking.  I got about and hour or two of sleep on the busride, I just can't sleep well on them, they are to small and uncomfortable.  We got back and waited for a bit at the station because we were earlier and went home. 

It was an amazing trip and the things that happened on it I will never forget.  It would have been perfect minus losing my camera, but I won't let that ruin what I got out of that trip.  I wish we had had more time together, but at least we got that.  And we will keep seeing eachother throughout the year and I am greatful for that.  I have Alex and Kathrine in my city and the holidays are here and I can see all my other friends.  My brother will be here soon enough and then he will leave and 3 days later I will have been here for 5 months.  It seems pretty fast already.

I Think I've Still Got It

I should have written the otherday, after I got back from Santiago when everything was fresh.  But, writing in my blog takes a certain mood, or extreme boredom.  In my case, boredom.  I stayed home from school today because I wasn't feeling to well, but I feel great now, let's hope I can get out later.  I've got two friend's from out of town, plus one of their host sister's and a friend from in town staying here tonight because tomorrow is RYLA, a Rotary event and we have to be there at 9 in the morning.  I am supposed to meet them at the bus station and I think a bunch of us are going to do something tonight, who knows what though, there isn't much around.

Rewind a week.  I left for Santiago on the bus Thursday so I could study and rest on Friday.  The bus ride was 7 hours, a relaxing 7 hours (I enjoy the bus rides a lot).  Then I just waited until the SATs.  I spent Friday not really studying like I should have, only a bit, I wanted to relax and calm down before I took them.  I realized how much I wanted to take them though, I figured it would be nice to actually do some real intellectual work for once.  And it was, the SAT was good.  I don't think I did all that well on the writing, but I wasn't surprised, I couldn't think of the words I wanted to use and I couldn't put my thoughts on to the paper very coherently.  But the rest I did pretty well I think.  Only one math problem that I skipped cause it looked to hard and then came back to and realized it was really easy, only I didn't have enough time.  The main problem was that part way through the test I started shaking and had trouble keeping still and writing.  I don't have any idea what it was, but when I held my hand up I could barely keep my pencil in my hand, so I just kept it pushed against the desk.  The rest of the test went on like that, but I got through it.  And I've been shaking a bit here and there now and keeping my hand steady is impossible, I think it was like that before just not as bad.

The rest of the day was fine, some tv, food, and my cousin's hockey game, which he won 29 to 1, kind of depressing to watch.  The other team was just slaughtered, I couldn't believe that the coach would let that happen, but people are people. 

Sunday was the really cool day.  We went to Vina del Mar and Valparaiso.  Both beautiful cities on the coast west of Santiago.  They are basically connected but Valparaiso is the port side with all the white collar workers and the political significance where most of the lower class lives, and Vina del Mar is the upper class touristy side.  The rich live in Vina, but travel over for work.  Vina was beautiful, giant, and extravagant, but Valparaiso was amazing.  It was old houses, steep streets, and much more authentic, to me at least.  I didn't see as much as I would have liked to of either, but I'm going back in January when my brother comes, which I'm pumped for.  We walked on the beach for a while, went to some lookouts and could see the whole of both cities, and ate lunch.  My aunt and uncle took me, my two cousins, and my cousin's boyfriend to a high end restraunt in Vina.  It was delicious, I had a cut of beef with some sauce and I don't remember the name in English, or in Spanish, but it was basically mashed corn instead of mashed potatoes.  And then, even better, was my cousin's lasagna.  Both of my cousins got lasagna, but neither liked it, so the boyfriend and I got to eat theirs, good decision for me.  Then we stoped over at Pizza Hut for my cousins to get something to eat and we all ended up eating a bit of the pizza.  A but more sight seeing and then off to home. Sleep, and then another bus ride home.

I got back, not much has happened.  I had a soccer game on a field that was packed dirt, some gravel and rocks, and a bunch of glass, not to mention the broken condom I saw.  I got to fall quite a few times and get some good cuts which weren't fun to clean out later.  But in the mean time I felt pretty tough considering I don't know many people, especially my highschool soccer teammates who ever played someplace like that.  We ended up losing though because we didn't have most of our players and had to play some pretty bad players, but whatever, not a big deal, at least to me, some of my team was pissed.

Well, just sitting at home, about to finish season 7 of friends after watching The Time Traveler's Wife.  And maybe I'll put some pictures on facebook, one of the most daunting tasks I know because of the monotony of the task and the speed at which facebook can upload photos.

Quick Weekend

It wasn't to quick, but I'm going to tell it quick.

I'll start on Thursday, I went to my friends house where she taught me to make alfahores, amazing cookie treates with chocolate and manjar.

