Vuuuuelta

It's hard writing after a whole month of absence... I'm not sure where to start!

I'll start at the top. Three and a half weeks ago, my class of thirty kids left on our end-of-third-year school trip. It's called the Gira de Estudia or something like that, and each of the three classes in our third year (Junior year, our school time) gets to chose where they want to go. Poncho's class is going to Brazil soon, and the other two went South. We had the longest (and most expensive) trip of all. We travelled all the way to Puerto Montt and saw the sights there and in between for a week.
I put up all my photos on Facebook... I don't like taking photos, so there aren't a lot. I prefer to see the sights while I'm there instead of waiting to get photos online to get my eye out from behind the digital screen... Anyhow, I'll try to give a play by play account. Let's see if I really have a memory or not.

Lunes/Monday:
Our first day, we got to leave school early, at ten o'clock, to go home and pack our things. We returned at 7 to board the huge bus that was waiting to take us off. We didn't leave until about 8, but all of the parents and boyfriends stood around the whole time waiting for us. I got a seat next to Pippi, toward the front of the bus, but quickly found that the action was in the back, so I didn't sit there until about four in the morning when I decided, to Hell with it, I was going to sleep.

Martes/Tuesday: After a long night of not sleeping in the bus, we arrived early in Puerto Varas. We unloaded into the hotel (where the other 3° was packing up to leave and told us how great it had been) and got into our rooms. Although all of my classmates were in groups of three, I was alone with Pippi because the Miss didn't want her to feel left out. We could see the huge ocean-like lake out the window, and it was really cool to sleep with the sound of waves crashing all night... Not that we slept much. Anyhow, we left later that morning to visit an outdoor Chilean-style mall in nearby Puerto Montt. It was raining, which is typical in the South, but we spent almost two hours looking through the carved toys, knitted clothes, and all kinds of interesting things. We then went to a little restaurant (so little, as a matter of fact, that we couldn't all eat at the same time), where we had our first meal of salmon! Of course, it was served Chilean-style, which means that it came with chopped peeled tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and peeled baked potatoes, with lemon and salt. Not terribly exciting, after eating that for lunch and dinner every day, but still, everyone was excited about the salmon. Afterwards, those of us who had gotten to eat first went out in a little boat rented to tourists. It was falling apart and painted all different colors, and the woman who drove it told us a little about what we were seeing. We saw a sea lion, among other South-y wild creatures... :D We then returned to the hotel for dinner and sleep...

Miercoles/Wednesday: We all got up monstrously early in the morning - most of the kids got about three hours of sleep, due to the Chilean love for partying all night long. We drove through mountains of mud to a white water tourist attraction, called the Saltos of Petrohue. There was quite a bit of smow-y hail on the ground, and when we arrived we were told that it was closed. Not to be discouraged, everyone piled out and posed for a hundred thousand pictures. Meanwhile, I ran with a few classmates to the end of the road to look at the rapids and take a picture with the entrance sign. It was very very cold! When we got back in the bus, we were told that neither could we go to Chiloé, an island a little bit to the South. To get there, you have to go on a ferry, which was closed due to the weather. Everyone was pouty when we drove back through Puerto Montt in the rain and stayed the rest of the day in the hotel.

I have to admit that at this point I don't remember the next few days in detail. But we ended up going to Chiloe as well as the Salts. We also went to a natural hot spring, and swam in the huge pool heated by the geisers. We spent the whole time well, partying it up in the South of Chi Chi Chi le le le VIVA CHILE!


--

We're almost done with school; we get out this Friday. The seniors left about two weeks ago. There was a huge Acto, which means synchronized dancing, karaoke, and speeches in front of the whole school, and they were all hugging and crying by the end. Now they have the PSU, which is going on as I speak. It's a two-day-long test, with four sections. Students can choose which they want to take... Pedro's not taking Science as he's going to study law. And here, when you say you're going to study something, you don't have the option of changing your mind. Once you enter university, you have to follow your career path unless you want to drop out, take the PSU again, and start over (my cousin is doing this now).
Anyhow, we haven't been doing much in classes... Today I have nothing in the morning except English (HA) and in the afternoon only Math of the regular three. So I have a little more time to eat lunch... And I get to leave early. Se dice FOME: boring!

On MY college front, after writing literally 20 or 30 essays I have finally come to the end. I'm now wrapping it all up, so to say. I've been accepted to UBama and Tulane, possibly among others but it's not too important as I'm fairly sure I want to go to Tulane. Yet another Brown! Not to mention that I'll get a 50% or so scholarship... And I'm applying for the full one. It's exciting!

So... English. Can't speak it. Literally, I sound like a student in my English class. I have to think, and my pronunciation may or may not have changed drastically...

Hmm

Not sure what else to say. I hope to go to the Termas del Flaco, which is a thermal near my house. It's said that the stars there at night are incredible. My sister invited me to go with her and her friends, but I'm kind of trying to think of other ways to go... Haha.
Been thinking about Xmas... It's SO strange that it's in the summertime here...
My parents have to work literally until Christmas in their school...
flksasdfljk

Ahí, no tengo más...

Chao entonces, hasta luego!!!
Emily

From Planets to Orchestras

Yesterday I went to Santiago again. This time, I was accompanying 40 second and fourth graders from my mamá's rural school. We went to the planetarium, where the kids screamed as much as they giggled, then to the zoo, to MIM (a science museum), and finished it all off with some good-ol' McDonald's. We had a great time, I didn't get to go to sleep until 12:30, and over-all yesterday was a success. In school, my classmates have become more accustomed to my blonde hair and green eyes... But kids just don't get tired of playing with hair, asking questions, and wanting to hold your hand. I went with Pippi, and we were the biggest hit all year.
I'm not on for long, only until one-o'clock, so I wanted to touch on a few things I've noticed and forgotten to write.

One, if you have eyes that aren't brown, you SHOW THEM OFF. And the older you get, the more makeup you use, until your face is literally a big green cake of eyeshadow. Also, no one has natural hair. They all dye it lighter, varying from dark brown to blonde, but you can always tell it's fake. Also, just like the Hispanic culture in the USA, no one cares that they don't have the body to wear the clothes they do. I've been more shocked by the... views... than ever in the States. It's funny, in a way, and in a way it's really comfortable. They don't see anything wrong with having a belly; as a matter of fact, every single Chilean has a belly. The kids have bellies, the adults have bellies, and the grandparents are waddling mountains. There are no hugely obese people and definitely no stick-thin ones, only a comfortably squishy medium.

What else? I got a packege yesterday... Poncho came into the kitchen while I was drinking tea with Mamá last night (eleven o'clock?) and told me to close my eyes. He made me wait while he labored over opening the darn thing to get a good look. PAYDAYS!!! I miss Paydays more than you know. I LOVE them. Thank you, Mom!!!

That's another thing - tea. Everyone is always drinking tea! I love it!

Okay, they're shutting of the computers.


CHAO!
Nos vemos!
Emily bemily BOO! Happy Halloween!

Sawadeeka

Sawaddeeka (or sawaddeekrub for men) means hello and goodbye in Thai. Thought you should know.

In light of the facts that a) I forgot some stuff last time, b) a lot has happened today, and c) I have a pile of time on my hands, IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER POST!!

(It's so hard to write in English!)
Today I got up at 7:30. I told Mamá that I didn't feel so hot and was thinking about not going to Santa Cruz as planned. Before deciding not to go, we realized after a moment that I couldn't bow out. I was to accompany the two Thai ladies I had met Thursday and help translate for them - since Erika wouldn't be going this time to help out (I went with Pippi, who doesn't know too much English) I was the only translator. Not to disappoint the Miss Eva, I decided to go despite my misgivings.
I couldn't be gladder I did.
Papá drove me into town at 8:15, where we picked up the Pippi and went to the bus terminal. At 9:00, the Thailandeses arrived as well as the professor who was to accompany us with her boyfriend. Let me take a minute to describe everyone.
Nong - Thai professor of English. Short and rather stout, always smiling, excellent English. She lives in the North East of Thailand.
Lin - The other Thai teacher. Tall for Chilean standards, quieter than Nong, but still friendly and also very good at English. She lives in Bankok and teaches in the National School, which is huge and the royal family attends.
Profe Titiana - Profesora from colegio. Tiny in build, sweet, speaks a tiny bit of English.
Her boyfriend - Uh, her boyfriend. Nice?
Okay. So we set off in the bus, traveled for thirty minutes, made friends with the middle-aged lady sitting next to the Pippi, who gave us her crackers with manjar, and got off the bus in Santa Cruz. There, to my surprise, we were joined by another four Thailandeses. WHAT! I could barely keep up with two! Thank God, we were promptly joined by Carlos, a boy from the local school who spoke excellent English. Together, we conquered!
So, the Thai who were with us. We were joined by two men and a woman; one man had gone to Missouri with AFS, another spoke a little English, the woman spoke a lot, and the last man spoke practically none (and had no teeth). This last one was constantly pulling my sleeve to get my attention and asking me about the most random things in the museum that I totally could not explain. It was pretty funny, but a bit tough. I believe I neglected to say that we all met up at a big private museum. This was owned by the infamous, banned-from-the-USA arms dealer I mentioned in my previous post. It occupied an entire house, and had a huge variety of objects from all over South America and many from other continents as well. There were dinosaurs, Incas, antique cars, an old train, etc etc etc. It took practically all day and even more energy, and the Thai spent the entire time taking about a trillion photos of everything. Whenever we stopped anywhere, they all grouped up and took three or four pictures of the group with each camera (that's like 25 photos...) and generally took FOR EVER. But in the end it was cool. They gave everyone bills from Thailand (I got an extra for Pedro ;D) and other little things they's brought along.
After going through the entire museum (from 10 AM to 4 PM, not counting lunch), we got in a tiny private bus (furgon, again) to go to a huge vineyard. There, the tourguide spoke a hilarious dramatic and terrible form of English, but managed to take the attention away from Carlos and me, so we could finally relax. The vineyard not only had wine to taste, but also an area demonstrating each of the four native Chilean cultures. The Thai all took pictures with the llamas (everyone else stood back cautiously and watched the llamas' mouths, just waiting for them to spit) and tasted the wine (I don't think they drink much... They all looked super awkward. Afterwards the man who spoke a little English went around posing for photos like a crazy guy, saying, "I'm dlunnk I'm dlluunk!!" It was hilarious...).
Anyhow, today went superbien and I had a great time. Mom and Dad, you may be receiving something in the mail soon... Wink.