Friday, I went to the gym where I met Alex.  He asked me to go to kickboxing...how could I turn that down.  Six bucks for an hour, not bad, I might go again.  It was a great workout and it was really nice hitting some stuff.   Then we went back to the gym for a little before we went back to my house for showers and some rice with milk and sugar, my cousin taught me.  It's really simple and I could have done it without him, but it was nice to make it with him, good bonding.  From my house we went out and met up with two friends from my school and then with two Rotary friends, Kathrine from here, and Jana from Chillan.  We went to the movies and saw Blood and Love in Paris, or something along those lines, with John Travolta.  He relived his Pulp Fiction days even with his sandwhich, I don't remember the name, but he eats the same one in each movie and the violence and the lines were just to much.  It ended up not being very good, but still fun because Jana and I made fun of the movie the whole time.  We all went back to my friends house where I made the alfahores and hung out, ending up with me and the two Chilean girls jumping in the freezing pool for 5 minutes, good cold time.

Next day I didn't do anything until 4 when my family and I went to our friend's camp 40 minutes away.  They mainly grow asparagus, and that couldn't be better, we got a bunch of it for free.  The friend's sons took me out to the town and we wandered around for a while, I got to skateboard a bit on some little kid's board that they knew, I'm still terrible and should stop trying.  We went back, hung out for a but and then went to a birthday party for a 5 year old.  It was more of a party for the parents, the daughter was just a good excuse.  I ended up eating randomly assorted parts of the intestines of sheep.  I don't know what I had from the intestines, but they cooked them really well and it wasn't to bad at all.  A bunch of desserts, some other food, and then off to the town again for awhile.  We left sort of late and I was supposed to go to the same friend's birthday party who I made alfahores with and went the to movies with.  It was at the discotec in Los Angeles.  After leaving really late, we ended up running into an accident and got to wait for about 20 minutes while that cleared up.  After reaching the party 3 hours late, I paid for my ticket and got it.  I was then told by my friend that I didn't need to pay for my ticket, I was free, but at that point I couldn't get my money back.  So after a night of dancing and being surrounded by smoke I went home.  My dad picked me up and we went to get my brother who was arriving home from a soccer tournament that his team placed second in.  We got home around 4 and I took a shower to get the smell of smoke out of my hair and off my body. 

The next day I didn't do anything until pretty late when we went out to the mall.  I needed new pants because mine were to small in the legs.  They started out sort of small, but gaining 10 pounds and riding a bike everyday at the gym made my legs a bit bigger which makes tight pants a problem.  I am no officially a faily baggy pants person.  Much more comfortable and free.  I ended up getting two pairs of pants, one of jeans and another of some rainproof pants that I felt obligated to buy.  A whole long story with my mom and a rain jacket she got me for Christmas.  I didn't want the pants, though I really like them and am glad I have them, but it would have been rude not to buy them in the situation, you needed to be there, I'll let you slide on not understanding. 

Finally on Monday, All Saints Day, we had a big lunch with meat and the delicious sausages and a bunch of asparagus, I couldn't have been happier.  I fried some asparagus and my mom boiled some, both great, I couldn't get enough.  The downer was that I didn't do much the rest of the day and my Kathrine had texted me but I didn't get it.  Her and Jana were in a huge market that I didn't know about not far from my house.  First of all, I would have loved to hang out with them, they are both amazing and I don't get to see Jana much, and we get along great, yet another me in girl form, the other being my friend from Mass who is 20 minutes away.  And second, it would have been great to see the market, it was a huge holiday with venders of all sorts and apparently the majority of the city goes to it.  My parents didn't tell me and I didn't get the message, so instead of going to a huge open air market with two of my best friends, I watched movies and studied, kind of disappointing.  But then later my dad, brother, and I went and played soccer for a while which was fun, as tired as I was from the weekend.

And a little more, today I took out Katherine because her birthday is tomorrow.  We went to a Chinese restraunt, which I had gone two days before, kind of forgot to mention this, what better time than the present, with my family after the mall.  It was a little expensive, but Donner and I split it.  Good food, good people, and the AFS exchange student showed up too with his family by coincidence.  And tomorrow she is having a small get together at her house too.

This Thursday I'm off to Santiago for my SATs which I didn't study for enough, definantly some, but not enough.  That is my next few days.  And then after my SATs my aunt and uncle are taking me to Valapariso and Vina del Mar.  Both of which are supposed to be amazing, questionable the best places to visit in Chile, look them up for yourself.  I get to miss two days of school and see great cities, thank you SATs, maybe I'll thank you by studying for you and tearing you apart.