Now I can't remember what else I wanted to talk about...
Haha.

Well, anyhow, right now I'm in the Abuelita's house chilling with my prima Kony and the family. I've been enjoying spending the night here on weekends, as it's much more in-town than my house and makes for easy access to things worth doing on weekends.

I'm going to get a viola! Believe I mentioned this before.

Carlitos drives me nuts. That would be the little boy who can't remember the names of his vowels yet and is six years old... Have I told this story? I don't remember. We were all sitting at Onces drinking tea and Carlitos was whining his little head off because he couldn't do his homework alone. So his mom sat down to help him.
“¿Con cuál letra termina ‘vaso?’” (what's the last letter of "vaso?"
“¿La ‘e?’”
“Vasooo.”
“¡¿La ‘i?’!”
“¡Vasooooo!”
“¡¿La ‘u?!’ ¡¡¡No séééé!!!” (I don't knowwwwww!!!)
This tickled me pink, to use an expression I don't use. It was even better because in Spanish, not only do the vowels have only one sound, but that sound is their name as well. So when Tía Tína said vaso (with an "o" like "go," Carlitos was being really stupid to not realize that it was an "o.")

Nong had some questions for an English teacher here, and their conversation (which I had to translate, as the English teacher did not know English) was interesting. Nong, as an English teacher in Thailand, works 14 hours a week and makes about 1600 US dollars a month. An English teacher in a public school here, on the other hand, works upwards of 30 hours a week and makes about 800 US dollars a month. Pffffeeeewwwwey!
Of course, this changes as you transition to teachers who have gone to college for English, or work in private schools, or live in bigger cities.

I have asthma here! I am dying!

I just read a bunch from two other AFS blogs (definitely check out http://clairegoestodeutschland.blogspot.com/) and I have two things to quote from another Chile AFSer. One, that everyone drives fast and stops; there is no such thing as slowing down. This is so true! SO true!
Also, that classes don't start and end at the bell. Far from it. They start (depending on how strict the teacher is and exactly how unpunctual he is) whenever one feels like going to class (which might be on time and might be five minutes after the profe arrives - about ten minutes late in all). They end when the teacher leaves. This means that in the case of my math class (I have never met a lazier professor... He's young and fairly grumpy.) class is about twenty minutes of the possible 45. And we don't ever do anything. There's really no such thing as homework here, although the Chileans will insist that there is... All of our grades come from tests. I like Chile! Hahaha.

I just finished all of my books. War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Doctor Zhivago, and The Brothers Karamazov. My conclusion after so much Russian? I hate Dostoevsky! I hate his with such passion that I sat down last night and wrote a thousand word essay about how sucky his writing is. I don't deny he's a brilliant philosopher. I don't deny that his books are... Interesting. But I don't understand why he chose to express his ideas in such a torturous way! He really should have written soap operas instead - with his dramatics, he's well up to the task. I mean, really -- who but Dostoevsky thinks it's smart to write ten pages of hysterical, stereotypical, and wildly over-exaggerated characters followed by another twenty of philosophical ramblings? May I ask, WHAT?! Blasjsadhsldgh sorry.

I'm getting my second carnet soon! That's my ID card. The second photo is so much better... It almost makes me a little bit happy I lost the first one. No, not really.
I also have my "new" phone -- that translates to: I have Pedro's old phone with my memory chip in it to give it my phone number. It's super ghetto. But the games are better than my old ones ;D

Everyone loves Obama here, although whenever they say so they always hitch something onto the end of the sentence to the equivalent of "even though he's black" and I'm like wuuuuuttt he just won the Nobel Prize dudes
Speaking of which BARACK OBAMA WON THE NOBEL PRIZE!!!!!

I can't count anymore the number of times I've gotten compliments on my lack of gringo-accent-ness... It makes me a happy camper...

Kony is sleeping on my shoulder... her head is warm

The Abuelita is getting an in-house pedicure... And now Carlitos is getting an in-house haircut...

They peel tomatoes here and never ever eat the skin...

Upon trying Ramen, Kony stated how spicy it was (Ramen?!! Since when?? Olvidale...)

I'm confused by le, lo, la, and se, and I need Pedro to explain it to me because I have asked pretty much everyone else...

Our school is founded by a Freemason and is uncommon in its unreligiousness...

I know a kid who's going to be a Freemason (I think... It's kind of secret and I can't ever be sure what he's talking about)

I know another kid who MADE PEANUT BUTTER. YES MADE PEANUT BUTTER. YES I SAID THAT. He tried a PB&J I brought to school, went home, researched, threw some peanuts, salt, and butter in the blender, and I never got to try it...

Blah blah bsdalfihsgt



Alkjsdflkj what else??
I don't know!


Chao chao, no tengo mas que decir, disculpame
Love, as always,
Emily

Postulación

I don't have the energy to form a cohesive post, so bear with me this time.

I have to start off by saying that the greatest part of my time recently has been dedicated to applying to college. That's called postulación in Spanish, and I am constantly explaining why I need the computer for another five hours --- "tengo que postular a universidades." I then have to explain why I have to do so much for what (for Chileans) is an incredibly easy task. Number one, here they don't apply to twelve colleges. Number two, they don't write 750 word essays for sholarships. And number three, they don't have to fill out incredibly long questionnaires with short essays. In Chile, students are classified based on family income. The poorest go to college for free, thanks to the government. The next levels get help, and once you get to my family (middle class, American standards), there's no help at all. Pedro goes free, mis hermanos don't.

In Etica (ethics) class yesterday we had a discussion about homosexuality. I was completely unique in my views. That is, homosexuality is a trait from birth, it doesn't ruin a child to have homosexual parents, it's existed since the beginning of time but only recently are we allowed to show it, etc.

Today I went at 8:30 to a public school nearby. I was accompanying two Thai professors as a translator. How, you may ask, did I happen to learn Thai? Well...
They're English teachers. I didn't learn Thai, although now I wish I could. They are here with AFS, as they're volunteers in Thailand. They, in a group of six, are visiting various cities in Chile in order to broaden their cultural views... Their English is excellent. At five thirty I've been invited to Onces with them and several other teachers.
In Thailand, things are... different. The school uniform consists of a well-below-the-knee skirt. Skirts like ours (not to mention shorts or even, God forbid, tank tops) are worn only by prostitutes. I might mention that they are both very nicely dressed, obviously conservatively, but fashionably so. Picture Ni if you know who that is. As for bathing suits... Long shorts, long sleeves, etc. (If only they could watch a couple of TV programs here. They might pass out.) They take off their shoes in homes as well as in school, where classes consist of up to 60 students and are taught with a microphone (how they control the students? Respect!)
Their trip to Chile was the first time they had ever kissed the cheek of a man who wasn't their husband. They were very funny, going around kissing all the little kids and giggling. When they greet new people, leave a room, or accept something (a pencil, a gift, anything handed to them), they make a small bow (just the head) with their hands together as if in prayer. Apparently, boyfriends do this too with girlfriends. Hand holding, kissing, and anything in between are strictly forbidden.
The Thai language consists not only of different sounds, but a different pronunciation. It's hard to explain, but some words end as though they are asked as questions and some words end ...down. I can't explain it too well, but it adds up to the language sounding like a song. Which reminds me. Bankok is the capital, but that's only the name given to it by foreigners. In Thai, it's the longest word in the world. Literally. It's so long that they've had to make it into a song to teach it to the kids. Look it up on YouTube... It's a beautiful really-long-word.
Anyhow, I spent all day translating for students and teachers alike. I'm exhausted. What I've learned: I can't speak in English. I don't understand why I'm able to write fluently, because when I speak it is literally like listening to a Chilean but with a really good accent. I get my grammer mixed up, can't stop saying Spanish words, and have to think think think before I can say anything. It's painful...

I'm going to have a Halloween party. With peanut butter brownies, chocolate chip cookies (if I can get chocolate chips...), and candy candy candy. I'm excited. I can't say excited with a straight face... here it means something else. Hahaha.