Well that was more than I planned, but I got going and couldn't stop.  Well worth it though.  More and more exciting as you scrolled down.  And all those typoes (that is probably one right there), aren't changing, just a good reminder of how intensely I wrote this, and all my blogs for that matter.

Rotary Weekends

Rotary weekends are awesome, and my groups rocks.  We went to Chillan for the weekend and stayed near the thermal pools, though we didn't get to go to one because they were to expensive, and the skiing areas.  We had two houses, one for the girls and one for the boys.  We spent most of the time in the girls because it had a deck that looked out on to a beautiful stream and woods.  Even the woods here seem more beautiful, dead gnarled trees with great bunches of moss hanging off, bamboo everywhere, white weathered wood in the stream, it couldn't be much prettier.  At one point, the three other Americans and I went on a short hike through the woods and found a bridge made out of a log that had fallen across the stream and climbed part way up the mountain that was close by.  Just amazing.

Throughout the weekend we cooked Chilean food, ate Chilean food, took a Spanish test, had a talent show, and a few other things.  For my talent, my friend, Donner, and I did a skit that I stole from two of my friends back in the US.  During a OMD YAC Conference two girls, known as the Katies, did a skit to Peanut Butter Jelly Time.  One Katie stood behind the other with her arms underneath the other's arms and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fed them to the other Katie, all very messily.  So, with no real talents, I stole an idea for a talent to perform with another talentless friend.  It turned out well and people enjoyed it. 

My Spanish test went really well and I got told that mine was one of the best.  That was just a big relief being here knowing that my Spanish is on the right track and I'm doing well.  All in all, the weekend was a plus and a much needed break from my everyday life of being an exchange student.  And as always, leaving the exchange students was hard.  But, I know I'll see them soon enough.

Before the weekend I had a track me, my first since 8th grade, granted it was only running.  It took 7 hours and I ran twice, one for my school and once for another school that didn't have enough people.  I got a 2nd and a 3rd, and both races were relays.  And each time only 5 teams ran, so nothing spectacular.  But it was fun and I got to talk a lot the whole day, which was really good for me, I need to talk to more people. 

I'm still not doing as much as I should for the SAT's and college applications, this blog is yet more procrastinating.  And that tells you how much I don't want to do it, I'm writing a blog.  I wish I was more like my brother and I had the ability to sit down and get stuff done more often.  When I do sit down it happens, but it's the sitting down and starting that is the problem.  I have to get it done though, so it will happen.

Today my class had a nationwide English test that none of the exchange students had to take.  So we all sat in the cafeteria all day and talked.  And then we missed a class or two on accident.  Definantly a good day of school in my books.

Not much else going on as usual, I got some recipies from my parents and I hope I can cook for my family again.  The gym as usual, and maybe I'm going to make a special Chilean cookie with my friend on Thursday.  And I almost forgot one of the reasons I wanted to write this blog, music once again.  A lot of the time we listen to music when we eat, and sometimes some not so appropriate songs come on.  And I can't help but laugh, normally I can contol it, at lyics along the lines of "I'm gonna lay you...and something sexual."  Or rap songs rapping about getting money and something degrading to women.  And the whole time I am the only one who realizes what is going on.

Just Because

I say I don't want more does not mean I don't like it.  I just don't want more.  Chileans read into actions to much.  I have said I don't want more of something quite a few times, and the response I have gotten is either still more of that food, or "You don't like it?" in an offended voice.  I feel bad about it, but I have already gained 11 pounds here.  I love all the food I have been given, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

On the same note, today was my grandpa's birthday and my teacher's birthday.  This of course meant cake for both, not the the regular Chilean cake, but regular cake, just glorified.  They were both really good, though normally I don't like regular cake.  But, tons of food, and tons of food that was bad for me.  All delicious.

I forgot to say too, the other day I went to my grandparents and drove a quad.  I now understand why it is so big around me at home and here, it's exciting and fun.  I can't wait to do it more.  I ended up making my brother ask me to go slower and when he got off he kissed the ground, though I wasn't going more that 20 mph. 