I've gone for the past two Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7 to a government funded house which hosts free activities like yoga, painting, orchestra, etc. I've been going with a schoolmate to the orchestra rehearsals... It's a unique experience. If people here have a skill, they've pretty much figured it out themselves. Lessons are just too expensive. There are, in the "orchestra," about fifteen people from 12 to 25 and who play everything from violin to flute. The boy who's been taking me plays the viola, and has won numerous national competitions and quite a piece of money in the process. He's going to give me his old viola to practice... I'm scared.

If you go on Google Earth, you can see my school fairly easily. If you search San Fernando Chile, it's very close to the name on the map. The name is over the Plaza, and we're a block away from there.

I'm going on my feildtrip to the South in two weeks! And Saturday I'm going to a famous wine orchard, run by an infamous, filthy rich, and banned-from-the-USA arms dealer. I go for free since I'm with AFS. I get to go because I'm going to help out the Thai teachers...

I am dying of the athsmatic cough given so generously to me by the Primavera (Springtime).

This morning I was waiting for my brother and sister to get into the furgon with me (bus to school). Mamá asked me why I was waiting, and I told her I was delaying since the furgon has to be the least comfortable place in the world to sit. The seats are child sized and my back literally weeps for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. She suggested that I go to school by micro (big bus). I've been thinking about it all day. One one hand, she pays for the furgon and I don't want to seem ungrateful. On the other hand, I REALLY want to ride in the micro. Hrmm.

I took out my cartilage earring, Daddy. It was for an x-ray of my back (when I learned that I'm dying of scoliosis!!) and I forgot to put it back in and now the hole is closed. Smile!

I'm writing an English textbook. I do not understand for the life of me what the writers of Chilean English textbooks have in place of brains. The textbooks are not organized in a way that will ever get anyone anywhere.
I have learned Spanish by having on hand a list of conjugated verbs with their explanations and a dictionary. I don't understand why these kids are learning to put sentences in passive form when they don't even understand how verbs are conjugated.

I went to a movie theatre last weekend in Rancagua. That's about 45 minutes away in train (we went by train, came back by bus). We left in the morning, spent about five hours doing very little (street fair, mall, fast food, arcade, supermarket, card games). We saw Final Destination IV and it sucked.... What a dumb movie. But it was entertaining in that sometimes English jokes (it had Spanish subs) don't translate at all. So I understood all of the stupid things and was pretty much alone when I laughed at a reference to MILFs. It was gorey, action-ey, and horribly acted. But hey, I enjoyed getting out.

I am going to Onces now...
Much love to all
Take care,
Emily

San Fernando: A Blog Post for English Electivo

San Fernando is a city located in the VI region of Chile. It has, in addition to its colorful urban center, a calm skirt of outlying countryside. The climate is moderate, perfect for cultivating grapes to create the area's famous wine. San Fernando is situated in the heart of Chile's wine region.

San Fernando has two notable plazas, as well as several historic churches and a great deal of related history. San Fernando is notable for the extraordinary views of the Andes from all areas as well as the lovely adjoining rivers.


San Fernando es una ciudad situado en el IV región de Chile. Tiene, además de su animado centro urbano, una frontera calma del campo de la periferia. La clima es moderada, y perfecta por el cultivo de la uva para crear el famoso vino del región.

San Fernando tiene dos plazas notables, además de varios iglesias historicas y mucha historia relaciónada. San Fernando es distinguido por las vistas extraordinarias de los Andes de todos lugares además de los preciosos ríos colindantes.



This is a photo of the historic city plaza. (Una foto de la plaza historica de la ciudad)

To form this blog, I followed the proceeding steps.
1. I turned on the computer.
2. I opened my web browser, Internet Explorer.
3. I directed the browser to the address www.blogspot.com
4. I clicked "Sign In" on the top right, where I entered my username and password.
5. I clicked "Publish New Post" and wrote my post.
6. I clicked "Publish Post"
Done!

Today in Viña

I was asked to sing some American songs and...

I can't remember the words to:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The Pledge of Allegiance

The Star Spangled Banner

(Songs which I KNOW I know)

I can remember the words to:

I Know How Ugly I Are (a song in which grammar and the English language are thrown out the window)

There's some irony here...

Dios Mío, I Have Internet!

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Between illness and feildtrips, it's amazing the amount of time I've been out of contact with the USA. About two weeks ago was the last time I could really sit down at the computer to write. I then got a stomach bug, went to the doctor, got better, immediately got a bad cold, went to Chillán with AFS, came home, again went to the doctor, went to Santiago for two days, went to the doctor again (noticing a theme here?) and spent the weekend pining for an internet connection in my sadly disconnected house. If you noticed the theme (if not, it's that I am ALWAYS at the doctor!), you may be able to figure out for yourself that Chileans are about the biggest hypochondriacs the world over. Wow, I spelled that right. The word in Spanish for "get sick" literally means "catch cold" and they believe just that; you can actually catch cold by not wearing high socks or not blowdrying your hair after a shower (what do they think people did before blowdryers? I sure don't know). My brother is sick today (as is his girlfriend - that means it's a virus) and mamá says without another thought that it's because he didn't take his jacket to school yesterday. I HAVE LUSTFUL DREAMS ABOUT WEARING SANDALS!!!!!
Pant pant pant

Sorry, this is driving me nuts. I can't wait for summer!
Speaking of summer... I've spent two months here now and the whole time the people around me have been very eager to tell me how hot and miserable their summers are. I'm quick to and counter this with small talk about old ladies dying of heatstroke in Tampa, but they are steadfast in their belief that they live in the hottest city in the world. Well, the other day it was about 30°C (that's about 80°F I think...) and suuuuper pleasant. Mamá was just about dying of the heat and told me that this was just like summer time! I think I kissed the ground with joy. Only 80° in summer???!!! Dios mío!!

So, I got the coolest package the other day. I must say I had no idea how much I missed peanut butter until I slowly peeled off the protective cover... And fell to. I have been eating Skippy All Natural Peanut Butter with every meal. Exaggerate I do not. Also included were PEZ candies (When I zipped one out for my Mamá she was scared to take it and asked if it was a joke... Not sure what the joke would be but she looked pretty nervous) and Goldfish and erasers and a sketchbook and a ton of other little things which just about made me fall out of my seat with explaining to my family what on earth it all meant (sí, ese tía de la Emily verdad debe ser una loca). Can't forget the chapstick THANK YOU
If you didn't figure out who sent me this little piece of heaven (the loca part didn't clue you in?) that would be Aunt Dierdre. I send a kiss and a postcard and a sincere hope to call you soon.

Hmm
I was talking on the phone with Mom and Dad yesterday (they called the house phone! Cool beans! PS if you can call the house phone, you can probably call my cell too... 81501657) and I kind of realized but more like remembered how funny it was to me when I found out the relationship Chileans have with other South Americans. First off, they're thought of in Spain as thieves and liars for God only knows what reason. I've been asked several times what the American stereotype of a Chilean is and I always answer that I have no earthly idea as there are just about zero Chileans in my city. Secondly, if you ever dare compare a Chilean to a Bolivian, Peruvian, or Argentinian, you will be delivering something akin to a deathly insult. They also hate practically every other country that speaks Spanish. I'm not sure how this works, as Chile isn't exactly on its own in the continent...

Another thing I remembered is that Chileans cannot seem to grasp several concepts about the US. One, that it is climatically diverse and quite large. I have been asked on more than one occasion if the whole country has the power knocked out when a hurricane hits (yeesss definitely). Also, no one will accept that there is no national dance in the States. The other weekend I practically fought with my Tío... No, it's not the robot! No, it's not country! Square dancing? Moonwalking?? We don't dance! And no, adults don't dance at parties!!!!

Want to hear about Santiago?
The English Debate team won its way to Santiago to the national competition. The team stayed in a hostel for five days last week and competed, went to museums, and toured the city. I didn't get to stay with them although I would have loved to (it's complicated...) but I went for two afternoons on Wednesday and Thursday. Wed I went with Pippi (my AFS cousin from Italia, if you forget) and Thu I went with some compañeros. I visited la Universidad de Chile and la Universidad Catolica. Both are beautiful, just like the rest of the city... We also walked through a street fair, stopped in shops all over the city, and visited a gorgeous park in the middle of the city which words cannot describe.
This is a fountain in the front with a huge statue of Neptune and lots of cool things which leads up a hill to the rest of the park. Woooo...

We didn't do a whole lot else, but on the first day when we rode back in the bus at 6:00 we rode in a DOUBLE DECKER and we were in the FIRST SEATS IN FRONT AND IT WAS AWESOME

Ho hum
Someone stole my shoes in school a while ago when I changed into my Cueca get up. I don't understand why they would take my shoes out of my packback and leave my camera, but I guess they weren't thinking very hard. I hold onto my stuff better now. Anyhow, I have another pair of shoes but they make my feet look really big when I wear a skirt. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but here I get weird looks... My feet are huge for Chile. They don't sell my shoe size in many stores. Wahhhh

Well, I've been writing for a solid hour. I think I've written mostly everything I can think of... I'm sending out some postcards as soon as I find the post office and I have a piece of advice which is DO NOT EVER USE FEDEX to send me things. PLEASE. I am going through hell trying to get my packages from them. UPS is way way waywayway better.
That is, if you feel like sending me a package. ;D

Emily, Emily, please don't go!
We'll eat you up we love you so!

Chao chao, talk to y'all later!!
Maria Emilia Café Arenas
:D

THUMP

That's the sound a horse makes when it's hit by a bus going 80 km/hr.
My weekend has been fairly chaotic...

The night of the seventeenth, the night before the national independence day of Chile, I was riding home by myself in a micro (bus) around eight o'clock. The ride home is fairly long, 45 minutes or so, and the micro-drivers tend to go fast on the two-lane country road that takes me to my house. I was sitting in the very first seat in front (the only one-person seat on the micro... Between Pedro and Mamá I have my own security force - I'm always in the safest position everywhere I go), bored, watching the road. The driver flicked off his high beams for about ten seconds to let pass a car going in the other direction. In this interval, we rapidly approached two men on horseback riding in the road (at times it's impossible to ride abreast on the side), two men invisible to the 60-year-old bus driver (although I saw them!). By the time the driver became aware of the approaching danger, not only was it too late to slow down sufficiently, but we were also unable to swerve around them as the car approaching in the other direction was in the immediate line of escape. Entonces, there was a sickening thump, a crash, and a horse lost its life. The man on the horse was thrown onto the ground, where a slow trickle of blood flowed down the slight slope... The headlights of the micro illuminated all as the occupants rushed to the scene, swarming around, asking for a cellphone, testing the cavallero's pulse, etcetera. In a series of chaotic phonecalls, I managed to communicate the idea to my family, who zoomed to the scene in the car and hurried me away to a quiet cup of tea in my kitchen. THAT was quite a night! From what I've learned, the cavallero is in the hospital in Rancagua, possibly in critical condition... My community is so small that everyone seems to know a little bit about what's going on.


Anyhow, other less fascinatingly morbid things have been happening too...

NUMBER ONE: Cueca!!
We finally danced the Cueca for real at school on the seventeenth; this is the event which I've been anxiously anticipating for the past month and a half. The day before, a Wednesday, Pedro and I had a final class with a friend of his (from whom he borrowed his boots, chaps, and spurs). I can honestly say that I didn't grasp the concept until this lesson.
It's worth mentioning that when asked how I feel about my Cueca I usually say, "the only difference between Pedro and me is that I KNOW I can't dance..."
Anyway, we finally got it down and had a BLAST at school the next day. We watched the other dances native to Chile performed (some from Easter Island, others from the North)... This one involved a costume slightly inappropriate for the frigid, rainy weather:
The whole school was gathered in the central patio, where there was a whole music class playing guitar and singing for the dancers and a performance lasted at least two hours. Afterwards we all ate traditional Chilean food with our classes. Empanadas de piño and queso con carne, choripan, brocheta, various sweets, and tons of carne asado. Pedro's family attended to watch the spectacle, along with many other parents and visitors.

The next day was the 18th, national independance day of Chile! Huge celebrations all over the country, food, Cueca, defiles (parades), and lots and lots of wine and pisco. Pedro came to my house, along with practically the whole family (TONS of people), where we flew kites, played ping-pong, ate, ate, and ate. We went to nearby Chimbarongo to watch a defile. It was fairly uneventful until the part where about a hundred horses squeezed through the crowd, closely followed by souped-up ancient Beetles, vrooom vrooom!

Yesterday I went to Pedro's house, where I ate MORE choripan, played with his little sister, and watched on TV the military parade in Viña del Mar.

And today, after all this, I'm relaxing in the house of the Abuelita, surrounded by the great majority of my family. Still eating. And eating.

So that's about it.
Chao,

Emily

CHI LE Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le Viva Chile!

Woohoo for Saturdays! I fell asleep at 9:00 last night and slept until 8:30... It was a gorgeous morning, with just the right chilliness and lots of sun. I drove into San Fernando central with Papá and Alicia around nine... Alicia had Pre and I wanted to stay at la Abuelita's house so I can go to a fiesta later... I love Saturdays!

First off, a few notes about random things.
1. Pre. Pronounced like Pray but with an almost-rolling R, it's short for Pre-Universitario (I think?)... Anyway, it's a super big deal here for seniors in high school who plan to go to college (side note: If you don't go to college you're eligible for a draft into the military... I know a boy who's on the list this year O.o). The SAT equivalent in Chile is the PSU, which students take immediately after graduation. It's a huge deal... Unlike the SAT, you have to study for it and study hard. It has a history section in addition to the math and language and most seniors have Pre for about 10 hours a week in preparation. (I'm so glad I don't have to take the PSU... So glad...)
2. It's hard for my family to drive into town a lot since we live about 30 minutes out in a "suburb" type deal. This being said, if I want to do anything on weekends I have to seriously pull some strings. I'm not allowed to go alone in collectivos (taxis that work like buses, picking up multiple passengers in each round of the city but will go where you ask them... It's complicated to explain but way cheaper than a private-taxi) or in micros, small buses. So I have to either wake up early and go with Alicia in the car(it's weird saying Alicia because I call her Maka... Macarena is a common second name here and in the house Alicia Macarena is called Maka) or wake up early and go with Poncho in a collectivo.

Anyhow, today at noon I'm going to a Feista de Comida Mexicana! Yet another "fiesta that's not really a fiesta," as Pizarro (it's at his house) is of a religion where you can't celebrate birthdays so I'm not allowed to call this a cumpleaños even though it's on his birthday. If you didn't follow that, don't worry... Haha. I'm invited because I can make tacos... Not to mention the fact that I miss Mexican food A LOT and am really anticipating cramming my mouth with salsa and black beans. Wink.

Cueca!
Thursday of this week there was a celebration of Cueca in the main Plaza of San Fernando called "Mil Pañuelas al Viento," or 1000 Handkerchiefs in the Wind. When you dance Cueca, you have a special handkerchief to swirl if you're the girl or just hold if you're the guy. I went, danced horribly a little bit, got scraped by someone's spurs (the guy's outfits include huge spurs, boots, and chaps), and had a great time. I took some photos with my film camera, which I'll scan when I develop the roll, and there are a few pics on Facebook. As soon as I get my camera adapter I'll be adding more photos, but here's one from a friend: In my dress, holding my pañuelo... With Pedro in his huaso get-up... Minus the spurs and chaps. Note the stray dog... They're absolutely everywhere. This is taken on the edge of the main Plaza, which is huge with a gorgeous fountain.


Anyway, next Thursday is the day before the national independance day here, 18 September. It's a HUGE deal, we have no school, everyone dances Cueca and eats empanadas, and I am very excited. Anyway, since there's no school Friday, the Cueca celebration at school is on the 17th. As an exchange student, I'm automatically dancing... Seriously scared, as my feet don't seem to like the Cueca very much... My head knows what to do, but my feet just don't obey! Yeah, fail.
Anyway, I'm dancing with Pedro, who's going to have enormous, dangerous spurs on his feet, and it's even a little bit scary. I'm excited, though, since my dress is really beautiful and it's super fun to watch the Cueca...
Hay tiempo, hay tiempo.

I finally bought film for daddy's old camera, and I've been enjoying taking photos with it. The film here is fairly cheap -- I bought two rolls for three dollars -- and I'll be developing it soon and scanning the results.

I got your package, Mrs. Hart!! Monday, I think, I'm going to call a few people around five-thirty and you're on the list. Thank you SO much! I was super excited when I heard it had arrived, and to pick up mail here we go to the general store of sorts... We drove in around ten on Thursday. I was freakin' out. :D

Hmm... Not much else to add.
I'm headed off soon, so Chao to everyone!

Thanks for reading :D
Emily

First Phone Call Home (a Big Hi to the BLCers)

Yesterday I called home for the first time! There is a prominent store on the main street where you can make phonecalls and use internet for a set price. The Pipi calls home to Italy from there... I'd known about it but never really considered calling home, as I didn't exactly know how it operated. Yesterday after school I was walking with Pedro (looking for shoes for Cueca) and thought, why not? Turns out it's super super cheap: It was only 750 pesos (the equivalent of a dollar fifty) to talk for a little more than five minutes, which is enough for me. It was really strange to hear such perfect and familiar English! It was hard for me not to speak Spanglish... I kept saying, "como?" or "entonces..." Pedro thought I was going to leave the phonebooth crying (I kept making faces at him as I talked) but on the contrary, it made me really glad that I'm here. The echoing was strange and I was a little dizzy afterward (a strange experience)... But no tears! Haha. It reminded me a lot of Brown Ledge... First phone call home!

Right now I'm in the computer lab at school (this is becoming more and more common). My first two hours of the day on Fridays are Biology, and the teacher isn't here so we don't have class. Apparently everyone knew this but me, so all of my classmates are at home sleeping. I'm lonely! It's too bad, too, because the Biology teacher is one of my favorites. Profe Toledo, I think. He's this really short, super-animated little man who loves talking to me about his lesson plans (which he translates from English plans online) and about AP classes in the States.

Hm... I'm going to be practicing violin after school with other music students on Monday (W00t) and I'm still struggling with Cueca... I have to buy the Cueca attire (a dress and character shoes) and I'm pretty much incapable of purchasing anything without Mamá.