This last weekend I went to Concepcion and spend Friday not in school, and just wandering the city.  I went to the natural history museum and a few parks, the center and some stores.  They have these stores here that sell old American clothes, and of course what do I find, nothing else than a Slipper Rock Lacrosse shirt.  Of course I had to buy it.  I got a few other things and some awesome earrings.  But, I spent more money there than I have anywhere besides the on the gym.  In the afternoon, when my dad had a break from his accounting classes he took me to lunch at his favorite place to eat.  Just a sandwich and hotdog shot, but definantly the best Chilean sandwiches I've had.  They are called Churascos, not so sure about the spelling, but they are beef or pork with toppings on a delicious bun.  Toppings include everything, from cheese, advocado, onions, eggs, and mayo, plus the regular ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce, and a few other things.  But it was a good day with my dad, plus I found a kind of coffee that I like, not much of coffee, but still, vanilla coffee.
Then that night we went to their friend's house to stay overnight and had a really good dinner.  The next morning we ate, and then went for a walk with the dog.  We came back, at again, and then went to a waterfall near their house.  It was a long walk, but definantly worth it.  Oh, and I forgot my camera, so I didn't have it in the city, but my mom brought it and I had it for the waterfalls and the river we walked too.  Then it was home on Sunday.

Now back to the usual life at home.  My brother and cousins are going to the gym with me tomorrow and this weekend is a Rotary get together and we have a test on our Spanish to see if we can go to RYLA, a youth leadership weekend workshop.  And I think if our Spanish is bad enough they send us home.  But I don't have to worry, mine is coming along great, I at least won't get sent home.  I'm pumped to see all my Rotary friends.  Wish me luck!

I Guess It's Time For Another

It's been a while since my last post, but not to much has really happened.  I've got my basic routine down.  I just need to add some stuff to it.  Here is how it goes...
1) Get up and 6:30 and make breakfast and watch part of a movie or a tv show while eating.  Slowly get dressed and do all the other morning things.
2) Go to school.
3) Be bored at school for 6 hours 5 days a week.
4) Come home and eat.
5) Hang out for a bit with my family and get on the computer.
6) Go to the gym.
7) Go out around town, hang out with friends, or most often come home and chill for the rest of the night.
8) Go to bed way to late.
9) Start over.

Weekends vary obviously.  I travel a lot whether it is with my family or now Rotary events are about to pick up for a while.  What I am really waiting for is summer though.  No more school.  And I have a bunch of places I want to go with my family.  One of my extended families have 3 houses, one in Santiago, one county house outside of Santiago with a lake and a pool, and their beach house...amazing.  Plus I am going to get to go see my Rotary friends, I hope.  And I think my brother might be coming to visit.

The past few weeks have been slow as I said.  I started soccer and after my first day they asked me to play for their team.  We played in a tournament this weekend and got second place.  I missed the first of three games because I went my English professor's English class that he teaches at a university close by.  I just gave my Rotary presentation and then talked with them in English.  There were some other exchange students too.  But, back to soccer, it turns out I'm actually pretty good down here.  Nothing special, but not bad, which is a relief.  I was scared they were going to be amazing.  But already I don't know if I want to play anymore.  Last year once the season was done I was done too with soccer.  I will keep playing here though just to be around people.

I think the time when I am happiest here is when I cook.  It is great for some reason, a million things going on at once, smelling great, and looking great.  I just wish I had better pans, the ones I have are thing and burn things easily, and not enough variety.  But I make do and they still love my food.  But with all the food I make comes a lot of excersizing.  But I don't mind, I'm an excersize addict.  And now my cousins are going to start coming to the gym, I don't know for how long, but they came today.  And next week my brother will come too. 

Back to school really quickly, I started working in Chemistry and it's not so bad so far.  I'm starting to recall stuff.  And my math teacher as I said was impressed with me today because I got the farthest on our worksheet, about 6 problems ahead of everyone else out of 18 problems in and hour.  So not to bad.

Not much else except the miners are all safe here.  All 33.  Everyone seems really happy about it.  My dad and I watched it last night and then the rest of the family came in gradually after it was over.  But my dad asked if people in the US had really heard much about it and I said yeah, it's actually pretty big.  He also said that it was pretty big in Denmark too, where is daughter is.  He seemed pretty happy that Chile was getting the attention it was, as I think everyone else was.  I understood only a little bit of what they were saying on CNN which was frustrating and showed me how far my Spanish has really come.  Then again, I wasn't concentrating to hard.  I too was really happy for the Chileans to be out and safe, even with some problems here I fell part of the country and I felt with them.

Well, off to Concepcion tomorrow for who knows what, I'm still pretty lost here.  But hopefully I will get to see two of my Rotary friends while I am there.  Up for a bus at 6.  Maybe I'll sleep tonight.  Oh yeah, I mentioned that above, I don't sleep well or long.  I got to sleep at anywhere from 1:30 to 4:30.  I don't know why but it sort of sucks.  Then again it is nice because it helps school go faster...though I'm not focusing on Spanish as much.  Maybe I'll start sleeping better soon.  I can't decide whether is will be good or bad, I know Rotary would say good, but I hate school.