Tuesday I wore a skirt to school for the first time! I was pretty much "that girl who always wears pants" for a while, because I hadn't thought I would need a skirt when I bought my uniform. I was wrong... Everyone wears skirts. Me too, now! It's actually a fairly decent uniform. Right now I'm wearing:
Navy pleated skirt with grey tights,
Black Mary Janes,
White blouse with a grey tie,
Navy V-Neck sweater,
Navy Jacket
Not to mention the various gloves and hats and scarves I've collected here. I bought a fantastic set of gloves and hat at a store called "Casa de Cosas" or House of Things. The gloves are super warm and the hat embarasses my brother to no end... All this awesomeness for under three US dollars.

This week:

Monday: I help out with English classes in the morning when I don't have class; I was helping two students on Monday from a different section of my grade. We were done with the assignments and talking in Spanish while sitting in the patio. When I was asked why I wasn't in class, I responded that I could skip two classes as an exchange student. I chose to skip Quimica and Filosofia, the latter because the teacher is a *zombie imitation.* They both cracked up at my zombie face, which usually has that effect because the teacher is actually a real zombie. But they were laughing a little too hard... After about five minutes of calming down, Jorge whispered in English, "the profe Sandra is his mom..." of the other boy. Yes, I died. This is now the story of the moment, the gringa tonta is a big hit.

Tuesday: I don't have classes all morning Tuesdays, so that was fun. I also had none in the afternoon, as I left at lunchtime to go to the doctor for my back. I have scoliosis! That pretty much explains the horrific death-pain. I love going to Rancagua (the doctor's office is there) because every time we go, without fail, we stop at the best empanada place on the way back. I LOVE EMPANADAS!

Wednesday: I went with the other exchange students to a regional sports competition in the city... The Miss basically told us to walk to another school and we were off... We walked about thirty minutes to the school where the competition was supposedly being held... Then walked all the way across the city again when we were told it wasn't. In a light drizzle, may I add. With my heavy backpack and a crooked spine, may I also add. But it was made up for when we stopped at Rigoletto's for "snacks." That means manjar cake and sodas. There are two kinds of cake here: regular boring cake and cake with manjar. Manjar is the same as Dulce de Leche, and of course it's delicious. The cake is made up of layers of crisp with manjar between. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
After this, I met up with Pedro at one, bought a watch at the Wednesday-street-fair, and walked home with him. I'd already met his mom, but not his dad. Sr. Leiva had been in Chiloe with a tío; when he came back he brought gifts for the family (and for the polola!!)... Pedro brought to school on Monday a traditional Chilean purse (green knitted wool... I like it more with each day I wear it) and a little leather souvenir type box which just fits a few coins and says Chiloe on top. His dad is super sweet. I'd met his mom and sister before, but this time was a lot more interesting. Isadora is two years old and the cutest thing ever. She's very animated, loves my iPod, and dances in front of the television. We had lunch (no lunch at school on Wednesdays) for about two hours. Delicious! someone's mom is a better cook than mine.
After this (yeah, Wednesday was pretty big), I came back to school at five for clases de Cueca and Spanish. Which means looking at Cueca dresses and then walking to Rigoletto's with a few friends and the Pipi for helado and papas fritas (ice cream and french fries).
Thursday (yesterday): Phone call home! Not much else; I fell asleep at nine thirty, which is so nice...

I'm not sure what else. I don't have nightmares about having to go home now that I'm taking pain-meds... W00t for symptoms of drowsiness!
A class just came in to the computer lab, so I gotta forfeit the computer...

Chao! And gracias for reading!
La Emily


PS CHURIPAN = GOD

And What, Emily, Do You Have to Say About Your First Month Here?

Mamá asked me this about thirty minutes ago. My response: "Que Chile es el mejor pais en total el mundo? Obvio!"

Well, in about ten hours, I'll have a month here. It doesn't feel like that. I need to stop counting days, because my time passes way way too fast. If I've ever dreaded anything before, it's nothing compared to the feeling I have in anticipation of my departure. I don't want to dwell on the subject. Moving on!

Mi hermanita and I are watching Camp Rock, which secretly makes me want to cry but is very popular here so I can't say that. We just got cable in the house, so it's a pretty big deal that we can actually watch something other than the five basic channels here.

It's hard to think of things to say on my blog! I've become so ingratiated with my family and friends that nothing really strikes me as new any more. Not to say that nothing's exciting or fabulous, because I still love the ride to school at dawn watching the mountains and the fog... I still love walking around the city during out 1.5 hour lunch... I still love kisses on cheeks and playing guitar between classes. But it's not like it used to be, where I had lists of things to mention here.

I guess I can say a few things. Today, the whole family congregated at my house to eat gnocci (homemade by my Italian AFS cousin Pipi) and it was pretty much a blast and very delicious. My primita (cousin-ita) Kony is adorable... My buddy. We pinchamos (Chileans have a funny habit of calling you and hanging up before you can pick up - this is called a pincha and it's super common because it's cheap. I get pincha'd about 10 times a day...) in school when we're bored and call each other "mi amor."

I'm going to explain cellphones here. They're all prepaid, and you can buy from three different companies (Claro, Movistar, and EntelPCS which is Sprint). My family has Entel, which is the least common. Texting is cheaper than calling, and pinchando is cheaper than texting. Chileans never have enough dinero in their cellphones, so they pincha when they want to acknowledge a text or just make you think of them. Pinchas can indicate a crush, friendship, etc.

Lately... I've been helping out with the English Debate team at school a lot. We won "regionals" on Wednesday and we're going to nationals representing the whole 6th region of Chile in Santiago in October! I'm super pumped. My boyfriend, Pedro, is on the English debate team. I know how curious you all are about Pedro, because in every email/Facebook message there's mention of "the boyfriend" lately. Pedro... Very Chilean looking, speaks excellent English (on that: I speak Spanish to him and he English to me and we correct each other... Although often he speaks Spanish. His is very rapid and hard for me to understand, which can be frustrating, but it's good practice.), can't swim, loves Pink Floyd, and is easily the most intelligent person at the school. Like most Chileans, has the characteristic unibrow, but hey, you gotta get used to these things. He's adorable. Mom, you would love him. Very sweet and polite.

Hm, what else.

I've figured out the internet-at-school thing, so I have a lot more frequent access to Facebook/email now.

I really really miss Mexican food.

My back is seriously killing me at all times.

I love being the "Gringa Linda" here. Because of my blonde hair and green eyes, I have a lot of admirers. A lot... like the entire school. When I walk down the street people stare. I'm not looking forward to going home and being normal again!

My Spanish has improved a ton and my English devolved.

Ohhh I don't know what else. It's so tough deciding what's important and what's not.

As an exchange student, I get to opt out of two classes (I wanted to chose PE...). For me, quimica (chemistry) and filosofia (basically psychology) which I normally would really like but the teacher is a zombie and that's one of two classes where everyone's too scared to have fun. I have to emphasize the differences in education here... In math on Friday we started learning how to solve a basic equation with a > like 3x+4>x-1... The teacher stared when I finished the eleven problems like someone who... knows the material... But other than that kind of thing, I've realized that Chileans can find a million excuses not to work. Nothing ever ever ever gets done in class. Talk about awesome!

Did I meantion that I've been teaching curse words? Or namely, one in particular. Pigeon. I have half my class thinking pigeon is an equivalent to shit. Is this malicious? No, it's not. It's hilarious.

I watched Futurama today with Spanish voice-overs. That was weird. OH, The Simpsons. That's important. Chileans LOVE Los Simpsons. They watch it constantly! It's voiced over, like the majority of Chilean TV, and at first was annoying as heck for me, but now that I understand Spanish a little more, I enjoy the hours on end spent watching, talking about, and comparing people to the Simpsons. I, apparently, am like Lisa. I'm smart and have blonde hair. Naturally, the first similar person who comes to mind... Haha.

Internet cafés here are harder to find than I thought they would be. Because what I want is wireless internet, and it's easy to get a computer with internet but hard to get WiFi. So it's become more common for me to go to Rigoletti's after school with my laptop and a friend. Rigoletti's is the main restaurant in San Fernando. It has internet, helado (icecream), a cafe, a restaurant, a patio, clean bathrooms (with toilet paper!!!!!), and innumerable patrons. I like going after school because the internet's fairly fast... But I can't go alone because I get nagged constantly by the boys about how dangerous the city is. I believe this less and less with every day (Pipi goes everywhere alone and is fine) but I don't mind a bit taking Pedro along and Alex (other AFSer) isn't too bad either.

AH, in the middle of SF there are two plazas, one bigger than the other. Both have lots of grass and benches and are popular after school hang outs for the more punk-y crowd (I told the Miss Eva Maria I was going there after school Friday meaning I was going downtown and she looked shocked)... There are two secret things in the larger of the two which has a grand fountain (the other a statue). One is a marker that has to do with Greenwich Mean Time and the other is a valve that controls the fountain. I'm dying to turn this valve! But also very scared of getting in trouble. Some day, some day.

In Chile, when you refer to someone you say "la Maka" or "el Pedro" which is basically saying "the Maka o the Pedro..." It's going to be a pain getting rid of this habit when I go home because it's been sneaking into my English...

I don't know what else.

I love having a fireplace in the house: There's constantly a fire going and it's the center of activity. It's good for: recycling paper, warming your bottom, creating conversation ("How do you say chimney again?")

I've gotten used to the question mark being switched with the dash and Ñ being next to L and now on my laptop I have to search to use ñ and ?...

Pedro gave me a "Mi Primer Dicionario" and I've been reading it in my class Lenguaje... It makes me giggle. I can't understand half of it, although it's completely illustrated. He also gave me a childrens book about the talking writing implements that live on the author's desk... I need the third gift, a well-used pocket dictionary, to decipher the Spanish that takes me ten minutes to read a page...

I forget to mention the dogs, Bull and Max. They live outside. When we get out of the car, they attack us and Poncho says in a kid voice, "Hola Señor Maaaax, hola señor Buuuull." Bull's mouth likes my feet in the morning. It's really hard to walk out of a house to board a bus in the morning when your foot is stuck in the mouth of a hulking, drooling beast. I'm getting calf-muscle from wrestling with him.

Hmm...

I love mi mamá

I love mi papá

I love mi Makita

I love mi Ponchito

I love mi Pedro

I love mi Primita Kony

I love Bull and Max

I love CHILE

I don't want to go home!!

Figured That One Out: Yo TAMPOCO.

So yeah, tan poco means exactly what it´s supposed to, "so little." The word for me neither is TAMPOCO. Pffew. A mystery solved.

So here´s the update of the week! It's been a crazy time these last few days and I can´t remember if my last update was this Thursday or the last one, so I apologize for that. Here we go...

I´m starting to forget English words... I can definitely still converse with people in English but when I´m helping to compañeros to translate words over about an 11th grade vocabulary level I find that I just can´t remember them. I have to say this is a little infuriating at times; I´ve been helping my friends with the English Debate to write their arguments and my vocabulary constantly evades me.

Something I find amusing is the amount of English music my friends know. A few can sing, perfectly, whole songs that I don´t even know the words to. And they understand them! I´m constantly being asked to explain phrases in songs... High and dry was one... Once upon a time was tough...

I started talking about this last week a little, but the due to the deterioration of my English it looked a little stupid. Forget paragraphs! Here´s what´s happened recently:
Last weekend: My welcome fiesta. Awesome! Small party but still lots of dancing and good food. Mis compañeros pitched in to buy me a gift: A fancy sketchbook with a nice set of pencils (though they neglected to inclode an eraser... "Gomas" are really hard for me to find here...)
Wednesday: Alex´s 18th birthday party... Smaller than the other fiestas but still fun. So tired Thursday!
Last night: Even smaller fiesta (described as a "fiesta que no es una fiesta"), best of all of them because I went with... dun dun dun... Mi pololo, Pedro. (Note that pololo is boyfriend, w00t w00t)
Today: Sat around alone at home, bored, because my parents had work (due to a teacher strike a few months back some schools are now open on some Saturdays)...

Well that´s all for now!
Ciao!
Emily

Yo Tan Poco

Yo tan poco means ¨me neither¨ and I don´t understand why.

Hola!
Short update:

It´s Sunday and I´m at mi abuelita´s house yet again. Sunday is serious family-visiting day here. Everyone comes to la abuelita´s house for lunch and to hang out... There are too many people here right now!

Yesterday my papá´s whole family (including my immediate family and me!) took a bus to go visit his sister. She´s a nun in the city of Los Andes and yesterday was her 25th anniversary in... nunnery? It was a four hour drive there and back... The whole family rented a big bus and left San Fernando at about 7 AM. There was a big fiesta at the nunnery and the adjacent school in celebration. We all attended mass at a small church on the grounds where Tía gave a speech and everyone cried... It was very sweet. On the way back, at night, it snowed! Only about 2 hours south of my house. It was -5ºC. Ouch.

A little bit about school... It´s completely different here and I don´t think I´ve explained it yet. First of all, there are three levels. Basico (elem. and middle school, approximately), Medio (high school but two years later) and Alto, or university. I´m in 3º Medio which is the equivalent of Junior year in hs... However, the kids here go to school for two years longer than we do in the states, the result of which is there are a lot of (what look like to me) college-age kids at mi colegio.
In the schools, there can be different classes within the grades, I´m in 3ºC of A, B, C, and D. Each class has its own room and the teachers circulate between classrooms and grades. We have a ten minute break between each class and an hour and a half for lunch. Besides the structural differences, though, everything is wildly new.
The students don´t listen to the teachers at all, and in one class (one hour), it´s possibly for nothing to get done at all. Tests are routinely pushed up a week or two, my classmates text and make phone calls in class, and there´s almost no homework. Despite this, they often call the teachers Tío or Tía and everyone is on very good terms. It´s like being in elementary school again.
--On a side note, I recieved my first grade here! It was on a math test (they´re learning trigonometry) and I got a 6.3 out of 7. which is very good! 4 here is passing and 7 is nearly impossible. Yay for math!

What else? I´m getting used to the @ and ? being in different places on the keyboard...
I´ve been to two fiestas, one more harmless than the other but both wildly fun...
I´m helping some classmates prepare for a big English debate that´s coming up... Also still learning the Cueca and guitar...
I have a little crush on a Chilean boy... (It doesn´t hurt that they all have crushes on the gringa!)

No mucho más!
Everything´s still going great! It´s still freezing here but still beautiful - I still love the Andes more than anything...
I still don´t feel homesick (I can feel mom wincing...)

Anyhow, chao, cuidate!
Emily Emilia Marie Brown

Segunda Semana

Aye!
Chile is as lindo as ever, especially now as I learn more and more Spanish. I forget how long it´s been since I updated this blog, but to me it feels like no time at all. The days pass like a whirlwind. They told us when we arrived that we would be in love with everything and everyone for the first two months, so increíble y verdad!

I can´t count how many times I´ve confirmed that mis compañeros, mi familia, mi casa, etc son muy simpaticos... I´m known for saying two things: ¨todo esta perfecto!¨ y ¨no puedo comer mas! Porqué mi estomago es chiquito!¨

I realized today what Chiquita Banana means... And learned this week what nos vamos is, the basic steps to the cueca (the national dance), how to play cueca music on the guitar, how to play ¨Paint it Black¨ on the guitar, how to talk to someone who speaks no English, how to understand someone who wants to practice their English, tutor someone who diesn´t want to learn English, and so so so much more. I´m just never bored here. There´s so much to do and see and find out. After school every day I go exploring with Alex, another estudiante intercambio. Yesterday I got gellato and completos (enormous and well-filled hotdog type deals), found a lady who sells 7 spring rolls for 100 pesos (25 cents), and met Alex´s host mom and dad who run stores that sell knockoff name-brand shoes for 2.000 pesos (four dollars a pair). Not to mention all that I´ve done today...

Now I´m sitting en la casa de mi abuela, surrounded by half my family. Mi hermanita who is older than me but about 5 inches smaller and has toddler-sized hands and feet, whose boyfriend broke up with her two days ago, who fainted in school yesterday, who dances the cueca and squeals when we play rummy (I´m demonstrating the impossibility of describing a person I know so well that you don´t)... My cousin Connie, who loves anime and is my rolly-polly kissing huggy cousin.... In the back room are my abuela, who kisses for about 10 seconds with her little old-lady lips and says ¨Liiiinnda linda!!¨, mi mamá, who is serious and sweet and always busy, mi papá, who can´t win rummy, my brother (who can), my little cousin Carlitos, who is absolutely wild and too loud... And Saske, the kitty who has learned to sit on my shoulders and likes to hang out on top of the tree outside the house (The trees here have a huge thick trunk, are about five feet tall, and have a few tiny branched coming out of the tops since it´s winter... They´re ideal sitting-spots for cats since they´re dog-safe)...

We had onces about an hour ago, which consisted of tea (with a LIQUID synthetic sweetener which I´m infatuated with) and bread with a) egg and b) blackberry jam (asflkhlñll delicioso)... Not much is happening. I´d watch TV with everyone else but the TV here is ridiculous... It´s all dumb blonde girls in bikinis governing grease-sliding competitions (I kid you not).

Saturday I went to a fiesta! Mi primera! It started at 10 and I left around 130 while it was still booming. I tasted and didn´t like the alcoholic drink here, the name of which slips my mind... Lots of dancing, food, and a couple really drunk kids. Way more fun than parties in the States though!

Aiiiee the food here is really boring! Send me some hot sauce!

But I still love it! Perfecto, increíble, I love everything and everyone. Verdad, no miento.

Chao, nos vamos, cuidate mucho!
Emilia

PS
The best part of being here: Being known as the most beautiful girl in the school. Why? I´m blonde.
I´ve had several items given to me (hat, Vamos Chilenos bracelet, phone numbers...) , about five boys following me around, and twenty more watching my every move.
One of my more common phrases is, ¨Ahh, no quiero un pololo aqui!¨ (I don´t want a boyfriend here) and the response to the ineveitable WHY NOT???!, ¨demaciado difícil!
So tell gamommy not to worry about the little brown babies. Snarkfle.

El Colegio: Dos Días

There is so much to talk about, it´s very difficult. I´ll start with ahora, or now. At this moment I am sitting in the office of la escuela (school por chiquititos, little kids, in comparison to colegio por jovenes) de mi mamá. The keyboard is very different, so I aplogize for any mistakes. Also, I´m typing with gloves on. Si, hace mucho frío :(
Yesterday was my first day of school. Monday I went with mi mamá y tía y Monica de Italia to buy my uniform. I got a ton of clothes and a new pair of shoes for about $160 US... Muy bien! Here we wear a white blouse with a grey tie, a navy-blue V-neck sweater, blue pants or a skirt with grey tights, grey socks, black shoes, and a blue jacket. When we bought all this, we went to a medium sized store... Here everything is super different. Everything is sold in a way that makes it look cheap: I keep telling mi mamá that I love the colors here. Everything is very colorful. In the store, you´re waited on. The pants come without a hem so you can alter them at home (we took them to a lady in a shack/house around the corner) and everyone is very friendly. The cashier, who had helped to wait on us, gave me gloves for free (muchas gracias, Señora!) My jacket is huge and warm with fur around the hood. Yesterday it rained and when the hood got wet, it shed fur. :( Bienvenida a Chile! Haha.
At the school, there are three or four classes in each of the four grades. I´m in 3ºC. I have about 25 other jovenes in my class, all of whom wanted a kiss and introduction. I love the kissing here! So many boys to kiss the cheeks of! It´s very different and very wonderful. (although yesterday I missed and one boy got a peck on the lips AHH!!)
The English teacher at mi colegio is called Miss by all of the students, which is cute. She´s very nice and loves to speak English to me, which is SUPERBIEN. I´ve been helping her out with a debate in English in which her students participated today (we won!). There are two other estudiantes intercambios in the school from EE.UU. Erika Rabura, from Seattle, and Alex from New Orleans. Both are super nice and helpful. After schoool yesterday I went to a café with Alex and ate a Chilean sandwich. Everyone eats with forks and knives here, even things like >French Fries and sandwiches. They´re also extremely worried about me catching cold. I´m constantly being rebundled in scarves and jackets or force-fed food... Ehhhhhh
So everything´s been very eventful so far. I´m to learn the international dance of Chile, the Cueca, to dance on the 18 September, which is a day of much celebration. (already I´m forgetting my English; pardon...)
School ended yesterday at 5 and today at one. After, I can do what I want until 7 when the fuguron, or bus, comes; go out with Poncho o mis amigos or take clases like Cueca... Today I bought a cellular, a cellphone, then took the bus to the school where my mamá teaches. It´s an escuala rural, which I think is public, and obviously poor. But all of the children were very excited. I watched the Cueca competition with some little girls who fell in love with my blonde hair and accent... They showed me the whole school and made me kiss all the boys (who all wanted photos), and spoke slowly in short sentences (perfecto!)...
We take a private bus called a fuguron (sp?) to and from school. It´s small and it only takes kids whose parents pay for it, from what I gather. It´s operated by a man everyone calls tío, who always gets out to open the door for the chiquititas.
It´s hard to think of much more... Everyone loves the profesor de matematicas, who they all find very handsome. The clases are impossible to understand, but everyone is so so helpful and I understand far more than I did when I first arrived. I love it here. Sorry, Mom, but I´m not homesick at all. That may come later, but right now I´m just in love with everything and everyone. The Andes are incredible, the houses are colorful, the foliage is completely different and charming... Me gusta todos, todos, todos.

When I`m asked if I like Chile, I respond, ¨Sí, po! Me gusta mucho mucho mucho...¨

Anyway, chaoito!
Emilia (porque aqui no one can pronounce or spell Emily... Or Brown...)

Tambíen,
A few things about the language here:
when you´re talking to someone you´re friends with, you stick ¨ito¨ on the ends of words. Like Chaoito! Also, when you say a word like sí, no, or ya, if you REALLY mean it, you stick ¨po¨on the end. (Sí po!) Weon means stupid, don´t say punta... Etc etc etc.
Tambíeníen,
I absolutely cannot send post cards like I had hoped. It´s impossible to relay the idea of a postcard in the first place, and I just don´t ever have the opportunity. Lo siento!!

Yo Estoy Aqui!!!

I’ve arrived! Not only in Chile, but a la casa de mi familia. It’s been a long time waiting for this moment, from the second I said goodbye to my “familia en los estados,” as I often have to say here.

We stayed in a very nice hotel in Miami, but when you’re waiting, muy ansioso, in a hotel for two days with nothing to do, it’s terrible no matter what. In Miami were kids from all over the US going to only three countries: Chile, Brazil, and Paraguay. We all left on the same day, the 30th, in the afternoon and evening. Except for Tom Randolph, a super nice boy going to Chile with us (whose blog you should totally check out at tomrandolphafs.blogspot.com) - he got sick at the last minute and had to go to the ER. Assumedly he’ll be arriving soon, granted it’s not swine flu!! Swine flu is a big deal here. We were all given masks to wear on the plane in case we felt ill.

Our plane ride was very uneventful. 9 hours on a plane in the middle of the night is bound to be so. Nervous, hungry, bored and tired are no fun at all. But when we arrived in Santiago at 8 AM it was extremely satisfying. We exchanged our money in the aeropuerta (muy interesante!) and met up with the AFS volunteers. I got a “Coke Light” from the vending machine… They’re very different in shape than in the states and much much cheaper. I really want to put up a picture but my camera cord has disappeared, along with my super-nice ski jacket. :(

They took us to a monastery where we stayed for two nights. I hardly want to talk about it! Terrible food, tiny rooms, awful. But it was all preparing us for the morning our families would arrive for us…

The Arenas Riquelmes arrived in their car at about ten in the morning today, el 2 agosto. I got a little teary as I recognized mi hermana (I didn’t recognize the others… Eh he…). We got everything in the car and with the brother and sister of my mother (who were also picking up an AFSer from Italy), we drove home.

Everything is different here. The streets are almost all one way. When they’re not, people drive like locos. We drove about 110 km/hr the whole time, highway or no. Eek!!

We stopped at a rest stop (very similar to those in the states, but cleaner) and an empanada restaurant (almost like fast food empanadas) where the whole family piled out of both cars. The empanadas here are far more simple than the ones that mom makes at home. They are baked also, but with a great deal more dough of greater thickness. I asked mi hermanita to choose for me because I wanted to try everything. Turns out most have only mushrooms, chicken, and cheese or similar fillings.

As we drove (at breakneck speed) into San Fernando, the whole car was full of, “Emeely! San Fernando!” and pointing at every sign for a good ten minutes. I talked with Poncho (mi hermano) the whole time. He spoke to me in English and I spoke to him in very broken Spanish. I’m very glad that he’s here because when he’s not around I feel embarassed about not being able to hold a conversation. I’ve already learned a lot of Spanish with his help and that of my family. Anyway, off track! We drove into San Fernando on the “highway” of sorts. The part of town we drove through was all colorful shacks (which were abundant in Santiago also and very very cool) and stray dogs. They pointed out to me the police, the fire station, and the various markets on the main road. We drove out of San Fernando and down a big hill towards the mountains to get to the house. The whole time I’ve been here, the Andes have been absolutely phenomenal. You can see them from everywhere, snow capped and gigantic and breathtaking. We entered a tiny, run-down village with a few nice homes, exited off the main street, and to the house. There were horse-drawn carriages on the roads and gates or fences around every house. Also, every business and home has guard dogs, so there are dogs in every yard behind the fences.

But we arrived at the house with the cousins of mi familia and everyone met the abuelos and aunts and uncles and cousins (etc) at the house then went outside. We played ping-pong and soccer and so on before lunch. Lunch was plain meat, potatoes, and a salad of tomatoes, lettuce, and corn with lemon (although it all tastes very different from in los estados). The meat wasn’t my favorite - dry and boring; but I loved just being at the table with so many people in one family. We then played more until onces, for which we had a torte de caramel which was not very unusual. After this, the other members of the family all went home. So now it’s only me, mis padres, Poncho, y Alicia.

It’s impossible to explain everything in such a way that it can be understood. But I feel totally connected with mi familia ahora. Whether it’s because Alicia loved my stuffed animals, or Poncho can play rummy now, or that Papá thought the Maple Syrup was cologne, I feel warm and tickly inside. Mi mamá made me dry my hair and turn on the electric blanket so I won’t catch a cold. Everyone kisses here. It’s so friendly and perfecto. I couldn’t be happier.

Tomorrow yo voy a ir al office to get my visa validated and to the store for my school uniform and a jacket. I wish I were going to school tomorrow! But I’ll be going with mamá (who calls me hija, or daughter, aww), her sister, and their AFSer Monica. She and I will go to the same school but she’s a grade below me.

What else?

We have a part-time maid who cleans (vacuuming and such) and cooks meals…

My room is small and simple but very nice for me…

In the bathrooms you have to throw away toilet paper instead of flushing it…

They have (erm, can’t remember the word… ) butt washers… Um… in los baños… (What are they called???)

The girls here don’t shave, they all wax. Underarms too, ouch!! But apparently it’s cheap.

You don’t need a prescription for birth control! Not that I want it, ha, but it’s interesting.

The internet in the house is EXTREMELY slow, so I can’t do Facebook hardly at all. I have it whenever on my laptop, but it’s ridiculously lento.

Instead of the ending “as” for informal verbs, in Chile it’s “ai…” So it’s “como estai?” to a kid…

I have un primo, a cousin, who’s six and says hier for mañana and mañana for hier on purpose and loves to play ping-pong…

I can’t get a hold of postcards anywhere…

The internet is all in Spanish for some reason, even on my bookmarked sites on my computer…

No one drinks water or milk at meals; either juice or regular coke. Or wine, for the adults.

I’m taller than practically everyone (I know, what??)

Well, I think that’s all for now…. I’m super tired. Yo estoy muy cansiado.

Chao, chao, te amo muchas!!

Emily

Catorce días.

First off, I have to say I love Spanish kids. I can post a status on Facebook like "Emily is happy" at 12:20 AM and within... twenty seconds or so have a dozen responses. They're almost as excited as I am for mi llegada, or my arrival. Very different from the kids at my home school, who border on nasty to foreign students.

Anyway, this post is in celebration of the two-weeks-'til-departure mark. It'll be the last I write while in the USA. I'm going to wait until I've arrived at my hotel in Santiago to further pester the lovely people on my email list.

As of two days ago, I am completely ready to enter Chile. A trip to Boston to get my visa wound up concluding far better than expected and those awful consulate boys got me through alright. If you're wondering about these guys, here's a brief synopsis.

Two brothers of approximately eighty years have lived and worked together all their lives. They are now "Honorary Consuls" of Chile, and although they are volunteers, the lavish furnishings in their lovely home can only be explained by Mr. Lerach himself: "Oh, we're recognized." his tone implied a wink and a nod, to say the least. As we approached the immaculately-kept three story home, we could make out a Chilean flag and an inconspicuous label over the basement door: "Consulate of Chile." My esteemed mother felt it unnecessary to knock, to the shock and chagrin of Mssrs Lerach and Lerach. The response to my apology ("She should have knocked, shouldn't she?" ...Imagine my horror) was a firm, "YES, she certainly should have." Needless to say, Mom wasn't too pleased with the old coots.

In any case, they sealed up my paperwork with the perfection that comes only of one who has stamped, signed, and photocopied for years, and we escaped, for the most part unscathed. As we sat on the subway to downtown Boston, Mom's voice hissed in my ear: "He was an ASShole."

Anyway, on other things. I'm not packed, I haven't made the slideshow, I need to send my visa shtuff to AFS, but I've got the family gifts! So I think it's all pretty even there. And on top of all that, AP scores came in today, reassuring me that there is indeed hope for my future. (It all becomes much easier now...)

I've been thinking about what I'll miss. I'll mostly miss my family, but that's obvious. I'll miss my dog Leroy... My kitties.

I'll miss Dairy Joy and late, damp, Florida nights in the car...

I'll miss just having a car...

I dream of meeting my family. In those moments proceeding sleep, flashes of expectancy keep me awake. I see my Mamá's face... Kissing the cheek of my sister, embracing my father... I imagine meeting my schoolmates and cousins and uncles and aunts...

I imagine just looking at the Andes.

I think about nothing but that day, fourteen days from today, that begins the unconcievable. Excitement is paramount to this feeling. Only an AFSer could know...

Treinta y Dos Días...

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. I think it's about time, now that I'm going to start giving out the link!

I received information about my family only a couple of weeks after I was accepted. The Arenas Riquelme family lives in the tiny town of Puente Negro (considered a part of slightly larger San Fernando where I will go to school). I have a nineteen year old sister and an eighteen year old brother (in their last years of school), two teachers for parents, and two dogs. My sister, Alicia, and brother, "Poncho," have been incredibly sweet and understanding as I email them in extremely poor Spanish. Here are some photos they've sent me...

This is my mom, presumably outside my house. The little girl in the background is probably a cousin or neighbor (I don't know for sure due to gaps in communication...).

In the house I will sleep in my own bedroom. I'll be getting up at 6:00 AM (I didn't know it was possible to have to get up earlier than I do for Plant!) and going to San Fernando College. This is a private school which houses about 1000 kids from young children to 19 and 20 year olds. I'm debating whether or not to take my laptop...

Although I'm not sure who this little boy is (probably a cousin?), I love this photo because you can see the gorgeous view from the backyard! Just look at those mountains... I get excited just thinking about it.

Y mi mamá, con un bombon tradicional - las empanadas.

(Thank you, Rosetta Stone...)

I'm so terrifically excited - this family is exactly what I hoped for when I applied. This looks nothing like Los Estados Unidos. I'm getting exactly what I wanted - a very unique experience.

Other things I've been doing...

1. Rosetta Stone

2. Getting a visa

3. Talking to mis compañeros de clase - my classmates

Rosetta Stone is a blessing. A mighty expensive one, but wonderfully helpful. I originally thought I would go to Chile knowing no Spanish at all, but now I can't imagine putting myself through that. Even just the basics I've learned in my 20-or-so hours spent with the R.S. have been unequivocally helpful. I almost know more Spanish than French now... Thanks a lot, high school language classes!

Getting a Visa... I should call it Going Through Hell instead. If I were in Tampa, things would be easier - but as it is, I have to fly from Vermont to the closest Chilean consulate in Boston. Not only that, but my dad has to fly up as well in order to sign documents in person. Of course, that's not how it's supposed to work, but the guys at the Boston consulate are incredibly unhelpful. If you ever feel like a laugh, give them a call. It's two brothers who sound exactly like Ernie and Bert and are about as helpful. Unbelievable. However, I finally have all of my documents in order and am ready to head out to get that one last vital item.

About two weeks ago, I got a flood of friend requests on Facebook from my future classmates in Chile. I can only assume that the teachers told them about me, because everyone contacted me within a few days. It's extremely exciting to be able to pratice my Spanish and meet so many people I'm going to be spending the next 5 months with. My mom finds it hilarious how interested the boys are - the girls aren't all that talkative. However, I'll take whatever I can get. I'm no longer afraid of difficulty making friends. Everyone's extraordinarily friendly, curious, and understanding when I muddle up their language.

>>A side note: My favorite part of this communication is the onomatopoeia jajaja which translates to laughter. Because the Spanish "j" is pronounced "h", it's typed in English as hahaha. I can't stop reading it with a "j" and I know I'm going to arrive and "laugh" at something someone says with a "j" sound. I'm just waiting for that moment. Eek!

There's so much to say about this impending adventure... I say impending because, well, who wouldn't be nervous?! I don't want to break any records, however, for world's longest blog, so I'll wrap up with the beginning of my packing list. It's possibly the toughest thing to plan; I'm only allowed one suitcase!

Besides all-weather clothes:

Family gifts - Maple syrup, crunchy peanut-butter, apple cider jelly, cookbook... (still in-the-works)

School - Big flag (thank goodness it's almost the 4th of July!), maple lollipops for my class, Powerpoint presentation about my life here in the USA (so surprisingly hard!)

War and Peace (for a little light reading... Haha.)

Camera

iPod with power adapter

Laptop???

Photos of my friends and family

American trinkets like jewelry, sunglasses, and hairclips

Phfew, that was a long post. It's so difficult to organize all of this information!
Wish me luck - I leave on July 30th at 10 AM in Miami.

Very scary!

Accepted, Part 2

My birthday was yesterday. While out at my lakehouse (far removed from any semblance of internet access) at noon on my sixteenth , I decided to do something I rarely if ever do. I called our house phone to check the messages on our answering machine. I'm not sure why I chose to do it at that moment, but fate must've intervened because I got the best birthday present I have ever recieved. The seventh and last messge I listened to started out sounding like a routine AFS phonecall from my advisor, Katie. Then it became something incredible. In the span of only two short weeks, my application had been accepted in Chile. This, according to Katie, must be some record. It usually takes months. I cried, I was so excited. I ran outside and handed the phone to Mom so she could hear the message, too. What a gift. 

Accepted, Part 1

I got home today after a week of checking and reckecking my email for that USA acceptance letter to find a large-ish envelope on the table... My first acceptance! I'm officially accepted by AFS USA. My application is off to Chile. It's all in other people's hands now (eek). Hopefully it won't be but another month or two before I find out whether Chile wants me, and what family I'll be with if it does. Yay!

I haven't quite hit that "panic point" yet - I'm not sure that this has all worn in yet at all. I'm so ready for something to happen. It's all a waiting game now.

However, there's one issue unresolved thus far. My interview was apparently not enough - for a semester program you have to interview in your house (which I guess my rep and I were both unaware of!). So that'll be up soon. It's going to have to wait for Spring Break, though! Off to San Francisco!

Here's a note about what's happened before the blog appeared. I'm throwing this in because I've been looking at other future and present AFSer's blogs and I know how nice it is to know every peice of information.

I first got the preliminary application two years ago. AFS sent me the full application, which I dawdled over (knowing I wasn't going anywhere any time soon). I pulled myself together last October and finished pretty much the whole thing (sans medical stuff and transcript). When I spoke to my advisor soon thereafter, I was horrified to hear that I would have to redo everything online. I did it, though. Slowly, over a course of three months, I redid everything, got my passport, and attended an interview. I got it all turned in about a week and a half ago except the incomplete interview, and here we go!